Just a short update, rounding up some news of interest…
Yesterday, Paizo Publishing released v.2.0 of their Pathfinder RPG‘s Alpha playtest version. Get it here. It is good. I talked about the Pathfinder RPG back when the first Alpha came out, and it still looks very promising. It’ll also presumably be the most playtested roleplaying game around when it’s released in 2009.
Meanwhile, Wizards of the Coast has announced that they’re still considering whether to take part in GenCon Indy, while the event registration is already open. The following is copied off the front page of EN World. Since I can’t link directly to the news item, I will reproduce it here.
Here is a brief FAQ concerning your questions:
Q: Why are there no D&D or Wizards events on the schedule posted for Gen Con at http://www.gencon.com?
A: Wizards had not submitted a schedule of events by the Gen Con deadline. Since we hadn’t submitted our own schedule, none of our events are in the official Gen Con schedule at this time.
Q: Will Wizards attend Gen Con in 2008?
A: As you may be aware, Gen Con is currently in chapter 11 bankruptcy. Wizards’ plans relative to Gen Con are dependent on the course of proceedings in US bankruptcy court. While we hope to participate in Gen Con, we must await further proceedings in the bankruptcy matter before we are able to confirm our plans.
Meanwhile, they’re also messing about with the Game System Licence, which may or may not be available at some point in the undetermined future. The current deadline they’ve set themselves is June 6th, the same time the 4th Edition rules are supposed to come out. There’s also been some confusion about the contents of said licence, which may or may not include a clause that prevents a company using the GSL from releasing anything under the Open Gaming Licence. There should be a clarification on this one by the end of the week.
Yesterday saw in fact two interesting game releases. The other one was the second printing of Stalker, Burger Games’ roleplaying project that suffered more delays and unforeseen setbacks than Bridge Over Svartjet. It’s based on the science fiction novel Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky and Stalker, Andrei Tarkovsky’s movie based on the novel. I’ve got my copy, and it looks good. I may be reviewing it here in the coming week, depending on how time allows.
The shop I bought my copy from is the new Puolenkuun pelit in Tapiola, Espoo, incidentally. They stock RPGs. Not much, but some. Also, miniatures. And board games. And it’s right along my commute. They opened up on Saturday. I also picked up a copy of Arkham Horror and Games Workshop’s new 25th Anniversary miniature, Harry the Hammer.
Worlds in a Handful of Dice 