Indiegogo - Forest of Spores (OSE, C&C, & 5e)

The hamlet of Jensenville woke to a forest of mushrooms that sprang up overnight right outside their village. What's worse, the mushrooms are expanding, absorbing homes and building into their midst. The villagers need help before they are overrun. And that won't be long given how fast new mushrooms keep sprouting up.

What terror awaits in the fungus forest? Heroes are needed to venture inside...but will they return?

Forest of Spores is Rachel Marsh's first work for Frog God Games. It's funded on Indigogo and then some, and Frog God Games has a solid history of publishing its projects on time.

Forest of Spores is 12 bucks in PDF and 25 in POD and PDF.

Here's hoping your heroes are just what the residents of Jensenville need! 

Will they push into the forest's depths where fungi grow wild? Where other creatures wait to stop their mission? And how will they react to the mushroom-people making a new home in the dark nooks of the forest, completely unaware of the villagers' plight?

And worse still, something else waits in the forest, a threat to humans and mushroom-people alike. It's already killed a number of the mushroom-people, and it is more than happy to welcome the adventurers (aka fresh meat) into its killing ground.

Forest of Spores can be played as a standalone adventure, or it can serve as a lead-in to further investigations into the mysterious and dangerous Under Realms.

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Crowdfunding - Saethor's Bane: A Dungeon Fantasy RPG Solo Adventure

It looks like several creators have moved to using BackerKit over Kickstarter. Douglas Cole/Gaming Ballistic is just the latest, and it's a topic I'll be bringing up with Doug on tonight's Talking Crit Live!

As always, I'm letting you know that I consider Doug a friend. He was part of my infamous B-Team about a decade ago, making their way through Castle of the Mad Archmage. Doug has been a guest on prior Talking Crit Lives! as well as the Random Party Generator Livestream.

I've been a fan of the GURPS System since first finding Man to Man and OrcSlayer in the mid-80s. Dungeon Fantasy sits on my bookshelf as a game I really want to be a player in, and Saethor's Bane solo adventure may be just the way to finally accomplish that goal :)

Saethor's Bane is 10 bucks in PDF and 20 bucks in Print plus PDF. Those are good, honest prices for the material you get.

You won't need a GM - you follow the branching pathways as you make choices. If these choices lead to violence, resolve conflict using the Dungeon Fantasy RPG rules.

You can still use a GM! This "solo" adventure follows the path of four mercenary soldiers who have signed up to oppose Saethor, the titular Dark Lord, by force of arms. One person can play all the roles, or several can play through the scenario, dividing roles as needed.

Use Saethor's Bane to:

• Keep gaming when you can't get together with your usual group
• Learn the Dungeon Fantasy RPG game rules at your own pace
• Run players through a scenario with near-zero prep - they can experience roleplaying within moments of sitting around a table. 
• Great for bringing in new players, or even stress-free convention play.

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Crowdfunding - Dragon Dice - Dracolem (GameFound)

Color me surprised when I saw Dragon Dice on a crowdfunding platform - in this case, Gamefound. For those that don't recall, Dragon Dice was one of TSR's responses to Magic The Gathering, the other being the Spellfire collectible card game. The history of Dragon Dice can be found on Wikipedia.

Honestly, I own a few Dragon Dice sets from the TSR era and never really understood the rules, but the dice were cool. The current project has art that I'll find difficult to differentiate between the different power levels, but I guess it's found it nice over the last two decades.

Dracolem are the 14th species created for Dragon Dice - the compact wargame with streamlined rules played with dice armies. Build forces from various fantasy species and fight to control battlefield locations. Mix and match units to harness the unique abilities they gain from the elements of nature and death. To play Dragon Dice you only need a pocketful of dice, setup in 5 minutes, and you can play on a card table. Experience the deep strategy of a wargame without having to paint miniatures, build terrain, or carry around large rulebooks and codexes!

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar   

Crowdfunding - Unnatural Selection: A Supplement for use with Shadowdark

I didn't realize Backerkit was its own crowdfunding platform, but now I know :)

Unnatural Selection: A Supplement for use with Shadowdark is funding directly via Backerkit and is "a supplement of classes, ancestries, adventures and more for use with the Shadowdark RPG."  Or, more precisely, "Unnatural Selection is a new digital and physical Supplement to the Shadowdark RPG. It introduces over 120 pages of new classes, ancestries, weapons, spells, untamed beasts, underworld oddities, magic items, adventures, and other enhancements while maintaining and expanding the core of the Old School Renaissance."

