Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarter Club

Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere RPG is currently the most successful TTRPG crowdfunder in history!

Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere RPG leads the pack in an exclusive club -- crowdfunders for tabletop roleplaying game products which have broken the $1M barrier! It is currently the most successful TTRPG crowdfunder in history with a funding total of over $10M, and over 30,000 backers (and also the third biggest crowdfunded of any kind!)

[Update--Kickstarter integrated 'late pledges' in May 2024. The totals on this table are the totals at the time the campaign officially ended and do not include late pledges or additional pledges from pledge managers.]


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

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$1M+ TTRPG Crowdfunders: The Official TTRPG $1M Crowdfunder Club

#​
Project
Platform​
D&D 5E​
Additions**​
Creator​
Date EndedBackersAmountFirst Day***Average Pledge
1​
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Brotherwise GamesAugust 202452,652$14,557,439$4,380,024 (30%)$276
2​
Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game
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-​
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September 202181,549$9,533,258$1,150,566 (12%)$117
3​
Gloomhaven Grand Festival
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July 202334,691$5,053,380$1,339,942 (27%)$146
4​
The MCDM RPG
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MCDM Productions (Matt Colville)​
January 202430,177$4,600,529$1,985,398 (43%))$152
5​
The Crooked Moon: Folk Horror in 5E by Legends of Aavantris
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Legends of AvantrisNovember 202321,793$4,020,234$1,225,460 (30%)$184
6​
Ryoko's Guide to the Yokai Realms - A 5e Tome
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DnD Shorts (Loot Tavern)October 202326,376$3,327,204$712,290 (21%)$126
7​
Terry Pratchett's Discworld RPG: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork
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ModiphiusNovember 202416,177$2,925,641$671,187 (23%)$181
8​
Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt: A 5e Supplement
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MonkeyDM(Loot Tavern)August 202219,723$2,692,698$411,135 (15%)$137
9​
Obojima Tales From The Tall Grass: A 5E Campaign Setting
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1985 GamesAugust 202323,416$2,610,869$380,679 (15%)$111
10​
Fool's Gold: Into the Bellowing Wilds
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Hit Point PressNovember 202116,929$2,479,888$349,884 (14%)$147
11​
DC20
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The Dungeon CoachJuly 202420,685$2,245,231$415,127 (19%)$108
12​
Strongholds & Streaming
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Matt ColvilleMarch 201828,918$2,121,465$591,556 (28%)$73
13​
Tanares RPG - 5e
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Dragori GamesOctober 20219,403$2,100,242$993,228 (47%)$223
14​
Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game
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May 202215,061$2,097,715$679,748 (32%)$679,748 (32%)
15​
"Flee, Mortals!" - The MCDM Monster Book for 5e
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Matt ColvilleMay 202227,009$2,084,117$788,976 (38%)$77
16​
The Magnus Archives Roleplaying Game
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September 202311,622$2,027,997$794,798 (39%)$174
17​
The One Ring Roleplaying Game, Second Edition
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March 202116,591$2,025,288$521,908 (26%)$122
18​
Monty Python's Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme
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November 202215,018$1,933,426$792,724 (41%)$129
19​
Heliana's Guide to Monster Hunting
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Loot Tavern(Hit Point Press)July 202118,082$1,845,422$259,382 (14%)$102
20​
BLADE RUNNER - The Roleplaying Game
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May 202215,323$1,673,567$833,263 (49%)$109
21​
The Seeker's Guide to Twisted Taverns
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Eldermancy
(Ghostfire Gaming)
March 202117,921$1,650,076$211,563 (13%)$92
22​
Adventure Time: The Roleplaying Game
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May 20247,334$1,568,387$238,556 (15%)$214
23​
Mothership Sci-Fi Horror RPG 1st Edition Boxed Set
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Alan GerdingDecember 202115,699$1,405,569$529,134 (38%)$90
24​
Dolmenwood Tabletop RPG
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Exalted FuneralSeptember 202310,862$1,389,313$639,002 (46%)$128
25​
Kingdoms, Warfare & More Minis!
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Matt ColvilleNovember 201919,033$1,372,685$594,330 (43%)$72
26​
Shadowdark RPG: Old School Gaming, Modernized
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The Arcane LibraryMarch 202313,249$1,365,923$299,898 (22%)$103
27​
Grim Hollow: The Monster Grimoire
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Ghostfire GamingMay 202115,530$1,348,160$258,640 (19%)$87
28​
7th Sea: Second Edition
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John Wick (Chaosium)March 201611,483$1,316,813$286,290 (22%)$115
29​
The Deck of Many Animated Spells, Tarot and More for 5e
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Hit Point PressJune 20209,871$1,310,509$218,381 (16%)$133
30​
Dungeons of Drakkenheim
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Dungeon Dudes
(Ghostfire Gaming)
August 202113,376$1,279,240$370,638 (29%)$96
31​
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness
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Palladium BooksNovember 20238,383$1,277,498$359,895 (28%)$152
32​
Auroboros: Coils of the Serpent
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Warchief GamingMay 202110,218$1,260,863$493,947 (39%)$123
33​
The Griffon's Saddlebag: Book 2
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Griffin Macaulay
(Hit Point Press)
April 202211,710$1,237,197$297,192 (24%)$106
34​
Erevan's Guide to Death and Beyond - A 5e Tome
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Archvillain GamesJune 20246,826$1,236,738$336,253 (27%)$181
35​
Moria - Through the Doors of Durin for The One Ring RPG
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September 202313,009$1,198,575$619,890 (52%)$92
36​
Tales of the Valiant RPG: Launching Black Flag Roleplaying
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Kobold PressJune 202310,057$1,151,914$487,329 (42%)$115
37​
The Field Guide to Floral Dragons
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Hit Point PressMay 202412,532$1,110,056$297,687 (27%)$89
38​
Coyote & Crow the Roleplaying Game
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Connor AlexanderApril 202116,269$1,073,453$106,515 (10%)$66
39​
Monsters of Drakkenheim - 5E Monsters with Lores Lairs & Loot
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Dungeon Dudes
(Ghostfire Gaming)
April 20248,078$1,065,710$459,295 (43%)$132
40​
Sebastian Crowe's Guide to Drakkenheim
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Dungeon Dudes
(Ghostfire Gaming)
September 20228,963$1,025,330$422,376 (41%)$114
41​
Humblewood Campaign Setting for 5e
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Hit Point PressApril 201914,604$1,001,085$58,985 (6%)$69
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Miniatures |
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Merchandise |
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Dice |
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Kickstarter |
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Backerkit |
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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 crowdfunders 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 crowdfunder which does well will tend to mean later campaigns also do well, as those backers are notified when new crowdfunders 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.
  • 22/41 include minis
  • 37/41 include merchandise (pins, t-shirts, dice trays, etc.)
  • 32/41 include dice
  • 25/41 are D&D 5E related--but the top 4 are all non-D&D.
  • 13/41 are based on an existing IP (movie, book, older game edition, etc.)
  • Only 3/41 are original games (neither 5E nor based on existing IP.)
  • 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
Multiple Entries
The following creators have two or more entries in the chart. These 6 creators comprise nearly 50% of the chart with a total of 18 entries.

Creator
Entries​
MCDM Productions / Matt Colville
4​
Hit Point Press
4​
Dungeon Dudes
3​
Free League
3​
Monte Cook Games
2​
Exalted Funeral
2​

Some creators are also listed as contributors to other projects.
  • Loot Tavern (1 entry) is also listed as contributor to DnD Shorts and MonkeyDM.
  • Hit Point Press (4 entries) is also listed as contributor to Loot Tavern and Griffin Macaulay.
  • Ghostfire Gaming (1 entry) is also listed as contributor to Eldermancy and Dungeon Dudes (x3).
 

