Launched in late 2010, The Gaming Gang provides the latest tabletop gaming news and reviews featuring plenty of roleplaying and board games. The goal of TGG is to entertainingly provide the latest in gaming news, honestly presented reviews, as well as thoughts and opinions of the past, present, and future of our wonderful hobby.
Yeah, Mork Borg is OSR. You can still use at the table conversions of Keep on the Borderlands for a Mork Borg game. But it's too much of a style over substance game for me. For OSR inventory rules, I would house rule Usage Dice (Black Hack) for consumables and Slots (LotFP) for my games. I want resource management to create tension, but I don't mind abstracting it a bit.
I'll throw in two good lesser known titles available on DrivethruRPG - Gunslingers & Gamblers (Streamline Edition) and Wild West Adventure. Both very indie cottage-industry titles, non-Weird West, and semi-historical-realistic in flavour rather than anything too pulpy. Both are surisingly good value, and worth checking out.
BECMI is Basic, Expert, Companion, Master and Immortal. Basic/Expert or B/X is part of that. The Rules Compendium leaves the Immortal set. Probably because that rule set is radically different from the rest.
Great coverage Jeff, the tone oddly reminds me of Earthdawn for some reason. I'm appreciating Cubicle 7, along with ENworld and Kobold Press, doing a lot of work of late in the hobby divorcing "5E" as being synonymous with Wizbro. After all, 5E like Basic RolePlaying (BRP) and Year Zero Engine (YZE) can solely be an _engine_ onto which setting and genre specific systems are built onto. Here's to a hobby thriving independently from official D&D.
Finally, I got around to watching the end of the Zombie Mike arc! Well worth the wait. Good story well told. Thanks Jeff. BTW: The 460 page count is correct for the CHEW core book. The Chewniverse PDF isn't fully out to backers yet, but the over 200 prerelease pages I've got are brilliant. It has definitely taken a long time, but (from the masses of stuff we've seen) it certainly doesn't seem like it'll be skimping on quality or completeness. Proper passion project.
I’m just here for the Wilkin’s ☕ And to have an enjoyable chat with Jeff and the gang. The show is greatly entertaining!, imo better than watching tv. I agree with the other commenters here about how valuable it’s been to hear Jeff give his honest opinions about the quality of the many older games that some of us never heard of, and about how the newer games compare / evolved. For me, it’s been especially helpful when Jeff announces those bundle deals where certain sites will temporarily sell entire collections of RPG’s for $20! Ttrpg can be an expensive hobby, so those pdf bundle deals have been THE entry point for exploring the ocean of content out there. Much appreciated. Happy 14 years TGG!
About to run Chapter 1 in few days and it does sound ok. But the ship is to big tor the amount of leads/clues investigators can find, afraid that it will seam to empty. And to tell the truth I think creature in chapter 1 is weak for my investigators an least. So I will need to change tings a bit, so it would feel like a horror investigation. Chapter 1 dose have good evets and ideas.
Congrats on the anniversary. Only just getting back to RPG this year but your channel is such a breath of fresh air. Huge respect for 14 years and hoping to keep seeing you for another 14 years!
Love the show but because of the time difference I rarely catch it live. I really like the integrity shown on the reviews .Jeff has made my rpg collection grow in ways I would not thought of.
Compared with many regular viewers, and people in the hobby, I'm both very new and quite young. I only started playing tabletop games in 2017, so I haven't had much opportunity to explore what's out there. In trying to expand my horizons, I turned to the internet for non-5e options. By and large, I found reviewers who either didn't give any useful insight; or felt bought. Unrelentingly positive reviewers gave me no help with how to spend my limited budget. The Gaming Gang was the first channel I found that helped me. That dramatically intensified during the OGL scandal, when my groups were looking for something else to play, and all the other creators were stuck wailing on repeat instead of trying to contribute something productive. Now, I've got a couple different games sitting on the shelf, just waiting for current campaigns to wrap up, and I don't feel like I wasted a dime flailing my way through what's out there.
I second that. I remember the very first TGG video I saw, it was a review video with Jeff stating up front that he wasn’t being paid by the publisher for the review. It stuck with me, and I started to realize that MANY MANY “reviewers” out there are actually making commercials instead of reviewing. Aka, not pointing out WHY the product is good or bad, but merely displaying it. I actually went into my search history to find “that one guy” who said he wasn’t being bought off, and have been watching his channel ever since.
The best part of TGG is the host of course ! The format of the show is great... news, some intermission clips, and your sincere pov on some aspects of the games, the industry, the community, etc.. and the website is pretty useful too... Stay cool Jeff !!! Congrats on all these years.
The Gaming Gang’s reviews, first looks and the live shows really provide an informative look into the TTRPG industry. What I really like about the channel is Jeff’s knowledge of RPGs past, present and future. Hearing him talk about older games kindles a nostalgic feeling into the hobby I enjoy so much. During the live show we often get a sneak peek into games being created. And his views on newer games makes me appreciate still being a part of the RPG community. This is the closest i come to getting a diverse view of the internet (sans D&D, but that’s another story) of the world that is TTRPGs. And an occasional look into board games as well. GURPS FOREVER!!!
Congrats on the 14 years of TGG. I appreciate the unapologetic honesty and candor in your conversations and reviews. Lots of valuable tips on gaming and appreciation for the hobby. And of course the Wilkin’s Coffee.☕ Looking forward to “Old School October” on your channel this month.
Thanks, I really appreciate the Live shows with Live Chat. I have learned many good things from both the live videos with news and topics along with suggestions in the Live chat. thank you so much for what you and your team does.
