RPG Crowdfunding News - Ember, Root, Battlezoo, and more

This TTRPG crowdfunding sampler examines projects that end between October 3 to 9. From a full online VTT game to an expansion for Root and new 5e content to my favorite card-based TTRPG, this article offers some great games to check out.

Ember from Foundry Virtual Tabletop

• END DATE: Thu, October 3 2024 10:59 AM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition (2024 version) or Crucible, Foundry VTT’s original system
• PROJECT TYPE: A full virtual roleplaying game
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $120 for the game, PDFs, and dice
• AI STATEMENT: “Our team is absolutely committed to creating Ember without any use of generative AI.”
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? The news focuses on D&D Beyond because of its connection to, and market share of, the Dungeons & Dragons community, but that doesn’t mean that other virtual tabletops aren’t innovating. The Foundry is creating a game for their digital game table; a full fantasy game designed from the ground up for Foundry VTT. Available for 5e 2024 or Foundry’s original system, Crucible, this game offers a fully realized world, character creation, and campaign that tracks your progress with reminders in case you’re not sure where last session left off. The upside of this VTTRPG is that all of the rules are contained within the program, no need for you or your players to learn a new system. Instead, you can offer a RPG without the barrier to entry. If you’re looking for an online game to play with friends, something that’s dedicated to getting into the story and making the mechanics invisible, this option may be perfect for your virtual table. Despite being an online game, there is an optional physical element available, a hardcover setting book published by Mage Hand Press. To enjoy the rewards of this crowdfunding, you’ll need a Foundry Virtual Tabletop software license and a copy of Ember. If Ember may be right for you, check out the campaign page for more details on the setting.

Root: The Roleplaying Game—Ruins and Rolls from Magpie Games

• END DATE: Thu, October 3 2024 7:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Powered by the Apocalypse (Root variant)
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE:
• TRY BEFORE YOU BUY: The Root: The RPG Quickstart Bundle [BUNDLE] is free at DriveThruRPG
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? Root is back with a new sourcebook for the Powered by the Apocalypse TTRPG. This sourcebook gives you two new factions, four playbooks, new moves, and two new clearings to play in. Based on the popular board game, the Kickstarter for the core Root: The Tabletop Roleplaying Game reached 6,495 backers who pledged $602,022 back in 2019. Conventional wisdom suggests that the campaign for this sourcebook will reach 40% to 60% of what the main book accomplishes implying a total of 2,600 to 3,900 backers and $240,000 to $360,000 raised. Root: The Roleplaying Game—Ruins and Rolls is off to a strong start, likely to exceed those expectations. Part of the enthusiasm for the property comes from the fans of the board game, part of it is love of the TTRPG, and part is Magpie Games’ annual devotion to Free RPG Day in which they’ve given out four free Root quickstart adventures. This constant free content helps to expose new players and build a fanbase that’s eager to act as fantasy critters in forest adventures. If you’re a fan of the world of Root, this crowdfunding is worth checking out.

Battlezoo Bestiary: Elemental Storm for 5E and Pathfinder from Roll For Combat

• END DATE: Tue, October 8 2024 11:59 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition and Pathfinder Second Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $60 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book in the system of your choice plus additional PDF assets
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This campaign offers a new Battlezoo book. This is the sixth Kickstarter for Battlezoo since 2021, collectively raising over a million dollars. That’s to say, there is a strong libray of Battlezoo books to pick from. Designed for the Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition and Pathfinder Second Edition systems, this particular sourcebook delves into elementals. In 250 pages, you’ll get 170 elemental monsters, monster crafting rules so you can kill and construct using your cache of corpses. The digital offering through this campaign is compelling: 650 assets, 500 animated tokens, 50 digital maps. If you want to fight elementals using Battlezoo-level content, check out this Kickstarter.

Corpus Draconis : Draconic Codex for 5E+! from Dream Realm Storytellers

• END DATE: Thu, October 3 2024 2:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition (PDF and print) 5.2024e (PDF)
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: £57 + S/H for the PDF and boxed set of the books, GM screen, and map
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This campaign offers two new books, Corpuse Draconic and Corpus Draconic: Lairs and Hoards to add their other Corpus books. These books come designed for 5e, but when all of the rules for 5.2024e are live, they’ll provide a PDF for the updated ruleset. These books add new draconic classes, archetypes, heritages, deities, and more. Among the extras are ten dragons at each stage of their long lives, lairs, cults, and additional monsters. There are new options including a hoard mechanics, dragon-mounted combat, and other rules. If this interests you, check out the campaign page for a free preview.

