Kickstarters Thread

[Necrozius]

It looks like it's full of random tables that are more or less edition agnostic. The Quickstart has plenty of those already. But yeah, the core rules are very BX-ish.

 

[AsenRG]

It’s the mistaken belief in DNA.

Mistaken? Last I checked it wasn't disproved...

Yeah, I guess I didn't care to know. Hard pass, in other words!

Shadowrun had a ton of Japanese megacorps. However, there wasn’t much exotic about them. The Elven nations were the main exotic locales mainly due to Magic.

Wouldn't that be more, like, Celtic exoticism, then?

 

[Akrasia]

It looks like it's full of random tables that are more or less edition agnostic. The Quickstart has plenty of those already. But yeah, the core rules are very BX-ish.

I thought it might be trying to do (more or less) what Into the Unknown does, namely, provide a game that is fully compatible with 5e (i.e., 5e-derived) but with streamlined "old school" rules and overall ethos.

But it looks like it's something else: it's a B/X inspired game (but with class and race separated) with some mechanics inspired by 5e (and other novel twists, e.g., the "real time" torch rule).

I think I'll be getting it any case. It looks interesting in its own right, and the random tables look awesome.

 

[Skywalker]

Revenant Society is an PbtA RPG where you play revenants in 1910s Paris or 1920s New York, who must relive their last day in a loop trying to solve their own murder.

Its also the 1st RPG from the board game publisher, Van Ryder Games, who have a good rep in highly narrative board games.

Now funded

 

[Necrozius]

Shadowdark by Kelsey Dionne (The Arcane Library) is now live on Kickstarter

Update: all of the extra content is available as a PDF package add-on.

Great for me, as I wanted a physical core book, but wanted to save a bit and get the extra Zines in PDF only. I have no use for a physical DM screen, and I can print out what I like from the Zines myself.

 

[Necrozius]

I think I'll be getting it any case. It looks interesting in its own right, and the random tables look awesome.

Same here; I really don't need yet ANOTHER rule set for BX-inspired dungeon crawling. However, as with Kevin Crawford's material, I will take what I like from the rules but mostly use the inspiring plethora of random tables.

Plus it is a pretty book that I can leisurely browse through even if I never use it at the table. Some other rulebooks that I have don't have that quality, unfortunately.

 

[Mankcam]

Shadowdark by Kelsey Dionne (The Arcane Library) is now live on Kickstarter

Well this is proving a popular little kickstarter project. It needed $10, 000 USD to fund, and so far the pledge is up to $634,000 USD +, and it still has until the end of March to go (which is 24 days away from the time I'm posting this).

So there looks to be a bit of interest happening here, and I can see why.
This looks pretty much exactly the kind of Dungeons & Dragons I like -
D&D 5E logics (not cloned, however), yet very streamlined with a D&D B/X mentality.

I have Into The Unknown, but this Shadowdark looks like it will be a pleasure to read, as well as being full of random tables and such.
I also love the old school pulpy dark fantasy/sword & sorcery vibe, it's very much the opposite of the flavour of the recent WotC books.

Yeah I gotta back this one...

 

[bleys21]

Well this is proving a popular little kickstarter project. It needed $10, 000 USD to fund, and so far the pledge is up to $634,000 USD +, and it still has until the end of March to go (which is 24 days away from the time I'm posting this).

So there looks to be a bit of interest happening here, and I can see why.
This looks pretty much exactly the kind of Dungeons & Dragons I like

Shadowdark looks like it has the D&D 5E logics, yet very streamlined with a D&D B/X mentality.
I have Into The Unknown, but this Shadowdark just looks like it will be a pleasure to read, as well as being full of random tables and such.
I also love the old school pulpy dark fantasy/sword & sorcery vibe, it's very much the opposite of the flavour of the recent WotC books.

Yeah I gotta back this one...

Damn Kickstarters, take my money...

 

[Voros]

The typography definitely took inspiration from the Black Hack, OSE, and (to an extent) Mork Borg. Most of the best parts, actually.

