To be fair I suspect a lot of these companies have no other choice than to wait these tariffs out in the hopes they'll be repealed or go under completely. Unpredictable price fluctuation like these make doing business impossible. Just ask Germany.

It seems like I read somewhere that everything has been produced, and is ready to be shipped. I don't blame the companies for trying to figure out how to avoid a large tax bill, but as others noted, they could have pushed the books through first and then send out the dice, figurines, etc.

I don't intend to cancel my order, but I've lost a lot of my enthusiasm for the game.

Some have complained that they toned down the darkness; I have the opposite view. There is very little whimsy in this setting that isn't tainted with something gross and horrific, but mostly gross. I guess it fits the theme of the wood: this is a place in desperate need of being cleaned up.

After reading through most of the hexes, my first inclination is to have the PCs burn the forest to the ground.

Making a character can be an involved process, due to all the extra things that the player can choose: trinkets, and beliefs, and motives, and physical appearance... what is a five to ten minute process in Moldvay becomes a half hour or longer. I do like that clerics can use swords. Also, there are plenty of magic items, divided into holy items, arcane items, and fairy items.

The most genius thing, in my opinion, is the little chart at the end of each monster listing, giving random encounters. PCs don't just stumble across a band of goblins; they stumble across a band of goblins tossing a human baby in the air, or tricking an old lady out of her life savings, or some such thing. Very creative.

Quote from: cavalier973 on April 22, 2025, 10:06:39 PMIt seems like I read somewhere that everything has been produced, and is ready to be shipped. I don't blame the companies for trying to figure out how to avoid a large tax bill, but as others noted, they could have pushed the books through first and then send out the dice, figurines, etc.

Agreed. They'd been saying for months that they had the majority of the materials on hand and just needed the last containers to arrive and unload.

I finally just refunded as well.

I heard Dolmenwood changed/got woke between the 'zines and the product (or am I mixing them up with someone else). If so I hope someone is out there putting together the dark version people were really looking for.

Quote from: Ruprecht on April 23, 2025, 06:44:12 PMI heard Dolmenwood changed/got woke between the 'zines and the product (or am I mixing them up with someone else). If so I hope someone is out there putting together the dark version people were really looking for.

You're not mixing it up.

https://www.therpgsite.com/pen-paper-roleplaying-games-rpgs-discussion/the-ruin-that-befell-dolmenwood/

I remember a time when people were excited, about Dolmenwood.  Early on, people were very positive, just because they liked his previous work.

As mentioned earlier in the thread, I did get my refund. After the initial pledge, when I finally got the PDF, I had doubts - they used a lot of different artists and some, well..., were likely picked to fill some quota and not on their artistic ability. The end result being the art in the book is all over the place. Some I like quite a bit. Some I think is garbage. But, prior to this nonsense I was going to stick with it.

Quote from: Shteve on April 24, 2025, 07:43:19 AMAs mentioned earlier in the thread, I did get my refund. After the initial pledge, when I finally got the PDF, I had doubts - they used a lot of different artists and some, well..., were likely picked to fill some quota and not on their artistic ability. The end result being the art in the book is all over the place. Some I like quite a bit. Some I think is garbage. But, prior to this nonsense I was going to stick with it.

You summed up my thoughts and feelings completely.

Glad you got your refund as well!

Quote from: ForgottenF on April 23, 2025, 09:41:40 PM

Quote from: Ruprecht on April 23, 2025, 06:44:12 PMI heard Dolmenwood changed/got woke between the 'zines and the product (or am I mixing them up with someone else). If so I hope someone is out there putting together the dark version people were really looking for.

You're not mixing it up.

https://www.therpgsite.com/pen-paper-roleplaying-games-rpgs-discussion/the-ruin-that-befell-dolmenwood/

Thanks for the link!   There's some good reading there and at the linked blog and I especially like the dark lore of the witches the setting used to have before they turned them into millenial wiccans hanging out at a half closed mall.  I saw some videos about Dolmenwood I think when the campaign was going but wasn't interested as it seemed like something at worst PG-13 trying to be edgy instead of sanitized like a late 90's/early 00's Teen Nick(elodeon) Halloween special.

Quote from: Man at Arms on August 24, 2024, 04:35:03 PMDog gone it.

Just another example, of a problem I keep having....

I owned a bunch of books for D&D 5E, and thought i wanted more; but then things started changing.

I owned the DCC core rulebook, and thought I wanted more; but then things started changing.

I own the OSE Classic Fantasy rulebook, and thought I wanted more; but then things started changing.

I plucked this out of the previous above linked Dolmenwood thread and didn't want to necro it when this thread is alive and well for comment.   

What's happened with the DCC and OSE rulebooks in that they started changing?   I'm aware of statements and positions (and some stupid convention lineup nontroversy) from the DCC company but hadn't heard of the rot extending yet into the books and am personally oblivious to anything going on in the OSE classic fantasy space.