There's a ton of content under a single cover.

• 120+ pages in a concise, two-page spread layout
• Rules for all new elements
• 6 New Ancestries
• 4 New Classes
• 70 familiar and brand new spells
• 65+ New Monsters, Animals, and Underworld Oddities
• Backgrounds from the Underworld and Nature
• Nature Spirits & Death Pantheon
• New Support Spell Type
• New Carousing
• New Mishaps
• New Treasure and Magic Items
• Zero Level Gauntlet and Campaign Setting
• Incredible hand drawn black-and-white art

Do I need it? Probably not. Do I want it? Definitely!

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar      

GameFound - Fighting Fantasy Adventures: The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain And Other Stories

I have some very fond memories of the original Fighting Fantasy books. It was like endless quest books with random elements, hit points, and combat. It added a certain depth that one didn't get from most of the "choose your own adventure" style of fiction gaming (is that a thing?).

To bring back Fighting Fantasy as a Solo and Co-Operative card game is unexpected, but on many levels, makes sense, as it might be the next natural progression for games like Fighting Fantasy Adventures.

Fighting Fantasy Adventures is 30 bucks for the basic box, and 60 with all the bells and whistles. Not bad pricing at all.

A bit in the game play:

Here I'd like to share some of Martin's notes about each adventure as well as some thoughts about the nature of the game.

So this is one box, with 5 (actually 6) games inside it. They have an overarching storyline and you carry items and abilities forward with you. Each one of these adventures will take between 60-180 minutes to play, depending on your dice rolls and choices. So there are some elements that you will know if you play again (just like a regular Choose Your Own Adventure book) but there are also things you may not find on your first pass, you might hit a dead end and fail, you might have TERRIBLE (I promise you, you will!) dice rolls and die and need to restart.

This is not a legacy game where components are destroyed. You can enjoy the adventures multiple times, especially if you play with other people and let them make the choices the next time around. You can run this for your kids, you can lean into the RP element and act in ways that might mean you drive your other party members crazy and mean you miss important stuff. It's really fun to run this as a GM. There is a tonne of value in the box.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.

DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar   

Indiegogo - Deities of the Lost Lands: Gods of the Empires

This Lost Lands sourcebook details deities of the Hyperborean Empire and Kingdom of the Foerdewaith.

A system-neutral deities book supporting the system-neutral Lost Lands setting from Frog Games? I'm in!

Deities of the Lost Lands: Gods of the Empires is 18 in PDF, 35 in print plus PDF.

The Lost Lands is the campaign world of Necromancer Games and Frog God Games, home to locations now legendary in the annals of roleplaying, from the depths of the massive dungeons of Rappan Athuk to the city of Bard’s Gate, the Desolation of Tsar, the demon-tainted Sundered Lands, and the chaotic tumult of the Borderland Provinces.

The Hyperboreans first entered the historical record of the Lost Lands more than three thousand years ago when their legions marched south into the lands of Akados. For long years, their dominion was uncontested. Yet nothing lasts forever, and after their empire fell, a new one arose upon the ruins of the old, called the Hyperborean Monarchy of the Foerdewaith.

To this day, the worship of the gods of the old Hyperborean Empire and the now decaying Kingdom of Foere have dominated much of Akados, and even today are venerated in parts of the eastern continent of Libynos. These include such renowned deities as Thyr, Muir, Mithras, Jamboor, Belon the Wise, and Archeillus. Information about some of these gods has been sprinkled throughout many of the products published over the years by Necromancer Games and Frog God Games. Never before has the information about all of the gods of Hyperborea and Foere been included in one volume... until now!

Don't forget to subscribe to the Tenkar's Tavern Youtube Channel to ensure you don't miss an episode. https://www.youtube.com/c/TenkarsTavern

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.  You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar 

Crowdfunding - Down We Go | Infinite Edition (Old School RPG)

This is the first time I've looked at a crowdfunding project at GameFound.com. I may need to post on the various crowdfunding platforms folks can use to fund their gaming projects.

