Sculptor, gamer, and creature curator Brian Colin is bringing his world, Revilo, to Dungeons & Dragons 5e. It’s a world where recently “humans, elves, and dwarves have crashed onto the coast of Revilo, discovering the land. One human has built an army. Will the rest of Revilo be able to form an alliance before this army conquers them?” EGG EMBRY (EGG): Brian, we spoke before about your Atmar’s Cardography Kickstarter. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me about the World of Revilo for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Kickstarter. What will this Kickstarter produce?
BRIAN COLIN (BC): This Kickstarter has a lot of elements to it, but the main focus is a set of books. World of Revilo Campaign Setting and Revilo Bestiary: Boheum’s Guide to Monsters for D&D 5th Edition. To enhance people’s gaming experience, we also have 2 different sets of clear acrylic pawns for the monsters in the bestiary, as well as accompanying decks of monster cards. There are a few other things in there like a GM screen and Revilo dice because I really wanted to have them for my games.
EGG: Can you share the origins of the World of Revilo?
BC: Sure thing, way back in the way back machine (in 2009) I created my first large-scale, life-sized, sculpted monster head. I had been customizing toys for a while, but this large critter was the next phase in the evolution of my art. With storytelling always being a big part of why I create things, I knew the creature needed a backstory. I was fascinated by the idea of duality, and parasitic life because at the time my wife was pregnant with our first kid. That had influenced my sculpting to the point that I added a second head into the chest of the Reaper. I decided to name the world after what would be my son’s middle name. Thus, the world became Revilo, Oliver backwards. I decided then that I wanted to create something we could add to together, and he could help create. In the past few years, Revilo has really started to expand at a rapid pace. I started doing a lot more conventions, partnered with Norse Foundry for Atmar’s Cardography (which allowed me to bring on Carey Drake for illustrations and Isaac Skaggs to help with writing), and we created additional modules for RPG Crate.
EGG: Are you kickstarting one or two books for the campaign and the bestiary?
BC: I had originally planned on doing one book, but then I realized that some folks may only want to bring the creatures into their own campaign setting. Knowing that if there was one book that had everything in it, the cover price would have to be significantly higher, and I want as many people bringing parts of Revilo to their gaming table as possible, I decided to break it into two separate books.
EGG: Will Atmar or the concept of Cardography appear in this setting?
BC: There is a chance once we get into stretch goals, but we’ll have to see how the campaign goes.
EGG: You’re a Fate gamer, correct? Why launch this for D&D 5e?
BC: I am a Fate gamer. The issue I ran into was that my son, now 9, will not pour over and study Fate books. I have tried by giving him all the different expansion books to read through, and buying third-party PDFs to read. He just doesn’t get lost in them like he does with the D&D books. He will spend hours just going over stats and reading about different monsters. His favorite is Kobold Press’ Creature Codex. If I am doing the campaign setting for anyone other than myself, I am doing it for him and he’s gotta be into it.
EGG: Any chance we’ll see this converted to Fate?
BC: I would love to convert it over to Fate! Most of it comes down to time for me. I’ll have to see what my schedule looks like once this project wraps up. It is definitely on the board of possible future projects.
EGG: For a 5e fan on the fence about backing your setting, what is the secret sauce that will make the World of Revilo the right campaign for them?
BC: The one that seems to get most folks right away is that there 6 new playable races, with plans for more as stretch goals are unlocked. We’re also introducing new subclasses and monsters that most players have never heard of before.
EGG: You’ve done six Kickstarters on your own and Atmar’s Cardography was done with Norse Foundry. What did you learn from each of those experiences?
BC: Each Kickstarter has been a great experience, even my very first one that failed miserably. I have learned a lot about manufacturing that I was unaware of. I had a solid grasp on printing because I’ve been working as a graphic designer since the mid 90s, but manufacturing was a new extension of that. I had never had a Kickstarter with the success of Atmar’s Cardography before. With it, I gained the experience of working with logistics companies for shipping not only to the US, but also to the UK and Australia. This then turned into learning how working with partners to get products out on a global scale. I have also learned that Kickstarter backers are amazing people. They put their trust in you to produce what you say you are going to make. They have given me the opportunity to make things that I would never have been able to fund on my own.
EGG: For those that do not know, you do a particular kind of “taxidermy”. Can you talk about what you build?
BC: I sculpt life-sized heads of creatures from my world Revilo. Currently, I have created roughly around 65 unique species so far. I take these creature heads with me to conventions for adventurous people to decorate their homes with. Almost all of the creatures from the campaign setting and bestiary started as a sculpture, and then their stories expanded from there.
EGG: Thanks for talking with me, Brian. Where can fans learn more about your work and your Kickstarter?
BC: It's my pleasure, thank you so much for having me! CreatureCuration.com is the best place to find a little bit of everything.
