Kickstarter Roleplaying Game Roundup!
Hello weekend! It’s been a long but fruitful week, but the weekend couldn’t come soon enough! I haven’t had many brain cells to spare this week, but I have had some time to peruse Kickstarter! In my wanderings, I was delighted to find a selection of interesting tabletop games. These are more modest projects than the games that have been setting records lately, and that is refreshing, in my opinion. These are the kinds of projects that actually need help to succeed, and each of the projects we’re going to look at merits some attention (and just maybe, some of you hard-earned money). With that in mind, tonight we have for your reading a pleasure, a Kickstarter roleplaying roundup!
Peek below the fold for the deets.
First up is Dawning Star: Fate of Eos, a science fiction sandbox roleplaying game! Dawning Star is actually a reboot of a 2005 title released on under the Open Gaming License for the d20 Future extension of Wizards of the Coast’s d20 Modern system. Reboot might not be the best description, since that term suggests that they’re releasing the same old thing but with better special effects and post-processed IMAX 3D… In actuality, the team behind Dawning Star has gone back to the drawing board to completely re-craft their setting, moving forward the timeline, commissioning new art, and generally putting together an entirely new game—powered by the recently released (and pay-what-you-want!) Fate Core. Their video is well done and their promises are reasonable. Combined with their proven ability to deliver a quality product (I owned the original Dawning Star and it was a good book), I’d call Dawning Star an easy win. $10 buy-in at the digital level.
Next up is Divine Instruments, an expansion for 2011’s Part-Time Gods (which is now pay-what-you-want on Drivethrurpg, incidentally…). Part-Time Gods is a game in which modern day mortals are infused with divine powers (perfect for something on the order of American Gods or Anansi Boys style gaming). Divine Instruments adds new rules for worshippers, sacred territories, and divine relics, as well as expanding the existing options for characters. Considering that the rule book is (ostensibly) free, backing Divine Instruments is a fine way of showing your appreciation (and expanding your game)! $10 buy-in at the digital level.
Supers! The Comic Book RPG (Revised) is, well, a revision of a 2010 title. I’m not familiar with the original, but this bit of text from the project page grabbed me: SUPERS! gained a following as a rules light RPG that expertly mimicked superhero action. Instead of having to stop the action to look up rules, the simple and robust mechanics allowed for ease of play. Character creation and learning the rules took minutes followed by hours of fun. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a fun way to spend an afternoon! $10 buy-in at the digital level.
Finally, we have Raiders of R’lyeh, “a stand-alone roleplaying game and sourcebook in which mercenary rogues EXPLORE FORBIDDEN FRONTIERS, UNEARTH ANCIENT ARTIFACTS, and OUTWIT VILLAINOUS SCUM.” Judging by the video and the product page, it looks like a solid mash-up of pulp adventure (a la Idaho Johnson, or whatever that guy’s name was) and mythos themes. The game uses the much-beloved Runequest rules, which means that getting into the game could be a snap (assuming you’ve played Runequest, that is). Judging by the collateral on the project page, the game’s design and layout shares a lot in common with Call of Cthulhu (which comes as no surprise). The priceiest of the lot, Raiders of R’lyeh has a $25 buy-in at the digital level, which includes both a player’s book and a game master’s compendium—and you better hurry, with four days on the clock, it’s still about $3000 from it’s goal of $22k.
And there you have it! Four good-looking games with great value, all on Kickstarter! Happy gaming!
Caffeineforge 