Happy holidays! It’s gift time 2017 and Egg found several Kickstarter rewards under his Christmas tree. I thought I’d shout out and thank a few projects that went the extra mile and got their work out before the egg nog carried them away!
Egg Embry, RPG KS Ph.D. (Charles Schulz would have done this better!)
UPDATED – 2017-12-26 AT 12:19AM EST – This one rolled in during Christmas day.
REVOLUTIONARIES — American War of Independence RPGby Make-Believe Games sent the first installment of their RPG on Christmas day. The game is about a version of the American Revolution and the timing of this piece has a light connection to Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River in that both occurred on Christmas.
“… for your enjoyment is the first installment of the Revolutionaries game, Fires of Liberty. This exclusive PDF sampler is loaded with bonus game content. It includes the Newport, RI setting and your first taste of the secrets behind the Culper Ring.”
With that, I’m at four Kickstarter gifts for Christmas 2017. I also heard that the rest of the Mindjammer KS came in as well as the v0.9 Unity RPG. It’s been a good Christmas!
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UPDATED – 2017-12-26 AT 08:00AM EST – This one came in not two weeks before Christmas day (12/14), it still deserves a mention.
This is a bonus product, but it’s comprise of stuff you’re gonna get in the final product. It’s basically the first half of the final book, all the rules.
It does look exactly like the rules section in the final product (in content and layout.)
This will never contain micro-settings. You’ll get a separate corebook for that (which will have rules + micro-settings.)
This will be going on sale soon-ish (likely after the New Year), so we wanted to give it to you first.
The cover of the book! Design by Robert Denton, Art by Michael Leavenworth
… download the full 186-page Swedish Alpha PDF of Forbidden Lands, under the Swedish title Rov & Ruiner.
… the PDF of the combat cards used for the hidden combo system in close combat, and you can download initiative cards…
The current (Swedish) draft of the character sheet can be downloaded…, and the big map of the game is to be found…(Swedish, same version as has been shared before, English version…).
What makes this a white elephant gift? It’s all (mostly) in Swedish.
“For the international audience – we will complete the English Alpha in the weeks ahead, and we will try to share each chapter as they are completed to get the material to you as soon as humanly possible.”
Seriously, this is by no means a bad gift because it means that we’re well on our way to getting the finished (i.e., English) product. It gives me something to look forward to in 2018!
“Twas the night before the night before Christmas…
…and just after 3am, I sent you all the rulebook!”
This is a superhero RPG where superpowers are derived from emotions. I’m still reading it but so far it’s a good product and I’m looking forward to slinging some dice using it. For my part, I created one of the criminal NPCs, N. T. Edison, aka Unsequence. If the game sounds interesting to you, I’d suggest contacting Thomas Constantine Moore on Twitter about picking up a copy.
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The only physical Kickstarter product I got for under the tree was a comic I’d been eager to check out, GROND Book Three, Oublar’s Revenge. My buddy, Michael Phillips, spread the holiday cheer with two copies of the comic, three prints, three post cards, and three metal cards. His Kickstarter update with the shipping notice had an amusing holiday moment to share:
“I am glad to let you all know that your rewards, including the international orders have been shipped on time. It was interesting standing in line at the post office for 10 mins with only 6 people ahead of me before I got to the counter to start mailing all 55 packages. Minutes later, I looked backed to see that the line had grown to more than 25 people staring angrily at me while the clerk was checking each package one at a time. My wife was with me but soon left to go sit in the car and wait, fearing for her life that someone would go “POSTAL” on me for having so many packages at once. I was determined to get your rewards mailed before Christmas like I promised, so you can get them before the holidays.”
This is not an exhaustive list of what Kickstarters (and RPGs/comics) dropped for Christmas, it’s just what I got. Did you get any Kickstarter products under the tree (or in your inbox)? If so, feel free to comment them below.
I hope your holiday was as full of little pieces of happiness! For my part, I want to thank everyone in my life and all of the warm wishes I received.
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:
[Disclosure: I game with Alan Bahr (Dan Davenport is our GM) so I’m biased.]
