D&D 5E Auroboros Kickstarter From Warcraft Devs Has Launched

The D&D 5E setting from developers who originally hail from video game studios like Blizzard, and video games like Warcraft and Diablo, has launched on Kickstarter with a bang, as expected. Auroborus: Coils of the Serpent details a realm called Lawbrand, which contains a number of trade cities and factions. Will this one be the 4th in the last month to join the $1M club?

The high-powered team, under the banner of Warchief Gaming, includes Chris Metzen (Blizzard Entertainment, Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, Overwatch), Mike Gilmartin (Blizzard, Eidos, Maxis, Atari), and Ryan Collins (Hearthstone, Marvel Heroes, HeroClix).

The setting contains 5 new races and 4 new subclasses, plus details of 8 trade cities. It also features a new game rule called the Mark of the Serpent which lets you do incredibly powerful magical effects at a cost.

Auroboros: Coils of the Serpent

An epic 5E fantasy campaign setting by Chris Metzen.

www.kickstarter.com

For $25 you can pick up the PDF bundle, or $50 for the hardcover. There are higher tiers with GM screens, world maps, slipcases, and more, with expected delivery in one year (March 2022).

 

[grimslade]

The fact that this is blowing Symbaroum 5E out of the water so quickly is a little disheartening to me. Like, it looks...fine? Definitely interesting that they pulled back on that rock-n-roll centaur image, that was such a big part of earlier coverage.

I wouldn't be concerned for Ruins of Symbaroum. It is doing well and is a translation of an existing property to 5E. Auroboros has the draw of Metzen, Thrall himself is presenting a 5E campaign! Fria Liga is going to continue to do well and grow the world of Symbaroum in both their own system and 5E and do very well. We shall see what happens with Auroboros when it ships.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The fact that this is blowing Symbaroum 5E out of the water so quickly is a little disheartening to me. Like, it looks...fine? Definitely interesting that they pulled back on that rock-n-roll centaur image, that was such a big part of earlier coverage.

I think they just had a very small set of images they distributed when they made the first announcement. That has the effect of making each image seem more important than it might really be.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

I think they just had a very small set of images they distributed when they made the first announcement. That has the effect of making each image seem more important than it might really be.

True. It just stuck out to be me because the setting isn't particularly unique, but that centaur-by-way-of-Sons-of-Anarchy was at least a distinctive choice (if not a super great one). I assumed they'd lean into the metal of it all.

 

[Aldarc]

Unsurprisingly, this project has a several big names from Blizzard's art team attached: i.e., Samwise Didier and Alex Horley.

 

[GMMichael]

The high-powered team, under the banner of Warchief Gaming, includes Chris Metzen (Blizzard Entertainment, Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, Overwatch), Mike Gilmartin (Blizzard, Eidos, Maxis, Atari), and Ryan Collins (Hearthstone, Marvel Heroes, HeroClix). . .

It also features a new game rule called the Mark of the Serpent which lets you do incredibly powerful magical effects at a cost.

​

XP for not referring to Mark of the Serpent as a "mechanic." I'm super-excited to see the new rule set that these guys are sure to produce after their campaign setting sells like hotcakes. . .

 

[imagineGod]

They’ve got a Backerkit ad spend I see, so this thing is going to do the million. I’m calling it now!

Very safe bet that. Still great to see another RPG Kickstarter break through that million Dollar ceiling. This makes Connor Alexander of Coyote and Crow super special because he did that being relatively unknown in the hobby, with his own game system (not 5e), with a totally unique campaign setting.

 

[Reynard]

I mean, it's the guy's home brew world from when he was a teenager. It's a vanity project. I am not seeing the draw.

 

[Morrus]

I mean, it's the guy's home brew world from when he was a teenager. It's a vanity project. .

Isn’t everything until it isn’t? That’s basically the definition of Kickstarter.

 

[Reynard]

Isn’t everything until it isn’t? That’s basically the definition of Kickstarter.

I thought the definition of Kickstarter was "Preorders with the risk shifted to the consumer."

Joking aside, I think lots of RPG Kickstarters are more than vanity projects, although I agree that many others are. This one just struck me as especially egregious given that one inclusion in the collector's set is a write up of the original campaign. Maybe I am out of the loop and this campaign is well known among the creator's fans and folks have been clamoring for just this product?

 

[Jeff Carpenter]

I mean, it's the guy's home brew world from when he was a teenager. It's a vanity project. I am not seeing the draw.

I have never played warcraft so I have never heard of the guy, but he seems to have a fan base and a strong reach. Add that to good production values and media coveage based on his fame and it makes sense.