Ed Grabianowski, Author at Gizmodo

The Three-Headed Sharkraken and All the Other Monsters That Make Pathfinder’s Bestiary 5 So Amazing

When we previewed some art from Bestiary 5 a few weeks ago, it merely looked like a cool book of monsters. Now that we’ve got our hands on it, we’re convinced that even the most jaded, been-there-done-that gamer is going to need a copy. This is a killer creature collection. Let’s just start with the…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Dec 10

This Is What a $1.5 Million Ghostbusters Board Game Looks Like

The Ghostbusters board game Kickstarter achieved phenomenal success, racking up $1.5 million in pledges in February. Now that the game has been released, it’s time to bust some ghosts! The version of the game we received for review is the base game, minus the many stretch goals the campaign reached. It’s safe to assume those…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Dec 7

Do We Really Need a Fifth Book of Pathfinder Monsters? You’re Goddamned Right We Do.

I can never, ever get enough monsters for my RPGs. Never. I will fill entire bookshelves, binders, and hard drives with nothing but monsters. I suspect I’m not alone, so check out this gallery of creatures from the upcoming Pathfinder Bestiary 5. If you’re somehow not convinced that five volumes of Pathfinder monsters are truly…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Nov 19

Two Major RPG Books Came Out This Month, and They’re Both Surprisingly Crappy

Two major RPG sourcebooks, Wizards of the Coast’s D&D Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide and Paizo’s Inner Sea Races for Pathfinder, both came out in the last few weeks! Here’s why you should skip them both, no matter what RPG system you’re using. These two books are similar in a lot of ways. They’re from the…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Nov 12

We Can’t Wait to Play Aethera, the New Science-Fantasy Setting for the Pathfinder RPG

Space wizards casting spells through the ship’s turrets, enraged barbarians teleporting onto the enemy bridge, perilous occult mysteries that span planets, bizarre alien creatures lurking in the interplanetary void—Aethera is not your typical Pathfinder campaign setting. Pathfinder is at its core a classic epic fantasy RPG, but it’s grown and stretched and incorporated lots of…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Nov 5

This Croatian Science-Fantasy RPG Looks Amazing

Awaken is a tabletop RPG that puts players in the role of Vasalli—superpowered heroes who are destined to battle the monstrous Vargans. Dark times, epic deeds, and a handful of six-sided dice. The first thing that caught my eye about Awaken is the art (credited to “Kristina, Bojan, Dalibor and Mihael” on the game’s Kickstarter…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Oct 29

The Most Disturbing Monsters From Our Favorite Horror RPGs

You can’t play an RPG without monsters, and you can’t play a horror RPG without some really, really f$%&ing scary monsters. Here are some of our favorites. Excruciator (Monsters and Other Childish Things) There are two things we can all agree are really scary: mean math teachers and eldritch horrors from another dimension. Now imagine…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Oct 22

Meet Some of the Terrifying New D&D Monsters in the New Tome of Beasts

Do you want 300 more monsters for your 5E D&D campaign? That’s a rhetorical question, of course you do. We’ve got a cosmic space dragon and an empire of ghouls from the upcoming Tome of Beasts to show you, because monsters are awesome. Tome of Beasts is a collection of more than 300 monsters with…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Oct 15

New Civilization: Beyond Earth Expansion Finally Feels Like Science Fiction

Rising Tide expands Civilization: Beyond Earth, making a good game better. But are alien artifacts and aquatic cities enough to make it a great game? Because even though Beyond Earth needed some improvements., so did Civ 5 when it first came out. In fact, it took a couple of expansions to reach its status as…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Oct 8

A New Turn-Based Battletech Game Is Coming. Oh Hell Yes.

If you like giant robots blasting away at each other in futuristic feudal warfare as much as we do, hang onto your autocannons: Battletech is coming back in a big way as a turn-based, tactical video game. The original Battletech is a cornerstone of growing up a gamer in the ‘80s—saving up for the lead…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Oct 1

How to Find People to Play D&D With

To truly and properly enjoy a role-playing game, you need a group to play with. Finding a group—especially the right group—can be a major hurdle to participating in this really excellent hobby. This guide will help you find fellow gamers no matter your location or age. Every time we write about RPGs on io9, the…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Sep 24

The Classic Game That Converted Me Into an RPG Fiend

Every gamer has their gamer origin story. Here’s mine. I was probably 10 or 11. I was at my best friend Dustin’s house for his birthday party. Presents had been opened, cake had been devoured. We moved on to playing some game or another when someone goes, “Hey, let’s play Top Secret.” (Dustin makes some…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Sep 17

The Best Things George R.R. Martin Created (That Aren’t Game of Thrones)

Creating an epic, sprawling fantasy series like A Song of Ice and Fire seems like an author’s life’s work, but it’s certainly not the only thing George R.R. Martin has achieved. His short stories and novels were taking us to amazing worlds long before we visited Westeros. Here are some of his best non-Game of…

