RPG Crowdfunding News – Wretches & Rewards, Folk Magic, Role, Pride Knights, and more

This week, I look at some of the RPG Kickstarters campaigns that end by June 25th. These campaigns are heavily Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition projects with one DCC and one OSR offering to mix it up. As well, there’s a new virtual tabletop and, coinciding with Pride Month, there’s a set of Pride miniatures with some D&D accessories funding.

Wretches & Rewards Mini Adventures for 5e from Anthony Woods

• END DATE: Fri, June 19 2020 11:10 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: CA$40 for PDF and print of the module and maps

“A 5th Edition supplement of monster encounters perfectly paired with memorable loot. As a dungeon master, the traditional approach to generating loot is tried and true… but could be so much better! You set up encounters, run the players against them, and then pop out the DM Guide to roll on loot tables. Sure, the randomness of the table-approach has always been a unique feature of the game but it can have us scratching our head ... if the monster had a wand of fireballs in their loot pile all along; then why the heck didn't they use it?! At Wretches & Rewards, we’ve prefabbed an awesome series of mini-adventures that slot easily into your campaigns. Each adventure is designed to introduce very flavorful magic item(s) with rich connections and a backstory that is tied to the monster(s) that your heroes defeated. Not only do these new magic items tie into the monsters’ backstories, but they also create unique encounters for your heroes. We are designing six adventures around a diverse set of magic items and their associated monsters. Our product is designed to be flexible: easily accessible to beginners and a unique spin on the status quo for veterans looking to try something new.”

Folk Magic of the Haven Isles from MonkeyBlood Design & Publishing

• END DATE: Fri, June 19 2020 3:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Swords & Wizardry and OSRs
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £20 + £8 US S/H for PDF and hardcover of the book

“An inspiration book for fantasy role-playing game magicians based on British folklore. Folk Magic of the Haven Isles is a role-playing supplement for old school role-playing games. Its focus is on magicians, wizards and magic-users. The book is written for Swords & Wizardry and therefore can be used in all retro-clones and old school role-playing games with little or no work. An A5-sized (148mm wide x 210mm high OR Approx. 5.8" wide x 8.3" high) containing 60 interior pages comprising 19 pages of evocative, full colour illustrations. 14 Magic-User sub-classes, such as the Peller, Hermetic Magician, Demon Slave, Toadman, Spae Wife, Stitch Witch, Green Child, and Apple Queen/King. These sub-classes are 'overlays' that are intended to be used in conjunction with the magic-user class, giving them benefits, drawbacks and flavour. 16 Magic-User backgrounds such as the Arcane Gloombugger, Cultist, Goblin Stinkbinder, and Stone Tender. Unique and flavourful micro-stories that make your magician unique and explain how they came to practice magic. 7 Tomes (spellbook ideas) such as the Little Key of the Whole Art of Hydromancy. Ideas for spellbooks that can be the goals of magician's quests. 16 Magical Spells such as Gloomray, Transmute Lead into Gold, Enforce Queueing, and more. Usable in any old school game. 4 Oddities of the Haven Isles. Unusual objects, flora, and fauna such as the Mandrake and Wizard Hole.”

Enchiridion of the Computarchs - DCC RPG from Horseshark Games

• END DATE: Mon, June 22 2020 3:00 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeon Crawl Classics and Mutant Crawl Classics
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $18 + $5 US S/H for the PDF and hardcover of the book
• NOTE: Try before you buy with the PWYW [Preview] Enchiridion of the Computarchs at DriveThruRPG

“A supplement for high tech casting using the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG and Mutant Crawl Classics RPG rules. Enchiridion of the Computarchs gives a judge the leg up on developing and using casting mechanics and concepts in high-tech settings. This book encompasses a range of material concerning computers and programs that a “techno-caster” (like the MCC shaman class, or those classes found in Cyber Sprawl Classics, Crawljammer, Umerica, Terror of the Stratosfiend, and Star Crawl) can utilize. Depending on how you want to play DCC RPG Empire of the East or DCC RPG Dying Earth, this book could be used in those settings as well. You will find a collection of spells (aka, programs) in this book, a d24 spellburn table, new mechanics for spell failure, and a brief corruption table all couched in a high-technobabble style for your post-apocalyptic, far-future, and dystopian-future campaigns. 8.5" x 11" supplement, ~100 pages, back & white interior, color cover. Plenty of art. Contributors include: Stefan Poag, David Fisher, Matt Sutton, K.J. O'Brien, Matt Cartwright, and more. 38 Programs, from 1st to 5th level, with a table to roll on. Mechanics to use programs at your table: burndown (aka spellburn), faults, bugs and critical errors (aka misfire and corruption), and more. Tables to generate program faults on the fly & create techno acronyms.”

