It’s Friday, and here on No Rerolls that means it’s time for an all-new 5 on Friday. We’re going to start with 5 exciting releases for this week before moving on to our usual digest of some of our favourite articles from the past week. Of course, we’re slow readers, so don’t be surprised if there are some articles that are a little older – these are just some of the great articles we happen to have actually read in the past week.
Releases & Previews
Every week there are many games and miniatures released. This will probably be a mix of previews, preorders, and releases, and with release dates being the way they are in this industry, it’s always pretty approximate. Excuses out of the way, here are 5 of the releases that caught our attention this week:
Games Workshop releases Gnarlwood starter set for Warhammer Underworlds – They say that time nor tide waits for no man. Nor, it seems, do Underworlds seasons. No sooner do we have one, than we seem to move on to the next. Maybe I’m a little detached from this game, but that’s cetainly how it feels to the casual observer. This latest offering is set, like everything else in AoS at the moment, in Ghur. Specifically, the Gnarlwood:
I hope we’re able to explore more of the Mortal realms at some point. I miss them. The set itself is as gorgeous as ever. Was that ever in doubt? Do GW actually put out bad minis any more? Ever? I’ve got friends who are really looking forward to the updates that this season will bring to the format(s).
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Cowboy Bebop RPG up on Kickstarter – Don’t Panic Games and Mana Project Studio are working together to put out an RPG based on the popular anime, Cowboy Bebop. The Kickstarter campaign has been hugely successful as the ravenous fandom just eats this up.
I wrote at length about this campaign earlier in the week. I was both positive and a wee bit cautious. Let’s call that cautiously optimistic, or at least optimistically cautious.
Bloodlines Companion supplement for Vampire: The Masquerade released on Storytellers Vault – When I first saw the book, I wondered briefly if this was someone’s attempt to bring over some content from the video game, Bloodlines. Thankfully not. What’s actually in here is far more interesting to any player who has a bit of history with the game, stretching back into previous editions.
This instead brings in some of the old, interesting bloodlines from previous editions. The Baali are here, as are the fascinating Daughters of Cacophony. True Brujah are in here, and that’s a bloodline that’s always interested me. It’s part of why the Brujah scored so highly on my clan rankings post. I love that the Gargoyles are back, as well. They have such potential for bitter interactions with my beloved Tremere. Yeah, this seems pretty cool.
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Renegade game Studios releases American Psycho-themed card game – This is an odd one. First of all, it’s not exactly timely. When did American Psycho come out, exactly? The movie, I mean, not the book, as this is clearly based on the movie. 2000, Google tells me. Wow. Okay, so is this a game that someone really, really wanted to make, or was it more a matter of “Hey, we managed to get this license pretty cheap… what next?”
I’m not criticising. Well, I am, but not severely. It’s just odd, is all. What I do like is the focus that the game appears to take. I love that it channels the materialism of the yuppies from the movie, having players trying to one-up each other by obtaining better possessions, cultivating one’s appearance, etc. This is something best epitomised in my favourite scene from the film:
I think this was actually a good choice, rather than just making some crass game about murder. It has the potential to actually encourage some cool roleplay during play as well. So, yeah… odd, but interesting.
Vecna’s Revenge one-shot adventure for Dungeons & Dragons released on the DM’s Guild – The recent season of Stranger Things seems to have reinvigorated interest in Vecna as a Dungeons & Dragons villain, with lots of articles and posts, and wee bits and pieces coming out. This particular item is a single encounter, spanning just 11 pages in a PDF:
Billed as a high-level showdown for level 20 characters, this is really just one big encounter. I don’t really like D&D at that level, as I think it breaks down quite quickly as player power becomes more significant. I certainly find the game less interesting at that level. That said, as a one-shot? Yeah, I could see myself playing that. The author suggests using it as a Halloween game, which sounds like a pretty good idea, actually.
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Blog Posts & Articles
The meat of 5 on Friday, the articles are listed in no particular order, so let’s get into some recommendations:
What will you run for Halloween? @ The Kind GM – Aw, I’m pretty sad that I don’t actually have a Halloween game this year. It’s a pity, since I’ve enjoyed Halloween games before, and this is the first year that we’ll have been able to run an in-person Halloween game for some time. The author of this post has a load of good suggestions. I hadn’t actually heard of Vaesen before, but it looks pretty cool. I’m not sure that The Huant is really for me but Call From the Deep looks interesting. The same goes for Adventures from the Potbellied Kobolds. Loads of good suggestions!
Marvel Snap – Review @ The Giant Brain – Someone recommended this to me last week and so when I saw a review pop up on my feed, I had to have a look. The game sounds… messy. Not the game itself, but the kind of ecosystem around it. These “free” games are all a bit like that, and it’s what generally puts me off mobile gaming. The game itself, once you’re past all the nonsense, sounds alright though. I think I’m going to give it a go, though I often find the aforementioned mess pretty unforgivable. We’ll see.
A Tale of Wargamers: Season 1 – Part 1 @ Woehammer – I really considered taking part in this event over at Woehammer, but it just wasn’t quite the right time for me. I’m kind of all over the place with what I’m painting (Gitz last week, Nurgle this week…) and the more solid projects I’m working on are more conversiony and hard to match up with the budgetary restrictions. That said, I am going to enjoy reading the progress. Of particular interest to me are the Dwarfs, Traitor Guard and Ogors.
Blitz Bowl: The Khorne Team @ Wyrd Stones and Tackle Zones – I love these minis! I’m a bit behind on Blood Bowl, so I hadn’t looked much at the Khorne team. The minis are really nice, though. The black, red, and yellow on these minis make up quite a simple colour scheme, but one that’s really effective. The yellow pops!
Alarielle’s Fury @ A Tabletop Gamer’s Diary – Another Blood Bowl team? What can I say, the Khorne team put me in the mood! Again, we’ve got a really striking colour scheme, with that red and green. The hair one these minis looks great, especially the red and green. Brilliant!
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It’s been a good week on NoRerolls, where I’ve actually painted some minis! Go figure. Since my last 5 on Friday, I’ve published the following posts:
- A post reflecting on where I was with my Gloomspite Gitz army.
- A wee look at a mixed media bundle for World of Darkness
- My first completed minis in ages, some Squig Herds.
- More finished minis! Boingrot Bounders!
- Even more finished minis with a Loonboss and some Mangler Squigs
- A look at the Kickstarter Campaign for the upcoming Cowboy Bebop RPG
- A Throwback Thursday featuring PbtA roleplaying games
In the coming week, I’m hoping to finish some more minis. There’s also a wee look at my 40K armies. I’ve got a DM’s Guild review in the works, too.
Catch ya’ll next week!
No Rerolls 
Ha, that YouTube clip is a great sample from that movie! Especially the tension in the last few seconds. I’m tempted to pick up the game, but not sure if I’d find the players for it.
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