Welcome back to our weekly look at tabletop roleplaying game, and accessories, crowdfunding roundup! Each week we’ll be looking at a few campaigns currently running that have caught our eye as well as occasionally speaking to some of the creators about their campaigns, or looking at some of the ‘behind the scenes’ business aspects of putting together, launching, operating and then delivering a crowdfunded project. If you have anything you’d like us to cover, or questions about anything we talk about, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or contact me directly.
The Monster Hunters’ Club RPG for Savage Worlds by Darren G. Miller / CCS Games
(Campaign Ends : Thursday 16th November 2017; 14:02 UTC)
The Monster Hunters’ Club is the latest roleplaying game that takes its inspiration from a host of 80’s, and 80’s inspired, TV and movies. The Goonies, Super 8, The Lost Boys, It, Fright Night, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and or course, Stranger Things. Players take on the rules of children growing up in the 80’s who become heroes.
Something strange is happening in the town of Gulf Haven. Horrible creatures are coming to life. The adults seem blind to the entire thing. It’s up to you to find out what is happening, and stop it before it’s too late!
Growing up in the 1980s…
You’ve got Saturday morning cartoons, a tree fort, a boombox, a fast bike, and oh…
Monsters are real.
You heard me.
Don’t bother telling your parents. Grown-ups can’t see ‘em. When something gets smashed up, they blame us. When somebody goes missing, they blame someone from out of town, or maybe the Russians. The monsters are real though, and it’s up to us to do something about it.
That’s right, between babysitting your little sister, dodging bullies like Scotty Mangrum, and surviving middle school, you also have to figure out how to fix the monster problem.
You can’t phone home, and there’s nobody you can call. It’s up to you to save the town, and maybe even the world!
A 14 page preview is available to download free.
Era: The Consortium – A Universe of Expansions 2 by Shades of Vengeance
(Campaign Ends : Sunday 26th November 2017; 21:00 UTC)
It’s odd to think that Era: The Consortium is only two years old given all the support that is out for the line, and the other Era games that followed. Era: Consortium is a wide-ranging science-fiction game that gives 500-years of playable history – where you can set your campaign at anypoint in the timeline… allowing for a host of possibilities from cyberpunk, to space exploration, from fighting an oppressive galactic government to all-out war with invading alien races… just to name a few possibilities.
A Universe of Expansions 2 follows a similar format to the first Expansions campaign they ran last year, which eventually offered eight new expansions. Each expansion builds on the story material, offering more insight into the Consortium universe, and brings in a new dimension to gameplay.
Some of the new expansions on offer are…
Traders, pirates and everything between have existed since the early years of the Consortium. As the society has grown, so have the opportunities: Hardcastle Haulage has at least one station in orbit of every inhabited planet in the Consortium and a trader can make a lot of money buying and selling in the right places. Of course, they can make even more if they don't have to buy the cargo...
Free Trader brings players the chance to register as an independent trader and carry cargo between the worlds of the Consortium. It includes new rules for piracy, a complete list of cargo prices at each location and a detailed list containing a variety of cargo types and their legality.
Gaia Adaptation and Adjustment is a company built on biological innovation: by combining the genetic traits of foods, they invented Enviromorphic Fungus. Now, they seek to analyse what alien races may exist beyond the Consortium. By combining various DNA forms, they have created a series of test subjects..
Predictive Genetic Algorithm brings the opportunity to build your own alien race! To achieve that, it offers a large number of options for traits which the races can possess and a points system to ensure balance. Create a race which encounters the Consortium, become an escaped sample from a speculative race grown in a lab and much more with this expansion!
Very few ships venture far outside the solar systems of the Consortium. When one of those few is taking an obstacle-free course between two Oort Cloud locations, the crew discovers a wormhole, leading to a whole new Star System. Amazing opportunities await on the first New Worlds that the Consortium has had access to in 250 years!
New Worlds offers untouched regions of space to explore. Grab what you need from a new selection of exploration equipment, discover the secrets of the New Worlds and decide which faction to inform about their existence with this expansion! With the raw materials they offer, the fate of the Consortium may be in your hands...
