D&D General 5E-Powered Adventure Time Joins Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarter Club

The latest entry to the Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarter Club is Adventure Time: The Roleplaying Game from Cryptozoic Entertainment. This is the third million dollar TTRPG Kickstarter in the last month or so (and the 4th so far this year).

Adventure Time is powered by D&D 5E and is based on the popular animated show--which itself was inspired by D&D. You play as a resident of the Land of Ooo with characters like wild berry barbarians, vampire rogues, and penguin warlocks.

The game was originally pitched using a custom system (the Yes/And System), before pivoting to D&D 5E; the custom system version is apparently still coming later.

The Kickstarter ends tomorrow. At the time of writing it had raised $1.25M from nearly 6,000 backers.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yeah, well as much as it may not matter to you or I, having the "official" IP matters more to some people. I do think an official HP tie-in would probably sell more than "off-brand" attempts. (No shade intended.)

I agree. I think that lack of a concrete (and still often beloved) setting is what hurts Kids on Brooms the most, for instance.

That said, neither Kids on Brooms nor Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos were A-game efforts, which I think is also a problem. Without the Hogwarts IP, giving B-level effort really exacerbates the problem.

We'll see if David Zaslav can convince JKR to finally greenlight a Harry Potter RPG and how it does.

 

[Toriel]

Yeah, well as much as it may not matter to you or I, having the "official" IP matters more to some people. I do think an official HP tie-in would probably sell more than "off-brand" attempts. (No shade intended.)


I didn't hear that it was bad, just okay. Repetitive quest design and such. I've been waiting for the bargain sale, which would probably take another year or two. Visuals are damn impressive from what I've seen though and I think HP's aesthetic is its biggest draw.

I played the game and enjoyed it. The graphics and combat were cool. The biggest thing for me was the fact that it expands the universe somewhat, with none of the characters from the novels being present.

 

[Zarithar]

It would definitely do well, but I'm sure would be damn controversial, given how JKR conducts herself these days. I mean, look at Hogwarts Legacy.

That said, if JKR was Hands-off and you had a more considerate team producing the game, I'd be very interested. I was interested in Hogwarts Legacy but then people said it was just okay.

Edit: Also, I can imagine how this game would have exploded among my friends when I was in High School in the early 2010s, I'm sure all of those friends are seeing this game and getting pretty pumped.

And yet Hogwart's Legacy was one of the best selling games of 2023. There's no doubt a HP RPG would make a TON of money.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Harry Potter will be a fabulous saga, but that universe could be too "boring" outside the epic and main plot.

I am happy for the success of this crownfunding, but also a little sad because before this a Spanish publisher, Nosolorol, got the licence, and it didn't work so good, only the corebook and a sourcebook about the world of Aaa (gender reverse).

 

[Anon Adderlan]

Lets see:

• Inauthentic use of Adventure Time lingo.
• No digital options.
• No live play demo.
• Most on-brand dice design a #Kickstarter exclusive.
• Was going to charge 10% to change pledge level before feedback.
• Still charging 10% for 'late' pledges.

Appears they relied almost entirely on brand recognition to drive this campaign, and they weren't wrong. It's more D&D than Adventure Time though, and while I'd normally be interested in their improv version I can't look past the fact the system dev for that one sucker punched a critic allegedly enough that it resulted in both a legal settlement and #GenCon banning them. It's all deeply disappointing. I only hope the lack of digital isn't due to #CartoonNetwork simply taking that option off the table like #Disney does, or else Rick and Morty, Steven Universe, and The Venture Bros might be likewise restricted if they ever get licensed.