RPG Crowdfunding News – Wildsea, SHIVER, Before the Stroke of Midnight, and more

This week’s list of RPG Kickstarters and quickstarters end by December 3rd. In it, I talk about original systems, 5e adventures, historic settings, character journals, translations, and more.

The Wildsea RPG from Mythopoeia

• END DATE: Wed, November 25 2020 12:00 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): An original system (Wild Words Engine)
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $49 + S/H for the PDF and physical book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Hundreds of years ago, the world was overrun with a virtual sea of dense, iron hard plants. Now humanity uses chainsaw ships powered by oilfruit to navigate the greenland Wildsea. Inspired by Sunless Sea, Bastion, and the Bas-Lag Trilogy, and using an original system inspired by Belly of the Beast, Blades in the Dark, and 13th Age, this 200-page RPG promises a unique world and a fiction-first experience. For creators, they’re offering an SRD of the system, the Wild Words Engine, to build your own content from. If the idea of a world overrun with plants and an anime-like solution to that challenge speaks to you, try The Wildsea RPG.

SHIVER: Roleplaying in the Strange & Unknown from Parable Games

• END DATE: Thu, December 3 2020 5:00 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): An original system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £79 + S/H for the PDFs and print versions of the three books (two hardcovers while the artbook is a softcover), a GM screen, dice, and additional PDFs
• TRY BEFORE YOU BUY: SHIVER Quickstart Guide is free at DriveThruRPG
• OTHER REPORTING: Interview coming soon
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This RPG takes its inspiration from horror films and shows such as Stranger Things, Jurassic Park, Friday the 13th, The Thing, Aliens, Dracula, and The X-Files. Using an original system and pulling from a range of source material, this RPG is designed to let you craft your own cult classic horror film. With the 192-page core rulebook plus The Cursed Library adventure guide and the artbook to build this game from, you’ll get plenty of material on the system and how it’s intended to run.

Before the Stroke of Midnight: A Mystery Adventure Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe for 5e from Midnight Tower

• END DATE: Thu, December 3 2020 10:05 AM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Adventure module and sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £15 for the PDF and PODs of the books plus additional PDFs
• OTHER REPORTING: Interview coming soon
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Edgar Allan Poe and D&D. Sure, you could argue that Poe is more aligned with the World of Darkness, or point out the Masque of the Red Death and Other Tales for AD&D, but seeing Poe and tabletop combined excites my gaming table. This 9th level adventure is scalable and includes an 80-page companion with new monsters, spells, magic items, and more. Bringing Poe to the gaming table is interesting enough that I’ll interview the creators to learn more about this project.

Eldritch: The Book of Madness for 5e from BlackVault

• END DATE: Sun, November 29 2020 5:00 PM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Campaign sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £30 + S/H for the PDF and hardcover of the book
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Creatures, cults, and more come via this slim 5e sourcebook. This book will be at least 96 pages with a loose relation to HP Lovecraft’s works, including new 5e mechanics. Done in a tight collection, the biggest selling point for this book is the creator, Stewie Black, whose resume includes working on The Doctor Who RPG, working with Wizards of the Coast on 3rd Edition D&D, White Wolf Publishing, and Cubicle 7.

Dust from Gila RPGs

• END DATE: Mon, November 16 2020 11:00 AM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Slayers RPG
• PROJECT TYPE: Source RPG zine
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $15 + $5 US S/H for PDF and print versions of the zine
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? The Slayer RPG features an original system and simple premise: you are a monster hunter in a cursed, haunted city, and it’s your job to exterminate the evil denizens of the metropolis. In this 40-page RPG zine, Dust, you deep dives one of the districts of The City that’s central to this setting. The zine includes NPCs, locations, new monsters, and a new class. If you’re interested but don’t own the core rules, you can add a physical copy of the Slayer RPG to your Kickstarter pledge for an additional $15 + $3 US S/H.