5e Urban Developments - Subclasses, Items, Races, & Spells from Griffin Ess

• END DATE: Sun, June 21 2020 11:59 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $40 + $10 for the PDFs and hardcover

“New options for your campaign and/or players who have more of a city minded approach or cosmopolitan campaign to navigate. I run a lot of games in small towns and cities. As such my players often find themselves in situations where dense populations, closely knit buildings, and more "modern" settings. (Modern just meaning running water and social infrastructure instead of ancient crypts with archaic locks and confusing puzzles). As such I've spent a lot of time designing assets to help my players navigate these environments more effectively. Over time this has led to many spells, items, feats, race blends, monsters, and sub-classes. With new options across all areas of character building at your convenience you will not be disappointed with these urban-minded developments within the 5th edition realms.”

Role: A New Kind of Platform For The RPG Community

• END DATE: Thu, June 18 2020 8:00 PM EDT.
• PROJECT TYPE: Virtual tabletop
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $20 for a one-year subscription, early access, and more
• NOTE: I have an interview with Logan Dwight, Role’s CEO, coming up

“Discover new games from passionate creators, meet new friends, and adventure together. Anyone can play, everyone is welcome. We believe in the power of authentic narrative play. With Role, we're bringing that power to a new generation of online creators & communities. Today’s role playing community is larger and more vibrant than ever. Diverse voices from around the globe are creating new games every day. We want to be the place where everyone can play, meet new people, and get their games into more players’ hands. Crisp high quality video chat puts the best part of the game front-and-center: the people. Roll any combination of dice by selecting them quickly from your Dice Tray. Fully modular character sheet tools ensure you have what you need to play any game, even homebrew content or custom systems. Match with players who share your interests, based on information listed in your Profile. We’re designing a premium marketplace that puts creators first, making it easier for players to discover, learn, and purchase new games from diverse voices in the role playing community. Say goodbye to review bombs & trolling. Instead of a traditional review score system, Role uses a recommendation engine. Players recommend what they love, not trash what they hate.”

Pride Knights Miniatures from Archer Inventive and Westfalia Miniatures &

• END DATE: Thu, June 18 2020 12:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Miniatures and RPG accessories
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $60 + $10 US S/H for a set of the seven knights

“Bringing the big energy of the Pride Knights to you in miniature form! After taking up steel for the last Pride month in 2019, Archer Inventive is donning the armor of the Pride Paladin once again, and hoping to bring the adventure home for all! We've received tons of fantastic and encouraging feedback from this photo-shoot, but one of the big questions we got was whether we planned to make a set of miniatures to bring the Pride Knights to tabletop gaming. The folks over at Westfalia Miniatures were wondering the same thing, and together we have been working to make that a reality. We're offering the Pride Paladin and the Pride Knights (coming in at 32mm scale), based on reference provided by Archer Inventive, with Westfalia Miniatures managing the shift from imagery to mass production.”

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RPG QUICK HITS

The Titans Trail: A Mech vs Kaiju 5e Expansion Module from Kyle Cheney

• END DATE: Thu, June 25 2020 9:42 AM EDT.
• NOTE: Link to this project’s Kicktraq information (here)
• “An extensive 5e expansion, adding Mech vs Kaiju combat in a Victorian Science Fantasy and open world campaign with full artwork.”

Player's Guide to Oranth from David Barrentine

• END DATE: Sun, June 21 2020 10:00 PM EDT.
• NOTE: Link to this project’s Kicktraq information (here)
• “Original character options and a campaign setting for the 5th edition of the world's greatest roleplaying game.”

Face the Colossus! from Diego Pisa Artworks

• END DATE: Tue, June 16 2020 9:32 PM EDT.
• NOTE: Link to this project’s Kicktraq information (here)
• “Mini-setting for use with any Role-Playing Game. Read the lore, get the mood, and start to play! 5e compatible.”

