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Category: Crowdfunding
What Kickstarters Excite Creators? Blackest of Deaths, Monsterpunk, Creeping Cold, Brassman’s Adventure Club, and A.R.M.zine
This week five RPG Kickstarter creators (including two from the first article of this column) share what currently funding crowdfunding projects they’re excited about. I talk to the creators of:
- A.R.M.zine by Reign Dragon Press
- Brassman’s Adventure Club by Brassman Foundry
- Creeping Cold by Silver Bulette
- Monsterpunk by Gegenschein Games
- The Blackest of Deaths – A Dire Old School Fantasy RPG by Bloat Games
A.R.M.zine by Reign Dragon Press
END DATE: Tue, May 14 2019 9:30 AM EDT.
“A.R.M.zine is a Fanzine dedicated to teaching kids (of all ages) how to play tabletop Role-Playing Games.”
Sean Hillman (Reign Dragon Press) recommends:
“One Child’s Heart. This seems like an amazing idea. I think this might be one of the KS RPGs we are talking about in two years as a game changer. I know that is a lot of pressure to put on the creator but I feel like it has the juice.
Sundown. Always love an RPG with a great concept behind it. And the way it embraces the characters as different is refreshing. It also does not pull many punches from what I can see. I hope it does well and can gets lots of support.
Coloring Trees. This is not an RPG product per se, but I feel like it is the kind of product I would by to inspire my gaming. It looks beautiful and I am already getting ideas of a game or setting that could feature the trees? I may pitch the idea to the creator at some point.”
Brassman’s Adventure Club by Brassman Foundry
END DATE: Mon, April 22 2019 1:00 PM EDT.
“Monthy Subscription Service for DnD RPG Adventures and Accessories”
Matthew Charles (Brassman Foundry) recommends:
“There are three tabletop RPG Kickstarter campaigns that I’m currently following. Oldest to newest they are:
The Party Backstory Generator may be the most interesting conceptually. It’s always a little awkward to get a new party started. In past campaigns that I’ve run I’ve used a simple system where each player randomly draws the name of someone else’s character and chooses how they are related. That often leads to interesting role-play and factionalism within the party that can bring out a more interesting story than the text of an adventure describes. So I’m excited to see a fully-developed system where the players get some agency (and therefore emotional investment) in the world that they’ll probably have to save from… something.
For the Dungeon is a game that turns the tables on the traditional hero vs minion relationship. One of my favorite campaigns that I ran (back in the 90s) was one where the players rolled up several sets of stats, picked the worst one, and made a kobold. It was supposed to be a one-shot while I figured out what was going to happen in the main campaign. Tiamat have mercy, the adventurers are coming! Twenty years later, those sessions are more memorable than whatever the “real” campaign was about. This looks like a lot of fun and the perfect guide for other DMs to do the same.
Odyssey of the Dragonlords just launched this week, and fully funded overnight. This one looks like a great example of excellent production value. I’ll be getting the physical book to see where the bar has been set for our future projects.”
- Christine Pruett (Castles & Cats) recommended Brassman’s Adventure Club in last week’s column (here).
- Adam Meyers (Drop Dead Studios) of Ultimate Spheres of Power: The Complete System! (Pathfinder) recommended the Party Background Generator here.
Creeping Cold by Silver Bulette
END DATE: Tue, April 30 2019 10:30 PM EDT.
“A 5E adventure that promises chills and excitement!”
Jayson Gardner (Silver Bullette) recommends:
“The first RPG Kickstarter that I would like to highlight is The Grande Temple of Jing for 5E. I own the Pathfinder version, and am excited to see the new book. Megadungeons are my favorite play style, and Jing does everything in the genre well.
The next RPG I want to point out is Ultimate Bestiary: The Dread Accursed. Every game master loves monsters and this book looks to have a unique take on staple undead.
Finally, I would like to mention Old-School Essentials. This project looks to capture the nostalgia from the 1980’s boxed sets. I cut my teeth in RPGs during that era, and am excited to to see this project.
And one more, not quite RPG. Return to Ravingspire looks awesome! Cheesy 1980’s game commercial? Check. Able to play 1 player or 4 players? Check. Packaged in a box disguised as a book? Check. They even have an audible stretch goal! It looks like an RPG disguised as a board game to me.”
- Creeping Cold was recommended by Glynn Seal (The City of Great Lunden) in last week’s article (here).
- Eric Bloat (Bloat Games) recommends Old-School Essentials (below).
Monsterpunk by Gegenschein Games
END DATE: Mon, May 6 2019 4:03 PM EDT.
“A post-apocalyptic RPG of humans, monsters and humans becoming monsters.”
Juan Herrera (Gegenschein Games) recommends:
“I don’t go out of my way to look for campaigns these days, but I’m aware of two ongoing RPG kickstarters of which I’ve only heard good things:
The first is Fight! 2nd Edition. It’s a cinematic game with tactical combat about simulating the specific kind of experience of a fighting game as well as its type of storytelling. Fighting games are a very kinetic experience and it’s really hard to translate that into a tabletop format. That Fight!’s 1st edition had a positive reception and is now going for a 2nd edition says a lot to me about the creator’s design chops.
The other is Fellowship 2nd Edition. Fellowship is an adventuring-themed game without a traditional GM, instead there is a player who plays the role of the Overlord who the others must stop. As a result it gives every player a lot of control over not just the narrative but also the worldbuilding, making for an empowering and inclusive experience.”
The Blackest of Deaths – A Dire Old School Fantasy RPG by Bloat Games
END DATE: Thu, May 9 2019 9:00 PM EDT.
“The Creator of Dark Places & Demogorgons & Vigilante City brings you a tabletop roleplaying with a bleak chance of survival!”
Eric Bloat (Bloat Games) recommends:
“Old-School Essentials by Necrotic Gnome Back when this series of books was called B/X Essentials, I picked all of them up and was blown away. This is not a house-ruled retro clone. This IS the original rules, redesigned for ease of use and re-written for clarity. And now with the Kickstarter, the Necrotic Gnome has once again refined the books and design and added the missing “basic” info, like “What is a roleplaying game?” to be more welcoming to new players. I can’t wait to get this one in my hands!
5×7 Dungeon Card Set by Dan Smith If I a Kickstarter says “by Dan Smith” I back it. Period. Dan is a fantastic artistic and always approaches each project with an artist’s vision in mind.
For The Dungeon by Jordan This one is pretty neat. It’s not your standard run of the mill Dungeon Crawler. In this game, you don’t play as the hero’s, you play as the minions that populate the dungeon. The example art is fantastic, and the tone is light and fun. Perfect for a night where, one of your players can make it but everyone else still wants to game.
From the Ashes by FGFantasy. A twisted OSR project where you start the game as a ghost of a dead character! And you remember your life, you remember how you died. You want revenge! But as you try to fulfill your mission, you might “die” again, and you’ll simply respawn. However, die too many times and it’s off to Hell with your miserable dead self.
Umerican Road Atlas and Unmerican Unnatural By Reid San Filippo Born out of the DCC RPG fanzine, Crawling Under A Broken Moon, Reid and his long list of contributors, continues his commitment to bring you a crazy, over the top, fully fleshed out Post-Apocalyptic setting built on the back of the rules to Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, so you know this one is going to be gonzo and it’s going to rock!”
- Fire Lizard Games, LLC (BASE: a CaRdPG) recommended From the Ashes in last week’s article (here).
- Jayson Gardner (Silver Bullette) recommends Old-School Essentials (above).
PRESS RELEASE: ARMzine has launched!
4.16.2019 – Atlanta, GA
Today Reign Dragon Press launched its second Kickstarter following on the success of the DIRGEzine kickstarter in February & March of this year.
Announcing A.R.M.zine !
ARMzine or the Apprentice Role-playing Manual is an rpg/fanzine designed to be a fun way to teach kids (of all ages) how to play AND run role-playing games, without the need for traditional call backs or social barriers to entry. ARMzine is being design with a simple D6 + Skill, fail forward philosophy where success is team building and creativity, not necessarily how many bad guys you bulldozed. Random charts provide the Game Master and their crew (players) with tools to generate completely random adventures, including genre, setting, and the weirdness factors.
ARMzine is setting and genre neutral. This means that one does not need a particular knowledge of either history or RPG traditions to play or run ARMzine inspired games. The cool traditions will be baked in and the unneeded baggage will be left out. In addition, as many kids will be rounded up to playtest ARMzine as we can find. It won’t be adults talking down to kids; the kids will have a say in how the game is designed.
Become one of the backers for this great idea! Head on over to Kickstarter and put your support behind ARMzine!
Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reigndragon/armzine?ref=31lllh
PRESS RELEASE: Dark Conspiracy is back!
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Press Release: Odyssey of the Dragonlords: 5th Edition Adventure Book Kickstarter now live
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PRESS RELEASE – The Dungeon – A set of 2 ModularBooks of Battle Mats for RPG launches on Kickstarter 18 April
The Dungeon – A set of 2 ModularBooks of Battle Mats for RPG launches on Kickstarter 18 April
Wipe Clean laminated pages of linked Dungeon themed Battle Maps for RPG encounters
Attention Adventurers! An Endless Dungeon awaits! Launching on Kickstarter April 18
The Dungeon, A set of 2 Modular Books of Battle Mats for RPG, is the new modular adventure map book release from Loke BattleMats. A unique product which combines easy storage and portability with up to an epic 2’x2’ playing area and a endless number of map combination options.
The Dungeon is level and flat so it plays just like one large map. Our wire bound format is the closest you can get to a traditional RPG Tabletop mat will all the advantages of a book as well. Just open & Roll!
Fully Laminated throughout and thus wipe clean, every page bar the front & back covers is a map so you get the maximum dungeon out of the books! No more hastily drawing dungeons or spending hours preparing for games. Just open & roll for initiative!
Presented as a set, The Dungeon comprises two 12”x 12” Modular Books of Battle Mats designed to either create 12”x12” or 12”x24” maps using one book, or combine two books to form 24”x24” playing areas, 12”x48”, or frankly any other combination you can think of. Designs have standard entry/exit points to allow the adventure to grow and grow.
The wire bound spine allows the books to lay completely flat or fold completely in half. It also means you can ensure the books are 100% level so your adventure can move seamlessly across the map.
The Dungeon, a Modular Book of Battle Mats set, features -
- Two Book set presented as a set.
- Each book is 30 map pages (we will be increasing the page count as stretch goals are hit).
- Portable, adaptable, expandable and modular.
- Wipe Clean laminated pages of Dungeon themed Battle Maps for RPG encounters
- Wire Bound format, 360° spine offers unrivaled flexibility and lays completely flat.
- Linked designs & standard entry/exit points throughout to allow play across multiple pages and books seamlessly.
- 1 inch grid throughout.
Launching on Kickstarter April 18
For further information or comments please contact tamzin.henderson@lokeltd.co.uk
PRESS RELEASE – Tri Tac Legacy Releases Bureau 13 Savage Worlds Jumpstart
#savagethenightfantastic
Tri Tac Legacy Releases Bureau 13 Savage Worlds Jumpstart
Oak Park Michigan: 04.13.2019: Tri Tac Legacy (TTL) revealed their Jumpstart for upcoming Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic Savage Worlds Edition.
A “Jumpstart”, according the Shane Hensley of Pinnacle Entertainment Group (PEG), creators of the Savage Worlds Adventures Edition (SWADE) table-top role-playing game, is a “showcase the best of [Independent Licensed Publishers’] various worlds we’d share […] with our Kickstarter backers.” Each Jumpstart provides a glimpse into the Savage Worlds project being developed by the dozens of independent studios that have been licensed by PEG. There are currently over fifty “worlds” developing projects for SWADE. Per the rules, each portfolio must come with a fully-playable adventure using the SWADE core book and should represent the vision for the world.
TTL’s JumpStart includes an introduction to how to become a Bureau 13 “Agent”, stats on the 1970’s Colorado RV that Agents are given, the updated “Thing From Walnut Creek” adventure, six playable Agents, and other bits and pieces. Additionally, the Jumpstart features the full wrap-around cover created by award-winning author and artist Phil Foglio (Girl Genius).
Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic was created in 1982 by Richard Tucholka and won the 1991 Gamers Choice Award at GenCon. Before his passing, Tucholka produced several revisions to the game, but voiced a desire to take the world back to its “everyday people against the supernatural” roots. The Savage Worlds adaptation was commissioned by Tucholka’s estate and, two years ago, Longshot Productions (LSP) was contracted to oversee the project. The Bureau 13 JumpStart is the first glimpse into TTL’s new vision.
While a defunded government agency tasked with saving the world might not seem new to most, the LSP’s design team has taken the familiar and added new, modern twists to previously explored monsters, situations and weapons, demonstrated by the monstrous ManFish (Don’t call them Fishmen!) that travel in packs of “bros” and can be calmed down by appealing to their vanity, or Agent Bill Taggert, a were-chinchilla, whose turn-ons are long hops in the mountains and dust baths (Turn-offs include silver and sudden loud noises.)
The Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic Savage Worlds Edition Kickstarter begins Friday, September 13, 2019 at 13:13:13 hours MST. Follow Longshot Productions for more information about the launch, reward levels, stretch goals and more as it’s announced at https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/longshot-productions
To view the Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic Savage Worlds Edition JumpStart, go to http://tritaclegacy.com/savageworlds/jumpstart/
For more information, interview requests, or business inquiries, please contact Tri Tac Legacy at rpg@tritacgames.com
For PR inquiries, comments, or info please contact press@longshot-productions.net
#savagingthenightfantastic
PRESS RELEASE – Afterlife: Wandering Souls Launches on Kickstarter 1 May 2019
Afterlife: Wandering Souls Launches on Kickstarter 1 May 2019
strange | macabre | unique Leiden, the
Netherlands, 15 April 2019. Angry Hamster Publishing is proud to announce the launch of their newest tabletop role playing game Afterlife: Wandering Souls live on Kickstarter on the 1st of May 2019. The fourth official release by Angry Hamster Publishing, this hardcover, full colour book features a unique setting, custom mechanics, and beautifully illustrated images.
Players take on the roles of Wanderers—people who died, but didn’t end up in Heaven, Hell, or any other traditional afterlife. Devoid of any memories of their life before, Wanderers must travel an endless desert searching through different planes of existence attempting to find some semblance of self. Along the way they encounter strange inhabitants, alien cultures, and other humans who’ve lost all hope and are bent on destroying them.
Afterlife: Wandering Souls was created by Elizabeth Chaipraditkul founder of Angry Hamster Publishing. The game explores the themes of hope, self-exploration, and delves into the realm of the strange. Surreal settings mixed with macabre themes elicit a mysterious story players must interact with while dealing with familiar real-world problems.
Find more information on Angry Hamster Publishing’s website: http://angryhamsterpublishing.com/afterlife
Or download the free quickstart through DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/267900/Afterlife-Wandering-Souls-Quickstart
What Kickstarters Excite Creators? City of Great Lunden, BASE, Castles & Cats, and Party Backstory Generator
For this column, I reach out to crowdfunding creators to ask what projects they’re not in, but are still excited about. I ask each creator separately, so I’m surprised how often a creator recommends another creator’s work in *the same* article. This week, Fire Lizard Games recommended Castles & Cats, all in the same article, and without knowing that they’d appear together. To read their recommendation (as well as these other excellent creators), scroll on!
- Castles & Cats by Christine Pruett
- Party Backstory Generator for 5e and Other Systems by Severed Books (Justin Sirois)
- BASE: a CaRdPG by Fire Lizard Games, LLC
- The City of Great Lunden by MonkeyBlood Design & Publishing (Glynn Seal)
The City of Great Lunden by MonkeyBlood Design & Publishing (Glynn Seal)
ENDS: Sun, April 14 2019 8:00 AM EDT.
“A City Setting for Old School RPGs – The Midderlands setting compatible.”
Glynn Seal (MonkeyBlood Design & Publishing) recommends:
“I thought I’d do a bit of digging around on Kickstarter and found the following projects I like the look of:
Creeping Cold
A 5E adventure that promises chills and excitement!“I always people running campaigns on Kickstarter for their first time. I’m into my third now, and they are a rollercoaster of emotions. Ian and Jayson of Silver Bulette are well-funded and still have 18 days left, so this is good to go.
I love adventures where the environment is an enemy. Also, it has 3D printable terrain files as stretch goals, and Fat Dragon Games are doing awesome models. Now I just need to get a 3D printer. Ha!”
Symbar – Mother of Darkness
Enter the vast forest of Davokar in the next episode of the epic Throne of Thorns campaign for the acclaimed Symbaroum RPG.“I was blown away by the evocative artwork of Symbaroum. This is the fourth part of an epic adventure chronicle – CHRONICLE OF THE THRONE OF THORNS. I find the forest of Davokar hugely intriguing, and the setting as a whole is an example of how to sell a setting based on its artwork alone – well it’s what did it for me. If you dot have the setting or the other three parts you can pick them all up in the campaign at the ‘master bundle’ level. It’s a steal at the price for all the loot you get, and it’ll keep you gaming for years.”
Party Backstory Generator for 5e and Other Systems by Severed Books (Justin Sirois)
ENDS: Tue, April 30 2019 1:09 PM EDT.
“For GMs and players – 5e, Pathfinder, and more. Create limitless backstory, one-shots, side quests, and more that add to your campaign.”
Justin Sirois (Severed Books) recommends:
“The Ultraviolent Grasslands by Luka Rejec is at the very top. I remember sneaking Heavy Metal Fantasy Magazine into my house when I was 13 — knowing the danger of it — feeling like this weird and sick treasure would change my life both creatively and socially. It did. That’s the feeling I get from this game. I can’t wait to crawl through it, bleeding.
I’m a sucker for a well-designed board game. Life Siphon by Lay Waste Games has the right mix of minimal illustrations and weirdness — dark creatures and a dismal vibe. Also, the stretch goals seem unique enough to justify the expense.”
- Last week, Adam Meyers (Drop Dead Studios) of Ultimate Spheres of Power: The Complete System! (Pathfinder) recommended the Party Background Generator
- The Ultraviolet Grasslands has been recommended by Christopher Robin Negelein (Alligator Alley Entertainment) of The Forbidden Libary 5e (here) and by Allen White (STEAM Hack RPGs) of STEAM Hack: RPG Zines for STEM Education (here)
BASE: a CaRdPG by Fire Lizard Games, LLC
ENDS: Tue, April 16 2019 5:02 PM EDT.
“BASE is a collaborative, setting-agnostic RPG. Roll your own adventures!”
Fire Lizard Games, LLC recommends:
“Two active RPGs we love on Kickstarter:
1. From the Ashes by FG Fantasy: From the Ashes intrigued us because of the interesting concept of starting out as an undead being. There are a lot of very cool stories to be told with that starting point. The artwork looks phenomenal, and the Kickstarter has a modest, attainable goal with affordable tiers!
2. Castles & Cats by Christine Pruett: In a big change of pace from our first recommendation, Castles & Cats is a tabletop RPG designed for Preschool and Elementary-aged children. We thought this was such a cool idea, because not only will it help introduce a whole new generation into the wonderful world of TTRPGs, but the social and emotional skills you can learn while playing tabletop games are most important for children of that age.”
- Last week, Ed Jowett (Shades of Vengeance) recommended Castles & Cats
Castles & Cats by Christine Pruett
ENDS: Thu, April 25 2019 8:00 AM EDT.
“Castle & Cats is a Tabletop, Role-Playing Game, for Preschool and Elementary aged children.”
Christine Pruett (Castles & Cats) recommends:
“Brassman’s Adventure Club is the monthly subscription service I have been waiting for! With the busyness of adult life looming around every corner it is hard to take the time to carefully plan out my D&D groups next campaign, I feel my campaigns are half baked the majority of the time. Brassman’s Adventure Club is a full campaign mapped out by seasoned DM’s and comes straight to your door every month. This includes all the core tools needed to run your monthly D&D session with little planning, the illustrations look amazing and they have a price options that fits every budget.
As a mom to a child with Autism, I feel Critical Core can not be praised enough. Role playing games have been shown to build social confidence, cognitive communication and critical processing in young adults on the autism spectrum but the team behind Critical Core has taken it to a whole new level. I am very excited to get my hands on this game and share it with my son.”
- Critical Core was shared by High Level Games (Snowhaven for Fifth Edition) and Brandon Dixon of Swordsfall (here) and by Allen White (STEAM Hack RPGs) of STEAM Hack: RPG Zines for STEM Education (here)
- As well as Fire Lizard Games’ (BASE) recommendation above, last week, Ed Jowett (Shades of Vengeance) recommended Castles & Cats
PRESS RELEASE – The City of the Steam Sun, steampunk setting for Savage Worlds
The City of the Steam Sun crowdfunding campaign is coming soon to IndieGoGo!
Mathematically calculated City was to become a new Utopia of the rational age, but the disaster changed everything – the City fell into Limbo, the threshold of Hell. Progress faced ancient magic. The City became a part of Limbo, with no sunlight. The familiar world doesn’t exist anymore. There are other laws and other creatures here – but the scientific method works even in the craziest conditions. People lit their steam Sun here. Every morning it rises over the City on a huge rail. The authorities lead diplomatic negotiations with demons, inventors dream of creation of a conscient automaton, researchers look for traces of ancient civilizations. Scientists and frauds, adventurers and magicians, evil geniuses and brilliant detectives… humans and demons. All of them are in the City of the Steam Sun.
Designed for Savage Worlds, The City of the Steam Sun casts players in the gloomy atmosphere of steampunk Limbo: an explosive mixture of steam technologies and ancient magic. A breathtaking detective story, Victorian mystical horror and adventures in the dim rays of the metal steam sun.
Key features:
- Two books with a combined volume of about 330 pages with more than 70 full color illustrations.
- More than 40 new edges.
- Three new arcane backgrounds with unique game mechanics: Technomages, relying on their equipment, Blessed Ones, who create miracles from their own life force and Dark Mages, who make grim sacrifices to gather power.
- Flexible rules for creation of inventions, suitable for those who want to dive into creation of a new device and enjoy choosing components and their various combinations; as well as those who prefer to assemble their mechanisms quickly. Create your own fine tuned weapons, transport and even semi-intelligent automatons.
- Three adventures, one per each genre. Discover the plot behind the robbery of the officer of Expeditionary Force in the “Case of the Winged Statuette”, face horrors of the “House of Forgotten”, and reveal some ancient secrets of Limbo on the “Path of the Pilgrim”.
- Lots of secret societies.
- And a wide range of air and steam guns for all fans of steampunk.
The City of the Steam Sun is created by Steam Sun Games, a small pen-and-paper RPG studio from Yekaterinburg, Russia. Now we are finishing the English version. The translation is complete and we’ve decided to crowdfund it to complete editing and layout. Our crowdfunding will go live at April 17, 2019.
IndieGoGo pre-launch page http://igg.me/at/steamsun
Teaser https://youtu.be/qj6NPhzTjnI
Jumpstart https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/224367/The-City-of-the-Steam-Sun-Introduction
UPDATE. IndieGoGo live at:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-city-of-the-steam-sun/x/16852354#/
What Kickstarters Excite Creators? Forbidden Library, Ultimate Spheres of Power, Way of the Wicked Sin, CharCon, and Fauna
The creators behind a 5e library, a Pathfinder magic system, an RPG zine, a convention, and a comic (from an RPG publisher) share what projects on Kickstarter they’re excited about. Check out the projects the creators of these Kickstarters are following:
- Ultimate Spheres of Power: The Complete System! (Pathfinder) by Drop Dead Studios
- The Forbidden Library 5E by Alligator Alley Entertainment
- The Way of Wicked Sin #ZineQuest by Advanced Fantasy Roleplaying
- CharCon 2019 – THE West Virginia Gaming Convention by CharCon Game Convention
- Fauna #1 by Shades of Vengeance Comics
Ultimate Spheres of Power: The Complete System! (Pathfinder) by Drop Dead Studios
Ends: Sun, April 14 2019 12:01 PM EDT.