I don't need another OSR dungeon crawler, but I kind of want to support this one just based my my liking of their design ethos.

It looks like it could be really good but do I really need another variation on D&D? Probably not.

 

[Necrozius]

Ah CMON announced their next campaign: a new Zombicide Black Plague game called White Death. Not much info yet, but I’m probably gonna skip out on other KS campaigns to jump on that one.

 

[Ben from Periapt Games]

I thought it might be trying to do (more or less) what Into the Unknown does, namely, provide a game that is fully compatible with 5e (i.e., 5e-derived) but with streamlined "old school" rules and overall ethos.

But it looks like it's something else: it's a B/X inspired game (but with class and race separated) with some mechanics inspired by 5e (and other novel twists, e.g., the "real time" torch rule).

So it's not strictly compatible with 5e content? Either way, sounds interesting, I'll have to look into it.

 

[Mankcam]

Regarding Shadowdark

In a Nutshell (from the kickstarter page):



Proposed Shadowdark character sheet:





As an aside, a few years ago I homebrewed up a basic version of D&D that had a similar mentality in regards to streamlining things (I was inspired by Knave).
I wanted to capture the flavour of B/X, but preferred more contemporary mechanics.
I called my game 'Easy D&D' and used it run games with my sons, who were about 12 or 13 at the time.
It was way toony powerful regarding stat bonuses. Core attributes rolled on 3D6 during char gen, with any number over/under 10 being used as the ability check modifer (eg: 14 meant +4 bonus, 09 meant -1), and the core ability being the DC needed to be rolled over by any oppoing roll (kind like a Save).
We didn't use skills, but any action that was covered by the character's concept was able to use an Advantage Dice as many times a scene equal to the character's level ( levelling was slow, I wanted them to max out at lvl 10, and only got them to lvl 2). Circumstantial and/or cinematic modifiers were also Advantage/Disadvantage Dice. We also had Luck Pts which were Re-rolls. Inventory was a number of slots equal to character's CON.

My homebrew D&D game wasn't perfect, but it did the trick for about two years until I graduated my boys up into D&D 5E in 2020 (in hindsight our sessions didn't get any better, they were more loose and fun while things were simplier).



Anyway, that was a big digress...
And no, I'm not hawking my messy homebrew D&D game in the Kickstarters thread, heh heh

The point is that Shadowdark kind of has the character simplicity I was after when I was running my own Easy D&D, yet has lots of other things going for it that has caught my interest, so yeah I'm totally backing it

 

[Acmegamer]

Regarding Shadowdark

In a Nutshell (from the kickstarter page):

View attachment 57337

Proposed Shadowdark character sheet:

View attachment 57339



As an aside, a few years ago I homebrewed up a basic version of D&D that had a similar mentality in regards to streamlining things (I was inspired by Knave).
I wanted to capture the flavour of B/X, but preferred more contemporary mechanics.
I called my game 'Easy D&D' and used it run games with my sons, who were about 12 or 13 at the time.
It was way toony powerful regarding stat bonuses. Core attributes rolled on 3D6 during char gen, with any number over/under 10 being used as the ability check modifer (eg: 14 meant +4 bonus, 09 meant -1), and the core ability being the DC needed to be rolled over by any oppoing roll (kind like a Save).
We didn't use skills, but any action that was covered by the character's concept was able to use an Advantage Dice as many times a scene equal to the character's level ( levelling was slow, I wanted them to max out at lvl 10, and only got them to lvl 2). Circumstantial and/or cinematic modifiers were also Advantage/Disadvantage Dice. We also had Luck Pts which were Re-rolls. Inventory was a number of slots equal to character's CON.

My homebrew D&D game wasn't perfect, but it did the trick for about two years until I graduated my boys up into D&D 5E in 2020 (in hindsight our sessions didn't get any better, they were more loose and fun while things were simplier).

