A new episode has been added to the database: S2. Ep 37 - Details In The Den

A new episode has been added to the database: Tomes of Magick: Weird Wonders & Revolutionary Magicks

A new episode has been added to the database: Barovia IV #17 Rites of Travel

A new episode has been added to the database: [DND3 Pg 102] Baby Chucks [Week 17]

A new episode has been added to the database: Legends of the Sundered Isles - Eras Both Ancient and Modern

by Rachel

Happy 48th Friday of 2025, everyone!! It's been another busy week. Announcing the 6th Annual 1 Player Guild Holiday Card Exchange - Signup Deadline: EXTENDED TO 11-29 is active (signups close tomorrow!), voting is still underway for the 2025 54-Card Game Design Contest, HEXplore It: The Valley of the Dead King arrived this week (and already saw its very first play), and best of all it's Friday!

And as always on Friday, here are the current Friday links: 2025 Friday on Friday: Play Friday EVERY Friday of 2025 and 2025 Friday on Friday, November 2025.

Because yes, it's Friday and no matter what, that means Friday here on Herald's Call :D.

Hello again, Level 5! I wonder if there are any turkeys on this island? :p

Fighting the 1st Pirate

wasn't too bad.

The 2nd pirate battle

started off pretty well

but ended up being a super close loss. I needed 22 fighting points... but I ran out of lifepoints having racked up just 19. So close!


My final score was 36 pts: 41 points from Fighting Cards, -5 points from Aging Cards, 0 points from lifepoints, 15 points for defeating 1 pirate, and -15 points from Unbeaten Hazards.

---------------------------

Weekly Updates:


Challenge Updates:
:d10-1: 2023 Extreme Numerology Challenge / 2024 Extreme Numerology Challenge : Wrapping up. Microbadges for 2022, 2023, and 2024 will be awarded, please stay tuned! 2025 is live: 2025 Extreme Numerology Challenge
:d10-2: 2023 Challenge: 23 unplayed in 23: Done.
:d10-3: Fire in the Library- Summer/Fall 2023 Solo Challenge- Extended!!: Done! Stay tuned for a new series of mini challenges that include some more Weird Giraffe-themed fan promos.
:d10-4: 2024 Challenge: 24 unplayed in 24: is Wrapped! If you spot errors or make updates, please geekmail me.
:d10-5: 2025 Challenge: 25 un(der)played in 25: Active
:d10-5: A special note on the Friday on Friday challenges: ALL owed microbadges should be system-awarded soon-ish. ALL microbadge reimbursements complete! Update: Stay tuned for progress on microbadges!


