Pumpkin Spice Joins the Million Dollar Crowdfunder Club

There's a couple of current crowdfunders that look like they might join the Million Dollar TTRPG Crowdfunder Club. Free League's Dragonbane: Trudvang looks like a dead cert, and Roll & Play Press (backed by UK Actual Play Mega-Group The High Rollers, who will be appearing at the 02 Arena later this year as part of the D&D Fan Expo) have Altheya: The Dragon Empire, which looks like it is in with a good chance.

One project which has just passed the million dollar mark is Pumpkin Spice, which describes itself as a 'magical cozy RPG'. Ending in just a couple of days, it's a TTRPG where you run a magical cafe. It's a rules-lite, narrative game in which you play a coven of witches who run the aforementioned magical cafe while protecting the 'Fount of Magic' from those who would corrupt it.

You can play a Hereditary, Green, Coven, Solitary, Secular, or Traditional witch, each with 6 traits and different magical powers. The game comes in a full-colour hardback book, accompanied by a book of adventures. The game also uses special dice called Essence Dice, with each face showing a different Essence. There is, of course, the usual dizzying array of add-on merch which accompanies most million dollar crowdfunders--t-shirts, cards, notebooks, bags, even a vinyl record with a soundtrack for the game.

Pumpkin Spice comes from Italian publisher Acheron Games (Brancalonia, Lex Arcana, Inferno), and runs until 8pm GMT on March 5th.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Why is there surprise at this? Surely Enworlders have the depth of experience and/or the fore sight granting wisdom to understand that TTRPGs can explore myarid experiences; including those Pumpkin Spuce seeks to give. It almost gives the impression that Enworld is a small isolated backwater instead of the vibrant, multifaceted hub of TTRPG discourse.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Surely Enworlders have the depth of experience and/or the fore sight granting wisdom to understand that TTRPGs can explore myarid experiences

 

[definiteFreakyFishGuy]

The Legends and Latte vibe turned me off (didn't like the book), but the quick start convinced me that maybe I should consider backing it.

I like the core mechanics. So elegant, and it feels like there is just enough structure to facilitate a good conversation. In particular, making the right drink for a customer mini game seems very fun.

Not sure how I feel about the art. I like the style and the tone, though not a huge fan of the "flirty" vibes.

 

[bsss]

Looking at the stretch goal unlocks, they really gamified spending money, huh? 20k for, say, an individual card in a deck, or one pregen, is not a strategy I've seen before. Is that "normal" these days?

 

[Morrus]

Looking at the stretch goal unlocks, they really gamified spending money, huh? 20k for, say, an individual card in a deck, or one pregen, is not a strategy I've seen before. Is that "normal" these days?

Well, of course a $20K increase in funding is not a free $20K—attached to it comes $20K of rewards you have to send out. I don’t know what their margins are (they have a lot of separate “things” they need to make and ship—dice, vinyl records, tote bags, etc.), but that $20K could be as little as as $1K actual available funds or it could be way, way more. I wouldn’t put too much stock on the spaces between stretch goals.

 

[bsss]

Well, of course a $20K increase in funding is not a free $20K—attached to it comes $20K of rewards you have to send out. I don’t know what their margins are (they have a lot of separate “things” they need to make and ship—dice, vinyl records, tote bags, etc.), but that $20K could be as little as as $1K actual available funds or it could be way, way more. I wouldn’t put too much stock on the spaces between stretch goals.

Yeah, the money is one thing we don't have a much insight on. I'm just more surprised at the amount of unlocks and the unusual-to-me relatively small size of each (the "gamification"). I am used to something more like (as general examples, not specific instances I looked up) "100k: a couple more adventures added to the book", or "250k: look! a bestiary!", not a barrage of individual pregens or spells or other individual game elements.

It's fine, but I had some "whoa, really, am I the only one seeing this?" effect, but I also try to limit the amount of stuff I back, so I could just be out of touch.

 

[Morrus]

Yeah, the money is one thing we don't have a much insight on. I'm just more surprised at the amount of unlocks and the unusual-to-me relatively small size of each (the "gamification"). I am used to something more like (as general examples, not specific instances I looked up) "100k: a couple more adventures added to the book", or "250k: look! a bestiary!", not a barrage of individual pregens or spells or other individual game elements.

It's fine, but I had some "whoa, really, am I the only one seeing this?" effect, but I also try to limit the amount of stuff I back, so I could just be out of touch.

It’s probably just stuff they already have done or which they can make very quickly and easily.

 

[Staffan]

Yeah, the money is one thing we don't have a much insight on. I'm just more surprised at the amount of unlocks and the unusual-to-me relatively small size of each (the "gamification"). I am used to something more like (as general examples, not specific instances I looked up) "100k: a couple more adventures added to the book", or "250k: look! a bestiary!", not a barrage of individual pregens or spells or other individual game elements.

It's fine, but I had some "whoa, really, am I the only one seeing this?" effect, but I also try to limit the amount of stuff I back, so I could just be out of touch.

I'm not sure this is what's done here, but in other crowdfunders I've often seen something that's clearly intended to be a larger stretch goal split into several parts and once all the parts are done the last one is "and we'll collect all the X into a Y!". For example, the TORG Eternity crowdfunders usually had a 55-card deck in them, but they were unlocked 5 cards at a time.