“The ultimate edition of Spheres of Power, the 5-star magic system, compiled into a single volume! (For Pathfinder)”
Adam Meyers (Drop Dead Studios) recommends:
“Tabletop gamers are known for collecting way more dice, miniatures, and other materials then they’ll ever be able to use, and we show no signs of stopping. With that in mind, I’m excited for DoubleSix Dice: Generation Two; it’s a new way of rolling the classic six-sided dice, and the fact that it’s on its second generation with no signs of stopping says a lot about how popular their idea is.
Another project I’m looking forward to seeing more of is Party Backstory Generator for 5e and Other Systems. As a GM sometimes you just need a bit of inspiration. As players, sometimes you need something to keep people on track. Either way, a book entirely dedicated to answering ‘how did you meet’ is both useful and fun, and I’m excited to see it getting off to such a great start.”
The Way of Wicked Sin #ZineQuest by Advanced Fantasy Roleplaying
Ends: Thu, April 11 2019 10:04 AM EDT.
“Tired of Paladins? Peek behind the black veil! This will be 3 Zines about evil campaigns: Drow, Orcs, and Humans.”
Peter Sotos (Advanced Fantasy Roleplaying) recommends:
“Wyrmkeep Dungeons TZ2: Curse of the Desert Outpost. I really like this campaign. The guy has 4 other modules out via Kickstarter so he is a safe bet for delivery. The art looks professional and has a color cover. The whole campaign is extremely evocative of old school RPGs, but the adventure is created for D&D 5th edition. I went ahead and backed it, and in the package I selected, I am going to get all of his other modules as well.
The Forbidden Library 5E. This looks like one incredible campaign. The art looks absolutely amazing and the concept of a secret library in a school for adventurers is very cool. I love the fact that the libraries books will be detailed out by various authors and grow as the Kickstarter campaign grows. Also, so many big names in the gaming industry involved in it. I had to go ahead and back it myself.”
The Forbidden Library 5E by Alligator Alley Entertainment
Ends: Fri, April 19 2019 11:00 PM EDT.
“Adventure & sourcebook for D&D 5th Edition by Gregory A. Wilson, with contributions from many speculative fiction and RPG writers”
Christopher Robin Negelein (Alligator Alley Entertainment) recommends:
“I’m excited about Arcana of the Ancients where Monte Cook Games brings science fantasy and even the Numenera setting to 5e. The Kickstarter gets the band back together with D&D veterans Monte Cook, Bruce Cordell and Sean K Reynolds which covers a lot of gaming history that goes back to even the TSR days.
Their house system, Cypher, has a few neat tricks and I’m curious how some of them will translate into 5e. And of course every GM needs a hefty library of strange items and critters to confound players at the drop of a hat. D&D has had sci-fi in it since the early days and this will let a new generation of 12-year old game masters introduce their group to laser-sword wielding paladins. (You know you did it too and it was awesome to your 12-year old brain! Admit it!)
So my love for sci-fantasy become just as evident with The Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City which puts Oregon Trail games, the Dying Earth genre, heavy metal and psychedelic art into a blender to explore a vast land for the next bit of weirdness.
And if like sandbox style games, you have to love a book that waxes on about how the humans in civilized areas are the masters of their fate within the borders of their little urbane worlds and then simply states, “This story is not their story” before diving into how vast and bonkers the unexplored places are.”
- The Forbidden Libary 5e is recommended by Peter Sotos (Advanced Fantasy Roleplaying) from The Way of Wicked Sin above.
Fauna #1 by Shades of Vengeance Comics
Ends: Sun, April 21 2019 4:00 PM EDT.
“When everyone starts mindlessly searching for Quinn’s Empowered alter-ego, it is clear someone will do whatever it takes to find him…”
Ed Jowett (Shades of Vengeance Comics) recommends:
“I deliberately scrolled down to find some campaigns that were interesting that weren’t at the top!
I have always felt that introducing younger players to roleplaying is the best way to build the community for the future. Castles and Cats aims to do this in a way that I wish I had been introduced to it when I was a child.
When I first saw this, I was excited, then I found out that the creator also plans to continue her campaign’s story, so I was completely sold on it as a campaign I wanted to back!Why AcadeCon? Simple: It’s a games convention that mentions Tabletop RPGs as a priority. Conventions are the lifeblood of the community – it’s the only time you get to have the community together beyond a few people at a time. This is a great one, looking at the video and, although it’s not in a place I’ve ever been it’s established and needs help to continue what it’s doing!”
- AcadeCon was recommended by Craig Campbell of NerdBurger Games in a prior column.
CharCon 2019 – THE West Virginia Gaming Convention by CharCon Game Convention
Ends: Tue, April 9 2019 8:59 PM EDT.
“Charleston WV – July 12-14, 2019. Our theme is Post-Apocalypse! Non-stop Role Playing Games all weekend long! Learn to play events for Board Games, RPGs & Miniatures.”
Travis Reynolds (Executive Director of CharCon) recommends:
“Neither of these are RPGs, I am more of a board game guy.
I am intrigued by the Hammer of the Scots campaign. I was always a fan of the Columbia block games and looking forward to seeing what a deluxe version made with today’s productions standards ends up being.
Also, I am excited to see the Tantrum House Kickstarter do well. I like their content a lot and rely on their regular run down of tabletop KS projects to keep me informed. Plus I love their family vibe both from a CharCon perspective and as a Queen Games rep.”
PRESS RELEASE – World Autism Awareness Day with Critical Core
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NOTE: The crass advertising/ads are mine. The substance of message is Game to Grow’s. I added the links to their game as a thank for all they’re doing to raise awareness about autism, a reality that is never fair from my mind and heart.
PRESS RELEASE – Lunar Games’ Tome of Spirits Kickstarter Coming Soon!
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA—Lunar Games has announced the release of the Tome of Spirits, its first major supplement to the Endless Realms tabletop roleplaying game. In Endless Realms, players take on the role of a character with fantastic abilities and tangible personality traits to play through adventures created and piloted by a Game Master. The Tome of Spirits adds an array of additional content focused on spirits and the Spirit Realm, including new magic and cursed items, class paths, religions and cults, rules for corruption, stats and lore for spirits themselves, and rules for becoming the champion of a spirit.
The religions and cults of the Tome of Spirits largely surround the spirits that are also found within the tome’s pages. These snippets of lore and information provide grounding for these religious organizations, giving Game Masters and players alike plenty of fuel for the motives and stories of characters they introduce in their campaigns.
Characters become Spirit Champions by earning the trust and respect of a spirit, through worship or service, thereby gaining new abilities in exchange for continued service. Getting involved with a spirit is no light matter, however; spirits often quarrel over territory, playing an ethereal game of chess with their corporeal pawns to force each other into exile or corruption.
Corruption is first introduced in the Endless Realms Core Rulebook, and is greatly expanded upon and given actionable mechanics in the Tome of Spirits. This sickness yields great power, but has dangerous and often fatal effects even for the otherwise immortal inhabitants of the Spirit Realm. Corruption is a major theme in the game’s overall storyline.
When asked what she was most excited for players to see in the Tome of Spirits, Kirsty Garbe, CEO of Lunar Games, said “I’m simply excited to show our fans more of our world and give them a better understanding of how to incorporate spirits in their adventures. They’re part of what makes Endless Realms unique, and there’s a lot of opportunity in the pages of the Tome of Spirits.”
Lunar Games successfully funded a Kickstarter campaign for the Endless Realms Core Rulebook and Creature Compendium in April 2018, raising just over $40,000 CAD in 35 days. The funding goal for the Tome of Spirits is to raise $8,400 CAD. Its campaign will go live on April 23d and will run for 30 days.
Check out Endless Realms on:
Kickstarter Preview: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lunargames/35150466?ref=543165&token=dc043e36
DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/12778/Lunar-Games-Inc&affiliate_id=814082
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EndlessRealmsRPG/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lunar_GamesInc
What Kickstarters Excite Creators? Mysthea, Veil of the Void, Humblewood, and STEAM Hack
What I enjoy about this series is seeing what projects creators recommend over and over again. Through this article, Swordsfall has five recommendations while Critical Core has three. This week, The Seas of Vodari (read their press release here) joins the list of multiple recommendations. I’ve found that those projects with multiple referrals are among the best offered. This week, I asked the creators of these RPG Kickstarters what projects are they most interested in:
- Mysthea: Legends From the Borderlands by UFO Press
- Veil of the Void: A Sci-Fantasy TTRPG by SDG Interactive Publishers
- Humblewood Campaign Setting for 5e DND by Hit Point Press
- STEAM Hack: RPG Zines for STEM Education by STEAM Hack RPGs
Mysthea: Legends From the Borderlands by UFO Press
Ends:Thu, April 11 2019 1:00 PM EDT.
“Rebuild a war-torn city and win fame for your guild in this geomantic fantasy tabletop RPG.”
Jay Iles (UFO Press) recommends:
“One Kickstarter I’m particularly interested in is Dangerous Times. It’s a game of investigative reporters dealing with magic and corruption in 1920s New York, and is a complete package in 48 pages of zine.
Swordsfall is extremely exciting, and I love that we have the diversity of systems these days that a system-less setting book like this can do well.
Finally, I’ve been interested in The Veil for a while thanks to Friends at the Table’s campaign of it, and Inheritance looks like it’ll be great at hitting that far-future space opera feel.”
- Swordsfall was recommended in the article from two weeks ago by Rachelle Dube of Dino Wranglers – Zine Quest and Waypoint Game Designs of Manifest the RPG, and in last week’s article, it was shared by High Level Games (Snowhaven for Fifth Edition).
- Read Fraser Simons (of The Veil: Inheritance) recommendations here.
Veil of the Void: A Sci-Fantasy TTRPG by SDG Interactive Publishers
Ends: Thu, April 4 2019 12:00 PM EDT.
“A custom built D6 system designed with a focus on narrative play, storytelling, and home-brew!”
Trever Archuleta (SDG Interactive Publishers) recommends:
“I’m currently backing two at the moment:
- The Seas of Vodari – which is a pirate themed 5e manual.
- Welcome to Tikor (Swordsfall)– an afropunk sci-fantasy lore book + future rulebook!
I love supporting new creators, those that I believe will do something with the money I give them. Being an Indie creator myself I know how hard it can be and that we all need to support each other if we believe in their project or their creator. I am personally a huge fan of the idea of a fully pirate themed 5e game as I love pirates, so I will definitely be playing that one. I also find the idea of a new afropunk game to be quite original and something I think definitely deserves attention and as much funding as they have received.”
Humblewood Campaign Setting for 5e DND by Hit Point Press
Ends: Thu, April 11 2019 10:00 AM EDT.
“Humblewood is a campaign setting for 5e DND that includes new birdfolk player races, new monsters, compelling adventure and more!”
Jordan Richer (Hit Point Press) recommends:
“The Seas of Vodari. Ask any RPG group and you’ll find most of them are pretty pumped to get on a ship and sail the 7 seas, but when it comes to 5e, there is not a lot of support for these kinds of adventures. Seas of Vodari seems to be the kind of sandbox that will help pad out our seafaring stories. We are particularly interested in the social combat so we can engage in some battles of wits!
Witch+Craft. Another area of 5e that has really needed a closer look is rules for crafting items, food and more – and Witch+Craft nails it in a super wholesome way. Your characters get to choose a “Trade Class” that levels up your characters crafting skills as your adventuring skills improve and makes making items, foods, etc a collaborative thing, encouraging a negotiation between players and DM about what materials would be needed, what kind of equipment might be required and so on. It pulls crafting out of the background and puts it right into your character and the story. Can’t wait for the full book to come out!
Additionally both creators, like us, are Canadian, so it’s great to see all this amazing content coming from up here!”
STEAM Hack: RPG Zines for STEM Education by STEAM Hack RPGs
Ends: Sat, April 27 2019 5:00 PM EDT.
“A zine with role-playing games (RPGs) to teach engineering and science using actual engineering scenarios.”