Back to the topic at hand. Down We Go | Infinite Edition supposedly "captures the heart of Old School tabletop RPG flavor with simple core rules. This globally-developed game includes procedures, adventures, hex crawls, and a new core setting. Venture to Infinopolis a twisting city that hungers for gold, jewels, and blood to keep it running. So grab a torch, grab a blade, and seek your fortune, as Down We Go!"

Sadly, Down We Go is following the recent trend of using text embedded in graphics for their funding page, and nothing looks shittier than a page full of graphical text on a blog. It uses d20s and d6s, so the basic mechanics should be familiar to most old-school gamers.

Softcover Zine plus PDF is 20 bucks. One page of the rules and a pdf of the said page is 5 bucks. Higher amounts for the hardcover. The fulfillment date is December 2021.

I'm likely in for 20 bucks. It looks interesting and I like to see the new releases.

The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern. 

You can catch the daily Tavern Chat podcast on Anchor, YouTube,  or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar  

Crowdfunding - Aryx's Almanac of Unusual Magic (ACKS)

 

I'm a huge fan of the Adventurer Conquerer Kings System (ACKS). It's a modular OSR system that draws upon B/X yet breaks it down and rebuilds it. It's that rebuilding that I find so useful in my old school gaming campaigns, even if I'm running with Swords & Wizardry.

I'm also a huge fan of alternative magics, as it just seems to make magic more, well, magical. Aryx's Almanac of Unusual Magic seems like it will scratch two itches.

The Almanac is a 56-page treatise on new and unusual magic. Within the pages of the Almanac, you will find four new kinds of magic, each of which uses magic in new and exciting ways:

Dwarven earthforgers inherit an ancient tradition allowing them to draw on the spark of the divine found in all creation to power their magic.

Gnomish alchemists are experimenters whose concoctions range from ‘helpful and safe’ to ‘incredibly poisonous’.

Terran engineers are scientists and builders from another time, whose inventions and tinkering certainly appear magical to most non-technological societies.

Warlords draw on the chaotic energy of battle, taming it with their practiced tactics and leadership to ensure that their side wins.

All of these classes use variants on ceremonial magic, introduced in the Heroic Fantasy Handbook. Three of them use eldritch magic, and many of the spells on their spell lists are described in that book. The fourth (the dwarven earth-forger) uses a new kind of magic, gnostic magic, which relies on using the power in existing materials and can have terrible effects should a practitioner try to avoid that requirement.

Every campaign is a law unto itself, and you as Judge can include as many or as few of the elements of the Almanac in your campaign as you desire. Each class is entirely self-contained, and none of them rely on the addition of any of the others. Because they use eldritch magic, the new spells (and tactics) described for the gnomish alchemist, the Terran engineer, and the warlord constitute more than one hundred new eldritch spells usable in any campaign that includes eldritch magic, even one that doesn’t include any of these new classes.

Of course, full builds for all of the classes and spells, and the source factors for gnostic magic, are included as well, allowing you to build your own content to expand what’s in the Almanac. Build your own gnostic spellcasters, or use the additional spell design factors to create your own new spells. Even in a book that’s largely new player options with these new and exciting classes and spells, we include something for the Judges out there. Magic is all around you. Are you a forger of creation, an engineer of wonder, an alchemist of the unknown, or a lord of war? Discover what kind of unusual magic speaks to you, with the help of this Almanac!

10 bucks for the PDF, 15 for the PDF plus at cost POD.

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I Thank you in advance - Tenkar 

Indiegogo - Feast of the Gobbler (S&W, 5e, PF)

Who wants a Thanksgiving-themed adventure? I know I do, and the author's I'd want to see it from are either James Spahn or Casey Christofferson. Both are amazing authors with just enough weird in their sense of humor to pull off a usable and entertaining holiday-themed adventure. This time around, we've got Casey giving us the Feast of the Gobbler ;)

What evils lurk in the deep woods? Only the Gobbler Knows! 

The Ennie nominated adventure originally released over 16 years ago returns with a fury of bad puns and just desserts! 

This adventure designed for 3-5th level characters takes you deep into the eternal autumn of the Greenhill Woods. Here the characters find themselves caught in the midst of a conflict between settlers and native folk at odds over a recent rash of deaths and disappearances. Their exploration of the region takes a surreal turn as they investigate Councilors’ Bluff, uncovering its dark secrets. 

