I finally got around to trying Dungeons & Dragons — and realized I'd been putting it off for nothing. In D&D there are no pre-scripted actions: the players decide for themselves what their heroes do, and the story changes in response to those decisions. There are two roles at the table — the players and the Dungeon Master, who runs the adventure, plays the enemies, and decides when to roll the dice.
You don't need much for your first session: a short one-shot adventure, character sheets, and a set of dice — d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20. The d20 is rolled most often — it's the one that decides whether an action succeeds. You can create a character from scratch or take a pre-made one: you pick a class (fighter, rogue, wizard, and others), a species, and a background, and then assign your six ability scores — Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma.
The basic rules are enough to get started: d20 checks against a Difficulty Class (DC), turn-based combat with initiative, and death saving throws when a hero drops to 0 hit points. You pick up the rest as you play — and that's completely normal.
The hardest part turned out to be finding a group. I invited a couple of friends who like fantasy and story-driven games, and we figured it out together. If you don't have anyone, look for people in themed Telegram chats and VKontakte communities. And if D&D clicks for you, it's worth trying Pathfinder, which offers more character customization, or the sci-fi Starfinder.
Source: 100балльный репетитор
D&D Beyond has been previewing the upcoming D&D: World of Warcraft book, and a recent piece walks through the five dragonflights. I found it a handy overview for anyone thinking about running a campaign in Azeroth.
The lore is simple enough: five proto-dragons helped the titan Tyr fight Galakrond and became the first Dragon Aspects. Their keepers later altered proto-dragon eggs so the hatchlings would match the Aspects, which produced the five flights.
What stands out for a Dungeon Master is how each flight comes with its own breath weapon and a distinct trick. Black dragons, tied to Neltharion (Deathwing), use Magma Breath and a Pyroclastic Eruption legendary action. Blues, the arcane stewards of Malygos and now Kalecgos, have a Spellfreeze Breath that can stop a spellcaster from casting until the dragon's next turn. Bronze dragons, followers of Nozdormu, wield a Sands of Time legendary action that inflicts Exhaustion, and exhausted targets appear 3d10 years older. Greens, led by Merithra, have an Emerald Gas Breath and a Dream Banishment option that sends creatures to a harmless demiplane. Reds, the flight of Alexstrasza, bring a Razing Fire Breath and a Renewing Flame action that grants temporary hit points and ends conditions.
The article also mentions that the book includes stat blocks for more than 50 new monsters and over 25 factions, and that a free Dungeon Masters Play-Along Pack adds two level 5 Dire Maul encounters plus a quickplay map.
Personally I like that the flights are not simply good or evil. Most proto-dragons are Neutral, and the article stresses that even noble blues can be mentors while some blacks stay hostile, which gives a table plenty of room to roleplay.
Source: D&D Beyond
KADOKAWA has announced that the supplement "New Cthulhu Mythos TRPG Cthulhu 2026" for the New Cthulhu Mythos TRPG will go on sale on May 29, 2026. The price is 4,400 yen including tax.
The Call of Cthulhu tabletop RPG is based on the fictional mythos created by H. P. Lovecraft and others in the 20th century. This book builds on the new edition, whose rules were fully revised in 2019, and is positioned as an additional setting book for enjoying investigation in modern Japan in greater depth.
The contents announced include rules for building investigators' backgrounds in more detail, such as occupations, side jobs, and traits. It will also feature tips for making better use of the new edition's rules on sanity and pushing rolls, along with tips for expanding the setting across Japan and data for new weapons.
Personally, the rules that deepen investigators' backgrounds caught my eye. The richer a character's occupation and traits, the more convincing the decisions made during a session become. Hints for writing scenarios set in various parts of Japan will also be a welcome addition for game masters.
Both the release date and the price have already been officially announced, so if you are interested, keep an eye out for the cover image and further details. For groups playing the new edition, this looks like a book that will broaden the range of what your table can do.
Source: 電ファミニコゲーマー
Jambô Editora has published on its blog Gabriel Menezes's impressions of the first episode of HEXATOMBE, the third spin-off of Ordem Paranormal, which premiered on 25 October 2025. The text contains spoilers, so consider yourself warned. The author considers it the biggest production in the series so far, and one interesting feature is that players connect to ready-made characters instead of creating their own.
In the opening, Bagi and Cereaw compete over Jae-Yoon's connection, which goes to the veteran player. Then a heartbeat echoes inside a chained coffin and a voice pleads: do not open it. Each character wakes in a different situation: Jonas Aguiar, a police chief, wakes with no memory and is summoned to São Paulo; Dalmo Magno appears in a luxurious office at Trans Muller; Kemi, the season's new killer, wakes in a rundown apartment. The group stands before a door with five chained coffins. When they open the room, an Anulado appears and is destroyed by Colosso, and the episode ends with Aaron and Agatha revealing that killing the Anulado will cause one of the five to die.