Allen White (STEAM Hack RPGs) recommends:
“As a gamer who is trying to use the power of RPGs in education, I have been looking forward to Critical Core by Game to Grow and I’m excited to see it doing well! Roleplaying has been used to help those on the autism spectrum and this looks like a great way to help more parents and educators. The art is engaging and the design looks like it will make the fiddly bits of roleplaying more accessible to a wider audience, which is great for our hobby. I am looking forward to using my copy in classes.
Speaking of engaging art, I am intrigued by The Ultraviolet Grasslands by Exalted Funeral – how can you not love an RPG inspired by “psychedelic heavy metal, the Dying Earth genre, and classic Oregon Trail games.” Luka Rejec’s art is powerful and it looks like his game design for UVG will bring his art to life for the players. I enjoyed the setting and (especially) the premise of Witchburner and I think UVG will show us his imagination on fire.”
- In last week’s article, Critical Core was shared by High Level Games (Snowhaven for Fifth Edition) and Brandon Dixon of Swordsfall.
PRESS RELEASE – Forbidden Library
Forbidden Library Kickstarter brings in all-star collaborators for new adventure series
Legendary and professional game designers, writers and artists fill a forbidden library with magic and wonder.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla., March 21, 2019 – Alligator Alley Entertainment teams up with Gregory A. Wilson to kickstart Tales and Tomes from the Forbidden Library, which will feature game designers such as Ed Greenwood, Ken Hite, Will Hindmarch, Shawn Merwin, and many others along with great contributing fiction authors like Cat Rambo to make an evocative adventure series and sourcebook filled with poems, art and danger!
Tales and Tomes is a 5E compatible adventure designed to lead heroes up to level 3 into the Eastern Wing of Hearthglow Academy’s Library, a forbidden place to students and teachers alike. Prominent SFF authors and tabletop gaming professionals bring the library alive with spell grimoires, weaponry manuals, atlases and bestiaries. Among the clues, the heroes will find scraps of lore, stories, paintings – and everything in between.
Even better, as the Kickstarter grows, additional collaborators will be brought in to create even more of the library’s fantastical catalogue. Still early in the first week of the Kickstarter, the project is almost halfway funded with stretch goals already planned.
Brian Dalrymple, co-founder of Alligator Alley Entertainment, says, “We are thrilled to be working with Gregory and all of the great talent that are ready to fill Hearthglow Academy’s Library with great content a GM can use in both the adventure and their own home campaigns. We want players to be both excited and a little nervous when they see their own GM pull out the Tales and Tomes.”
“I’ve been running this adventure as a live audience event for a couple of years now at the GenCon Writer’s Symposium and my players love it,” says Gregory A Wilson, genre writer and author of theForbidden Library adventure. “This year, we’ll finish the trilogy, and our Kickstarter supporters will be able to follow along and even run the adventure at home. After running Alligator Alley’s Esper Genesis content on my Twitch stream, I can’t wait to see what they come up with to supplement this volume.”
You can find the Kickstarter here and you can contact our media rep., Robert Adducci, here.
Gregory A Wilson:
Premier game master, Twitch TV channel host (ArvanEleron), speculative fiction author, podcaster, and college professor, Wilson has been bringing the world’s favorite RPG to over 5,000 people week after week on Twitch. He also runs popular live RPG events at GenCon’s Writer’s Symposium, all of which serve as the inspiration for the world of Tales and Tomes from the Forbidden Library. In the world of fantasy fiction, Greg’s first fantasy novel, The Third Sign, came out in 2009, followed by the graphic novel, Icarus, in 2016; his third novel, Grayshade (Book One of The Gray Assassin Trilogy), also arrived in 2016 from The Ed Greenwood Group.
About Alligator Alley Entertainment (AAE):
Founded by hobby industry veterans Rich Lescouflair, Eric Wiener and Brian Dalrymple, AAE brings a world of imagination to go along with their RPG products. The team’s skill set covers years of game design, retail expertise and print production. The ENnie-nominated company has created hits like Esper Genesis: Heroic Sci-Fi Role-playingTM with 5E rules, Witch Hunter: The Invisible World of swashbuckling adventure and horror, and The Demonbane Chronicles, a 5E adventure series set on the shattered continent of Sereth.
Kickstart the Comic – 5 Seconds Volume 3 – The Final Countdown
What superpower would you want?
What superpower would be the most useful and which would be as much a curse as an asset?
I’ve done those thought exercises. I’ve had the dreams where I could fly or teleport or read people’s minds. Sometimes it was the best of times and sometimes it was like something out of the Twilight Zone. That’s the thing with powers, you never know what the side effects may be.
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5 Seconds Volume 3 – The Final Countdown
Writer/Creator – Stephen Kok
Illustrator – P.R. Dedelis
Colorist – Peyton Freeman
This Kickstarter Campaign ends on Wednesday, April 3, 2019 at 6:00 A.M. EDT.
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The Pitch:
What would you do if you could see five seconds into the future?
The Story:
5 Seconds is the continuing story of Jake as he discovers what happens 5 seconds in the future. With his best friend Ellie, the two of them decide to test out exactly what Jake can do! Unfortunately, others also find out about Jake’s power and they seek to exploit his unique time-bending skill set!
John’s Thoughts:
This is the third volume of the ongoing story about Jake and his dealing with his own gift/curse. As the story has progressed, a Villain has arisen to test our hero.
I like that this is presented as the final piece of the story, but that each of the volumes have been written as stand alones. That is something that may not always be the easiest thing to pull off. Of course, I would think that if you liked one of the volumes it wouldn’t be a stretch to check out the others!
The Rewards:
Here’s the thing, if you only wanted the pdfs of the 3 volumes, you can easily get those at the U.S. $7 level, which feels like a steal. At $60 you can get the print copies of all three volumes. They’ve also provided a “Get Drawn In” to the comic at the $99 level, which is always one of those cool things to have the opportunity to go after. At even higher levels you have a chance to meet the creator or get some original artwork ($212 U.S. for both).
The Verdict:
If you are looking for some young adult comic stylings with a splash of action, adventure, romance and a sprinkling of time, you should definitely give 5 Seconds a shot.
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To find out more about 5 Seconds Volume 3 – The Final Countdown, check out the Kickstarter Page here.
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John McGuire is the creator/author of the steampunk comic The Gilded Age. The Trade paperback collecting the first 4 issues is finally back from the printers! If you would like to purchase a copy, go here!
Want to read the first issue for free? Click here! Already read it and eager for more?
Click here to join John’s mailing list.
His other prose appears in The Dark That Follows, Hollow Empire, Beyond the Gate, and Machina Obscurum – A Collection of Small Shadows.
He can also be found at www.johnrmcguire.com
PRESS RELEASE – Premiere for Free League’s Symbaroum – Mother of Darkness is live on Kickstarter
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Premiere for Free League’s Symbaroum – Mother of Darkness is live on KickstarterFree League Publishing – Mar 22, 2019 15:07 GMT
The forests grow darker, as does the streams and the soil. Neither the Queen’s subjects, nor the clanfolk has ever taken the warnings seriously. The desire to pillage the treasures of the forest has always been stronger than the fear and caution, and no desire has ever flamed hotter than the longing to find the place which is called the Mother of all Darkness. Now the time has come to go on the hunt for Symbar, the blackened heart of the empire of Symbaroum. Explorers, treasure-hunters, adventurers and loyal subjects, listen up – trustworthy directions to the legendary city of Symbar has been uncovered! Pack your bags immediately, sharpen your swords and resupply your stock of healing herbs, for the expedition leaves as soon as the warmth of spring breaths life into the forest of Davokar! Following the merger of award-winning roleplaying game publishers Free League Publishing (Tales from the Loop, Mutant Year Zero, Forbidden Lands) and Järnringen, it is time for the first major joint venture: Symbar – Mother of Darkness, the next episode in the epic Throne of Thorns campaign for Järnringen’s acclaimed dark fantasy RPG Symbaroum, was launced on Kickstarter today.
About Free League PublishingFree League Publishing is a Swedish publisher dedicated to speculative fiction. We have published several award-winning tabletop role-playing games and critically acclaimed art books set in strange and wondrous worlds. |
What Kickstarters Excite Creators? Swordsfall, CAPERS Noir, Justice Velocity, and Snowhaven
After so many nice things were said about Welcome to Tikor last week, I reached out to Brandon Dixon to find out what RPG Kickstarters he’s looking forward to. As well as his reviews, there are a number of nice things said about a personal favorite of mine, Critical Core, plus we hear about a convention. Let’s see what RPG Kickstarters these creators are looking forward to:
- Welcome to Tikor | The Swordsfall RPG Setting and Art Book by Brandon Dixon
- Snowhaven for Fifth Edition by High Level Games
- Justice Velocity: An Action Movie Inspired Tabletop RPG by Polyhedra Games
- CAPERS Noir RPG by NerdBurger Games
Snowhaven for Fifth Edition by High Level Games
Ends: Sun, March 31 2019 11:56 AM EDT.
“Snowhaven is a Snowpunk Fantasy setting for the 5th Edition of the world’s oldest and most popular roleplaying game system.”
High Level Games recommends:
“Swordsfall is amazing, it’s a project creating an afro-futurist world and the depth of the worldbuilding on display is staggering, in a good way. The project has gone through the roof and I’d love to see this go even higher. The more diverse and deep projects we have out there the better.
Which brings me to my second suggestion, which is Critical Core by Game to Grow. This project presents a game system for autistic youth. As I’m a huge fan of working with kids interested in gaming and helping use games as therapeutic devices this just checks all the boxes for me.”
- Swordsfall was recommended in last week’s article by Rachelle Dube of Dino Wranglers – Zine Quest and Waypoint Game Designs of Manifest the RPG.
Welcome to Tikor | The Swordsfall RPG Setting and Art Book by Brandon Dixon
Ends: Wed, April 10 2019 11:01 AM EDT.
“An Afropunk Sci-Fantasy world brimming with ancient magic and future tech.”
Brandon Dixon recommends:
“Critical Core looks fantastic. I’m a big fan of products that seek to involve marginalized groups and make them apart of the experience. It has a such a cool story behind it as well. It was created by a father who wanted to help his autistic son get into gaming.
Veil of the Void is doing great work with their game. I have nothing but love for a sci-fi project by another person of color. I really want to see them get funded, they’re a bit over 50% with two weeks to go. I really want to see them win. The art is great and the book direction is amazing.”
Justice Velocity: An Action Movie Inspired Tabletop RPG by Polyhedra Games
Ends: Thu, April 4 2019 12:24 PM EDT.
“A D6-based tabletop roleplaying game inspired by the action movie universe”
Clipper Arnold of Polyhedra Games recommends:
“Manifest RPG‘s space western setting looks really unique and interesting. The style of the cover art, especially, looks great. There are major Firefly vibes for sure–and rolling a fist of D20s sounds like a lot of fun.
Prowlers and Paragons Ultimate Edition also looks really great. The art looks really top notch, and I’m a fan of D6 systems. I’ve never played P&P or Champions, but have had a lot of fun with stuff like Mutants & Masterminds. I have high hopes from the team working on this as they all appear to be game design veterans.”
- Manifest the RPG was recommended by Fraser Simons (The Veil: Inheritance, a biopunk tabletop roleplaying game) in a prior column.
CAPERS Noir RPG by NerdBurger Games
Ends: Thu, April 11 2019 9:00 PM EDT.
“An RPG of Criminals, Cops, Mystery, and Monsters…with Super-Powers!”
Craig Campbell of NerdBurger Games recommends:
“I’ve been a guest at AcadeCon the past two years and will be again this year.
AcadeCon is my favorite convention. It’s small and intimate, maybe 500-600 attendees. It’s RPG heavy. It has bunches of great guests from both the RPG design world and the podcast world. The RPG Academy has built a great community around their podcasts and that community shows up for AcadeCon. It’s inviting, friendly, inclusive, and fun. I have never regretted going.”
NOTE: I featured CAPERS Noir before (here) but I added it again after Craig and I talked about AcadeCon and their Kickstarter, and he gave it a glowing recommendation.
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The project selections and opinions expressed by the contributors are solely their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Egg Embry or the Tessera Guild.
