This week’s RPG crowdfunding review features a sampling of campaigns that end between August 17 to 23. From sourcebooks to full games, these RPGs come from Kickstarter and Backerkit.
World of Battlezoo: Indigo Isles for Pathfinder 2e and 5e from Roll for Combat
Trinity Continuum: Aegis tabletop roleplaying game from Onyx Path Publishing
Garbage & Glory from Wet Ink Games
Terminal (A Digital Pirate Action RPG) from Rat Wave Game House
TTRPG Battle Maps, Monster Maps, and More! (2023 Edition) from SideQuest20
Wind Wraith from Shane Walshe
Inventory of Improving Items: Volume 2 from Evil Pigeon Games
If you attended Gen Con 2023 this year, I hope you had a fantastic time. Every so often, a creator lets me know that this column helped them in their crowdfunding journey by adding a few more backers to their campaigns. One of those instances happened to me at Gen Con 2023. As I was exiting the WOGD gaming room after a lovely session of Mothership when I started talking to one of the room managers, Jeffrey Jones. When I introduced myself, he knew who I was. It turned out I’d covered a prior project by him – Scoundrels of Brixton from RPG Ramblings Publishing – and it’d led to additional backers. That news always makes my day. Jeffrey was very generous with his praise and, as a thanks, he gifted me with an artist proof copy of his current Kickstarter project, Gary's Appendix: Issue 3 for Old-School Essentials. This campaign ends soon (Thursday, August 10), but I wanted to shout out his work before it wraps up.
Egg Embry participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, Noble Knight Games’ Affiliate Program, and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG, Noble Knight Games, and Amazon.
World of Battlezoo: Indigo Isles for Pathfinder 2e and 5e from Roll for Combat
- END DATE: Fri, August 18 2023 11:59 PM EDT.
- SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition and Pathfinder Second Edition
- PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $59 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book, assets, and more
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? From the company behind the RPG Superstar contest comes this sourcebook for 5e or PF2e. This 280- page project is a lore book for Alacar, a world within the Battlezoo. Set in tropical islands, you’ll get appropriate ancestries, monsters (though, more dragons for 5e than PF2e), towns with maps, gods, hooks, and so much more. In keeping with their community design spirit, there are options for backers to help design islands for this setting. If the idea of a zoo-inspired world, one where you can play as anthropomorphic characters from the tropics, sounds good to you, check out the campaign page for a link to a free preview.
- CROWDFUNDING ON: Backerkit
- END DATE: Aug 17, 2023 at 2:00pm EDT.
- SYSTEM(S): Storypath System
- PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $60 + S/H for the PDF, POD discount, and print versions of the book
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Set during Greece’s Iron Age, this RPG uses Onyx Path’s Storypath System and the Trinity Continuum fiction to bring superpowered Champions, Oracles, and Olympians to the gaming table. Dive into this sword and sandals version of Trinity Continuum, a sci-fi and action oriented RPG with options that range from superheroes to, well, the Archaic Period of Greek history. If you’re a fan of Trinity Continuum or sword and sandals RPGs, check out this project on Backerkit.
Garbage & Glory from Wet Ink Games
- END DATE: Sat, August 19 2023 10:00 PM EDT.
- SYSTEM(S): +One System
- PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $50 + S/H for PDF and print versions of the book plus cards, dice, and more
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? An RPG that looks like The Secret of NIMH but with trash pandas is bound to be worth a look. Wet Ink Games brings their +One System to a world of dumpster diving dungeon crawls, alley adventures, and sewer sleuthing, you’ll seek the ultimate prize: Trash. In a human world, you adventure, find prizes, and take them back to build out your home. This RPG is likely to appeal to fans of animal adventures, those looking for some dungeon delving in the modern world. The art is by Sam Brieck and Matthias Bonnici. One artist claims he is not a raccoon pretending to be artists. The other is more open and honest about the fact he is four raccoons pretending to be an artist. I appreciate getting this issue out into the open! If you support trash panda artwork, this RPG is a godsend!
Terminal (A Digital Pirate Action RPG) from Rat Wave Game House
- END DATE: Sat, August 19 2023 11:21 AM EDT.
- SYSTEM(S): Hack of Inevitable by SoulMuppet Publishing
- PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £30 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Do you miss The Matrix movies, especially the ship scenes? This RPG combines the simulation aspects of those movies with pirates to create Terminal. The adventures and campaigns revolve around the matrix crashing and rebooting as some new and different. As humans that only visit the simulation, this opens up an ever evolving world to game in. If you’re a fan of cyberpunk hackers and pirates then this RPG might be of interest.
TTRPG Battle Maps, Monster Maps, and More! (2023 Edition) from SideQuest20
- END DATE: Wed, August 23 2023 9:51 PM EDT.
- SYSTEM(S): System neutral
- PROJECT TYPE: RPG accessory
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: CA$20 for PDF and VTT versions of the 40 battle maps, 20 monster maps, and 2D minis/tokens
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This project offers battle maps for your gaming table, physical or online. Provided in high res with or without grids, these maps suggest a variety of fantasy environments. In addition to locations, there are monster maps with a boss monster drawn into one end of the map so you can fight against them. If you need maps, check these out.
Wind Wraith from Shane Walshe
- END DATE: Thu, August 17 2023 8:58 AM EDT.
- SYSTEM(S): Old-School Essentials
- PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: €35 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This toolkit helps you to generate flooded fantasy settings, post-apocalypse worlds where you will explore islands and the oceans. Designed for wet hex crawls, this tool will help you to bring a different element to your setting with waves and watery graves. Think species, settings, ships, and submerged worlds ready for your table to explore. If the idea of an old school water-based campaign appeals to you, this page is worth reviewing.
Inventory of Improving Items: Volume 2 from Evil Pigeon Games
- END DATE: Sat, August 19 2023 12:30 PM EDT.
- SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
- PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £5 for the PDF of zine
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Magic items that level? Yeah, I dig that idea. Magic items, like spells, need a way to grow or you stop using them. In your 5e game, having a magic item is great, but having one that improves is even better as your character grows. This book is the second in a series that offers magic items, curses, related NPCs, and story hooks to make this a sourcebook worth having.
If you attended Gen Con 2023 this year, I hope you had a fantastic time. Every so often, a creator lets me know that this column helped them in their crowdfunding journey by adding a few more backers to their campaigns. One of those instances happened to me at Gen Con 2023. As I was exiting the WOGD gaming room after a lovely session of Mothership when I started talking to one of the room managers, Jeffrey Jones. When I introduced myself, he knew who I was. It turned out I’d covered a prior project by him – Scoundrels of Brixton from RPG Ramblings Publishing – and it’d led to additional backers. That news always makes my day. Jeffrey was very generous with his praise and, as a thanks, he gifted me with an artist proof copy of his current Kickstarter project, Gary's Appendix: Issue 3 for Old-School Essentials. This campaign ends soon (Thursday, August 10), but I wanted to shout out his work before it wraps up.
Egg Embry participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, Noble Knight Games’ Affiliate Program, and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG, Noble Knight Games, and Amazon.
