IDW Publishing announced it will be returning to the Forgotten Realms with Dungeons & Dragons: Mindbreaker, a five-issue monthly comic book series that takes place before the events of Baldur’s Gate III, the highly-anticipated video game. IDW D&D writer Jim Zub is back, joining artist Eduardo Mello in a tale of familiar Dungeons & Dragons adventurers Krydle, Shandie, Delina, Nerys, Minsc, and Boo, as they discover that something insidious has taken root in their homeland. Dungeons & Dragons: Mindbreaker #1 will be available with multiple cover variants, including artwork by Max Dunbar (Legends of Baldur’s Gate, Infernal Tides), Max Davenport, and Celia Lowenthal. Continue reading →
The latest from Dungeons & Dragons following Candlekeep Mysteries and Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft are now available for pre-order. The Wild Beyond the Witchlight is D&D’s next big adventure storyline that “brings the wicked whimsy of the Feywild” to the 5th Edition for the first time. Wizards of the Coast invites you to tune into D&D Live 2021 presented by G4 on July 16 and 17 for details including new characters, monsters, mechanics, and story hooks suitable for players of all ages and experience levels. Later in the year, look for the next Magic: The Gathering crossover with D&D in Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos. You can pre-order The Wild Beyond the Witchlight with the standard cover here from Wizards of the Coast at Amazon now (or order the alternate soft-touch edition from your local game shop) and pre-order Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaoshere.
Wizards of the Coast and G4 are partnering for D&D Live 2021, a special two-day streaming event on July 16-17 and continuing with four all-new limited-run campaign series to premiere on G4 this Fall. The two-day event will feature four games with star-studded casts playing with expert DMs, as well as hosted content featuring games, interviews, special product announcements, a Dungeon Master roundtable, and exclusive giveaways. Watch the Wizards of the Coast website for more details.
A new sourcebook is heading your way next week: The new Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition campaign sourcebook Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft may just be the D&D your mother warned you about. Okay, not really, but it is the darkest exploration yet of horror in the world’s most popular roleplaying game. But it’s not for younger kids, going beyond R.L. Stine horrors and skipping ahead from the dark corners of Stephen King to the gorier realms of Clive Barker… slasher realms and beyond… but only if your gaming group so chooses. It’s all part of the mysteries of Ravenloft, mist-shrouded lands where infamous Darklords lurk among ageless vampires, zombie hordes, cosmic terrors, and bloodier things. Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloftis still a place for heroes to succeed, but not without mucking their way through terrors on their journey. It all arrives next week. You can pre-order the standard library cover here from Wizards of the Coast at Amazon now, or order the alternate shimmering, soft-touch edition from your local game shop.
Humble Bundle has launched its latest content bundling opportunity with IDW Publishing, publisher of Dungeons & Dragons tie-in comic book adventures. The “Humble Comics Bundle: Dungeons & Dragons by IDW Publishing” will run through May 3, 2021, and it features a large selection of Dungeons & Dragons adventures, including up to 28 full graphic novels, plus individual issues of IDW’s latest D&D series, Infernal Tides and At the Spine of the World. As with past Humble Bundle promotions, readers can simply pay what they want, starting at only $1.00 to purchase a basic tier, then increase their contribution up to $25 to add more graphic novels to their collection. Take a look back at previews and reviews of several of these here at borg.
The mists of Ravenloft are rising. Overcome your dread or forever be its prisoner!
Hot on the heels of this month’s release of Candlekeep Mysteries, the new Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition campaign sourcebook Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft explores the mysteries of Ravenloft, mist-shrouded lands where infamous Darklords lurk among ageless vampires, zombie hordes, cosmic terrors, and worse. Create your own Domains of Dread, settings to host endless terrifying adventures, or join the ranks of haunted heroes who embrace macabre lineages, dual-edged Dark Gifts, haunted subclasses, and other forbidden powers. Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloftcontains everything you need to craft a horror-themed campaign for Dungeons & Dragons, and unleash a treasure trove of new story hooks, character options, and campaign customization. You pre-order the standard library cover here from Wizards of the Coast at Amazon now, or order the alternate shimmering, soft-touch edition from your local gameshop.