The author praises the individual narrations tied to each of the five senses and the potential of each character's themes. He also highlights the tabletop tool made for Ordem, which allows more immersive takes, and sees the episode's fanservice as anything but gratuitous: a bridge to the seasons before Calamidade: Parte 2.
For me, what is interesting is seeing a tabletop RPG campaign become a show without losing its visible game mechanics. Anyone who follows Ordem Paranormal and wants to understand how the table works this season will find a good starting point here.
Source: Jambô Editora
I came across a review of La Santa Muerte in Poltergeist, a standalone supplement for the Liminal Horror roleplaying game. The reviewer points out that although most official adventures for the system take place in the USA, they can easily be set in almost any real-world location: a Polish housing estate, the Paris catacombs, a Korean nightclub, or a remote Welsh moor. The light mechanics and sketched-out setting make it easy to build the adventures, called Mysteries in liminal terminology.
The printed La Santa Muerte is a small booklet of sixteen pages, and once you subtract the cover, the full-page illustrations and the blank sheets, there are really eleven. It deals with the cult of Santa Muerte, the Holy Death, one of the most striking current motifs in Mexican culture. It is usually associated with gangs, but it is also present among the working class and the Mexican diaspora.
The reviewer praises the artwork, the many illustrations, and the photos of women made up as the Lady of Death. The downside is white text on a red background, which makes it hard to read and to print in its electronic version.
The most important thing is that this is not an adventure with a plot, but a set of elements for building your own scenarios: a description of the Night Market, where the strangest goods can be bought, its regulars, other independent non-player characters, random tables of unsettling motifs and events, a police report as a help for the players, and a table of Aftermath effects. Turning this into a session will take the game master a lot of work, but the elements can also be woven into other Mysteries, for example as rumours in the NPCs' conversations.
The author did not get what he expected but was pleasantly surprised, and advises buyers to know the nature of the product beforehand. I personally like this kind of toolkit, because it leaves room for your own story.
Source: Poltergeist
EN World reports that TTRPG designer Celeste Conowitch has joined the Dungeons & Dragons design team. She announced on social media that she is now a Senior Game Developer at Wizards of the Coast.
Conowitch previously worked as a senior game designer at Kobold Press and was lead game designer of Tales of the Valiant, the 5E spinoff that was presented as an alternative to Dungeons & Dragons after the Open Game License debacle. She has credits in most Kobold Press books going back to 2022 and also worked on Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden.
The hire continues a trend. Wizards of the Coast has been building up its D&D design team with names such as James Haeck and Erin Roberts. Justice Arman is the game design director of the group, and the design team ultimately reports to Dan Ayoub, who leads the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.
The news is not all positive, though. The article also notes that the wider group took a hit the day before, when community manager LaTia Jacquise was let go as part of Hasbro layoffs.
It is interesting for me to see a designer of one of the best-known alternatives to D&D move over to the company behind the game itself. I am curious how that experience will show up in future books. The original report has a long discussion thread, so the community clearly has a lot of opinions.
Source: EN World
On Dragons' Lair I read a good article by Mortegro about a line many players have forgotten: the green AD&D 2nd edition books, TSR's Historical Reference series, seven manuals published between 1991 and 1994 that brought European and Mediterranean history to the gaming table.
Before them came the brown Complete Handbooks and the blue series for Dungeon Masters. Green was chosen by the designers, many of whom came from historical wargames. Each volume has 96 pages, a fold-out map and a green cover.
The list is curious. HR1 Vikings Campaign Sourcebook, by David "Zeb" Cook, introduces the berserker and runecaster classes, and takes lockpicking away from the thief because Scandinavian locks would have been crude. HR2 Charlemagne's Paladins, by Ken Rolston, is set in the Carolingian Empire. HR3 Celts, by Graeme Davis, brings geasa and heroic feats. HR4 A Mighty Fortress, by Steve Winter, covers 1550-1650. HR5 The Glory of Rome, by David Pulver, is according to its author the most satisfying of the series. Then come Age of Heroes, on Homeric Greece, and The Crusades, on the first three crusades.
The most recurring criticism is the distance between historical documentation and the table: the GM still has to invent a lot to turn a page of history into a session. The series stopped at seven volumes, apparently because it sold less than the brown and blue books, while TSR focused on strong settings like Dark Sun, Planescape and Birthright.
The author suggests plundering these pages, from gift tables to superstitions and omens, and starting with Vikings. A practical note that struck me: physical copies cost quite a lot, while the PDFs are cheap.
Source: Dragons' Lair
Cyberpunk fans, take note: Mantic Games is developing an official roleplaying game based on Masamune Shirow's manga Ghost in the Shell. Funding on BackerKit ran until August 13, 2026, and according to Teilzeithelden, backers above the free follower tier should receive the full PDF as early as September.
In the Ghost in the Shell: Tabletop Roleplaying Game, the players take on the roles of Section 9's field agents. Alessio Cavatore and Zak Barouh are designing the system, which centers on investigations and covert operations. At the same time, it takes up the social questions of the source material, such as the relationship between humans and machines, and the nature of one's ghost, that is, consciousness and identity, while the biological or artificial body forms the shell.