Hard to pin down what I enjoy most about The Gaming Gang, but I’d have to go with Jeff’s no nonsense opinions, alongside no BS reviews and first looks at the huge volume of ttrpg products out there. A lot of valuable hard work that I can’t afford to do for myself. The entertainment valve in the news, intermissions, ttrpg topics and current affairs of the live show is definitely why I keep coming back as regularly as I can though. Had to pick up a hardcover of Knights & Magick just to say Thanks Jeff.
The best part of TGG videos is that Jeff doesn't seem to have an issue pointing out not just the best parts of the items he reviews but also the parts he doesn't like. He speaks with a level of candor that I appreciate.
First and foremost, big congratulations on the 14 years Jeff! I’m about to finish my first year of posting my writing to Substack, so I have huge respect for what you and other long-time reviewers do! I’m a fairly new watcher and enjoy everything about the channel. My favorite aspect is the “matter of fact” way you handle the lives and videos. I can turn on a video, work while listening, and it’s like I’m listening to a good friend chat about something I love. Keep up the great work! 🎉
Jeff, I enjoy the website as well as the Live Streams. It gives me a fun escape from the reality of work and such. Plus I learn a lot about where the industry is heading. Also, your reviews are well presented. but I really love the fact you have live chat its simply fun.
Love the unboxing and first look! Yes, the previous edition was the Explorers Edition. That’s the edition I originally learned but really like the changes they made in SWAdE. Happy to see that Pinnacle Entertainment Group continues to release new settings and SWAdE versions of their settings.
Excited to see the physical product. Mine hasn't arrived yet - UK shipping of the Kickstarter hasn't gotten to my neck of the woods. Fortunately it's arrived in the country and not stuck in the docker's strike! The Breakout book is my favourite PPC, but I've definitely enjoyed reading the PDF of the higher power level Cosmic Crisis.
This show is awesome, I also remember you posting the old spooky stories with Price and a bunch others, Not that you gotta keep going that extra mile, I just want to thank you for all that in the past my dude and Dudettes! You and your gang including the Mods of legends are amazing so thanks again and keep on rolling!
Thanks Jeff. Can't say I'd have really paid much attention to this if not for your coverage. The setting has made me very curious. Interesting system. I quite like the idea of the variable die roll for difficulty (and no Hit Points!), although gotta eat a pudding to know if it actually tastes good.
Looks nice but too rich for my blood. Besides I have the original hardcover and wasn’t too fond of the adventure path there. A bit of dues ex machina involved in the plot points. Hopefully that’s fixed here. Looking forward to your review.
You beat up that strawman you made up about female knights real good at the beginning of the video. That's how I do most of my debates too, I'm alone in a room and I'm the only one who gets to talk. XD XD XD But it should be about what a Game MASTER wants for their table. I wouldn't be happy running a WFRP campaign where there weren't female warriors on par with men, and I wouldn't indulge Chaosium burnishing their Twitter profiles by allowing female knights in Pendragon. I like staying true to the setting and Arthurian Legend does not pretend women could be knights or Medieval warriors in general.
Interesting setting. Seems like a shame C7 didn't strip down their own (based on Creative Commons SRD) 5e baseline for this rather than releasing it into the bloated 2014-24 D&D ecosystem.
Good point. Saw a playthrough of the broken weave on glasscannon. It barely utilized any 5e rules. So they could have easily removed that ruleset. At the same time.... Slap 5e on something and it sells better.
@@crushingit5128 LOL - you had me at 'Slap 5e' 😂 But, yeah, certainly a shame when the better integrity of a thing has to be twisted just to make a buck! C7 seem to have something really good here and the integration with their other recent books appears to make it even stronger.
It's what's sort of refereed to as a "kids on bikes" RPG but it takes place today rather than in the 1980s. Looks fun so stay tuned for the review. ~ Jeff
🎼 Heaven… must be missing an angel… 🎶 Oh, NOT Tavares? LOL For me, it doesn't look to be different enough from any other 5e generic setting to be interesting. Looks well done, but nothing particularly new, or fresh. Although I'll be interested in your review, Tanares doesn't excite me at this stage.
I might be a weirdo when it comes grimdark but I feel a successful grimdark setting has to always have some hope or some light for anyone to fight for it. Even Warhammer has some hope here and there and good sides to the bad. It's just way more extreme to get to the good.
Hello - designer Jonathan Rowe here. Thank you for the thoughtful review. I'm fuscussing future support with Osprey but there'll be material on drivethrurpg independent of them. If the crunchy mechanics are a turn-off, the game is compatible with 'The Hedgerow Hack' which uses familiar Black Hack rules
Hi Jonathan. As I've just commented to Jeff, without his review your RPG would have probably passed me by, but now my interest is piqued! I'm curious… …the premise reminds me of those 1970s kids TV shows that I grew up on in the UK: like Catweasel, Worzel Gummidge-a bit obvious with that scarecrow-and Stig of the Dump; along with the books that inspired that era, such as Elidor by Alan Garner, John Masefield's Kay Harker, Mary Norton's Bonfires and Broomsticks and a sprinkling of Rosemary Sutcliffe. It seems keyed into that (nowadays mostly lost) British rural idyll of certainty and valued everyday kindnesses that the post world wars generation tried to keep alive for the '70s and '80s kids growing into a fractured nation of old, Imperial treasure hoards still being strip-mined by a new global hegemon. A Britain in danger of being rebuilt 'wrong' by the wrong people. Is that the sort of place this game is coming from? I really hope so. I'm going to take a good look today, but I think you might just have made at least one extra sale.
I have a few of Osprey RPGS, and I love everyone of them. But, support is definitely an issue. For instance, my favourite is Gran Meccanismo, and I would love to see a Da Vinci's Notebook expanding the technology of the world. And, a version of The Prince detailing the Politics of the setting in more detail. I have been waiting for this one to come out, and will have to check it out.
