Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarter Club

Avatar Legends leads the pack in an exclusive club -- Kickstarters for tabletop roleplaying game products which have broken the $1M barrier! It is currently the most successful TTRPG Kickstarter in history with a funding total of nearly $10M, and over 80,000 backers.

[UPDATE--Backerkit started crowdfunding services in 2022, with their first million dollar campaign in July 2023. Backerkit is now included, so general references to 'Kickstarters' can now be assumed to mean 'Crowdfunders'.]

This list comprises Kickstarters specifically for tabletop roleplaying games or supplements which have exceeded $1M. It does not include Kickstarters which are primarily for miniatures, software, dice, or other accessories.

• The first TTRPG Kickstarter to break $1M was 7th Sea: Second Edition (2016) by John Wick.
• The first to break $2M was Strongholds & Streaming (2018) by Matt Colville.
• The first to break $9M was Avatar Legends (2021) from Magpie Games.
• The first to break $1M on its first day was Avatar Legends (2021) from Magpie Games.
• The first to break $1M without physical merch addons (minis, dice, shirts, pins, etc.) is Coyote & Crow the Roleplaying Game (2021) from Connor Alexander. The only other campaign to do this so far is Shadowdark (2023).
• The average pledge level for a million-dollar campaign is about $100. This is usually reached by including add-ons and merchandizing. The lowest average pledge level is $66 (Coyote & Crow with just the game itself) and the highest is $223 (Tanares with numerous miniatures packs).
• Most entries are Matt Colville (MCDM Productions) with 4 campaigns over $1M, and Hit Point Press with 3 campaigns over $1M and contributor on two more.
• Ghostfire Gaming has one million-dollar campaign of their own, and is listed as contributor to three others; Hit Point Press has three million-dollar campaigns, and is listed as a contributor on two more.
• Gloomhaven Grand Festival included an RPG, but was also a Kickstarter for a boardgame and 600+ miniatures.

In the 12 years since Kickstarter's creation in 2009 until the start of 2021, 4 TTRPG projects beat the $1M mark. Since March 2021, until the time of writing, a further 30 projects have done so.

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$1M+ TTRPG Kickstarters: The Official TTRPG $1M Kickstarter Club

