Kickstarter: Peril on the Purple Planet

In Peril on the Purple Planet, the characters are cast across the cosmos to a foreign world. Left to die beneath a weirdling sun and its sickening rays, the PCs’ survival depends as much upon their quick wit as a quick blade, as even the finest chain hauberk must fail beneath the crush of an alien horde.

A level 4 exploration-style adventure spanning scores of leagues, the party must contend with hundreds of miles of alien wasteland, the predatory creatures of the Purple Planet, deadly mushroom jungles, and thousands of factious savage man-beasts locked in an endless war.

In the course of the sprawling hex-crawl, the PCs will have the opportunity to assume mastery of their own warbands or pit faction against faction, plumb ancient burial mounds or respect the age-old taboos, and experiment with deadly artifacts – the remnants of the Last War. How the PCs meet each challenge will determine whether they discover the secrets to returning home, or slip beneath the sands of the wastes, succumbing to the perils of the Purple Planet.

But for those few with the courage to remain, we offer a world for the conquering.

Fund it here!

Kickstarter: Drinking Quest

It's a Drinking Game and a Tabletop RPG! The first 3 Drinking Quest games were cult hits-now they've been remastered with new content.

In 2011 Drinking Quest: The Original Drinking RPG spawned a hilarious new genre. The Drinking Quest games are a light RPG, a light Drinking Game (with non drinking rules as well) and a heavy parody experience because it's such a ridiculous concept.

Since then two sequels have been released: Yeddy Vedder's Yeti Adventure (2012) and Nectar of the Gods (2013).

The goal of Trilogy Edition is to bring all three games together seamlessly in one package and make all kinds of improvements like:

• Full Colour Cards
• An Improved D4, D6, D8 System (Instead of 3D6) This adds complexity to the game without adding a single new rule.
• Bigger Cards while still staying a good size to bring to the pub
• A Bigger, More Attractive Box
• Up to 3 new Quests (Consisting of 12 cards each)
• Other smaller improvements (Think remastered Star Trek not remastered Star Wars)

Fund it here. 

Kickstarter: World of Dew

A World of Dew is a brand new Samurai Noir role-playing game, and a sequel to John Wick’s Blood & Honor. In the original Blood & Honor you played samurai who were members of a clan. In World of Dew you can now play everyone else: perceptive geisha, weary ronin, gargantuan sumo, greedy yakuza, and even gaijin. Instead of being members of a clan I have designed a slick city design system. Players build a vibrant living city with deep connections with both the characters and the rules. 

Fund it here. 

Kickstarter: Wield

You are an ancient and powerful magical artifact...

... and those who wield you believe themselves  heroes...

... but they are nothing more than disposable pawns.

Who was the wielder, Elric or Stormbringer?

Did anyone ever really master Sauron's One Ring? Or was it the master of all who carried it?

Orna, the sword of Tethra, tells the hero who picks it up the stories of all its murders... thousands upon thousands...

Claíomh Solais, the Sword of Irish Kings, always seemed to have its own agenda, regardless of who held it...

Tales of "willful weapons" are rife in fantasy literature, and now, here is your chance to play one.

Fund it here.

Kickstarter: DCC RPG #83 The Chained Coffin

The adventure is designed for level 5 characters. A whispered voice calls from a coffin bound in chains, urging the heroes into the depths of the Shudder Mountains, a place rife with superstition and forlorn secrets. In the shadowy, pine-grown valleys of the Deep Hollows lurk mysteries of a bygone age and a new evil emerging from the ruins of the past. The adventurers must plumb the mountains’ secluded reaches to root out this rising terror before its power comes to fruition. Standing in their path are cackling witches, subtle devils, lingering spirits, and a foul thing that moves in the night. Can the heroes appease that which lies within the Chained Coffin and thwart the dawn of a new and terrible age?

If it goes to $36,000, this module will grow into a box set. Full details here. Become a backer here.

Kickstarter: Custom Dice!

Quality custom dice you can afford and a design process that's easy - even if you're not a graphic designer.

Help us provide the gaming community with customized 16mm (standard size) D6 dice - with more colors, shapes, and sizes available when we reach higher funding levels!

Right now, if you want to make custom dice for a game prototype, print-n-play game, or just to customize your old Yahtzee! game, it'll cost you several dollars per die - before shipping.

Fund it here.

Kickstarter: Metamorphosis Alpha

I am very late to this party, but you still have two days to get in on the reprint of Metamorphosis Alpha, the original sci-fi RPG by the folks who brought you DCC.

Kickstarter: City State of the Invincible Overlord

City State of the Invincible Overlord, the first and one of the largest fantasy RPG city settings in gaming history, written by Judges Guild founders Bob Bledsaw and Bill Owen, defines sand-box roleplaying by giving information for over 350 shops, taverns, inns, palaces, barracks, temples, and the NPCs who inhabit them! City State of the Invincible Overlord was first released at Gen Con IX in 1976, along with Wilderlands Campaign Map I: The City State. The City State was written for the Judges Guild's Wilderlands of High Fantasy Campaign Setting but can be easily adapted and dropped into any setting.

