RPG Crowdfunding News – Monster Description Cards, Olde School Wizardry, and more

This week, I review a variety of RPG crowdfunding projects and quickstarters that end by January 14th. There are a number of original systems on the list this week as well as some solid 5e adventures. This article should drop just before Christmas Eve so, if you celebrate the holiday, have a great one.

Monster Description Cards for Writers, Storytellers and GMs from Conflict Games

• END DATE: Fri, January 8 2021 10:05 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): System neutral
• PROJECT TYPE: Decks of many descriptions
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $125 for 4 Description Card Decks (PDF and physical), a phone app of the decks, and 3 deck boxes of your choice
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? As I was writing this week’s column, Shane Stacks of The Fumble column here on EN World connected me with the Chief Evangelist of Conflict Games LLC, Mark M. Scott. I’d already put this product at the head of the list, but Shane’s contact confirmed my thoughts: This product offers more value than you might first suspect. In any RPG, how you describe the monsters you’re fighting is as important as their stats. A weak description of, say, a dracolich (“You see, you know, a, uh, pile of bones!”) can lead to an unintended TPK. As well, there are games where it’s the Knights of the Dinner Table gazebo incident. As a GM, you want to avoid those moments, and using these cards will help to position your monsters in such a way that the players crasp the level of danger they’re facing without stating the creature’s Hit Dice or CR. Written by novelists and GMs, these cards use key words to drive home points about the monsters. At the same time, they offer more than just the creature’s appearance, including directions on how the monsters behave and fight. If you’re looking to give your encounters a theatrical flair, or for monstrous inspiration as a writer, these cards will point you in those directions.

Olde School Wizardry: The Nine Ancient Runes of Magic from Fearsome Games

• END DATE: Thu, January 7 2021 11:00 AM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): An original system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $40 + $10 US S/H for the PDF and hardcover
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? In this 376-page rulebook, you learn about a world of powerful wizards who can shape the destiny of the cosmos. However, you’re not going to play one of those magical demigods, instead you’re playing the new, possibly inept, magical novice. Unlike the powers that be, you have not mastered magic, instead you have more of a notion of it. Thus, you and your fellow mages literally combine your powers to cast parts of a spell to create a greater whole. If you’re looking for a new take on magic where what your character as to work with are pieces of an engine instead of the whole car, this game might be for you.

Tian Shang: Lone Wolf Fists from Five Emperors Games

• END DATE: Thu, January 7 2021 1:45 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): An original system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $60 for the PDF and POD versions of this game
• TRY BEFORE YOU BUY: Lone Wolf Fists Quickstart: Blood from God's Eye is free on DriveThruRPG
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This RPG offers martial arts in the post-apocalypse. As an original RPG, they go the extra mile and offer a free quickstart so you can sample the system to see if Tian Shang: Lone Wolf Fists speaks to you.

Cuticorium, a tiny insect adventure RPG from usducktape

• END DATE: Sun, January 10 2021 12:00 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): An original system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $28 + $5 US S/H for the PDF and softcover of the book plus a physical map
• TRY BEFORE YOU BUY: Cuticorium Sample Playbook is free at Itch.io
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? In this RPG, you’re a bug living in a bug city just trying to survive this buggy life. As you play insects, the RPG focuses on relationships and mysteries as opposed to combat. Mechanically, this game was inspired by Monsterhearts and Sleepaway and, to that end, the free preview lets you try out the game’s playbooks. Expect the final rulebook to be about 80 pages covering everything you’ll need to make bugs and shepherd them through the city of Cuticorium.

Felbar's Shoppe of Curiosities and Occult for 5th Edition from Common Lands Associated Media, LLC.

• END DATE: Mon, January 4 2021 12:30 AM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Adventure module
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $55 + $5 US S/H for the PDF and hardcover book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? In this adventure, you start at a shipyard when a captain comes to offer you the chance to hunt for hidden treasures, each one a great prize. The campaign page conveys the creator’s desire to provide a better organized GM experience for running adventures. It also has several pages of the book available to see how they’ll lay out an adventure. This book will clock in at 345 pages of 5e adventure and is worth checking out if you want to see some different layout thoughts.

Fire on Claymore Woods - a module for 5E and Pathfinder from Griffon Lore Games

• END DATE: Fri, January 8 2021 9:20 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition and Pathfinder 1e
• PROJECT TYPE: Adventure module
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $15 + $6 US S/H for the PDF and softcover for either 5e or PF1e plus an additional PDF
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This 32-page adventure is the second part of the Circle of the Blood Moon adventure path. Written for 5E and Pathfinder 1e, this adventure picks up after Burials of Teganshire providing some continuity as the 3rd to 5th level characters try to save the village again, this time against some extraplanar enemies.

THE ORACLE RPG MAGAZINE - #7 from The Grinning Frog

• END DATE: 12/29/2020 12:00 (GMT-5)
• SYSTEM(S): System neutral
• PROJECT TYPE: RPG magazine
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £12 + £2 United Kingdom S/H (it does not appear that this ships to the US) for the PDF and print versions of the magazine
• NOTE: This crowdfunding campaign is being hosted on GameOnTabletop
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Over the last two articles (here and here) as well as Pearse Anderson’s interview with the creators behind the KNOCK! RPG magazine, it’s become clear that there’s a new focus on RPG magazines. Long a staple of the industry, they’d started to fade out over the years, but there’s a push to bring them back on Kickstarter. This product offers system neutral setting information, specifically about tundra. This issue will be at least 45 pages of tundra-based story hooks, NPC orgs, creatures, and more; all tundra based, all ready for use with any system. If you’re looking for an RPG magazine with a solid location focus, The Oracle might be worth a read.

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