World of Revilo Campaign Setting and Revilo Bestiary: Boheum’s Guide to Monsters for D&D 5th Edition
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! This article was contributed by Egg Embry as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. Please note that Egg is a participant in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to DriveThruRPG.
BRIAN COLIN (BC): This Kickstarter has a lot of elements to it, but the main focus is a set of books. World of Revilo Campaign Setting and Revilo Bestiary: Boheum’s Guide to Monsters for D&D 5th Edition. To enhance people’s gaming experience, we also have 2 different sets of clear acrylic pawns for the monsters in the bestiary, as well as accompanying decks of monster cards. There are a few other things in there like a GM screen and Revilo dice because I really wanted to have them for my games.
EGG: Can you share the origins of the World of Revilo?
BC: Sure thing, way back in the way back machine (in 2009) I created my first large-scale, life-sized, sculpted monster head. I had been customizing toys for a while, but this large critter was the next phase in the evolution of my art. With storytelling always being a big part of why I create things, I knew the creature needed a backstory. I was fascinated by the idea of duality, and parasitic life because at the time my wife was pregnant with our first kid. That had influenced my sculpting to the point that I added a second head into the chest of the Reaper. I decided to name the world after what would be my son’s middle name. Thus, the world became Revilo, Oliver backwards. I decided then that I wanted to create something we could add to together, and he could help create. In the past few years, Revilo has really started to expand at a rapid pace. I started doing a lot more conventions, partnered with Norse Foundry for Atmar’s Cardography (which allowed me to bring on Carey Drake for illustrations and Isaac Skaggs to help with writing), and we created additional modules for RPG Crate.
EGG: Are you kickstarting one or two books for the campaign and the bestiary?
BC: I had originally planned on doing one book, but then I realized that some folks may only want to bring the creatures into their own campaign setting. Knowing that if there was one book that had everything in it, the cover price would have to be significantly higher, and I want as many people bringing parts of Revilo to their gaming table as possible, I decided to break it into two separate books.
EGG: Will Atmar or the concept of Cardography appear in this setting?
BC: There is a chance once we get into stretch goals, but we’ll have to see how the campaign goes.
EGG: You’re a Fate gamer, correct? Why launch this for D&D 5e?
BC: I am a Fate gamer. The issue I ran into was that my son, now 9, will not pour over and study Fate books. I have tried by giving him all the different expansion books to read through, and buying third-party PDFs to read. He just doesn’t get lost in them like he does with the D&D books. He will spend hours just going over stats and reading about different monsters. His favorite is Kobold Press’ Creature Codex. If I am doing the campaign setting for anyone other than myself, I am doing it for him and he’s gotta be into it.
EGG: Any chance we’ll see this converted to Fate?
BC: I would love to convert it over to Fate! Most of it comes down to time for me. I’ll have to see what my schedule looks like once this project wraps up. It is definitely on the board of possible future projects.
EGG: For a 5e fan on the fence about backing your setting, what is the secret sauce that will make the World of Revilo the right campaign for them?
BC: The one that seems to get most folks right away is that there 6 new playable races, with plans for more as stretch goals are unlocked. We’re also introducing new subclasses and monsters that most players have never heard of before.
EGG: You’ve done six Kickstarters on your own and Atmar’s Cardography was done with Norse Foundry. What did you learn from each of those experiences?
BC: Each Kickstarter has been a great experience, even my very first one that failed miserably. I have learned a lot about manufacturing that I was unaware of. I had a solid grasp on printing because I’ve been working as a graphic designer since the mid 90s, but manufacturing was a new extension of that. I had never had a Kickstarter with the success of Atmar’s Cardography before. With it, I gained the experience of working with logistics companies for shipping not only to the US, but also to the UK and Australia. This then turned into learning how working with partners to get products out on a global scale. I have also learned that Kickstarter backers are amazing people. They put their trust in you to produce what you say you are going to make. They have given me the opportunity to make things that I would never have been able to fund on my own.
EGG: For those that do not know, you do a particular kind of “taxidermy”. Can you talk about what you build?
BC: I sculpt life-sized heads of creatures from my world Revilo. Currently, I have created roughly around 65 unique species so far. I take these creature heads with me to conventions for adventurous people to decorate their homes with. Almost all of the creatures from the campaign setting and bestiary started as a sculpture, and then their stories expanded from there.
EGG: Thanks for talking with me, Brian. Where can fans learn more about your work and your Kickstarter?
BC: It's my pleasure, thank you so much for having me! CreatureCuration.com is the best place to find a little bit of everything.
World of Revilo Campaign Setting and Revilo Bestiary: Boheum’s Guide to Monsters for D&D 5th Edition
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! This article was contributed by Egg Embry as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. Please note that Egg is a participant in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to DriveThruRPG.
