Kickstarters Thread

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
A shame that they probably won't meet their last stretch goal. I'd love to see the setting's interpretation of Arcadia, Heaven, and Hell. :smile:

Maybe we'll just have to wait a while longer.
 
Argh had to back down to PDF-only. 70$ CAD is an awful lot for me right now for a book that I'll only use as reference. I could just print out the generators that I need (as I do now with Sine Nomine products). If I had fewer kids to feed and other responsibilities, I'd do it. :sad:
There's always the at-cost coupon. $15 (USD) more and then you can buy your print book at cost when you've got more money for it?
 
There's always the at-cost coupon. $15 (USD) more and then you can buy your print book at cost when you've got more money for it?
Can't believe that I didn't think of that before. DUH. Thanks!
 
Aaaaaand bam. $192k.

Now begins the relatively short waiting game :grin:
 
Well, maybe it will! Just under $500 and just over 24 hours to go. :smile:
21 hours and less than $300. It's hitting it unless it stops almost entirely right now. At the average backing right now, they only need another 10 people.

If it's all PDF, they'd need another ... 40ish. But it's never all PDF.
 
Looking at the draft right now. Damn, that is some beautiful color art.

The chapter on transhuman SF is listed as "draft" but already looks like a departure from the old Transhuman Tech supplement — and even easier to run Eclipse Phase with :smile:

"Space magic" is also a draft but already won me over by keeping psionics and magic separate, and even having an option for characters who wield both, like the Rifts Mystic (one of Savage Rifts' more noticeable failures to replicate IMHO). Hey, I could use this to run Rifts! SWN Phase World, anyone?

Looking forward to the final version.
 
Empyrea Update

Loxley, 01 Sept: Empyrea Kickstarter Announced

Frank Mentzer's Empyrea begins on Monday 02 October—a Kickstarter for a boxed campaign set usable with multiple fantasy RPG systems.

This set is the first big step, created with the help of many friends. Watch for details coming throughout September.

The core set has a lot to cover, and must be brief. The ambitious Empyrea product line will eventually include adventures, novels, details of all cities and major areas, and other supporting products.

Empyrea Online is a future Community project, where many fans can design the details of the Realm. We hope to make parallel-world Empyreas available for most popular RPG systems. We'll need your help describing it… that’s a lot of real estate! The gateway has opened; throw your hat in the ring at EmpyreaOnline.com.

This is thrilling! Lots more news to come. Thanks very much for your interest.

—Frank Mentzer
 
Huh, sounds ambitious What's in the actual core set? A general overview of everything or a detailed look at one small area?
 
Unfortunately I'm not at liberty to reveal that just yet (although when I am, as the Media Coordinator it's pretty important I make it well known). It's definitely OSR--I'm pretty sure I can say that. ;)
 
the system kicks all known forms of ass.

Perhaps it's just me, but it seems...crufty. It's a lot of different mechanics borrowed from a lot of different games laid on top of a very 1980's-feeling design. I didn't get any sense of the world from the mechanics, and the skills and spells screamed trenchcoat-and-katana to me.

It looks like it would handle Dresden Files all right, but my beef with the Dresden Files is that it feels like RPG fanfic to me. The magic feels like D&D magic instead of actual occult practices, the supernatural factions feel like they came from splatbooks. When I think urban fantasy I think things like Newford, Neverwhere, and Nightside; Harper Connelly, Henry Fitzroy, Jack Fleming and Jack of Kinrowan. Nameless Streets is the only RPG I've seen come close to this, but it's tightly tied to neo-noir.
 
Perhaps it's just me, but it seems...crufty. It's a lot of different mechanics borrowed from a lot of different games laid on top of a very 1980's-feeling design. I didn't get any sense of the world from the mechanics, and the skills and spells screamed trenchcoat-and-katana to me.

It looks like it would handle Dresden Files all right, but my beef with the Dresden Files is that it feels like RPG fanfic to me. The magic feels like D&D magic instead of actual occult practices, the supernatural factions feel like they came from splatbooks. When I think urban fantasy I think things like Newford, Neverwhere, and Nightside; Harper Connelly, Henry Fitzroy, Jack Fleming and Jack of Kinrowan. Nameless Streets is the only RPG I've seen come close to this, but it's tightly tied to neo-noir.
Fair points. No game is for everyone. I freely admit that Wicked Pacts borrows ideas from other games, but fortunately, they're other games that I like, and I love the result. :smile:

I agree that it would be great to see a Newford-style urban fantasy game. The closest thing I've seen was Deliria, which was a gorgeous vision with a clunky system and without the setting details to back it up.
 
The original Changeling: The Dreaming was sort of trying to do Newford, but it got muddled in with the other themes they smushed in there.