EGG EMBRY – Thanks for speaking to me about your Kickstarter, Tiny Dungeon 2e. What’s the game about? [UPDATE – This product is available now here.]
ALAN BAHR – It’s my pleasure! Thank you for inviting me. Tiny Dungeon 2e is a fantasy roleplaying game in the same vein of D&D, but with a very stripped down, minimalist ruleset. It’s fantasy roleplaying at the core essence, without extra rules and bits added in.
EGG – What inspired you to create Tiny Dungeon 2e? Or maybe a better question is, why will TD2e be better than 1e? [UPDATE – This product is available now here.]
ALAN BAHR – TD1e was a revelation in minimalist gaming to me. I can’t overstate how important it was to me. TD2e just improves upon the original. Streamlined text and rules, more options (while being minimalist), and a focus on addressing some of the core issues found in 1e. We’ve clarified lots of rules, and made an effort to upgrade the visual and thematic elements of the game.
[Editor’s Note – You can read a detailed discussion about the differences here.]
EGG – As of this writing you’ve blown past your goal and keep knocking down stretch goals, is the Kickstarter meeting your expectations or exceeding them?
ALAN BAHR – Absolutely exceeding. I’d expected to be more successful than our past TinyD6 Kickstarters, but this was a whole new level for me.
EGG – This may be more for me than the readers but what’s the starting age for this RPG? With a name like *Tiny* Dungeon, I have to know if children are a part of your target audience?
ALAN BAHR – They are! The game is very simple, and it’s a great learner RPG for teaching children how to play!
Art by Anthony Cournoyer and Design by Robert Denton!
EGG – With the Tiny Frontiers and Tiny Frontiers: Mecha & Monsters Kickstarters, you delivered ahead of scheduled and the delivery estimate for the Kickstarter is less than 5 months, what’s your game plan for reaching that goal?
ALAN BAHR – Simply put, do things on time, correctly, and deliver appropriately. We’ve got a lot of experience with this, and frankly, we’ve split our stretch goals into two Waves to make it manageable. Wave I is the corebook, GM screen, dice, and bags for the Deluxe Pledges. Wave II is a bunch of the later, more involved stretch goals.
EGG – As the publisher, can you highlight one pledge level/backer reward that you think is the standout for Tiny Dungeon 2e? [UPDATE – This product is available now here.]
ALAN BAHR – Oh man, The Deluxe Adventurer. You get two copies of the book (the LE faux leather hardcover, and a softcover for table copy), a set of dice, the GM screen and a handmade bag to store it all in. It’s a fantastic pledge level.
Deluxe Adventurer
The best of the best! All the fancy pieces, and a collectors edition hardcover for your shelf!
EGG – Tell us a little about you and what was the game that changed you into a gamer?
ALAN BAHR – Pendragon. I’ve written and talked at length about how great Pendragon is. All I can do is tell everyone to go play Pendragon!
About me, well I’m Alan. I like jazz & country music, subtitled martial arts movies, heroic stories, reading fiction, and I spend a long time as a data scientist and project manager in corporate America.
ALAN BAHR – I love gaming, and I see gaming as a social experience that helps us to transcend the issues that confront us as humanity. Tabletop gaming is an enlightening experience if done right and I want to bring that to everyone I can as affordably as I can.
Art by Anthony Cournoyer and Design by Robert Denton!
EGG – As a Kickstarter veteran, what advice would you give others thinking about launching a gaming Kickstarter?
ALAN BAHR – Ask someone who has been there successfully. Do your research. And listen when they tell you. Too many people ask me for advice, then disregard the advice I give.
EGG – What projects are you currently developing?
ALAN BAHR – There are a lot of TinyD6 games in the works (11ish). There’s also Candlelight (my 5e Gothic Horror setting), Shadow of the Dying Sun, Gallant, Bramblewoyld, Nevermore, and Revelator. Lots going on.
EGG – Any parting thoughts? Where can we find out more about Gallant Knight Games?
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links to DriveThruRPG.com.
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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!
