RPG Crowdfunding News – The Weird, Wastes of Chaos, Coyote & Crow, and more

This week’s article looks at RPG crowdfunding projects that end between October 3rd to 12th. This sampling includes projects from Monte Cook Games, Evil Hat Productions, Kobold Press, Coyote & Crow, Roll & Play Press, and more.

Wastes of Chaos: Enter the 5E Borderlands from Kobold Press

• END DATE: Fri, October 7 2022 7:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebooks
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $89 + S/H for the PDFs and print versions of the books plus more
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Two 5e books coming from Kobold Press is a good reason to cover this project. Wastes of Chaos and Tales from the Wastes, do you need a fantasy wasteland for your campaign with cults, goblins, magic, and chaos? Wastes is 192 pages of setting and rules in a roughly 50/50 ratio. Tales is 128 pages featuring 12 levels worth of standalone adventures to use as you see fit. These books are ideal for adding to your Kobold campaign or hacking into your homebrew. If you’re interested, check out the campaign page.

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The Weird from Monte Cook Games

• END DATE: Oct 7, 2022 at 7:00pm PDT.
• SYSTEM(S): System neutral
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $175 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the books, the decks, dice, minis, and Monte Cook’s autograph
• CAMPAIGNING AT: Backerkit
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Because this RPG offers silicone dice. They’re a little bouncy; in other words, they’re “Weird”. Monte Cook Games takes this project seriously enough to try out something different with the dice. Like the dice, this book is meant to be different, to inspire weird encounters, adventures, and more. Designed as a book of inspiration, these ideas come from one of the great creative teams in gaming, bringing what you need to make your RPG sessions fun-weird. In addition, silicone dice that sorta bounce is a cool idea. If you need these dice and original ideas at your gaming table, try out the free preview available on the Backerkit campaign page.

Apocalypse Keys from Evil Hat Productions

• END DATE: Tue, October 11 2022 11:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Powered by the Apocalypse
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $25 for the PDF and POD version of the book as well as much, much more
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Play as a monster saving society from the apocalypse. Excuse me, play as a beast shunned by society for all of the wrong reasons, yet one that fights to save those that hate them. You and your partner monsters save them through a group DIVISION. Do right, ya big monster! Hellboy Powered by the Apocalypse summarizes this RPG even as it oversimplifies it. The campaign page brings to mind Doom Patrol using Urban Shadows and Monster Heart 2. Elements of the X-Men and so many more great comic concepts power these pages. Again, I’m not doing this project justice, but I am intrigued by it. If you’re interested, as soon as you back you get the PDF and Roll20 Quickstart.

Coyote & Crow: Stories of the Free Lands from Coyote & Crow Games

• END DATE: Oct 12, 2022 at 11:59pm PDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Coyote & Crow
• PROJECT TYPE: Adventures and more
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $40 for both PDFs
• MORE REPORTING: I talked to Connor Alexander about this project here. In addition, they quoted me on the campaign page here
• CAMPAIGNING AT: Backerkit
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This campaign offers four items. Two books of adventures for your Coyote & Crow game as well as a story guide screen and a new dice game, Naasii. The original Coyote & Crow joined the million dollar Kickstarter club in 2021. The RPG offers a world in which the Americas were never colonized, instead the peoples enjoy a world of superpowers as Natives live their stories. After delivering the core game of Indigipunk, they are rolling out their first expansions with two books of adventures. Totaling ten stories to play through, these adventures are written and illustrated by Natives, making them a perfect fit for the RPG and the world. If you’re interested in adding adventures, a GM screen, or a dice game to your Coyote & Crow RPG, this Backerkit campaign is essential.

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Knights of the Crystal Blade (5e) from The Night Owl

• END DATE: Fri, October 7 2022 9:01 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Adventure module
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £19 for the PDF and POD versions of the project
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? In a courtly fantasy world of lightsaber like crystal swords, you’ll fight epic battles and courtly intrigue. At 110 pages, you get crystal swords, each color with its own power, knightly orders, mounts, monsters, tournament rules, and, best of all, a random squire generator. You’ll get rules and adventures to help you get into this setting. If you’re interested, the campaign page has a link to a free PDF sample.

Historica Arcanum: Empires of the Silk Road (5E+) from Metis Media

• END DATE: Fri, October 7 2022 1:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebooks
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $89 + S/H for the PDFs and print versions of the books plus more
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This project offers two 5e sourcebooks, Empires of the Silk Road and Herald of Rain. Created by an international team, this project offers alternate histories with magic and more. Touching on the route of the historic Silk Road through the Middle East and Asia, this project brings extensive worldbuilding to the table. The books offer new rules including character professions, plagues, and a travel system. Check out the campaign page to download a free preview PDF of this project.