The printed edition is scheduled for delivery in May 2027. Mantic also announced three free bonus missions. They take Section 9 to a secluded island, into compromised cybernetic systems (in cyberspace as well as the real world), and into a sealed luxury hotel. So far, the bonus mission Puppets on a Wire is the only one that has been publicly presented.
The campaign also includes the first officially licensed tabletop miniature line for Ghost in the Shell, with six figures cast in MasterCraft resin, as well as STL files for home 3D printing. Masamune Shirow contributed a new illustration, available as a limited art print.
I find the mix of investigation and questions of identity appealing for a game session, but I am curious how well the system will work at the table. Ghost in the Shell brought Japanese cyberpunk to the world with Akira; now the roleplaying game has to show whether it can convincingly combine action and contemplation.
Source: Teilzeithelden
I came across LudoVox's section on news about French-language alternative roleplaying games, and its selection of games that have caught the author's attention over the last thirty days caught my eye. Here is what I took from it.
Dans l'ombre d'Excalibur, written by Krisdoc, belongs to the family of Brindlewood Bay games. Players take on women searching for the Grail to stop the Fairy King from carrying out a ritual that would plunge the post-Arthurian world into perpetual darkness. Instead of mysteries, each session questions the official "Accounts" in order to reveal their hidden side, the one in which women and non-binary people played their part.
Nephiloth, by Mathieu Lam Son Leocmach, descends from Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands. These games are presented as no-prep "party games" that are accessible to beginners, made up of highly focused mini-games (a romance scene, a chase, a melee). Here, players portray mythical beings forced to inhabit humans in order to survive, with some thirty mini-games and "trajectories" for building a full session.
Finally, Saudade, by Enzo Cavalier and Éditions Dérivantes, has just launched its crowdfunding campaign. Players portray divers in a submerged world drained of all its memories, alternating between very gentle moments of mutual aid and oppressive deep dives. With the campaign's success, a solo module without a game master has been unlocked.
The author notes that the selection is subjective and not exhaustive, and two of the games presented are free. What I like about this approach is that it makes you want to try short, narrative formats, far from the big systems. Each reader will have to decide which one suits their table.
Source: LudoVox
Nosolorol has opened preorders for Mundodisco: Aventuras en Ankh-Morpork, a roleplaying game set in Terry Pratchett's universe, and I think it is news many people have been waiting for.
The setting is the one we already know: the Discworld, a flat world that travels through space on the backs of four elephants, which in turn stand on the giant turtle A'Tuin. The focus is Ankh-Morpork, the biggest city on the Disc, with places like the City Watch, the Unseen University and Sator Square.
The system is collaborative: the group tells a story and each player plays one character. The rules are light and serve the scene, built on the idea that the story comes first. There is a substance called Narrativium that turns actions into narrative and lets you bend or override the rules when they get in the way. The article does not detail the dice system, so we will have to wait for the handbook to learn more.
The tone blends satire, absurd humour and the occasional emotional moment, and characters often fail in funny ways, very much in Pratchett's spirit. The physical Spanish edition is a full-colour hardback with 224 pages. It is up for preorder with delivery expected around Christmas 2026, and each copy includes the printed starter adventure “Hacerse Humo” while stocks last.
Personally, what interests me most is that flexible approach to the rules. For a table of new players, a system that rewards telling good stories even when things go wrong may be exactly what is needed.
Source: Nosolorol
Wizards of the Coast has announced a crossover that many did not expect: D&D World of Warcraft. It is a tabletop roleplaying game that, for the first time since 2005, will let fans set off for Azeroth with dice and a character sheet. Early access is planned for November 3, 2026, with the full retail release following on November 17.
The product is the first in the D&D line under the Universes Beyond label, which came over from Magic: The Gathering and denotes crossover releases based on other universes. The set will include a rulebook covering game mechanics, a Dungeon Master's screen, and a card set with tokens and battle cards.
The rulebook covers a substantial part of the MMO's universe. It promises 11 new creature types covering every race in World of Warcraft, including those that in the online game are merely cosmetic variants. There will be 6 new subclasses, including the iconic Death Knight, and 3 updated ones. The book will also feature 7 dungeons inspired by iconic raids, locations across Azeroth, and stat blocks for key characters such as Arthas, the Lich King, and Jaina Proudmoore.
Designer James Wyatt, a longtime World of Warcraft player himself, noted that the tabletop format makes it possible to tell stories that the online game would never offer. As the author of the article points out, Wizards also explained that D&D has no set limit on the number of Universes Beyond releases, unlike Magic.
Personally, I am curious how well the rules of the fifth edition will fit a MMO world with its classes and raids. For those who run campaigns, ready-made dungeons based on raids could be a very convenient starting point for sessions.
Source: Shazoo