#​	Kickstarter	Platform​	D&D 5E​	IP*​	Additions**​	Creator	Date Ended	Backers	Amount	First Day***	Average Pledge
1​	Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game		​			Magpie Games	September 2021	81,549	$9,533,258	$1,150,566 (12%)	$117
2​	Gloomhaven Grand Festival		​			Cephalofair	July 2023	34,691	$5,053,380	$1,339,942 (27%)	$146
3​	The MCDM RPG					MCDM Productions (Matt Colville)	January 2024	30,177	$4,600,529	$1,985,398 (43%)	$152
4​	The Crooked Moon: Folk Horror in 5E by Legends of Aavantris					Legends of Avantris	November 2023	21,793	$4,020,234	$1,225,460 (30%)	$184
5​	Ryoko's Guide to the Yokai Realms - A 5e Tome					DnD Shorts (Loot Tavern)	October 2023	26,376	$3,327,204	$712,290 (21%)	$126
6​	Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt: A 5e Supplement					MonkeyDM (Loot Tavern)	August 2022	19,723	$2,692,698	$411,135 (15%)	$137
7​	Obojima Tales From The Tall Grass: A 5E Campaign Setting					Hit Point Press	August 2023	23,416	$2,610,869	$380,679 (15%)	$111
8​	Fool's Gold: Into the Bellowing Wilds					Hit Point Press	November 2021	16,929	$2,479,888	$349,884 (14%)	$147
9​	Strongholds & Streaming					Matt Colville	March 2018	28,918	$2,121,465	$591,556 (28%)	$73
10​	Tanares RPG - 5e					Dragori Games	October 2021	9,403	$2,100,242	$993,228 (47%)	$223
11​	Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game		​			Monte Cook Games	May 2022	15,061	$2,097,715	$679,748 (32%)	$139
12​	"Flee, Mortals!" - The MCDM Monster Book for 5e					Matt Colville	May 2022	27,009	$2,084,117	$788,976 (38%)	$77
13​	The Magnus Archives Roleplaying Game		​			Monte Cook Games	September 2023	11,622	$2,027,997	$794,798 (39%)	$174
14​	The One Ring Roleplaying Game, Second Edition		​			Free League	March 2021	16,591	$2,025,288	$521,908 (26%)	$122
15​	Monty Python's Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme		​			Exalted Funeral	November 2022	15,018	$1,933,426	$792,724 (41%)	$129
16​	Heliana's Guide to Monster Hunting					Loot Tavern (Hit Point Press)	July 2021	18,082	$1,845,422	$259,382 (14%)	$102
17​	BLADE RUNNER - The Roleplaying Game		​			Free League	May 2022	15,323	$1,673,567	$833,263 (49%)	$109
18​	The Seeker's Guide to Twisted Taverns					Eldermancy (Ghostfire Gaming)	March 2021	17,921	$1,650,076	$211,563 (13%)	$92
19​	Mothership Sci-Fi Horror RPG 1st Edition Boxed Set		​			Alan Gerding	December 2021	15,699	$1,405,569	$529,134 (38%)	$90
20​	Dolmenwood Tabletop RPG		​			Exalted Funeral	September 2023	10,862	$1,389,313	$639,002 (46%)	$128
21​	Kingdoms, Warfare & More Minis!					Matt Colville	November 2019	19,033	$1,372,685	$594,330 (43%)	$72
22	Shadowdark RPG: Old School Gaming, Modernized		​		-​	The Arcane Library	March 2023	13,249	$1,365,923	$299,898 (22%)	$103
23	Grim Hollow: The Monster Grimoire					Ghostfire Gaming	May 2021	15,530	$1,348,160	$258,640 (19%)	$87
24​	7th Sea: Second Edition					John Wick	March 2016	11,483	$1,316,813	$286,290 (22%)	$115
25	The Deck of Many Animated Spells, Tarot and More for 5e					Hit Point Press	June 2020	9,871	$1,310,509	$218,381 (16%)	$133
26	Dungeons of Drakkenheim					Dungeon Dudes (Ghostfire Gaming)	August 2021	13,376	$1,279,240	$370,638 (29%)	$96
27​	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness					Palladium Books	November 2023	8,383	$1,277,498	$359,895 (28%)	$152
28	Auroboros: Coils of the Serpent					Warchief Gaming	May 2021	10,218	$1,260,863	$493,947 (39%)	$123
29	The Griffon's Saddlebag: Book 2					Griffin Macaulay (Hit Point Press)	April 2022	11,710	$1,237,197	$297,192 (24%)	$106
30​	Moria - Through the Doors of Durin for The One Ring RPG					Free League	September 2023	13,009	$1,198,575	$619,890 (52%)	$92
31​	Tales of the Valiant RPG: Launching Black Flag Roleplaying					Kobold Press	June 2023	10,057	$1,151,914	$487,329 (42%)	$115
32​	Coyote & Crow the Roleplaying Game		​		-​	Connor Alexander	April 2021	16,269	$1,073,453	$106,515 (10%)	$66
33​	Sebastian Crowe's Guide to Drakkenheim					Dungeon Dudes (Ghostfire Gaming)	September 2022	8,963	$1,025,330	$422,376 (41%)	$114
34	Humblewood Campaign Setting for 5e					Hit Point Press	April 2019	14,604	$1,001,085	$58,985 (6%)	$69

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Miniatures |

Merchandise |

Dice |

Kickstarter |

Backerkit |

D&D 5E​

*Licensed or based on an existing IP (movie, novel, video game, board game, comic book, previous game edition, etc.)
**Merch means pins, shirts, dice trays, etc. Stuff which isn't the actual game.
***First day figures represent first calendar day, not first 24 hours, and are taken from Kicktraq's daily funding stats for Kickstarter or Backer Tracker for Backerkit.
​

Some unusual patterns can be seen above. Most Kickstarters follow the traditional 'U' shaped curved, with a large portion of the funding taking place in the first few and last few days of the campaign, and comparatively slower progress in the middle.

