Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms

[Lordnine]

Oh hey, that's me!

Returning to KS with a whole new IP is a very different experience.

[TheMix]

Well damn it all, now I have to back it. Which then means baelthazar has to, and then the mix, then ….well, you know.

With great power comes great responsibility, you two. Come on.

Wait... what?

[hepcat]

Just back it. It’s inevitable.

[YellowKing]

Hepcat's backing it and it doesn't even have playmats. Join us.....join us.......

[baelthazar]

Which then means baelthazar has to, and then the mix, then ….well, you know.

JUST SAY NO! Cthulhu: Death May Die is opening Season 2 in a week and I can't have you cascading this to me!

[Fardaza]

If you were interested in the reprint and didn't want to pay the scalper prices for a current copy, the 2nd Edition has relaunched. Delivery October 2023.

I'm thinking of backing this.
The KS pledge page says you won't be charged until the campaign ends. When does this campaign end?
And, can I back out before then if I choose to?

[hepcat]

You were actually part of my cascading list of people who have to back this because of Smoove and YK.

baelthazar will stop struggling shortly.

[Smoove_B]

The KS pledge page says you won't be charged until the campaign ends. When does this campaign end?

It's surprisingly long, but I guess it's just a straight reprint so think of it more like a pre-order. There is a free gift if you back by 12pm today though. If you back later you'll have to pay $15 to get it. It ends on 11/15, 12pm EST.

And, can I back out before then if I choose to?

Yes, the same as any other KS. You can also back for a $1:

Backing for $1 will get you access to the updates and keep you up to date with the campaign. You can also add to your pledge in the pledge manager later on, if you wish.

This would allow you to not get charged until you actually gain access to the pledge manager (I'd figure by 12/15/22), however once again you'd miss out on the freebie. I'm not sure I'd be making decisions on a freebie here, but I did want to at least make that clear.

[Smoove_B]

Oh hey, that's me!

Returning to KS with a whole new IP is a very different experience.

It's not my type of game, but the components and art look fantastic.

[hepcat]

I'm tempted because I absolutely love Dinogenics.

Paging Zarathud. It's his turn to get something for the group.

[baelthazar]

baelthazar will stop struggling shortly.

You probably aren't wrong. The only thing really stopping me is that the game looks almost exactly like Tanares/The Arena. Which I am still waiting on the last bits. I don't really need another boss battle crawl.

Now Deep Shelf on the other hand - that has me interested!

[hepcat]

I was looking at Arena the other day. How is that one?

[Blackhawk]

I can't afford to be backing things right now, and I have no idea if this will be a good game, but I found the pitch entertaining:



More roleplaying games need giant foot mechanics, and more games need to ship with dice catapults.

/edit - and make sure to check out the stretch goals.

[Smoove_B]

I was looking at Arena the other day. How is that one?

The original was delivered but they're quite late with the last KS and I'm not sure if scope-creep or creative financing is dragging things out now.

It's basically a D20/5E combat simulator where you get teams and not-surprisingly fight in an arena. The original expansion (adding a full-on story campaign) was due in April of 2021. It feels like maybe it will be delivered by April of 2023. I think it tilts on the lighter side and the fun is all the possible team synergies that develop as you're putting together your squad for fighting (or soon, adventuring).

I was really interested when it first came out (checks calendar) in October of 2019. Not really sure how I feel about it anymore (or how I'll feel when the long overdue expansion/update is finally delivered). People do seem to love it, I think because it's pretty easy to understand and play.

[baelthazar]

I was looking at Arena the other day. How is that one?

The original was delivered but they're quite late with the last KS and I'm not sure if scope-creep or creative financing is dragging things out now.

It's basically a D20/5E combat simulator where you get teams and not-surprisingly fight in an arena. The original expansion (adding a full-on story campaign) was due in April of 2021. It feels like maybe it will be delivered by April of 2023. I think it tilts on the lighter side and the fun is all the possible team synergies that develop as you're putting together your squad for fighting (or soon, adventuring).

I was really interested when it first came out (checks calendar) in October of 2019. Not really sure how I feel about it anymore (or how I'll feel when the long overdue expansion/update is finally delivered). People do seem to love it, I think because it's pretty easy to understand and play.

