RPG Crowdfunding News – Demigods, TaleSpire, BESM 4e, An Occurrence at Howling Crater, and more

This week, I review crowdfunding projects ending between August 2^nd and 8^th. Everthing from 5e to OSR to Savage Worlds and more. While I focus on six larger projects, I include a number of quick hits (short descriptions and links).

BESM update below [2019-07-24]. Thanks to eyeheartawk and Jer for pointing this out.

BESM Fourth Edition (Big Eyes, Small Mouth RPG) by Japanime Games

• END DATE: Thu, August 8 2019 9:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Tri-Stat System
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $125 plus S/H for the PDF and print copies of the core rulebook, quickstart rules, GM screen and adventure, character folio, and dice
• UPDATE: "Mark MacKinnon [of BESM 4e] founded Guardians of Order, a roleplaying games company which collapsed in 2006 owning money to numerous freelancers and businesses." [Quote from "New Editions of Big Eyes Small Mouth & Silver Age Sentinels Led By Ex-Guardians of Order Founder"]

“Your ultimate companion for multi-genre anime and manga role-playing adventures! Big Eyes, Small Mouth — the multi-genre role-playing game for all your anime and manga adventures! Award-winning game designer and creator of BESM, Mark MacKinnon, and the Dyskami Publishing Company licensed the rights to release this new edition of the game from White Wolf Entertainment. Dyskami then teamed up with Japanime Games to publish a new fourth edition core role-playing game book plus an entire line of BESM support products to expand the game system and storytelling world. BESM Fourth Edition core role-playing game book contains everything you need to create your anime and manga characters and start playing. This gorgeous volume is a hefty 336 full-color pages with well over 100 beautiful illustrations from talented artist across the world.”

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An Occurrence at Howling Crater by Planet X Games

• END DATE: Tue, August 6 2019 2:00 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons 5e
• PROJECT TYPE: Adventure module
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $28 with free US shipping for the PDF and print versions of the book plus all unlocked stretch goals

“An old school, grindhouse style genre-bending heroic fantasy/sci-fi mash-up adventure for 5E by Planet X Games. Brutal tales of the desolate, unforgiving wasteland known as Howling Crater have long caused travelers and caravan masters to give it a wide berth, but now fresh accounts of depravity and madness have begun to circulate out of that forbidden wasteland. Deep within the barren recesses of the crater, a murderous family of inbred, mutated crater folk have begun to preach the gospel of the "the glory of the glow" and with it has come incurable sickness and murderous incursions across the land. Even stranger rumors have made the rounds as of late, whispering of a long-forgotten civilization of steel and fire, born in a swirling inferno of radioactive dust and powered by ancient alien astronaut-gods, lost deep within the crater's recesses. Can your characters fight their way past this mutated, maniacal cult of alien-worshipping hillbillies to explore the truth of Howling Crater? An Occurrence at Howling Crater is designed for a group of player characters who are levels 7-9.”

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DD3 The Misty Halls of Kalávorka by R. Nelson Bailey

• END DATE: Tue, August 6 2019 9:18 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons BECMI, 1e, and 2e, Pathfinder 1e, and OSRs
• PROJECT TYPE: Adventure module
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $25 + $5 S/H for PDF and print copies of two modules

“The Misty Halls of Kalávorka is a forty-page module of high adventure, exploration, and mystery with a minimal plot that allows it to fit easily into any campaign world. Fantasy role-playing module for 1st or 2nd Ed AD&D, BECMI D&D, OSRIC, DCC, Pathfinder, Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry, or other OSR. In this adventure for mid-level characters levels 5 to 7, the player characters will explore a mountain wilderness searching for the halls of the cloud giant, Thorogang. Legend has it that the giant and his clan possesses the ability of second sight and prophecy. Beings of all types seeking knowledge of hidden mysteries flocked to their mountain fastness for guidance. Rumor has it that the halls themselves hold the secret of the giants’ powers. However, no one has seen or heard from any of these giants in years. All that is needed is a group of highly motivated and brave adventurers can uncover the truth of what happened to the rulers of the fabled misty halls.”

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Pulp Fantastic (a setting book for Savage Worlds) by Battlefield Press

• END DATE: Thu, August 8 2019 12:59 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Savage Worlds
• PROJECT TYPE: Campaign setting
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $20 for the PDF and POD copies of the book
• NOTE: I have freelanced for Battlefield Press, but not on this project.

“Welcome to the world of the 1930s, a world where secret societies battle for control of history. Pulp Fantastic, for use with the Savage Worlds Adventurer Edition. This book will be available as a softcover book or a hardcover book, at a size of 7x10. Welcome to the age of the Pulps, where two-fisted action heroes and secret societies battle for control of the destiny of mankind! From the gleaming spires of the big city, to the steaming jungles of Skull Island, brave men and women fight the forces of evil, carving their legends into the history of the 20th Century. It is an age of exploration and daring. An age of discovery, peril and mad science. It is the age of Pulp Fantastic!”

