I did make some preliminary promises that I’d at least try to get out and ahead of the endless promo/review arms-race that is the perennially-busy (but especially so right now, it seems) music industry, and show my tabletop-enjoying hobbyist followers some love. So, here I am!

I’m not going to wax too lyrical around much of any one particular thing, because there’s frankly a completely and utterly insane amount happening in the hobbyist/tabletop/gaming space at the moment. It’s honestly been on par with the music press in terms of volume and quality of great new and upcoming releases. Which in the day and era of 2025 being…. shit, 2025 unironically, is a welcome refuge from the deluge of insanity, ambiguity, anxiety and mayhem assaulting our senses at the moment.

Take a short rest.

Grab some tea.

I can’t promise you might not feel a pang of option-paralysis with all the great releases and news features up for discussion, but I can promise you the potential of fun geekdom by way of publishers who deserve some promo!

Peace, Love, Advantage on WIS Saving-Throws, and Grindcore xoxo - Brady.

*also, as promised on our socials: CATS. Cats have won initiative first round. Please see this post for further cat-RPG-posting.*

*Look, it’s cat-adjacent, alright? And yes, not technically. Simmer down,* ***Battletech*** *community. Love ya’s - Brady.*
*(source:* *Sarna.net*).

GROUP ENCOUNTERS: ISC STAFF

ELODIE:

Is now retiring into a state of relief and much-needed rest, having worked super hard on her first ever entry into the canon of RPG designers who’ve launched a successful Kickstarter campaign!

Not only that; we have just received word that The World Well (of which her product, the very-cool Transformers-go-rogue RPG BRASS is included with) Tinstar Games/Weird Blue Yonder double-header hit funding goals in two hours.

Two. HOURS.

Dude. That’s like not even the span of time that would normally comprise a WWE Main Event. I think? It’s been like, 20yrs, I don’t know.

ANYWAY.

Chat, can we please get a massive O HELL YEA up in here for Elodie and Steve for their gloriously-successful publishing feat?

I’ll start:

Seriously, though - Elodie has worked hard on this product. Both in terms of the mechanics/design aspects for BRASS in-play, as well as creating a whole bunch of incredible artwork to go along with it. Those of you who have created an RPG supplemented or been commissioned for the art/writing/design aspects will understand. We players and GMs/DMs can often take tabletop design for granted, but it’s a confluence of everything from aesthetics to math and balancing. Things my puny, bruised prefrontal cortex can barely begin to comprehend.

On top of that, she’s managed this whilst battling major technical issues…. because it’s 2025 and they don’t make ‘em like they used to.

I’ve also personally play-tested a beta version of BRASS and, putting aside whatever biases her being a staffer at ISC may impose? It’s not only really good/fun, I can confirm it’s flexible enough to work with sad-sacks who playtest rules-lite RPG’s with Discord bots by themselves. Party Hard. If my incurably-malfunctioned auDHD brain worked it out, that means you’ve got an accessible product right there, pardner.

Initially, I was going to put a summary of said playtest in here as liner notes but… honestly? Seriously? I’m not done enjoying my solo run of the system yet! So yeah. You’ll get a damn sneak-peek review when I’m damn well done having fun, kay?

Sneak-Peek TL:DR - we’ll soon find out if my robot made of guns-upon-guns and his mechanoid warped-flesh-suit artificer pilot will be able to parlay with the colony of fleshbags (humans, my term) and peaceably work out sharing space on this airless moon - or whether the dice sayeth that it’s time for two robots and a pilot to unleash many, many barrels and missile-pods of hell upon said fleshbags.

Mayhem in this system isn’t just encouraged, it’s a feature.

And that feeds the neurodivergent chaos-goblin in me so well, considering my weirdly-well-behaved new DnD character and my strange recent otherwise demonstration of ADHD restraint (more on that later).

Plus… dude. DUDE. The. Art.

Can we just stop and marvel for a sec? How do people even draw stuff like this?

Yer a Wizard, Elodie:

Due to the campaign having only just concluded, you’ll need to keep in touch with Into The Weird Blue Yonder and/or TinStar Games (relevant contact details in both articles, below) for news when the full versions are released to the public.

Until then - we’ve published several recent articles which will help shed a whole bunch of light on both the Kickstarter campaign wholesale, as well as the included products:

Firstly, a prior Tabletop Thursdays segment containing some preliminary/background context for the campaign (LINK HERE) and, even better:
An interview from Elodie with Steve Dee regarding: TinStar Games, the Kickstarter campaign, the realities/challenges/successes involved with the tabletop/board gaming industry, and more (LINK)!

So yeah - if we’re talking ‘encounters’ in terms of staff updates? Elodie and Steve just slayed the Big Bad. Well done once again - fantastic work!

BRADY

Me? Oh.

Oh yeah.

Erm.

Huh, well. Hmm. I mean, hard to follow up that with my own stuff, particularly when as per the preamble, I’ve kinda-sorta been insanely busy with life-admin, managing the ISC blog/podcast etc.

My updates are more ‘the road to dusty shelves are paved with good intentions’ flavoured, I guess.

Earlier on, we put out a segment which included some of our overarching player/GM/design goals for the year.

To save you a click, here’s a summary of where I’m at in the TTRPG space per those goals:

My Poor, Neglected Forbidden Lands Campaign:

Aforementioned time-finding issues, as well as the ongoing meta-game that every tabletop group comprised of late-20s+-aged players faces = rolling for scheduling. I’m currently working through a tweaked version (NO LOOKING, GUYS - it’s okay, they won’t) of a specific module from the brilliant Spire of Quetzl. Whilst I can’t attest to how the whole book plays, each of the standalone ‘sites’ (FL is all about fluidity/flexibility, thus ‘modules’ themselves are quite modular) has received great praise from what I’ve seen.

Naturally, every GM feels a bit of guilt when not being able to regularly table their campaign as usual M.O. But then again, we’re all living in the clusterfuck disaster that is the 2020’s, so everyone understands lol.

Long-term, I’ve got some [redacted] plot arcs and have been here-and-there borrowing a little from both Numenera: Destiny and Stars Without Number to create a bit of now-and-then, clocks-style movement of factions, key players and events. It’s been fun to do this as a game-master, really. It’s helped create a real style of Kenshi/Rimworld flavoured emergence and organic feel to the sandbox.

But honestly?

With Forbidden Lands, it’s not even needed. The system is top-to-bottom chef’s-kiss for plug-and-play, moving and shaking, West Marches/sandbox style campaigns.

We have a session coming up and TL:DR - I’m very keen to see where the newly established adventuring company (Bruece; RIP The Fourteen Limbs, Inc.) takes their sojourn through a cavernous, dark, possibly-giant-reptilian-thing-inhabited cavern set deep in the mountainous spires of the ranges.

Will they take a cautious approach, having already claimed physical evidence [a severed hand nailed to cavern-wall] of the Limbs’ fate?

Will they succor favour from the seemingly-never-sober/possibly superstitious marauding Orc troupe at the caverns’ entrance?

Is this famed beast writ into the neolithic scriptures and shrines really a big ol’ dude or is it just a salamander? Or a cat? Or nothing?

We’ll just have to see, I guess. ;)

Also-Neglected But Definitely To Continue (Including Content Here) Solo Campaigns:

1. Five Leagues From The Borderlands.

A solo wargame with strong RPG/party development/sandbox gameplay elements. VERY recommended, as well as the sci-fi equivalent in Five Parsecs From Home.

Related Coming Soon Stuff:

a) A lore/worldbuilding primer about the specific setting, including some tools I used to craft said setting super-quick and on the fly. Also, an introduction to the Warband (party)!

b) Battle Reports - Per Campaign Turn, which comprises not only tabletop skirmish battles but can also include quests, delves, meta-quests, factional intrigue, random events and all manner of cool stuff! And, of course

c) A full system review. Of course! Also,

d) Nordic Weasel Games stans, get excited. Mastermind Ivan Sorensen himself (holy SH-) has agreed to a Q & A interview with Yours Truly!

2. Starforged.

Best solo/GM-less co-op I’ve read/played. Shawn Tomkins is a genius and The Man. Enough said.

We’ll touch base with Sanjay Primaron and uhhh, how his defence against a knife-wielding crazy random stranger in a deep-space orbitals’ market square is going…?…. later. One RPG step at a time.

‘til then - I once again am going to shout from the rooftops my praise about content-creators The Bad Spot! They not only make great let’s-play content, they’ve done a great intro to Ironsworn/Starforged:

3. That Adaptation of the Kenshi Setting Which I Specifically Bought Physical Copies of Ironsworn and Delve For, Then ADHD Happened (OOPS):

I’ll get to this one in 2025. Damnit, by Beep it’s happening!

I’ve yammered a lot.

We’re not even up to the news or deals yet!

They’re very close, though. Right around the corner frooom:

Tabletop News and Goodies!