Kickstart the Comic – The Legend of Everett Forge: Issue #3
Man vs. machine.
Normally that would mean that the machine is on its way to replacing the worker. The more efficient machine outlasting the fragile human.
How about a story where the human isn’t going to give up his dreams, his goals, or anything else for a damn machine…
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The Legend of Everett Forge: Issue #3
Writer/Creator – Scott Wilker
Artist/Letterer – Clickart Studios
Publisher – About Time Comics
This Kickstarter Campaign ends on Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 6:30 PM EDT
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The Pitch:
The Legend of Everett Forge is a Steampunk/Weird West tale set in an alternate 1889 where Machines control the American West. The story follows infamous outlaw, Everett Forge, as he ventures deep into the Machine Territory in search of vengeance!
The Story:
SINS OF THE FATHER picks up right after the events of Issue #2. After a brutal showdown with the Angel of Death, Everett Forge finds himself aboard a mysterious airship. Meanwhile, in the heart of the Machine Territory, Omega is hard at work bringing his evil plans to fruition.
John’s Thoughts:
Here’s the deal – Steampunk to me is all about that Wild West (Weird West) meets steam tech. It is about man versus machine. It is about revenge and vengeance and old grudges and new problems. Bounty Hunters and gunfights with weapons a bit more powerful than you might find in a regular western.
The Legend of Everett Forge hits those sweet spots in this ongoing battle between “good” and “evil”. But much like any good western, those words don’t always mean that the good guy is anywhere near squeaky clean!
The Rewards:
As this is the third issue of the series, the lower levels allow you to get this newest one to add to your collection ($5 Digital/$10 Print). At the $25 level you can completely catch up on the print comics. At the higher end ($100), you can not only get the comics and posters and stickers but also get a poker chip as well as digital copies of the Godsend comic book (to complete your collection).
The Verdict:
Do you like Weird Westerns? Do you like Steampunk? Are you hoping for some potential shootouts between Everett and all sorts of Machine Enemies?
Yeah, maybe this book is for you…
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To find out more about The Legend of Everett Forge, check out the Kickstarter Page here.
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John McGuire is the creator/author of the steampunk comic The Gilded Age. The Trade paperback collecting the first 4 issues is finally back from the printers! If you would like to purchase a copy, go here!
Want to read the first issue for free? Click here! Already read it and eager for more?
Click here to join John’s mailing list.
His other prose appears in The Dark That Follows, Hollow Empire, Beyond the Gate, and Machina Obscurum – A Collection of Small Shadows.
He can also be found at www.johnrmcguire.com
PRESS RELEASE – Justice Velocity: An Action Movie Inspired Tabletop RPG Launches Kickstarter
Justice Velocity: The Action Movie Inspired Tabletop RPG is now Live on Kickstarter
March 6th, 2019– Justice Velocity, the action movie inspired tabletop roleplaying game is officially live on Kickstarter. Inspired by pulpy action films like the Fast & Furious franchise, Bad Boys, and more, Justice Velocity puts you in the driver’s seat.
The campaign launched on Tuesday, March 5th, and generated 32% of its $1500 funding goal in its first day. With a goofy and over-the-top promotional video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMAzwkwVZsQ , Justice Velocity promises to deliver on all the action movie tropes–espionage, heists, hijinks, and fast cars are all essential to the blood-pumping action.
The title is independent game designer Clipper Arnold and Polyhedra Games’ first official title, though they have the help of Nathon Paoletta (of World Wide Wrestling and more) doing the final layout design, and punchy visuals from Swedish artist Anders Karlsson.
The game boasts quick character creation, making it ideal for one-shots and short campaigns, octane chips for kicking it into high gear for climactic action sequences, and dynamic vehicle rules for different styles of races and car combat.
In their launch day update, Polyhedra Games announced an upcoming liveplay video from The Grizzled Geek, (as well as the possibility of some stretch goals on the horizon. You can view the campaign here – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/polyhedragames/justice-velocity-an-action-movie-inspired-tabletop?ref=557316&token=b3808dec
- Website – polyhedragames.com
- Facebook – facebook.com/polyhedragames
- Instagram – instagram.com/polyhedragames
- Twitter – twitter.com/polyhedragames
- Email – polyhedragames@gmail.com
Introducing Justice Velocity
An Action Movie Inspired Tabletop Roleplaying Game
What is the velocity of justice? Many say it’s difficult to quantify– that it even evades common metrics of measurement or full understanding by the rule of law. One thing’s for sure, however: you should be able to gauge it as it comes hurtling towards you. Hands grip steering wheels as rubber grips concrete. Seedy underbellies trade bullets with the law and set moral shades of gray ablaze. Napalm and nitrous are as indispensable as your ability to hack or maneuver cold machinery.
Inspired by action movies like the Fast & Furious franchise, Rush Hour, or Bad Boys, and anime like Initial D– Justice Velocity puts you in the driver’s seat. It’s an exercise in collaborative storytelling that puts the stakes of a race or the fate of deadly computer viruses up to your players’ skills, abilities, and the roll of the dice.
There’s something exhilarating about sending Hot Wheels™ down a track into their doom. There’s something thrilling about unnecessary explosions. There’s something amazing about seeing whether or not a car can jump over the opening of a live volcano. Justice Velocity is an unapologetic, adrenaline-fueled romp which delves into the nature of exergy and machine fetishism. It pushes physics, bodies, and systems to their limits. When justice calls, sometimes it’s the gruff, meat-headed, cargo-pants-donning voice of utilitarianism that picks up the phone. This is a foray into that universe… one in which steel, muscle, and ingenuity can prevail and save the world from certain peril.
Justice Velocity is made by Polyhedra Games. It comes to Kickstarter Tuesday, March 5th. You can pre-screen the promo video here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMAzwkwVZsQ , and see a preview of the Kickstarter campaign here – https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/polyhedragames/justice-velocity-an-action-movie-inspired-tabletop?ref=557316&token=b3808dec . Interviews, beta rules, and other materials are available upon request.
What Kickstarters Excite Creators? CAPERS Noir, Dino Wrangers, Manifest, and Absconding
I backed into this column in which I ask RPG Kickstarter creators what games they’re excited about on Kickstarter/Indiegogo, but I’ve grown to really enjoy getting other creator’s feedback. It lets creators share what they are looking at and helps shine the spotlight on quality games. Some of the RPGs listed below are collecting multiple recommendations, all genuine votes for their quality. This week there are recommendations from:
- CAPERS Noir RPG by NerdBurger Games
- Dino Wranglers – Zine Quest by Rachelle Dube
- Manifest the RPG by Waypoint Game Designs
- Absconding: Indie RPG zine for 5E by Joshua Rivera
CAPERS Noir RPG by NerdBurger Games
Ends: Thu, April 11 2019 9:00 PM EDT.
“An RPG of Criminals, Cops, Mystery, and Monsters…with Super-Powers!”
Craig Campbell of NerdBurger Games recommends:
“I’m digging Hair Metal Horror: Glam Metal Horror RPG Zines. Being a child of the 80s and a huge horror movie fan, this one really speaks to me. Plenty of 80s horror movies had rocking soundtracks, and the mash up of glam metal and horror is just too good to pass up. Mash ups like these just go to prove, if you can think of an RPG idea, there’s a game for it. The description makes it look incredibly fun with plenty of horrific elements, but dotted through with glam rock and humor.
Also on my radar is Dino Wranglers – Zine Quest. A family RPG, it’s about wrangling dinosaurs but with a thoughtfulness that can be missing from some games. Specifically, the characters are “tending to the safety and wellbeing of the creatures in their charge.” The game uses a token system that younger players will easily grasp. It’s designed by a parent who found they were having a hard time enjoying playing RPGs with their kids. So they made a game that would do what those other games didn’t. And that’s very much in the spirit of indie game design.”
Dino Wranglers – Zine Quest by Rachelle Dube
Ends: Thu, March 28 2019 11:08 AM EDT.
“A pick-up-and-play narrative RPG for families about overcoming obstacles as a dinosaur wrangler.”
Rachelle Dube recommends:
“With Kickstarter’s Zine Quest and several game designer friends putting out bigger projects, 2019 has been absolutely brutal. My wallet only goes so far! I’ll limit myself to three I pulled out of a virtual hat.
First: Escape from Dino Island by the Sams—Sam Roberts and Sam Tung. We’re all about dinosaurs in our house! The fact that it is designed for one- or two-shots makes it perfect for those random nights friends pop by or plague hits our usual gaming groups. If Sam Tung wasn’t doing, you know, his own Kickstarter, I would have loved to have his art in Dino Wranglers! This game checks a lot of boxes for me, and I can’t wait to get it!
Second: Mythsea: Legends of the Borderlands by Jay Iles. She describes it as emulating, “Final Fantasy 12 crossed with Steven Universe. You’re crystal-powered heroes sent to a conquered territory to make it useful for your masters, but as you play (and grow invested in the territory) you’ll develop new loyalties and see your homeland in a whole new light.” I’m probably one of two people that haven’t ever played any Final Fantasy games, but it’s beautiful and engaging, so I’m interested anyway!
Third: Swordsfall: An Afropunk Sci Fantasy Setting by Brandon Dixon, AKA Tikal. I’ve been following him for a while on Twitter, and I’ve been following this project for a while now. I love everything about the setting and art, I can’t wait to get it on my table. Full disclosure, Tikal will write a scenario for my game, Dino Wranglers, if it hits the $2100 stretch goal.“
NOTES:
- Dino Wranglers was recommended by Craig Campbell (CAPERS Noir RPG above) as well as Justin Ryan Isaac (Cade’s Big Book o’ Booze) and Riley Rethal (synthesis.) in a prior column.
- Expect another Swordsfall recommendation from Waypoint Game Designs (Manifest the RPG).
Manifest the RPG by Waypoint Game Designs
Ends: Mon, April 1 2019 3:00 PM EDT.
“An exciting and immersive Sci-Fi Western tabletop roleplaying game”
Waypoint Game Designs recommends:
“Here at Waypoint Game Designs we’re really intrigued by Grey Cells. We’re big fans of the crime genre. And the exclusion of an charisma stat is an interesting way to equalize the player’s opportunity to “break the case.”
The other live Kickstarter we’re fans of is Justice Velocity by Polyhedra Games. Their fast and loose, adrenaline filled RP experience seems like it will be a lot of fun to play at any table.
We are totally in love with Swordsfall: An Afropunk Sci Fantasy Setting. We missed it on our first pass because it looks like a setting guide, not a complete game. But on closer inspection it looks like there’s so much to love, we’ve already backed it and the people who make it are kind of amazing. And we can’t wait to get our hands on it!!”
NOTES:
- Manifest the RPG was recommended by Fraser Simons (The Veil: Inheritance, a biopunk tabletop roleplaying game) in last week’s column.
- Swordsfall appears above (recommended by Rachelle Dube of Dino Wranglers – Zine Quest).
- W.M. Akers (Comrades: A Revolutionary RPG) recommended Grey Cells in the same column.
Absconding: Indie RPG zine for 5E by Joshua Rivera
Ends: Thu, March 28 2019 8:45 AM EDT.
“Absconding is one part literary/fantasy/sci-fi journal, one part ephemeral art magazine, and one part fifth edition game material.”
Joshua Rivera recommends:
“I backed these projects, and I want to give them a highlight.
CHTHONIC CORNBELT by Lee Barber is a weird little zine that’s pulpy and resembles advertising print design from the 1980s. It’s implied world reminds me of what an 80s baby would dream up in their notebook margins between boring math lectures and a substitute teacher day. The little pieces of ephemera on display will surely be a springboard for some fantastic ideas.
Be Witching is an RPG from Anna Anthropy, whose work in indie games I’ve followed for over a decade now. This is an adorably designed, inclusive game where players are even encouraged to draw their characters, which should be a very nice twist the first time I’ll run this. Also, this ostensibly being a game simulating prom night interviews, this is likely to get very passionate.
Yugika appears to be a zine full of RPG miscellany from Joesph Reid and friends. Each copy will also be painstakingly hand-bound with string, which is just fascinating to me. Yugika seems to be having trouble making it’s goal, so I really hope people decide to check this out and help bring it to fruition.“
PRESS RELEASE – NerdBurger Games Presents CAPERS Noir!