One thing that makes lit like Newford, Neverwhere and Nightside stand out is that there are no factions, no "races", no splats. Everyone in the setting is their own unique thing (admittedly, for Newford deLint is stealing from extant European mythology and folklore, but you never have more than one of anything). I'm not sure how to do this in an RPG context without ending up with the inevitable lasersharking, though.
 
The tricky thing about Newford is that it largely consists of more or less normal people going "wow" as they encounter the miraculous. There's little of the sort of conflict (particularly violent) that you see in the typical RPG.
 
It looks like Wicked Pacts will cover the kind of urban fantasy I'd love to see in a game, and while it seems primarily inspired by stuff like the Dresden Files, it can probably cover more territory than that.
 
The tricky thing about Newford is that it largely consists of more or less normal people going "wow" as they encounter the miraculous. There's little of the sort of conflict (particularly violent) that you see in the typical RPG.
It would be difficult which is why there is t one, but I'd still love to see it :smile:
 
I just came across this one. Battlefield Press plans to make a game setting of Robert Asprin's "Cold Cash War" dystopian science-fiction novel for both Savage Worlds and Cepheus Engine. Robert Asprin was (and still is) one of my favorite authors, so I had to pledge. I pledged for the Cepheus Engine version. Dang, I've been waiting for a print edition of Cepheus Engine... I hope one comes soon.
 
Never heard about it, but being dual-started for Cepheus and SW piques my interest. What's the setting like?
 
It's a bit dated (late '70s/early '80s), but... imagine BattleTech, laser tag, and cyberpunk all mixed together.

In the near future, huge international corporations settle contract disputes by hiring battalions of mercenaries, putting them in power armor, and letting them loose in the wilderness of Brazil. The winner wins the contract dispute. Except, it's non-lethal warfare. The power armors are all equipped with non-lethal weaponry, and the power armor merely shuts down when "destroyed." No one dies. No mess. This is how corporations decided to get around governments, making governments ineffectual. The late '70s/early '80s aspect is that Japanese corporations are huge, and some of them utilize samurai power armored battalions...

There's a lot of corporate intrigue, and even government as governments around the world try to maintain their relevancy with all this corporate espionage and huge laser tag battles between corporate armies going on.
 
Cool setting premise, and I'm open to the Cepheus Engine. But... I've never heard of Battlefield Press, nor any of the Rpgs they've produced. Do they have any reputation as a publisher, or proven track record with Kickstarters?
 
That is a good question. From what I understand, Battlefield Press mainly publishes settings for Dungeons & Dragons 5E and Savage Worlds. Since I don't have nor ever played either of those systems, I can't tell you from experience if their stuff is quality. However, I have heard of one of their Savage World settings, Eldritch Skies... and IIRC, I believe it won an ENnie a few years ago. Though that doesn't necessarily mean much. :p The reviews on their DriveThruRPG page seem to be mixed.
 
Last edited:
I will admit that we have been late with a couple, but in the end they all get fulfilled. We are a small staff, and so sometimes we get held up with family or other personal events. I try to keep the backers updated to the best of my ability. I love Asprin, and classic Sci-Fi in general. We have done a handful of licensed games, and the Asprin Estate had enough faith in us to allow us to play in their sandbox. Please back if you are interested. I am open to questions, feel free to send me a message via the kickstarter if you have any other questions.

-- Jonathan M. Thompson
CEO / General Line Director
Battlefield Press International (formerly Battlefield Press, Inc.)
 
More news from Fraaaaaaaaaaank!

================

Greetings.
Let's start from scratch.

My name is Frank. A long time ago I worked for TSR and Gary Gygax, and I wrote some things.
Now it's 35 years later (!), and most Tabletop Hobby Gamers don't know me. Many have never heard of me.
There are a lot of great games out there, and it's hard to pick one. Thank you for your time and interest.

When I was Gary's Creative Aide, we talked about my Campaign. We decided to publish it, but Gary wanted it very distant, with no active connections to his continent. That's what he wanted so that's what I did. Earlier plans didn't materialize, so the time is now, sadly 9 years after my friend left us.

Empyrea is based on three premises: Magic instead of Technology, a sentient but indifferent Planet who knows how everything can be in balance, and royals who place Quality of Life (for all) above unbalancing mass whims (like war and wealth).

These premises have far-reaching consequences, and I have spent decades extrapolating the results and applying them to an entire continental society. (I have over a thousand chatroom game logs, i.e. my laboratory.)

Our story is about Empyrea at its height. It is geographically constrained on all four sides, and Evil wants to spoil the party. But at the moment it's a comfortable Realm, the sort of world in which your current player characters have grown and thrived. They'll find a second home in Empyrea.