Designer's Corner:
:d10-1: The 7th Seal : No new progress.
:d10-2: Finders Keepers: No new progress.
:d10-3: Charge the Circle: Ready for pitching! Crunching the numbers and weighing my options, potentially coming to The Game Crafter...
:d10-4: Bears love Bows: Merry Trashmas edition: Now pitching! Pitch still still ongoing? maybe no news is good news??? STILL STRESSING! Still working on a pitch video because at this point, it can't hurt...
:d10-5: Really Retail: No new progress.
:d10-6: Barricade Brigade: Playing catch-up! Please stay tuned!
:d10-7: The Boxcats of Meowazon : No new progress.
:d10-8: Contagion and Calamity: The Philadelphia Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793: formerly Philly Fever 1793: No new progress.
:d10-9: Read the Runes: Work on Inscriptions and Keystone Borders continues. 2.0 working rules and PNP files available. TTS is live! Sell sheet posted! Please stay tuned to Friday updates and the WIP thread for continuing developments :D.
:d10-1::d10-0: 10 Minutes to Midnight: I've still got feedback to address over in the WIP thread... *sigh* This has been lower on my priority list due to active contests...
:d10-1::d10-1: Eight Elephants: Ready for pitching! Crunching the numbers, experimenting, and weighing my options, potentially coming to The Game Crafter...
:d10-1::d10-2: Surfboard Stealin' Sea Otters: Officially my entry in this year's 54-Card Contest! Contest ready! Setup video available! Voting is underway!
:d10-1::d10-3: Roll the Runes Formerly Color(a)Cross and Number Lock. Rules/components still in-progress! HOWEVER I'm officially delaying this one until the 2026 Contest. I like it and I like how it's developing, but right now, my time is better spent on other things.
:d10-1::d10-4: Tricky Treats: Rules, Scorepad, Solo Mode Player Aid, and Sell Sheet all new/updated! PNP remains the same! TTS unchanged. Video in-progress. Game now considered complete and officially Ready for Pitching!
:d10-1::d10-5: Defend your Dreams: (formerly Dreamcatcher Duty): No new progress.
:d10-1::d10-6: Squirrelly (formerly Woodland Warriors) : Contest complete! #3 for Best Art! 2 mini expansions available! Ready for pitching!
:d10-1::d10-7: Trick or Treat : No new progress.
:d10-1::d10-8: Last Leaves : Didn't get to work on the pinecone this week...
:d10-1::d10-9: Fireworks for the Fourth: Ready for pitching! Crunching the numbers and weighing my options, potentially coming to The Game Crafter...
:d10-2::d10-0: Composer's Cat: New Year's Eve Concert: Lyricist reborn! 2024 In-Hand Game Design Contest: 5th Best Multiplayer Game; 6th Best Innovative Mechanic; 7th Best Use of Theme; and 4th Best Low-Ink Printing! Major revision in-progress!
:d10-2::d10-1: Unnamed design: Involves the Titanic and Jenny the ship cat... No new progress.
:d10-2::d10-2: Nine Nopes: No new progress.
:d10-2::d10-3: Book it!: No new progress.
:d10-2::d10-4: Librarian's Cat: formerly Palm Library. formerly Littlest Library. 2025 In-Hand Game Design Contest: contest is complete... but I've got plenty of unfinished business to see to and I intend to see it all through! Please stay tuned! Sell sheet available.
:d10-2::d10-5: Elements: Ready for pitching! Crunching the numbers and weighing my options, potentially coming to The Game Crafter...
:d10-2::d10-6: Knick Knacks: Shaker Showdown : Contest complete! #3 Best Solo Game, #3 Best 2 Player Game, and #4 Best Family Game! Not bad, not bad at all, especially since I fell woefully behind on the comments... I do plan on addressing all of the feedback. And I do want to continue to refine and improve the game. There's a decent little game here and it's worth pursuing. Still working on additional revisions, including some interesting new twists to the gameplay.
:d10-2::d10-7: History Heist: On hold.
:d10-2::d10-8: Lost in the Labyrinth. No new progress.
:d10-2::d10-9: Critter Calls: Ready for pitching! And TTS is live! Video in-progress!
:d10-3::d10-0: Dragon's Draw: No new progress.
:d10-3::d10-1: Push to the Peak: No new progress.
:d10-3::d10-2: Cardshop Caretaker: No new progress.
:d10-3::d10-3: Unlucky Spirits: formerly Lucky 13: 2025 2-Player Print and Play Game Design Contest now complete. Game did not place. That said, I'm not giving up. New call for playtesters thread posted. New photos. Sizzle reel and ahort pitch video in-progress. Solo and Three-Player modes available! PNP available! TTS available! Come on folks, help me make this ouija-meets-jumanji game shine!
:d10-3::d10-4: Water always wins: Still ON HOLD.
:d10-3::d10-5: Sniper, take the shot!: No new progress.
:d10-3::d10-6: Abydos: Contest complete, game did not place... I'm disappointed, but I'm still committed to getting this game out there. Crunching the numbers and weighing my options, potentially coming to The Game Crafter...
:d10-3::d10-7: Nine Tails: Ready for pitching! And this is another game that might be a good fit for The Game Crafter...
:d10-3::d10-8: Puppy Pile: (formerly Dogpile). No new progress.
:d10-3::d10-9: Compound It!: No new progress.
:d10-4::d10-0: My Little Fish Tank: No new progress.
:d10-4::d10-1: Knick Knacks: Lovely Lamps : Sequel to Knick Knacks: Shaker Showdown. No new progress.
:d10-4::d10-2: Put a bow on it! No new progress.
:d10-4::d10-3: Gator Glory! No new progress.
:d10-4::d10-4: Eighteen Eggs: Contest complete, game did not place. *sigh*. I'm still planning on releasing the Rain, Rain Mini Expansion and Player Aids this coming week! I mean it this time! :p
:d10-4::d10-5: Triskell (or maybe Triskellion): name not final: No new progress.
:d10-4::d10-6: Snow Squall: No new progress.
:d10-4::d10-7: So, you want to be a mage...: No new progress.
:d10-4::d10-8: Cursed Cards: No new progress. Delayed until the 2026 contest. Again, I like this little game, but I need to concentrate my efforts elsewhere.
:d10-4::d10-9: Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice: My entry in Button Shy's 18-Card Cozy Contest! Contest-Ready & Submitted! Rules, components, sell sheet, and pitch video available!
:d10-5::d10-0: Monk's Cat: The Book of [Pawprints]: The third game in the Cat Companion Card Game series, sequel to Composer's Cat and Librarian's Cat. My forthcoming entry in the 2026 In-Hand Game Design Contest! Exciting! Some more progress this past week, but I need to get the card functions sorted and the art started... Needs a WIP, rules, and components ready by January 1st.