The continuing Campaign, a fan favourite from the last Kickstarter, includes 10 sessions per book. Each contains a prologue, pre-made characters and a list of equipment, armour and weapons to help you on your mission. The other half of the book is for the GM and features a Session Summary and a set of Routes to Success.
We're currently approaching 50 sessions with this campaign and are offering 2 books for unlock as Stretch Goals - Parts 4 and 5!
A Quickstart is available to download for anyone wanting to know more.
NPC For Hire: Heroes & Villains by Knights of Vasteel
(Campaign Ends : Friday 17th November 2017; 06:59 UTC)
NPC For Hire: Heroes & Villains is the fourth set of illustrated cards from Knights of Vasteel. As with the previous sets (Human Edition, Dwarf & Halfling Edition, Elf & Demon Edition) the Heroes & Villains Edition is a 52-card set of beautifully hand-drawn portraits of characters that your adventuring party may meet. The reverse side of each card has been left blank so the GM can make notes about the character. If you use plastic card sleeves you could reuse the cards multiple times.
The set contains 40 Villains and 12 Heroes.
Praxis: Black Monk by Postworldgames Jim Pinto
(Campaign Ends : Friday 17th November 2017; 20:02 UTC)
Jim Pinto is back with another set of five Praxis games set in the strange fantasy world of The Black Monk. Each game is set in a unique part of a desolate world, with strange characters passing the ime until the Black Monk visits.
In between these visits, the character's lives are interrupted by sometimes trivial and other times confusing events. Everything seems to fit together like an elongated jigsaw puzzle, but no one can see the starter pieces stretching across the horizon.
But they don’t complain. There is always more work. The village needs workers.
Then one evening, the sun stayed in the sky all day. When there should have been night, the sun remained. And now it feels as though it’s been years since the Black Monk came. But perhaps it was yesterday. Nothing is right…
Is that blood?
The first Black Monk game was written a year ago and is available online. For completion's sake, it is available through this kickstarter as well.
Sunrise End – In The Black Monk, Sunrise End the characters live in a desolate, but vibrant world where time seems to have lost meaning. Living for decades, perhaps longer, in isolation from others, the people of Gallow’s Dawn toil in work, visited often by a mysterious and powerful figure known as the Black Monk.
Whenever the Black Monk visits, the sun disappears and night falls over the village. Whenever the Black Monk leaves, the sun reappears and hangs in the sky for days on end. While the sun is still there, there is work to be done. And when the sun disappears, the people of Gallow’s Dawn can rest.
But the people of Gallow’s Dawn want neither work, nor rest. They want an end to this seemingly meaningless cycle of tedium and punishment. The Black Monk is neither wicked, nor fair. He just is. A thing that predates the valley. A thing that predates reason.
Is that the sun returning?
Ignorant Sun – People can come and go as they please, but why would they want to. Thornwood is paradise. Granted, the Thornwood Beast haunts the forest just outside the village. But if you avoid the forest, you’re fine. No harm can come to those who just do their work and enjoy the fruits of eternity.
But stories have began that a figure known as the Black Monk has been traveling the countryside. Sometimes his visits bring sickness. Other times redemption. No one has ever heard of him before, so these are obviously rumors. Who would dare interrupt paradise?
Why is the sun fading?
Oubliette – In The Black Monk, Oubliette the characters live inside a dark monastery that’s been turned into a self-made prison. It’s name is Absalom, home to roughly 100 people, all living in fear of the outside world.
The outside world. Desolate. A place where time has lost all meaning. A place where a host of unimaginable monsters dwell, including the undying Black Monk. A vile man bent on keeping the inhabitants of Absalom alive just long enough to drive them insane.
Whenever the Black Monk visits, the sun disappears and night falls over the valley. The people retreat to the monastery. Whenever the Black Monk leaves, the sun reappears and hangs in the sky for days on end. For hours after, the residents remain, fearing a surprise return of the Black Monk.
