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Welcome to you heard it here last, where we talk about news, you’ve already heard.
https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/parable-games/ion-heart-multiplayer-a-lo-fi-mech-ttrpg/launch_party
The fantastic Ion Heart a solo roleplaying game from Parable Games where you take on the role of a mech and it’s pilot is making the leap to multiplayer. Christina and I reviewed the Ion Heart Solo game for Pop Geeks last year and we are getting ready to dive in and give this one a review as well so look for that review to drop in the next month or so. I am looking forward to seeing how the quirky and fun game translates into a multiplayer platform and I really love everything that’s coming out of Parable Games right now.
Christina, I know you haven’t seen the game, but any thoughts?
[Kick to Christina]
Mike, while you didn’t review the game you have a lot of history with solo roleplaying games, you wrote one yourself with the Radiance Engine. What are your initial thoughts on taking a solo game and turning it into a multiplayer game.
[Kick to Mike]
Ion Heart dropped to Bakerkit on March 24th, so check it out.
Next up we’ve got an upcoming tabletop roleplaying game covering one of my favorite anima films, Ghost in the Shell. 
https://www.enworld.org/threads/a-second-ghost-in-the-shell-ttrpg-is-on-its-way.718020/
Mantic Games has announced that the new Ghost in the Shell TTRPG will be based solely off of the acclaimed manga. The plan to publish the TTRPG in 2026. The game uses an all-new system created by Alessio Cavatore of Games Workshop fame and Zak Barouh a writer, editor, and game designer. While I am not very familiar with the manga, I was a huge fan of the 1995 film. That film and Akira opened my eyes to Japanese animation. There have been attempts at turning the source material into a game before and this one isn’t the only Ghost in The Shell game planned for 2026. Mana Project Studio has raised over 500,000 dollars on their kickstarter for a Ghost in the Shell project.
I’m not familiar with Mantic Games, but I do own Mana Project Studios Cowboy BeBop game and lets just say I don’t plan on picking up their version in the future so this one might be a great alternative.
Christina, what do you think about Ghost in the Shell and Mantic Games diving into this source material for a ttrpg?

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J.R.R Tolkien famously argued in his landmark essay “The Monsters and the Critics” that the monsters in a story aren't just obstacles; they are the externalization of the impossible odds that make a hero’s victory meaningful.
Christopher Vogler in his book The Writer’s Journey said, "Every villain is the hero of his own story." And George R. R. Martin has said many times that the most compelling villains are those who believe they are doing a heroic act on Tuesday and something horrible on Wednesday.
Villains are arguably the most important part of any story which means, they are an important part of your game. 
In this episode Mike, Christina and I are going to talk about Villains. We are going to share some of our favorite villains from films and books and we are going to talk about some of our favorite villains from roleplaying games.
Christina, kick us off with the first villain that made you realize how important villains were to the story?
[Kick to Christina]
Mike, I know you are going to say Darth Vader at some point in today’s episode, so I decided to say it first. But seriously same question, who was the first villain that made you realize the importance of villains.
[Kick to Mike]

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Welcome to you heard it hear last, where we talk about news, you’ve already heard.
Well, I guess it was only a matter of time.
Deadline announced that Balder’s Gate 3 is coming to TV.
https://www.enworld.org/threads/there%E2%80%99s-a-baldur%E2%80%99s-gate-tv-show-coming.717787/
Deadline Hollywood, the entertainment news site has reported that Balder’s Gate 3 is coming to HBO and it is being run by the co-creator of the Last of Us, another TV show adapted from a game.
Craig Mazin will “create, write, executive produce and showrun” the TV adaptation. Other executive producers include Hasbro's Gabriel Marano, plus Jacqueline Lesko and Cecil O'Connor.
Chris Perkins—who used to work at WotC but now works at Darrington Press—will be acting as a consultant for the show.
Larian Studios, which made the bestselling video game, is not involved with the TV show.
Ok, So the company that made the game has nothing to do with it. The co-creator of the Last of Us that had an incredible first season and an abysmal second season is putting it together, and Chirs Perkins is climbing back into bed with Hasbro as a consultant.
To quote another favorite movie of mine, “It’s a trap, get an axe.”
Christina what do make of this announcement.
[Kick to Christina]
Mike, What about you.
[Kick to Mike.]
Next up we have some news that’s a little closer to home, and unlike most of our news, this will be the first time you’ve heard of it.
Leviathan Rising will debut at GenCon 2026. 
Leviathan Rising is a brand-new tabletop roleplaying game designed to simulate disaster films and specifically those creature features like Godzilla. It’s got an inventive new mechanic that incorporates the chaos that happens when everything around you is coming apart. And to make it all sweeter, the game is written by our very own Dr. Christina.
The game won’t be available for sale yet, but you will be able to sign up for games being run and demo’d by Christina herself.
Christina, give us some details about the demo’s you will be running at GenCon this year.
[Kick to Christina]
Mike, you’ve seen the game, what are your thoughts?
[Kick to Mike]
So, if you are going to GenCon this year look for Leviathan Rising and sign up for a demo from Christina.
And that’s all the news you’ve already heard.

