Edge Studio has been quiet for much of its current existence. While Edge had an original incarnation making RPGs like End of the World, in its current version it’s the RPG arm of Asmodee, built up in part from the original Edge Studio but primarily from the roleplaying team of Fantasy Flight Games. Immediately after Edge Studio was formed they did little besides finish existing Fantasy Flight obligations, mostly in the form of Legend of the Five Rings supplements. While Edge was also responsible for releasing the Twilight Imperium supplement for Genesys and a few 5e-based games, there has not been an Edge-developed RPG system. Until now. Finally in broad distribution at the end of November, Arkham Horror is both a new swing at an old license but also a completely new set of RPG mechanics, the Dynamic Pool System. While the Dynamic Pool System certainly drinks from the same well as Genesys, for Arkham Horror it presents much simpler mechanics; there are no custom dice, only d6s, and while the game provides the comfortable framework of character classes there are really only two mechanical levers players need to worry about pulling, skills and knacks. All in all, it’s a simpler ruleset designed to be an easier way to play Call of Cthulhu. The question, of course, is if that’s something that we want.
Continue reading Arkham Horror RPG ReviewTag Archives: Fantasy Flight Games
Adventures in Rokugan Review
This review is delayed, far from the “hot off the press” take that I had intended back some time ago. Instead this has been an article I have stewed on for some time. In 2020 there came an announcement that Edge Studios would be taking over RPG properties that had been held by Fantasy Flight, which includes two that I have written about extensively in the past: Star Wars and Legend of the Five Rings. Since the acquisition, the publishing has mainly been constrained to reprints of books in use and published already developed supplements that had been in the pipeline before the acquisition. It was a bit of a surprise to me that the first new material from this new studio was to take the setting of Rokugan and put it into the mechanics of 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons.
My reaction to reading it at first was, to put it politely, visceral.
Embers of the Imperium Review
Genesys was released in late 2017, and supported with four major supplements from 2018 through 2020. At that point, the generic RPG went dark. The Covid pandemic was certainly part of this, but it was first a symptom of the broader issues for the RPG business at Fantasy Flight Games (FFG). In the mid 2010s, Fantasy Flight was (excuse me) flying high; as both the licensor of Star Wars and several enormously popular RPGs based on Games Workshop properties, Fantasy Flight was one of the biggest players in the RPG space, but that turned around quickly and badly. When FFG lost the Games Workshop license in 2017 they had nothing left in the portfolio outside of Star Wars; their biggest other game, Anima: Beyond Fantasy had been discontinued the year before. The company wasn’t ready to give up on RPGs, though. They had bought the rights to Legend of the Five Rings two years before, and whether in an effort to maximize their investment or simply because of the sunk cost fallacy, they also invested in a new game based on the ruleset they used for Star Wars. Genesys came out first, while Legend of the Five Rings was ultimately released over three years after FFG bought the property.
Embers of the Imperium comes into the picture after several upheavals, only one of which was a pandemic. In late 2019 FFG divested themselves of their RPG business, shuttling it over to another division of their parent company, Asmodee. Edge Studios, a Spanish company which originally published The End of the World, was the new brand for Asmodee’s RPG line. How did it work? Hard to say. The company does have two 5e-based games now (Midnight: Legacy of Darkness and Adventures in Rokugan), so they might be making money. That said, they did not give up on Genesys. After being announced in April of 2021, Embers of the Imperium has finally been released.
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Weekend Update: 9/25/2021
Welcome to the Cannibal Halfling Weekend Update! Start your weekend with a chunk of RPG news from the past week. We have the week’s top sellers, industry news stories, and discussions from elsewhere online.
DriveThruRPG Top Sellers for 9/25/2021
- WFRP: Empire in Ruins
- Heirs to the Shogunate
- Soulbound: Champions of Death
- Star Trek Adventures: Shackleton Expanse
- Deviant: the Renegades
Top News Stories
Asmodee up for sale: Report has come out that private equity (not venture capital, those are different) firm PAI Partners has retained Goldman Sachs to help them sell Asmodee, aiming for a valuation of around two billion dollars. As there’s no seller lined up, this is…not great? When PE firms look to sell without a counterparty lined up, it more means they’re looking to get rid of a company. My personal guess is that current supply chain issues have them spooked, and owning a major games distributor is not a good look. As for what this means for Asmodee divisions like Fantasy Flight and Edge Studios…there could be upside depending on what happens, but this is not what I’d broadly call “positive”.
