DriveThru’s Small Press Spotlight offers discount on Masks, Brancalonia and more tabletop RPGs
Discounted dungeons until October 13th.
Online storefront DriveThruRPG is currently running a Small Press Spotlight sale on digital versions of tabletop RPGs published by mid-tier outlets. Running through October 12th, the event knocks a fair bit off the price of both popular games and ones that might have flown under the radar.
The term “small press” is pretty wobbly depending on who you ask and is often defined by who doesn’t fit the definition, but a glance at the games on offer puts it somewhere above independent creators or small team of contributors but below Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast, Paizo (Pathfinder, Starfinder) and Free League, who works on Tales from the Loop, Mork Borg and the Alien RPG.
Taxonomy aside, there’s a number of great finds sporting discounts up to half off the normal price, making this a great time to shake up the weekly roleplay rotation. Masks: A New Generation is one of Magpie Games more popular recent titles that allows a group to don the personas of teenage superheroes trying to find their place in the world. Like most of Magpie’s RPGs, it modifies the Powered by the Apocalypse principles for a fiction-forward approach to tell stories of responsibility and interpersonal friction.
Those looking for a crunchier comic book experience can turn to the Sentinel Comics RPG, which was recently nominated for several ENnie Awards. Published by Greater Than Games, this title strives to tell stories in a format closer to what readers might find in actual comic books. Players can find rules for creating their own caped crusader, while GMs can use the same book to plan out which villains they mmust thwart to save the city - or planet - this week.
A completely different experience can be found in Brancalonia, a “spaghetti fantasy” setting built upon Italian folklore and history - and shot through with pop culture from the same region. The result is a pulpy romp through the eponymous Kingdom off Brancalonia as a group of Knaves attempt to make as much money as possible through razor sharp wit and just as deadly blades. Created by Acheron Books, the RPG won four 2021 ENnie awards, including gold in best electronic book and silver for product of the year.
The week-long sale extends beyond core books to cover setting guides - especially for Dungeons & Dragons 5E conversions - maps, adventures and other supplements from a range of design teams. If the head off the gaming group’s table has been searching for fresh inspiration, a unique one-session romp or perhaps some tools to help ease the stress of planning and performing, something among the countless items benefitting from discounts is likely to spark interest.
DriveThruRPG’s Small Press Spotlight sale ends October 12th, and all purchases provide digital PDF downloads. The platform takes an average of 35% of all sales, but it isn’t clear if that cut remains the same during special discount events such as this.