RPG Crowdfunding News – Corpus Malicious, Doikayt, Arcana Academy, and more

In this article, I review RPG crowdfunding campaigns that end between November 8th and November 14th. This list includes at least 17 projects; there are more, but during that 7-day stretch, I selected these to reflect on.

Corpus Malicious - The Codex of Evil for 5E by Dream Realm Storytellers

END DATE: Thu, November 14 2019 2:00 PM EST.
SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons 5e
PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebooks
MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £54 + S/H for the PDF and hardcover of the book as well as the PDF and softcover of another book
NOTE 1: I interviewed Umut Comak of the Dream Realm Storytellers about his Svilland - The Norse Setting for 5e, their last project, here
NOTE 2: Try the Corpus Malicious Demo Booklet for free at DriveThruRPG

“Corpus Malicious is a 400-page codex of evil supplement for DND 5th Edition with content for both players and Dungeon Masters. In Dungeons and Dragons, stories and adventures are often depicted in black and white. Also, evil is often seen as evil, without looking at the reasons behind it. As Dream Realm Storytellers, we believe in the power of lore for much deeper stories and campaigns. So, in Corpus Malicious, we will provide a lot of information about nature, reasons, and acts of evil [including] the rules of degeneration will provide gifts and curses that will add meaning to the corruption of evil. In addition to the rules of degeneration, you will have rules for vampirism, lycanthropy, making sacrifices and an economy for soul trade. Corpus Malicious has pages and pages of archetypes for every class in Dungeons and Dragons. The number of archetypes we have is even larger than that of the core books! Each archetype has the theme and flavors for unique, dark approaches to D&D classes. For adding more occult, flavor, and tactics to your spellcaster characters or villains, WE HAVE 100 NEW SPELLS and RITUALS!”

The Big Book of Amazing Tales by Amazing Tales

END DATE: Sat, November 9 2019 8:01 AM EST.
SYSTEM(S): An original system
PROJECT TYPE: Adventure modules
MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: €25 for the PDF and POD of the book
NOTE: Martin Lloyd of Amazing Tales participated in my “Around the Kids’ Table” article in the first issue of GAMA’s Around the Table magazine

“A collection of adventures for the Amazing Tales RPG. Aimed at kids aged 4 and up. [Including] Captain Cadava's Treasure (an adventure on Pirate Seas), The Kryptid Conundrum (an adventure Beyond the Stars), A Dream of Trees (an adventure in the Deep Dark Wood), [and] The Quest for the Dragon Crown. How big will the Big Book of Amazing Tales be? Like the core book it will be a full colour, 8"*10" hardback book. Depending on stretch goals it will be between 200 and 250 pages. Making it more than twice as big the core book. Each campaign will run to around 50 pages and depending on your family's playstyle will last for between four and ten sessions. The adventures will be fully illustrated, with handouts and activities to bring the adventures alive at the table as you play them.”

Doikayt: A Jewish TTRPG Anthology by Riley Rethal

END DATE: Sun, November 10 2019 8:37 AM EST.
SYSTEM(S): An original system
PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $25 + $2 US S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book

“A collection of tabletop RPGs written and illustrated by Jews about the ways we see our Judaism. Doikayt is an anthology of short tabletop roleplaying games about Judaism or Jewish themes, written and illustrated by Jews. For huge numbers of Jews throughout the world, childhood memories are tied to games. Be it board games played as a family on Shabbas, a local Purim carnival, or simply being taught the rules of the dreidel game, Jews have long relied on games to help pass down tradition, culture, story and song to the next generation. It is with this same earnest joy that we present Doikayt: A Jewish TTRPG Anthology. In Yiddish, the word doikayt translates to “hereness”. While hereness can be interpreted in many ways, we take it to mean that a Jewish person’s ideology, practices and traditions are a product of their environment, and it is these differences in background and knowledge from sources around the world that make the Jewish people so stalwart. These differences are what informs our anthology. Featuring games from Jews of completely dissimilar backgrounds, it is our goal to not only show how Judaism can be highlighted through play in a multitude of ways, but also to show that despite our inherent differences, despite our upbringings, we all share this same idea of doikayt. No matter where we are, we are all here.”

