If you've not listened to The Maniculum Podcast, I highly recommend it. Zoe Franznick and Mac Boyle do an excellent job of bringing those cultures and time periods (specifically medieval in their case) into the spotlight and helping their listeners find those useful touchstones in medieval literature and events that we can bring into our modern RPG storytelling.

From all of these discussions, Zoe and Mac have pulled together 50 magic items that are based around real-life items that can be found in museums or medieval manuscripts. These magic items can be found in Marginal Worlds, their first TTRPG supplement that is now live on Kickstarter. Marginal Worlds is a deck of cards with these magic items detailed and illustrated for use in any TTRPG campaign.

New publications from the D&D Team have been slow this year (Tales From the Golden Vault was their last publication back in February), but they are now making up for lost time in the back half of 2023. A string of books have been released rapid-fire with more on the way. These first three books each fall into a different aspect of D&D books - lore, supplements, and adventures. The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons is a rules-light, lore-heavy book that acts as a good companion to Fizban's Treasury of Dragons. Next, Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants is a rules-heavy supplement that provides everything you need to include giants, giant kin, and giant treasure into your D&D Campaigns. Finally, Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk is an expansion on the original starter adventure, Lost Mine of Phandelver, that takes adventurers into a full campaign ranging from levels 1-12. We'll take a look at each of these and help you decide what works best for your gaming and worldbuilding needs.

Dragonbane from Free League Press is a revival of the veteran Scandinavian RPG, Drakar och Demoner ("Dragons and Demons"). Originally based on Chaosium's Magic World, which was based on their Basic Roleplaying (also receiving its own revival!), this new version incorporates elements of Free League's Year Zero Engine. It then blends in classic Drakar och Demoner and modern 5e elements. The result is a refreshing RPG that feels familiar yet makes more sense than what you've expected from a fantasy RPG. Packaged in the excellent art direction and print quality expected from Free League, this is a game that anyone looking for a break from the usual fantasy RPG should pick up.

With the release of the Rings of Power series on Amazon Prime, people are now (for better or worse) talking about Middle-Earth again. This will inevitably lead some people to look for a role-playing game so they can create their own adventures in J.R.R. Tolkein's world.

The One Ring by Free League Publishing is perfect for players who want to journey there and back again.