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CleverNickName

Limit Break Dancing (He/They)
Now the 2nd highest TTRPG crowdfunder of all time, with $5.057 Million from 17,085 backers.

3 Weeks to go.
It's now at $5.33M and 18k backers...and it got there in 24 hours. I knew someone would eventually knock Avatar off the top of the heap, but I didn't think it would be quite so soon.

It looks like RPG Kickstarters typically earn 28% of their total in the first day. If that holds true, this one will hit about $19.27M by the time it's over. Geez.
 
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Parmandur

Book-Friend, he/him
It's now at $5.33M and 18k backers...and it got there in 24 hours.
It ia interesting to compare the number of backers for these campaigns and see the average amounts pledged per person: the most common pledges for the Cosmere game so far have been the top line collectors level, followed by the all-in GM tier.
 

Reynard

Legend
Let's say it hits 50K backers. How does that compare to 5E sales?

Note: I am not throwing shade. I am honestly curious. I legitimately do not know how many PHBs or Curse of Strahds WotC sells.
 
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CleverNickName

Limit Break Dancing (He/They)
Let's say it hits 50K backers. How does that compare to 6E sales?

Note: I am not throwing shade. I am honestly curious. I legitimately do not know how many PHBs or Curse of Strahds WotC sells.
I mean, you're throwing a little bit of shade--there's not such thing as 6E.

(I don't mind a bit of shade, though.)
 


CleverNickName

Limit Break Dancing (He/They)
Typo. My bad.

No worries; I thought you were making some kind of statement about D&D 2024 sales. Alas, I've only been online for a few hours and I'm already showing signs of Internet poisoning.

Well, according to Alphastream.org, the 5th Edition Player's Handbook has sold 1.56 million copies as of July of last year. If each copy was sold for the cover price ($34.99, if I recall correctly), that's $54,584,400 for the PHB alone.

So the Cosmere Kickstarter is at $5,381,000 right now...which means they have achieved almost 1/10th of all 5E PHB sales to date, in a single day.

Daaaaaaaaaaang.
 
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Haiku Elvis

Knuckle-dusters, glass jaws and wooden hearts.
No worries; I thought you were making some kind of statement about D&D 2024 sales. Alas, I've only been online for a few hours and I'm already showing signs of Internet poisoning.

Well, according to Alphastream.org, the 5th Edition Player's Handbook has sold 1.56 million copies as of July of last year. If each copy was sold for the cover price ($34.99, if I recall correctly), that's $54,584,400 for the PHB alone.

So the Cosmere Kickstarter is at $5,381,000 right now...which means they have achieved almost 1/10th of all 5E PHB sales to date, in a single day.

Daaaaaaaaaaang.
Not disagreeing with the impressiveness of the figures the Cosmere RPG is racking up but remember this is for up to 6 books and technically two actual games sharing the same system so you would need to add the DMG and some Setting books to get a more apples to apples comparison. For good or ill, DnD is still the kaiju in the room by a long way.
But yes I agree
Daaaaaaaaaaaag.
 

Morrus

Well, that was fun
Staff member
If each copy was sold for the cover price ($34.99, if I recall correctly), that's $54,584,400 for the PHB alone.
Oh god I wish publishers received the cover price! I'd be a multi-millionaire! :D

No, distributors take 50%+. Compared to Kickstarter's 5%. Not comparable.

And of course the cost to produce per unit depends on the print order scale. The more you print, the less each book costs. So the profit on each unit varies drastically. And you then have to ship all those books to distribution hubs, and shipping costs the earth, especially these days.

And that's not accounting for WotC's immense overheads. You can't use these numbers to determine anything.

I will say that Kickstarters with a lot of 'things' make a large funding total, but the more 'things' you have, the lower your profit margins. Ideally you want a high funding total with just one inexpensively produce 'thing'. You can easily get a high funding total with lots of expensively produced 'things', but we're looking for a profit not a high funding total.
 


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