CAPERS Expanded RPG Supplement from Nerdburger Games

• END DATE: Thu, October 3 2024 6:30 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): CAPERS
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook or sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $25 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the sourcebook
• DISCLAIMER: I have attended conventions with Nerdburger Games. I did not work on this game
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? This is my favorite playing card-based TTRPG. Prohibition. Superpowered gangsters. Superpowered Feds. Everyone fighting over alcohol and the massive profits illegal drinks generate. CAPERS is played using a deck of cards as the randomizer. The vibe of the engine is similar to gambling and gives the player tremendous control over their actions. You have a stat that lets you draw up to a certain number of cards. If you have a “3,” you can draw 1 card, 2 cards, or 3 cards, your choice. Whichever card is the last one drawn, that’s the one you stand on. If the first card is a 3 of Clubs, you draw the second card because the first wasn’t going to cut it. If the second card is a Jack of Hearts, you can stop and hope beat the target number or you can you try your luck for a better third card. You gamble to win in CAPERS. With the game tied to the 1920s and gangsters, you can imagine how the card-based gameplay supports the feel of the setting. With every action, you have a choice to make, which gives the player a different kind of agency versus a die roll. This sourcebook offers expanded options like new superpowers, details about new cities, NPCs, and more. If you’re interested in 1920s prohibition and superpowers, CAPERS is a great time and gets my highest recommendation.

CHAINSAW from Driftwood Archives and Creature Curation

• END DATE: Fri, October 4 2024 2:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Mörk Borg
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $45 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the book plus digital VTT assets
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? CHAINSAW puts your character into a slasher movie. Facing off against the big bad, your party will be whittled away unless you can defeat the badguy repeatedly. The 160-page book has rules for natural and supernatural slasher enemies, fear mechanics, a Killer Generator as well as 13 ready-to-use killers, and options to play a standalone movie or try to survive a franchise. Mörk Borg games rely on outstanding artwork and layouts. Matthew Myslinski is writing, design, illustrating, and laying out the book, giving it a unified, artbook design. If you’re a fan of slasher movies and deadly OSRs, this project is worth a look. While this game is for generic slashers and does not infringe on any copyrighted monsters, if I run a home game of CHAINSAW I’m using Halloween’s Michael Myers. Let me be clear, I would not use the best story Michael Myers, I’d use the worst: Mark of Thorn/Thorn Cult Michael Myers. Why? Because you get Mike, his teleportation powers, the Cult of Thorn, the man in black, and more supernatural elements to game with. That version of the Halloween story offers lots of play options even as it made for the least compelling movies. If you run a home game, what slasher movie or franchise would you set your CHAINSAW game in?

Netcrawl from Horse Shark Games

• END DATE: Oct 3, 2024 at 9:00pm EDT.
• CROWDFUNDING ON: Backerkit
• SYSTEM(S): d20 System and Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG
• PROJECT TYPE: Core rulebook or a sourcebook
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $90 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the three books
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? During Gen Con 2024 at Goodman Games’ booth, I ran into James A. Pozenel, Jr., creator of Netcrawl. He gave me the pitch for the game: DCC and MCC meets cyberpunk with shades of Tron. Using the Dungeon Crawl Classics chassis insures that only the best hackers survive. Crawl the cyber-dungeon. Hack in to hack and slash your way out. Inspired by William Gibson's Neuromancer, the rulebook is a tight 100+ pages giving you the feel of the world and the engine to engage inside the net. Netcrawl Arcologies, one of the other book coming from this campaign, provides tables for creating ICE, system, and VRs that your characters will tear into. Finally, Enchiridion of the Computarchs is a 42-page book that gives the setting flavor with error messages and tailored ICE for your campaign. If you pledge towards this Backerkit campaign, be sure to check out Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland Deities and Demi-Bros Supplement from Super Savage Systems to see their crowdfunding crossover tokens.

Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland Deities and Demi-Bros Supplement from Super Savage Systems

• END DATE: Oct 3, 2024 at 9:00pm EDT.
• CROWDFUNDING ON: Backerkit
• SYSTEM(S): A D&D B/X variant found here, Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland Core Rulez Total Carnage Edition
• PROJECT TYPE: Sourcebooks
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $75 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of the books
• TRY BEFORE YOU BUY: Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland Sick Start Rulez is free at DriveThruRPG
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? There’s hyperbole and purple prose and then there’s Neon Lords of the Toxic Wasteland! No cliches here! The godz are wrestlers and everything religious is a Wrestlemania metaphor. DEITIES AND DEMI-BROS is 250 pages of wrestling rulez, godz, and main events! Oh, yeah! Need something creepy for your B/X campaign, try a book by R.L. SLIME: NEON LORDS’ Deadly Dudez/Toxic Creeps is 150 pages of monsters to battle and random tables to generate the gross and grotesque. Want to back a product without a description, just trusting it’ll be gonzo kewl from Super Savage Systems? Try the Neon Maniacs Eyes Only Pack 2: The Revengeance, which contains, well, unknown sundry items. Good luck! This campaign, along with Netcrawl from Horse Shark Games provides some extras that you’ll have to check out their Backerkit pages to learn about.

The Heart of Tiberius - Adventure Module for Mothership 1E from Earl of Fife Games

• END DATE: Thu, October 3 2024 8:00 PM EDT.
• SYSTEM(S): Mothership
• PROJECT TYPE: RPG zines
• MOST POPULAR PLEDGE: $55 + S/H for the PDF and print versions of all three zines
• WHY SPOTLIGHT THIS CAMPAIGN? In space, no one can hear you mine. Narratively, this 40-page Mothership adventure follows space gaming trope: Corporation invests vast sums of capital constructing a shell mining operation in space with the sole intent to find aliens and profit. For this adventure, you’re on the Tiberius Mining Station located on an asteroid. Alien parasite takes over the crew, ending the day-to-day joy of mining. Now your space miner has to defeat the aliens before they get infected. The campaign page for this includes a perfect pitch for investors interested in this mining operation. The proposition offers insight into the setting and why people are sacrificing everything to drill diamonds in space. If you’re looking for a Mothership adventure with exploration and investigation, this may be right for your gaming table.

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[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That Arcologies cover is giving great 1970s Micronauts comic vibes.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Shouldn't WotC talk seriously with "Roll for Combat" to can add "Battlezoo" to the list of 3PPs in D&D-Beyond?

 

[SteveC]

The Glass Cannon Podcast people are doing three sessions playing the Ember campaign and it is really jaw dropping. I'd really recommend checking that out.

 

[Velderan]

Shouldn't WotC talk seriously with "Roll for Combat" to can add "Battlezoo" to the list of 3PPs in D&D-Beyond?

Part of me wonders if Stephen Glicker has burned some bridges within the company with how he covers them in his videos, but they did just give DND Shorts a preview copy of the PHB after what he did during the OGL issue so who knows anymore.

Has anyone bought a copy of a 5e Battlezoo book? The PF2e stuff is top notch but the lead designer is Mark Seifter so that's instant credibility for PF2e material. I'm curious how their 5e conversions are.

 

[Lalato]

Here are the 5e Campaign Setting and Adventure Path crowdfunding campaigns I'm keeping an eye on right now.

Closed and Funded:

• Creed's Codex: Echoes of a Shattered Age

Closed:

Open and Funded:

• Shadow City Mysteries (1 week)
• Terra Incognita (2 weeks)
• Mists of Akuma Bundle (3 weeks) (new adventure path)
• Sink! (3 weeks)
• Labyrinth (4 weeks)
• Empire of the Dying Sun (4 weeks)

Open:

• Thirteen Phylacteries of the Lich Lord (31%, 1 week)

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Part of me wonders if Stephen Glicker has burned some bridges within the company with how he covers them in his videos, but they did just give DND Shorts a preview copy of the PHB after what he did during the OGL issue so who knows anymore.

I shouldn't judge because I may unknow a lot of things, and Stephen Glicker could have got his reasons to untrust WotC, but if Roll for Combat "sacrifices" a little piece of "crunch" they could earn a lot of advertising thanks D&D Beyond. I don't talk about complete packs but only some couple of PC species, for example the "living spell", "sentient weapon" or "(sentient) dungeon".