D&D 5E Ryoko's Guide to the Yokai Realms 5E

[beta-ray]

How many people who are currently backing Ryoko's Guide to the Yokai Realms backed it because it was advertised by the D&D Shorts guy?

Not me. I don't even really know who he is. I'm on the Loot Tavern Discord and they have been teasing it for a short while before they mentioned that guy being involved. I'm interested in the themes.

 

[Corinnguard]

Has anyone performed a History check on this Loot Tavern company?

 

[darjr]

Has anyone performed a History check on this Loot Tavern company?

They’ve got four KS to their name, as in started by and owned by their ks account.

https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/saltybot/created?ref=nav_search&result=user&term=Loot%20tavern

Latest was a 400 page krafting book for 5e, magic items that grow with your character. It was a “KS we love” by the folks at ks.

Over $855 thousand with over 7600 backers.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/saltybot/larsenes-ledger-of-treasures-and-trinkets

The previous one to that was also a crafting 5e book, track hunt craft, that went over $1.8 million. Over 18 thousand backers.

I didn’t dig to see if it was the same group of creators.

 

[Corinnguard]

They’ve got four KS to their name, as in started by and owned their ks account.

https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/saltybot/created?ref=nav_search&result=user&term=Loot%20tavern

Latest was a 400 page krafting book for 5e, magic items that grow with your character. It was a “KS we love” by the folks at ks.

Over $855 thousand with over 7600 backers.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/saltybot/larsenes-ledger-of-treasures-and-trinkets

The previous one to that was also a crafting 5e book, track hunt craft, that went over $1.8 million! Over 18 thousand backers!

Huh?

I didn’t dig to see if it was the same group of creators.

And now their current Kickstarter has 12,149 backers who have pledged $1,523,103 to it. They're close to breaking their latest High Score.

 

[Reynard]

They’ve got four KS to their name, as in started by and owned by their ks account.

https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/saltybot/created?ref=nav_search&result=user&term=Loot%20tavern

Latest was a 400 page krafting book for 5e, magic items that grow with your character. It was a “KS we love” by the folks at ks.

Over $855 thousand with over 7600 backers.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/saltybot/larsenes-ledger-of-treasures-and-trinkets

The previous one to that was also a crafting 5e book, track hunt craft, that went over $1.8 million. Over 18 thousand backers.

I didn’t dig to see if it was the same group of creators.

Are they any good?

I am often surprised at how few people seem to be concerned about these things. At least there is a growing trend of KSers offering very meaty previews and quickstarts right from the jump.

 

[Scribe]

Are they any good?

It LOOKS put together. This is my struggle with 3PP stuff right now. Theres a lot out there that LOOKS great, but is it? What is it that determines 'great' anyway?

I dont know, feels overwhelming at times.

 

[Reynard]

It LOOKS put together. This is my struggle with 3PP stuff right now. Theres a lot out there that LOOKS great, but is it? What is it that determines 'great' anyway?

I dont know, feels overwhelming at times.

And Kickstarters often operate on pretty consumer unfriendly models: get ALL this stuff NOW or get it NEVER! With little information on the quality of the final product.

I am not saying this book is bad, by the way, or even that any significant portion of KS projects are bad. But they very often rely on hype and aesthetics rather than actual game design to get people invested, and often the design pedigree is obscured or even entirely absent.

 

[Scribe]

But they very often rely on hype and aesthetics rather than actual game design to get people invested, and often the design pedigree is obscured or even entirely absent.

I'm beginning to question how much that even matters.

 

[Reynard]

I'm beginning to question how much that even matters.

Matters to who, or in what context? If they are asking for $100 plus shipping for the "print plus PDF complete" version, it certainly matters to me.

Note that I am not saying a KS has to come with known names in the RPG design space. But if it doesn't, it should come with a big fat preview or quickstart or beta that convinces me that the final product will, in fact, be playable.

 

[Malmuria]

I predict there will be a lot of 3rd party 5e stuff hitting eBay in the coming years as people realize they are never going to play all their kickstarted content