Fund it here!

Everybody Has One: Kickstarter Horror Stories

I interrupt my series of posts on things for your Torchbearer game to talk about Kickstarter, particularly, the projects that don't pan out. Unlike some, my investment was minimal and there is a happy ending.

A few years ago, hot on the heels of DCC RPGs release, Brave Halfling Games launched their "Appendix N Adventures" campaign. Basically, players would get a bunch of modules for a pretty low investment ($20 was the sweet spot, enough to get print and PDF copies of everything that got produced).

Two years later and I have yet to receive a single print copy of my module (PDFs have been released). Now, anyone on the inside knows John, the man behind Brave Halfling, has had an incredibly rough time since then. Couple that with his Kickstarter being more successful than I think he ever could have imagined, and I'm sympathetic to his situation. The only real thing I can fault him for is releasing print modules to stores before any of his backers received them. Aside from that, I think he did the best he could given the hand he was dealt.

That being said, I've also backed two other Kickstarters, both of them last year. Both delivered within months and both were leagues more complicated (one a full hardcover RPG, another highly detailed dungeon tiles). This is not so much a criticism as an observation.

Now for the happy ending. I had pretty much given up on this Kickstarter until I saw that Joseph Goodman, the person behind DCC RPG, was offering refunds. I reached out to Joe because I wanted some resolution. Rather than a refund, I traded my investment in the Kickstarter for a few DCC modules, which is what I wanted all along. I just want to take this time to wish John well and to thank Joseph Goodman for being an excellent human being.

Kickstarter: Ryuutama

Ryuutama is a tabletop pen-and-paper role-playing game, developed in Japan by designer Atsuhiro Okada. It is set in a world where the "NPCs" of the village--the bakers, minstrels, farmers, shopkeepers and healers--set off on a wonderful adventure exploring a fantasy world together. Some people colloquially call it "Hayao Miyazaki's Oregon Trail", because of its heartwarming (in Japanese "honobono") feel of family anime, and its focus on traveling and wonder over combat and treasure.

This game looks adorable. It's being translated by Andy Kitkowski, the same person behind Tenra Bansho Zero. It's already funded as of this writing, but you should get in for at least the PDF. Make the jump here. 

They're Here!

Best Stretch Goal Ever

Frog God Games is Kickstarting an adventure setting for either Pathfinder or Swords and Wizardry (you choose). However, among the usual stretch goals, there is this:

From SG:

When we get to 400 backers, we're going to post the Swords & Wizardry Complete rules pdf (only) for free. Forever. PDF download only.

Yeah, we're doing that!

 They're currently 329 backers with 25 days to go, which means that this will happen. Get in on the action here.

Kickstarter: Adventures in the East Mark - The Red Box

The Spanish game "Aventuras en La Marca del Este" began from the mind of Pedro Gil as a homebrew campaign for some friends in Spain playing the world's most famous game. Now, many years later, it is one of the most popular role-playing games in Spain. By enlisting incredible artists that are now rising stars in the RPG industry such as A.J. Manzanedo, Jorge Carrero and Víctor Guerra, the "La Marca" team produced an incredibly captivating "retroclone" role-playing game that is an old school experience wrapped in old world flare. The game is published in Spain by Holocubierta Ediciones.

Check out the full project here.

Torchbearer Burns Brighter

Luke announced, due to hitting 300% of his funding goal, that he will be making all the cover gold foil stamped, adding some fancy end papers, and making the overall production values better. So, kudos to everyone who is backing this. 

If you aren't backing this, you really should. Not only is this is a different kind of game, it's a different kind of Kickstarter. There are no stretch goals, which is usually one of the biggest drivers of support. So when Luke announced the above, it was because he wanted show his support for the massive response this game has received. 

The funding levels are completely reasonable. You're paying what this will cost if you wait to buy it in a retail store. What's particularly exciting is that PDFs will be available (Luke is not the biggest fan of these). Even if you don't want to spring for the full $35, you can still get in own the action for $15.

Do it.

The Torch Has Been Lit

Last week I posted about Torchbearer, which is the Burning Crew's take on old school dungeon crawl games. Things were so hectic in the unimagined world, I failed to notice the Kickstarter launch for that game. Not only has it already hit its funding goal, but it did so within the first few hours of launch. As of this writing, Torchbearer has just over $37,000 in funding.

If you're not sold on at least shelling out for the PDF, let me try and sway you. The Burning Wheel family of games is about tough decisions. The biggest drivers of play are your BITs (Beliefs, Instincts, and Traits). Those three things paint a target on your character's chest that tell the GM and the players, "This is who I am, this is what I want." Honestly, it can be a little intimidating, especially if you cut your teeth on the world's most popular roleplaying game.

The shallower end of the pool is Mouse Guard, which I jokingly refer to as Burning Training Wheels. This game cuts a lot of what might be perceived as "bloat" from the full BW game. Rather than 50+ pages of skills, there are 22-all encompassing (for the purposes of the game). Characters are made with only one belief and one instinct, as opposed to the three standard. The role of introducing complications is much clearer. And of course, you are a painfully adorable mouse on a mission: ensure that all of the Territories survive another season.

