RPG Crowdfunding News – 5e Oz, Defiant, Synthicide, and more

This week, I review RPG crowdfunding projects that end between June 25th to July 17th. This article includes a number of adaptations: Oz to D&D, Synthicide to Forged in the Dark, and Ponyfinder to Savage Worlds, plus additional projects that run on 5e, Mörk Borg, and more.

5e Adventures in Oz: Setting, Monsters, Maps, and More! from Double Critical

• END DATE: Thu, July 15 2021 1:21 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebooks
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $89 + $9 US S/H for the PDF and hardcovers of both books
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This project brings L. Frank Baum’s Oz novels to tabletop with two books, a campaign setting and a bestiary. At over 250 pages per book, these tomes offer a detailed view into the world including new player ancestries such as munchkins, winged monkeys, quadlings, and more. The number of locations, NPCs, and new monsters offered in this books allows you to present the full world of those novels. If you’re interested in trying this out, the open playtest is linked through the campaign page.

Defiant RPG from Game Machinery

• END DATE: Thu, July 15 2021 8:00 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): An original system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: PLN 221 + S/H for two versions of the PDF and the hardcover of the core rulebook plus digital gaming aids
• TRY BEFORE YOU BUY: Defiant Awakening, the quickstart, is free at DriveThruRPG
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? The apocalypse rages outside your city, but you, an Angel, Deava, Infernal, or Leviathan, decided to rebel and safeguard your little piece of the world. You and other powers like you rule a city, deciding its fate as the end times rage beyond your protective wards. Within the city, you negotiate a new society of demonic parties and angelic weddings that bind great powers together. In this 300-page book, expect visually stunning artwork as one of the major selling points. I have to confess, the art blows me away. Between the attention to artwork, the subject matter – dark urban fantasy – and a quote from Brand Robins, author on several Chronicles of Darkness books, it’s easy to compare this project to White Wolf’s World of Darkness. While this could feel like a mix of Vampire: The Masquerade, Demon: The Fallen, and the non-WoD-but-still-Onyx-Path-PublishingScion, the end product feels like an original concept. If you’re interested, you can pick up the quickstart via the campaign page or DriveThruRPG.

Lawman: A RPG of Bounty Hunters & Shooting People for Money from Critical Failure Games, LLC

• END DATE: Thu, July 15 2021 9:55 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): An original system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $40 with free US shipping (it’s a US-only option) for the PDF and physical copies of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Be a lawman 20,000 years in the future! A future so far from now, they’ve added gender back into profession names, Lawman! Get “award-winning” training to hunt criminals! And a class II side-arm! Now go hunt criminals! Go on, get! If you need a tongue-in-cheek RPG about 800 billion planets and the crimes you’re needed to stop, Lawman: A RPG of Bounty Hunters & Shooting People for Money awaits you. A quickstart of the game is available via the campaign page.

Synthicide: Sharpers in the Dark from Will Power Games

• END DATE: Sat, July 17 2021 10:00 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Forged in the Dark
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $15 for the PDF and POD versions of the book
• NOTE: I’ve been GM’ed by Dustin DePenning at Gen Con
• TRY BEFORE YOU BUY: Synthicide: Sharpers in the Dark (Quickstart) is free on DriveThruRPG
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This RPG brings Synthicide, a grimdark cyberpunk RPG, from it’s original system to Forged in the Dark. In a universe where machines are the highest form of sentience, killing a human is no longer a crime, leading to an industry of sharpers, mercenaries that work for anyone that can pay to kill those that don’t matter. I’ve mentioned playing the original Synthicide (here and here) and interviewed Dustin DePenning about another project, and have to say it’s one of my favorite sci-fi RPGs. If you’re a fan of the original RPG, Forged in the Dark, or grimdark sci-fi, check out the campaign page or give the quickstart a try.

Ponyfinder the Savage Age from Battlefield Press, Inc

• END DATE: Thu, July 1 2021 7:00 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Savage Worlds Adventure Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $25 for the PDF and POD versions of the book
• DISCLAIMER: I’ve written for Battlefield Press, but not on this project
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? If you’re a fan of Silver Games’ Ponyfinder, but would like to experience it in the Savage Worlds Adventure Edition ruleset, this is your chance. Through this campaign, the books that describe the world of Everglow, a stand in for My Little Pony’s setting, begin the process of being converted to SWADe. Battlefield Press is known for their third party Savage Worlds products, so this book is in good hands.

My Body is a Cage from John

• END DATE: Thu, July 1 2021 9:00 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): An original system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $40 + S/H for the PDF and print books plus music download
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? A dungeon crawler with an original system in which you live your waking life to improve yourself. Then, as you sleep, you crawl a dungeon winning treasure using your daily improvements. The treasure, in turn, improves your waking world. It’s an interesting concept, a cycle of waking and dreaming with a designed purpose. If you need an original option, this is an interesting choice.