We plan to release the core set by next Summer (Kickstarter in October). If it is well-received, we'll offer a whole line of supporting products. We're trying to make Empyrea available for various Fantasy RPG systems, and a Science Fiction interface for the offplanet setting. These are plans, but only the future will reveal the results.

SPOILERS: Additional sub-plots involve Orcs trying to be civilized, Dragons deciding not to be adventurer-fodder any longer, an undersea race of Giant Squid who actually rule the planetary ocean, a Lost World right next door, Giants who may have an offplanet heritage, and Immortal beings who might just erase everything and start over. But that's all in the background, and won't affect you... much.

Why will this take 9 months to produce? Because Loxley is assembling fantastic talents from all fields, but few are working on Empyrea full-time. You'll soon see 30 names. These tremendously talented people work with many companies. We just have to deal with the logistics.

Thanks again for your interest. More to come soon.
 
Last edited:
More news from Fraaaaaaaaaaank!

================

Greetings.
Let's start from scratch.

My name is Frank. A long time ago I worked for TSR and Gary Gygax, and I wrote some things.
Now it's 35 years later (!), and most Tabletop Hobby Gamers don't know me. Many have never heard of me.
There are a lot of great games out there, and it's hard to pick one. Thank you for your time and interest.

When I was Gary's Creative Aide, we talked about my Campaign. We decided to publish it, but Gary wanted it very distant, with no active connections to his continent. That's what he wanted so that's what I did. Earlier plans didn't materialize, so the time is now, sadly 9 years after my friend left us.

Empyrea is based on three premises: Magic instead of Technology, a sentient but indifferent Planet who knows how everything can be in balance, and royals who place Quality of Life (for all) above unbalancing mass whims (like war and wealth).

These premises have far-reaching consequences, and I have spent decades extrapolating the results and applying them to an entire continental society. (I have over a thousand chatroom game logs, i.e. my laboratory.)

Our story is about Empyrea at its height. It is geographically constrained on all four sides, and Evil wants to spoil the party. But at the moment it's a comfortable Realm, the sort of world in which your current player characters have grown and thrived. They'll find a second home in Empyrea.

We plan to release the core set by next Summer (Kickstarter in October). If it is well-received, we'll offer a whole line of supporting products. We're trying to make Empyrea available for various Fantasy RPG systems, and a Science Fiction interface for the offplanet setting. These are plans, but only the future will reveal the results.

SPOILERS: Additional sub-plots involve Orcs trying to be civilized, Dragons deciding not to be adventurer-fodder any longer, an undersea race of Giant Squid who actually rule the planetary ocean, a Lost World right next door, Giants who may have an offplanet heritage, and Immortal beings who might just erase everything and start over. But that's all in the background, and won't affect you... much.

Why will this take 9 months to produce? Because Loxley is assembling fantastic talents from all fields, but few are working on Empyrea full-time. You'll soon see 30 names. These tremendously talented people work with many companies. We just have to deal with the logistics.

Thanks again for your interest. More to come soon.
I was pleasantly surprised and pleased to see Frank suggest a Runequest conversion.
 
FWIW, the Kickstarter campaign has hit $1,000 in funding with two weeks remaining.
 
Frank Mentzer, author of the D&D Red Box, has gathered an epic roster of industry veterans with centuries worth of experience to develop his world in the making for over 40 years: EMPYREA!


See the world he’s been brewing and the crazy pool of talent he’s drawn from the halls of RPG history! Names like Ed Greenwood (Forgotten Realms), Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance, Ravenloft), Tim Kask (Dragon Magazine), Len "Leomund" Lakofka (Lendore Isles), Steve Marsh (D&D Expert), Douglas Niles (City of Greyhawk), James M. Ward (Deities & Demigods, Gamma World), “Skip” Williams (Sage Advice, D&D 3e) brought to life by hallowed artists Liz Danforth, Jeff Easley, “Diesel” LaForce, Erol Otus, Stephen D. Sullivan, and more!


Pledge to get a map by Darlene, the Empyrea Core Book, Player’s Handbook, 3 “Little Brown Books”, quickstart backgrounds and adventures to get your group into their second home (a world that may seem normal enough at first glance...), and a system book with game rules for your favorite fantasy RPG (D&D 5E, Pathfinder, Runequest, Savage Worlds, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Castles & Crusades, Swords & Wizardy, Hackmaster, D&D BECMI, or 1E/2E) all contained in a sturdy, colorful old school box!


Check out the Kickstarter—intrigue and adventure await!


 
Love the physical detail, sounds and potentially looks like a great product but I think a bit more setting info will help sell to fence sitters.

Basically why should this be their “second setting“ as I think Frank said in his chat with Dan.

Be interesting to see where this goes. I have both fingers crossed :smile:
 
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top