Kickstarters by YouTube influencers

[Morrus]

I’m interested in the rise in recent years of large TRRPG Kickstarters launched by popular YouTube influencers. It seems that many influencers aspire to become creators and often do so very successfully; the reverse isn’t often true, though, with even successful TTRPG companies struggling to gain significant followings on YouTube.

The most successful example is, of course, Matt Colville and MCDM, with a whole bunch of million dollar crowdfunders under his belt and no signs of slowing down. Others, like the Dungeon Dudes, are also very successful.

The most anticipated TTRPG of 2026 in our poll here on EN World is Deathbringer, a project run by Professor DM, another popular YouTube influencer in the TTRPG space. This will apparently be coming to Kickstarter in May 2026.

So… which YouTube influencers have launched crowdfunders, with how much success? (links would be appreciated!) And how have the games turned out?

 

[mamba]

Broken Empires

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/evil-baby-ent/the-broken-empires-rpg

“Designed by Trevor Devall, professional GM and creator of the popular YouTube TTRPG channel “Me, Myself & Die!””

Delve by Bob Worldbuilder

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bobworldbuilder/delve-5e-shadowdark

Daggerheart was not crowdfunded, so I guess it does not count…

 

[Retreater]

Roll for Combat has had several Kickstarters. Most recently, Battlezoo Ancestries: Living Legends.
Battlezoo Ancestries: Living Legends for Pathfinder and 5E, via @Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/project...r-5e-and-pathfinder?ref=android_project_share

NoNat1s did Sinclair's Library.
Sinclair's Library - PF2 / 5E - NPC Codex and Player Guide, via @Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/project...ex-and-player-guide?ref=android_project_share

Indestructoboy released Vagabond. Vagabond TTRPG, via @Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/project...-for-vagabond-ttrpg?ref=android_project_share

 

[Corinnguard]

Ryoko's Guide to the Yokai Realms by Loot Tavern. Its' Kickstarter was influenced by the DnD Shorts Guy on YouTube. His YouTube clips would sometimes contain artwork from the book. However, I would have to say that I was influenced more by the idea of backing material that could be used for an Asian-like setting than the DnD Shorts Guy.

 

[Morrus]

I was more after commentary than just a collection of links! How well did these things do, what was their background, how well have they done since, that sort of thing?

 

[zottel]

Regarding Delve by Bob Worldbuilder, I think it did quite well. 428,501$ pledged, with a $10,000 goal.
The reviews were rather mixed, though. He first planned it for 5E, but added a Shadowdark version. My hope was, as he is apparently a fan of Shadowdark, that it would be really cool, but I have to agree with most of the reviewers that I read, that the SD specific party feel very shallow. Definitely has me soured regarding future crowdfunders by Bob, and other YT personalities, and also stuff that has versions for several RPGs (not including system neutral, that is a good sign, in my book).

 

[Velderan]

Knave 2e by Ben Milton/Questing Beast is the first one that came to mind. The campaign raised $645k and I don't remember any issues with fulfillment. The game itself is a pretty simple and straight forward OSR game, using a classless system to make PCs. I've not actually played it, but used several of the tables in it for other games so if nothing else the book serves as a good resource to be used alongside other TTRPGs.

There have been a couple adventures published for it that were available in the crowdfunding campaign (The Waking of Willowby Hall and Summer's End and Other One Page Adventures) but overall the game just seemed to be a passion project Ben released that can use pretty much any OSR product with some relatively minor conversion work. I don't regret backing it, even if I don't end up actually playing the game itself. There's plenty of helpful content to steal from it.

 

[Corinnguard]

According to Kickstarter, Ryoko's Guide to the Yokai Realms raised over 3.3 million dollars and was backed by 26,377 backers (me included). This RPG's fulfillment was long overdue. I received my physical copy of the RPG only a couple of days ago. It has rules and game mechanics for both the 2014 and 2024 versions of D&D as well as several Japanese inspired species, subclasses and monsters in it.

 

[bedir than]

I'm speculating that the reason the YouTubers have strong kickstarters is because they are experts in exploiting algorithms to gain attention -- the very same thing that powers Kickstarter success.

And, since most Kickstarters have nearly zero visible product before fulfillment quality isn't assured.

Take Strongholds and Followers, from the Strongholds and Streaming kickstarter. The book and rules essentially have nothing to do with the design of 5e. They're clumsy ideas for a war game tacked onto D&D, barely. If I'd seen it in a bookstore I would have skipped it, but the fame earned through algorithmic social media had me intrigued.

The Kickstarter was a success! It fueled Colville's engine launching him into rare air. But it's hard to claim the book as a success.

 

[Morrus]

I'm speculating that the reason the YouTubers have strong kickstarters is because they are experts in exploiting algorithms to gain attention -- the very same thing that powers Kickstarter success.

Well it’s because they have existing large followings. With a Kickstarter the single most important determinant of success is reach. And many influencers have a reach that most TTRPG companies would kill for.