The End of Star Wars (for now)

As you may or may not have heard, WOTC announced today that it is not renewing the Star Wars license. Announced products will be produced through May and the company will suppot the game though August, shutting it off soon after GENCON. Rumor has it that Hasbro is not happy about this decision from WOTC so we'll see if anything happens as a result of it.

I'll be sorry to see it go, especially the role playing version. Star WArs has always been a magnet for RPG players, both the WOTC Saga and d20 versions and the earlier West End Games version. The boxed sets that both companies offered were especially good for new players. hey were low prices, about $20 or so and designed to introduce a new player to the Star Wars universe AND role playing with minimal confusion. When they were available, I lost track of the number of new players I introduced to roleplaying through the Star Wars intro sets. Say Dungeons and Dragons to someone unfamiliar with the game would just look at you confusedly. Say "Star Wars"and it was immediate recognition.

The store still sells WEG's d6 books on occasion as well as WOTC's d20 version in the used section and people still buy the Saga version as well. If WOTC doesn't change its mind and re-up the license, I can see another company, such as Mongoose Publishing, Margaret Weis Publishing or Crucible 7, making a bid for it, though I fear the license would be fairly expensive.

Review--Dwarven Dig

Dwarven Dig! 2nd Edition BGL-0044 pub. by Bucephalus Games www.bucephalus.com MSRP $49.99

Gameplay--Dwarven Dig! is a very quick moving (30-45 minutes) for 2 to 6 players, aged 8 and up. Each player controls a team of 4 dwarves, each with its own special ability. The object is for your team to "dig" across the board to the treasure tile, retrieve a treasure and exit before the other players. Of course, the mountain you dig through is inhabited by monsters which may attack you and other dwarves, which probably will.

Presentation--Much like other Bucephalus Games' products, Dwarven Dig!'s components are very heavy and high quality, there's quite a bit of heft when you pick the box up. There's also a handy storage tray to store the components. The rules are pretty compact as well, taking up only eight pages. The box is much smaller than the Kenzerco version, taking up only about half the space of the first edition.

OSM Games

In case you were wondering, the following games are currently out of stock at the manufacturer. I'm hoping to see reprints within the next few months, but if you're looking for a copy and can't find it, that's why:

Last Night on Earth--Flying Frog Productions
Zombies!--Twilight Creations
Hex Hex--Smirk and Dagger

Top Events of 2009

ICV2 just published their list of the top 10 game events of 2009. Makes interesting reading.

Magic Reprint Policy

If you're intersted in what Magic cards might be reprinted from older sets, here's a link to WOTC's official policy as of 2002. As far as the people I have asked know, this is the most recent revision of the policy.

New Pathfinder Releases

New Arrivals - Pathfinder Product by Paizo

Enter a fantastic world of adventure!

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game puts you in the role of a brave adventurer fighting to survive in a world beset by magic and evil. Will you cut your way through monster-filled ruins and cities rife with political intrigue to emerge as a famous hero laden with fabulous treasure, or will you fall victim to treacherous traps and fiendish monsters in a forgotten dungeon? Your fate is yours to decide!

Backward-compatible with 3.5 fantasy rules but offering new solutions and options that place it firmly on the cutting edge, this imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 10 years of system development and an open playtest involving more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.

Check out the latest Pathfinder and Gamemastery releases from Paizo Publishing, in stock and available for order:

Pathfinder Module: Masks Of The Living God: A team of local heroes follows clues learned in the Crypt of the Everflame to the rag-tag rustic capital city of Tamran, crown of the woodland realm of Nirmathas. There they discover the work of an insidious cult of the Living God Razmir at work, and must pose as members of the vile organization to battle its malignance from the inside out. Masks of the Living God is designed for 3rd-level characters based on the new Pathfinder Roleplaying Game rules.

Pathfinder Module: Masks Of The Living God

SKU: PZO 9522

SRP: $13.99

Order Now From Alliance!

Pathfinder Chronicles: City Map Folio: Six of the deadliest and adventure-packed cities of the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting explode in giant full-color maps packed with rich detail and great layouts built to enhance campaign play. The City Map Folio features 17" x 22" poster maps of the following locations: Cassomir — Gleaming Capital of Humanity's Oldest Empire; Corentyn — City Between Two Seas; Ilizmagorti — Island Jungle City of Outcasts and Assassins; Nisroch — City of Shadows; Vigil — Last Bastion Against the Orc Hordes; and Whitethrone — Frozen City of the Witch Queen.

Pathfinder Chronicles: City Map Folio

SKU: PZO 9215

SRP: $15.99

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Gamemastery Face Cards: Friends & Foes: Be it a sinister sneer, a welcoming glance, or a sly wink, first impressions count in any game. From helpful merchants to rough mercenaries to crafty spellcasters, this 54-card deck includes beautiful, full-color illustrations you can use to give life and visual flair to the characters in your fantasy campaign.

Gamemastery Face Cards: Friends & Foes

SKU: PZO 3010

SRP: $10.99

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Gamemastery Item Cards: Weapons Locker: What dragon's hoard or palace treasury is complete without a trove of magical weapons? And what self-respecting hero leaves home without his trusty instruments of adventure? Weapons are a mainstay of any fantasy roleplaying game, and this 54-card set of beautifully illustrated, full-color item cards allows you to track your treasured weapons in vibrant detail. Item Cards: Weapons Locker has the blade or bludgeoning implement you've been dying to own!

Gamemastery Item Cards: Weapons Locker

SKU: PZO 3011

SRP: $10.99

Boardgames on NPR

NPR's Morning Edition program ran a 5 minute store on boardgames this morning. Here's the transcript.