There’s many interesting items to be found on Kickstarter, but these are the coolest ones this week.
Upwind RPG
We had an amazing time demoing Upwind with Jeff Barber a few weeks ago, and couldn’t be more excited to back this project. Upwind has a very strategic mechanic that allows for a very narrative style of combat and use of your skills. Also exciting is that is going to be OGL (thanks social stretch goals!), which means we’ll be able to adapt it to all kinds of settings. I can’t wait to get my hands on this.
“Imagine Bakshi’s classic animated film Wizards has a head-on collision with Disney’s Treasure Planet and the resulting fire is put out with a whole lot of Studio Ghibli’s Castle in the Sky. That, in an unexpected, animated mash-up, is Upwind. Upwind is a narrative style RPG set in a strange alternate world of floating island nations, flying sailing ships, long-lost technology, wild elemental powers, looming war and forgotten legacies.
Upwind is powered by the Q system, an original stakes-based, playing card-driven mechanic that gives every encounter consequences with meaningful, narrative-building outcomes. With its unique bidding rules, Upwind plays as fast as you can tell your story.”
Ghost Court
I’ve really enjoyed everything that’s been released by Bully Pulpit games, so this new release definitely caught my attention. Ghost Court is a LARP where ghosts bring their cases to court against the living and dead. I’ve never done any LARP-ing before, but this seems like a great entry point, full of a lot of fun and silliness.
“Ghost Court is a live-action party game about spectral justice in a small claims court. It is perfectly suited for a large group, but you can play with as few as six players. Play focuses on a few players at a time, as the judge and court officers hear testimony while the rest of the players take turns as plaintiffs and defendants arguing over the petty disputes between the living and the dead. Cases last a few minutes and are ridiculous. Will you be an over-the-top landlord, aggrieved at a scheduled haunting gone off the rails? Will you be a sad poltergeist who only wants to make a bad smell? In Ghost Court you might get to be both.
The standard edition of the game will include 64 full-color, tarot-sized cards in a high-quality two-piece box. The deck includes role cards for each of the court officers and 20 cases. In addition you’ll get a full-color rulebook full of illustrations, easy-to-grasp rules, and an example of play.”
Giant Squishable Foam Dice
I don’t think there’s enough room on most gaming tables to roll these, but they look like a lot of fun anyway. I wouldn’t recommend throwing them at your GM, because come on, that’s how you get Cthulhu to show up in power armor, but they’re great for a bit of silliness. I wish they were even bigger, but these look like they’d be worth adding to your dice collection.
“Perfect for a quiet individual, learning activities, kids toy… OR for throwing at your RPG Game Master, punish an abusive character, or waking up that sleeper in the corner! This is a FULL set (the only foam set with d6 and Ten’s d10 being included at one low price) of large 2″ soft foam polyhedral dice.
These soft foam dice are great for many uses. From your spawn’s first set of dice (ages 3+), to helping the hard of sight old fart DM see the numbers, to educational uses (yeah I said that), to tracking your life in a card game!”
The Book of Three Gates
A great addition to the collection of a Lovecraft fan that seems to have everything, this book brings together some of the classic tales with illustrations, essays, and a really premium production. This book looks like it will be beautiful and fascinating.
“The Book of Three Gates compiles newly edited editions of H.P. Lovecraft’s public domain stories of eldritch horror, edited and produced by Simon Berman, and illustrated by renowned deific and fantasy artist, Valerie Herron (The Book of the Great Queen, The Book of Starry Wisdom).
Accompanied by essays and musings by some of today’s premiere Lovecraftian scholars, writers, and devotees, The Book of Three Gates will be a luxurious 11.25″ x 8.5″, approximately 180 page hardback tome, featuring a leather textured cover with gold foil pressed symbols of significance to the Opener of Ways, 12 interior B&W illustrations, end papers displaying a map of the Township of Dunwich, as well as other features to be unlocked as the Kickstarter meets its stretch goals. This premium volume is a companion to The Book of Starry Wisdom and will be a stunning addition to the library of any enthusiast of H.P. Lovecraft or worshiper of the Old Ones.
The Book of Three Gates centers upon three of Lovecraft’s stories in which the ways between worlds have been shattered, transgressed, or violated: The Dunwich Horror, The Dreams in the Witch House, The Haunter of the Dark. These iconic tales are accompanied by newly unearthed essays and mad ravings that blur the line between fact and fiction, science and madness.”
Loot: A Magic Item Deck
Decks are a really convenient way to randomly distribute loot. There’s no looking up tables and it’s a lot quicker. These cards are gorgeous, I really love all of the art on these cards. Plus they have a ton of information on them, including flavor text and gold value. If you’re running a D&D game, then you should check this out.
“D&D is all about storytelling. It’s about sitting at a table, with books, papers, pencils and using the power of our mind to catapult ourselves into a fantasy world. In this world we’ve killed monsters, started wars, rescued those in need, looked death square in the eye and won incredible odds stacked against us. We did all of this for fame and glory. And…Loot, let’s not forget the loot!
But to be honest loot isn’t always fun. We waste a lot of time fiddling around with treasure-generators and all other kind of methods. Often resulting in the same gear and pulling us away from the essence of D&D : telling and living our story. This is something we wanted to change. We didn’t just want to create a list or a book, we wanted to do something more immersive with it. Something that would recapture the magic of obtaining loot for all players. And that’s why we created Loot. : A deck of new magical Armor and Weapons.”
Q’Thulu
This enormous miniature will be perfect for terrifying your players when you slam it down on the table. It is incredibly detailed, and their final painted one is disgusting as it emerges from the sea. Standing at 130 mm, it will tower over your characters.
“Bestialwars miniatures is glad to introduce Q’Thulu, a model sculpted by Danilo DeFrancesco and cast in white metal. Shipped with a textured scenic resin base and Art card of the model (both kickstarter only). A model for collectors and for players who enjoy roleplaying games and wargames.”
Still active!
Fidget Cube
Scroll and Codex Dice Tower and Rolling Tray
Lovecraft Brewing Online Shop
Voyage of Fortune’s Star: A 7th Sea cRPG
The Deck Jacket
Salt in Wounds
Hudson and Brand
Darwin’s Origin of Species Picture Book
