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.

Crowdfunders (2).png


$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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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​
ALIEN RPG – Evolved Edition and Rapture Protocol
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Free LeagueApril 202511,749$2,412,117$1,109,732 (46%)$205
12Shadowdark RPG: The Western Reaches Setting
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The Arcane LibraryApril 202512,795$2,384,757$1,099,875 (46%)$186
13​
DC20
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The Dungeon CoachJuly 202420,685$2,245,231$415,127 (19%)$108
14​
Strongholds & Streaming
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Matt ColvilleMarch 201828,918$2,121,465$591,556 (28%)$73
15​
Tanares RPG - 5e
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Dragori GamesOctober 20219,403$2,100,242$993,228 (47%)$223
16​
Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game
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May 202215,061$2,097,715$679,748 (32%)$139
17​
"Flee, Mortals!" - The MCDM Monster Book for 5e
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Matt ColvilleMay 202227,009$2,084,117$788,976 (38%)$77
18​
The Magnus Archives Roleplaying Game
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September 202311,622$2,027,997$794,798 (39%)$174
19​
The One Ring Roleplaying Game, Second Edition
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March 202116,591$2,025,288$521,908 (26%)$122
20​
Monty Python's Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme
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November 202215,018$1,933,426$792,724 (41%)$129
21​
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
22​
BLADE RUNNER - The Roleplaying Game
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May 202215,323$1,673,567$833,263 (49%)$109
23​
The Seeker's Guide to Twisted Taverns
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Eldermancy
(Ghostfire Gaming)
March 202117,921$1,650,076$211,563 (13%)$92
24​
Adventure Time: The Roleplaying Game
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May 20247,334$1,568,387$238,556 (15%)$214
25​
Mothership Sci-Fi Horror RPG 1st Edition Boxed Set
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Alan GerdingDecember 202115,699$1,405,569$529,134 (38%)$90
26​
Dolmenwood Tabletop RPG
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Exalted FuneralSeptember 202310,862$1,389,313$639,002 (46%)$128
27​
Kingdoms, Warfare & More Minis!
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Matt ColvilleNovember 201919,033$1,372,685$594,330 (43%)$72
28​
Shadowdark RPG: Old School Gaming, Modernized
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The Arcane LibraryMarch 202313,249$1,365,923$299,898 (22%)$103
29​
Grim Hollow: The Monster Grimoire
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Ghostfire GamingMay 202115,530$1,348,160$258,640 (19%)$87
30​
7th Sea: Second Edition
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John Wick (Chaosium)March 201611,483$1,316,813$286,290 (22%)$115
31​
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
32​
Dungeons of Drakkenheim
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Dungeon Dudes
(Ghostfire Gaming)
August 202113,376$1,279,240$370,638 (29%)$96
33​
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness
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Palladium BooksNovember 20238,383$1,277,498$359,895 (28%)$152
34​
Auroboros: Coils of the Serpent
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Warchief GamingMay 202110,218$1,260,863$493,947 (39%)$123
35​
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
36​
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
37​
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
38​
Tales of the Valiant RPG: Launching Black Flag Roleplaying
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Kobold PressJune 202310,057$1,151,914$487,329 (42%)$115
39​
The Field Guide to Floral Dragons
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Hit Point PressMay 202412,532$1,110,056$297,687 (27%)$89
40​
Coyote & Crow the Roleplaying Game
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Connor AlexanderApril 202116,269$1,073,453$106,515 (10%)$66
41​
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
42Fallen London: The Roleplaying Game
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Magpie GamesMarch 20258,105$1,028,103$419,329 (41%)$127
43​
Sebastian Crowe's Guide to Drakkenheim
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Dungeon Dudes
(Ghostfire Gaming)
September 20228,963$1,025,330$422,376 (41%)$114
44​
The World's Largest Dungeon
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World's Largest RPGsJune 20252,435$1,021,783$239,416 (23%)$420
45The Magnus Archives RPG: Tangled in the Web
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Monte Cook GamesMarch 20256,174$1,015,475$244,599 (24%)$164
46​
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.
  • 25/46 include minis
  • 42/46 include merchandise (pins, t-shirts, dice trays, etc.)
  • 35/46 include dice
  • Only 2/44 do not include minis, dice, or merch
  • 26/46 are D&D 5E related--but the top 4 are all non-D&D.
  • 17/45 are based on an existing IP (movie, book, older game edition, etc.) other than D&D
  • Only 3/45 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​
Free League
4​
Dungeon Dudes
3​
Monte Cook Games
3​
Exalted Funeral
2​
Magpie Games
2​
The Arcane Library
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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For Fabula Ultima in particular it means the game is about heroic fantasy narratives with a strong emphasis on found family and discovering who you are deep down. This is embedded in its Fabula Points reward cycle.