NerdBurger Games Presents CAPERS Noir!
It’s the 1940s in the United States. World War 2 has wrought such destruction that the veil between this world and the world of the dead has thinned. Monsters have crept in. You are a criminal or a cop in a noir landscape of crime, corruption, red eyes in the shadows, and bumps in the night…and you have super-powers!
PRESS RELEASE – The Seas of Vodari – Swashbuckling & Sorcery for 5E
The Seas of Vodari – Swashbuckling & Sorcery for 5E
The Seas of Vodari Kickstarter campaign will be launching on Wednesday, March 13th, 2019 at 2pm EDT and will run for 30 days.
The Seas of Vodari is a full color book that we are offering in hardcover and PDF. This book provides 200+ pages of material for gamemasters to run exciting seafaring campaigns for 5th Edition. Your players will get tons of options for creating characters and you’ll get support to run a world full of swashbuckling action and magical adventure.
The World of Vodari
Long ago, a vast continent was annihilated and all but the outer edge of the continent sank to the bottom of the sea. The devastation left only a scattered few to start rebuilding their civilization on a ring of islands…
The Seas of Vodari campaign setting contains all of the iconic things you’d expect in a fantasy setting, but in a world with more water than land, much of the familiar becomes surprising and new.
- Dungeons can be found deep below the surface of the sea in the form of shipwrecks and lost cities.
- The most dangerous monsters are found below the waves, such as sea dragons, megalodons and krakens.
- Nature becomes as deadly as the most powerful monsters with furious hurricanes, catastrophic tsunamis, and fiery volcanoes.
Islands are modular by nature and the book was designed for you to use as a detailed setting or to pick and choose what you like for your own game world.
The Seas of Vodari campaign setting was created to support seafaring adventures that focus on the crew of a ship hunting sea monsters, exploring mysterious uncharted islands, visiting bustling port cities, following maps to find buried treasure, and battling cutthroat pirates. The setting is also well suited to running campaigns in its large port cities, with swashbuckling heroes getting mixed up with fierce rivals, notorious crime syndicates, feuding nobles, and scheming politicians.
What’s In the Book?
The Seas of Vodari will provide you with tons of material to run an entire seafaring campaign or just a single adventure…
Player Options
New races and subraces, classes and subclasses, backgrounds, and feats for your players to create seafaring adventurers.
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Gunslinger class with three subclasses (Arcane Gunmaster, Pistolero, and Musketeer)
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Swashbuckling and sorcery inspired options for all 12 classes to fit a seafaring world
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A full pantheon for clerics and paladins
Weapons, Armor & Equipment
New weapon, armor and equipment options to offer your players. You’ll find flintlock pistols and rifles, cutlasses and sabres, compasses, spyglasses, and more.
Magical Relics & Spells
New spells, magic items, and powerful ancient relics with a focus on sailing, naval combat, and underwater exploration.
A World of Islands to Explore
Explore countless islands, with details for over thirty islands, a dozen cities, wilderness encounters, ruins, and more.
Rules for Swashbuckling Adventures
Run swashbuckling adventures with advice and rules for duels, social combat, naval chases, plunder tables, and the code of the sea.
Adventures to Run
‘Island with No Name’ starter adventure for levels 1 to 3. Quick run scenarios including a haunted ship, sunken shipwreck, treasure hunt, and more.
Ships to Sail
Sloops, brigatines, galleons, gnomish submersibles, dwarven ironsides, elven swan ships, ships of the damned, and more. Plus, we didn’t forget to add lots of cannons.
Allies & Adversaries
NPCs for your players to befriend or face as adversaries. Stats, motivations, illustrations, and more will be provided for each.
Monsters to Fight
Monsters to challenge, amuse, and terrify your players including sea dragons, windsurfing goblins, sirens, technofish, megalodons, and sea titans.
The learn more about The Seas of Vodari or to back this Kickstarter visit http://www.seasofvodari.com.
About Tribality
Tribality Publishing already has numerous best-selling PDFs under its belt. We self-funded those PDFs, but we wanted go big with for Seas of Vodari. We have secured a solid team of professionals on both the writing and production side. We are now moving into the final development stage of filling out the world with more player options, locations, magic, and monsters.
What Kickstarters Excite Creators? The Veil: Inheritance, Comrades, Tavern Encounters, and The Fan Favorite
I am always curious what Kickstarters inspire other tabletop RPG designers. Last week, I asked several friends what they were backing and enjoyed seeing the answers, the overlaps, and the interest they have in games. This week, I reached out to another set of RPG Kickstarter creators to find out what they’re excited to see in Kickstarter. What projects excite the creators of:
- The Fan Favorite: A Masks RPG Zine by Linda H. Codega
- Comrades: A Revolutionary RPG by W.M. Akers
- The Veil: Inheritance, a biopunk tabletop roleplaying game by Samjoko Publishing (Fraser Simons)
- Tavern Encounters: The Heroes’ Feast by Storm Bunny Studios (Jaye Sonia)
The Fan Favorite: A Masks RPG Zine by Linda H. Codega
Ends: Thu, March 14 2019 10:51 AM EDT.
“An old-school fan-made, DIY collaborative RPG Zine is a fandom supplement anthology for Masks: A New Generation by Magpie Games. We are paying all our contributors a fair and competitive rate, and are including a plurality of voices, all supported by an amazing system of fans and networks. As the editor and organizer of this zine, I’m immensely proud of this community of designers and writers who have dedicated their time and expertise to this zine.”
Linda H. Codega recommends:
“Zine Quest is winding down, but there are still a few RPG Zines I’m psyched about. If you’re looking for a last minute zine to support I recommend:
The Tomb of Black Sand: A more traditional OSR supplement full of fantastic and incredible art that is system neutral and an easy in for GMs. These creators make beautiful work, and sometimes it’s nice to do a traditional swords and sorcery gambit with a lot of leeway on the world you can create and system you can use.
Comrades: Fight the power, support anarchist ideals, fund indie artists, and bring down the corrupt government with your friends. This PbtA [Powered by the Apocalypse] game looks like it’s going to be fantastic, has multiple settings in the book, and includes playbooks that speak to traditional agitator roles and can also be used for both futuristic and ancient story narratives.”
Comrades: A Revolutionary RPG by W.M. Akers
Ends: Fri, March 15 2019 10:32 AM EDT.
“A tabletop roleplaying game about life in the revolutionary underground, where a roll of the dice can change the world.”
W.M. Akers recommends:
“I am extremely excited about Rosenstrasse, an “elegiac RPG” about romance across the boundary of religion in Berlin, 1933. I recommended it to the backers of Comrades because I felt like history-minded players who hate fascism—which is exactly the sort of person who likes my game—would enjoy this beautiful-looking RPG.
I’m also really intrigued by Grey Cells, a mystery RPG inspired by Agatha Christie’s Poirot. I write mystery novels—I’ve got one coming out in May—and I’m interested to see how they approach the difficulty of providing a satisfying mystery in a format that necessarily requires so much improvisation.”
The Veil: Inheritance, a biopunk tabletop roleplaying game by Samjoko Publishing (Fraser Simons)
Ends: Sun, March 31 2019 8:00 PM EDT.
“Bioengineered bounty hunters take on challenges in newly colonized space. Part Cowboy Bebop, part Blade Runner.”
Fraser Simons recommends:
“Obachan Panic! has a unique premise and stretch goals for hacking the concept into various OSR settings. Neurotic aunties who save the world. I’m down!
Manifest RPG is a sci-fi western game. While I’m not usually into westerns, the concept and explicit direction toward inclusion makes me hope that it’ll take all the interesting parts and discard the problematic things that tend to dog the genre.”
Tavern Encounters: The Heroes’ Feast by Storm Bunny Studios (Jaye Sonia)
Ends: Sun, April 7 2019 10:00 PM EDT.
“Tavern Encounters: The Heroes’ Feast is a gaming book designed to enhance your favorite tabletop roleplaying game experience!”
Jaye Sonia recommends:
“I’ve backed over sixty Kickstarters, so the things I look for in a KS may vary wildly. I tend to back a lot of my friends’ Kickstarters, especially when those friends worked on something. I’m not sure when they’re launching, but I have several friends working on the Starfinder Kickstarter for Grimmerspace; I’m excited to see it, especially since my friends Ben McFarland, Lou Agresta, and Erik Frankhouse are working on it.
Mind you, two of the Kickstarters (outside of stuff I’m directly working on) right now aren’t live any long, but look incredibly cool nonetheless. I backed Into the Wyrd and Wild (which raised nearly 60k) because it looked breath-taking. A system-neutral bestiary, this book gave backers over 100 locations designed to keep your games weird and different. I can’t wait to get it.
I’m also gingerly flipping through my digital copy of The Expanse (which has some beautiful maps in it) and I can’t be happier with what I’ve seen so far. My hat goes off to Chris Pramas and the game design team over at Green Ronin.”
Kickstarter’s Zine Quest and Some Great Zines!
In November 2018, Kickstarter announced their upcoming [at the time] February initiative, Zine Quest. Since then, life has been about maintaining my schedule while preparing and running two RPG zines for the initiative, POWERED by the DREAMR and Love’s Labour’s Liberated for 5e (with John McGuire and Leland Beauchamp). While PbtD has funded, LLL continues until this Saturday. As a wrap up to my first two Kickstarters, I decided to reach out to some of my fellow Zine Questers to ask what RPG zines on Kickstarter that they’re interested in reading/playing? What follows are their responses.
NOTE One: I asked each contributor separately, so they didn’t know that they’d be together in the article. Thus, when they praise each other’s games, it’s genuine.
NOTE Two: I specifically asked each commenter to avoid “anything lame like false praise of my KS project. While I’d take a shout out, I want your honest recommendation(s).” I say this because some of these knuckleheads recommended my project and, while I’m flattered, I don’t want it to seem like it’s nepotism (it’s more like inept-ism… or maybe they genuinely like them).
D.I.R.G.Ezine by Sean Hillman, Amanda Makepeace, Andrea Fornero, Rachel Quinlan, Nadia Heller, Dawn Gilreath, Paige Leitman, Erica Frank, and Christos Floratos
Ends: Sun, March 3 2019 10:04 AM EST.
“An RPG-zine based on encouraging diverse ideas and diverse creators. The focus will be on world building, design, and art.”
Sean Hillman recommends:
“Okay, Love’s Labour’s Liberated, for reals. I think the approach is exactly the kind of mechanics that support rich RP campaigns.
synthesis. Just the premise seems incredible and a zine full of mini-rpgs is perfect for my own indie tastes.
And finally, Girl Underground. I mean, what?! The premise of this zine seems fantastic, something my little girl could play. I am also curious about how it will meet expectations after doing so darn well.” [NOTE: Girl Underground has over 1,100 backers and over $12,000 as of this writing with 4 days to go.]
- Love’s Labour’s Liberated ends Sun, March 3 2019 1:33 AM EST.
- synthesis. ends Wed, March 13 2019 2:34 PM EST.
- Girl Underground ends Tue, March 5 2019 9:00 PM EST.
Harrowings From The Rime! by Drew Cochran
Ends: Sun, March 3 2019 2:19 PM EST.
“An RPG Zine to steal your soul!”
Drew Cochran recommends:
“Hey! I am the creator of The Epic of Dreams RPG, and the ringleader for the Harrowings From the Rime OSR Zine. There are so many legit projects happening in this movement, it’s a lot to take in. Three zines I’m really hyped about are What Happened at Wyvern Rock?, POWERED by the DREAMR, and Other Magic.
What Happened at Wyvern Rock has a great premise. The aliens and 50’s era superstitions mixed with the medieval setting has so many possibilities. The best part about this zine to me, so far, is simply the execution and art style. The specific way they’re tackling this fusion wets my hunger like nothing else. And it’s going to be 64 PAGES! They’re mad, and I love it. Can’t wait.
