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.

 

[Nightfly]

Down to the last 24 hours! In order to be funded, the Kickstarter needs to do better than $-2,205,170 over the last day.

 

[aiouh]

It would certainly have required remarkable prescience to predict 108% tariffs! I hope they are OK.

I have a hard time imagining that a customs value of a A5 digest book can be any higher than 10$ per piece when it hits U.S. Shores. I think they're really only in deep trouble if we're getting to 300-400% territory

 

[Velderan]

At some point I would imagine if the tariffs stick and if they apply to books, plan B might be to pivot and print them somewhere in Europe where the tariffs are 20% even if the print cost themselves are higher.

Again assuming the books aren’t impacted, the problem items probably are the cards and GM screens. Does anyone produce things like that in other countries?

 

[Scribe]

2.252, and almost 12000 backers. Fantastic.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I am so glad I got into this game! Just played my first game last weekend.

 

[Morrus]

At some point I would imagine if the tariffs stick and if they apply to books, plan B might be to pivot and print them somewhere in Europe where the tariffs are 20% even if the print cost themselves are higher.

Again assuming the books aren’t impacted, the problem items probably are the cards and GM screens. Does anyone produce things like that in other countries?

Screens aren’t so bad. A book printer can often handle those. It’s boxes, slipcases, tokens/pawns, dice etc .

 

[Reynard]

I am so glad I got into this game! Just played my first game last weekend.

I am SHOCKED.

No, not really.

Are you planning on using it to run old TSR stuff? If so, which?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Screens aren’t so bad. A book printer can often handle those. It’s boxes, slipcases, tokens/pawns, dice etc .

I've heard dice mentioned multiple times. Is this an at-scale issue? I remember during lockdown, seemingly everyone on Etsy was making resin dice in their garage, but that's obviously not to fulfill Kickstarter orders with 5,000 customers. Is it just because the factories needed for big dice orders tend to be in a few countries?

 

[Bill Zebub]

I am so glad I got into this game! Just played my first game last weekend.

As player or GM? A Shadowdark adventure, or something from another system?

How many PCs died?

 

[Morrus]

I've heard dice mentioned multiple times. Is this an at-scale issue? I remember during lockdown, seemingly everyone on Etsy was making resin dice in their garage, but that's obviously not to fulfill Kickstarter orders with 5,000 customers. Is it just because the factories needed for big dice orders tend to be in a few countries?

Yes. An Etsy store isn’t able to mass-manufacture thousands of units at pace for you. And will charge 10+ times per unit.

Also you need somebody who can make and assemble multiple components into a box. The Chinese factories are great at that. Otherwise you are sourcing them all individually, having them made, having them all shipped to a third location, having them assembled and then shipped again. The costs skyrocket. One Chinese company can produce everything for you, assemble it, and present you with 10K boxed board games.

(And they have a a lot of those companies and we have none).