Welcome back to our weekly look at tabletop roleplaying game, and accessories, crowdfunding roundup! Each week we’ll be looking at a few campaigns currently running that have caught our eye as well as occasionally speaking to some of the creators about their campaigns, or looking at some of the ‘behind the scenes’ business aspects of putting together, launching, operating and then delivering a crowdfunded project. If you have anything you’d like us to cover, or questions about anything we talk about, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or contact me directly.
[h=3]Legacy of Mana: RPG Setting Guide for Pathfinder and 5E by Norse Foundry[/h]
(Campaign Ends : Saturday 3rd December 2016; 17:41 UTC)
Imagine a world where Wizards and Sorcerers don’t reign supreme, a world where magic is as powerful as ever, and flows from the core of the planet itself through every living thing in the form of mana, and yet, those who wield it, fear for their lives, hunted to near extinction by an army of ordinary soldiers. The knights of this army carved their way across the land, empowered by alchemically crafted swords that thirsted for and destroyed mana in all of its forms, absorbing lightning bolts as harmless white light, draining magical creatures of their very life force, and converting the stored energy drained from the mana into powerful bursts of energy.
The reign of these Iltherian Knights couldn’t last forever, and with their kingdom brought to its knees by a small group of rebels, the world has been thrown into chaos. In this fractured world, warlords are rising up, attempting to impose their own brand of order. Some seek their rightful place as the blooded rulers of the realm. Others merely intend to conquer through strength of arms or manipulation. This chaotic world needs heroes to act as guides through the storm, protecting the common people from the war still waging around them. It needs heroes to fight the Iltherian Knights, protect the rightful rulers of the land, and forge a path through the chaos. That’s where you come in.
Legacy of Mana is a brand new setting by designer Thomas Gofton which is going to be available in both Pathfinder and 5E versions. Apart from the campaign setting itself the books will include new races (20 for Pathfinder, 10 for 5E), over 30 new feats (Pathfinder), a new class that specializes in anti-magic (5E), new rules for anti-magic combat, including how basic spells interact with it, rules for magical airship flight and combat as well as unique travel rules for journeys between the sky realms, surface realms and sub-surface realms, and loads more info.
Legacy of Mana introduces a world where the tables are turned. Wizards and Sorceres live under the constant threat of extinction, hunbted by the mana-stealing Iltherian Knights. Fighters and Barbarians fight alongside, and against the Iltherian Knights, while a network of Rogues work behind the scenes to try to come out on top in a chaotic world. In Legacy of Mana, no magic is safe… and the common adventurers aren’t much safer.
[h=3]Renegade: Starship Map Poster & Miniature by Ryan Wolfe[/h]
(Campaign Ends : Monday 5th December 2016; 06:47 UTC)
Ryan Wolfe has produced a number of Starship posters both on, and off, Kickstarter and the Renegade: Starship Map Poster & Miniature is his latest campaign. Apart from a large (24” x 36” double-sided deckplan poster you receive tech data for the ship and also the option of a highly detailed resin miniature of the Renegade.
The double sided map includes The Renegade on one side and the Winchester variant on the flip side. Both maps have a 1 inch grid built into the flood and are scaled at about 1 inch = 5 feet.
The “Renegade” class of starships was designed as a multipurpose vessel capable of hauling cargo, moving passengers, exploration, reconnaissance, and light combat duty. As with many such designs the ship is adequate for a variety of roles but excels at none. This ship is meant for independent pilots who want to take on many different types of jobs (on either side of the law). The small crew requirement and ease of maintenance have made the Renegade popular with freelance captains and smugglers on a tight budget. During the war, this class earned a reputation as a capable corsair – able to efficiently engage targets of opportunity and then easily return to normal duties.
The “Winchester” variant is a military gunship built around a massive, spinal mounted cannon. This version of the ship gives up cargo space and other amenities in exchange for overwhelming fire power. With barracks instead of comfortable cabins, she carries a crew of twenty. Though the ground vehnicle is gone to make room for ammunition, Winchester crowds two shuttles into the bay where the Renegade only carries one.
The Winchester variant is a Kickstarter exclusive and won’t be available elsewhere.