Not just a new adventure for your next Dungeons & Dragons campaign, the new 5th edition adventure anthology Candlekeep Mysteries is a different way to enhance gameplay from Wizards of the Coast. First, it opens up the realm of creators creating the stories behind your next adventure. It’s 17 contained adventures all centered on a visit to the Forgotten Realm’s renowned towering library fortress of Candlekeep. Each adventure has a book– a rarity, serving as a clue, a key, a totem or token, a container, or treasure–at the center of a mystery. And each adventure can be played as a standalone, or, it can supplement another campaign, so a Dungeon Master can splice in one of these stories to places like the Soltryce Academy of Wildemount, the Library of Korranberg in Eberron, the University Library in Sharn, or the Great Library of Greyhawk. Plus new monsters. New magic items. New characters.
The Forgotten Realms have never been more fun, as the familiar setting continues to expand and flesh out fun characters like warrior Minsc and miniature giant space hamster Boo, half-elf/thief/poet Krydle, cleric Nerys Kathon, halfling rogue Shandie Freefoot, and Delina, the young moon elf wild magesorcerer, all in the pages of IDW comics. Writer Jim Zub is back partnering with artist Max Dunbar in Dungeons & Dragons: Infernal Tides. IDW Publishing and Wizards of the Coast have brought forward the best from the D&D game books and card games, and combined good fantasy storytelling with classic artwork like you’d find in D&D manuals and great humor fantasy like Mike Wieringo’s Tellos. It’s also the closest thing to Don Bluth’s video game Dragon’s Lair since Dragon’s Lair. The latest D&D graphic novel and next adventure in Baldur’s Gate arrives in comic shops and online stores this week.
This next Dungeons & Dragons offering is a British twist that may interest some U.S. players. Not a product of Wizards of the Coast like the typical D&D book or accessory set, the Dungeons & Dragons 2021 Annual–the first of its kind–is now available to U.S. buyers. Neither a rule book nor an adventure book, this is more an overview of the past year, a typical, traditional annual that the UK genre market has seen for years across major fandoms including Star Wars Annual 2021 and the Doctor Who Annual 2021. Think of it as a yearbook or souvenir book, an introduction for new players, and a look back at the releases over the past year.
Take a look inside, courtesy of Egmont Books in the UK:
Candlekeep attracts scholars like a flame attracts moths. Historians, sages, and others who crave knowledge flock to this library fortress to peruse its vast collection of books, scribbled into which are the answers to the mysteries that bedevil them. Many of these books contain their own mysteries–each one a doorway to adventure. Dare you cross that threshold?
The new Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition adventure anthology Candlekeep Mysteries explores the Forgotten Realm’s renowned towering library fortress with 17 new mystery themed mini-adventures–each tied to a book in the library. These can be run as standalone adventures or tucked into your latest campaign. Including a poster map of the library fortress and detailed descriptions of Candlekeep and its inhabitants, you can pre-order the library cover here at Amazon now, or pick up the Victorian-inspired variant cover via your local gameshop.
Our borgBest of 2020 list continues today with the Best in Comics and Games. If you missed them, check out our review of the Best Books of 2020 here, the Best Movies of 2020 here, the Kick-Ass Heroines of 2020 here, and the Best in Television 2020 here.
We reviewed comics from every major publisher this year, and were pleasantly surprised with all the new characters and content available. You’ll find both some new creators on the list this year and some fan favorites who keep making better comic books each new year. We also include some great games and more from 2020.
Let’s get started with The Best in Comics…
Best Comic Book Series – Bounty Hunters (Marvel Comics). Writer Ethan Sacks and artist Paolo Villanelli played with the entire Star Wars universe in a single series, bringing back the cyborg Valance and a host of our favorite bounty hunters. The result is a great series full of action and throwbacks.
Best Sci-Fi Comic Series, Best Limited Comic Book Series, Best Interior Artwork – Strayed(Dark Horse Comics) by writer Carlos Giffoni and artist Juan Doe. In the future a military-industrial complex reigns over all humanity and actively destroys distant alien worlds. The galaxy’s only hope can be found through an unlikely pair: an astral-projecting cat named Lou and his human Kiara. Honorable mention: Rogue Planet by writer Cullen Bunn and artists Andy MacDonald and Nick Filardi (Oni Press).
