Goodman Games Kickstarts Two New 5E Adventures

Goodman Games is Kickstarting "New adventures for the 5th edition of the world’s first fantasy RPG". The Kickstarter is for two adventures The Pillars of Pelagia (by Chris Doyle) and War-lock (by Michael Curtis) under its Fifth Edition Fantasy banner, of which two adventures have already been released.

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As a side-note, although Goodman Games isn't quite, as it says, "the only third party publisher to continuously support Dungeons & Dragons in every edition since 3E" , it's certainly one of the only ones. I have Goodman adventures from 3.x, 4E, and 5E.

You're looking at $20 for two softcover adventures (plus shipping), which seems a good deal to me.

Find the Kickstarter right here (or click on one of the pretty pictures).

Each adventure is between 16-42 pages, and is a standalone story designed to fit into any existing campaign or setting. Goodman Games has a repuation these days for old-school roleplaying (especially with its Dungeon Crawl Classics line), and these products often have an old-school aesthetic which can be very appealing.

Stretch goals for this particular campaign include expansions for both adventures, and a third adventure called The Dragon's Maw for Free RPG Day.

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[Zaran]

As fast as this Kickstarter made it's goal, one would think that there is definitely a market for smaller adventures. People seem to want more 5e products.

 

[redrick]

As fast as this Kickstarter made it's goal, one would think that there is definitely a market for smaller adventures. People seem to want more 5e products.

The goal was only $5,000, which seems pretty modest, especially since it includes a second printing of the first two adventures that they already published. (So, spread across the 4 products, that's approximately 125 copies of each.)

It definitely seems like these are already ready to publish, and that the Kickstarter is a way to drum up some extra interest in the products.

I passed on these when the first two first came out, as I didn't have the need for low-level adventures at the time, but I'll take a look again. I'll admit that I find the cover art unappealing. I'm happy to see the content being made.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

Frog God Games is, I believe, in the process of deciding whether or not to make more 5e compatible products. The response to their 5E kickstarters seemed to be middle of the road... Enough to do more, but not enough to dive in with abandon.

Since Goodman is kickstarting these, I'm sure they indeed want to know if the customers are there or not.

It wasn't too bad: the Fifth Edition Kickstarter was backed by 636 backers with about $64K raised. They put them up for pre-order by non-backers later and probably drummed up more sales (I pre-ordered my books well after the KS was done--a lot of my reason for holding off was that I was uncertain just how they could generate the books as quickly as the Kickstarter promised given that the deadline was only a few weeks after the 5E DMG was scheduled to release...so the final release in April made more sense). For contrast their Tome of Horrors Complete for Pathfinder generated $98K from 458 backers and their Swords & Wizardry KS has 532 backers with $78K raised.

To think of it another way: they managed 68K on a product comaptible for 5E with a KS that ended before the MM and DMG had even been released. I really hope they offer up another 5E product soon, as I bet they will see a stronger response on the KS this time around now that most 5E fans have the full game at hand. I personally would pay for a Lost Lands adaptation of 5E, for example.

 

[darjr]

I'd love to see 5e zero level funnel by Goodman games. Those are so fun.

 

[Kramodlog]

Frog God Games is, I believe, in the process of deciding whether or not to make more 5e compatible products. The response to their 5E kickstarters seemed to be middle of the road... Enough to do more, but not enough to dive in with abandon.

Since Goodman is kickstarting these, I'm sure they indeed want to know if the customers are there or not.

Interesting. Is there a place where someone from Frog God said that? I'd be curious to read.

Thanks.

 

[Mistwell]

I'm getting a little tired of every 5e-related product starting a copyright discussion. People can sell all they want with regard to something that can be used with 5e, as long as they don't sell any bit of WotC's IP. You can sell a soda that fits "America's most popular minivan cupholders" without violating Toyota or whoever's rights.

It's more complicated than that. Yes, Goodman can do what they're doing, but no it's not as easy as you're making it out to be. There is a lot of effort they put into careful compliance with the law - the legal services they employ do not amount to "It's a snap!".

 

[Mistwell]

They have not concentrated on 5e because D&D is no longer their "Bread and Butter". Much like Paizo, during the 4e era they went their own way and made their own OGL RPG (which is very successful by most measures). 5th edition was not in their wheelhouse to support at first.

Goodman's been supporting 5e since day 1. Literally, since the first day they could. I am not sure how much more "in their wheelhouse to support at first" they could have been than literally "It's release? OK, then here is our first adventure for it!" This thread is about their 3rd, 4th, and 5th adventures for it, not their 1st. Indeed, they were announced months ago.

 

[darjr]

They even have a 5e adventure for freerpgday.

 

[DaveMage]

It wasn't too bad: the Fifth Edition Kickstarter was backed by 636 backers with about $64K raised. They put them up for pre-order by non-backers later and probably drummed up more sales (I pre-ordered my books well after the KS was done--a lot of my reason for holding off was that I was uncertain just how they could generate the books as quickly as the Kickstarter promised given that the deadline was only a few weeks after the 5E DMG was scheduled to release...so the final release in April made more sense). For contrast their Tome of Horrors Complete for Pathfinder generated $98K from 458 backers and their Swords & Wizardry KS has 532 backers with $78K raised.

To think of it another way: they managed 68K on a product comaptible for 5E with a KS that ended before the MM and DMG had even been released. I really hope they offer up another 5E product soon, as I bet they will see a stronger response on the KS this time around now that most 5E fans have the full game at hand. I personally would pay for a Lost Lands adaptation of 5E, for example.

I'm guessing - and this is totally a guess - that they were probably hoping for more than 636 - about 1/4 of which were PDF only. However, maybe now that 5E's official release schedule is so light, it will improve sales for them down the road.

Interesting. Is there a place where someone from Frog God said that? I'd be curious to read.

Thanks.

Not specifically, but, for example, when addressing the current kickstarter they mention the possibility of doing a 5E version of Fields of Blood, but nothing has been decided. (See here - post from Bill Webb on Friday.)

 

[tuxgeo]

Again, I get that I really do. . . .
1. Can I create my own fictional stories/worlds? Check (Wizards has no claim to the IP.)
2. Can I use the mechanics from 5e? Check (because mechanics can't be copywritten) . . .

(Emphasis added.)

[begin pedantry]
That bolded word should be "copyrighted" instead of "copywritten," of course.

(It's "copy-right" -- as in "the right to copy," instead of being "copy-write" -- as in -- I don't know what; a Writ of Copacetic?
[/end pedantry]