Epic Adventure

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Welcome to you heard it here last, where we talk about news you’ve already heard.
Don’t worry, there is nothing wrong with your podcast and you don’t have to change the dial. This isn’t Morning Drive on FM 103 The Wave, it’s just Malcolm from the Finding Atoria Podcast stepping in this morning.
Say Hello Malcom,
[Kick to Malcolm]
You know ever since we started chatting, I felt like we had our own Berry White and Isaac Hayes thing going on, so hopefully the listeners can sit back, relax and enjoy.
So here is the deal, we are going to break down some recent RPG news and give our opinions, ideas, and feelings on the topic.
Our first story comes to us from EN World and its there Most Anticipated RPG of 2026 Fan Vote.
https://www.enworld.org/threads/its-time-to-vote-for-your-most-anticipated-ttrpg-of-2026.716726/
By now the voting is likely done, but I thought it would be interesting to throw out our votes and get the debate rolling.
Malcom, what are your three most anticipated RPG’s for 2026?
[Kick to Malcolm]
[Here are my Three, in no particular order; Toon, 2nd Edition from Steve Jackson Games. Procedural from Occupied Hex Games and the mind of Rob Kerkovich. Sisterhood: Nuns with Guns from Parable Games.]
https://www.enworld.org/threads/james-ohlen-shifts-from-archetype-entertainment-head-to-creative-consultant-for-tabletop-rpgs-at-wizards.716766/
Next up is the announcement that James Ohlen is leaving Archetype Entertainment a Wizards of the Coast video game company and he is being replaced by Blizzard Veteran Paul Della Bitta. This comes as Archetype Entertainment is moving into the final phase of bringing Exodus to release in 2027. But Ohlen isn’t leaving Wizards. He is sticking around as a consultant to focus on Table Top Roleplaying Games. This whole thing smells like the fishing docks at low tide to me. What are your thoughts Malcolm?
[Kick to Malcolm]
And there you have it, all the news, you’ve already heard.

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I’ve got a lot of games on my book shelves. Some are old games that I have played a lot, others are games that looked good in the store and I picked them up, but never got around to playing them. And then there is my Kickstarter addiction. Yea, I’ve got several that I picked up through Kickstarter because they sounded good and then once I got them, I never broke them out and played them.
I don’t think I’m unique in that regard and I also know that I’m on the low end of the collecting scale so really my problem is in my own head. But, it doesn’t change the fact that I have a lot of games I want to play.
So my New Years Resolution is to pick three of those games on my shelf I’ve never played, and play them this year.
That’s it. Just play three games I haven’t played before in 2026
That couldn’t be easier, could it?
Well not so fast. You see I’m running an ongoing Conan Campaign that the players seem to love and of course Christina is running her Ghost Hunters in Space game and then Mike keeps promising Cyberpunk … He’s a busy man I can’t give him too hard a time.
So when do you fit it in. What do you stop playing and when do you start a new game.
That’s a problem for another show. In this episode Mike, Christina and I are going to talk about the three games we are going to try and run this year and why we want to run them or play them so badly.
We will do this round robin style with each of us talking about one game we want to play and why, and of course I’m going to start with Christina?
[Kick to Christina]
Mike, Your turn
[Kick to Mike]

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Welcome to you heard it hear last, where we talk about news, you’ve already heard.
Well, here we are in 2026 and this is our first episode of Season 4. We are having a great time and I hope you are as well. Speaking of great times our first bit of news is like a blast from the past for me.
https://www.rascal.news/steve-jackson-games-announces-toon-second-edition/
Steve Jackson Games has just launched a Backerkit for Toon Second Edition. Toon is a roleplaying game set in the world of cartoons. Not the animie stuff, but the good old fashioned Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies cartoons produced by Warner Brothers. I grew up on those, routing for Bugs Bunny and always laughing when proclaimed the wrong turn at Albuquerque. Steve Jackson Games launched the first edition in 1984 and I loved it. Now, over 40 years later they are bringing out the Second Edition.
Mike, did you ever play Toon?
[Kick to Mike]
What about you Christina, where the Looney Tunes big for you growing up?
[Kick to Christina]
Next up we have a little interesting piece of news and maybe, just maybe a view of something to come.
https://www.rascal.news/why-did-his-majesty-the-worm-skip-the-kickstarter/
His Majesty the Worm is a tarot card RPG that was released in 2023. The creators utilized Itch.io and put up chapters as written with a pay-what-you-want request. They used the money gathered to help pay for artists and final printing costs. Now they are launching a supplement to His Majesty the Worm titled Castle Automatic. This mega dungeon in the Castlevania style isn’t going the route of backerkit or kickstarter. Nope, they are simply doing pre-orders through Exalted Funereal. We have talked several times on the podcast about the problems with big companies getting involved in platforms that were originally designed for new creators and this seems like the logical outcome of those markets being dominated now by the big brands.
Mike, Put on your business hat. What’s this mean?
[Kick to Mike]
Christina, Thoughts?
[Kick to Christina]
And there you have it. All they news, you’ve already heard.

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If I have read it once in an online forum I have read it a thousand times.
“I want to play game X but my players won’t play anything but D&D”
I always want to fire back with get new players, but that isn’t necessarily realistic and besides it’s not a good answer.
Over the years I’ve played a ton of different games and game systems. I personally have never hard a difficult time convincing people to try something different, but maybe that’s because I’m good at convincing people to try something different.
Taking a step back I can see where someone might struggle with pitching a new game idea. Or have to overcome the inherent biases of their players who just want to keep doing the thing that they like instead of trying new stuff.
So, for our last episode of Season 3 and 2025, Christina and I are going to talk about pitching a game idea to your players. We are going to give you some tips and tricks to help sell them on the idea, but first let’s start with Christina.
Christina, Pitch Mike and I a game idea to make us want to play.
[Kick to Christina]
It’s only fair that I give it a shot. Here goes.
[Steve’s Pitch]

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Welcome to You Heard it Here Last, where we talk about news, you’ve already heard.
https://www.enworld.org/threads/tolkien%E2%80%99s-writing-desk-on-auction-at-christies.716325/
Christie’s Action House is hosting a live auction in December, 2025 called Groundbreakers: Icons of our Time and in that auction, you will find a simple 19th Century Merton’s College Desk that just happened to be owned by JRR Tolkien. The desk is going for a deal at somewhere between 50 and 80 thousand Pounds.
Christina
You don’t strike me as much of a collector? Do these things interest you?
[Kick to Christina]
Along with the desk they also have the Winchcombe Meteorite, the Kenbak-1 First Personal Computer, and the original cover artwork for the first edition of Warhammer. Definitely some cools stuff for the collector out there.
Next up we have two of our favorite things; Netflix and D&D.
Yep, I read that in my sarcasm voice.
https://www.enworld.org/threads/shawn-levy-provides-update-on-netflix-d-d-show.716209/
Shawn Levy the producer for the upcoming live action D&D Show title Forgotten Realms gave a brief update on what’s been going on behind the scenes with the show and his answers are, well, Interesting. Levy said "I think that the reason it's taken so long and the reason why it is a challenging process is you're not adapting story IP, You're adapting a world and a lexicon and a spirit, but story needs to be invented largely from scratch. And it needs to be invented in a way that feels organic to everything that's great about DnD. So that one is in very active every day chipping-away-at-it development at Netflix."
Let me translate that for you…This show is going to suck.
Christina, what do you think?
[Kick to Christina]
And finally, from all of us to all of you. Whatever you believe in and however you believe it. Just be happy. 
And there you have it, all the news, you’ve already heard.