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WotC Won't Recognize Its Union, but Will Count the Votes

issues ttrpg  2026-10-16

Issue #016 · Week of October 16, 2026

This Week’s Verdict

The headline is labor, not lore: Wizards of the Coast declined to voluntarily recognize a new union, then announced it will respect a vote it would not preempt, which is roughly how these things always go. Elsewhere, Kobold Press remembered it used to make other people’s games, and the OSR quietly proved it is larger than it looks.

Releases & Announcements

Kobold Press is returning to third-party publishing with Dark Halls, a Shadowdark expansion adapting its monster stable, with Shadowdark creator Kelsey Dionne on the writing team. For a publisher that spent recent years pushing its own Black Flag/Tales of the Valiant line, this is a notable reversal toward the work that built it. Coverage via Tabletop Sentinel and Geek Native.

On the official D&D side, Project Lamordia landed on D&D Beyond, a Ravenloft adventure trilogy that recasts the Domains of Dread as modern techno-horror. Baldman Games released the Legends of Greyhawk bundle “Heralds of the Old One” on D&D Beyond, pitting parties against Iuz and the Horned Society. Wizards of the Coast also confirmed more D&D/Star Wars crossover plans for 2027, and Dark Horse is producing Dark Sun graphic novels, with the first mini arriving April 2027.

In the wider field, Paizo announced a Pathfinder action figure line with Harbinger Studios. EN World’s RPG Print News catalogs the return of Ars Magica alongside supplements for Daggerheart, Scalemail, Pirate Borg, and Mothership. Barrel Rider Games put out White Box: Pirate Adventures, and Advanced Fantasy: Journeyman, Expert, Master is now in print and PDF.

Rules & Errata

Nothing resembling official errata crossed the desk this week for 5e, Shadowdark, or DCC. The closest thing to rules content was Kobold Press’s older “dos and don’ts for 5E GMs delving into Shadowdark” guide, which resurfaced in the wake of the Dark Halls news, and Sly Flourish’s “Three Choices” post arguing for offering players three meaningful options at decision points. Useful table craft, not rulebook changes.

The Community

The labor story dominated. Wizards of the Coast declined to recognize a newly formed union whose stated concerns include protections against generative AI, wages, and workers’ rights to their own off-hours creations, per EN World. Days later, the company said it will respect the results of a union vote, likely next month. The gap between “we won’t recognize you” and “we’ll respect the vote” is the whole story.

The quieter but more interesting data point came from Geek Native citing Groupfinder: no single OSR title cracks the top eight non-D&D games, but combined, the OSR runs 114 active tables, edging out Pathfinder 2E’s 104. Evidence that the scene’s fragmentation hides real volume. Groupfinder also reportedly crossed 10,000 users with a roughly twelve-players-per-GM bottleneck, a number no amount of enthusiasm fixes quickly.

On the lighter end, chaosfae and others noted Hit Point Press has a semi-official D&D class that is a Pokemon trainer in all but name, which tracks. The Shadowdark community kept busy, with Tabletop Sentinel statting the Rabbit of Caerbannog for the system and a steady stream of Questable quests from busywyvern’s “Woeful Barrows and Other Places.”

A note of caution: Tribality this week published a run of affiliate listicles about non-GamStop casinos and betting sites. It is not TTRPG content, and readers should treat that feed accordingly.

On the Horizon

Underground Oracle Publishing fully funded Creature Companions Expanded on Kickstarter, a Tales of the Valiant and 5e-compatible sourcebook for adventuring with (or as) a creature companion. Paizo’s modern-horror one-shot game 13 Omens is live on Kickstarter, each session a self-contained story.

For Shadowdark backers, Jerd Productions launches two more Dragonspine Chronicles installments, “Terror at Dragonwing Pass” and “Under the Mountains Deep,” on Kickstarter October 27. Kobold Press’s Dark Halls is pegged for 2027 and will presumably crowdfund, since, as one commenter dryly noted, system crowdfunders outsell supplement ones. On the solo front, EN World flagged the OneQuests gamebook series spanning survival horror, sci-fi, and heroic fantasy.

Resources

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