Torchbearer, based on the information available, seems to fall between the two. It retains the simplified skill systems of Mouse Guard, but introduces a resource management mechanic that will be central to your survival in the dark parts of the world. Every torch burns for an exact amount of turns, every item you add to your pack takes up precious space. And, for the first time in the Burning family of games, there is a class system.

Get the full scoop here.

Kickstarting the Dwarven Forge

While I may have missed out on the Blade of the Iron Throne Kickstarter, there is no way I'm passing this one up. Dwarven Forge, the company that makes all those ridiculously awesome game times you see in the Penny Arcade D&D sessions and many other table tops is trying to bring the cost of their products down. For $65, you get the above, which is enough to setup a single really cool encounter area. The real bang for your buck comes in at the $120 level, where you get two sets, plus any of the other stretch goals they hit. At this moment, that's an extra 16 wall-floored pieces, 12 more floor tiles, 4 angled wall-and-floor pieces, 4 additional corner-wall-and-floor pieces, two extra doors, and four half-floor tiles. You should definitely grab a friend and split this, as you'll finally have a proper dungeon setup for all those Reaper miniatures you bought. Help stoke the flames here.

Tales of the Fallen Empire: Update

For those lucky enough to get in on the Tales of the Fallen Empire Kickstarter, your patience has been rewarded. Backers received a link to the DM screen last week. All you other layabouts can still get in on the action for $5, and you should.

Appendix N Adventure Toolkit

I know I've already plugged this Kickstarter in a previous post, but in case you haven't noticed, they've hit the first three stretch goals, which means anyone who tosses $20 into it is going to receive five modules. That's not even the best part. Due to the overwhelming response Brave Halfling has received in the week since the project went live, they've added one final stretch goal. Copied from the Kickstarter:

Five years ago, I spent many months working with Gary Gygax on a unique campaign setting for his game, Lejendary Adventures. We shared back-and-forth almost daily about designing settings, npc races, magic item creation, divine beings, etc. Maps were created and art was commissioned. With Gary's passing and the end of his game, I decided to not release this material. However, from the first time I got to read some of the early DCC RPG play-test material, I knew this campaign setting had found a new home! So my friends, if this kickstarter reaches $15,000, everyone who has pledged $20 or more will also receive a pdf copy and a print copy of, Appendix N Adventure Toolkit #5: "The Old Isle Campaign Setting." This product will include a 11" x 17" color campaign map, a digest Player's and Referee's Guide. While all Appendix N Adventures are generic and can be placed into any campaign, they all do have specific locations in the Old Isle Setting. This campaign setting will ship in April 2013.

We're still a ways away, but you may want to consider upping your pledge or contributing if you haven't. $20 for five modules, an old-school gaming box, and an entire campaign setting co-authored by one of the fathers of industry is by far the best gaming deal there has or will ever be.The trick will be getting there. Do your part!

Brave Halfling Publishing Presents: Appendix N Adventure Toolkit

I was wrong on Friday when I said that the Tales from the Fallen Empire Kickstarter had been funded in one day. I've since edited the post, and, though I was wrong, an incredible amount of money has already been donated to that cause. This time, however, I can make such a claim rightly: the DCC RPG community funded Brave Halfling Publishing's Kickstarter in less than one day. Even better, the first stretch goal was reached in two.

This means that the The Ruins of Ramat, the first in BHPs line of modules for DCC RPG, will become reality. Listen to this pitch:

It’s mid-spring, a time when Lords venture out with their men-at-arms to wage war with one another.  Every able person in the land is entangled in the conflict -- one way or another.  Into the midst of all this trouble a young girl comes crying that her dog has been taken by a monster. She is clearly terrified, and the dog (ever by her side) is nowhere to be seen.  All that can be got from her is that she and the dog were playing down by “Rose Hill,” when a giant, clawed creature burst out of the ground and took her dog. The villagers agree that you should investigate the incident. Indeed, they are relieved that anyone seems willing to do so...

It also means that the second module in this line is funded. From the Kickstarter:

Bonus Goal #1 ($2,500) is the module, “Appendix N Adventure Toolkit #2: “The Crumbling Tower.” A young magic-user's apprentice failed to return home for the fall holiday and you and your companions are sent to investigate what has happened to him. This is a level 1 module and will ship in September 2012.

Of course, there is still work to be done. Each stretch goal funds an additional module, except for th last, which is for an old school gaming box. For only $20, you will receive a copy of every stretch goal that gets met. What are you waiting for? Open your wallet here.

Tales from the Fallen Empire

Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG is here and it's awesome. You know what's more awesome? The community. The Tales from the Fallen Empire Kickstarter has been up for three days and it's already 53% funded. I haven't opened my wallet yet, but next payday I will be joining the list of backers. In the meantime, I've thrown up a link to this project on my sidebar, and will do the same for any DCC RPG-related Kickstarter.

What are you waiting for? Show your support here!