RPG Crowdfunding News – Dead Man’s Rust, Opera House, WILD, and more

This week’s RPG crowdfunding projects and quickstarters end on or before Christmas Eve, December 24h. In this article, I share a variety of Savage Worlds Adventure Edition options as well some solid 5e content. If you’re interested in these, backing sooner is better than later as, you know, the holiday might sneak up and prevent you from getting back to these campaign pages.

Dead Man's Rust - a mega-adventure for Scarred Lands 5E from Onyx Path Publishing

• END DATE: Wed, December 23 2020 2:00 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $55 + S/H for the PDF, POD, and print versions of the book
• ADDITIONAL REPORTING: I’ve interviewed Travis Legge about his past Onyx Path Scarred Lands projects here and here
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Scarred Lands was a popular setting in the d20 era and, reviving that baseline material, Onyx Path has brought that world into the 5e era. Travis Legge has been a crucial part of that jump, and he’s back with another SL book, Dead Man’s Rust. This 180-pager promises a complete campaign running from levels 1 to 10, details about a variety of lands in this world, new subclasses, races, subraces, monsters and more. Plus, as with all Onyx Path projects, you get a draft of the full book at the close of the campaign so you can start using this immediately.

Blood Drive: A Deadlands Booster Campaign from Pinnacle Entertainment Group

• END DATE: Mon, December 14 2020 10:00 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Savage Worlds Adventure Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Adventure sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $60 + S/H for PDFs, VTTs, and print versions of the book, pawns, archetypes, and more
• ADDITIONAL REPORTING: At d20 Radio, I reviewed the new Deadlands: The Weird West RPG
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? It’s a cattle drive across the Deadlands. That may speak to me more than some, but that idea is everything I could hope for: riding herd and facing down the undead. Sign me up! Add to that, this version of Deadlands is more in keeping with today’s views of making the game open to players of all backgrounds.

The House Doesn't Always Win from Wheels RPG

• END DATE: Fri, December 18 2020 2:00 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): An original system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £30 + £8 US S/H for the PDF and softcover copies of the book plus a deck of playing cards
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Are you looking for a (literally) high stakes game of poker that’s also an RPG? The House Doesn’t Always Win is a new system built for fights against oppression in the form of heists, alliances, and the constant question of what card is next. What’s nice about the campaign page is the section that provides a solid overview of how the game works. If you want to take your games of poker in a new direction, this may be option.

Opera House from Corone Design

• END DATE: Sun, December 20 2020 7:19 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): An original system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £10 for the PDF
• DISCLAIMER: Andrew Peregrine of Corone Design writes for EN World
• ADDITIONAL REPORTING: At d20 Radio, I have an interview with Andrew Peregrine about this project
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? In this game, your character joined the Royal Grand Opera House to work in theatre. Beyond your role on or off the stage, you signed up for some extra duties that happen to include running off spies from other theatres, battling the opera house’s ghosts, dealing with cursed props, and, of course, intelligent rats. Andrew Peregrine, the creator as well as one of the minds behind the Doctor Who RPG and the upcoming Dune RPG, has a day job as a lighting technician at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London. I mention that because if there is anyone that can combine RPG and theatre, it is Andrew. This 200-page book promises enough details to play all of the parts of a professional show correctly without getting bogged down in the details. It’s an unusual combination, but the creator is perfect for this and I know he’ll deliver.

WILD: Dream Dive Training Simulation from We Evolve Publishing

• END DATE: Mon, December 14 2020 9:00 AM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): An original system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £30 + S/H for the PDF and print editions of the game
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? In this RPG, you play individuals who can enter into another’s dreams. Using a Tarot based system, you face all of the story options dreams offer (Inception, Dreamscape, etc.). This 80-page, and growing, book gives you the tools to play out those dreams. In addition, David F. Chapman is the developer behind Doctor Who RPG as well as other RPGs.
• WHY THIS CAMPAIGN CONNECTS WITH ME? I’ve campaigned in a few dream based RPGs and really enjoyed them. I wrote a Powered by the Apocalypse RPG, POWERED by the DREAMR, that deals with Dreamrs entering and ruling the dream states of sleepers. I interviewed Joie Martin of Drowning Moon Studios about her Tarot and dream based RPG, Praedormitium. That is to say I have an interest in dream based RPGs and this one looks excellent. I’m eager to give WILD a play and see what I can learn from it.

Kaiser's Gate for SWAdE and 5e from Battlefield Press

• END DATE: Thu, December 17 2020 11:00 AM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Savage World Adventure Edition and Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $15 for the PDF of the SWAdE version of the game
• DISCLAIMER: I wrote a small bit of The Dinosaur Protocol (SWAdE) for Battlefield Press
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? In 1908, the Tunguska event unlocked magic in this world. In 1915, during World War I, you fight in a magically infused war. While Kaiser’s Gate already exists, this Kickstarter revises the book using the latest Savage Worlds rule set while adding rules for 5e. If you want to fight a magic WWI with two of the most popular rulesets there are, the new Kaiser’s Gate awaits you.

The Secret Files of Section D from Imaginarium Games

• END DATE: Tue, December 15 2020 1:00 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Savage Worlds Adventure Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £30 for PDFs of the main rulebook and 3 adventures
• TRY BEFORE YOU BUY: The Secret Files of Section D - Taster Edition is free at DriveThruRPG
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? 200 pages of 1930s pulp British secret intelligence changed with X-Filing the world in the days before World War II. As with many of the games in this list, Savage Worlds Adventure Edition powers this as you globe trot defending the Empire against threats that go bump in the night. If you want to take on the role of spies in a covert supernatural world, this may be the one.

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[TravisLegge]

Hey all!

I'm the Scarrred Lands line developer, and I thought I would hop on to address a few of the Scarred Lands delivery times issues or concerns:

The text of the book is currently written, and going through editing. The pre-edit manuscript is being rolled out throughout the course of the Kickstarter. You can back it today, and start running the campaign today. There are undoubtedly some typos, tweaks, and clean-up that will occur in the interim before release, but the text is, for the most part, done.

So, why the delays? Onyx Path builds in long lead times to account for the unforeseeable (who could have seen COVID coming?) and aims to over-deliver. The philosophy is that it is far better to set an expectation of Spring 2023 and deliver early, than, say Summer 2022 and deliver late.

Art and layout will of course take time, which is part of the purpose of the Kickstarter.

I hope this alleviates some concerns, or at least explains the mindset behind the approach. Happy to answer any questions though!

Thanks,
Travis