3 Political RPG Kickstarters You Should Back – Top Secret, Misspent Youth, and Revolutionaries

This week, the Kickstarter gods rolled up three political [Editor’s Note – Using the term “political” is a stretch] RPGs that you should check out. Be a spy, be a rebel, or be a revolutionary! In this post we count down the latest political RPGs.

3) Top Secret: New World Order – the espionage roleplaying game by TSR Games
Ends on Thursday, July 27 2017 12:42 PM EDT.

“Top Secret: New World Order is the all-new tabletop RPG by Merle M. Rasmussen, creator of the first espionage role-playing game in 1980

TOP SECRET: NEW WORLD ORDER is the brand-new espionage role-playing game by Merle M. Rasmussen.

You are an agent of ICON, the International Covert Operatives Network. Working alone or with a team, you are tasked with the missions that other agencies can not, or will not, handle.

TOP SECRET: NEW WORLD ORDER is set in today’s world of shadowy organizations, shifting alliances, high technology, and unpredictable threats.

What’s in the box?

 

The writers’ guidelines for Top Secret: New World Order are available now! Get them here.

The guidelines are for:

  • Writers interested in being published by TSR
  • Publishing companies who want to release products compatible with Top Secret: New World Order
  • Writers planning to self-publish

The writers’ guidelines will be updated from time to time, so always visit http://topsecretnwo.com/writers-guidelines/ to make sure you’re viewing the most recent version.”

Want some more details about the game from the Q&A session they did with Dan Davenport? Click here.

Egg’s Thoughts:

Top Secret, the 1980s TSR RPG of spies, is back! This version is by the original creator, Merle M. Rasmussen. Do you want to spy? If so, it’s waiting for you to check out the Kickstarter and sling some dice. That alone is exciting, but what makes this a victory for wanna-lancers – RPG fans that want to become freelancers – is the free writer’s guidelines. You have the opportunity to write on Top Secret for TSGames or work on your own Top Secret content! With the free writer’s guidelines and a PDF of the core rules ($10), this is the wanna-lancing triple crown:

  • Work on D&D [Well, it’s not D&D, but it is one of TSR’s other hits, Top Secret!]
  • With Gary Gygax [or his sons, Luke and Ernie Gygax!]
  • At TSR [Sure it’s the spiritual successor to the original TSR, but it’s TSR!]

Who wants to be a tabletop RPG freelancer on TSR Games‘ Top Secret: New World Order – the espionage roleplaying game? This is the chance to fulfill that dream! You can find the link to their writer’s guidelines here.

You can find this Kickstarter here.

UPDATE – 2017-07-25 17:00 – The first third party production for Top Secret has been announced.
“Louis Porter Jr. Designs (LPJ Designs) is our first third-party publisher to begin the approval process for officially licensed Top Secret: New World Order missions. http://www.lpjdesign.com/

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Misspent Youth RPG Sell Out With Me

2) Misspent Youth RPG: Sell Out with Me! by Robert Bohl 
Ends on Thursday, July 27 2017 7:00 PM EDT.

“Misspent Youth: Teenage rebellion in a fucked-up future! Play the only kids that can stop some asshole from turning the world to shit.

The game

Misspent Youth is a tabletop RPG about friendship, standing up to bullies, and changing the world. The game is for 4 to 6 people, one of whom plays The Authority, the force that’s making the world a shitty place to live. The others all play Youthful Offenders (YOs), the only ones who can redeem the future from this pack of assholes trying to fuck it up.

Ever wanted to play The Hunger Games (but focused on friends), Clockwork Orange (but with heroic droogies), Hackers (but less goofy), Mad Max: Fury Road (but, again, with teenagers), or Avatar: The Last Airbender (but sci-fi)? This is the game for you. It’s fucking awesome; if you want to see for yourself how awesome, check out the full text of issue 1.1 on my site, for free download.”

Egg’s Thoughts:

Fight the system! Whether that system is the government or your GM, fight it! [Editor’s Note – Fight the GM!]

As RPGs go, this game ranks among the most meta. You are fighting the Authority and the GM is playing the Authority. It’s very on the nose as to how many tables role-play (players vs GM). There could be a year’s worth of Knights of the Dinner Table about this system.

