RPG Crowdfunding News – Enchanting Emporiums, The Electric State, Knock! and more

This week’s TTRPG crowdfunding sample looks at campaigns that end starting December 20th through Christmas Eve. These campaigns were selected based on their end dates, which I call out since this article does not include the massive project from MCDM Productions. It’s on my radar and will be covered in its own time. In the meantime, let me share some deserving options.

The Seeker's Guide to Enchanting Emporiums from Ghostfire Gaming and Eldermancy

• END DATE: Sat, December 23 2023 9:04 AM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $65 + S/H for the PDF and print book plus bookmarks, stickers, and digital maps
• ADDITIONAL REPORTING: WotC is adding some Ghostfire Gaming products to D&D Beyond, which is awesome
• DISCLAIMER: I freelanced for Ghostfire Gaming. I am not involved in this project
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Need a magic shop? Not just any magic shop, but the best in the land? This tome offers 15 of the most enchanting emporiums to choose from. What if you’re not in a town, but still need items? This book will connect you with 6 traveling traders with unique wares for your campaign. In addition, there are over 100 magic items and a huge number of NPCs and plot hooks all of which implies that this book will be a useful sequel to Eldermancy’s The Seeker’s Guide to Twisted Taverns. Beyond emporiums sourcebook, this campaign gives you some fun extras like bookmarks, special dice, a dice tower, a figure, and more. If you need a professional list of magic shops, this may be the guide you’re looking for.

The Electric State Roleplaying Game from Free League Publishing

• END DATE: Wed, December 20 2023 9:00 AM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Year Zero Engine
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: SEK 498 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? The Electric State is artist Simon (Tales From The Loop) Stålenhag's vision of an apocalyptic alternate 1990s. Licensed to be adapted for the big screen by the Russo Brothers starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, we’ll get the TTRPG from Free League before the motion picture. Using the Year Zero Engine, this game sets you on a journey through the ruins of America, traveling among the discarded mechs and downed drones of the second Civil War and the refuse of rampant consumerism. This game is about the journey and the character’s experiences, not where they’re going. Think of a wasteland brimming with an excess of failures and your characters have to cross it. Every step is a moment to reflect, to realize how far you’ve gone and how far you have to go. Part cyberpunk, part post-apocalypstic, and all traveling narrative, this TTRPG is waiting for fans of great Free League games.

Knock! Issue Four from The Merry Mushmen

• END DATE: Fri, December 22 2023 7:00 AM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): OSR
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: €26 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? The fourth issue in this series is 212 pages of OSR greatness. No theme, just articles, all written, laid out, and waiting for your order. You’ll get what you’d expect in an OSR book including “game design insight, random tables, rules suggestions, monsters, classes, maps, [and] adventures.” This issue features 12 pages “aimed at post-WotC meltdown 5E refugees (or just your friends who you’d like to bring over to the adventure gaming side of the divide).” This is perfect for OSR fans looking for a random collection of high quality content.

Old-School Setting: The Isle of Sedra from Gaming Ballistic

• END DATE: Sat, December 23 2023
• SYSTEM(S): Old-School Essentials
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $46 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of all three books plus another PDF
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Gaming Ballistic, a company known for supporting Steve Jackson Games’ The Fantasy Trip, is back with another project. On top of their TFT offerings, Gaming Ballastic has done several Old-School Essentials offerings. This OSE project promises three books, one setting and two adventures. Appropriately enough, this sea-centric setting started as a TFT campaign setting, a pair of isolated islands that are big enough to allow a campaign, but not so big that there is too much sprawl. Converting the books to OSE, you’ll get a revised setting ready for play. If you’re a fan of OSE and other B/X island fantasy settings, these books may be right for your gaming table.

The Belly of Aramkass from Pontus Björlin

• END DATE: Sun, December 24 2023 8:21 AM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Dragonbane
• PROJECT TYPE: Adventure
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: €32 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This is a third-party Dragonbane adventure. Designed for Free League Publishing’s fantasy system, this adventure is 96 pages with monsters, maps, two playable kin, two new professions, and more. Promising towns, a mountain, and difficult travels as your characters defend against what haunts the mountains, if you need an adventure for Dragonbane, check out this campaign.

FOUR BORG from CM Lowry

• END DATE: Wed, December 20 2023 3:43 AM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Mörk Borg
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £16 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book and five d4s
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This is Mörk Borg, but redone to only use d4s. The same doom metal idea as the regular game, but this features exploding d4s in a standalone game. Why the world needs Mörk Borg in fours is a valid question, and for £4 you can get the PDF to learn the answer. The campaign is tongue-in-cheek, realizing the absurdity of this project. I will say, if it’s a hit, there’s so much we can convert to d4s… hmm...

MAPS YOUR PARTY WILL DIE FOR 4: CITY - DM's Workbook & Maps from Laidback Dungeon Master

• END DATE: Thu, December 21 2023 6:30 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): System neutral
• PROJECT TYPE: RPG accessory
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: AU$25 for the PDF and POD discount versions of the book plus more
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This campaign provides interconnectable city maps. All modern landscapes, you’ll get cities, rivers, ports, docks, and more. It’s a pretty straightforward offer that I’m sharing because it’s from the Laidback DM and their offering tend to be truthful: Easy-to-use, simplified products perfect for your games.

Gackling Moon from False Machine

• END DATE: Sun, December 24 2023 3:00 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): System neutral
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £19 + S/H for the print version of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This is a system neutral campaign setting featuring a world where the moon has many facets, each of which reflect the sun’s light back in different spectrums and images. These changes alter the type of magic that’s available. The book details and illustrates the wider world, giving unique details to every corner. If you’re a fan of odd fantasy settings, wild, varying magic, and unexpected possibilities, this book may speak to you.

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[Charles Dunwoody]

What a great offering this week. I already backed The Electric State and it is always good to see a new issue of Knock! The Isle of Sedra it tempting as it is OSE and water based, The Belly of Aramkass is both a new setting and adventures for Dragonbane which is great, and the Gackling Moon is not only a great name but a weird new setting. Even if I can't back all these, I hope they all make into wider circulation in the future.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This issue of Knock! includes articles by the creators of Shadowdark and Pirate Borg. In the latter case, it's a dark fantasy island generator, which is the kind of thing Pirate Borg does very well.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Gackling Moon high on my list

Four Borg is cute, although every time I look at it the bottoms of my feet twinge in remembered pain

 

[aramis erak]

I found out about Electric Slate too late - budget already spent. I'll probably get it later. <sigh>.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This issue of Knock! includes articles by the creators of Shadowdark and Pirate Borg. In the latter case, it's a dark fantasy island generator, which is the kind of thing Pirate Borg does very well.

Still working my way through this issue. It is dense with content, as I gather all issues of Knock! are. There are very few clunkers among the articles -- "hey, let's make armor class more cumbersome while saying we're not making it more cumbersome" is one of the few examples -- and many of these pieces are fantastic and often systemless.

In contrast, rolling for a skill check when you have only two of these three elements -- time, skill and tools -- is brilliant. If you have all three, you automatically succeed and if you only have one or none of them, the check is impossible, is great. Simple to remember and understand and widely applicable. It's only four short paragraphs, but is worth printing out and tucking into every RPG rulebook, IMO.

Very happy with this purchase, even if the magazine can sometimes be hard to read with old eyes. Blowing it up in PDF form, though, takes care of that.