Funcom grants license for The Secret World TTRPG: Cult classic MMORPG The Secret World is slated to be turned into a tabletop game. Publisher-to-be Star Anvil Studios states they’ll have more to share by the end of the year, and are aiming for a Kickstarter in 2022. Funcom is a bit looser with their IP than some others we know, but that seems to have only strengthened the fan community; I’ll be looking out for this one.
Discussion of the Week
Don’t Kill Your Players: An important Reddit thread this week. If you’ve killed one of your players, call the police, and probably a lawyer! Behind the goofing around, there’s some good lessons about design considerations and how games address players versus their characters.
Have any RPG news leads or scoops? Get in touch! You can reach us at cannibalhalflinggaming@gmail.com, or through Twitter via @HungryHalfling.
Meet the Campaign: Star Wars: A Rebellion Divided
The Galactic Empire brings safety, security, prosperity, and progress to every planet that welcomes its care . . . or so the story goes, anyways. On one Outer Rim world, at first that all seemed true: oppressive nobles were overthrown, social mobility increased, and industry flourished. However, in the mines and the ‘reeducation’ camps the truth of Imperial rule can be found for those brave and/or unfortunate enough to uncover it. The Rebellion fights here despite the Empire’s good publicity, but what path will the different cells take to freedom? How will new additions to the base upset the balance? Check your power packs and calibrate your blaster’s sights, we’re joining up with the rebels of Jumar Base!
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A PAX Unplugged Roundup
Aki might have had the brainpower to check in every day of PAX Unplugged, but I . . . didn’t. There was a lot to do and see, however: board games, events, roleplaying games, accessories, actual play opportunities! I came home with . . . a lot to write about, and more than a few review copies, but there are plenty of things that would get missed by doing things one article at a time. So here’s my PAX Unplugged Roundup of some of the things worth checking out, whether they’re things to look for next con or something worth chasing right now!
Meet the Party: Legend of the Five Rings: Courts of Stone
A Matchmaker of the Deer, manipulating others to maintain Rokugan’s balance. A Spymaster of the Crane, ferreting out secrets and striking at exposed weaknesses. A Deathdealer of the Scorpion, striking down enemies by any means necessary. A Chronicler of the Dragon, maintaining the truth despite a storm of lies. The social scene in the Emerald Empire is just as much of a battlefield as any blood-stained patch of earth outside Toshi Ranbo, and it’s a battlefield that requires warriors that wield words and blades alike with the greatest of skill. Fortunately we have what we need to build an entire party of such warriors for the Legend of the Five Rings roleplaying game from Fantasy Flight Games, using the Courts of Stone!
Continue reading Meet the Party: Legend of the Five Rings: Courts of Stone
Meet the Party: Legend of the Five Rings: Shadowlands
A Falcon hunting phantoms through the trees of Shinomen Forest. A Lion trying to heal the wounded and avenge an ancestor’s death. A Unicorn riding out to free the spirits of corrupted kin from the shadows that have swallowed them. A Phoenix desperate to redeem his bloodline and himself before it’s too late. The land of Rokugan thrives in the light of the sun, but shadows creep in, and someone must stand against them. We’re telling another tale in the Legend of the Five Rings from Fantasy Flight Games with this haunted but ready-to-play party of samurai seeking honor and glory in the Shadowlands!
Continue reading Meet the Party: Legend of the Five Rings: Shadowlands
System Hack: Genesys Mecha: Custom Mecha
Sure, you could enlist and get issued a giant robot by your space military. Or you could be a traditionalist and just steal fall into the cockpit of the nearest mecha to start your adventure. Why trust some other engineer’s design, though? You’ll be making your own story, why not your own mecha to tell it with? Well if that’s what you want to do then you’re in luck, because that’s what we’re doing for one last G.E.N.E.S.Y.S. Mecha System Hack using the Genesys system from Fantasy Flight Games!
Meet the Party: Star Wars: Separatists
An entrepreneur managing armies of battle droids instead of finances and job orders, trying to find some way to turn a profit in all this. A member of the Separatist Senate who truly believes in the cause, working to sway both allies and enemies. A warrior of an ancient tradition, fighting for glory in a galaxy that condemns him. A swordswoman skilled in magicks, out in the galaxy to prove herself and perhaps even learn a thing or two. The Grand Army of the Republic and the Jedi Order aren’t the only ones with stories to tell during the Clone Wars . . . so deploy the droids and get ready to fight for freedom from the Republic with this ready-to-play party of Separatists for Star Wars Roleplaying from Fantasy Flight Games!
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