For wanna-lancers, the cover fee includes a chance to game with Misspent Youth creator Robert Bohl online, or Pax Unplugged 2017, or Metatopia 2017. It’s like getting to jam with the band… but not because the bassist quit on the day of the show and forgot to tell anyone and you happened to have your bass in the trunk of your mom’s car… nothing like that…

You can find this Kickstarter here.

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1) REVOLUTIONARIES — American War of Independence RPG by Make-Believe Games 
Ends on Tueday, August 1 2017 12:32 PM EDT.

“Revolutionaries is a tabletop RPG set during the American War of Independence, where history’s truths hide a secret war.

Travel back in time to colonial America and an age of high-stakes diplomacy and perilous revolution in this roleplaying game of colonial struggle for independence. Experience first-hand the gripping drama of the politics and the grim realities of the war and not only meet the founding heroes who helped a nation break free, but become one yourself.

In this storytelling game you make history come alive by bearing witness to the events that gave birth to a mighty nation. But before it was history, it was news. Tell your own story within the sweeping saga of the “shot heard around the world” and do something few games have allowed before: make the difference and change the course of history.

A front-row view of the revolution that changed the history of the world, Revolutionaries is the game every history buff needs to have in their collection.”

Want more details, read their press release here.

Egg’s Thoughts:

Want to create a revolutionary or a soldier or civilian from the American revolution? This game offers that vanity press option for you to write up a character that Make-Believe Games will weave into the mythology of the American Revolution. It’s an interesting offer.

For the game, I am curious how it will address the darker aspects of the founding of the United States? Slavery? Woman’s [lack of] rights? Native American genocide? The controversial nature of the Second Amendment? And, of course, zombies? [Several of the reward tiers bundle in the games I Am Zombie and Toxicity.] To find these out, I hope I can attend the online Q&A with the creators that Dan Davenport is hosting. If you’re interested in learning more about the game, check out Dan Davenport’s Q&A with Make-Believe Games on Friday, July 28th, 2017 from 20:30 to 22:30 Central Time.

You can find this Kickstarter here.

 

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Let’s cover a bonus RPG.

BONUS) Overkill: The Action Movie Roleplaying Game by Joseph Barber 
Ends on Friday, July 28 2017 3:05 AM EDT.

“Overkill is a tabletop roleplaying game designed to make you feel like an action hero.

I have always loved action movies, since I was five and watching Indiana Jones and Star Wars. Though I haven’t loved roleplaying games quite as long, I started around 10 with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and have been fascinated with them ever since. I’ve played through all sorts of other systems, and while any number of them allow someone to play out various action movie scenarios, none of them seemed quite perfect for it.

Overkill is a system designed from the ground up to be easy to get into, and it’s designed to allow for rapid generation of characters and enemies meaning it can be less than half an hour from picking up the book to starting your first game. To help with this instead of using various different dice, the game uses playing cards, any old deck will do. This allows it to be played in a cabin in the middle of nowhere, on a plane, or at the classic basement table.

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Bigger Bad – New Zealand Dollars $150

A game like this is full of examples, and at this level you get to put your own ideas into the game. Make up a character using the rules in the book, and even improvise a little bit if you are feeling spicy. I will then add your character to the examples at the back of the character creation section. You also get all the previous stuff.

Biggest Bad – New Zealand Dollars $150

Have you ever wanted to be a game designer? Well now you don’t have to. I will talk to you through whatever means you want, email, skype, phone, and we will collectively develop a custom path, or a few feats, or whatever you want. This is for the creatively minded out there who want to have their own devious mind gunk put out there for all to see. And of course you get all the previous stuff as well.”

Want some more details about the game from the Q&A session they did with Dan Davenport? Click here.

Egg’s Thoughts:

For those that want to develop content, Overkill offers a new game system and, in this Kickstarter, you can design a NPC and/or a part of the game mechanics. You’ll work with Joseph Barber to create this and be a part of the fabric of this game. It’s an opportunity to be on the ground floor of a new system and leave your imprint on it.

You can find this Kickstarter here.

 

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Egg Embry, Wanna-lancer™

Wanna-lancer™ Checklist T-shirt available at Cafepress

Interested in being a wanna-lancer? Start with the official Wanna-lancer Checklist t-shirt or wall clock or ice tea glass!

