The spooky month of Halloween (yes, it’s a full month now) has come and gone, and gamers are getting ready to bring their new favourite board games and tabletop roleplaying games home to try out with their families and friends. At least, that’s what we’re doing! In this latest Gaming Shelf, we look at some of the coolest fantasy, sci-fi, and other genre games hitting shelves now, as well as the ones we’re looking forward to.
The world of the Expanse novels is getting a whole new tabletop RPG early next year. In many ways, it's a return to the roots Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham's award-winning book series actually began as, well before the beloved television show.
Every party member in Octopath Traveller has a special ability that allows them to interact with NPCs throughout the world. Ophilia the cleric and Primrose the dancer can temporarily recruit NPCs into the party and summon them during battles. One unassuming old man is able to unleash Hell upon enemies. I’m pretty sure he’s a retired jRPG protagonist, and he’s become one of my favourite allies to recruit.
Being a good steward of a tabletop game experience is hard work. Any Dungeon Master can tell you that setting the right tone and crafting the perfect story is difficult, fiddly work. I asked Matthew Mercer, famed Dungeon Master, how he's so good at what he does.
Dungeons & Dragons has some complex rules, and a studious fan has created a tool to help you figure out exactly how jumping works.
Lovecraftian horror is something I only really discovered earlier this year. Sure, I'd seen the superhero episodes of South Park, where Cartman teams up with a My Neighbour Totoro-style Cthulhu, but it wasn't until recently that I started diving into the stories and mythos -- as well as the legacy they left behind. One of my favourite ways the now-public domain sub-genre has continued to this day is the Lovecraftian roleplaying game.
Plenty of our readers are already obsessed with role-playing games; to you guys, we say take five. It's the rest of you that we're talking to, those who might be looking to get into the hobby but are a bit daunted by the rules and the guidelines and the sheer number of games available. Don't worry! We know exactly how you can safely (and enjoyably) enter the world RPGs.
Not every game is about winning. Amidst the rise in tabletop gaming, dozens of storytelling games have emerged that challenge you or your teammates to create entertaining stories instead of beating each other. If you want to hone your skills as a creative writer, these are an excellent way to start.