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TaleSpire by Bouncyrock

• END DATE: Thu, August 8 2019 3:01 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): System neutral
• PROJECT TYPE: RPG online portal
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: NOK 174 for the portal and the beta version

“TaleSpire is a beautiful way to play pen and paper RPGs online. It's a place where you and your friends build and tell stories together. We are marrying the beauty and physicality you find in miniatures with the expanse of digital worlds. Our aim is to get rid of everything that gets between you and your stories. And all of this whilst letting people be together regardless of where they are in the world. TaleSpire is not tied to a specific game or ruleset; if it's role-playing on a square grid we have your back. TaleSpire: Pen & Paper RPGs Resculpted Online.”

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Demigods by Jason Mills

• END DATE: Thu, August 8 2019 11:44 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Powered by the Apocalypse
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $36 with free US shipping for the PDF and hardcover versions of the book

“A table-top adventure RPG where you play the children of gods in a modern-day setting, from any belief system you can imagine. Demigods: a game about the half-mortal descendants of the gods. Demigods is an action/adventure RPG Powered by the Apocalypse that brings mythology to life in a modern setting. Built from the PBTA framework, Demigods is a fast-action take on mythology, in the style of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and Good Omens, or Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series. You can play a character from any Pantheon or belief system you can imagine, plotting the arc of your ascension to godhood while you battle mythological creatures and villains in the modern world. The goal of this Kickstarter is to publish a 6x9 rulebook of about 200+ pages.”

[h=3]QUICK HITS![/h]The Book of All'Terra: A Campaign Setting for 5E by ORC DAD

• END DATE: Sun, August 4 2019 1:00 PM EDT.

“A setting book for the world of All'Terra from the actual play podcast The Titans of All'Terra.”
Vulcan Forged Carbon RPG Dice - Handmadke by Future Forge by Duane Design Works

• END DATE: Tue, August 6 2019 1:00 AM EDT.

“Exclusive Solid Forged Carbon Polyhedral Dice for board games & RPG campaigns. 10pc, 7pc sets, D20, D12, D6. Add a Medallion Dice Box.”

Randice DnD Random Character Generator Dice Set – EXPANSION by Eternalverse

• END DATE: Wed, August 7 2019 10:00 AM EDT.

“A random character generator dice set to end boring and predictable characters and NPCs in your tabletop RPG campaigns with 4 more dice!”

4 RPG Fantasy maps and 4 Art Packs by Nathaly Aupin

• END DATE: Wed, August 7 2019 12:10 AM EDT.

“Fantasy RPG Maps and 1 art pack that goes with each of the maps. 4 mega maps and more to unlock. Fill them or take them as they are!”

Magimundi Bestiary: New Monsters for 5e or Pathfinder by Inexorable Media LLC

• END DATE: Wed, August 7 2019 9:00 PM EDT.

“A full-color illustrated 5e and Pathfinder 1.0 compatible bestiary of brand-new beasts, monsters, & magical creatures.”

The Kaldori Project (For Tabletop Roleplaying) by Veris Design

• END DATE: Thu, August 8 2019 11:44 PM EDT.

“An elaborate Sandbox Setting for the world's most popular roleplay game, with new systems, side quests, and more!”

What We Were - Tabletop Roleplaying System by Freddie Taylor-Bell

• END DATE: Thu, August 8 2019 12:50 PM EDT.

“A roleplaying system designed to be as accessible and flexible as possible with a heavy focus on each character’s unique story.”

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[stargazera5]

I never meant to imply I didn't like the idea of providing old editions in new KSes, just the way the new BESM KS had structured it. In both the TORG and Savage Worlds Adventure edition KSes, you could get the old versions books as part of digital-only rewards, and I did just that for both! What I object to in the BESM KS is the fact that they are only available if you get physical books. Requiring the purchase of physical books to get digital rewards is something I don't want to see as there are many people who for varying reasons do not want physical product For me, I don't have the room to spare in buying physical books any more, so I focus on getting digital products. For others, it's a matter of the lower cost of digital products. Still more will have other reasons for this. If the KS creator can't afford to link old versions to teh existing digital-only levels, it's perfectly acceptable, IMHO, to add a reasonably more expensive digital level that includes them. This is exactly what the TORG KS and Trinity KS did.

The other issue I have with the BESM KS old product stretch goals is that they have very little else being offered in the stretch goals. It's fine to include some old product in your stretch goals, but you should have a healthy amount of new content and/or game support tools. The only stretch goals that are not existing product are some prefilled character sheets. some print book upgrades, and some reference cards. The dearth of new material leads me to wonder if they will bother to support the game in the future.

 

[aramis erak]

Old PDFs as a stretch goal are sometimes what it takes to get people to buy in.

I, for example, was only in the 7th Sea 2E KS because it had the 1E PDFs; I didn't want anything else, based upon the preview. $40 for the whole shebang? Yes.

Not like I can read the damned 7th Sea 2E PDFs anyway. Bad font, bad size, too much pan-n-scan needed.