Inside, the hours drag on. Endlessly. It’s cold. Is this eternity? Or damnation?
How are there shadows inside the darkness?
Salvation – It’s been ages since the Black Monk visited and the people of Witherfall built a tower in preparation for his return. They no longer fear his reprisals and sudden turns of mood. They have readied themselves.
There will be no more suffering.
The sun is fading now. The torches are lit, the boiling oil and defensive machinery are ready. It’s only a matter of time before the Black Monk is finally sundered and returned to the ether.
Is that an army of shadows he brings with him? Or just more damned?
Dragon Bagons; CR10 dragon dicebags by Bridget Hughes
(Campaign Ends : Tuesday 21st November 2017; 15:04 UTC)
Dragon Bagons is the new dice bag design from Bridget Hughes, who previously brought us the fantastic Bagthulhu earlier this summer. Turning from the Elder Gods, Bridget brings us every adventurers nemesis… dragons.
Unlike their scaly relatives, these dragons are made out of super cuddly microfleece and stand between 8 to 8 1.2 inches tall. Flipping back their heads reveals a double drawstring dicebag in their belly that will hold around 100 standard dice.
My only concern is if these Dragon Bagons will actually allow me to access my dice horde or if they’ll defend it as jealously as their brethren do with gold?
**********
EN Publishing, the publishing branch of EN World, is currently running a Kickstarter for Xenomorphs: The Fall of Somerset Landing – a brand new setting & adventure book for the What’s Old Is New (W.O.I.N.) system. A limited ‘Xeno’ edition of the N.E.W. – Science Fiction Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is also available through the campaign. Xenomorphs was co-written by Russ Morrissey, Darren Pearce and myself. The campaign is running until Friday 1st December so check it out!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/enworld/xenomorphs-the-fall-of-somerset-landing-tabletop-r
**********
If you like what we do here at EN World (the Forums, Columns, News, ENnies, etc) and would like to help support us to bring you MORE please consider supporting our Patreon. Even a single dollar helps Thanks!
**********
If you have a forthcoming Kickstarter, or see one that excites you, please feel free to drop me an email on angus.abranson@gmail.com You can follow me on Twitter @ Angus_A or on Facebook where I often post about gaming.
Until next week, have fun and happy gaming!
Angus Abranson
The Monster Hunters’ Club RPG for Savage Worlds by Darren G. Miller / CCS Games
(Campaign Ends : Thursday 16th November 2017; 14:02 UTC)
The Monster Hunters’ Club is the latest roleplaying game that takes its inspiration from a host of 80’s, and 80’s inspired, TV and movies. The Goonies, Super 8, The Lost Boys, It, Fright Night, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and or course, Stranger Things. Players take on the rules of children growing up in the 80’s who become heroes.
Something strange is happening in the town of Gulf Haven. Horrible creatures are coming to life. The adults seem blind to the entire thing. It’s up to you to find out what is happening, and stop it before it’s too late!
Growing up in the 1980s…
You’ve got Saturday morning cartoons, a tree fort, a boombox, a fast bike, and oh…
Monsters are real.
You heard me.
Don’t bother telling your parents. Grown-ups can’t see ‘em. When something gets smashed up, they blame us. When somebody goes missing, they blame someone from out of town, or maybe the Russians. The monsters are real though, and it’s up to us to do something about it.
That’s right, between babysitting your little sister, dodging bullies like Scotty Mangrum, and surviving middle school, you also have to figure out how to fix the monster problem.
You can’t phone home, and there’s nobody you can call. It’s up to you to save the town, and maybe even the world!
A 14 page preview is available to download free.
Era: The Consortium – A Universe of Expansions 2 by Shades of Vengeance
(Campaign Ends : Sunday 26th November 2017; 21:00 UTC)
It’s odd to think that Era: The Consortium is only two years old given all the support that is out for the line, and the other Era games that followed. Era: Consortium is a wide-ranging science-fiction game that gives 500-years of playable history – where you can set your campaign at anypoint in the timeline… allowing for a host of possibilities from cyberpunk, to space exploration, from fighting an oppressive galactic government to all-out war with invading alien races… just to name a few possibilities.