Yeah, I concur. It has a lot of mechanics that remind me of d20 combat. The adventures tend to have "gamey" elements like a vampire who constantly jumps in and bites your characters as a life-based timer. It is very tactical, in that you use one character to hit and inflict a status so your next character is teed up to do more damage.

Overall, fun, but I am wondering if Dungeon Universalis will "fire" it once I learn DUN. In essence, they have the same goals, but DUN is more of a sandbox and has cooler level progression and skills.

I am looking forward to the new Tanares expansion. But like Smoove said, who knows when it will arrive. They are shooting for Q4 or Q1.

[hepcat]

Sounds like I'll stick with DUN for that kind of thing then. Thanks.

[Zarathud]

I just received deliveries of Everdell (except 1 expansion not packed in the box) and After the Empire — Deluxe versions, too.

[Lordnine]

I'm tempted because I absolutely love Dinogenics.

Paging Zarathud. It's his turn to get something for the group.

I appreciate it but don't feel like you need to on my account. Deep Shelf is a very different sort of game than DinoGenics. It's also considerably heavier in feel. The fact that someone referred to it as a 4x game without one of the x's (combat) is not that far off from the truth.

[AWS260]

I appreciate it but don't feel like you need to on my account. Deep Shelf is a very different sort of game than DinoGenics. It's also considerably heavier in feel. The fact that someone referred to it as a 4x game without one of the x's (combat) is not that far off from the truth.

I've started working through the rulebook, and you aren't kidding! That's a meaty eurogame - and probably closer to the type of game I like these days.
It's a testament to your versatility as a designer, I think.

[EzeKieL]

Backed it!

[Smoove_B]

If you're like me and you like to read (but never actually play) various PnP RPG rules, then this might be for you:



It's a new book in a series that was released ~2019. If the title font for the system ("Against the Darkmaster") tickles your brain, it's intentional - the rules are an homage to the old Rolemaster/MERP system from the 1980s (from Iron Crown Enterprises). Crunchy and combat (and skill checks) are resolved using a d100 system.

This new KS is adding some more source books and access to printed adventures.

[hepcat]

Do the rules make me roll to see if I hit someone accidentally if they're sitting on the shoulders of another character, wearing another character as a scarf or in the same yurt? Cause if so, I'm out.

[Smoove_B]

Do the rules make me roll to see if I hit someone accidentally if they're sitting on the shoulders of another character, wearing another character as a scarf or in the same yurt? Cause if so, I'm out.

Looking at the rules (pg 198), if you're shooting at someone in the above situations they would be considered in "partial cover" when determining whether or not you can hit them. Additionally, if you miss your intended yurt-bound target, you'd make an immediate attack roll against a random combatant that's adjacent to the original target but without any special bonuses (a straight, unmodified attack roll).

(sorry, I had to actually look that up)

[hepcat]

...go on.

[Smoove_B]

Ok, you've rolled a critical and the total for a moderate piercing critical strike puts you at 128: A shot through the armpit breaks shoulder's ligaments. +10 damage, 6 bleed, stunned, -30 to all actions and arm is useless. Well done - they'll never be able to take down that Yurt or remove the character they're wearing as a scarf; both are now yours forever.

[hepcat]

My god, it's the Advanced Squad Leader of RGPs.

[Smoove_B]

Did you play Rolemaster or MERP? The combat was magnificent. All the weapons (all the different types of damage they could do) and all the spells had very specific critical tables with highly individualized results depending on how high you'd roll. So entertaining and really helped with theater of the mind.

EDIT: I still have my copies and this book was a staple back in the day.

[hepcat]

Our RPGs were:

Tunnels and Trolls (elves were tall in that one, I remember)
Dungeons and Dragons (briefly, i was never a fan)
Champions (our favorite)
Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes
ShadowRun (another favorite)
Vampire the Masquerade (until we saw some folks LARPing it at a convention, at which point we lost any desire to ever play it again)
GURPS (especially in conjunction with Car Wars)

I think one of our group had the RoleMaster stuff, but we never played.