[h=3]FARFLUNG – Sci-Fi Role-Play After Dark by Sanguine Productions LLC[/h]
(Campaign Ends : Thursday 1st December 2016; 04:59 UTC)
It seems that every week there is a new ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’ game launched on Kickstarter and Farflung is one of the currently successful campaigns using this popular system. Farflung is “a high-concept science fiction game [which] explores the possibilities of characters far, far more powerful than your typical role-playing game. From immortals beyond that transcend time, up to alien destroyers of entire worlds, and right down to the mostly-harmless Earthlings clearly in over their heads, you may immerse yourself in the experience of post-scarcity, transhuman space.”
Farlung is “a tabletop game about the ends of the universe, where nothing has been undone and everything is permitted. You will be one of the heroes who rages against the dying of the star-light. From transhuman zeta-tech androids, to the bewildered time-traveler who came to see new wonders, down to the humble robot who yearns for freedom, the only limits are your imagination.
Make your own stories in the mold of Babylon 5, Dancers at the End of Time, Doctor Who, Fifth Element, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Lexx, Torchwood, and other science-fiction of high concept and mature themes. While you revel in the absurdity of Futurama or Rick and Morty, take a moment to think about how you would feel in the same place. What adventures could you have with the Shapers, the Machinists, the Culture that have gone past simple concepts of gender, of race, of physical bodies, of time and space? Let us show you.”
[h=3]The Forest Dragon Card Game by Rory by Jon Hodgson[/h]
(Campaign Ends : Wednesday 7th December 2016; 19:00 UTC)
I’m departing from our usual exclusive look at RPG products and accessories to give a shout out for this newly released project. The Forest Dragon Card Game by Rory is a fast “push your luck” card game about creating a fantasy world and then exploring it by Rory, aged 9, and his younger brother Ben. Rory and Ben are the children of mega-talented artist and games industry veteran Jon Hodgson (also Cubicle 7’s Creative Director).
The Forest Dragon centres around a deck of 53 cards. The deck contains resources, adventure items and monsters, as well as the instructions laid out across seven cards.
In a round of the game players lay out rows of cards that make up the world they are going to explore. They take it in turns to reveal one card at time, and follow the instructions on the card: Resources are collected in your backpack, Adventure items also go in the backpack, but help with the adventure. Monsters will end your expedition, sometime staking items you’ve collected! You can chose to head home at any time and bank your finds. Or keep going, risking it all! Pushing your licl and knowing when to stop are key.
Rounds are quick to play, and you can chose how many rounds to play to make a match. At the end of each round you tally up the points on your resources, and the winner is whoever has gathered the most.
All 53 cards feature art by designer Rory, and his little brother Ben.
[h=3]Places by the Way: Modules for Dungeons & Dragons 5E by Douglas Sun[/h]
(Campaign Ends : Wednesday 14th December 2016; 00:49 UTC)
Back in the early days of the 3rd Edition OGL boom Alderac Entertainment Group produced a range of 5000 word mini-adventures that could be played in n evening or dropped into a campaign. One of the authors of these was Douglas Sun (The Wreck of the Venerable Drake, Gottheit and The Caravan City of Azul). After a break he has now returned to writing RPGs and is aiming to produce a series of short modules called ‘Places by the Way’ for 5th Edition. Each module will actually have two slightly different versions. One version will be set in the Forgotten Realms (and sold exclusively through the Dungeon master’s Guild) whilst the other will assume a generic setting.
The first entry in Places by the Way describes a farming village that faces a threat to its existence massing in the wilderness just beyond its cleared fields. The Forgotten Realms versions is called In The Shadow of The High Forest, the OGL generic setting version is called The Village of Darkharrow. Both versions have 14 numbered locations, each of which offers an encounter, noteworthy items, noteworthy NPCs or an opening into which you can hook your existing campaign. The PCs may choose to help a farmer clear his field of ankhegs, buy some potent herbal cures, and move on. Or they choose to delve beneath the surface of village life, the second half of the module presents conditional series of events that lead to a boss encounter with a twist, with Darkharrow’s fate at stake.
**********
If you like what we do here at EN World (the Forums, Columns, News, ENnies, etc) and would like to help support us to bring you MORE please consider supporting our Patreon. Even a single dollar helps Thanks!
