 | Tavers: The Meow Wolf RPG |
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| |  | Magazine Madness continues! |
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In this newsletter | Tiger Wizard | Saltheart RPG | Arcane Sword Press |
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Tiger WizardTAVERS LAUNCH! |
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Hey there Analogers! I’m super excited to launch my new game on Kickstarter this week: TAVERS: The Meow Wolf Roleplaying Game, launches Wednesday March 4th at 10am ET! |  | TAVERS gives fans of storytelling TTRPG’s the opportunity to create new worlds primed for exploration. Players use a collaborative “exquisite corpse” style storytelling system, which focuses on uncovering mysteries and exploring the strange and unknown across a universe of infinite worlds. Roll 2d8 dice to make Discoveries. Spend Source points to open portals and bend reality. Your group’s shared memories become gameplay resources that help you uncover mysteries across multiple interconnected story adventures. |  | Last chance to Sign Up to be a TAVERS prelaunch follower and receive a massive Nimsesku Kaiju miniature (Nimiature!) with your physical pledge!
Also, back the campaign anytime from launch at 10am ET Wednesday March 4th until 11:59pm Friday March 6th and receive a 3.5″ d8 embroidered patch early backer reward! |  | Can we count on your pledge? |
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Saltheart RPG Like Stephen King’s “The Gunslinger”? Then check out Bite The Bullet | | |
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 | This weekend I’m at Luppoleto Brewing in Windsor, Connecticut for Luppoleto Brewing’s HBG Con. There I’m playtesting the latest iteration of the Zany West. The Zany West is part of an advanced BURN 2d6 project, one leg of a project called the Book of Z. |  | | |
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Arcane Sword Press Magazine Madness continues: Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Flying Buffalo! |
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Magazine Madness continues: Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Flying Buffalo!
Sorcerer’s Apprentice has a lot of parallels to The Dragon, but it also has its own thing going on. I suppose it’s like comparing Burger King to McDonalds? M&Ms to *Canadian* Smarties? One is classic, but the other is better executed but that opinion varies person to person. And I’d say SA is a better execution of what the Dragon does. Instead of supporting AD&D, SA supports Tunnels & Trolls by Ken St. Andre- a very early RPG that emerged in the wake of the original Dungeons & Dragons. T&T has a more whimsical take on what TTRPGs would be, or rather- how RPGs actually play out at the table and the unintended comedy that occurs while goofing around with your friends playing a game. Tunnels & Trolls has a different attitude to its design, with Ken St. Andre stated that it’s not “his” game, but YOUR game to modify and improve for best experiences at your table – a strong contrast to the attitude to AD&D Gygax took for “his” game and how people play it “wrong” as he stated in many issues of The Dragon.
So now that attitude of the systems and their creators out of the way, lets get into the magazine itself. First of all- this magazine does something different: Sorcerer’s Apprentice was a Quarterly magazine that ran from 1978 – 1983 for 17 issues officially and then later as a fanzine throughout the 1980s. One thing that each issue has- A Tunnel & Trolls Solo adventure! The adventure is integrated throughout the pages which lends a different way to interact with a game publication. The couple issues I read also have a number of short stories found within it- a good way to pad out your fantasy gaming magazine! I also recognize that it isn’t for everyone, but it is more interesting to me and more of a source of inspiration than overwritten, half-baked and untested alternative AD&D mechanics or rules found in The Dragon.
But what about the similarities? Well SA features a letter to the editor section, rule questions (Querries & Quandries), An editorial column, Upcoming Events, and Reviews (Broken Spines, What a name!)
So Sorcerer’s Apprentice does a lot of what other magazines do, but definitely feels a bit more focused and polished. But there is one thing that this magazine has that others don’t – Grimtooth, the cartoon mascot of Flying Buffalo. For those who don’t know, Grimtooth is known for a series of books by Flying Buffalo (and later Blade) filled with comedic tricks and traps for fantasy roleplaying games. My personal perspective is that Grimtooth surpassed the popularity of Tunnels & Trolls. One thing I realized while flipping through a few of these issues is that it makes me want to finally check out Tunnels & Trolls!
|  | Next week – Imagine Magazine by TSR UK!
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| | ModCon 2026 Northampton, MA – May 30th |
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Game submissions are open now, and badges are on sale for the first-ever ModCon.
It’s happening May 30th at the beautiful Smith College Conference Center in Northampton, MA. ModCon is a one-day convention dedicated to the modern-era genre of TTRPGs.
That includes games like…321 RPG • Call of Cthulhu • World of Darkness • Cyberpunk • Shadowrun • Marvel Super Heroes • Mutants & Masterminds • Delta Green • Savage Worlds • Burn 2d6 • Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland • WHPA and more!
It’s going to be a great day of gaming, dedicated to all kinds of settings in the 20th and 21st centuries, in worlds both like our own and very, very different. Sign up below, and we’ll see you there! |
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ArcaneCon Northampton, MA – October 16th & 17th |
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ArcaneCon is returning October 16th & 17th, 2026. Join us in a celebration of indie, old school, and old school-inspired RPGs, miniature games, board games, and more! ArcaneCon is Western Massachusetts’s premiere tabletop hobby convention! Game submissions will go live on March 1st! See more information at Tabletop Events. |
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Your editor this week has been Jayson Elliot of Solarian Games
Keep on emailing us at hello@analogunion.com to let us know what you’d like to see more of, less of, or just ideas you’ve got. If you like the Analog Union newsletter, please tell your friends to sign up at AnalogUnion.com. See you next week! -JE |
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