Good day! We're going to jump right into the big news today, which is that we now have an option for digital tools for the Gloomhaven RPG! We've partnered with both Hero Lab and Roll20 who together are providing a way for groups to play the RPG digitally. Roll20 will provide all the hex grid maps, tokens, and combat tracking, while Hero Lab will provide character creation and management tools, alongside full card functionality.

So through Hero Lab, you'll be able to manage all the cards your character has access to - ability cards, modifier cards, and background cards - while also being able to reference and customize any of your character sheet data. Or if you are a GM, you can reference NPC data, track initiative order, and use the NPC modifier deck. Plus all pertinent information, like initiative choices, modifier flips, and element status, can be communicated across devices so everyone has all the information they need to play.

Here's a video demonstrating the Gloomhaven Hero Lab capabilities:

If you want the full virtual experience, you can use Hero Lab in conjunction with Roll20. On the Roll20 virtual tabletop, you can find (or easily create) simple hex-based maps using lots of Gloomhaven assets we are pre-loading in for you. That way, you can use Roll20 to manage character and creature locations and scale, dynamic lighting & vision (Plus or Pro subscription required), and all of the other bells and whistles, with custom Gloomhaven tokens for PCs and NPCs to track everyone's stats and conditions.

You can use one or the other or both, according to your needs. The basic Roll20 integration will be freely available to everyone soon, while the Hero Lab character creation and management tool will be a $29.99 purchase upon release. But you can pre-order it right now on their website for $22.50. Hero Lab is also a subscription service, so there is also a $9.99 charge for the standard version of that for six months, but if you don't own any other Hero Lab products, the subscription won't activate until the Gloomhaven RPG product goes live (which will happen the same time the physical version is delivered next year).

I know having digital tools was a big question for some about the Gloomhaven RPG, so I am very pleased to finally announce this. A lot of work has already been put into the Hero Lab implementation, and I am hoping we'll be able to show it off to you in the coming weeks!

                           

In other news, we had some great streams yesterday. First off, Drew and I jumped into a chill and entertaining Watch It Played stream with Paula Deming and Matthew Jude to play a game of Gloomhaven: Second Edition. And, look, I don't want to brag, but I think Drew set the new Bruiser record for amount of cards lost to negate damage. Just saying.

And then we had a marvelous play of the RPG with Good Time Society! This was seriously great, and you should watch it, whether you love giant, floofy cats or weird, creepy ooze.

And there are more streams today, if you can believe it! We're starting off with some miniature painting from Tabletop Minions at 8am PST (which has already passed, but he'll be going for a while). Then I'll be jumping on a stream with Joe Klipfel to play a little Buttons & Bugs at 1pm PST. This'll actually be the first time I play the latest iteration, so it should be exciting! And finally, as it is Friday, we will end the day with a nice, relaxing Fireside Chat at 4pm PST. Who will join me at the fireside? A baby? No one? You'll just have to come and see.

And we are not done with the update yet, because Drew and Dennis wanted to share another Gloomhaven: Second Edition preview with you. So I now present... the Bruiser!

                           

Today we’ll take a look at the updated Inox Bruiser (formerly Brute) in Gloomhaven: Second Edition.

First let’s reflect on the Brute in the first edition. 

This class was intended to be the absolute baseline low complexity Gloomhaven class. It primarily used very simple actions like an “Attack 6” or an “Attack 3, Range 3”. Looking past the really standard stuff, the class had a mechanical theme of forced movement, represented by pushes and pulls, as well as a theme of translating movement to damage with cards like Balanced Measure and Immovable Phalanx. There were also a few light tanking cards.

So what did we want to address?

Like the Tinkerer, this class needed a bit of a tune up in terms of numbers. It was simply outperformed by many other classes. The tanking theme was a bit undercooked and not quite powerful enough, making it a trap for newer players, who are used to tanky RPG characters wanting to take the hits. We wanted to highlight Bruiser’s mechanical themes, giving the Bruiser more mechanical identity, while avoiding unnecessary complexity.

So let’s see how Bruiser handles themself in Gloomhaven: Second Edition:

We hope you enjoy this new-and-improved Inox Bruiser.

                           

I think that'll do it for today's update. Remember that Friday also means a new puzzle, so go check that out on the bottom of the main page, and I'll catch you tomorrow!