RPG CROWDFUNDING NEWS – Loot Tavern, Hit Point Press, Nat Two Press, and more

This article samples a selection of TTRPG crowdfunding campaigns closing between May 8 to 14. You’ll find 5e sourcebooks, some of the coolest 5e ideas a decade into the system, a collection of Old-School Essentials content, a superhero RPG, and a minitures kit designed to take on the road.

Zaman's Guide to the End of Time (And How to Fix It) from Loot Tavern

• END DATE: Thu, May 8 2025 3:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition (2014 and 2024)
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $30 for the PDF of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? 5e, firearms, and time travel! This book provides a new class, The Gunner, more firearms, and ways to craft magical ammo. If you’re going to have fantasy and guns, you’re going to need mounts, and there are 8 new ones with the book. There’s an adventure, new species, subclasses, and more for your games. This is over 700 pages with a new paradox system Loot Tavern offers via this book is used to make time travel an interesting affair. The system is described as “allowing players to meddle with the past. Upon returning to the future, a player might find their hair colour is different, their backstory has changed, or they’ve become an entirely different race!” If you’re looking for a 5e expansion that offers some interesting ideas, this one may really expand what your gaming options are.

Humblewood: Beyond the Canopy from Hit Point Press

• END DATE: Thu, May 8 2025 3:01 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition (2014 and 2024)
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $60 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This book expands on Humblewood with new species, new classes and subclasses, monsters, NPCs, a setting guide, and a mid-level adventure. Inspired by Redwall, The Secret of NIMH, and Bloomburrow, this is a fantasy setting where you play as anthropomorphic animals. This book takes you beyond the canopy, exploring more of the world. The adventure involves a villain trying to bring about a new Ice Age, so your party is going to want to stop that. If you’re a fan of Humblewood or just interested in trying out the world, this campaign page may interest you.

Pocket RPG. Play Anytime. Anywhere. Magnetic. Patent Pending from Pocket RPG

• END DATE: Sat, May 10 2025 8:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): System neutral
• PROJECT TYPE: RPG accessory
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $99 + S/H for 10 magnetic maps, 12 magnetic minis, 8 magnetic terrain, and storage case plus digital character sheets and adventure
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Breaking up the list of 5e sourcebooks this week, let me ask: Do you need a travel miniatures and dungeon kit? This one looks cool! Designed as a small case that folds out – length of 344 mm (13.5 in) by a width of 152 mm (6 in) and a thickness of 45 mm (1.75 in) – you’ll get a GM screen, a magnetic map with swappable maps, magnetic miniatures, and magnetic terrain. Built for travel, you’ll get all the parts you need, a dry erase surface to add obstacles, and an adventure to get this rolling. The total package looks nice and offers a lot of utility for an RPG. If you’re a GM that needs a simple kit to travel with, this may fit the bill.

The Kingdom of Keshanar: Ancient Egypt 5e Setting & Campaign from Warden of Worlds

• END DATE: Fri, May 9 2025 4:00 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition (2014 and 2024)
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $120 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of both books, digital map, VTTs, STL files, and MP3
• AI STATEMENT: “We do not and will not use Artificial Intelligence in the creation of our images. All our art is 100% human-made.”
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Back to 5e sourcebooks, this one imagines Egypt for your gaming group. In these pages you’ll find new subclasses, species, over 50 monsters, spells, a 10-level campaign, a 3D map of Keshanar, 200 locations in the land, a mega-pyramid dungeon, and more. Designer by gamers as well as a PhD of Egyptology and a sensitivity consulting group, this game strives for authenticity and fun. If you want Pharaohs in your adventure, this may be for you.

Rainsporest Odyssey: Mushroom Mayhem for D&D 5e from Nat Two Press

• END DATE: Thu, May 8 2025 2:59 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition (2014 and 2024)
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $65 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? The pitch line inspires me: “Explore an ancient jungle full of mushroom monsters. Battle them. Befriend them. Harvest their mushrooms for supernatural sandwiches!” The idea of 5e monster harvesting is such a “hot” trend that I believe it will be a root feature whenever 6e is developed. This idea – mushrooms instead of monsters – offers vegan monster harvesting options for your gaming table. In a jungle overrun with fungus, you have to battle your way through over 30 new monsters with fungal abilities, whimsical species, pets, boss fights, an adventure, and a new cooking system. If you want to fight the fungus among us, this book may speak to your gaming group.

Gary's Appendix: Hardcover Omnibus from RPG Ramblings

• END DATE: Thu, May 8 2025 1:33 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Old-School Essentials or OSR
• PROJECT TYPE: RPG zine collection
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $45 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Let’s move from 5e to OSE. This book collects issues 1 to 6 of the Gary's Appendix zines into a hardcover. 264 pages of refreshed layouts and full-color graphics. You’ll get 34 articles of OSR goodness from essays to mechanics and 39 monsters with more details, contents, and descriptions. If you love Old-School Essentials and OSRs, this might be a neat addition to your collection.