Professional Projects:
:d10-1: Explosion in the Laboratory/Fire in the Library (2nd edition): Weird Giraffe Games: Campaign wrapped! Campaign fulfilled! Campaign complete!
:d10-2: Dreams of Yesterday: Weird Giraffe Games: Campaign wrapped! Campaign fulfilled! Campaign complete!
:d10-3: In the Shadows: Resistance in France 1943 - 1944: GMT Games: Complete! I still haven't managed to get this back to my table. Gah! In the meantime... see A Solo Sunday Salute - First Impressions - In the Shadows for a preview.
:d10-4: Crumbs!: The Sandwich Filler Game: Minerva Tabletop Games: Initial feedback in. First impressions and some extra crumbs: Solo Sundays- First Impressions: Crumbs!: The Sandwich Filler Game and Solo Saturdays - Continuing to make Crumbs. More formal review posted: Rachel Reviews It- Crumbs!: The Sandwich Filler Game. Campaign funded! Campaign ongoing. Fingers-crossed that Minerva Tabletop Games comes through...
:d10-5: Crystallo expansions and miniature edition: Light Heart Games: Initial feedback in. Previews and additional adventures shared: A crystal cavern at the garage aka mini Crystallo is here!, First Impressions: Crystallo: Untold Fortune, Solo Saturdays- First Impressions: Crystallo: Den of Dragons, and Solo Stories- Playing with all of Crystallo. More formal review posted: Rachel Reviews It- Crystallo: Untold Fortune and Crystallo: Den of Dragons. Campaign funded! Campaign ongoing... Deep Water Games/Friendly Skeleton is a right mess! I feel so bad for Liberty and hope that everything works out in the end. Crystallo is still one of my favorite games and the expansions are great! I just wish that things had worked out differently and I hope that everyone gets their games and expansions in the end. Such a shame.
:d10-6: Lost Adventures: Belltower Games: First Impressions and continuing adventures shared: Two-Player Thursdays- First Impressions: Lost Adventures, Two-Player Tuesdays- Getting Lost with Mom, and Solo Stories - Lost Adventures. More formal review posted: Rachel Reviews It: Lost Adventures. Campaign wrapped! Campaign fulfilled. Campaign complete.
:d10-7: Quirky Bird Games: The zine campaign funded! That's a wrap! Congrats Beth and Angel! Fulfillment ongoing. Keep up the great work!
---------------------------------------
On my to-do for the weekend: Check in on all of my active WIPs to address feedback, post the new WIPs, more videos, more experimenting/number crunching on The Game Crafter. I'm seriously considering leaning in to selling my games without a box and then having simple tuckboxes available as free downloads here on the Geek. It's more to do for both me and potential players/buyers, but it'll save all of us money. It also allows me to concentrate more on getting my games onto The Game Crafter with their rules and components as close to what I want them to be as possible while still being mindful of everyone's wallets. In other news, I've posted my yearly wishlists (I'm not doing the BGG gift exchanges again this year and debating on publishing them at all, but they were mostly done, so I hit publish, if nothing else, it's a record for posterity and a starting point for next holiday season): My Multiplayer Wishlist, the 2025 edition & My Solo Wishlist, the 2025 edition . Additionally, I've got 2 Mythic Monday Elder Sign reports to get done... and I've got something super special brewing too, a custom campaign since I've been unable to get my paws on Elder Sign: Omens of the Deep. It's going to take some time, so you might not see it 'til 2026, but it is officially in-progress :D.

Game Over On borrowed time...

Happy Friday and happy playing!
-Rachel

Thank you for reading my blog. If you liked it; then please click the green thumb [microbadge=23724] at the top of the page. If you really liked it; then please subscribe.

A new episode has been added to the database: Afterlight - Chapter Two: Not Like It Was

A new episode has been added to the database: 01 - Gate to the Past - Student Pranks

A new episode has been added to the database: NEVERNOWHERE 13. Weekend at Ratmasey's

by Bruce McG

Looks like a fox right? It's the Culpeo which is type of wild dog. Of course, it's also called the Andean fox just to confuse things more.



It's Small Press week at Leisure Games. Get ready for a deluge...