Thaemin's Guide to Gods and Miracles from Chamomile Has A Project

• END DATE: Wed, June 30 2021 8:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: RPG zine
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $5 for the PDF
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This is a guide to creating pantheons and religions for 5e. While plenty of advice exists for using a pantheon, the list of options that let you craft your own is not as deep, though there are options. If you need a value priced sourcebook to help build out the mythology of your world, this may be a good option.

The Temple of the Kraken God | A Mörk Borg Adventure from Christian Eichhorn

• END DATE: Tue, June 29 2021 11:33 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Mörk Borg
• PROJECT TYPE: Adventure module
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: €10 for the PDF and POD versions of the adventure
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? A 40-page Mörk Borg adventure involving water, ships, and a new mechanic, corruption. If you’re looking for a sea adventure for this award winning system, this one is worth a review.

Creature Feature Quarterly Vol. 1 -for use with- Mork Borg from Jeremy Hart Illos

• END DATE: Fri, June 25 2021 12:34 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Mörk Borg
• PROJECT TYPE: RPG zine
• OST POPULAR PLEDGE: $4 for the PDF of the zine and printable paper minis
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? If you like Jeremy Hart’s illustrations, this 32-page zine takes 16 of his monsters and presents them with Mörk Borg stats. If you’re looking for a quick Mörk Borg bestiary and some paper minis, this is a solid, cheap option.

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[Egg Embry]

Egg, there is as error on your Oz listing. It is $89, not $212, for the most popular pledge/two books plus PDFs.

There is no $212 pledge. (That price almost prompted me to skip checking out the KS!)

Good catch! I messed that up. Corrected now!

 

[Davies]

Ok, my one question is how the heck are those ponies drinking cups of tea using their hooves?

Tactile telekinesis, the same as in the animated series. They can exert control over what they touch with their forehooves as though they had hands.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Tactile telekinesis, the same as in the animated series. They can exert control over what they touch with their forehooves as though they had hands.

Cheers for that. As you may have guessed from my comment, I've not seen the MLP series. That actually makes sense. It an "A wizard did it" explanation, but an explanation nonetheless.

 

[imagineGod]

And yet another GM Screen for 5e.

Msybe it is my fault for backing too many 5e Kickstarters, but I have GM screens enroute from Trudvang Adventures, Iron Kingdoms Requiem, Midgard Southlands, Dante's Inferno, Ruins of Symbaroum, and now Adventures in Oz. I think even Ptolus 5e may have had one. Need to check that! Plus, I have French and Italian 5e Kickstarters too.

Seriously, there have to be better stretch goals than more 5e GM Screens. But the artwork is so beautiful. Yet, what percentage of GMs actually uses them to look up tables in play? Any statistics herd on ENWorld?

 

[imagineGod]

I sort of wish Into The Mother Lands was also 5e.

Yes, I complain about roo many 5e GM Screens, but more 5e games makes it easier for Players to switch ftom one Campaign to another without leaning new rules.

 

[imagineGod]

There is a 2nd Edition of Adventures in Middle-earth expected this fall for 5e, and based on es from the 1st edition from Cubicle7 and The One Ring from Free League, yet, another 5e GM Screen incoming. .

 

[Rob Kuntz]

I supported the Adventures in OZ in another way, full disclosure, I wrote the Foreword for it after being approached to do so. I requested what they had and took a while in reviewing before agreeing. It's a long favorite of mine (I.e., my Land of OZ Greyhawk Castle Level). The immensity of this project was off the chart and so I agreed to do what to date I've done twice, write a Foreword (the other was for Paizo's Golarion). This project is a work of beauty accessible at all levels. Get it, it won't remain on your shelf!

 

[imagineGod]

I supported the Adventures in OZ in another way, full disclosure, I wrote the Foreword for it after being approached to do so. I requested what they had and took a while in reviewing before agreeing. It's a long favorite of mine (I.e., my Land of OZ Greyhawk Castle Level). The immensity of this project was off the chart and so I agreed to do what to date I've done twice, write a Foreword (the other was for Paizo's Golarion). This project is a work of beauty accessible at all levels. Get it, it won't remain on your shelf!

Thank you very much good sir.

The Oz Kickstarter is funding at a beautiful steady stream of backers. Initially, I was worried it had a slow start, none of that funded in minutes or an hour stuff other many 5e projects get.

Now nearly a thousand backers and still attracting more. So happy to see that.

 

[MidnightBlue]

5E isn't my jam, nothing against it and I have more than a few 5E games, but I'm all in on the Oz setting regardless. It's got me really intrigued. I can always use the setting info in any of my preferred systems if I so choose.

 

[Rob Kuntz]

Thank you very much good sir.

The Oz Kickstarter is funding at a beautiful steady stream of backers. Initially, I was worried it had a slow start, none of that funded in minutes or an hour stuff other many 5e projects get.

Now nearly a thousand backers and still attracting more. So happy to see that.

Thanks. It was a pleasure. I just never had the time with the rise of D&D/TSR to complete my delving into OZ, what with 14 books to reference, and Baum packed tons of new stuff into each and every book.
That the DC folks managed it is a leap in itself, a milestone, and for that I thank them!