[Blackhawk]

Did you play Rolemaster or MERP? The combat was magnificent. All the weapons (all the different types of damage they could do) and all the spells had very specific critical tables with highly individualized results depending on how high you'd roll. So entertaining and really helped with theater of the mind.

As long as you didn't mind looking up two or three tables with hundreds of tiny entries for every attack! They made 3.5/Pathfinder look rules-light.

I GMed both RM and MERP back in the day. They were both brilliant systems that I found to be so slow that they weren't always fun to play.

[hepcat]

I think because I was raised on old Avalon Hill games and such that those kind of things didn't bother me as much. I liked depth...even if it meant a few extra minutes of me looking something up.

[Zarathud]

MERP made me insane in high school. After a lot of time generating characters, my dwarf and his adventuring party goes into Moria. First random encounter — the Balrog. First combat roll — critical hit, killing my character instantly. Not that everyone else had a chance, but a nasty DM behind a random table and brutal combat system is a nightmare waiting to happen.

That was when I discovered Paranoia. If we’re going to murder player characters indiscriminately, everyone needed several lives to sacrifice for Our Friend the Computer. And Happiness is Mandatory.

(new and more perfect rule set coming soon)

[Blackhawk]

I loved heavy, crunchy systems back then. Now? Not so much.

[Smoove_B]

I loved heavy, crunchy systems back then. Now? Not so much.

Very true, though the reason I picked it up was for solo RPG fun. I find the tables more helpful in trying to think about thinks in a solo environment. I would probably struggle running it for a group, yes.

[hentzau]

Did you play Rolemaster or MERP? The combat was magnificent. All the weapons (all the different types of damage they could do) and all the spells had very specific critical tables with highly individualized results depending on how high you'd roll. So entertaining and really helped with theater of the mind.

EDIT: I still have my copies and this book was a staple back in the day.

Huge Rolemaster/Spacemaster fan. It was my go-to RPG system for years. Always loved it when the critical tables came up with a 66. I think I still have the original Arms Law tables somewhere.

Today, the thought of running it makes my nose bleed.

[Blackhawk]

For solo it would be more practical.

What Rolemaster really did for me was in the reactions my players had to the results on the tables (and we're talking 1990 here, when games were almost all crunchy and number-driven.) It took me from saying "...and you killed him" to describing bone fragments and arterial spray, dismemberments and disembowelings. Painting a verbal picture is taken for granted now, but it was barely mentioned back in 'the day.'

[hepcat]

I was worried Chronicles of Drunagor would be too easy as that seems to pop up in some reviews on BGG. But I just lost the second chapter. It’s that darkness that gets you. I think I need to play it a few times more before I get the hang of managing that mechanic. That’s what happened with Gloomhaven. I couldn’t win the first few times I played, then I got the hang of it and after that we rarely lost. It would be close though, don’t get me wrong.

Great game though. A lot of fun.

[Ertic]

I was worried Chronicles of Drunagor would be too easy as that seems to pop up in some reviews on BGG. But I just lost the second chapter. It’s that darkness that gets you. I think I need to play it a few times more before I get the hang of managing that mechanic. That’s what happened with Gloomhaven. I couldn’t win the first few times I played, then I got the hang of it and after that we rarely lost. It would be close though, don’t get me wrong.

Great game though. A lot of fun.

Our group has been having fun with Drunagor as well. We completed the 3rd chapter and are on moving on to the 1st expansion content (side mission).
I believe that second chapter is meant to be lost, and we bailed on it about two rounds in there at the end. I really enjoy that everyone feels useful/powerful out of the gate, and that the cube mechanics keep you engaged.

[hepcat]

Interesting. I should probably reread door 3's details if that's the case. I'm on my 2nd try and I'm about to die...again.

[coopasonic]

I have been much more thoughtful about my kickstarter selections for the past couple of years, yet somehow I have 4 different campaigns in fulfillment right now. 4 out of the 5 projects I have outstanding (and ALL of the board game projects I have outstanding) right now are either at the warehouse or in the port, waiting for a truck (which apparently can be a long wait at the moment).

Could I be done with kickstarter soon? Please? At this point it would have to be a perfect project for me to back it.

[YellowKing]

I'm also very selective about my Kickstarters. The problem is I select a lot.