Pumpkin Spice Joins the Million Dollar Crowdfunder Club

MichaelSomething · 2026-03-06T01:37:51+0000

Why is there surprise at this? Surely Enworlders have the depth of experience and/or the fore sight granting wisdom to understand that TTRPGs can explore myarid experiences; including those Pumpkin Spuce seeks to give. It almost gives the impression that Enworld is a small isolated backwater instead of the vibrant, multifaceted hub of TTRPG discourse.

Whizbang Dustyboots · 2026-03-06T01:57:34+0000

MichaelSomething said:
Surely Enworlders have the depth of experience and/or the fore sight granting wisdom to understand that TTRPGs can explore myarid experiences

definiteFreakyFishGuy · 2026-03-06T09:17:45+0000

The Legends and Latte vibe turned me off (didn't like the book), but the quick start convinced me that maybe I should consider backing it.

I like the core mechanics. So elegant, and it feels like there is just enough structure to facilitate a good conversation. In particular, making the right drink for a customer mini game seems very fun.

Not sure how I feel about the art. I like the style and the tone, though not a huge fan of the "flirty" vibes.

bsss · 2026-03-06T12:29:37+0000

Looking at the stretch goal unlocks, they really gamified spending money, huh? 20k for, say, an individual card in a deck, or one pregen, is not a strategy I've seen before. Is that "normal" these days?

Morrus · 2026-03-06T12:40:25+0000

bsss said:
Looking at the stretch goal unlocks, they really gamified spending money, huh? 20k for, say, an individual card in a deck, or one pregen, is not a strategy I've seen before. Is that "normal" these days?

Well, of course a $20K increase in funding is not a free $20K—attached to it comes $20K of rewards you have to send out. I don’t know what their margins are (they have a lot of separate “things” they need to make and ship—dice, vinyl records, tote bags, etc.), but that $20K could be as little as as $1K actual available funds or it could be way, way more. I wouldn’t put too much stock on the spaces between stretch goals.

bsss · 2026-03-06T12:54:47+0000

Morrus said:
Well, of course a $20K increase in funding is not a free $20K—attached to it comes $20K of rewards you have to send out. I don’t know what their margins are (they have a lot of separate “things” they need to make and ship—dice, vinyl records, tote bags, etc.), but that $20K could be as little as as $1K actual available funds or it could be way, way more. I wouldn’t put too much stock on the spaces between stretch goals.

Yeah, the money is one thing we don't have a much insight on. I'm just more surprised at the amount of unlocks and the unusual-to-me relatively small size of each (the "gamification"). I am used to something more like (as general examples, not specific instances I looked up) "100k: a couple more adventures added to the book", or "250k: look! a bestiary!", not a barrage of individual pregens or spells or other individual game elements.

It's fine, but I had some "whoa, really, am I the only one seeing this?" effect, but I also try to limit the amount of stuff I back, so I could just be out of touch.

Morrus · 2026-03-06T13:01:09+0000

bsss said:
Yeah, the money is one thing we don't have a much insight on. I'm just more surprised at the amount of unlocks and the unusual-to-me relatively small size of each (the "gamification"). I am used to something more like (as general examples, not specific instances I looked up) "100k: a couple more adventures added to the book", or "250k: look! a bestiary!", not a barrage of individual pregens or spells or other individual game elements.

It's fine, but I had some "whoa, really, am I the only one seeing this?" effect, but I also try to limit the amount of stuff I back, so I could just be out of touch.

It’s probably just stuff they already have done or which they can make very quickly and easily.

Staffan · 2026-03-06T13:19:38+0000

bsss said:
Yeah, the money is one thing we don't have a much insight on. I'm just more surprised at the amount of unlocks and the unusual-to-me relatively small size of each (the "gamification"). I am used to something more like (as general examples, not specific instances I looked up) "100k: a couple more adventures added to the book", or "250k: look! a bestiary!", not a barrage of individual pregens or spells or other individual game elements.

It's fine, but I had some "whoa, really, am I the only one seeing this?" effect, but I also try to limit the amount of stuff I back, so I could just be out of touch.

I'm not sure this is what's done here, but in other crowdfunders I've often seen something that's clearly intended to be a larger stretch goal split into several parts and once all the parts are done the last one is "and we'll collect all the X into a Y!". For example, the TORG Eternity crowdfunders usually had a 55-card deck in them, but they were unlocked 5 cards at a time.

bsss · 2026-03-06T18:09:57+0000

Staffan said:
I'm not sure this is what's done here, but in other crowdfunders I've often seen something that's clearly intended to be a larger stretch goal split into several parts and once all the parts are done the last one is "and we'll collect all the X into a Y!". For example, the TORG Eternity crowdfunders usually had a 55-card deck in them, but they were unlocked 5 cards at a time.

Interesting. The rapid feed of lots of small things is not something I'd really experienced before. It makes sense from a marketing perspective, don't get me wrong. And, I've always suspected (at least with the recent MCG campaigns) a certain amount of "oh, they knew they were going to hit that goal, they had this canned and hinted at it the whole time", so that doesn't surprise me that it's something in the works, so to speak.

And again, if it works, it works; I can't cast any particular shade on their approach.

Staffan · 2026-03-06T18:36:02+0000

bsss said:
Interesting. The rapid feed of lots of small things is not something I'd really experienced before. It makes sense from a marketing perspective, don't get me wrong. And, I've always suspected (at least with the recent MCG campaigns) a certain amount of "oh, they knew they were going to hit that goal, they had this canned and hinted at it the whole time", so that doesn't surprise me that it's something in the works, so to speak.

And again, if it works, it works; I can't cast any particular shade on their approach.

FWIW, I strongly suspect that the marketing effect of this tactic is at best indirect. It keeps things happening, which keeps the people who already backed interested, and thus makes them more likely to spread the word. But I'd be surprised if anyone looks at the campaign and goes "Oh look, they've unlocked 30 additional cards – awesome, I gotta get in on that!"