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Egg Embry wrote comic book short stories, edited comic book series, wrote and drew a webcomic, and contributed to comic book journalism across the 2000s. Now, he buys the opportunity to write for a variety of tabletop role-playing games in the tradition of vanity press. His purchases have been published by:

Vanity Press: What Kickstarter RPG Rewards Are Available? – How to Write Adventure Modules That Don’t Suck

No vanity-press-buy-a-RPG-creator’s-credit this week. Instead, let’s focus on a publication to improve my RPG adventure module writing skills.

How to Write Adventure Modules That Don’t Suck by Goodman Games
Kickstarter campaign ends on Tuesday, February 14th, 2017 at 11:50 PM EST.

How to Write Adventure Modules That Don’t Suck

Their Pitch:

“Advice on how you can write great adventures – from the company that has published more than 200 top-notch adventures!

Many years ago, when Goodman Games was first starting out, many sage elders in the industry gave Joseph Goodman advice on what to publish. The most common advice received was: “Don’t publish adventure modules. They don’t sell.”

What we have learned since then is that advice is largely true. Poorly written, uninteresting, uninspired adventure modules do not sell.

But the good adventure modules – the exciting ones – that ones that read well and play well at the table – they become treasured memories for us all. They become legends. These adventures are the shared experience that builds our community. We remember our exploits, ask each other how a different group handled that encounter, and lament the secret doors we may have missed. We tell our friends about the climactic finale; we are in turns surprised and devastated and thrilled as we navigate the encounters. And most importantly, if an adventure is fun to play – if the game master and the players both have a blast – then we tell our friends, and they play, and they tell their friends, and that adventure becomes a community builder. It is played thousands and thousands of times. It becomes a legend.

How to Write Adventure Modules That Don’t Suck

This book is about how to create tabletop RPG adventures that become those legends. This book is about how to write great adventure modules – the ones that gamers can’t stop talking about.

This is the primer that every game designer needs to have on his bookshelf. I’ve been in the role-playing game design industry for more than forty years. In many of those years my products were the best selling products out that year. I learned many new things from this set of articles. I have learned things that have improved my design skills, so I know they will improve yours as well.

The essay writers include:

Jobe Bittman, Mike Breault, Anne K. Brown, Timothy Brown, Stephen Chenault, Casey Christofferson, Chris Clark, Michael Curtis, Chris Doyle, Joseph Goodman, Allen Hammack, Jon Hook, Kevin Melka, Brendan J. LaSalle, Lloyd Metcalf, Bill Olmesdahl, Steve Peek, Jean Rabe, Merle M. Rasmussen, Lester Smith, Harley Stroh, Jim Wampler, James M. Ward, Skip Williams, and Steve Winter.”

Egg’s Thoughts:

How to Write Adventure Modules That Don’t Suck

I want to be a tabletop role-playing game freelancer. I have some creator credits and experience that I’ve bought through RPG Kickstarters. What I don’t have is a mentor. HtWAMTDS is not that, but it is written by individuals that would be ideal mentors. The book promises to share their thought process for designing modules and adventure paths.

The cleverest part of Goodman Game’s Kickstarter is the updates, they’re samples of the book’s philosophy. Unlike so many projects, this one creates a clearer and clearer picture of what you are purchasing every time they add a new post.

To be clear, there are no vanity press rewards here. Instead, for as little as $12, you can get the PDF of HtWAMTDS and learn from those that have gone before and made money in this industry. Seems like money well spent.

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Egg Embry, Wanna-lancer

Egg Embry wrote comic book short stories, edited comic book series, wrote and drew a webcomic, and contributed to comic book journalism across the 2000s. Now, he buys the opportunity to write for a variety of tabletop role-playing games in the tradition of vanity press. His purchases have been published by:

  • Sasquatch Game Studio’s Primeval Thule for 5e (2015) available at DriveThruRPG.com – Writer
  • Ember Design Studios’ Yrisa’s Nightmare for 5e and Pathfinder available at DriveThurRPG.com – Writer
  • Ember Design Studios’ Rats in the Street for 5e and Pathfinder available at DriveThurRPG.com – Writer & Artist
  • Kobold Press’ Tome of Beasts for 5e available at KoboldPress.com – Playtester