POWERED By The DREAMR is being made by my friend, Egg! I have been able to participate in a handful of PbtA games, and I love the overall design. DREAMR is great because it fuels poetic collaboration in roleplaying, which is one of the major themes in my own game, The Epic of Dreams. Anything that is able to elicit those inspired moments in roleplay automatically gets my support. I’m really looking forward to seeing how the class abilities turn out! Dream sorcery for DAYS!
Other Magic hits me in those same places. I have come to abhor the understanding of what magic is inside of mainstream gaming- buttons of power, on demand and without cost. Much of The Epic of Dreams tackles bringing the spirit of mysticism back into tabletop gaming, and Other Magic’s approach makes me truly excited! I can’t wait to see what traditions and sources they use for their rituals, and how they translate those into the OSR!”
- What Happened at Wyvern Rock? ends Sun, March 3 2019 7:36 AM EST.
- POWERED by the DREAMR ended but is available until Sun, March 3 2019 1:33 AM EST through Love’s Labour’s Liberated.
- Other Magic ended by the time this article went live.
RPG Zine Challenge: The Compleat Beastman by Jacob DC Ross / Thunderegg Productions
Ends: Wed, March 6 2019 3:26 PM EST.
“A OSR-themed RPG zine with stats for centaurs, minotaurs and all of the beastmen you’ll ever want. Includes minis for play!”
Jacob DC Ross recommends:
“I actually really am looking forward to your zines, especially POWERED by the DREAMR. I adore hacks of Powered by the Apocalypse.
For POWERED by the DREAMR, it looks like the perfect system to portray a delve into the most mysterious parts of the psyche. I really can’t wait to see what stories I can tell with it.
The other zine I really want to play is Girl Underground: I have a unique fondness for Alice in Wonderland. Girl Underground looks to be the ideal intersection of Lewis Carroll and roleplaying.”
- POWERED by the DREAMR ended but is available until Sun, March 3 2019 1:33 AM EST through Love’s Labour’s Liberated.
- Girl Underground ends Tue, March 5 2019 9:00 PM EST.
Cade’s Big Book o’ Booze by Justin Ryan Isaac
Ends: Fri, March 8 2019 3:28 PM EST.
“An alcohol related zine for use with 5th edition fantasy”
Justin Ryan Isaac recommends:
“This was a rough one considering I’ve backed or am backing 18 Zine Quest participants… That being said, these are the two I’m most excited to run/read/play.
Dino Wranglers. I love that Dino Wranglers is an easily accessible and inclusive in design, but still looks really rad and epic. I want a game I can teach to the kids at my library.
Draugr & Draculas. Josh is putting the bite back in vampires and giving stats to both Dracula and Elizabeth Bathory. To top it off the book is going to discuss making deals with the Devil and includes undead vikings!”
- Dino Wranglers ends Thu, March 28 2019 11:08 AM EST.
- Draugr & Draculas ends Wed, March 27 2019 8:48 AM EST.
synthesis. by Riley Rethal
Ends: Wed, March 13 2019 2:34 PM EST.
“a #zinequest full of mini-rpgs about metatextuality, perspective, and creating new meanings.”
Riley Rethal recommends:
“I’m very excited for my friend Erika Shepherd’s zine, Exodus, a game about trans angels on a road trip that uses the Belonging Outside Belonging system. The campaign will have just ended by the time this article goes up, but you can still get the pdf at fadingroots.itch.io/exodus!
As for campaigns that are still going, I just backed Dino Wranglers, another token economy game written specifically with kids and neurodiversity in mind, which is perfect for me because I work as the ttrpg specialist at a summer camp where a lot of the campers are neurodivergent.”
- Exodus ended by the time this article went live.
- Dino Wranglers ends Thu, March 28 2019 11:08 AM EST.
The Isle of The Amazons – RPG Zine for #ZineQuest by Eric Bloat / Bloat Games
Ends: Thu, March 21 2019 8:00 PM EST.
“2 issue Setting for Untold Adventure and other White Box based OSR RPGs.”
Eric Bloat recommends:
“Casket Land: This occult/weird west zine is a full game packed into the pages of a zine. The game is engine is Powered by the Apocalypse, which I’m not a huge fan of, but the writing, layout and killer high-contrast black and white art were enough to get me to back it. Just check out the example pages on the it’s campaign page and you’ll see that this zine is just dripping with flavor and style.
Cade’s Big Book o’ Booze is an alcohol related zine for use with any 5th edition fantasy, which I’ll convert it’s content to OSR for games, but I’m really looking forward to this one. There’s going to be rules for the condition: intoxicated, new weapons and equipment, magic spells and magic items, maybe just maybe I’ll get to make that Jackie Chan Drunken Master Monk I’ve always wanted to play!
A Pound of Flesh is a zine module for the Sci-Fi Horror OSR RPG Mothership, which itself was also a zine. Mothership was a modern marvel of modern layout and game design and so I was really excited to see what all A Pound of Flesh would bring to the table. Plus, it’s being written by Chance Phillips, a rising star in the ranks of the OSR, who’s done some really great stuff for Lamentations of the Flame Princess.
Love’s Labour’s Liberated – Cavaliers, Enchanters and Magic Items for 5e fills a void that is quite overlooked in roleplaying games, romance. A significant portion of fantasy fiction is dedicated to this genre but it’s definitely overlooked in the gaming materials.
Dead Halt is the perfect project for the Kickstarter Zine Quest initiative. You take a young, talented and energetic creative, a unique, wacky way-out-there concept, and mix with a retro-sci-fi setting/scenario and have the perfect kind of material to create an rpg related zine. I was onboard from very early in the campaign and I’m telling you the stuff this group is coming just continues to impress me more and more. Plus, I just love the word: ClunkPunk. ‘Nough Said.”
- Casket Land ends Sat, March 9 2019 12:00 AM EST.
- Cade’s Big Book o’ Booze ends Fri, March 8 2019 3:28 PM EST.
- A Pound of Flesh ends Thu, March 7 2019 9:00 AM EST.
- Love’s Labour’s Liberated ends Sun, March 3 2019 1:33 AM EST.
- Dead Halt ended by the time this article went live.
Love’s Labour’s Liberated for 5e by John McGuire, Leland Beauchamp, and Egg Embry
Ends: Sun, March 3 2019 1:33 AM EST
“Cavaliers, Enchanters, Magic Items, the ideals of Chivalry, the power of Enchantment, and the magic of love deserve a place in your 5th Edition fantasy campaign.”
POWERED by the DREAMR, a PbtA RPG #ZineQuest by Egg Embry
NOTE: POWERED by the DREAMR (a Powered by the Apocalypse zine) by Egg Embry is available through the Love’s Labour’s Liberated for 5e Kickstarter campaign.
“Dreamrs, we are such stuff as dreams are *Powered* on, and our little life is rounded *by the Apocalypse*. Complete PbtA RPG in a zine.”
Egg Embry recommends:
“My friends.
Eric Bloat is expanding his OSR horizons again. This time, you get to play Amazons. The art is perfect, the concept is the right amount of bringing classical stories forward, it’s OSR, something Eric (literally) wrote several books on, and it’s waiting for you – The Isle of The Amazons – RPG Zine for #ZineQuest.
Drew Cochran’s Harrowings From The Rime! is an arctic setting that will make every OSR a colder place to play in. I’m eager to play in the frozen lands where the enemies and elements compete to see which is deadlier!
Sean Hillman is bringing new voices into gaming through D.I.R.G.Ezine. This one is exciting because I game with Sean (he lives in metro Atlanta) and it includes work from Dawn Gilreath, another gamer in our group, and the Tessera Guild’s own award winning artist, Amanda Makepeace. It’s going to shine!
Justin Ryan Isaac is one of the newest, smartest creators starting in OSR. He’s doing a 5e zine about booze and, as his first project, it’s more than finding its audience! Cade’s Big Book o’ Booze is humorous and useful (cause Drink & Dragons is real) so this zine will be what he’s known for until his “big” work arrives.
Riley Rethal and I have talked a bit since I found synthesis. We discussed her ambitions to do a long-form RPG using a favorite property, and the cliff note ideas she shares are the perfect tone for the project. The excitement around that work, the zine, and RPG in general, is infectious and I know it will make synthesis a win! For the zine, the concept, multiple succinct RPGs, speaks to me as it gives you a variety of options to play and, I feel, it will open up new avenues of design through sheer originality.
Jacob DC Ross is adding beastmen and miniatures to your OSR game, and, if you’re a publisher, stock art to your library. I love books/zines of monsters, so that’s a win. Adding the minis makes it even better. But, as an individual with two zines coming out, RPG Zine Challenge: The Compleat Beastman is an excellent return on my investment as a publisher. Looking at the sample art, I’m excited about this!
From OSR to 5e to eclectic to diverse, these are some of the zines I’m eager to dive into!”
- D.I.R.G.Ezine ends Sun, March 3 2019 10:04 AM EST.
- Harrowings From The Rime! ends Sun, March 3 2019 2:19 PM EST.
- RPG Zine Challenge: The Compleat Beastman ends Wed, March 6 2019 3:26 PM EST.
- Cade’s Big Book o’ Booze ends Fri, March 8 2019 3:28 PM EST.
- synthesis. ends Wed, March 13 2019 2:34 PM EST.
- The Isle of The Amazons – RPG Zine for #ZineQuest ends Thu, March 21 2019 8:00 PM EST.
PRESS RELEASE – POWERED by the DREAMR (PbtA) and Love’s Labour’s Liberated (5e) at Kickstarter’s Zine Quest
Love’s Labour’s Liberated introduces the theme of February, love, into your 5e campaign. Part of Kickstarter’s RPG Zine Quest, this publication focuses on a romanticized view of Cavaliers, Enchanters, Magic Items, and more for the world’s most popular roleplaying game. Each component is designed to be a hook that draws the player into the game utilizing character motivations. This zine will enhance the roleplaying flavor of the classes while offering chances for characters to buy-in to the setting and its challenges.
Focusing on a new version of the fighter archetype, the Cavalier of Love, a 5e-realized Enchanter, and Magic Items with lovely story hooks, these rules expansions ramp up the quiet moments between combat. Each chapter will lead with a stanza of poetry by Leland Beauchamp. These pieces can standalone or be combined as an adventure hook. Through this zine, you’ll experience the creator’s love of roleplaying and 5e, and be able to share it with your table.
Developed by longtime friends, novelist, John McGuire of The Dark That Follows, Hollow Empire, and the graphic novel, The Gilded Age, poet and gamer, Leland Beauchamp, and RPG journalist, Egg Embry of EN World, Knights of the Dinner Table, Open Gaming Network, and the Tessera Guild, this book is the culmination of years of their experiences with ROLE-playing over ROLL-playing. Available to backers as a $5 PDF or $12 print zine including the PDF, the campaign offers bonuses like the option to declare your love in the zine, create love-based magic items, or even handwritten poems. The romanticized virtues of chivalry, the mystical nature of enchantment, magic love potions, and the passion of poetry all await you in Love’s Labour’s Liberated:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/737521052/loves-labours-liberated-a-5e-rpg-zine
Love’s Labour’s Liberated for 5e by John McGuire, Leland Beauchamp, and Egg Embry. An RPG zine focusing on romance and love in fantasy is available during Kickstarter’s Zine Quest.
Read John McGuire’s thoughts on here – http://tesseraguild.com/kickstart-the-game-loves-labours-liberated/
#LoveAtTheGamingTable #D&D #5e #ZineQuest #Kickstarter
***
POWERED by the DREAMR is a full Powered by the Apocalypse tabletop roleplaying game in a zine, and it’s live on Kickstarter. In POWERED by the DREAMR, you are a Dreamr who possesses limitless powers within other’s dreams. Until you wake, you travel between the subconscious of sleepers, living out their dreams, searching out their secrets, or battling nightmares. Set in a dream state you and your friends collaborate on, this game maximizes the narrative rules to give each dream a surreal quality. As you navigate an ever-evolving universe of dream logic, your Moves will lead to success, reveal hidden truths, result in laughter, or unleash your character’s nightmares.
