DM’s Guild – DriveThruRPG: New this Week : 1-15-2020
I perused Dungeon Master’s Guild and Drive Thru RPG for what was new and interesting so you don’t have to.
Whether you want an Eldritch horror or silly fun, there are options for your group’s tabletop RPG.
Pudding Faire
“You awaken on the morning of the Pudding Faire: just as you did yesterday… and the day before that… and the day before that! To escape the loop, you must break a curse that strikes to the heart of halfling and gnome lore.
Pudding Faire is a 3-4 hour Dungeons & Dragons module for character levels 1-4. It is part of a series of adventures that expands upon the material presented in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes™. It can be played on its own or as a part of any D&D campaign.”
Pudding Faire spoke to me right away. The Groundhog Day style repeating story is one of my personal favorite tropes and the low-level requirement and one-shot style game makes this perfect for a low-key game night or a new player’s introduction to D&D. Plus, the cover art is cute as heck.
Eldritch Workshop: Machines Beyond Comprehension
“Eldritch Workshop” is a collection of 30 eldritch machines: intricate, building-sized constructions of magic and mechanism that affect the world on a grander scale than regular magic items. This concept, as introduced in Eberron: Rising from the Last War, is perfect as the focus of a long quest or the grand invention of a campaign villain.”
Who doesn’t love some horrors beyond human understanding in their RPGs? The strange, horrible, and truly uncanny can be fun to play with and usually for that kind of abject terror and hours and anxiety-fueled fun you’d need to pick up a system more tailor-made for madness. So I was very interested to see that Eldritch Workshop was made for a D&D adventure.
Let’s Bake a Cake
“The king forgot to bake a cake for his wedding anniversary. Let’s help him out by gathering weird items. But don’t let your players know, they might get angry.”
After how certainly terrible it will be to defeat (or not) some Lovecraftian monstrosities, it will be time to wind down with a game that promises to be silly, fun, and low stakes. The concept of Let’s Bake a Cake is absurd in the best way and reminds me of some of the most simple one-page-long RPG systems. Plus, how often does a game that started out very serious dissolve into an Iron Chef style battle? No? Just mine? Ok.
Ponyfinder
“Deep beneath the sun-bathed surface of Everglow lies terrible truths and unknowable realities. Creatures both fair and foul clash, competing for domination at the behest of masters that barely acknowledge they exist, when rarely they do at all. Locked in generational defense of the upper world that has long forgotten them, the deep elves wage a seemingly hopeless war without end. Guarding treasures best left alone, sphinxes prowl the darkness, eyes gleaming and ready to learn despite the misery around them.
Enter a world of horror and beauty, where life is always lived dancing on the finest of wires, as able to support you, or cut you, with equal efficiency.”
This one looks wild. The concept is interesting and looks like the sort of game that can either make for a very serious multi-session campaign or a short and sweet one-shot. Plus the imagery that invoking the concept of ponies would bring to the table can (but doesn’t have to be) evocative. Honestly, I’m not sure if this game would be up my personal alley, but I know it will be somebody’s and I hope they have the most fun playing it.
The Things That Grown Ups Cannot See
“The Things That Grown Ups Cannot See (or just Things!) is an RPG aimed at approximately 8-12 year olds.
Players take on the roles of children gifted with special abilities in a world where most people cannot see the faerie fold all around us. The action takes place in the world of today and the players play characters much like themselves only with a hint of magic.”
This may be my favorite pick of the week. The concept of a game about magical kids made specifically for kids to play is fantastic. This reminds me of Sailor Moon and Pan’s Labyrinth and The Runaways all at once and I’m not sure if I want to introduce younger prospective tabletop gamers to this game or play it myself right now.
Those were my top picks for the week. I hope you thought these looked as fun and interesting as I did, but if not, go check out the new releases for yourself and see what would elevate your game or get a new one going. If you try any of these out, let us know what you thought. I know I’m thinking about adding a few games to my cart.