GrymmWorld - A 5th Edition Fairy-Tale Setting by Grant Ellis (2CGaming)

END DATE: Mon, November 11 2019 12:00 AM EST.
SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons 5e
PROJECT TYPE: Campaign sourcebook
MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $15 for the PDF of the book

“GrymmWorld - A dark fairy tale with progressive RPG elements and unusual mechanics for 5th Edition. This book offers both Players and Dungeon Masters a new way to experience 5th Edition, altering the core rules to facilitate powerful storytelling that makes you feel like you are playing (or running!) an adventurous fairy tale. GrymmWorld is a strange place; full of danger, whimsy, and peculiarity. It is all great fables brought to life and woven seamlessly together by the exceptional talent producing this book. GrymmWorld is about rediscovering your childhood and unleashing your inner muse. Grymmworld is built from the ground up to encourage Players and Dungeons Masters to work together for the good of their game's story. While Players will find their campaign characters equipped with unique tools that bring their character to life, the signature component of this principle in GrymmWorld is the mysterious Narrador. The Narrador is a special character in GrymmWorld; that assumes the role as the steward of stories! This entity challenges the characters of the world to live a life that is extraordinary, invoking a move-set as mercurial as their motives.”

Scavenger by Shardstone

END DATE: Mon, November 11 2019 3:00 AM EST.
SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons 5e
PROJECT TYPE: Campaign sourcebook
MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $40 + S/H for the PDF and hardcover plus at least three additional PDFs
NOTE: Try the Scavenger Playtest for free at DriveThruRPG

“A Bronze-Age Punk Role Playing Game Setting for the 5th Edition in a World of Alien Adventure and Apocalyptic Survival. Explore the broken world of Akara and the weird world of Torn with this book of gripping stories, daring characters, breathtaking art, and new rules for the 5th Edition of the world’s most popular roleplaying game. Scavenger is an artbook, fantasy anthology, and campaign setting guide that will allow you to forge adventures set in Akara--a world dying and desperate to survive. In this roughly 175+ page tome you will learn about Akara's doomed cultures, the uncharted and strange world of Torn, and of the shard-powered scavengers that humanity prays will save it. Scavenger is set in the ravaged world of Akara where the only hope is an ancient gateway called the Monolith. It leads to the mysterious World Torn Apart - or Torn - none know from whence it came or how it works. From Torn came sanguine shardstones. These gems allow those who study them to warp reality in strange ways, and were it not for the Great Dying, the face of Akara would have been revolutionized. Nonetheless, the Great Dying is here; a set of natural disasters on a scale unimaginable, a veritable extinction event with seemingly no cause and no end.”

Arcana Academy - A Magic School RPG by Murder Publishing

END DATE: Thu, November 14 2019 11:00 PM EST.
SYSTEM(S): Powered by the Apocalypse
PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $12 for the PDF of the game

“A magic school RPG about students learning magic, solving mysteries, and forging lasting friendships or bitter rivalries. Arcana Academy is a tabletop role-playing game where you get to play as students attending a magical school. Solve mysteries, get into trouble, learn magic, and forge lasting friendships or bitter rivalries. If you've ever wished you could attend a magical school like Hogwarts or Brakebills, this is the game for you. We wanted to focus on the core experience of what it meant to attend school for the magically gifted and focused all of the rules on these elements. Players will get creative with spells, wander the halls after dark trying to solve mysteries, and explore a world unlike any they've yet experienced. The game is inspired by wildly popular Powered by the Apocalypse style of games with a few twists to better fit the tone and theme we wanted to create. The game uses free-form spell creation, allowing you to customize the spells your character knows. There's so much more to the game then we could put here. If you'd like to learn more, or test the game for yourself, download the Quick Start we've put together.”

ENDING SOON!