View attachment 57335

Anyway, that was a big digress...
And no, I'm not hawking my messy homebrew D&D game in the Kickstarters thread, heh heh

The point is that Shadowdark kind of has the character simplicity I was after when I was running my own Easy D&D, yet has lots of other things going for it that has caught my interest, so yeah I'm totally backing it

I went all in on day one after downloading the quickstart and watching some review and interview videos. I was really impressed with the developer, their organization of what she was doing, the intent of why she was doing and honestly her general demeanor. Seemed like they were really nailing how to keep an OSR feel while updating to more modern, flexible DnD mechanics.

 

[Mankcam]

I went all in on day one after downloading the quickstart and watching some review and interview videos. I was really impressed with the developer, their organization of what she was doing, the intent of why she was doing and honestly her general demeanor. Seemed like they were really nailing how to keep an OSR feel while updating to more modern, flexible DnD mechanics.

Yes I agree, Kelsey Dionne comes across really creative, I've checked out her products under her buisness na,me, The Arcane Library, and I like what I see. I've also been watching some of her design videos and checking out the quickstart books. You're spot on by describing the system as being OSR yet modern and flexible, and it's exactly what I would want from D&D.
It's hard not to be impressed with her, so yeah I'm all in now

 

[Rob Necronomicon]

Yes I agree, Kelsey Dionne comes across really creative, I've checked out her products under her buisness na,me, The Arcane Library, and I like what I see. I've also been watching some of her design videos and checking out the quickstart books. You're spot on by describing the system as being OSR yet modern and flexible, and it's exactly what I would want from D&D.
It's hard not to be impressed with her, so yeah I'm all in now

Her design videos are excellent. I really liked the horror one-shot she went through for 5e (the principles could be applied to any game). I was actually thinking about picking up some of her older scenarios for 5e (even tho' I don't play 5e!).

 

[AsenRG]

It looks like it could be really good but do I really need another variation on D&D? Probably not.

A question more people should be asking themselves, IMO!

 

[Necrozius]

A question more people should be asking themselves, IMO!

Haha so despite everything I said earlier I’ve decided to cancel my pledge. I really need to be smarter with my spending habits. I really don’t need yet another RPG that I won’t actually use.

Best of luck to the designer though!

 

[Baulderstone]

It looks like it could be really good but do I really need another variation on D&D? Probably not.

That's where I stand. I'm still fine with playing D&D, but as a GM, I'm currently burned out on the D&D model. My tastes tend to by cyclical, so I'll probably be in the mood to run it again one day years down the line, but my current taste is for more sandbox-friendly games than D&D (a category including almost all RPGs).

 

[Godfather Punk]

Free League are preparing to launch a Walking Dead rpg 14 March:

No details yet, but maybe there's more on their site or FB.

 

[Rob Necronomicon]

I hope that this has not been posted yet (apologies if so). I'll be backing this as well.

 

[chuckdee]

That's where I stand. I'm still fine with playing D&D, but as a GM, I'm currently burned out on the D&D model. My tastes tend to by cyclical, so I'll probably be in the mood to run it again one day years down the line, but my current taste is for more sandbox-friendly games than D&D (a category including almost all RPGs).

Yeah, any D&D-likes I get this day are for the setting rather than the rules. The rules might be good also, but I'm looking for things I can steal rather than another one I can play.

 

[Mankcam]

Yeah, any D&D-likes I get this day are for the setting rather than the rules. The rules might be good also, but I'm looking for things I can steal rather than another one I can play.

This is fair enough, as it's what I do with BRP these days; it's all a quick convert to Mythras as far as I'm concerned, so it's the settings I'm after.
In this case however, Shadowdark is pretty much what I'm after as far as D&D goes (which is not my first choice of rpg mechanics, but it's a lingua franca)

 

[bleys21]

This is fair enough, as it's what I do with BRP these days; it's all a quick convert to Mythras as far as I'm concerned, so it's the settings I'm after.
In this case however, Shadowdark is pretty much what I'm after as far as D&D goes (which is not my first choice of rpg mechanics, but it's a lingua franca)

That's where I'm at too; the game sits right about perfect for my son and his gang of hooligans, er I mean friends :-)

Plus they added the option to get all the add on stuff as PDF in one big bundle, so I can get the hardback rulebook, and everything else PDF, which is always my preference.