Fabula Points said:
Fabula Points act as the core engine of the game, and they work as both a mechanical and a narrative currency. The more hardships and defeats you face, the more Fabula Points you earn; and the more you spend them to overcome obstacles and challenges, the faster your character grows.In a way, Fabula Points represent the cycle of fate surrounding the protagonists of the story: they gather resolve from defeat, channel that resolve through the Traits and Bonds that make them who they are, and grow stronger for that... only to be faced with even greater adversities.Is this truly a neverending cycle, or is it a spiral that can lead to new hope for your world? Only by playing the game will you be able to reach an answer!
 

Infamously a thing.
In JRPGs? I'd disagree. By even midgame of most JRPGs, inventory management is a nonfactor, you can just buy whatever you need and often have enough gold to max out those items. The big exception is strategy RPGs where inventory is character based and often limited as a result, or outliers like the Mother series (which is also character based inventory as well as limited).
 

In JRPGs? I'd disagree. By even midgame of most JRPGs, inventory management is a nonfactor, you can just buy whatever you need and often have enough gold to max out those items. The big exception is strategy RPGs where inventory is character based and often limited as a result, or outliers like the Mother series (which is also character based inventory as well as limited).
Or the OG ones like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, or Mystery Dungeon games...and the Fire Emblem games, a prime example of said SRPGs, are huge in the field!

Frankly, you can say approximately anything about JRPGs and it is true of some of them, it is not a coherent genre (to thr credit of the field, the diversity is wonderful!).

That has nothing to do with this gamez kt sounds fun, but as someone who has played quite a few JRPGs, abstractimg away inventory management is a bit odd.

The bringing Wizardry abstract theatre of the mind combat to TTRPGs, on the other hand, does strike a real chord.
 

Or the OG ones like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, or Mystery Dungeon games...and the Fire Emblem games, a prime example of said SRPGs, are huge in the field!

Frankly, you can say approximately anything about JRPGs and it is true of some of them, it is not a coherent genre (to thr credit of the field, the diversity is wonderful!).

That has nothing to do with this gamez kt sounds fun, but as someone who has played quite a few JRPGs, abstractimg away inventory management is a bit odd.

The bringing Wizardry abstract theatre of the mind combat to TTRPGs, on the other hand, does strike a real chord.
So is Darkest Dungeon a JRPG? By style, I mean?
 

So is Darkest Dungeon a JRPG? By style, I mean?
I advise you to read Fabula Ultima for yourself instead of going out of your way to overthink JRPGs here. Understanding JRPGs is not required for playing, running, or enjoying this game. I have only dipped my toe into playing a handful of JRPGs. My partner has never played a single JRPG in their life. They have barely played many TTRPGs. They never ran a TTRPG before. They ran Fabula Ultima's Press Start without a hitch. They highly enjoyed Fabula Ultima. They have asked to play it again.
 

So is Darkest Dungeon a JRPG? By style, I mean?
"By style" honestly there are no parameters other than being made in Japan, so if a Japanese developer made a Darkest Dungeon like, sure. They could just as easily, too. Drsgon's Dogma is an Elder Scrolls style game, made in Japan by Capcom.
 

I advise you to read Fabula Ultima for yourself instead of going out of your way to overthink JRPGs here. Understanding JRPGs is not required for playing, running, or enjoying this game. I have only dipped my toe into playing a handful of JRPGs. My partner has never played a single JRPG in their life. They have barely played many TTRPGs. They never ran a TTRPG before. They ran Fabula Ultima's Press Start without a hitch. They highly enjoyed Fabula Ultima. They have asked to play it again.
To be clear, I am asking about JRPGs for their own sake, not Fabula Ultima , at this point.
 

"By style" honestly there are no parameters other than being made in Japan, so if a Japanese developer made a Darkest Dungeon like, sure. They could just as easily, too. Drsgon's Dogma is an Elder Scrolls style game, made in Japan by Capcom.
That isn't how genre definitions work. Expedition 33 is highly touted as a great new JRPG. It was made in France.
 

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