RPG Crowdfunding News – BESM, GeneFunk 2090, and more

This week’s RPG crowdfunding projects and quickstarters end on or before December 10th. Due to the number of RPG campaigns rolling out right now, I’m unable to cover every one, and I hate that. As I can, I try to give the spotlight to as many as possible, whether that spotlight be coverage in this column or interviews here, d20 Radio, or High Level Games, shout outs on my social media. For all of the publishers that have reached out asking for help in promoting your project, if I can, I will. Regardless, I wish every RPG campaign the best of luck.

BESM Extras – Fourth Edition RPG Expansions from Dyskami Publishing

• END DATE: Thu, December 3 2020 9:00 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): BESM Fourth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $35 + S/H for the PDF and hardcover versions of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Are you a fan of BESM, the anime and manga RPG? Do you want additional fourth edition rules for the game? This 144-page book offers a variety of alternate and new rules for your game. Add to that, NPCs, cardboard figure miniatures, a dice tower, dice tray, and more extras for the game. If you’re a fan of anime and manga, this campaign has enough meat to cover all of your tabletop needs.
• UPDATE [2020-11-18]: Thanks to eyeheartawk's comment below, I looked up Mark Mackinnon, owner of Dyskami Publishing. That search led to a post on Facebook from Designers & Dragons about Mark's former RPG company and the controversy around how it ended (link here).

GeneFunk 2090: Shadows of Korea from CRISPR Monkey Studios

• END DATE: Thu, December 10 2020 1:22 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: CA$19 for the PDF of this book and the PDF of the core rulebook
• ADDITIONAL REPORTING: Many moons ago at the Tessera Guild, I interviewed James Armstrong about the core rulebook
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? 190 pages of biopunk/cyberpunk using a modified 5e ruleset. Set against the backdrop of Busan, Korea as five criminal empires prepare for war, this combination offers some interesting RPG possibilities. The art looks fantastic, the book is going to add a number of archetypes, equipment, feats, and cybernetic upgrades. With its cyberpunk setting, 5e core, and following so close behind the Carbon 2185 Kickstarter, this RPG is bound to draw comparisons, but that’s not a bad thing. Just as there can be a variety of D&Ds, Pathfinders, and other OSRs, there should be a variety of 5e cyberpunk options, especially when they look this good.

Advanced Rules Miscellany: 5th Edition Rules Modules from EN Publishing

• END DATE: Mon, November 23 2020 6:00 PM EST. (Quickstarter launched November 10 2020)
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebooks
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £7 for PDF of the supplements
• DISCLAIMER: This project is published by EN Publishing, as is EN World
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This project gives you a 27-page collection of D&D rules supplements. In these, you’ll get rules for archery contests, random battlefield events, chases, options for herbalism, and hirelings to hire. These books give you clarifications for some of the areas that 5e is vague. Want more 5e goodness? There are add-ons to pick up products from the prior campaigns.

Death of Divinity: Riches of Andvari from Eric Smith

• END DATE: Tue, December 1 2020 12:28 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Campaign and campaign setting
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $45 for the PDF and POD of the book, PDF maps, World Anvil and Discord access
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This 236-page book brings the first part of a campaign and campaign setting drawn from Greek, Norse, and Egyptian cultures. Starting at 3rd level, this campaign covers your characters through 8th level. There are 10 main storylines, 13 optional quests, two cities, the religions, and more with each swinging to a new adventure with a different inspiration.

New Bristol: A campaign setting for your Supers RPG from Charon Productions

• END DATE: Thu, November 26 2020 3:45 PM EST. (Quickstarter launched November 10 2020)
• SYSTEM(S): Savage Worlds Adventure Edition (SWAdE) and Endless Realms
• PROJECT TYPE: Campaign setting
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: CA$30 for the PDF and POD of the book
• ADDITIONAL REPORTING: At d20 Radio, I interviewed Andrew J Lucas for the first attempt at this campaign, and that information still applies to this version
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Looking for a superhero setting for SWAdE or Endless Realms? This 110-page book offers you a fictional city with a detailed history, distinct districts, heroes, and, of course, villains. What sets it apart is its disappearance, in the 1950s, the city vanished but now it’s back. With this campaign, except a city out of time and a mystery to solve.

Boldly Go! Science-Fiction Role-Playing Game from GeoffQuest

• END DATE: Wed, December 2 2020 8:54 AM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): An original system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $15 for the PDF of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Because you want to play not-Star Trek using a new system. Within this 80-page rulebook, you’ll get rules for customizing the ship and creating your shipmates plus the Trait system in which you combine your character’s traits and the situation to form a dice pool to overcome challenges. If you’re looking for Trek without the Prime Directive, this may fit the bill.

Build A Custom Screen For 5th Edition, Pathfinder 1e, & MORE from Hammerdog Games

• END DATE: Thu, November 26 2020 10:00 PM EST. (Quickstarter launched November 10 2020)
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition, Pathfinder 1e, and more
• PROJECT TYPE: GM Screens
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $75 + $10 US S/H for the screen (orientation and color of your choice), art and charts to insert into it, magnets, and more
• DISCLAIMER: I wrote a small piece for Hammerdog Games’ The Dread House. I’ve also interviewed Danny O’Neill about another project here.
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This is everything you can want in a “generic” GM screen. I don’t mean “generic” in a disparaging way, I mean that this these screens can be for any game. This campaign gives you the layout of your choice (portrait or landscape), the color of your choice, with pouches for art and charts, magnets, and, most important for any game, inspiration in the form of random charts to keep the world rolling.

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[eyeheartawk]

Just your compulsory reminder to never give Mark MacKinnon money.

 

[Egg Embry]

Just your compulsory reminder to never give Mark MacKinnon money.

Thank you for calling that out, eyeheartawk. It led to doing more digging and, through that, I've updated the article with a link to share more details.