 

[Simon Hogwood]

Douglas Cole's newest project is a collection of NPCs for OSE:

 

[Akrasia]

I hope that this has not been posted yet (apologies if so). I'll be backing this as well.

I'll be backing this, even though I already have a number of copies of S&W (albeit most are in storage in a different country).

S&W got me into the OSR in a big way about 15 years ago. My blog started as a repository for house rules and campaign notes for S&W (many of which eventually became incorporated into the S&W-based Crypts & Things).

I'm curious to see what revisions have been made. And even if I weren't, I'd support the new version out of gratitude.

 

[Mankcam]

Douglas Cole's newest project is a collection of NPCs for OSE:

Considering that I am backing Shadowdark, I think the OSE stat blocks will be more or less compatable with Shadowdark (although I think Shadowdark may use 5E core ability bonuses, I'm not sure).
In any case this could be a handy book to have, although I want to check it out further to see how developed the NPC backgrounds are etc.
If I could get that NPC book as a pdf, and the NPC cards in physical form, then I may consider backing this project, that may be even more useful for me.
I'm watching this to see if a pledge level like this gets added, or if it can be done as an add-on in the backer kit process.
I really need to see if this will be value-for-money or not, and the pledging costs seem a little steep at this stage, but it warrants a bit more inspection.
I've parked this as a 'Remind Me'.

 

[Ynas Midgard]

After many delays (I believe the manuscript was largely finished in 2017), an adventure module I wrote has made it to Kickstarter: Benighted Betrothal.
The stat blocks are nominally for Basic/Expert D&D, although it's pretty easy to convert to other systems as the adventure doesn't assume the presence of the traditional procedures and strict gameplay structures of D&D (and because of that I personally don't consider it an OSR module).

 

[Toadmaster]

The typography definitely took inspiration from the Black Hack, OSE, and (to an extent) Mork Borg. Most of the best parts, actually.

I don't need another OSR dungeon crawler, but I kind of want to support this one just based my my liking of their design ethos.

I came in here to see what (if anything) people were saying about this. I keep getting pop up in my youtube feed, and finally followed the link. I like the aesthetic they have going on and they are mostly saying the right things about the system, to keep my interest. Definitely an offshoot from pre-3E D&D, but sounds like they are not just going for a tweaked D&D clone or directly competing with OSE or DCC.

I've downloaded the quick start rules to get a better idea of how much of my money they might get.

I just backed this (all the digitals). It sounds cool after watching a few reviews on YT. The only thing I'm not mad about is the 'real time' thing. That's a little too non-traditional for me. But I like the way that 'time' and 'light' should always be a factor and there 'aint no night vision.

The real time thing raises my hackles as well, but depending on how it is done it does seem an interesting idea for keeping the players focused and the game moving along. Seems like it would be easy enough to ignore if I don't care for the implementation.

 

[Mankcam]

Regarding Shadowdark

I wouldn't worry about any real-time concept mechanics like clocks/timers (as per the Torches) - they are only there when you are wanting to create dramatic tension, so you don't need to do it every time. It would be something for DMs to apply or not.

Given the amount of interest in Shadowdark, and the fact that it is looking like a great blending of D&D OSR and contempory D&D mechanics, I would not be surprised if this game establishes itself as a big presence in the indie rpg scene.
I don't think it is going away, and I have a feeling it will be one of those titles just like S&W, OSE, DCC etc - potentially bigger if other writers become involved proliferating scenarios and resources for it.
This definately feels like a ground swell building up, and perhaps it is perfect timing after the WotC OGL dramas.

We'll see if I'm right in about a year or so, once all the kickstarter/vlogger hype dies down.