The adventure requires equal parts detective work, puzzle and trap solving, and action adventure to discover the truth behind the missing ones and the horrible fate that awaits those who fail to stop the rise of the cult of the Gobbler! 

Available for the first time in print, this adventure classic is revised and re-edited to include brand new content for use with 5th Edition, Swords & Wizardry, or Original Pathfinder!

6 bucks for the PDF, 16 plus shipping for the print plus PDF. I'm in for the print plus PDF ;)

Paizo to Make Content for D&D 5e? Say What!?!

Straight from the Paizo blog:

Paizo is partnering with our friends at Game On Tabletop to launch the Kingmaker Adventure Path for Pathfinder Second Edition. We'll start with a hardcover Kingmaker compilation, and you'll tell us how much more you want to see. The companions from the computer game were also a big hit, so we'll be adding a Companion Guide to introduce them to the tabletop campaign, complete with NPC stats, sidequest encounters, and expanded kingdom-management roles. Finally, we'll add a hardcover Kingmaker Bestiary for 5E, developed in conjunction with industry leaders in third-party 5E publishing, allowing players of the current edition of the world's oldest RPG the chance to experience the rich and detailed storylines that have made the Kingmaker Adventure Path a fan favorite for a decade. More add-ons and unlocks will be revealed as the campaign progresses. (emphasis mine)

May you live in interesting times ;)

Oh, and the first time I've heard of this site: https://www.gameontabletop.com/cf194/kingmaker-10th-anniversary.html - interesting that Paizo won't be using Kickstarter to crowdfund.

Indiegogo - With a 5 Year, 3 Month Window to Complete on Time, the LOTFP Weird Fantasy Referee Book is Late

Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it? The LotFP Weird Fantasy Referee Book funded on October 17, 2013 and James Raggi gave himself a due date of January 2019. Five years and three months time. And still, he has failed to deliver on time.

Why January 2019? Here's James in his own words:

Being honest... a great many crowdfunding campaigns greatly underestimate the time it takes to get the projects together and to the backers and end up being late. LotFP still has some stuff outstanding that's past deadline. Guessing a "real" date seems like a losing proposition. 

Because there is no real deadline for the book. 

But the Ref book is essential to LotFP as a game and as a business, and the company is basically in neutral gear until it's done. So it's in everyone's interest to get it done in as timely manner as possible. And we will do our best not to drag our butts. But we won't cut corners. 

Layout for the Rules & Magic book took longer than expected, but the same template will be used for this book so who knows how that will affect things. We might hit some of the stretch goals that affect the book's content (more art, color layout, developmental editing), and those will add unknown amounts of time to the project. Someone pointed out in the run-up to this campaign that "You mean if 50 people add on commentary by Zak, he's going to write 5000 words?" and if that happens to one (or more...! One can dream...) of the commentators, that might add more time in. 

While all of these things add time to the project, they also make the book better. And I hope they happen and will push for them to happen, but at the end of the day the people doing most of this stuff are freelancers who will need to fit this book into their schedules at the time it's ready for them. 

So the actual delivery date is "When it's done." That isn't an option to enter into IndieGoGo for a delivery date though, and any reasonable guess is still pretty much blindly throwing darts. So why not January 2019 and poke fun at myself and others who have failed to correctly divine past completion dates? 

So... You either want the book, or you don't. You either trust that it'll get done, or you don't. 

If you don't want the book or don't trust that it'll get done, then backing this project is a bad idea no matter what date we stamp on it. 

If you do want the book and do trust that it'll get done, we've put together some incentives to get you to back now instead of waiting until it's properly released.
It's up to you to decide whether those incentives are effective.

Five plus years is a long time to develop any project. Earlier tonight, Ken Hite stated: "I will, however, not work with Zak on any future projects, knowingly share a credits page with him on any future projects, or increase his social media reach." That's going to be an interesting conflict.

Last update on the project's page was in July of 2018.

I see on the comments section that the requests for refunds have begun.

Maybe, just maybe, an update would be in order...

Indiegogo - In Vino Gigantus: A Fantasy RPG Adventure (Frog God Games / James Spahn)

I apologize for the past few days. I've been fighting one hell of a chest cold (and serving uncle duties for my similarly suffering niece) and I've been lagging behind. Today I am trying to play catch up, but as I'm still under the weather I make no guarantees. 

