This week’s article includes reviews of some of the RPG crowdfunding projects ending between February 26th through March 18th. These campaigns offer 5e, OSR, Mothership, and system neutral books via Kickstarter and GameFound.
Sunken Isles from Eldermancy and Ghostfire Gaming
Knock! Issue Three from The Merry Mushmen
In Other Waters: Tidebreak from Lone Archivist
The Toxic Wood from Shane Walshe
The Gaia Complex: A Game of Flesh and Wires - Hardware 2119 from Hansor Publishing
Dossier Decks: 5e Fantasy Environments from SkeletonKey Games
Malpractice! - A Card Based RPG from Miguel Colon
13HUNTERS from Plus One Exp
Sunken Isles from Eldermancy and Ghostfire Gaming
- END DATE: Fri, March 18 2022 10:00 PM EDT.
- SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
- PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $55 + S/H for the PDF and print book plus dice
- DISCLAIMER: I freelance for Ghostfire Gaming. I did not participate in this product
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Your characters are on a magical island and they have twenty weeks to save it. This adventure covers twenty levels across the weeks as you and your companions wade into a branching path adventure meant. Character choices influence the structure of this campaign, allowing players to choose the path that interests them. In the book you’ll find several new ancestries to choose from including lobster-like humanoids, aquatic defenders, and a dinosaur-like option. Because of the island nature of this world, Trisha Kehaulani Watson, J.D., Ph.D. of Honua Consulting is working on this book to ensure that the cultures presented in the lore are accurate and inoffensive. On top of the adventure book, there’s a 96-page Player’s Journal, dice, a scroll case with a mat to roll the dice on, miniatures, maps, GM screen, and more. If you’re interested in a deep, well-considered, and culturally sensitive island campaign for Fifth Edition, this project is worth looking into.
- END DATE: Sun, March 6 2022 6:59 AM EST.
- SYSTEM(S): OSR
- PROJECT TYPE: RPG megazine
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: €26 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Are you an OSR fan interested in 212 pages of random tables, monsters, NPCs, mini-games, unusual adventures, game design essays, GM advice, and more all with inspired art design? Then this massive slab of gaming advice awaits you. The first of two promised issues this year, this project continues the wildly popular Knock! series, keeping the artwork and look of these products tight. If you’re in the market for slick OSR advice and content, this is likely to fit your bill.
In Other Waters: Tidebreak from Lone Archivist
- END DATE: Tue, March 1 2022 2:59 AM EST.
- SYSTEM(S): Mothership
- PROJECT TYPE: Adventure module
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $45 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book, cards, tokens, maps, a patch, and more
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Last week, I reviewed the campaign for DIVE, a terrestrial ocean-centric RPG using the Mothership Panic Engine. This week, I look at In Other Waters: Tidebreak, an RPG based upon, and a sequel to, a video game of the same name. While not related to DIVE (other than both using the same engine and touching on a liquid environment), In Other Waters: Tidebreak is an adventure about exploring an alien sea planet. This adventure is not as horrific as some Mothership offerings, but it’s not without the terror of the seas. This 44-page zine covers all of the lifeforms and offerings that you’ll discover as you explore the planet before the corporations get their meat hooks into it. If you’re a Mothership fan, or a backer of DIVE, and want to explore a waterworld, this may be a good adventure for either version of the system.
The Toxic Wood from Shane Walshe
- END DATE: Sat, February 26 2022 10:53 AM EST.
- SYSTEM(S): Old-School Essentials
- PROJECT TYPE: Adventure module
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: €12 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the RPG zine
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Do you need a dangerous forest setting for your OSR? This zine offers forest related hooks and rumors, fourteen hex locations, monsters, NPCs, random tables, and more. If your gaming group needs a dangerous location to explore and fight through, this has a lethal eco-system created by human, monster, and plant horrors.
The Gaia Complex: A Game of Flesh and Wires - Hardware 2119 from Hansor Publishing
- END DATE: Wed, March 2 2022 2:00 PM EST.
- SYSTEM(S): An original system
- PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £25 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
- TRY BEFORE YOU BUY: The Gaia Complex - Quick Start is free at DriveThruRPG
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? The Gaia Complex, a cyberpunk RPG set in New Europe in the year 2119, gets its first sourcebook. Coming in at 112 pages, this book gives you what every cyberpunk fan is looking for, hardware. The book offers weapons, cybernetics, corporate histories, and a bit about the black market of the future. If you want to try out this cyberpunk offering, check out the campaign page and the free 48-page quickstart (here).
Dossier Decks: 5e Fantasy Environments from SkeletonKey Games
- END DATE: Fri, March 11 2022 1:00 PM EST.
- SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
- PROJECT TYPE: RPG accessory
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $56 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of all four decks
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This campaign offers four decks of cards used to create environments for adventures. Each deck (caverns, dungeons, forest, and townfolk) are subdivided into three subcategories: Mystical, Natural, and Denizen cards, each providing elements for the setting. You’ll pick your deck and draw one card for each of the subcategories in order to populate each encounter. This keeps the setting fresh and fun for everyone, it also simplifies dreaming up each encounter. If you’re looking for setting inspiration, this isn’t a bad offer.
- END DATE: Wed, March 9 2022 6:00 AM EST.
- SYSTEM(S): An original system
- PROJECT TYPE: Core rules
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $25 for the PDF and POD versions of the game
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? In this 52 card-based RPG, you play as a new hire at a discount medical center where you’re trying to save lives, pay your student debt, avoid malpractice, and not upset your mob bosses. These original concepts are presented in a niche RPG genre, medical roleplaying. If you’re a fan of unique settings and indy mechanics, this RPG is worth checking out.
- END DATE: 3/4/2022, 9:00:00 PM
- SYSTEM(S): System neutral
- PROJECT TYPE: RPG zine
- MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $12 for the PDF and print versions of the zine
- NOTE: This campaign is running on GameFound
- WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Does your universe need 13 sci-fi bounty hunters? This 32-page zine describes a baker’s dozen NPC bounty hunters, each meant to populate a variety of sci-fi RPGs. Presented as system neutral material, these characters give you details to fill in for the big bad that is hunting your PCs or helping them, depending on your tale. If you’re in need of interesting NPCs for your space adventures, this project is worth checking out.
. Tidebreak looks interesting but looking at the pages, they look kind of hard to read. 
