With 2021 in place, let’s look at a number of RPG crowdfunding projects and quickstarters ending during the last half of January. This week’s article ranges from D&D content, as well as other RPG engines, to translations and campaigns to support brick and mortar gaming stores. Without further preamble, let’s look at some RPG Kickstarters.
Tome of Mystical Tattoos for 5e from Natwuns
Scourge of Shiran: An Edu-Adventure for The World of Alessia from The Game Academy and Storm Bunny Studios
Caelum: A Shattered Sky from Shaw Schiappacasse
The Monsters Are Our Heroes Print Tabletop RPG Zine from Bloat Games
Bespoke Roleplaying Game Content - A Make 100 Project from Freebooter Games
Hex & Company's Next Adventure from Hex & Company
Commonspace Game Cafe: Level Up! from Commonspace Game Cafe
Traveller: Piratas de Drinax en español from Sugaar Editorial and Mongoose Publishing
Egg Embry participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG and Amazon.
Tome of Mystical Tattoos for 5e from Natwuns
- END DATE: Sun, January 17 2021 2:26 PM EST.
- SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
- PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: CA$30 for the PDF and POD versions of the book
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This is a book of over 120 third-party Dungeons & Dragons tattoos. As a concept that’s going to speak to a swath of gamers, this project offers magical tattoos for your 5e characters. Each tattoo acts as a combination magic item and feat as you become a living magic item with some cool options. The free preview they’re offering through the campaign page mentions options like the Booming Voice Tattoo that makes your character a living magic item. It’s a rare wondrous item and requires attunement, all of which nicely blends this project into the 5e rule set. With Booming Voice, you can scream once every 10 minutes as an action. While there is a save, the scream does 2d6 bludgeoning damage plus a 10 foot push. It’s a nice extra not unlike having a magic ring or the like. The book’s art includes pictures of the tattoo designs and how they look on their intended body parts. Conceptually, it’s an interesting option.
Scourge of Shiran: An Edu-Adventure for The World of Alessia from The Game Academy and Storm Bunny Studios
- END DATE: Fri, January 15 2021 12:13 PM EST.
- SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
- PROJECT TYPE: Adventure module
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $30 for the PDFs of both books
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Because Jaye Sonia of Storm Bunny Studios does a lot to introduce RPGs to new players and creators, I was excited to see this project. He’s behind RPG Design Camp and the sequel, and with this adventure he’s working with the educational 501(c)3 non-profit organization, The Game Academy, to create one of the adventures for their 2021 RPG summer camp. Set in Storm Bunny’s World of Alessia campaign setting, this adventure comes from the minds of some of RPG’s best D&D 5e freelance creators like Stephen Radney-MacFarland, David Silver, George ‘Loki’ Williams, and more. The adventure books will clock in at 96 pages for the standard edition, 120 pages for the educator's edition featuring educational call-outs and STEM subjects, and a 96-page student workbook to track their progress and work exercises and puzzles. This project offers a lot of adventure and educational opportunities if you’re looking for that in your 5e.
Caelum: A Shattered Sky from Shaw Schiappacasse
- END DATE: Wed, January 20 2021 12:00 PM EST.
- SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
- PROJECT TYPE: Campaign setting
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $15 for the PDF of the book
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This 5e campaign setting features a world where the inhabitants destroyed the surface and fled to live aback gargantuan war machines left over from the conflict that did so much damage to their world. As a sky world, this setting offers great visuals and a lot of unique travel experiences plus the mystery of the world below. If you’re looking for a landless world, this may be the right one for your gaming table.
The Monsters Are Our Heroes Print Tabletop RPG Zine from Bloat Games
- END DATE: Thu, January 14 2021 9:00 PM EST.
- SYSTEM(S): OSR
- PROJECT TYPE: Core rule zine
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $10 + $5 US S/H for the print copy of the print only (the PDF is available here)
- DISCLAIMER: I wrote a short story for Bloat Games (Tales from Vigilante City). It was not for The Monsters Are Our Heroes zine
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? You play as the classic Halloween monsters of the public domain as you hunt down other monsters. In this game, imagine the calendar says 2021 and the map of the US still has the same location names as you’d expect, but the city limits are the limits of your safety. Beyond those lines, don’t expect placid suburbs, expect forests and graveyards and a world ready for the dead to come back. Using an intuitive OSR system, you’ll play as a Creature, Invisible Person, Monster, Mummy, Vampire, or Werewolf stopping other monsters of the night. This Kickstarter will create physical copies of this RPG (the PDF is available here). If you want a print zine of a monster OSR, this is worth checking out.
Bespoke Roleplaying Game Content - A Make 100 Project from Freebooter Games
- END DATE: Fri, January 22 2021 3:00 AM EST.
- SYSTEM(S): System neutral
- PROJECT TYPE: RPG setting
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $99 for a custom PDF world/setting built for you after some email and Discord sessions
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Do you have a rough idea for an NPC, adventure, campaign, or an entire world, but not the time to flesh it out? That’s what this campaign offers, depending on the reward level you select, you pitch your outline via email and/or Discord, and they write out the details and expand on it. If you want to run your custom campaign, but need help to get all of the parts into place, this project may help to bridge the gap.
Hex & Company's Next Adventure from Hex & Company
- END DATE: Mon, January 25 2021 9:04 AM EST.
- PROJECT TYPE: Brick and mortar store expansion
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $30 for a mug
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This brick and mortar game store is the largest board game cafe in Manhattan. Despite the pandemic, they’re about to move to a new location at 2911 Broadway, doubling in size, and they’re using this Kickstarter to raise funds to do it. It’s good to see a store expanding during these difficult times and it’s worth shouting out their efforts.
Commonspace Game Cafe: Level Up! from Commonspace Game Cafe
- END DATE: Fri, January 22 2021 1:29 PM EST.
- PROJECT TYPE: Brick and mortar store assistance
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $100 for a keychain, four travel mugs, a hat, two beer glasses, and tote
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? The pandemic hurt a great deal of the RPG industry and, in many cases, brick and mortar game stores were disproportionately impacted. Among them, Norman, Oklahoma’s Commonspace Game Cafe is asking for help to ride out the rest of the pandemic. They’re conducting this campaign to raise awareness and funds to keep their doors open until life enters its post-pandemic new normal. If you’re in the Norman area, or just want to help out, check out the campaign and video.
Traveller: Piratas de Drinax en español from Sugaar Editorial and Mongoose Publishing
- END DATE: Fri, January 15 2021 3:54 AM EST.
- SYSTEM(S): Traveller
- PROJECT TYPE: RPG translation
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: €140 + €10 US S/H for 5 books and a map
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? It’s neat to see a major RPG like Traveller translated to Spanish, and to watch it fund. If Traveller would be of interest to you in Spanish, this is a good time to jump onboard and get these books.
Egg Embry participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG and Amazon.
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