* * * * * *
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:
There are a number of exceptional RPG Kickstarters out there. This week I’m reviewing five of them – Tiny Dungeon, Fever Swamp, Survive This!, The Folio, and Robert Asprin’s The Cold Cash War. Let’s count’em down!
“A role playing game setting, for the Savage Worlds and Cepheus System, based on Robert Asprin’s The Cold Cash War.
Image courtesy of Wayne Barlow
THE CORPORATE WARS ARE ON!
International conglomerates plot a complete domination of the free world, facing off against world governments, who want only freedom, in a calculated and vicious battle of wits and blood. Come see multi-national corporations have launched a lethal campaign against the world.
For the first time ever, a role playing game setting based on the original works of Robert Asprin and Bill Fawcett. This setting book incorporates the novel Cold Cash War and the Combat Command book Cold Cash Warrior.
Image courtesy of Bill Fawcett
Have you ever wondered how corporations fight each other? The answer is simple, they employ mercenaries in remote locations to wipe out each other. This is no easy task, but luckily the wars are conducted with advanced electronics known as killsuits. These suits simulate the damage taken by a soldier from nonoperational limbs to death, without actually hurting or killing the individual soldier. You can be a member of any of the corporations, such as Oil, Energy, Communications or Aerospace. You can be part of the Japanese Conglomerate. Battling for supremacy in the market without actually hurting your rivals employees. However, what happens when someone takes this one step further and starts employing mercenaries to take out your rivals, permanently? In this setting you play a a government agent, mercenary hired by a corporation, an information broker or a corporate executive. Get involved in corporate espionage, assassination or even stomping the enemy. If you do not want to be a corporate drone, then side up with one of the world governments. Its your choice, and the world depends on what you do. Try to stay alive and find out who wants you dead. You can find this out in this 250-page book for the Savage Worlds and Cepheus Engine (2d6 OGL Sci Fi gaming) game systems. Written by Stephen J. Miller and Jonathan M. Thompson (the team that brought you Gaslight Victorian Fantasy) and illustrated by the talented Eric Lofgren.”
I’ve spoken to Jonathan at length about the Cold Cash War, attended a Q&A, and completed an interview with him. He’s a nice guy whose passionate about his products are infectious. When he’s done, I know that the Cold Cash War is going to feel exactly like Robert Asprin’s setting in both Savage Worlds and the Cepheus Engine.
You can see examples of their work at DriveThruRPG here.
“Return to the minimalist fantasy tabletop RPG Tiny Dungeon in this revised rules, now with micro-settings, additional content, & more!
Tiny Dungeon returns in a newly revised and revamped edition!
The TinyD6 ruleset returns to fantasy in this revised ruleset, now with micro-settings and more!
Cover Art by Michael Leavenworth
Using the rules in this book, you’ll be able to play heroic adventurers, daring treasure hunters, imperious magic-users, and more! Explore numerous worlds and discover legends, adventure and fantastical beasts.
Character creation is simple, fast, and exciting. You pick your character type based on the exciting stories your Game Master is going to tell, you pick a few Traits that each grant a single benefit, and you’re done!
Sometimes as the GM, you don’t have time to plot lengthy, detailed worlds, but you want that experience. Well, we’ve got your back, and that support comes in the form of micro-settings! Micro-settings are short settings filled with adventure hooks, and designed to put your adventures and campaigns into high action-adventure.
Our goal is to fund a softcover edition, a limited number of hardcover collector’s editions, and the Tiny Dungeon 2e dice. We’ve planned several stretch goals which will increase page count, add more art, add more special rules but all of our goals will provide you with more fun and engaging fantasy content!
Tiny Dungeon uses a simple, fast, and dynamic ruleset to handle actions. The game uses up to three six-sided dice as part of action resolution.
If you roll a “5” or “6” on a die, your check succeeds. Most checks are made with two dice. However, if you are deemed to have “advantage” on a roll, you gain a third die to roll. If you have disadvantage, you lose a dice (rolling only a single die).
Characters are made quickly and easily. You will select a fantasy race (such as dwarf, salimar, goblin, human or more), three traits, and write down some basic information and you are ready to play!”