Books & Comics Ed Grabianowski Sep 10

How Halloween Horror Nights Makes America’s Scariest Haunted Houses

Universal Orlando transforms itself into a murderous, terrifying gothic wonderland every fall. This year is the 25th anniversary of Halloween Horror Nights, and it’s filled with iconic scenes from horror history that make the guests victims in their personal horror movies. Here’s how they build their elaborate horror houses. It’s been about a year since…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Sep 8

Hell Comes to the Underdark in D&D’s New Rage of Demons Campaign

It feels like Wizards of the Coast has been relying a little too much on their demon lords as the Big Bads in their adventures and campaigns the last few years. Demon fatigue—it’s a thing! But if you’re going to stick with the demon theme, then what the hell—use all of the demons. And that’s…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Sep 3

The Numenera RPG Is Getting Much Weirder and Even Better

If the science-fantasy world of RPG Numenera wasn’t weird enough for you (with its Aeon Priests and forgotten technologies and invisible ziggurats), its creators are planning to take it into space, beneath the oceans, and into other dimensions with Into the Ninth World. When Monte Cook Games released Numenera in 2013, it was already a…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Aug 27

Cosplayers and Amateur Horror Directors Will Love This Book of Makeup Techniques

If you want to add some realistic wounds to your zombie makeup or just do a better job applying those cosplay elf ears, Hollywood Makeup Lab can guide you step by step through some basic procedures that will make your fantastic creations and creepy monsters come to life. Hollywood Makeup Lab: Industry Secrets and Techniques…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Aug 20

Arena of the Planeswalkers Board Game is Part Heroscape, Part Magic: the Gathering

As you stare at the box cover for Arena of the Planeswalkers (and Jace’s leering, vacant face), one question springs to mind: why does the world need a board game based on a card game? Is it for people who like Magic but want to play a game that isn’t Magic but includes some vague…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Aug 13

The Craziest Cosplay from Gen Con 2015!

The biggest tabletop gaming convention in North America keeps setting attendance records, and cosplayers show up in full force. This year, hundreds of gamers put on their fantastic finery to show off favorite characters and original creations, and we’ve got the greatest and weirdest for your perusal. The custom Cthulhu costume above was made for…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Aug 6

What Strategies Will You Use To Defeat Our Alien Overlords in XCOM 2?

When XCOM 2 comes out this fall, you won’t be defending the Earth from aliens—you’ll be fighting to take it back. The developers gave us a deep look at how two of the new classes will help you overturn the alien new world order. XCOM: Enemy Unknown brought back the classic XCOM franchise, in which…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Jul 30

Ed Grabianowski

The Three-Headed Sharkraken and All the Other Monsters That Make Pathfinder’s Bestiary 5 So Amazing

This Is What a $1.5 Million Ghostbusters Board Game Looks Like

Do We Really Need a Fifth Book of Pathfinder Monsters? You’re Goddamned Right We Do.

Two Major RPG Books Came Out This Month, and They’re Both Surprisingly Crappy

We Can’t Wait to Play Aethera, the New Science-Fantasy Setting for the Pathfinder RPG

This Croatian Science-Fantasy RPG Looks Amazing

The Most Disturbing Monsters From Our Favorite Horror RPGs

Meet Some of the Terrifying New D&D Monsters in the New Tome of Beasts

New Civilization: Beyond Earth Expansion Finally Feels Like Science Fiction

A New Turn-Based Battletech Game Is Coming. Oh Hell Yes.

How to Find People to Play D&D With

The Classic Game That Converted Me Into an RPG Fiend

The Best Things George R.R. Martin Created (That Aren’t Game of Thrones)

How Halloween Horror Nights Makes America’s Scariest Haunted Houses

Hell Comes to the Underdark in D&D’s New Rage of Demons Campaign

The Numenera RPG Is Getting Much Weirder and Even Better

Cosplayers and Amateur Horror Directors Will Love This Book of Makeup Techniques

Arena of the Planeswalkers Board Game is Part Heroscape, Part Magic: the Gathering

The Craziest Cosplay from Gen Con 2015!

What Strategies Will You Use To Defeat Our Alien Overlords in XCOM 2?

Crypto Project Details Alleged 6-Month North Korean Intel Op Behind $285 Million Hack

Crypto Investment Scams Were the Most Costly Type of Fraud in the U.S. in 2025

This $1.78/mo VPN Shouldn’t Be This Good: Surfshark’s Deal That Feels Illegal

Dropbox Is a Joke: Get pCloud Family at $1,550 Off With Free Password Manager

Someone Finally Took a Good iPhone Photo of the Moon. Good Luck Copying Their Trick

In Letter, OpenAI Reportedly Says Elon Musk and Meta Are Coordinating ‘Attacks’ Against It

Artemis 2 Day 6: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Anonymous Sources Detail Sam Altman’s Alleged Untrustworthiness in New Report

Steven Spielberg Still Wants to Make a Horror Film ‘Someday’

Waymo Has Stopped Testing Its Robotaxis in New York City and No One Knows What Happens Next

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound