When I was growing up, my local hobby store carried a small selection of Dungeons & Dragons and a few other role-playing game lines. Blinn’s was a cozy shop right next to the Metro-North tracks, just down the way from my middle school, and I could go from browsing the games there to the Fairfield Public Library and hang out reading Dragon magazines until it was time to get picked up.
Blinn’s was… not what you’d today call a Friendly, Local Gaming Store (FLGS). They were, at best, local and a store (LS). The hobbies they catered to were things like metal army soldiers, model kits, and dolls- none of which I’d had any interest in at all1. I always felt very unwelcome whenever I set foot in there, likely because I seldom was able to buy anything myself but constantly wanted to look at all the role-playing game books they had on the shelf.
Forty years later, I’m far more spoiled for choice. I can get just about anything I want to get online, and in the case of Cubicle 7 Games’ products there’s even an added incentive for doing so (namely, the free PDF of the book when you buy a hard copy). But there’s nothing quite like walking the shelves of a well-stocked gaming store, whether it’s my own local “home” (Derby Comics & Games in Shelbyville, KY), a gaming mecca like YottaQuest in Cincinnati, or area players like Miso’s Game Room in Louisville or The Rusty Scabbard in Lexington.
So if you’re one of the fortunate who has an FLGS in your area, I would definitely encourage you to give them as much of your business as you’re able, because that’s how you keep an FLGS in your area.
Alright, I’m stepping off the ol’ soapbox for the day, let’s talk books!
A Glass of Port
Talagaad Aventures hit the virtual bookshelves this week, with the physical copy to follow further down the line. It had an impressive debut, climbing to the fourth-best-selling RPG on DriveThruRPG.
Consisting of five standalone adventures, Talabec Adventures has helped get The Old World off to a well-supported start and includes the following:
Something Fishy: The assassination of a town crier entangles the characters in Talagaad’s criminal underworld, where they must contend with street gangs, scheming merchants, and the crushing boot of the Talabec State Army.
The Hungry Towers: The characters intervene in a border dispute between two rival nobles, whose vassals starve as the tension escalates.
Oars in the Water: The characters are sent to help a merchant trader escape upriver, as she is pursued by Sigmarite pirates.
If the Leaves are Green: A Taalite midseason ritual gives way to horror when the festival is attacked by Beastmen, who drag the celebrants off screaming into the woods.
The Siege of Klepzig: The characters are caught between rival factions inside a walled village that will soon be subjected to an Orc and Goblin assault.
RPG Bestsellers
Bookwriters get their New York Times bestseller lists, so why shouldn’t we enjoy the same thing? While we don’t have any aggregated sales lists, we can use DriveThruRPG’s top-seller list as a reasonable barometer- and here’s this week’s snapshot!
#4 (new). Warhammer The Old World: Talagaad Adventures
#9 ( - ). Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus GM’s Guide
#63 (+18). Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Player’s Guide
#96 (+6). Imperium Maledictum: Core Rulebook
#114 (+22). Wrath & Glory: Core Rulebook
#128 (+22). Imperium Maledictum: Inquisition Player’s Guide
#145 (+58). Warhammer The Old World: Player’s Guide
#152 (+69). Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound: Champions of Chaos
#155 (+21): Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound: Carngrad Adventures
#165 (+20). Imperium Maledictum: Macharian Requisition Guide
#168 (+28). Imperium Maledictum: Inquisition GM’s Guide
This was a very good week for Cubicle 7, with almost every book improving its position alongside that strong debut from Talagaad Adventures. I know I ran this out to the top 250 or so last week, but I”m going to cap this at the top 200 going forward.
The biggest jump was Soulbound: Champions of Chaos, moving up almost 70 points. Nice!
ICYMI
Sprues and Brews reviewed Journal Tactica: Zone Mortalis this week. I know what you’re thinking- that’s tabletop, not RPG!- but I always find these sorts of supplements to be terrific tabletop lore sourcebooks that can be woven in to RPG campaigns. In fairness, we’re all in a bit of a holding pattern for the Horus Heresy RPG…
AngelAnvar of Careless Conjuration released the second part of The GM’s Guide to the Enemy Within, this time focusing on an overview of the campaign itself.
The Grim imPortents folks announced that they’re getting ready to kick off season two of their series, focusing on a play of Warhammer: The Old World. New players take on a new adventure, The Hand that Feeds.
Coming Attractions
Here’s a list of the known upcoming releases from Cubicle 7 based on the available preorder information we have. Note that Cubicle 7’s own delivery estimates appear to be just that- estimates- which is why many products have an upcoming delivery listed for Q1 while we’re already into Q2.
This section will be updated weekly in this column, with new or updated info presented in boldface.
To make this section more useful, starting this week I’ll be breaking them out by game.
Undated
Sylvania Setting Guide
Shipping Q3
Limited Edition Warhammer Fantasy Map Bundle 1 (July 2026)
Limited Edition Warhammer Fantasy Map Bundle 2 (July 2026)
Shipping Q4
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Temple of Spite (Q4)
Shipping Q2
Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game, Grand Duchy of Talabec Map Pack (May 2026)
Shipping Q4
Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game Starter Set (Q4)
Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Screen (Q4)
Shipping 2027
Talagaad Adventures
Shipping Q1
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Dark Gifts Card Pack (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Spells Lore Card Pack (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Artefacts & Wargear Card Pack (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Core Rulebook (Standard and Collector’s Edition) (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Bloodwind Spoil Map (Q1)
Shipping Q3
Limited Edition Age of Sigmar Map Bundle (July 2026)
Shipping Q1 2027
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound: Champions of Chaos: Carngrad Adventures
Shipping Q2
Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory, Adventures in Gilead
Shipping Q2
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Character Sheet Pad
Shipping Q3
Limited Edition Imperium Maledictum Macharian Sector Map (July 2026)
Shipping Q4
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Collector’s Edition
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Player’s Guide
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Gamemaster’s Guide
Undated
(Nothing at this time)
Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
These were the diorama toy soldiers, not anything related to gaming. This was the mid-80’s.