Look for my interview with Alan Bahr about Tiny Dungeon this Thursday on the Tessera Guild.
Egg’s Thoughts:
Disclosure: I game with Alan Bahr (Dan Davenport is our GM) so I’m biased.
Based on the volume of backers, there’s a lot of confidence this is a game being done right. Tiny Dungeons is a game designed for adults but is minimalist enough to make it ideal for all-ages. The game is focused on the rules and mini-settings instead of a massive world and overarching story. The fact that it’s a fantasy RPG for everyone makes this a game I’m ready to play! To sweeten the pot for RPG freelancers, they’ve already decided to offer this:
This will be open to the wide world, and we’ll release one PDF each month in a subscription service via DriveThruRPG. At the end of the year, we will collate them into a year omnibus we will offer in print and PDF!
This will be paid work (we pay $0.10 per word to our writers), and you’ll work alongside Alan Bahr to prep these products for release (we’ll pay for art, layout, graphic design, editing, and more)!”
Play the game and submit to create content for it. I dig it!
You can see examples of their work at DriveThruRPG here.
“We plan to enter the Fever Swamp, plunder its treasures, unearth its secrets, and escape with more than an obscure disease.
Fever Swamp
The Melsonian Arts Council is a micro press publishing house which specialises in short works that startle and entertain us. Its output is by turns erudite, lucid and beautiful, or dumb, obtuse and ugly. We have previously and are still releasing peculiar zines, games and adventures.
Master Gearing is a local boy with dreams of big lights and tall cities. His works have appeared in Britain’s favourite RPG periodical, The Undercroft, and as stand alone moments of inspiration in the form of his collaborative Broken System #000.
Andrew Walter is an illustrator whose work has been featured in The Undercroft, Wormskin, and various other OSR products, as well as on underground metal and punk releases. He likes schlock horror and loud noises.
The result of this fundraising effort will be an A5, saddle stitched, 30-something page book containing a geographically linked series of vignettes that explore the particular palette chosen by the author. Flavours of nihilism, questions of inherent evil, and the abject failure of civilisation. And dampness, so damp.”
Egg’s Thoughts:
Artistically, this has the most modern Adult Swim art style I can think of. It’s LotFP compatible so that decides some individual’s level of interest. Between the art and the setting, I’m curious how the full product will look from end to end.
You can see examples of their work at DriveThruRPG here.
“SURVIVE THIS!! Dark Places & Demogorgons RPG Core Rulebook is an OSR roleplaying game set in the 1980s from Bloat Games.
“In the 1980s strange things happened everywhere!”
Bloat Games proudly presents our latest tabletop roleplaying game: SURVIVE THIS!! Dark Places & Demogorgons. Dark Places & Demogorgons is an OSR RPG set in the 1980s where you play as teenagers from a small town where strange occurrences began popping up all around. The adults seem lost as what to do, the police are as clueless as ever and aren’t helping. It’s up to you and your friends to figure out what’s going on and stop it from happening again!
Dark Places & Demogorgons (Blue Cover) Art by Tommy Stamper
Taking advantage of the Open Gaming License, Dark Places & Demogorgons use the familiar ruleset of 1970s Original Fantasy Roleplaying Game with some added modern mechanics and concepts to make a uniquely fun and entertaining game experience.”
Egg’s Thoughts:
Excited about the arrival of Stranger Things season two on Netflix? Need a game to get you into the headspace of the first season’s D&D? Bloat Games is offering the RPG you’re looking for, Survive This! The game looks like the best parts of retro fun! Much like Swamp Fever above, I’m curious how the final product will be presented. Will it have a uniquely awesome old school feel? (I’m betting the answer is yes!)
You can see examples of their work at DriveThruRPG here.
