Shadowdark Setting Looks Set To Be 2025's First Million Dollar TTRPG Crowdfunder

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Just launched today, the new Western Reaches setting for the Arcane Library's popular Shadowdark roleplaying game (which itself raised $1.3M in 2023) has flown past half a million dollars in the first few hours, and looks certain to join the Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarter Club imminently!

[[Edit/Update--and it's done it! $1M less than 12 hours into the Kickstarter campaign!]]

2025 has been quiet so far this year on the million-dollar crowdfunding front. This new setting is a sandbox environment with new classes and ancestries, and various areas such as the Gloaming Forest, Djurum Desert, and Myre Swamp. It comes in two 200-page digest-sized hardcovers. Also included are new issues of the game's Cursed Scroll zine. The full core set will cost you $129, or $149 for a premium version, with fulfillment expected in December 2025.

At $670K at the time of writing, just 3 hours into the campaign, The Western Reaches is already the 7th most first-day funded TTRPG ever, having just passed 2024's Terry Pratchett's Discworld RPG: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork. It looks set to pass 6th place very soon, which is 2023's Ryoko's Guide to the Yokai Realms - A 5e Tome. Only five TTRPG crowdfunders (so far!) have ever hit the million-dollar mark on the first day. You can see the full ranking at the Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarter Club.

The Western Reaches are an unexplored land of fragile civilizations, majestic landscapes, and forgotten horrors that lurk in the dark.

In the Reaches, you could play as:

• A painted witch from the steppes hunting for the secrets to deeper magic
• An armored knight from the City of Masks guarding frontier villages from attack
• A silent monk from the mountains searching for the assassin who killed his teacher
• A scarred pit fighter from the desert looking to make her fortune outside the arena
• A quick-witted explorer from the jungle who can find any artifact for the right price
• A seafaring warrior from the northern isles who fights for the glory of the Old Gods

This sandbox setting is fast, elegant, and flexible in the signature Shadowdark style. You don't have to memorize lore; you'll discover it as you go. The world moves and grows with you as you explore it.

 

[Arilyn]

Part of the issue for me is that if you already have an OSR or OSR-adjacent game that fills the niche that Shadowdark does, there isn't necessarily much reason to get it. Right now, Dragonbane is that game for me. However, I also know that there are several big upcoming products for Dragonbane, including Magic and Expert books, so that is what will likely be getting my Kickstarter budget money. That and the upcoming Bestiary and hardcovers for Fabula Ultima.

Only played a little Dragonbane but definitely want to play more. It's a great game. We've been playing Fabula Ultima. Love the character creation. And it's fun just leaning into the tropes without worrying that it's too clichéd.

 

[mcmillan]

Is SD under OGL?

There's a separate 3rd party license, described at the FAQ on The Shadowdark RPG Third-Party License

 

[darjr]

Part of the issue for me is that if you already have an OSR or OSR-adjacent game that fills the niche that Shadowdark does, there isn't necessarily much reason to get it. Right now, Dragonbane is that game for me. However, I also know that there are several big upcoming products for Dragonbane, including Magic and Expert books, so that is what will likely be getting my Kickstarter budget money. That and the upcoming Bestiary and hardcovers for Fabula Ultima.

Players is one. The number of folks interested in Shadowdark is larger than I expected.

 

[Reynard]

Is SD under OGL?

No but since it is derivative of the 5.1 SRD you can make compatible material pretty easily. But to indicate compatibility you have to use a kind of limited bespoke license from them. It is a little disappointing given the game exists as a child of so much open content, but it is what it is.

 

[Nightfly]

Is SD under OGL?

No. Kelsey was writing Shadowdark when the OGL debacle happened, leading her to rewrite a good bit of the game. Stirges became "stingbats", for example. Kelsey originally made her name writing adventures for 5e, but she apparently won't ever do so again. One of many creatives burned by that OGL unpleasantness.

But to indicate compatibility you have to use a kind of limited bespoke license from them. It is a little disappointing given the game exists as a child of so much open content, but it is what it is.

Out of curiosity, what's disappointing about it? I'm no lawyer, but I wrote an adventure for Shadowdark, and its license struck me as very fair and well thought out.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yeah, I've published a Shadowdark adventure and I found the license to be perfectly fine, especially as compared to licenses like ORC, which would require me to give away everything to use it.

 

[Reynard]

Out of curiosity, what's disappointing about it? I'm no lawyer, but I wrote an adventure for Shadowdark, and its license struck me as very fair and well thought out.

Yeah, I've published a Shadowdark adventure and I found the license to be perfectly fine, especially as compared to licenses like ORC, which would require me to give away everything to use it.

I want to be clear, I do mean just a little disappointing. It isn't a huge deal.

That said, I firmly believe that if you build a game off Open Contebt, your game rules should be Open. Of course your prose and presentation is yours, and I agree that the SD license is great for the community, but I also wish it had an SRD.

 

[nightnoongames]

I think she probably is listening to superfans in the Discord and not realizing that there's a demand for lower-cost physical tiers.

A lower cost physical tier with just the two Western Reaches Guides was added yesterday based on feedback!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

A lower cost physical tier with just the two Western Reaches Guides was added yesterday based on feedback!

What I'd really like -- now that it won't add to the count of stickers they're responsible for -- is a $1 physical tier Backerkit option. Limithron provided one in the fall and it meant people could buy in during the Pirate Borg expansion campaign and then have several months to save up the money for all the stuff. (It was a similarly huge campaign of expansion stuff.)

 

[Scribe]

• 18 character classes and lots of new art, including the never-before-seen Kyzian Archer, Green Knight, and Monk of Yag-Kesh
• 8 ancestries with new in-world details, including the new half-elf and the kobold

The kickstarter says those are not including the core book, do we have a list (Discord?) on what those are?

• All gear lists, including boats, mounts, and poisons
• All spells for each class listed alphabetically by tier

I'd love if this got added to the license somehow. You can reference things (Mounts from CS2 for example) but it would be great to be able to bundle it into a release...