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The Radiance Adventure Engine from OddFish Games

• END DATE: Wed, October 12 2022 9:00 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): System neutral
• PROJECT TYPE: Toolkit
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $50 + S/H for “a physical copy of The Radiance Adventure Engine”
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This toolkit is designed to let you play any RPG as a solo RPG. Want to take 5e or ALIEN as a solo experience, this kit gives you Tarot sized cards, the dice, and the 24-page instructions on how to adapt the experience. With random adventures set to a specific structure, you draw cards and go. If you want to take your favorite RPG and make it a solo experience, this is worth exploring.

The Monster Overhaul from DAI

• END DATE: Wed, October 12 2022 10:00 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): OSR
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $60 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Do you need your monster stats to be accompanied by at-the-table information? Not known designs such as goblins are foul, but what their names are or their motivations. These essential, need to know bits make adventures more engaging. If your OSR could use more monster details as well as maps and encounter tables, this campaign page is worth pursuing.

One-Shot Wonders: Over 100 session ideas for 5E from Roll & Play Press

• END DATE: Wed, October 12 2022 1:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Adventures
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £32 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? How about a book where every two pages there’s a new adventure for levels 1 to 8. Within these pages there are over 100 session ideas, perfect for a night of murderhoboing. This ENNIE Award winning team offers GMs what they need, easy to digest adventures to plug into your campaign. The campaign page has a link to a PDF sample.

Against the Faerie Queene - The Celtic Campaign for 5E & LoA from Adder Stone Games and Modiphius Entertainment

• END DATE: Tue, October 11 2022 10:52 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition and Legends of Avallen
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £45 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This book brings a Celtic-Roman fantasy world to your table. Designed for the card based Legends of Avallen system, there’s still plenty of 5e content. You’ll get 25 monsters from Celtic mythology, new subclasses, lore, a campaign, and more. If Celtic fantasy speaks to you, this campaign may be of interest.

Dungeon Delver's Guide: A Sourcebook for D&D 5E and A5E from EN Publishing

• END DATE: Mon, October 3 2022 6:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition and Level Up: Advanced 5E
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £50 + £14 S/H to the US for the PDF and print versions of the sourcebook
• DISCLAIMER: EN World is a subsidiary of EN Publishing
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? We’re in the final week! As soon as this project ends, Morrus will fulfill the PDF. If you’re a fan of A5E, this campaign makes it easy to join in and get the latest content on October 3rd.

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[Grendel_Khan]

I gushed about it in a previous post, but everyone should do themselves the favor of checking out the Monster Overhaul campaign page. It's such a great and utility-focused book. But way better written than that would imply.

Also, Apocalypse Keys. Boy howdy. Really, really cool new iteration of PbtA mechanics (roll too high and your powers work too well, causing mayhem/problems, but you can burn Bond points to lower the number after the roll, becoming more of a monster).

 

[Charles Dunwoody]

I second The Monster Overhaul. What an amazing looking and so useful book of monsters, encounters, and lairs.

 

[DonoZen]

Thanks for the awesome list.

Just so we know, The Weird book is “System Neutral” and not Numenera as listed.
The Glimmering Valley book is Numenera and you can get them separately or together.

 

[Egg Embry]

Thanks for the awesome list.

Just so we know, The Weird book is “System Neutral” and not Numenera as listed.
The Glimmering Valley book is Numenera and you can get them separately or together.

Thank you for sharing that. I've updated this.

 

[sevenbastard]

Monster overhaul looks great once I clicked and love the no advertising philosophy.

But I totally judged it by the cover. Interior arts looks amazing exterior not so much.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Except for Dungeon Delver, which I have already backed, are several others I'm watching - but we'll see if I pull the trigger on them:

Weird
Apocalypse Keys
Coyote and Crow book

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I congratulate Metis Media (Arcanum) and the rest of publishers for the success of their crowdfurnding. I wish them a long life as companies.

 

[Malmuria]

Happy to see that many of these (not all of them) are very clear and detailed about what stage the project is in, what the potential risks might be, and how they plan to deal with those factors (increased shipping, needing a backup printer, etc) when they do arise.

 

[humble minion]

I've been holding off on backing Silk Road because I'm still waiting on their last book to arrive so I can have a read through and decide whether they're worth persisting with. But almost two months after shipping, it still seems to be stuck in a container on the docks at Istanbul, so I'm going to have to decide blind...