“1E & 5E Gaming Supplement for DMs and Players in the tradition of the old orange spine Arcana
So you are probably asking, what exactly is The Storyteller’s Arcana? Well, when I was 14 I managed to get my hands on a newly printed copy of TSR‘s Unearthed Arcana and AD&D was forever changed for me. That book introduced me to so many great wrinkles in the system, and over the past thirty-five years I’ve tried to translate my own gaming knowledge into a series of notes and rules that I think can resonate with all gamers, be they OSR die-hards or newly minted 5E campaigners. By compiling and expanding on everything I’ve addressed during my time around a table, it is my hope that this new ‘Arcana’ will hold a special place on the shelves of gamers just as those old Orange Spine hardcovers do.
Is that a Larry Elmore cover? YES! Now I know that all the previous Orange Spine covers were done by Jeff Easley (as were the 2 Folio orange spines), but knowing how much Elmore has meant to the OSR community I thought it was high time to get him onto a classic hardcover.
Build on your Orange Spine Collection with a Larry Elmore classic cover!
What exactly comes in this book? Well, obviously I can’t lay out all the details here, but I’ve broken this 128 page book down into three distinct parts and below you’ll be able to get a glimpse of some of the topics I’ll be covering.”
Wanna-lancer* Rewards:
“Pledge $750 or more
Ultimate Folio Fan
Backer receives all PDF and physical copies of the three hardcovers (signed), and an original piece of art from the project, and can help design a Trope NPC class that will go into the book (with writing credit). LIMIT 5”
*Wanna-lancer™ – A gamer that’s pursuing freelance RPG work. Some back RPG Kickstarters that offer rewards to create NPCs, spells, items, adventures, etc. in order to build up their resume, make contact with publishers, and learn what’s expected on assignments.
Egg’s Thoughts:
If I could, I’d post every cover for The Folio. Jeff Easley, Brom, Larry Elmore, and more… the cover art for this series is comprised of new work from my favorite childhood artists and they all show that they still have it! This art is everything I want in a 1e and 5e D&D-compatible RPG. Add to that, you can design a Trope NPC class for the book… there’s not a lot of instances where your work can appear under a cover by Larry Elmore, so this is a rare chance!
You can see examples of their work at DriveThruRPG here.
“The third in anthology series of stories loved by Hugo voters, stories by Seanan McGuire, Mary Robinette Kowal, Cat Rambo, and others
Every year the Hugo Award administrators release a longer list of stories that received the most nominations by the fans who vote for the Hugo Awards. The purpose of the Long List Anthology is to get more of the works loved by Hugo Award voters to readers in one convenient package. This is the third annual volume of the anthology. There are some familiar author names in the book, as well as some authors who are new to the series.
Volume One and Volume Two were both funded on Kickstarters–including works by writers including Eugie Foster, Elizabeth Bear, Amal El-Mohtar, Aliette de Bodard, Scott Lynch, Rachel Swirsky, Kai Ashante Wilson, Ken Liu, David D. Levine, Alyssa Wong, Ann Leckie, and Catherynne M. Valente–and they both succeeded and have gone on to sell steadily on ebook vendors after the Kickstarter as well, selling more than 10,000 copies.
The base goal of the campaign will include only the short stories. There will be stretch goals to add novelettes and novellas. The goals listed here include only stories that I’ve heard agreement back from the authors–some queries to authors are still pending, there may be another story or two added as an additional stretch goal. If these stretch goals are reached, I may add on other goals as well.
This project is not endorsed by nor affiliated with the Hugo awards, WSFS, WorldCon, or any associated entities. The Hugo name is used with permission. Please note that the anthology is NOT called “The Hugo Long List Anthology”. It is called “The Long List Anthology”, or the full wordy title: “The Long List Anthology: More Stories From the Hugo Award Nomination List”. (I’m noting this because it’s pretty commonly referred to by the wrong name)
The cover art is “The Alchemist” by Amanda Makepeace. You can find more information about her work on her website.”
Egg’s Thoughts:
Tessera Guild co-founder, Amanda Makepeace, has a beautiful piece of art gracing the cover of this book. Just as I gushed about the artwork for The Folio above, this is a chance to own a book with an amazing cover. Just as they recommend on the Kickstarter, check out Amanda’s website for more.
You can check out the first anthology on Amazon here.
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!
* * * * * *
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:
A minimalist fantasy RPG for both adults and children? 
