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

 

[schneeland]

I wonder how many of them are playing the Moria survival crpg this winter while they wait for this to fulfill.

That one, sadly, ended up looking not too promising for me. I think I'd rather dig a few more holes into asteroids in Deep Rock Galactic

 

[Ghal Maraz]

11 thousand backers!

Thirteen thousand ones, at the end.

 

[bedir than]

Here’s where my older than 50, what the heck mindset, kicks in…Moria and LoTR barely trickles over 1m but YouTube creator based (dungeon dudes as an example or the arcane library one) stuff flies through. Maybe LoTR and such things as a Conan based game just isn’t as popular or as wanted as I think they are.

In addition to the other response, this isn't the first LotR to hit a million. It's a brand that can regularly hit a million.

 

[Scribe]

I think that's how you know RPGs are a big success: No one can reasonably engage with, or even see, the entire community any more.

Its gotten to a point where I bet the various things I want are being done by someone, but I may not even stumble on it to find out.

 

[Corinnguard]

Ryoko's Guide to the Yokai Realms will probably slow down after the physical rewards window passes (they're offering a free set of dice for folks who back the project within the first 72 hours, and that offer ends tomorrow). Right now it's at $728K, and still gaining about +15K/hour even at night.

I predict they'll have joined the Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarter Club before dawn.

Right now that Kickstarter is sitting pretty at $1,441,843 thanks to the 11,447 (and counting) who are backing it. I backed it yesterday. They got me at Element Bender class.

 

[CleverNickName]

Right now that Kickstarter is sitting pretty at $1,441,843 thanks to the 11,447 (and counting) who are backing it. I backed it yesterday. They got me at Element Bender class.

Woah, that's amazing! At $1.44M, it jumps all the way to the #16 slot on the list...right behind The Magnus Archives RPG, which is currently in the #15 slot with $1.51M and still climbing.

2023 has been amazing for TTRPG Kickstarters. Not just in quantity of dollars raised ($15,718,279 total and climbing) but also in variety: we've seen everything from eldritch horror to anime, modern fantasy to classical Tolkien, 5E-compatible systems, OSR systems, Cypher systems, completely new systems... and there's plenty more to come!

It's a good year to be a gamer geek.

 

[Corinnguard]

Woah, that's amazing! At $1.44M, it jumps all the way to the #16 slot on the list...right behind The Magnus Archives RPG, which is currently in the #15 slot with $1.51M and still climbing.

2023 has been amazing for TTRPG Kickstarters. Not just in quantity of dollars raised ($15,718,279 total and climbing) but also in variety: we've seen everything from eldritch horror to anime, modern fantasy to classical Tolkien, 5E-compatible systems, OSR systems, Cypher systems, completely new systems... and there's plenty more to come!

It's a good year to be a gamer geek.

What got you interested in Ryoko's Guide to the Yokai Realms? Aside from the Element Bender class, I think the second thing that appealed to me would have to be it being an Asian-themed setting for 5e.

 

[Velderan]

Its gotten to a point where I bet the various things I want are being done by someone, but I may not even stumble on it to find out.

That's the thing when people who are playing a system and complain how they wish it played differently. There's a pretty good chance something out there does what you like, it's just a matter of finding it!

 

[CleverNickName]

Looks like The Magnus Archives RPG is sitting at $1.60M so far, with 9,112 backers and 3 days remaining. And Ryoko's Guide to the Yokai Realms is at $1.56M so far, with 12,473 backers and 22 days remaining.

They are currently the 15th and 16th highest-funded TTRPG crowdfunding campaigns, respectively, just above Mothership Sci-Fi Horror RPG at $1.41M.

 

[Reynard]

Is there any chance we can get this list updated with information regarding fulfillment? I would be really interested to see a) how long it takes for the really big ones to fulfill, and b) see reviews of some of these massive successes.

Thanks.