VAST KAVIYA by Mike Myler

END DATE: 11/03/2019 21:59 (GMT-5)
SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons 5e
PROJECT TYPE: Campaign sourcebook
NOTE 1: Mike Myler writes for EN World and EN Publishing’s EN5ider Patreon
NOTE 2: You can listen to Mike talk with Morrus and Peter Coffey here
NOTE 3: I conducted an interview with Mike about Vast Kaviya here
NOTE 4: Try before you buy with the primer at DriveThruRPG
NOTE 5: This campaign is available through GameOnTabletop

“A primordial sword and sorcery campaign setting of low magic and high adventure for D&D 5E! Blood, grit, and survival are at the fore in these primordial lands. If you like Conan the Barbarian, Xena the Warrior Princess, Tarzan, Fafrhd, Khal Drogo, Thundarr, Red Sonja, Grognar, the Scorpion King, Beowulf, Kull the Conqueror, Fire and Ice, or are just a fan of savage adventures on a primal and untamed world—Vast Kaviya is for you! This super massive world of primal struggle is a decentralized campaign setting and bestiary (21 areas with 100+ statblocks) for D&D 5th Edition. Within are 20 different warlords all with their own lairs, minions, and guidelines for how they interact with one another, giving GMs a new toolbox of NPCs and unique areas to either include in their homebrew fantasy setting for some old school sword and sorcery, or to gradually discover using the book's Exploration Rules! In addition to what's in the core 5th Edition rules Vast Kaviya has a variety of new character options for the brave souls that strike out across its countless lands. New Races! New Class Archetypes! New Classes! New Options! Discover who your Amnesiac background adventurer truly is, gain control over slivers of magic using naturally occurring raw mana, or take a feat to embrace your mistdweorg ancestors or the illumination granted by the underground City of Lost's potent Sun Stone—or set your sights on stealing the legendary gemstone!”

RPG QUICK HITS

Castles & Crusades: NPC Almanac by Troll Lord Games

END DATE: Tue, November 12 2019 12:00 AM EST.
“A veritable mountain of pre-generated non player characters, from bare knuckles to fully fleshed out. A rogues gallery for the ages!”

Era: Lost Legend - A Final Fantasy-inspired RPG by Shades of Vengeance

END DATE: Wed, November 13 2019 12:28 PM EST.
NOTE: I’ve interviewed Ed Jowett of Shades of Vengeance often enough that you’d think we were neighbors as opposed to living on different continents. I’ve questioned him about: ERA: BALAM RPG, Era: The Consortium, Era: The Empowered, Era: The Chosen, Battlecruiser Alamo RPG (Powered by Era d10), and The Era Zone zines (which contain additional interviews between Ed and myself). Plus, Morrus and Pete Coffey had Ed on their podcast twice (here and here).
“Born from a love of the games, this world features all the inspiring characters, world-ending threats and sinister villains you expect!

Pocket Companion: A guide to Cities and Towns by Wisdom Save Media

END DATE: Sun, November 10 2019 8:37 AM EST.
“A guide to busy settlements for Tabletop RPG's. A handy world-building tool or 'drag and drop' city generator.”

City of Solstice: A Setting for OSR Fantasy Campaigns by Apocalyptic Games

END DATE: Sun, November 10 2019 12:44 PM EST.
“A fantasy game setting for OSR games, set in a city run by criminal gangs. Think a fantasy version of the Untouchables.”

The Icy Heart: A 5E Adventure Path by Ice Stone Heart Games

END DATE: Sun, November 10 2019 6:23 PM EST.
“An adventure path for 5e [D&D], Taking adventurers from 1st to 5th level. Including a variety of new monsters.”

Dark Stars by Darkstars Universe

END DATE: Thu, November 14 2019 12:22 AM EST.
“Dark Stars is a Cyber Punk in Space Role Playing Game which is enjoyable and easy to pick up where other RPG games can be a grind.”

The Ruin: A Post-Apocalyptic Roleplaying Game by Max Caliber Games