**********
If you have a forthcoming Kickstarter, or see one that excites you, please feel free to drop me an email on angus.abranson@gmail.com You can follow me on Twitter @ Angus_A or on Facebook where I often post about gaming.
Until next week, have fun and happy gaming!
Angus Abranson
[h=3]Legacy of Mana: RPG Setting Guide for Pathfinder and 5E by Norse Foundry[/h]
(Campaign Ends : Saturday 3rd December 2016; 17:41 UTC)
Imagine a world where Wizards and Sorcerers don’t reign supreme, a world where magic is as powerful as ever, and flows from the core of the planet itself through every living thing in the form of mana, and yet, those who wield it, fear for their lives, hunted to near extinction by an army of ordinary soldiers. The knights of this army carved their way across the land, empowered by alchemically crafted swords that thirsted for and destroyed mana in all of its forms, absorbing lightning bolts as harmless white light, draining magical creatures of their very life force, and converting the stored energy drained from the mana into powerful bursts of energy.
The reign of these Iltherian Knights couldn’t last forever, and with their kingdom brought to its knees by a small group of rebels, the world has been thrown into chaos. In this fractured world, warlords are rising up, attempting to impose their own brand of order. Some seek their rightful place as the blooded rulers of the realm. Others merely intend to conquer through strength of arms or manipulation. This chaotic world needs heroes to act as guides through the storm, protecting the common people from the war still waging around them. It needs heroes to fight the Iltherian Knights, protect the rightful rulers of the land, and forge a path through the chaos. That’s where you come in.
Legacy of Mana is a brand new setting by designer Thomas Gofton which is going to be available in both Pathfinder and 5E versions. Apart from the campaign setting itself the books will include new races (20 for Pathfinder, 10 for 5E), over 30 new feats (Pathfinder), a new class that specializes in anti-magic (5E), new rules for anti-magic combat, including how basic spells interact with it, rules for magical airship flight and combat as well as unique travel rules for journeys between the sky realms, surface realms and sub-surface realms, and loads more info.
Legacy of Mana introduces a world where the tables are turned. Wizards and Sorceres live under the constant threat of extinction, hunbted by the mana-stealing Iltherian Knights. Fighters and Barbarians fight alongside, and against the Iltherian Knights, while a network of Rogues work behind the scenes to try to come out on top in a chaotic world. In Legacy of Mana, no magic is safe… and the common adventurers aren’t much safer.
[h=3]Renegade: Starship Map Poster & Miniature by Ryan Wolfe[/h]
(Campaign Ends : Monday 5th December 2016; 06:47 UTC)
Ryan Wolfe has produced a number of Starship posters both on, and off, Kickstarter and the Renegade: Starship Map Poster & Miniature is his latest campaign. Apart from a large (24” x 36” double-sided deckplan poster you receive tech data for the ship and also the option of a highly detailed resin miniature of the Renegade.
The double sided map includes The Renegade on one side and the Winchester variant on the flip side. Both maps have a 1 inch grid built into the flood and are scaled at about 1 inch = 5 feet.
The “Renegade” class of starships was designed as a multipurpose vessel capable of hauling cargo, moving passengers, exploration, reconnaissance, and light combat duty. As with many such designs the ship is adequate for a variety of roles but excels at none. This ship is meant for independent pilots who want to take on many different types of jobs (on either side of the law). The small crew requirement and ease of maintenance have made the Renegade popular with freelance captains and smugglers on a tight budget. During the war, this class earned a reputation as a capable corsair – able to efficiently engage targets of opportunity and then easily return to normal duties.
The “Winchester” variant is a military gunship built around a massive, spinal mounted cannon. This version of the ship gives up cargo space and other amenities in exchange for overwhelming fire power. With barracks instead of comfortable cabins, she carries a crew of twenty. Though the ground vehnicle is gone to make room for ammunition, Winchester crowds two shuttles into the bay where the Renegade only carries one.
The Winchester variant is a Kickstarter exclusive and won’t be available elsewhere.