Using a variant of the Powered by the Apocalypse phenomenon (originally seen in Apocalypse World as well as Monsterhearts 2, Dungeon World, and more), this game keeps dreams vibrant and varied via random questions that alter the fantasy or reveal a characters personal demons. You decide the dream objectives you must complete before the sleeper wakes. Will you combat a supernatural killer? Steal secrets? Defend the sleeper from dream thieves? Inspire a life altering dream epiphany? Live out your fantasy life? Or something wholly original?
As part of Kickstarter’s February initiative, Zine Quest, this project is the solo debut tabletop roleplaying game by RPG journalist, Egg Embry (Knights of the Dinner Table, EN World, Open Gaming Network, Tessera Guild). Available to backers as a PDF for just $5 or $12 for the print zine and PDF. Making an RPG via Kickstarter is his dream manifest and you can share in that fantasy by checking out the POWERED by the DREAMR Kickstarter at:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/eggembry/powered-by-the-dreamr-a-pbta-rpg-zinequest
POWERED by the DREAMR by Egg Embry uses a variant of the Powered by the Apocalypse system. A full RPG in a zine that lets you live out other’s dreams or combat nightmares, it’s available through Kickstarter’s Zine Quest.
#WhatsYourDream #PoweredByTheDreamr #PbtA #ZineQuest #Kickstarter
***
Kickstarter’s Zine Quest is live in February. This initiative recalls the nostalgia of the early days of RPGs and their zine culture. Focusing on tabletop roleplaying zines, single-color publications printed 5.5” x 8.5” (folded sheets of 8.5” x 11”). These DIY projects focus on everything RPG-related from adventures, maps, monsters to articles, RPG comics, and interviews. So far, the response has been overwhelming with over twenty projects launched and many more to come. They touch on gaming engines like 5e, Powered by the Apocalypse, The Fantasy Trip, original systems, and more. Zine Quest projects are coming from first time creators to established publishers like Steve Jackson Games, and Adventure-A-Week Games. These high-energy, passion projects await you on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/zine-quest?ref=section-homepage-promo-zine-quest
Kickstart the Game – Love’s Labour’s Liberated
Check out Leland Beauchamp’s, Egg Embry’s, and John McGuire’s 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons Zine!
You just never know how something is going to be received. How something may or may not connect with someone else. Or even whether or not the right people will see the thing that you’ve created.
The first part of it is in the creation… the idea. Then you have to do the work and get it out there. And then you have to try and spread the word as best (or better) you can.
And then, when it is all said and done, you just don’t know what’s going to happen.
***
So I am a part of a new Kickstarter:
Love’s Labour’s Liberated.
We launched this past Friday and through the weekend were a quarter of the way to our goal.
Launching a Kickstarter means that I get to relive that month of periodically checking to see if anyone else had pledged anything in the last five minutes since the last time I checked the page. 🙂
This project is apart of Kickstarter’s ZineQuest that they are promoting. Basically, they are harkening back to a time where you ordered newsletters from the backs of magazines in an effort to connect with other people, get news that no one else would know, or maybe even new games that someone had created in their basement. You were in a little community.
Of course, in today’s internet world, pretty much any information you’d ever want is right at your fingertips. Do you want to know how to cook a particular dish? No going to the cookbook, just go to Youtube and watch someone walk you through it. Need to know who else was with the Spartans when they held the Hot Gates against Xerses? Just a click away.
This Kickstarter is much more do it yourself. It’s black and white. Approximately 36 pages. And it will be focused on something Egg Embry, Leland Beauchamp, and myself are all interested in: roleplaying the things that happen in between you blowing up things with your fireball spells.
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Throughout the various roleplaying games that I’ve taken part of, the moments that stick out the most are when the characters really come to life. Normally that isn’t because they killed a bunch of goblins. No, it was because they connected to something within the story. They connected to the characters the Game Master had created in order to try to ground the players to the world. At the core of it all is this connection to Love.
It could be as simple as saving your lost love from the clutches of the evil wizard. Or seeing the loss of a character and wanting to make things better. It’s not about saving the world but instead becomes saving someone’s heart.
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Image by Rick Hershey. Modified by Egg Embry.
And then there is Chivalry. I like the idea of someone who stands for something bigger than themselves. They have an honor they hold up to show others. It isn’t easy in the games either. A good Game Master is going to put you to the test to see whether you break some truth you claim to have.
The knights of the story books. The ones who go on quests for king and country. Who do their best to make the world around them a little bit better by defending those who can’t defend themselves.
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Leland had a character in one of our campaigns in college that was maddening in how he played her. Aurora was an Enchantress who almost never cast any spells. She never needed to. He’d have them prepared, just in case, but time and time again situations would come up and he’d find a way around using his powers. After a while I think it became a little mini-game of his to see if he could get through a session without casting magic.
That’s the type of wizard I want to play, someone who is looking at all the angles and making sure they have exhausted every other option before falling back on their abilities.
That’s the type of wizard we want to introduce in the Zine.
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You never know who is going to potentially read your work. But you hope that someone might read through our Zine and get a little idea here or there to introduce into their own games. Maybe they see a potential angle they never really explored before.
I hope you take the opportunity to check out the Kickstarter.
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John McGuire is the creator/author of the steampunk comic The Gilded Age. The Trade paperback collecting the first 4 issues is finally back from the printers! If you would like to purchase a copy, go here!
Want to read the first issue for free? Click here! Already read it and eager for more?
Click here to join John’s mailing list.
His other prose appears in The Dark That Follows, Hollow Empire, Beyond the Gate, and Machina Obscurum – A Collection of Small Shadows.
He can also be found at www.johnrmcguire.com
PRESS RELEASE – NOW YOU GET TO BE THE MONSTER!
NOW YOU GET TO BE THE MONSTER!
After over 25 years of development and play-testing, table-top role playing game Interstellar Mercenary (I.S.M.) is launching its Kickstarter Campaign on 18 February 2019!
With the realism and grittiness of Game of Thrones, unique world and creature design to rival Star Wars or Lord of the Rings and a focus on strategic decision making and tactical combat using the original I.S.M. Combat Simulation system: I.S.M. will suck you in and keep you coming back for more – if you survive.
You are an Interstellar Mercenary (I.S.M.), part of an elite team of hired killers and specialists, on a distant alien planet, in the service of the feudal Kisrian Empire. Ex-serial murderers, thieves, cyborgs, alien-hybrid creations, cyber-terrorists, disgraced royalty and cerebral warriors all have a place on the team, provided the Empire deems your ‘talents’ useful enough. To further complicate matters each mercenary has their own hidden agenda or motivation for joining the I.S.M. which may ultimately bring down the Empire you were enlisted to protect, or your fellow mercenary.
So if you are bored of human(ish) characters and want to be the monster; if you are tired of unrealistic consequences/character traits/enemies; if you want there to be a real and meaningful difference between using low or high guard; or want your decisions to matter while always knowing death is on the doorstep: then I.S.M is for you!
Chad Aston
Writer/producer
Check out the trailer and website here: www.ismrpg.com and Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/ISMGamesMaster/
Combat Quickstart rules and Character Sheets are here: www.ismrpg.com/
PRESS RELEASE – Light-hearted adventures for 5th edition fantasy on Kickstarter
Light-hearted adventures for 5th edition fantasy on Kickstarter
Game designers John Scott and Terry Herc launch their Kickstarter for Professor Humbert Drumsley: 5e Adventure Codex
January 29, 2019 – Game designers John Scott and Terry Herc have launched their first Kickstarter campaign for Professor Humbert Drumsley: 5e Adventure Codex, a collection of short adventures for the 5th edition of the world’s oldest fantasy roleplaying system.
Since first publishing in 2017, Terry Herc has been producing supplements for 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons on the DMs Guild. With a number of best selling products, Terry is bringing this experience to Kickstarter, along with John Scott as co-writer on their new book.
Professor Humbert Drumsley is filled with lore and short side treks, perfect for when characters are between major adventures and need something a bit lighter. Heavily influenced by Rincewind from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld and the Ice King in Adventuretime, you’ll find Humbert a humorous addition to any campaign.
“Our playtesters have really enjoyed Humbert,” said John. “They really caught on with the premise of him as a menace to the town. They’re not so much “questing” as they are in “damage control” mode.”
Some of the adventures in the Codex include Magic Items on the Loose, Ogre for Mayor, and Bats, Braziers, and Bugbears. One of the adventures, Oh, I Hate Spiders!, has already been released as a freebie on DriveThruRPG to help promote the campaign.
“We really wanted to get some great art in the book,” said Terry. “That’s why we’re using some amazing pieces by Rick Hershey of Fat Goblin Games and Jeremy Hart of Jeremy Hart Illos. Not only that, we’ve got Travis Legge of Aegis Studios lined up to do the layout, which is truly fantastic.”
The pledge options on the Kickstarter include the PDF, as well as print-on-demand softcover and hardcover options. There’s also an exclusive signed Collectors Editions, which includes a personalized message and free shipping to anywhere in the world. “We’re really excited to deliver our first printed book to backers,” said Terry. “Using DriveThruRPG’s print-on-demand service will help us get books out to our backers quickly.”
“We’ve got some really great stretch goals planned,” said John. “Not just Funding stretch goals, we’ve also got Social and Backer goals too. We’re also looking forward to engaging with our backers, some of our stretch goals will need their input.”
“We’re very excited to bring this to Kickstarter. With a little help from the roleplaying community, we can bring this book to life. And with some luck, we can smash through our stretch goals and make the finished book even bigger,” added Terry.
Professor Humbert Drumsley: 5e Adventure Codex is accepting pledges on Kickstarter through March 1st.
Project link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/terryherc/professor-humbert-drumsley-5e-rpg-adventure-codex
PRESS RELEASE – Awaken: The Liborian Saga is live now on Kickstarter!
Studio 2 Publishing Inc. and The Games Collective are happy to announce that the new Kickstarter campaign for the dark fantasy tabletop RPG Awaken, The Liborian Saga, is live right now!
The campaign aims to fund a new expansion book in which players can finally discover more about one of the most mysterious and fascinating part of Salvora, the islands of Liboria. The book will extend the regional lore (providing new informations about the three Great Cities of the region with detailed maps, histories, locations of interest, and story hooks), will add new antagonists, monsters, items and weaponry, will explore the regional Orders and cults, and will add new rules that players can use to build their own Gifts and Superior Gifts. The book will also includes a new playable adventure, “The Death Cycle”.
People that will support The Liborian Saga through Kickstarter will be able to receive some exclusive goodies, like t-shirts, bookmarks, posters and a special leather dust jacket edition of the book. Reaching specific stretch goals will also guarantee to all the backers a large variety of additional contents, like a 3D map of Salvora, the hardcover upgrade for the book, and new digital sourcebooks.
You can find more specific informations about all the pledges, the add-ons and the stretch goals directly on the Kickstarter page of The Liborian saga:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2084336794/awaken-the-liborian-saga
About Awaken. Developed by the croatian team The Games Collective, Awaken is a dark fantasy role-playing game that takes place in a war-ravaged world, heavily influenced by Slavic and Mediterranean folklore. The Alliance of the Great Cities is slowly fading out, and the Vargans, monstrous creatures who once caused a war that nearly devastated the continent, still hide in the shadows of the underground, ready to come out. The only hope for the people of Salvora are the Vasalli, powerful humans gifted with abilities capable of changing the course of history: will they bear the burden of being the protectors of humanity, or will they allow themselves to be corrupted by power and succumb to the darkness that delves in every heart?
About The Games Collective. The team was founded by Marko Matijević Sekul and Zoltan Lečei, two avid readers, lifelong game enthusiasts, and storytelling fanatics that want to share their vision and experience with every reader, player, and explorer out there.
About Studio 2 Publishing Inc.. Thanks to their extensive production and distribution experience, Studio 2 published many games from different companies, including Pinnacle Entertainment, Exile Game Studio, Crafty Games, Engine Publishing, Hunters Books, Paradigm Concepts, TerrorBull Games, Reality Blurs, Third Eye Games, Alderac Entertainment, Dwarven Forge, Calliope Games, and Kuznia Gier.
More info about Awaken: http://www.awakenrpg.net