Beadle & Grimm's Complete Character Chronicles from Beadle & Grimm’s Pandemonium Warehouse

• END DATE: Tue, December 1 2020 2:59 AM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): Pathfinder 2e
• PROJECT TYPE: RPG Accessories
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $150 + $10 US S/H for the four complete core class chronicles plus a coupon for a premium Hero Forge mini
• OTHER REPORTING: Interview coming soon
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This campaign promises Pathfinder 2e character journals of the highest quality. These books cover the cleric, fighter, rogue, and wizard with 20+ page character sheets, all of the core PF2e rules for that class, a journal, artwork (original and official Pathfinder art), a vegan leather cover, and more. All of this high-end tabletop awesomeness from actor Matthew Lillard and friends’ company, Beadle & Grimm’s Pandemonium Warehouse.

レックス・アルカナ 日本語版プロジェクト／Lex Arcana Japanese Edition from Kaizoku Press

• END DATE: Tue, November 24 2020 10:05 AM EST.
• SYSTEM(S): An original system
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: ¥10,000 + ¥6,000 US S/H for コア・ルールブック（PDF版）, クイックスタート・ガイド（PDF版）, デーミウルグス・パック（PDF版）, すべてのストレッチ・ゴール（PDF版のみ）, コア・ルールブック（ハードカバー装丁）, クイックスタート・ガイド（ソフトカバー装丁）, and すべてのストレッチ・ゴール（ハードカバー装丁のもの）
• TRY BEFORE YOU BUY: Lex Arcana RPG – QuickStarter (in English) is free at DriveThruRPG
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This is the Japanese version of the Italian and English RPG, Lex Arcana - An Empire Without End RPG, from Quality Games. While crowdfunded translations are not uncommon, especially on GameOnTabletop, they tend towards Indo-European languages. The English version of the game, which had 1,642 backers that pledged €155,679 to bring the game to life, is moving across the globe in a quantifiable way, as we can compare how the game did in English with how it’s performing in Japanese. While this is not a complete view, it is interesting to watch the progress and difference.

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Egg Embry participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG and Amazon.

 

[Longspeak]

In for Dust, just the PDF though, and I got to be the 200th pledge.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This RPG takes its inspiration from horror films and shows such as Stranger Things, Jurassic Park, Friday the 13th, The Thing, Aliens, Dracula, and The X-Files.

That is quite the range of movies. Either they're making the monsters and gear very abstract, or the designers are extremely ambitious.

 

[SHIVER RPG]

That is quite the range of movies. Either they're making the monsters and gear very abstract, or the designers are extremely ambitious.

We focussed on making the system as diverse as possible. There are rules for creating your own monsters and items as well as a wide range included in the books to help give GMs a jumping off point.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

That is quite the range of movies. Either they're making the monsters and gear very abstract, or the designers are extremely ambitious.

Funny, i had the exact same thought. Although they are all horror-ish; so "Shiver" is a good title. Sadly, horror's not my preferred type of fiction.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I've got Wildsea on watch, as anything that can create the Bas-Lag experience I'm in for. Although landscape form factor and Blades rules set is what's prevented me from pulling the trigger already.

Your comment on the Dee Sanction is well-noted. I've got that one on watch too; but I prefer to play the witches (which is why I backed The Great American Witch a few months ago...)

 

[jhilahd]

@Egg Embry The Dee Sanction description seems to not be showing up. I see the images, but nothing else.

 

[imagineGod]

Is Lex Arcana originally Japanese? I thought it was from an Italian Publishing House?

 

[Egg Embry]

Is Lex Arcana originally Japanese? I thought it was from an Italian Publishing House?
View attachment 128401

Originally from an Italian publisher, this game is available now in English. This Kickstarter is for the Japanese language version of the game.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Originally from an Italian publisher, this game is available now in English. This Kickstarter is for the Japanese language version of the game.

The shipping is going to be murder...