In Vino Gigantus is the latest Indiegogo release from Frog God Games. It is written by James Spahn. Let me get this out of the way, so there are no questions later - I work closely with The Frogs (I am listed on their site as "Convention Manager") and James is a close, dear friend that is actually better defined as family. I am open about my predispositions and prejudices.

All that being said, The Frogs produce consistently great releases. If there is a complaint, it's regarding the high prices of their hardcover releases. Thus, their Indiegogo line of shorter, softcover releases. In Vino Gigantus is their second release in the series.

An introductory adventure by award winning author and designer James M. Spahn for Fifth Edition, Swords & Wizardry and the Pathfinder Role-Playing Game System. 

This is your chance own the premium* softcover of In Vino Gigantus the newest adventure from Frog God Games! Available for Fifth Edition, Swords & Wizardry and the Pathfinder Role-Playing Game System, this will be the first, and likely only, printing of In Vino Gigantus. This softcover is as nice as can possibly make it using a specialty print shop that is proven to deliver a variety of specialty glossy booklets for major luxury name-brand clients (and, well less well-known luxury brands like Frog God Games.) In Vino Gigantus will be delivered to you on the best high-gloss paper showing off the most exciting and vivid color art afforded us by the supporters of this Project. 

*expected to be between 20-24 pages with high-gloss 100 lb interior paper with card stock cover. All Softcover options include the matching PDF file and other unlocked digital extras (Player Map, New Creature Tokens, etc) which may not be in the softcover or available to PDF customers in the future.

Funding goal was $1500. It has already surpassed $2,400 with 14 days to go.

6 bucks for the PDF. Print plus PDF is 16 bucks plus shipping.

Edit - here's the pitch:

Stormridge Sanctum was once home to the the an ancient and noble line of storm giants. It floated miles beyond the sight of mortal men, witnessing the birth and death of countless civilizations. But as time wore on and decadence laid hold to the Tempestas clan, both Stormridge Sanctum and its magnificent liege lords surrendered to the decay of time and decadence. 

The Premise 

Now a single storm giant noble remains, the haughty dilettante sorcerer-prince Clovis Tempestas II. He concerns himself only with base pleasures and none more so than his beloved stock of family wine. But his beloved wine cellar has become flooded with a foul murk and strange creatures slither between bottles of his finest family vintage. He cannot be bothered to wade into such filth himself and he has no servants remaining in his household, so he has used what little magic his grape-addled mind can recall and summoned new servants: A troupe of unsuspecting adventures who will serve -- and if necessary, die -- to save his beloved wine. 

This introductory adventure can be instantly inserted into any campaign without preamble, as it opens with the player characters being the unwitting targets of a Summon Monster spell! Once summoned into the very hands of a mad and drunken giant, the player characters will find themselves exploring a realm designed for creatures ten times their size as they fight all manner of strange creature, traverse larger than life obstacles and objects, encounter other adventurers who have fallen into the clutches of the mad prince Tempestas, and even risk plummeting to their death as the very foundation of the cloud castle of Stormridge Sanctum is crumbling beneath their boots! 

Can the player characters placate the whims of a giant drunk on power and lost grace? Will they survive encounters with the strange animated objects that have become twisted by decades of neglected magic beneath a crumbling castle? And just what the hell is that echoing boom coming from the eastern part of the wine cellar?! 

You’ve been granted the hospitality of the storm giant prince Clovis Tempestas II, and he’s always up for a little more...

Crowdfunding - The Sinister Stone of Sakkara for 5E

As if to prove my thesis that the OSR and D&D 5e have much more synergy that the OSR ever did with Pathfinder, we find The Sinister Stone of Sakkara for 5E by Autarch over on Indiegogo. Proper conversions of OSR adventure material to 5e makes it just that much more likely I'll actually play 5e. I know, those are heretical words to some ;)

From the press release:

I'm excited to alert our fans that our adventure module The Sinister Stone of Sakkara is being released for Fifth Edition. We're currently running a small IndieGoGo campaign to cover the costs of layout and printing so that we can offer an offset printed version of the book.   

You can check out the IndieGoGo here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-sinister-stone-of-sakkara-5e-adventure#/ 

This is Autarch's ninth crowdfunding project, but it's our first Fifth Edition project. All of our prior material has been for our proprietary Adventurer Conqueror King System. 