New releases at your FLGS (sourced by Leisure Games)

Advanced Double D6
:star: Advanced Double D6 - AetherCorp Games
:star: Advanced Double D6 Quest Pack - AetherCorp Games

After
:star: After - The Cyclopean Publishing Company

Armour Astir: Advent
:star: Armour Astir: Advent - Big Hog Games

Bare Your Soul
:star: Bare Your Soul - Far Horizons Co-op

Basic Roleplaying
:star: Basic Roleplaying: Creatures - Chaosium

Be With Me
:star: Be With Me - Half Meme Press

Before the Flood
:star: Before the Flood - Clawhammer Games

Blackborow Academy
:star: Blackborow Academy - Black Armada Games

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)
:star: Journal d'Indochine Volume 1 - Sons of the Singularity
:star: The Sassoon Files 2nd Edition - Sons of the Singularity
:star: The Sassoon Files Keeper Set - Sons of the Singularity

Coiled.Spæce
:star: Coiled.Spæce - AetherCorp Games

Detritus: A Solo Narrative Journaling Adventure
:star: Detritus: A Solo Narrative Journaling Adventure - GomezWritesGames

Dirtbags RPG (2024)
:star: Dirtbags! RPG Core Rules (2024) - The Dungeon's Key

Exclusion Zone Botanist
:star: Exclusion Zone Botanist - Exeunt Press

Familiar Friends
:star: Familiar Friends - Black Armada Games

The Far Roofs
:star: The Far Roofs - Jenna Katerin Moran

A Fear Within Second Edition
:star: A Fear Within Second Edition - Desks and Dorks

Gelatinous
:star: Gelatinous - Black Armada Games

Generic / Universal
:star: The Ink That Bleeds - Half Meme Press

Ghost hunt live
:star: Ghost hunt live - Black Armada Games

Gladiators 2050
:star: Gladiators 2050 - Black Armada Games

Heroes of Cerulea
:star: Heroes of Cerulea - Bläckfisk Förlag

Hexed
:star: Hexed - Black Armada Games

HUNT
:star: HUNT - Gila RPGs

Imposters
:star: Imposters - Black Armada Games

Inscapes
:star: Inscapes - Half Meme Press

The Jester King's Dance 2e
:star: The Jester King's Dance 2e - Pandion Games

Land of Eem Fantasy RPG
:star: Land of Eem Bestiary Volume One - Exalted Funeral
:star: Land of Eem Core Rulebook - Exalted Funeral
:star: Land of Eem Deluxe Box Set - Exalted Funeral
:star: The Mucklands Sandbox Campaign Setting - Exalted Funeral

LOOT
:star: LOOT - Gila RPGs

Miru: An Analog Adventure Game
:star: Miru: An Analog Adventure Game - Mimic Publishing

Monty Python's Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme
:star: Monty Python's Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme (Sensible Middle Class Edition) - Exalted Funeral

Moon Rings
:star: Moon Rings - Junk Food Games

Mörk Borg Compatible Product
:star: Dukk Börg - Gem Room Games

Night Drifters
:star: Night Drifters: Second Stage - Merry Mancer Games

Not Your Witch
:star: Not Your Witch - Black Armada Games

OSWOR
:star: OSWOR - Nikita Lapkov

Polis
:star: Polis - Black Armada Games

The Psychic Danger Society
:star: The Psychic Danger Society - Radio James Games

Rebel Scum
:star: Rebel Scum 2e - 9th Level Games

Retro-clones
:star: Undying Expanse: The Caustic Bundle - Duck and Crow Press
:star: Undying Expanse: The Execrable Bundle - Duck and Crow Press

Rune
:star: RUNE - Gila RPGs

Soul Cemetery
:star: Soul Cemetery - Big Hog Games

Unsolved
:star: Unsolved - Black Armada Games

Valiant Horizon
:star: Valiant Horizon - Binary Star Games

Whippy Wars
:star: Whippy Wars - Black Armada Games

You Have Always Lived In the Lighthouse
:star: You Have Always Lived In the Lighthouse - Desks and Dorks

New PDF releases @ DriveThru

Curseborne
:star: The Invader - Onyx Path Publishing

Generic / Universal
:star: Dyson Logos Commercial Map Pack 2024 - ZERO/Barrier Productions
:star: The Book of Thieves: Procedural Burglary - Atelier Clandestin

Labyrinth Lord
:star: Labyrinth Lord: Revised & Expanded - Goblinoid Games

Mörk Borg Compatible Product
:star: The Darkest Age: Mork BORG Edition - RuneWorks Games

Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game
:star: All Your Gods Are Dead - Monte Cook Games

Traveller5
:star: T5 Imperiallines 12 - Robert Eaglestone

Wrath & Glory
:star: Only in Death - Cubicle 7 Entertainment

by rudem00se

$20.00 for RPG Item: Quests of Yore: Barley's Edition - Onward
Condition: Good
Location: United States

A new episode has been added to the database: Wheel of Time Genesys 078 - Laydown and Rest