MCDM's New Tactical TTRPG Hits $1M Crowdfunding On First Day!

Matt Colville's MCDM is no stranger to crowdfunding, with three million dollar Kickstarters already under its belt. With the launch of The MCDM RPG, that makes four!

This new game is not a D&D variant or a supplement for D&D, which is what MCDM has focussed on so far. This is an all-new game which concentrates on tactical play, with a fulfilment goal of July 2025. It comes in two books--a 400-page 'Heroes' book and a 'Monsters' book which is an adaption of the existing Flee, Mortals!

The MCDM RPG

Whether you’re a group of local heroes sent to investigate mysterious goings-on in the nearby haunted wood, or famous mercenaries plotting and scheming in the big city, the MCDM RPG makes building adventures and fighting monsters fun.

www.backerkit.com

The game takes aim at traditional d20 fantasy gaming, referring to the burden of 'sacred cows from the 1970s', but point out that it's not a dungeon crawling or exploration game--its core activity is fighting monsters. The system is geared towards tactical combat--you roll 2d6, add an attribute, and do that damage; there's no separate attack roll.

At $40 for the base Heroes PDF and $70 for the hardcover (though there are discounts for both books if you buy them together), it's not a cheap buy-in, but with over 4,000 backers already that's not deterring anybody!

Even more ambitiously, one of the stretch goals is a Virtual Tabletop (VTT). There's already a working prototype of it.

 

[Jaeger]

First, I gotta say that 2 million + in the first day is crazy money.

Second: I don't begrudge MCDM one penny of that cash. It's hard making money in RPG land, and if they can make a living off of it - more power to them.

Third: There must be a whole lot of good will built up from past projects with the MCDM crew...

The only things I have ever backed have already had a completed manuscript done. It's the only way I'll do it. And even with an essentially complete product - there are still issues that can delay receipt. (Generally printing, ship and pack related.)

But the MCDM RPG will not be out for at least a year, and Still needs to be developed.

Sitting at 2million+. Mind bottling...

I don't know anything about Mork Borg other than that it is illegible.

I have Mork Borg.

Fact Check: TRUE

 

[Morrus]

I am not sure if other people are in this situation, but I have gotten about a dozen ads for the MCDM RPG on social media. Matt is definitely advertising the game, and it totally got through to me and all of the other members of my gaming group. We talked about it last night at our 5E session. So if you're wondering if it's being marketed, yes it definitely is.

Yes, they’re on Backerkit. Backerkit has been doing Facebook marketing services for ages (we use them for that too). They’re very good at it.

 

[Nightfly]

I don't know anything about Mork Borg other than that it is illegible.

"Mr. Nilsson, what typeface would you like to use for the book?"

"YESSSSSSSSSS!"

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I don't know anything about Mork Borg other than that it is illegible.

The free PDF on their site has all of the crazy art and design stripped out. It's a very, very lean d20 system.

 

[overgeeked]

Livestream Q&A.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

With a KS this is all much more variable. I understand that the one doing the KS wants to assure backers that it will get made and be on time, but you should not mistake that urge for the KS being the equivalent of a preorder.

I think it's fundamentally dishonest for the people doing the Kickstarters to so reliably present them as if they are just pre-orders, and I don't think an easy-to-ignore blurb from KS really makes up for that - and no, you're wrong to assert "that stuff is sitting in a warehouse" - in most cases that stuff hasn't been manufactured yet, but again that's often true with more straightforward pre-orders.

There's a very one-sided sneering attitude towards people who are constantly told and reassured that they're going to get their goods, often with specific dates and so on (thankfully none here - this seems to be an actual "kickstarter" whatever the term is for them), who are then de facto ripped off. But I guess if people want to sneer and show their bold stance against empathy, that's what they want to do lol.

 

[darjr]

Looks like they are only supporting thier own vtt, other vtts can use the open rules and do thier own implementation

 

[darjr]

No multi classing

 

[Zaukrie]

Looks like they are only supporting thier own vtt, other vtts can use the open rules and do thier own implementation

Open rules, so someone will implement them in foundry..... But yes, they aren't planning to do the work themselves.

 

[Zaukrie]

No multi classing

Lots of subclasses and kits, but they believe, rightly from what we see, that almost no one multiclasses. I'm happy for this.