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.

 

[overgeeked]

FYI I have confirmation from several patron members that mcdm means to give patreon members who are patron supporters at the MCDM+ level or higher the final same pdf that pdf backer kit pledges get. Note not from an official at MCDM but I’ve gotten many responses from comments at Patreon to the discord.

There's a bit on their official Patreon page to that effect. If you're a member for the previous 5 months when it's released, you'll get the PDF for free.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/mcdm-rpg-and-you-94204895

 

[darjr]

There's a bit on their official Patreon page to that effect. If you're a member for the previous 5 months when it's released, you'll get the PDF for free.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/mcdm-rpg-and-you-94204895

Yeah. I wanted clarification though cause a few people kicked back on what that might actually mean. And I think I got that.

 

[MNblockhead]

I was going to hold off on this and check it out in the future, but every 5e book of MCDM I've bought has been great and seen a lot of play and I like how Matt runs his company and interacts with his customers. But what really convinced me to back it is the possibility of VTT support. At this point, unless a system is very rules light, I very unlikely to back/buy it without good VTT support.

I have no allegiance to any VTT. I generally run a campaign in one system at a time and I'll choose the VTT that best supports the system I want to run. I'll be running Warhammer (using the official Cubicle 7 system and modules for Foundry) for about a year. After that campaign finishes, I'll be looking at D&D 2024 (using D&D Beyond now that it has a decent battlemap feature), Crucible (the game system Foundry is creating), and MCDM VTT (on whatever system they develop, if they do). Though, a lot can change in a year.

 

[Nightfly]

Some perspective on the fundraising success of this game: it's now raised right at double what Shadowdark took in over its entire Kickstarter. I thought Shadowdark was a pretty stunning success, so doubling that amount in less than three days is impressive.

 

[darjr]

Huh. There seems to be jumps in growth that I keep missing. It’s at 2.7 m now.

Will it make it to 3m by midnight?

 

[Velderan]

FYI I have confirmation from several patron members that mcdm means to give patreon members who are patron supporters at the MCDM+ level or higher the final same pdf that pdf backer kit pledges get. Note not from an official at MCDM but I’ve gotten many responses from comments at Patreon to the discord.

That's the $8 tier? I don't see another option currently, was there another tier that's not currently being offered?

 

[darjr]

That's the $8 tier? I don't see another option currently, was there another tier that's not currently being offered?

Yup. That’s it.

 

[mamba]

Huh. There seems to be jumps in growth that I keep missing. It’s at 2.7 m now.

not sure when you are checking, but they offered another 875 Ajax boxes ($500) after the first 999 sold out in a few hours. Those 875 also sold out in a few hours and probably account for that jump. There won't be a third wave....

 

[darjr]

not sure when you are checking, but they offered another 875 Ajax boxed ($500) after the first 999 sold out in a few hours. Those 850 also sold out in a few hours and probably account for that jump. There won't be a third wave....

Yup saw that one. I was in that rush.

Unbelievable, almost.

No I think when I wasn’t looking it jumped 2.5 to 2.7.

 

[Reynard]

Some perspective on the fundraising success of this game: it's now raised right at double what Shadowdark took in over its entire Kickstarter. I thought Shadowdark was a pretty stunning success, so doubling that amount in less than three days is impressive.

I think there is a bit of a difference in that Shadowdark basically came out of nowhere. Arcane Library and Kelsey Dionne weren't necessarily completely unknown quantities, but they certainly didn't possess Matt Coville/MCDM recognition.