Worldbuilder's Notebook from Jacob Hurst

• END DATE: Fri, June 19 2020 7:46 PM EDT.
• NOTE: Link to this project’s Kicktraq information (here)
• “Build your world, organize your notes, and run your own RPG content from a durable, fabric covered, lay-flat notebook.”

Egg Embry participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG and Amazon.

 

[dave2008]

Thank you as always Egg! There are few on here I will have to check out.

 

[jerryrice4949]

Dave I thought you were done with 5E material?

 

[Lord_Blacksteel]

"You set up encounters, run the players against them, and then pop out the DM Guide to roll on loot tables. Sure, the randomness of the table-approach has always been a unique feature of the game but it can have us scratching our head ... if the monster had a wand of fireballs in their loot pile all along; then why the heck didn't they use it?! "

And here we see a fundamental misunderstanding of the rules which have been the same since the 70's: You don't roll for treasure after the fight. When you "set up the encounters" part of that is determining the "loot pile" at the same time. Not later ... how can someone not understand this? Especially someone who wants to sell people a book of encounters? Right ...

 

[dave2008]

Dave I thought you were done with 5E material?

Yes and no. I am always on the look out, but I am rarely in the mood to buy anymore. I will admit The Titan's Trail is interesting to me as I'm a giant monster fan too. Not something I would probably use in my game, but as a designer myself I am interested in what new ideas people come up with. Also, I do like to support crowdfunding initiatives, but even that interest is waning some.

 

[jerryrice4949]

Yes and no. I am always on the look out, but I am rarely in the mood to buy anymore. I will admit The Titan's Trail is interesting to me as I'm a giant monster fan too. Not something I would probably use in my game, but as a designer myself I am interested in what new ideas people come up with. Also, I do still like to support crowdfunding initiatives, but even that interest is waning some.

I hear what what you are saying but even if I am not going to use a new book as intended, I mine them for things to make my world building and story telling better. I find that reading other people’s creative work inspires me. So though I have more content, especially 3PP, than I could ever use I am always on the look out for new stuff.

On that note the Night Fell setting being kickstarted at the end of June looks incredible.

 

[Fenris-77]

Huh. Not to cast any aspersions on anyone's hard work, but when I think of what's needed run urban campaigns that isn't really present in the core books, more races and class crunch really isn't it. People do love them some new class crunch though, so it's a canny niche to hit, even if it's not what I personally want.

 

[TheIdeaOfGood]

"You set up encounters, run the players against them, and then pop out the DM Guide to roll on loot tables. Sure, the randomness of the table-approach has always been a unique feature of the game but it can have us scratching our head ... if the monster had a wand of fireballs in their loot pile all along; then why the heck didn't they use it?! "

And here we see a fundamental misunderstanding of the rules which have been the same since the 70's: You don't roll for treasure after the fight. When you "set up the encounters" part of that is determining the "loot pile" at the same time. Not later ... how can someone not understand this? Especially someone who wants to sell people a book of encounters? Right ...

Yeah, I get what you're saying.
Not to harp on this product, mind you, I like new pre-thought-out adventures.
But I always plan the treasure ahead and it's very rarely just a simple +1 sword. I'm usually going for more of an original Appendix N feel so magic items and some treasures do have some thought behind them when I hand them out.

 

[Tun Kai Poh]

My friend Jamila is contributing one of the games in the Role app, and it's a really cool tarot-powered science fiction game called Voidwalkers, inspired by Mass Effect and Star Wars!

Jammi has decades of experience as a professional tarot reader and that really shines through.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

"You set up encounters, run the players against them, and then pop out the DM Guide to roll on loot tables. Sure, the randomness of the table-approach has always been a unique feature of the game but it can have us scratching our head ... if the monster had a wand of fireballs in their loot pile all along; then why the heck didn't they use it?! "

And here we see a fundamental misunderstanding of the rules which have been the same since the 70's: You don't roll for treasure after the fight. When you "set up the encounters" part of that is determining the "loot pile" at the same time. Not later ... how can someone not understand this? Especially someone who wants to sell people a book of encounters? Right ...

I'm mildly surprised people are doing random treasure generation -- other than minor stuff like a spare potion or such -- at all now. Unless you're dealing with something that doesn't care about its "treasure," like a gelatinous cube, it doesn't make a lot of sense to not spend an extra minute or three making the treasure make sense.

That said, I just supported the (just ended) Stygian Library re-release and will be supporting the (EDIT) Roll & Play notebook and Gelatinous Cube mini/dice later today.