Quote from: RNGm on April 24, 2025, 12:38:51 PM

Quote from: Man at Arms on August 24, 2024, 04:35:03 PMDog gone it.

Just another example, of a problem I keep having....

I owned a bunch of books for D&D 5E, and thought i wanted more; but then things started changing.

I owned the DCC core rulebook, and thought I wanted more; but then things started changing.

I own the OSE Classic Fantasy rulebook, and thought I wanted more; but then things started changing.

I plucked this out of the previous above linked Dolmenwood thread and didn't want to necro it when this thread is alive and well for comment. 

What's happened with the DCC and OSE rulebooks in that they started changing?  I'm aware of statements and positions (and some stupid convention lineup nontroversy) from the DCC company but hadn't heard of the rot extending yet into the books and am personally oblivious to anything going on in the OSE classic fantasy space.

I'll take a stab at this. It's pure speculation on my part though, as I can't get into Man at Arms' head.

D&D 5e: I noticed a change after Rime of the Frostmaiden was published:

- Combat wheelchairs in art.
- Removal of "problematic contributors" in book credits.
- Excising "bioessentialism" from character creation with Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.
- LGBT imagery in books like Strixhaven.
- Memory holed books like Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes and Volo's Guide to Monsters because Drow and Orcs are somehow code for racism.

DCC:

- Excised attributions to Gary Gygax and Dave Arnesson, and others from a newer edition of DCC

There's more I'm forgetting, but the above came across as pandering to the "modern audience" and disappointed many fans.

OSE:

- Gavin Norman caved to pressure and watered down or outright altered parts of Dolmenwood (which was originally a campaign setting for OSE before he and Exalted Funeral decided to make it a seperate flavor of OSE). This was elucidated in the thread you referenced, so there's no need for me to try and reinvent the wheel here, so-to-speak.

This was just off the top of my mind. I'm sure I left a lot of examples out, so others can fill in the blanks.

I believe folks here are just tired of watching good publishers and producers forsake them, chase that tiny "modern audience" and ruin good product lines in the process.

Quote from: Feratu on April 24, 2025, 03:13:52 PMDCC:

- Excised attributions to Gary Gygax and Dave Arnesson, and others from a newer edition of DCC

There's more I'm forgetting, but the above came across as pandering to the "modern audience" and disappointed many fans.

OSE:

- Gavin Norman caved to pressure and watered down or outright altered parts of Dolmenwood (which was originally a campaign setting for OSE before he and Exalted Funeral decided to make it a seperate flavor of OSE). This was elucidated in the thread you referenced, so there's no need for me to try and reinvent the wheel here, so-to-speak.

This was just off the top of my mind. I'm sure I left a lot of examples out, so others can fill in the blanks.

I believe folks here are just tired of watching good publishers and producers forsake them, chase that tiny "modern audience" and ruin good product lines in the process.

I'm definitely tired of it as well but I just don't/didn't/won't have my finger on the pulse of the OSR scene in any meaningful way hence the questions.  The D&D stuff I was aware of though but I appreciate the info regardless.   With regards to OSE, maybe I was misreading the intent of the quote but it seemed like it was saying the core OSE stuff had taken a turn for the worse and not necessarily the Dolmenwood setting.   The Dolmenwood I saw previewed in videos (that honestly I'll probably be rewatching tonight to make sure my first impression was right) didn't hold a candle to the grimdarkness of the one described in that substack blog article in the other thread.   I'm not kidding when I say that I really like their original take on witches and I'll be looking up other OSR takes on them as well tonight.

Greetings!

I'm so glad that I said "NO" to OSE and Dolmenwood. I knew from the beginning that they were weak. Now, increasingly, the weakness, the absolute rot, the compromise, is being revealed, cascading forth like a river. You know deep down, that the compromise, the weakness, will only get worse.

Yes, gentlemen. Let them burn!

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

I don't have any experience with Dolmenwood before the Kickstarter, so I don't know what all the fuss is about (examples of "weakness?"). Since I actually am a backer and have the PDF's: what I read is a decent dark fairytale OSR setting (lacking in any wokeness as far as I can tell) along the lines of Labyrinth, The Last Unicorn, etc.  I hate wokeness and safety tools and all that junk, but I'm just seeing any of what some of you are claiming.

Regardless, the books are just books; what happens at your table is where it becomes a roleplaying game.

To each his own, I guess...

Quote from: Katowice on April 24, 2025, 09:02:43 PMI don't have any experience with Dolmenwood before the Kickstarter, so I don't know what all the fuss is about (examples of "weakness?"). Since I actually am a backer and have the PDF's: what I read is a decent dark fairytale OSR setting (lacking in any wokeness as far as I can tell) along the lines of Labyrinth, The Last Unicorn, etc.  I hate wokeness and safety tools and all that junk, but I'm just seeing any of what some of you are claiming.

Regardless, the books are just books; what happens at your table is where it becomes a roleplaying game.

To each his own, I guess...

Did you take a look at the older thread linked above?  It does a good job of explaining the changes folks are talking about.