We're very excited to begin to adapt our material for the world's most popular RPG.  

The adventure scenario is approximately 50,000 words. That's 10,000 words more than the adventure's old school version.  The Sinister Stone of Sakkara has been re-written from the ground up to follow the XP, Challenge Rating, and Treasure guidelines for 5E.
The adventure is set in our Auran Empire campaign world, a swords & sorcery setting inspired by the Late Roman Empire. For the first time, we offer Fifth Edition stats for many monsters of the Auran Empire, including the Abominable Young Dragon, Abomination, Birthing Tree, Brigand, Possessed Giant Spider, and Zaharan Ruinguard, plus 5E stats for Imperial Cataphracts, Legionaries, Legates, and more.  

As with the ACKS version, the adventure features: 

• Dozens of black and white illustrations by Michael Syrigos and a pair of full-color landscape paintings, one of the fortress of Türos Tem and one of the buried temple by concept artist Jeff Brown
• A starting base including a villa, headquarters, hospital, chapterhouse, infantry barracks, cavalry barracks, bathhouse, traveler's inn, and forum, all mapped and keyed.
• A dungeon with two levels, the first with 75 rooms and the second with 39 rooms, mapped and keyed, along with two custom random encounter tables. 

If you play 5E, I hope you'll check it out. It's a great adaptation that brings the fortress and dungeon to life with 5E mechanics. If you know friends who are into Fifth Edition and looking for new content with an old-school feel, please have them take a look. Thank you, as always, for being a supporter of our work.

When Kickstarter gets Violated by MLM - Smash Fund

When I saw the link to Smash Fund in the Kicksnarker Community on G+, I didn't think much of it.

Watch the video. It's short. Apparently, coffee is 5 bucks a cup...

Look, it wants to be a social media platform, a crowdfunding platform and a multi level marketing platform. How sweet!

Then I dug in a bit more and I realized it was insanely awful. Of the level on can only assume is meant to be a joke but probably isn't.

So, what is your cost and what do your backers get?

Yep, you can lose money on crowdfunding and cut out the middle man.

Holy shit.

"OZ to US" Aussie Gamer Photoblog looking to Raise Money for GaryCon Visit

Heath Farden is an Aussie. He's looking to go to GaryCon and basically bring it to life for those of us that won't be able to make it (which includes Rach and me - one trip a year, and for us that NTRPG Con.)

I'd love to go to GaryCon but it just doesn't fit our schedule, so if there was a skilled photographer that was also a huge old school gamer that could attend, that might just be what we need. It won't stop +Doug Kovacs from mercilessly reminding us at NTRPG Con every year about how much we need to get to GaryCon but from what I can tell, not much stops Doug at all ;)

Need more background on Heath before considering backing his GoFundMe? Here's Heath in his own words:

If I am able to raise enough to make it to Gary Con, anyone (and I do mean anyone) who contributes will receive a nice little folder full of high res photos of my trip over there.  I intend to capture the spirit of gaming via photography.  Anyone who wants to contribute a substantial amount can AMTDA (Ask Me To Do Anything) (within reason of course).  You could ask me to take a photo of a game at the highest point here in Adelaide!  You could ask me to send you a postcard via snail mail!  You could ask me to find someone from your State / Territory / Provence / Country here in Adelaide!  You could ask me to share some Christmas cheer with a complete stranger!  You could have me play in one of your games at Gary Con!  You could…. Well you get the idea! 

Ok, so now you are probably wondering a little bit more about me.  Who I am and why I want to do this.  Well let me tell you! 

My name is Heath Farnden, and I am, amongst other things, a gamer and a photographer.  I’m an Aussie and I have travelled some of the world, but have not been to the US… yet.

BTW, that $5k is actually about $3,600 American. Honest numbers. Come next paycheck I'll toss in a few coppers myself. Of course, I may ask for a photo of the site for the yet to be built Gygax Memorial...

Sometimes the Brain Box Rattles

Something has been on my mind for the last few days. Nothing major. Nothing urgent.

Just a definition of a simple word. One I've seen thrown around in politics, on Kickstarters and even other crowdfunding endeavors.

Transparency.

Does it mean what we think it means? Does it mean the same to you as it does to that Kickstarter creator? At what point does transparency become opaque?

