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

Tactical TTRPG focuses on heroes fighting monsters with a combat-oriented system.

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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!
www.backerkit.com

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 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.

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Morrus

Morrus is the owner of EN World and EN Publishing, creator of the ENnies, creator of the What's OLD is NEW (WOIN), Simply6, and Awfully Cheerful Engine game systems, publisher of Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition, and co-host of the weekly Morrus' Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk podcast. He has been a game publisher and RPG community administrator for over 20 years, and has been reporting on TTRPG and D&D news for over two decades. He is also on the socials.
Eyes of Nine

Eyes of Nine

Everything's Fine
I have all my 4e books; I have a ton of 13th Age books. I get that this seems to be a good step forward/evolution from both of those tactical games. But do I NEED this game? I'm not sure...
 

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SteveC

SteveC

Doing the best imitation of myself
Whizbang Dustyboots said:
If Colville was creating this RPG trying to get a good grade in school, sure, innovation might be a primary consideration. But I think in the real world marketplace, the important question is "is this fun to play? Is it so much fun that it's worth the price tag? Is this so much fun that people would rather play it instead of the many other things they could occupy their time with?" If the answer to most of those questions is yes, it's a success. And I suspect it will be, for people looking for the kind of experience they seem to be presenting.
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I think this is spot on. For me, MCDM is targeting a type of game that I want to play but don't have any current RPGs to play it with. RPGs that are supported and I'll be able to play via VTT. I have seen some innovative RPGs in the last few years, but none of them gave me the impression of a game I was looking for and thought would be fun. So I haven't really gotten into any of them.

There have been interesting games, the last one that really excited me we Fabula Ultima, but that's also standing on the shoulders of Fate and Blades in the Dark in my opinion.

MCDM really seems to take up what Pathfinder 2 does for me and to run with it more in the direction of what I was looking for. And for me, that's a good thing!
 


M.T. Black

M.T. Black

Hero
Some folks have asked whether the MCDM system will have dungeons or not. I'm sure it will - it is such a strong fantasy trope that I can't see how they ignore it. But Coleville has said the system is not about exploration or attrition, but rather about big heroic fights. So I suspect the dungeons will be smaller and simpler than the sprawling old school dungeons you see in many games these days. They will probably resemble the old 4E Encounters dungeons, with 2 or 3 set pieces strung together.

It may be that Colville's Delian Tomb serves as an archetype for the sort of dungeons they are aiming at - though that is pure speculation on my part.
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Map by Kyle Capps
 


Reynard

Reynard

Legend
Supporter
Whizbang Dustyboots said:
Outside of Moria and D&D-derived fantasy fiction, I think most adventure sites in fiction are pretty limited in scale, too. I'm not sure that not focusing on huge dungeon complexes is a big issue beyond MCDMRPG failing to be a new edition of D&D, which isn't attempting to do.
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Yeah, I think we should expect a system built around epic cinematic set piece battles. Those might occur in "dungeons" but no more often than they will occur inside arcane vortices, erupting volcanoes, flying islands or arcanotech golem factories. That is to say, the dungeon is likely not the point, and it is pretty clear the game won't waste any mechanics or narrative time on counting rations and iron spikes.
 


Anand

Anand

2nd Level DM
M.T. Black said:
Some folks have asked whether the MCDM system will have dungeons or not. I'm sure it will - it is such a strong fantasy trope that I can't see how they ignore it. But Coleville has said the system is not about exploration or attrition, but rather about big heroic fights. So I suspect the dungeons will be smaller and simpler than the sprawling old school dungeons you see in many games these days. They will probably resemble the old 4E Encounters dungeons, with 2 or 3 set pieces strung together.

It may be that Colville's Delian Tomb serves as an archetype for the sort of dungeons they are aiming at - though that is pure speculation on my part.
View attachment 337817
Map by Kyle Capps
Click to expand...
This kinda looks the sections of The Eye of the Stone Thief for 13th Age.
 



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