Epic Adventure

Send a text
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.

Send a text
“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]

Send a text
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.

Send a text
“As the four of you move into the open cavern you see a large Goblin on the far side. He turns and raises a club banging his crusty and broken shield. Three more goblins step from the shadows, their bows raised.”
Bob who was playing a first level fighter smiled. “This is perfect. Four Goblins against our Four 1st level characters. Let’s Do This! I charge forward with a war cry.”
20 minutes later as the players all sit in disbelief, their characters dead or dying with no possibility of survival. “What the hell just happened” they mumble as they start working on new characters.
What happened is that no matter what the book says about Challenge Ratings, there is no such thing as a balanced encounter.
On this episode Mike, Christina and I are going to talk about Balancing Encounters in your games. Why there is no such thing as a balanced encounter and the difference between a Roleplaying and Gaming at the table.
Mike, this is your favorite thing to say, so why don’t you kick us off.
[Kick to Mike]
Christina, you are heavy on the story telling side or what I like to call Roleplaying. I know you believe that the only way to balance encounters is between your ears.

Send a text
Welcome to you heard it here last, where we talk about news, you’ve already heard.
First up we are looking at EN Worlds results from their fan vote Most Anticipated Games of 2026. Malcolm and I talked about our favorites a few weeks ago, but now we have the official results from EN World.
https://www.enworld.org/threads/here-are-2026s-most-anticipated-ttrpgs-as-voted-by-you.717141/
The top 10 fan voted games are interesting for a number or reasons. We have some new players to the game world, some old favorites getting a face lift and at least one that left me scratching my head.
But let’s get the Doctor’s thought’s first. Christina, what stood out to you on EN World’s Top 10 List of Most Anticipated Games for 2026.
[Kick to Christina]
Mike, I know you have opinions, what did you pull from this?
[Kick to Mike]
In business news Drive Thru RPG announced an increase in it’s print on demand prices.
https://www.enworld.org/threads/drivethrurpg-print-on-demand-prices-increasing-again.717604/
This comes on the heels of last March’s almost 50% increase in printing costs. Drive Thru’s announcement indicates that there will be a 3 – 5 percent increase in costs for their print on demand service. This increase went into effect on February 1st, 2026. The announcement places the reason for the increase squarely on the shoulders of rising costs of materials, from paper to ink to labor.
Mike, I know the printing world is something you keep an eye on, so what observations do you have for the laymen out there wanting to get books printed?
[Kick to Mike]
Christina, is the future of TTRPG’s digital and what does that ultimately mean for the hobby?
[Kick to Christina]
And there you have it, all the news, you’ve already heard.