Here ares some definitions of Transparency:

The first doesn't apply to much of what we come across in gaming, unless it's at the gaming table. The fourth doesn't really apply at all.

The second and third seem really important when trying to vet any project that is seeking crowdsourced funding.

How important is transparency to you and the crowdfunding you back?

Is "The Tome of the Unclean" Troll Lord Games' Latest Tweak to Crowdfunding?

The Trolls have turned to running their own crowd funded projects (Bluffside is their latest) for a bit now. They still use Amazon Payments, but they get to cut Kickstarter out, which I'm sure helps their profit margins (even if it does lose them some visibility).

Now it appears the are doing some crowdfunding via RPGNow, as you get to preorder a book that will be released in dribs and drabs over the course of many months.

Under a sky of blue, lies our vibrant world, where life blossoms in the green spring, or lays in repose in red autumn. But beneath the green, beneath the red, lies the cold, hard ground. Here the roots of things cut the earth, devouring what it holds. Small creatures dig and burrow and worms grow fat on the still dirt. Deeper still lie subterranean worlds, caves, where rock crawls upon spirals of time, creeping from pools of quiet that lap the shores of darkness. And beyond the darkness, beyond all sense, lies a gulf of empty fear, where our demons lurk. 

Born with twisted thought, tainted with stains of malice, these are creatures unkempt. Foul of sight and smell, sunk in the darkness of the time's caverns, the dwell in an abyss, in hell, in the Wretched Plaines of shadow and loss. These are the demons. These are the devils. 

Kim Hartsfield, author of the wildly popular, Classic Monsters (the poor man's Tome of Horrors Complete - well done and a decent price), returns to bring us Tome of the Unclean. Revisiting those demons and devils of the earlier publications you'll find the Demogorgan, Asmodeous, Amon, Mammoth and more in this, the next volume of monsters for your Castles & Crusades game! 

IN THIS INSTALLMENT: This first installment contains 3 Monsters! 

Every 2-3 weeks we are going to update your copy of Tomb of the Unclean with new monsters, building the book as we go. (at the rate of a monster a week, say 2 pages per monster, we are looking at a year before this completes - but they get my money up front - do I even get credit towards buying a physical copy?)

Tome of the Unclean, once complete, will contain close to 100+ pages (how can one be "close to 100+ pages?" shouldn't it be "close to 100 pages?") of demons and devils, revisiting old ones and introducing new ones. The book is slated for release in 2014! It will have a cover charge of $19.99 and the digital will go on sale at $14.99. Order today and you pay only $9.99!

So, basically I can give you 10 bucks up front for bits and pieces over a year, or I can wait until it's done and pay 15 bucks. Or wait until it's nearly done and pay $10? maybe?

It has to be better then the serial Adventure "Beneath the Dome". Which, by the way, has some really fucked up pricing. The four individual pieces were $2.99 each, but the subscription for all four was $9.99. Yet i you buy the completed adventure, it's $6.99. Apparently, the cheaper version is the "cohesive" version - so you were screwed if you subscribed - paid more, got a poorer package.

Raggi Posts the Plans for the LotFP WF Referee Book Crowdfunding Project

I'm not sure about this one myself. I really like the LotFP's WF Referee Book and think it would make a fine, stand alone product, but I dont need another copy.

Unlike the WF Rules & Magic Book, this is a read once and done. You dont need it at the table and only the DM really needs a copy.

Also, unlike most other crowdfunded projects, you arent getting the actual book but store credit at the LotFP store (and you still need to pay shipping) to buy the book and perks.

Eh, I'll let Raggi explain (its a lot to read - here's the direct link):


Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-Playing Referee Core Book: Procedures and Inspirations

Perk Levels

$1 Ref Book Haters
You don't want the Ref book, but you do want some of those sweet, sweet extras, so you can use this perk level to get those and to hell with the Ref book!

$10 PDF
Ref book PDF + PDFs of all stretch goal adventures.

$35 Referee Book Standard Edition
Voucher for the cost of the Ref book + all stretch goal adventures for the LotFP store. You will pay shipping for these items through the LotFP store when the book is released. You also get the PDF. The Ref book will have two bookmark ribbons, exclusive for backers.