Indominant Superhero Tabletop RPG: Super's Information Codex from Odin's Key Gaming

• END DATE: May 8, 2025 at 11:00pm EDT.
• CROWDFUNDING ON: Backerkit
• SYSTEM(S): An original system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $49.95 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? With the sad news of the shuttering of Greater Than Games and their title, Sentinel Comics, I felt this was a good time to mention their struggle as well as spotlight a new superhero RPG from another publisher. Indominant Superhero is a 250-page core rulebook featuring deeply customizable superpowers, experience system, and teamwork options for tactical combat. 5 Archetypes, 10 Powersets, 5 Origins, 5 Species Types, and 7 Callings combine to offer 480 Powers and more. The secret sauce seems to be a combination of powers and tactics and, if that’s right for your next game, check out this Backerkit campaign page to learn more.

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[humble minion]

One dev passed on (PHLVX), one had major medical issues (Levi Combs), a couple disappeared on all socials (Aaron Hübrich & Jetpack7), one has money and dev issues (Gubat Banwa), one has several different KS account names with undelivered products which i mistakenly backed (Aether Games-Dominic-d6games). Maybe some of them will deliver in the future at some point, but i have decided no more indie support, ill buy on the market post Crowdfund. I do have several projects im waiting on which i believe/hope will deliver at some point:

• Mythic Bastionland
• Miru III
• Yoon Suin
• Pirate Borg
• Broken Empires

That's a rough run. I've got a few which are looking shaky, but in general I try to only back stuff which has a large team behind it. Solo projects with ambitious art/production design goals are a recipe for things going wrong, much more than it simply being an indie project.

Of the ones in my backer backlog that are much delayed:

• Tales of Sina Una. Had successfully delivered one project to which this was a follow-up, but there seemed to have been some sort of relationship breakdown and the prime mover of the project left.
• Vagabond's Guide to Dalriada. This one is on me. The main creator had several other unfulfilled kickstarters running under different names, and I didn't check into him deeply enough. There's been all sorts of tales of woe etc in the updates, but i think the creator just isnt very good at this.
• Dandies and Dandyzettes. Very niche indie project with one creator and one artist, artist fell through (I believe they were Ukrainian and ended up in the army...) and timeframes have been blown to hell as a result.

Ironically, some of the projects that have experienced the biggest delays have been high-profile and well-funded major projects by significant teams. Tanares took ages because the team just quietly decided off their own bat to backburner the RPG component of the campaign for 18 months and focus on the minis game bit, a few weeks after campaign completion. And the Venture Maidens one was clearly subcontracted out to the lowest bidder and treated like a redheaded stepchild. They both delivered eventually, but by that time it was hard to care.

 

[agrayday]

I almost backed "Sands of Doom" by MrRhexx, but seeing all the addon stuff pulled me out. seemed to be more about accessories than content. from the comments i dont think its doing very good at the moment.

 

[humble minion]

I almost backed "Sands of Doom" by MrRhexx, but seeing all the addon stuff pulled me out. seemed to be more about accessories than content. from the comments i dont think its doing very good at the moment.

I vaguely remember that one, didn't back it though. I think it was a mega-adventure book, and they're not really my thing.

I hear you about the ancillaries and accessories and tchotchkes though. I wish so many campaigns weren't loaded up with that stuff, all they do is delay fulfillment. I finally got my Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt book recently - after delivery of the completed book was delayed for months because a cloth map (which I hadn't ordered) had printing issues. Right now, my physical copy of Obojima is sitting in a fulfillment centre twiddling its thumbs because some optional fancy dice isn't ready. Hell, I had delivery of a project a few years back delayed for eight months because of problems sourcing some spice mixes of all things, which only a tiny proportion of backers ordered.

Pins and maps and dice and miniatures and badges and bookmarks and and cards and slipcases and special edition covers and counters and tea blends and dice bags and posters. Gah. Every single one just injects another potential failure point in the delivery chain.

Just. Deliver. The. Damn. Product. Especially if you're a first-timer.

 

[mamba]

I almost backed "Sands of Doom" by MrRhexx, but seeing all the addon stuff pulled me out. seemed to be more about accessories than content. from the comments i dont think its doing very good at the moment.

the book is almost done, no idea about accessories

 

[EthanSental]

I remember looking at Sands of Doom back when it was live. Did not realize it’s over a year and few months over its completion target (feb2024). I think it will be cool when it arrives and may get the pdf if offered when it’s out.