A Universe of Expansions 2 follows a similar format to the first Expansions campaign they ran last year, which eventually offered eight new expansions. Each expansion builds on the story material, offering more insight into the Consortium universe, and brings in a new dimension to gameplay.
Some of the new expansions on offer are…
Traders, pirates and everything between have existed since the early years of the Consortium. As the society has grown, so have the opportunities: Hardcastle Haulage has at least one station in orbit of every inhabited planet in the Consortium and a trader can make a lot of money buying and selling in the right places. Of course, they can make even more if they don't have to buy the cargo...
Free Trader brings players the chance to register as an independent trader and carry cargo between the worlds of the Consortium. It includes new rules for piracy, a complete list of cargo prices at each location and a detailed list containing a variety of cargo types and their legality.
Gaia Adaptation and Adjustment is a company built on biological innovation: by combining the genetic traits of foods, they invented Enviromorphic Fungus. Now, they seek to analyse what alien races may exist beyond the Consortium. By combining various DNA forms, they have created a series of test subjects..
Predictive Genetic Algorithm brings the opportunity to build your own alien race! To achieve that, it offers a large number of options for traits which the races can possess and a points system to ensure balance. Create a race which encounters the Consortium, become an escaped sample from a speculative race grown in a lab and much more with this expansion!
Very few ships venture far outside the solar systems of the Consortium. When one of those few is taking an obstacle-free course between two Oort Cloud locations, the crew discovers a wormhole, leading to a whole new Star System. Amazing opportunities await on the first New Worlds that the Consortium has had access to in 250 years!
New Worlds offers untouched regions of space to explore. Grab what you need from a new selection of exploration equipment, discover the secrets of the New Worlds and decide which faction to inform about their existence with this expansion! With the raw materials they offer, the fate of the Consortium may be in your hands...
The continuing Campaign, a fan favourite from the last Kickstarter, includes 10 sessions per book. Each contains a prologue, pre-made characters and a list of equipment, armour and weapons to help you on your mission. The other half of the book is for the GM and features a Session Summary and a set of Routes to Success.
We're currently approaching 50 sessions with this campaign and are offering 2 books for unlock as Stretch Goals - Parts 4 and 5!
A Quickstart is available to download for anyone wanting to know more.
NPC For Hire: Heroes & Villains by Knights of Vasteel
(Campaign Ends : Friday 17th November 2017; 06:59 UTC)
NPC For Hire: Heroes & Villains is the fourth set of illustrated cards from Knights of Vasteel. As with the previous sets (Human Edition, Dwarf & Halfling Edition, Elf & Demon Edition) the Heroes & Villains Edition is a 52-card set of beautifully hand-drawn portraits of characters that your adventuring party may meet. The reverse side of each card has been left blank so the GM can make notes about the character. If you use plastic card sleeves you could reuse the cards multiple times.
The set contains 40 Villains and 12 Heroes.
Praxis: Black Monk by Postworldgames Jim Pinto
(Campaign Ends : Friday 17th November 2017; 20:02 UTC)
Jim Pinto is back with another set of five Praxis games set in the strange fantasy world of The Black Monk. Each game is set in a unique part of a desolate world, with strange characters passing the ime until the Black Monk visits.
In between these visits, the character's lives are interrupted by sometimes trivial and other times confusing events. Everything seems to fit together like an elongated jigsaw puzzle, but no one can see the starter pieces stretching across the horizon.
But they don’t complain. There is always more work. The village needs workers.
Then one evening, the sun stayed in the sky all day. When there should have been night, the sun remained. And now it feels as though it’s been years since the Black Monk came. But perhaps it was yesterday. Nothing is right…
Is that blood?
The first Black Monk game was written a year ago and is available online. For completion's sake, it is available through this kickstarter as well.
Sunrise End – In The Black Monk, Sunrise End the characters live in a desolate, but vibrant world where time seems to have lost meaning. Living for decades, perhaps longer, in isolation from others, the people of Gallow’s Dawn toil in work, visited often by a mysterious and powerful figure known as the Black Monk.