$50 Referee Book Exclusive Cover Edition
Voucher for the cost of the Ref book + all stretch goal adventures for the LotFP store. You will pay shipping for these items through the LotFP store when the book is released. You also get the PDF. This Ref book will have cover art by x which will be exclusive to this version of the Ref book and will not be used by LotFP ever again. This version of the book will be numbered! The Ref book will have two bookmark ribbons, exclusive for backers.

$75 Both Referee Book Combo
Voucher for the cost of two Ref book + all stretch goal adventures for the LotFP store. You will pay shipping for these items through the LotFP store when the book is released. You also get the PDF. You'll get both versions of the Ref book, and both will have two bookmark ribbons, exclusive for backers.

$350 Retail Package
20 copies of the normal Ref edition of the Ref book (with the two bookmark ribbons) with free shipping. Notes on additional copies and substitutions below.

Extras

These extras are available as add-ons for all backer levels. All prices include shipping and will not increase the shipping cost of your Ref book order. However, due to the weird nature of crowdfunding and how stretch goals and bonus stuff intersects, I am announcing that only 50% of all money put into extras count towards stretch goals.

At the end of every day I will update on what the "Effective Funding Level" is.

$20 T-Shirt

Simple LotFP logo on a color that YOU choose! Sizes Ladies' S-XL, Mens' S-XXXXL. Printed on preshrunk 100% cotton Gildan Heavy Cotton shirts. (add $4 for sizes XXL and above).

$15 12-Dice Set
Opaque red dice with white numbering:
1x d4
1x d6 (numbers)
3x d6 (pips with a Dead Sign in the 1 spot)
1x d8
1x d10 (0-9)
1x d10 (00-90)
1x d10 (000-900)
1x d12
1x d20
1x d30

$50 Slipcase
A nice thick 1.8mm full color slipcase designed to hold this Referee hardcover and the Rules & Magic hardcover (which is not included in this campaign!).

$5 Thulian Echoes PDF
Zzarchov Kowolski (Lamentations of the Gingerbread Princess, The Gnomes of Levnec, A Thousand Dead Babies) is helping out by letting LotFP release his new adventure. Zzarchov of course gets a cut of every purchase of Thulian Echoes.

$15 Thulian Echoes Print + PDF
Zzarchov Kowolski (Lamentations of the Gingerbread Princess, The Gnomes of Levnec, A Thousand Dead Babies) is helping out by letting LotFP release his new adventure. The print version will be exclusive to this campaign. Zzarchov of course gets a cut of every purchase of Thulian Echoes.

$10 LotFP Note Pad
48 page, A5-sized note pad (with cover artwork by Satine Phoenix!). The first half of the book has graph paper on one side of the spread and lined paper on the other, and the second half has hexes instead of graph paper - perfect for your mini One Page Dungeons and Wilderness needs.
Stretch Goals

$1000 BASIC GOAL

This will get the Ref book printed. I'll do the layout myself, it will be proofread by the wife. Very basic stuff that will get the book out the door.
Once this goal is reached, existing backers will get an email with a list of possible stretch goals, and backers will have 24 hours to vote on which should be the next goal. The goals as they stand now:

+$700 Pro Copyediting
The book will go to an outside copyeditor.

+$1200 Pro Layout
Layout for the book will be done by Tigerbyte, who did the layout on the Rules & Magic hardcover, The God that Crawls, The Monolith from beyond Space and Time, and Isle of the Unknown.

+$2300 Full Color Layout
The layout will be in full color.

+$2300 Indexes
A comprehensive index covering both this new Ref book and the Rules & Magic hardcover will be in this book.

+$2800 Developmental Editing
The Ref book is going to be one part advice and procedures, one part game tools, one part inspiration, plus intro material for new Refs. To help everything flow more smoothly and to help create a more impactful book, a developmental editor will be brought on board with this stretch goal.

+$2800 Color Section
A 4 page insert with full color art, like the one that appears in the Rules & Magic book, will be part of the Referee book. This goal may be reached multiple times.

+$3000 Custom Slipcase Art
You want brand new, exclusive artwork for that slipcase? Better reach this goal.

+$3700 Module Reprint
Older, out of print need to be reprinted. Reaching this goal will get one of the following adventures reprinted: Tower of the Stargazer, Death Frost Doom, The Grinding Gear, Hammers of the God. The value of the adventure will be added to the LotFP store voucher backers received so you get it just the cost of added shipping if the goal is reached. This goal may be reached 4 times, once for each adventure.