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“So, what did you guys think”
If I’ve asked that question once at the end of a game session, I’ve asked it a hundred times.
Feedback, it’s all about feedback.
As a game master I want to know what worked, what didn’t work, and did I get my ideas across to the players. Where they surprised by anything, did the rules make sense, what do they want to see more of and most importantly, did they have a good time.
Recently we started a new game with our Thursday Night Game Group. Our core crew was present of course and we brought back some old players and added a few new players to the mix. We decided on playing Twilight 2000, a game from my past that Free League had picked up and made some significant changes by plugging their Year Zero engine into it.
I started by reading the rules and then ran the players through the lifepath system to help them create characters and finally we played the first session. As of this recording we have 2 sessions under our belt, and I wanted to take this episode to talk to the players and get their thoughts on the game.
We started this podcast to mimic those conversations we have after the games, and I can’t think of a better use for it then to actually have one of those conversations.
Let’s start with you Mike, what did you think?
[Kick to Mike]
Christina, I felt like you agreed to play the game, because you’ll never say no to a roleplaying game. That makes for a different view than some of the other players. What did you think about it.
[Kick to Christina]

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Welcome to You Heard it Here Last where we talk about news, you’ve already heard.
I evidently missed this announcement in November of 2025, so when I got the email from Backerkit about an upcoming launch I might be interested in, I was surprised. Traveller 5e from Mongoose Publishing was coming to Backerkit in March of 2026. 
https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/4bb4fe4f-753f-484d-8133-870c7c591797/landing?ref=home-page
My first thought was they were printing a new edition of Traveller, but then I remembered Marc Miller had produced Traveller 5th Edition in 2013. Of course, Mongoose has taken over publishing, but they are in the 2nd edition…then it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was Traveller for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition.
I’m sure if I tried real hard, I could come up with something more useless, but I gotta tell you, right now I’m out of ideas. 
What a complete waste.
Traveller is an iconic roleplaying game with specific systems that work perfectly in that science fiction world it portrays. Rewriting the entire thing for D&D 5E … Stop it. Just Stop it. I know that 5E is the biggest selling game out there and I know this is just a money grab, but Damit people, open another roleplaying game book.
I typically cheer for anything that brings more eyes to our hobby, but this isn’t a rising tide, it’s a tsunami destroying what’s good about independent games and alternatives to D&D.
I’m tapping out on this one.
Christina, thoughts?
[Kick to Christina]
Mike
[Kick to Mike]
You might think after my lead in I would avoid all things Hasbro, but our next article from EN World is just too interesting to pass up. We’ve talked a lot about AI on our podcast and in Hasbro’s latest earnings call Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks addressed the company’s use of AI.
https://www.enworld.org/threads/hasbro-ceo-says-ai-integration-has-been-a-clear-success.717852/
“We're beyond experimentation. We're deploying AI across financial planning, forecasting, order management, supply chain operations, training and everyday productivity.” Cocks said. He also broke down how creatives use the tools.
Mike, AI has recently become a huge part of your life and after diving into it and embracing it in the workforce you got promoted to COO. Briefly breakdown why AI is the future, whether we like it or not.
[Kick to Mike]
Christina hit us with the ethical issues
[kick to Christina]
And there you have it, all the news, you’ve already heard.