With convention season nearly upon us it would be nice to think that this week's News Collider would be fully of exciting board game news about surprise releases, unveiling of as-yet-unheard-of masterpieces of design...alas, that is not to be.
This week we are talking about "accidental plagiarism", the potential Death and Taxes of board games and a lot of uncertainty surrounding the longest running live streamed D&D adventure.
This week we are talking about "accidental plagiarism", the potential Death and Taxes of board games and a lot of uncertainty surrounding the longest running live streamed D&D adventure.
Elder Scrolls Online Plagiarism
Last week Bethesda released a tabletop RPG adventure module as a part of a promotion for the next expansion for The Elder Scrolls online. The would-be-adventurers are tasked with guarding a caravan as it traverses the deserts of Elsweyr with the aim of delivering a statue to Chandra Stol, a priest in the town of Rimmen.
However, this adventure, “written” by Karrym Herbar, kindled a very strong sense of deja-vu in some readers. Those readers then flicked through their D&D Adventurers League collection and found the adventure “The Black Road”, published in 2016, where would-be-adventures are tasked with guarding a caravan as it traverses the deserts of Anauroch with the aim of delivering a statue to Chandra Stol, a priestess in the town of Parnast.
Seriously, I kid you not, the whole thing is a blatant rip-off. If you’d like to see how similar these two “different” adventures are you can find the archived Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr module here (thanks to Ars Technica) and you’ll have to dish out a few quid for the Black Road over at the The Dungeon Masters Guild.
Bethesda pulled the adventure as soon as they could while they investigate the source of the trouble and you can bet future modules will have a more in-depth check before they are released to RPG fans.
Ancient Board Game Unearthed
An ancient board game was discovered by archeologists during an excavation of one of the third century buildings at Vindolanda - a Roman fort near Hadrian's Wall in northern England. It appears that the board was repurposed as a step for the bath house when it became cracked. The best guess is that a short tempered Roman Legionnaire lost and flipped the table causing the damage.
The game is known as “ludus latrunculorum”, or “The Game of Mercenaries” and is just one of several games uncovered in and around buildings along Hadrian’s Wall. No one really knows how to play it, but some game historians and aficionados have made some suggestions.
Warhammer Grimdark Action Figures
Games Workshop and Bandai (the Japanese toy and video game manufacturer) are teaming up in a move that will see Grimdark fanboys getting very excited. The first product to be released will be 7 inch, fully articulated Primaris Space Marine action figure. A prototype of which was recently on display at the Shizuoka Hobby Show looks very impressive and is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what else we can expect.
Also on show were the chibi style gashapon figures of a Sister of Battle, a Space Marine and an Inquisitor, amongst others. What is perhaps most interesting about this partnership is that it now connects one of the worlds biggest hobby games producers with one of the worlds biggest toy manufacturers. It’s also a very solid step for Games Workshop gaining a footing in the Japanese market - something that the company has been working towards for some time now.
Jared Knabenbauer
Just days before the big and exciting D&D Live 2019: Descent show this weekend (which will be the big reveal for the next D&D storyline) one of the top-billed star guests, Jared Knabenbauer, has decided not to appear amidst a tirade of allegations regarding his recently announced divorce from professional cosplayer Heidi O’Ferrall.
Knabenbauer, or “ProJared” is a member of a Dice! Camera! Action! the longest-running Dungeons & Dragons live play show produced by Wizards of the Coast and GM’ed by none other than Chris Perkins himself. Accusations of infidelity levelled at him also include another member of the Waffle Crew, Holly Conrad, which has also led to her stepping down from the D&D Live event.
Dice! Camera! Action! Is currently on a short break for D&D Live, due to return to Twitch on 28thMay and there is no word yet as to how these very personal issues will affect the show.
Trumped-Up Board Game Taxes
It should come as no surprise to learn that the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump is very soon to piss-off all American board gamers. Let’s face it, it really was just a matter of time.
After trade negotiations with China fell through last Friday, Trump has included toys, board games and dice to the list of items to be subject to additional tariffs up to 25%.
Public hearings on this and the other proposals are due to begin on 17th June (just after Origins gets underway) with these tariffs potentially taking effect as of the 24th June.
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