There’s many interesting items to be found on Kickstarter, but these are the coolest ones this week.
Red Markets
We’re currently working our way through No Soul Left Behind, a campaign for Better Angels written by Caleb Stokes, which is a joy to read and run. I can’t wait to get my hands on his newest project, Red Markets, a game focused on a factor everyone seems to ignore after the zombie apocalypse – economics. This game tries to answer the question ‘Why would you go into the dungeon?’ and it’s take is pretty simple, bills to pay. In any sane world no one would go adventuring, so Red Markets gives your players the zombie apocalypse to motivate them, and the not-fun job of surviving until retirement.
“Red Markets is a tabletop RPG about economic horror. In Red Markets, characters risk their lives trading between the massive quarantine zones containing a zombie outbreak and the remains of civilization. They are Takers: mercenary entrepreneurs unwilling to accept their abandonment. Bound together into competing crews, each seeks to profit from mankind’s near-extinction before it claims them. They must hustle, scheme, and scam as hard as they fight if they hope to survive the competing factions and undead hordes the GM throws at them.
Takers that are quick, clever, or brutal enough might live to see retirement in a safe zone, but many discover too late that the cycle of poverty proves harder to escape than the hordes of undead. Red Markets uses the traditional zombie genre to tell a story about surviving on the wrong end of the economy. It’s cut-throat capitalism with its knife on your neck.”
Cthulhu’s Aklo
One of the things that draws me to a boardgame kickstarter is the art for the cards. And this game has some really beautiful art. Plus there’s Cthulhu and the promise that it’s based on cosmic pessimism, which never hurts. You play as cultists trying to summon Cthulhu, and then try to be the one cultist who succeeded and then beats all the others back to the temple to avoid being eaten. Of course, you also try to stop the other cultists from beating you to the temple, by any means necessary.
“Driven by the vastness of the literary universe created by H.P. Lovecraft, we decided to develop a project that could involve it completely. The project is based on 3 most important pillars:
• Aklo, the language spoken by the Eldest
• The unbeatable Eldest. Can you survive to those that cannot be beaten?
• The cosmic pessimism, because you’re going to learn that almost everything has a price, which is anything but reasonable.
In this game you’ll be the Victim and the Catastrophe, you’ll be one of the most insane characters, the Cultist. You’ll need to satiate your Eldest, by reawakening Cthulhu and bridling his power.
To succeed in your intent, you’ll need to fight 3 kinds of enemy: the alien creatures, the other Cultists and the invincible Gods, desperately trying to preserve your mental integrity as long as possible!”
RPGMinifigs
Finding a good miniature can be hard, and personalizing it even harder, especially as the campaign goes on. I know some groups use Lego minifigs as their miniatures, but there aren’t as many pieces out there to really make your miniature personalized and specific to your character. This campaign is working to make those RPG specific pieces so your miniature looks much more like your PC.
“RPGminifigs are minifigs designed for fantasy, tabletop role-playing games. Our dream for RPGminifigs is to become an alternative to standard tabletop miniatures that allows you to create unique, playful, modular, and customizable characters. While our goal is to create fully, custom characters, we felt that the best place to start would be the 12 basic classes of fantasy gaming”
Ungridded Coloring Books
What I really like about these notebooks is they’re perfect for carrying around for taking notes in all day, and then you can color them in as you have free time or need a distraction. I’d probably color them in during meetings as well with my pen, I can’t really take colored pencil to work meetings but they look like a lot more fun then my poor attempts at doodles. All the notebook designs are also available in a more simple coloring book so you can focus on just coloring in the really nice abstract designs.
“Whether you are coloring, taking notes, planning, journaling or just drawing… a notebook is a major aspect of the day. This simple tool can format your creations, organize your thoughts, set your goals, relieve stress, etc… all while on-the-go to your next adventure.
The UnGRIDDED collection is a series of large coloring books and pocket-sized notebooks focusing on different topics from many diverse disciplines.”
Still active!
Elvenroot Collapsible Dice Tower and Dice Case
Age of Cthulhu 9: The Lost Expedition
FAITH: A Garden in Hell
OrcaCon 2017
Murders and Acquisitions RPG
The Keep Gamefolio System
Solid Copper Hand-Stamped Dice
Calamityware Dinner Plate 9