[h=3]FARFLUNG – Sci-Fi Role-Play After Dark by Sanguine Productions LLC[/h]
(Campaign Ends : Thursday 1st December 2016; 04:59 UTC)
It seems that every week there is a new ‘Powered by the Apocalypse’ game launched on Kickstarter and Farflung is one of the currently successful campaigns using this popular system. Farflung is “a high-concept science fiction game [which] explores the possibilities of characters far, far more powerful than your typical role-playing game. From immortals beyond that transcend time, up to alien destroyers of entire worlds, and right down to the mostly-harmless Earthlings clearly in over their heads, you may immerse yourself in the experience of post-scarcity, transhuman space.”
Farlung is “a tabletop game about the ends of the universe, where nothing has been undone and everything is permitted. You will be one of the heroes who rages against the dying of the star-light. From transhuman zeta-tech androids, to the bewildered time-traveler who came to see new wonders, down to the humble robot who yearns for freedom, the only limits are your imagination.
Make your own stories in the mold of Babylon 5, Dancers at the End of Time, Doctor Who, Fifth Element, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Lexx, Torchwood, and other science-fiction of high concept and mature themes. While you revel in the absurdity of Futurama or Rick and Morty, take a moment to think about how you would feel in the same place. What adventures could you have with the Shapers, the Machinists, the Culture that have gone past simple concepts of gender, of race, of physical bodies, of time and space? Let us show you.”
[h=3]The Forest Dragon Card Game by Rory by Jon Hodgson[/h]
(Campaign Ends : Wednesday 7th December 2016; 19:00 UTC)
I’m departing from our usual exclusive look at RPG products and accessories to give a shout out for this newly released project. The Forest Dragon Card Game by Rory is a fast “push your luck” card game about creating a fantasy world and then exploring it by Rory, aged 9, and his younger brother Ben. Rory and Ben are the children of mega-talented artist and games industry veteran Jon Hodgson (also Cubicle 7’s Creative Director).
The Forest Dragon centres around a deck of 53 cards. The deck contains resources, adventure items and monsters, as well as the instructions laid out across seven cards.
In a round of the game players lay out rows of cards that make up the world they are going to explore. They take it in turns to reveal one card at time, and follow the instructions on the card: Resources are collected in your backpack, Adventure items also go in the backpack, but help with the adventure. Monsters will end your expedition, sometime staking items you’ve collected! You can chose to head home at any time and bank your finds. Or keep going, risking it all! Pushing your licl and knowing when to stop are key.
Rounds are quick to play, and you can chose how many rounds to play to make a match. At the end of each round you tally up the points on your resources, and the winner is whoever has gathered the most.
All 53 cards feature art by designer Rory, and his little brother Ben.
[h=3]Places by the Way: Modules for Dungeons & Dragons 5E by Douglas Sun[/h]
(Campaign Ends : Wednesday 14th December 2016; 00:49 UTC)
Back in the early days of the 3rd Edition OGL boom Alderac Entertainment Group produced a range of 5000 word mini-adventures that could be played in n evening or dropped into a campaign. One of the authors of these was Douglas Sun (The Wreck of the Venerable Drake, Gottheit and The Caravan City of Azul). After a break he has now returned to writing RPGs and is aiming to produce a series of short modules called ‘Places by the Way’ for 5th Edition. Each module will actually have two slightly different versions. One version will be set in the Forgotten Realms (and sold exclusively through the Dungeon master’s Guild) whilst the other will assume a generic setting.
The first entry in Places by the Way describes a farming village that faces a threat to its existence massing in the wilderness just beyond its cleared fields. The Forgotten Realms versions is called In The Shadow of The High Forest, the OGL generic setting version is called The Village of Darkharrow. Both versions have 14 numbered locations, each of which offers an encounter, noteworthy items, noteworthy NPCs or an opening into which you can hook your existing campaign. The PCs may choose to help a farmer clear his field of ankhegs, buy some potent herbal cures, and move on. Or they choose to delve beneath the surface of village life, the second half of the module presents conditional series of events that lead to a boss encounter with a twist, with Darkharrow’s fate at stake.
**********
If you like what we do here at EN World (the Forums, Columns, News, ENnies, etc) and would like to help support us to bring you MORE please consider supporting our Patreon. Even a single dollar helps Thanks!
**********
If you have a forthcoming Kickstarter, or see one that excites you, please feel free to drop me an email on angus.abranson@gmail.com You can follow me on Twitter @ Angus_A or on Facebook where I often post about gaming.
Until next week, have fun and happy gaming!
Angus Abranson