But being a betting man, I'm willing to bet a full treasure chest of mithril arms and armour that Shadowdark remains as a heavy hitter in the indie rpg scene over the next few years

 

[Raleel]

been sitting in on the Sinless discord channel. The domain game is pretty neat, I gotta say. a quote from it

Absolutely, they are hungry for hospitals but nervous of how much other factions might want them if they build one or how they might respond if they start trying to acquire one.

that's very much in line with what I've been thinking for my own cyberpunk game.

 

[Necrozius]

But being a betting man, I'm willing to bet a full treasure chest of mithril arms and armour that Shadowdark remains as a heavy hitter in the indie rpg scene over the next few years

I agree. I think it is more accessible too: while the text formatting and graphic design isn't as drastically "art-punk" as Mork Borg, it is far more easy to grasp, read and perceive. I know people, myself included, who get a bit overwhelmed by all the neon yellow pages with archaic gothic fonts. It is a bit too much at times, especially when others imitate it without the same grace as the original.

But that's just my own opinion.

Yes I've waffled again and I'm a backer of Shadowdark again. God damn it.

 

[bleys21]

I agree. I think it is more accessible too: while the text formatting and graphic design isn't as drastically "art-punk" as Mork Borg, it is far more easy to grasp, read and perceive. I know people, myself included, who get a bit overwhelmed by all the neon yellow pages with archaic gothic fonts. It is a bit too much at times, especially when others imitate it without the same grace as the original.

But that's just my own opinion.

Yes I've waffled again and I'm a backer of Shadowdark again. God damn it.

Welcome back to the Shadowdark cult! Have a cookie!

 

[Acmegamer]

I agree. I think it is more accessible too: while the text formatting and graphic design isn't as drastically "art-punk" as Mork Borg, it is far more easy to grasp, read and perceive. I know people, myself included, who get a bit overwhelmed by all the neon yellow pages with archaic gothic fonts. It is a bit too much at times, especially when others imitate it without the same grace as the original.

But that's just my own opinion.

Yes I've waffled again and I'm a backer of Shadowdark again. God damn it.

 

[Necrozius]

View attachment 57508

You gorgeous evil bastards already indoctrinated me with Mythras.

To me, Shadowdark is firmly in the Kevin Crawford category of game books: used in conjunction with other games. I plan on integrating it firmly with OSE.

 

[3rik]

I hope that this has not been posted yet (apologies if so). I'll be backing this as well.

Yet another revised edition. I get the impression they keep cranking these out almost non-stop.

 

[AsenRG]

Yet another revised edition. I get the impression they keep cranking these out almost non-stop.

"Some people keep buying them, so..."

 

[Akrasia]

Yet another revised edition. I get the impression they keep cranking these out almost non-stop.

While there are many different versions of the S&W rules ('core', 'complete', 'white box', 'complete' version box set), and many different covers (I've lost track), I think that this is the first 'revised' version of S&W complete since it came out ~15 years ago (in the sense that this version will have some content changes, but is still fully compatible with the previous version).

 

[robertsconley]

For those wondering about Shadowdark, a random party was generated this Friday to tryout the system.

 

[3rik]

While there are many different versions of the S&W rules ('core', 'complete', 'white box', 'complete' version box set), and many different covers (I've lost track), I think that this is the first 'revised' version of S&W complete since it came out ~15 years ago (in the sense that this version will have some content changes, but is still fully compatible with the previous version).

I own White Box FMAG; the White Box-based games Fallen Justice, Crypts & Things Remastered, White Star Galaxy Edition & Eldritch Tales; and a bunch of the S&W supplements from Barrel Rider Games (White Box Compendium, White Box Gothic, White Box Omnibus). And a whole load of other OSR-type products. Do I need a copy of the full S&W rules?

 

[Toadmaster]

I own White Box FMAG; the White Box-based games Fallen Justice, Crypts & Things Remastered, White Star Galaxy Edition & Eldritch Tales; and a bunch of the S&W supplements from Barrel Rider Games (White Box Compendium, White Box Gothic, White Box Omnibus). And a whole load of other OSR-type products. Do I need a copy of the full S&W rules?

If you have to ask...