If you’re anywhere near as broke as me, this section of Tabletop Thursday will be painful to look at, but very a e s t h e t i c. Enjoy!

Modiphius:

Fallout Factions - Core Rule Book/Box Set Preorders Up + PDF Available Now.

Case in point: Massive expansion to the front-line of skirmish wargame set in the Fallout universe!

Example quest-line goals from the campaign generation system included in the CRB.

*Nuka-World* Squad pack all painted up. Credit: Modiphius.net.

Fallout: Factions Core Rulebook features, to quote Modiphius:

“The core rulebook greatly expands on the content of the ‘Battle for Nuka-World’ Starter Set but is also a standalone entry point into the game. It contains all you need to know, teaching you the rules of play, the in-depth Campaign system, and showcasing the iconic Factions of Fallout.

Now you can create your crew using official Faction Lists for the Brotherhood of Steel, Super Mutants, Survivors, and Wasteland Raiders. The book also features tons of Weapons and Perks, rules for Legends of the Wasteland, and so much more!

Over the coming months we’ll be releasing plastic miniatures sets for each of the four main Factions, and most will come with optional parts so you can build your crew your way!”

— Modiphius, obviously!

*adjust straps* - Ayup. Them Super Mutants lookin’ mighty aesthetic all painted up ‘n’ such.

FALLOUT: FACTIONS OFFICIAL SITE / PREORDER LINK

Tournaments - Sign-up, News etc (partners: GoonHammer).

Other Goodies from the Modiphius Blog:

A how-to article to get your head around learnin’ that there Star Trek: Adventures Starter Set alongside the Game Toolkit (links for both included + article, RIGHT HERE).

Fallout Friday: Wasteland Wilderness Critters! Megasloths! Snallygasters! Free rules for your Factions game regarding these very nasties! (LINK)

Oh yeah, if you weren’t already that goddamn freaking Paranoia has a BOARD GAME adaptation, you were today years old when you found that out, and are better for it. [TRUST FRIEND-COMPUTER. CLICK HERE.]

Upcoming Dicey News, Here at ISC:

Even more news around some other cool Modiphius releases - Triangle Agency, Sentience post-Kickstarter debrief/info, Star Trek Adventures, etc.
An entire demilich’s lair full of brutal death metal-coded products via RPG-doom-metallers Exalted Funeral: Dreamland, multiple awesomely named events at the upcoming GaryCon XVII - Monty Python's Flying Gygax (Monty Python RPG), Hyperborea: Bone-Effigy Crucible of the Urgent Chimera (?? sounds metal though), etc. Check out the full convention schedule right here. There’s also a whole ton of other metal-AF titles with associated news: Glumdark, Carcass Crawler II (HELL YEAH THAT TITLE), Land of Eem, The Molt, and more! Even a goddamn skirmish game based on black metal!
Speaking of these guys - Exalted’s Dreamland Quickstart Guide is available for early playtesting! I’ll be putting out another Dicey News article tomorrow with more details, including links to the event itself via Discord.
So much Free League Publishing stuff that my head is spinning.
Updates from Catalyst Gaming Labs and the latest play-tests, feedback and general discourse around the Battletech: Mercenaries Kickstarter. Any day now, my parcel will be here. Any day…

ISC Content:

Speaking of the Monty Python RPG (aka Monty Python's Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme) is literally still sitting in the packaging it came in, in my ISC office room. Yes, that’s how busy I’ve been. Want me to crack it open and do a write-up/video etc on what’s inside the box? Get in touch with ISC and harass Brady into it!
Speaking of Battletech: Mercenaries - not only are there solo/co-op options included in the Kickstarter boxset (cmon, the wait’s KILLING ME IT’s BEEN YEARS AAA-), I’ve also got my grubby hands on a sweet couple of Chaos Campaign system PDFs, a Tukkayid Campaign Book that’s never been put to table-testing, and some great community-made solo/campaign options. So, if you want to see real autism via me playing against, well, me - again, let me know!
The aforementioned Five Leagues From The Borderlands introduction/primer posts, plus campaign updates.
Further into the future - a lot more in-depth episodical (podcast/blog) deep-dives into the inter-relationship between tabletop/hobby spaces and: mental health, social inclusion, mindfulness, skills development and even praxis. That’s right - based tabletop.

And so, nerds, I leave thee to thy literal devices.

Before thou goest, a farewell from Mr. Kiddles.

No, wanderer, that is truly thine feline’s name. Thou wilst respect him, or be dragged to the depths of Avernus.