News Roundup: Backerkit and DriveThruRPG Team Up to Simplify TTRPG Campaign Fulfillment

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Today is a bit of a shorter issue, but I wanted to make sure I filed one. I’m in the middle of a major job transition that includes moving from a 9 AM - 5 PM schedule to an 11 PM - 7 AM schedule. It’s a lot and I am regularly trying to get to sleep on time, so I haven’t had as much time as I'd hoped to write this week. But I do hope you got to go to Free RPG Day on Sunday.

Backerkit and DriveThruRPG Team Up to Simplify TTRPG Campaign Fulfillment

The crowdfunding platform Backerkit announced on June 23 that it was partnering with digital RPG platform DriveThruRPG to help fulfill the digital requests of a TTRPG crowdfunding campaign.

TTRPG campaigns on Backerkit can now automatically deliver digital rewards to backers via DTRPG. This will simplify the fulfillment process. It also means that previous backers or purchasers can be informed of new projects through DTRPG’s messaging system. So if a campaign you backed a year ago launches a new one, you may get alerts via DTRPG.

“We’re thrilled about the new BackerKit DriveThruRPG integration! As the leader in RPG PDFs, DriveThruRPG offers incredible tools and publisher support,” Evil Hat co-founder Fred Hicks said in a press statement. “At Evil Hat, we use them for every BackerKit campaign—from PDF delivery via CodeBank to global print-on-demand. We can’t imagine crowdfunding without both platforms and will definitely use this for our next project!”

The main benefits of this approach, Backerkit claims, include

• Awarding fans and followers with instant digital content

• Boosting reservations and followers prior to a crowdfunding campaign’s launch

• Maximizing funding on day 1 through “instant access rewards”

• Using “Digital Exclusives” to drive higher-tier pledges

• Streamlining fulfillment

On paper, the process appears to be an obvious partnership for TTRPG crowdfunding. Backerkit has continued to go out of its way to support TTRPG creators and provide the tools for them. At the same time, I (Chris) will admit that it also further reinforces DTRPG’s near-monopoly on the TTRPG PDF marketplace. While alternatives like RPG Trader are getting a reasonable amount of momentum, DTRPG continues to hold a pretty tight grip on things.

We’ll see how this partnership evolves going forward.

Alchemy RPG Hosts Third Annual Free VTT Day

Virtual Tabletops, or VTTS, remain one of the most integral tools for online play. Whether it’s Roll20, Foundry or something else, you need other systems to play some games well online.

Alchemy RPG, which is slowly growing in prominence, has hosted a Free VTT Day for the last two years.

This year, you can get Blades in the Dark, Degenesis’ Enhanced Edition, the City of Mist Starter Set, a Call of Cthulhu set of scenarios and more for free starting on June 29, 2026. Just log onto their website and download the games and books for yourself.

It should surprise no one that Dungeon Masters, Wizards of the Coast’s ongoing actual play promoting its new season approach, is getting a second “season.” The new season will focus on Arcana Unleashed, the book that D&D intends to release in Q3 2026. The game will be DMed by Jasmine Bhullar and feature Mayanna Berrin, Christian Navarro, Neil Newbon, and Devora Wilde. The characters appear to (again) be based on the subclasses featured in Arcana Unleashed.

I’ll be curious to see how long this cast sticks around for the seasonal approach and how well it contributes to the overall marketing strategy for WOTC. The main benefit appears to be that it previews and teases the books, helping build hype through drops like special monsters from the episodes and featuring what sorts of characters you can play.

Variety got a preview of the game and the character art.

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Closer Look at D&D/VTM Crossover: Six Subclasses, 1 Brittania Adventure, Lots of Fan Pushback

White Wolf released more information about Bound by Blood, its third-party partnership with Ghostfire Gaming to convert Vampire: the Masquerade into a D&D class.

Most notably, only six of the game’s 14 iconic clans are available as subclasses. These include Ventrue, Nosferatu, Gangrel, Brujah, Toreador and Lasombra. They’ll also come with special backgrounds, feats, and weapons.

The attached adventure is a level 4 set in ye olde Britannia. It’s also adding specific rules to help make 5.5e more of a VTM-esque experience with rules regulating “Masquerade level” and “Narrated Feeding.”

The goal of the partnership is to “Embrace more players into Vampire: The Masquerade and bring them into the World of Darkness,” according to the press release.

The expansion has received significant pushback in both the online VTM forums and on social media, with fans mostly noting how it continues to lean into helping D&D players avoid learning new games.

The game is scheduled to release on July 28.

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