RPG Crowdfunding News – Gloomhaven, Astra Fauna, and Forty Foes, and more

This week’s RPG crowdfunding sampler features projects that end between July 11 to 19. These projects are pulled from Kickstarter, Backerkit, and GameFound.

Gloomhaven: The Role Playing Game, Miniatures of Gloomhaven & Gloomhaven: Second Edition! by Cephalofair

• END DATE: Jul 19, 2023 at 9:00pm EDT.
• CROWDFUNDING ON: Backerkit
• SYSTEM(S): Gloomhaven
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $90 + S/H for the boxed set with two books, GM screen, cards, and more
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Gloomhaven is moving from tabletop board game to tabletop roleplaying game, and it's an important transition. This is the board game with multiple Kickstarters resulting in millions of dollars and many awards; Gloomhaven is likely to be a gateway for gamers to get into roleplaying. This Backerkit campaign offers more than just the RPG. With a second edition of Gloomhaven, a reprint of Frosthaven, and an avalanche of miniatures, there's something for any board gamer. But, since RPGs are our focus, let's look at why this project is an important RPG: Gloomhaven’s game engine maintains the board game's use of cards over dice, an element that minimizes the element of chance. Using this system has the potential to open up a wave of card-based RPGs. The $90 price point sounds high but you get rules, cards, and a GM screen, which is a lot of value for what could be a literal industry-wide game changer. Gloomhaven has the potential to be THE next fantasy RPG ranked alongside D&D and Pathfinder, and this is your chance to try it out.

Astra Fauna: Expeditions from Sarah Dahlinger (Astra Fauna)

• END DATE: Thu, July 13 2023 11:59 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): OSR
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $47 + S/H for the print book plus a variety of digital versions
• AI ARTWORK STATEMENT: “No to AI generated images”
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? 230 pages of fully illustrated space exploration. This book offers so many creatures, each with candid observations and OSR stat blocks. Five sections for five scientists as they write about what they’ve discovered in their search of the stars. The major draw of this book is Sarah Dahlinger’s artwork. These amazing creatures and their stats will be perfect for any sci-fi campaign. If you’re interested in adding a horde of beautifully illustrated monsters and story elements to your campaign, this is worth looking at.

Thorgal: The Roleplaying Game by Dark Rabbit

• END DATE: 7/14/2023, 6:00:00 AM
• CROWDFUNDING ON: GameFound
• SYSTEM(S): An original d20 system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: €45 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
• TRY BEFORE YOU BUY: Thorgal: The Roleplaying Game Starter is free at DriveThruRPG
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? The Europe comic series, Thorgal by Jean Van Hamme and Grzegorz Rosiński, comes to tabletop as an RPG. This is a world where Atlanteans are star explorers returned to the Earth, they arrive during the height of the Vikings, combining the two mythologies. With elements of supernatural powers and questing, this RPG uses an original d20 system to tell its tales. If you’re a fan of the comic series, this is worth checking out. If you want a unique world with lots of mythology to draw upon, this RPG is worth reviewing on GameFound.

Aetherial Expanse: Setting Guide from Ghostfire Gaming

• END DATE: Sat, July 15 2023 12:00 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $60 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book plus digital extras
• DISCLAIMER: I have freelanced for Ghostfire Gaming. I am not associated with this project
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Fantasy heavy swashbuckling adventures for 5e! This project reimagines high seas adventures through the lens of modern fantasy. Magical ships, magical beings, and magical seas, all with vivid colors and an imagination over reality mix of monsters and maelstroms. There are new 5e rules including ship building and naval combat. Once I saw the artwork, I got the D&D nature they were striving for. If 5e is your jam and you’re looking for some naval options, the visuals for this campaign will pull you in as you prepare for pirating and nautical treasures.

The Complete McCaigue Creature Compendium Volume 2 – 5E from Katelyn McCaigue

• END DATE: Sun, July 16 2023 2:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $35 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? In this sequel, YouTuber and artist Katelyn McCaigue brings more 5e content to your table. Over 50 monsters and their lore, 20 items to harvest and craft from these monsters, two playable ancestries, and creatures that serve as class deities. It’s a sourcebook full of original artwork and options for your 5e campaign.

Clerk & Dagger | A TTRPG of rogue accountants from Dice Kapital

• END DATE: Mon, July 17 2023 7:59 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): An original system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £15 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This RPG had me at “rogue accountants”. In the city of Dis, the magistrates have plundered the city’s wealth and it’s up to you to recover it. The ministers stole using the power of the Soul Coins that fall from the “eyes of the unliving and undying Empress of Thieves.” It’s a unique world and a unique system. If you’re looking for an RPG of ledges and ledgers, this is waiting for you.

Forty Foes - A Cy Borg Compatible Bestiary from Crow Heart Roleplay Resources

• END DATE: Tue, July 18 2023 5:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): CY_BORG
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £20 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? If you’re a fan of CY_BORG then this sourcebook has what you need: More enemies. Forty beasts, mutants, and experiments gone wrong, this is a book to terrify those cyberpunks that dare to operate in the city of Cy. In addition, the book’s added new weapons, ammo, and more. If you’re running CY_BORG, this book gives you a lot of options to add to your table.

The Veil of Night: A Dark Elf One-Shot Adventure Module from Tina Glasneck

• END DATE: Wed, July 19 2023 1:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Adventure
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $1 for the PDF of a one-shot adventure
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? $1 for over 40 pages of adventure. The apocalypse brings dark elves. They’ve overrun the city and are hunting you. You can hide in the sewers, but escape is going to be hard. This adventure offers more than a quest, it’s fight to survive down here.

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BLOOD. IRON. DEATH. from Paradox Press / Games [NOTE: Not associated with Paradox Interactive]

• END DATE: Tue, July 11 2023 10:02 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): An original OSR system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core role pamphlets
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $5 for both of the one-page PDF mini-zines
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This project is a rules lite brutal OSR fantasy RPG offered as two one-page pamphlets. Each piece of paper folds into a mini-zine with eight “pages” that measure 2.75” by 4.25” each. The format for these zines uses Matt Kay’s pocketfold zine pocketmod design. The zines are the Player's Manual which unfolds into a character sheet and the Harbinger's Oracle which unfolds to reveal random tables of trials and tribulations. This takes the pamphlet RPG format and reimagines it as a smaller booklet. If OSR and easily printed RPGs speak to you, this campaign is worth checking out.

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[humble minion]

Aetherial Expanse, it should be noted, isn't purely nautical so much as it is "hey, WotC screwed up Spelljammer according to a lot of customers -- here's our take on that, including better ship combat rules."

I for one backed it on that assumption.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

My favourite character class is rogue and my education background is in economics and finance, so Clerk and Dagger definitely has me very curious.