Whenever the Black Monk visits, the sun disappears and night falls over the village. Whenever the Black Monk leaves, the sun reappears and hangs in the sky for days on end. While the sun is still there, there is work to be done. And when the sun disappears, the people of Gallow’s Dawn can rest.
But the people of Gallow’s Dawn want neither work, nor rest. They want an end to this seemingly meaningless cycle of tedium and punishment. The Black Monk is neither wicked, nor fair. He just is. A thing that predates the valley. A thing that predates reason.
Is that the sun returning?
Ignorant Sun – People can come and go as they please, but why would they want to. Thornwood is paradise. Granted, the Thornwood Beast haunts the forest just outside the village. But if you avoid the forest, you’re fine. No harm can come to those who just do their work and enjoy the fruits of eternity.
But stories have began that a figure known as the Black Monk has been traveling the countryside. Sometimes his visits bring sickness. Other times redemption. No one has ever heard of him before, so these are obviously rumors. Who would dare interrupt paradise?
Why is the sun fading?
Oubliette – In The Black Monk, Oubliette the characters live inside a dark monastery that’s been turned into a self-made prison. It’s name is Absalom, home to roughly 100 people, all living in fear of the outside world.
The outside world. Desolate. A place where time has lost all meaning. A place where a host of unimaginable monsters dwell, including the undying Black Monk. A vile man bent on keeping the inhabitants of Absalom alive just long enough to drive them insane.
Whenever the Black Monk visits, the sun disappears and night falls over the valley. The people retreat to the monastery. Whenever the Black Monk leaves, the sun reappears and hangs in the sky for days on end. For hours after, the residents remain, fearing a surprise return of the Black Monk.
Inside, the hours drag on. Endlessly. It’s cold. Is this eternity? Or damnation?
How are there shadows inside the darkness?
Salvation – It’s been ages since the Black Monk visited and the people of Witherfall built a tower in preparation for his return. They no longer fear his reprisals and sudden turns of mood. They have readied themselves.
There will be no more suffering.
The sun is fading now. The torches are lit, the boiling oil and defensive machinery are ready. It’s only a matter of time before the Black Monk is finally sundered and returned to the ether.
Is that an army of shadows he brings with him? Or just more damned?
Dragon Bagons; CR10 dragon dicebags by Bridget Hughes
(Campaign Ends : Tuesday 21st November 2017; 15:04 UTC)
Dragon Bagons is the new dice bag design from Bridget Hughes, who previously brought us the fantastic Bagthulhu earlier this summer. Turning from the Elder Gods, Bridget brings us every adventurers nemesis… dragons.
Unlike their scaly relatives, these dragons are made out of super cuddly microfleece and stand between 8 to 8 1.2 inches tall. Flipping back their heads reveals a double drawstring dicebag in their belly that will hold around 100 standard dice.
My only concern is if these Dragon Bagons will actually allow me to access my dice horde or if they’ll defend it as jealously as their brethren do with gold?
**********
EN Publishing, the publishing branch of EN World, is currently running a Kickstarter for Xenomorphs: The Fall of Somerset Landing – a brand new setting & adventure book for the What’s Old Is New (W.O.I.N.) system. A limited ‘Xeno’ edition of the N.E.W. – Science Fiction Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is also available through the campaign. Xenomorphs was co-written by Russ Morrissey, Darren Pearce and myself. The campaign is running until Friday 1st December so check it out!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/enworld/xenomorphs-the-fall-of-somerset-landing-tabletop-r
**********
If you like what we do here at EN World (the Forums, Columns, News, ENnies, etc) and would like to help support us to bring you MORE please consider supporting our Patreon. Even a single dollar helps Thanks!
**********
If you have a forthcoming Kickstarter, or see one that excites you, please feel free to drop me an email on angus.abranson@gmail.com You can follow me on Twitter @ Angus_A or on Facebook where I often post about gaming.
Until next week, have fun and happy gaming!
Angus Abranson