• Tanares RPG did nearly $1M in its first day, but then support dropped off for the remaining month. This was due to a high-value giveaway to first-day backers.​
• Humblewood started off slow and then got a big boost in the last 4 days. It's not clear what caused that, but an aggressive final marketing push is a good candidate--they have multiple marketing entries in their collaborators list.​

A Kickstarter which does well will tend to mean later campaigns also do well, as those backers are notified when new Kickstarters by the same creator are launched.

What Does A Million Dollar Campaign Look Like?
Look at the above campaigns, we can paint a picture of a million dollar TTRPG campaign.

• 16/34 include minis
• 30/34 include merchandise (pins, t-shirts, dice trays, etc.)
• 25/34 include dice
• 21/34 are D&D 5E related and 9/31 are based on an existing IP. Only 4/32 are new properties.
• The average pledge level is in the region of $115
• The average campaign does 26% of its funding in the first day unless there are early bird rewards in which case it can be in the mid-40%s
• The average campaign has 18.5K backers, with the lowest about 9K backers

 

[darjr]

That’s not Anime! I demand they return to the recipe!

 

[Reynard]

Well, the Crooked Moon thing did the million in the first few hours.

Ladies and gentlemen: the new normal.

 

[CleverNickName]

Ladies and gentlemen: the new normal.

(fingers crossed)

 

[Reynard]

(fingers crossed)

I mean, I think it would be great if we could order books based on reviews and stuff, not potentially empty promises.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I mean, I think it would be great if we could order books based on reviews and stuff, not potentially empty promises.

Of course you can - but that's not what Kickstarter is. That's what the already existing game distribution market (DriveThru, Amazon, FLGS-3tier-system, Book distribution, etc) is

But pre-orders have always been a crap shoot. Kickstarter just has amped it up to 11

 

[Reynard]

Of course you can - but that's not what Kickstarter is. That's what the already existing game distribution market (DriveThru, Amazon, FLGS-3tier-system, Book distribution, etc) is

But pre-orders have always been a crap shoot. Kickstarter just has amped it up to 11

Here's the thing about Kickstarter:

Most Kickstarters (and there are exceptions, including LevelUp ones) are anti-consumer because they weaponize FOMO with regards to stretch goals etc. If these tactics were used by corporations, most people would balk hard at the "get it now or never get it at all" tactics so many KSers use.

That isn't even to mention the often uncertain provenance of much of the design in these books. And look, I know: I have been paid to come in and shore up wobbly design by people that chose to do a 5E KS without really understanding the game.

My litmus test these days is that if a KS is from a new company and/or unproven designers, I need pretty extensive preview material before I will back it.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Here's the thing about Kickstarter:

Most Kickstarters (and there are exceptions, including LevelUp ones) are anti-consumer because they weaponize FOMO with regards to stretch goals etc. If these tactics were used by corporations, most people would balk hard at the "get it now or never get it at all" tactics so many KSers use.

That isn't even to mention the often uncertain provenance of much of the design in these books. And look, I know: I have been paid to come in and shore up wobbly design by people that chose to do a 5E KS without really understanding the game.

My litmus test these days is that if a KS is from a new company and/or unproven designers, I need pretty extensive preview material before I will back it.

Fair enough

Weaponizing FOMO isn't unique to Kickstarter. It's a pretty standard arrow in the modern marketer's quiver. It just may be that Kickstarter is firing with a "bow, composite, long" instead of a short bow

 

[Morrus]

I mean, I think it would be great if we could order books based on reviews and stuff, not potentially empty promises.

You can. After the Kickstarter.

 

[Morrus]

So Crooked Moon has the second highest opening day ever (after Avatar).

That said, this one had an early bird reward--a free dice set--which skews funding towards the first day (Tanares had a free miniature and got nearly 50% of its total funding in the fist day). I'll be fascinated to see what the final graph looks like on this one. But its sure to beat $2M.

 

[CleverNickName]

Woah. Out of this entire list of strong contenders, it looks like Ryoko's Guide is going to finish strongly in third place. It's at $2.8M and still has 36 hours remaining.