Plenty of new and original RPGs have gotten funded via Kickstarter in the last few years. Of course, 7thSea was the big deal with its $1M funding, but many, many RPGs fun with $50k and above. Which have you actually played? Would you recommend it?
I am especially interested in hearing about games that were truly original, not just new editions or remakes or reprints.
I've kickstarted a few (last one was Old-School Essentials), but the only KS game I've actually played and not just read is the revised edition of Stars Without Number. While not really original mechanically, it is really well written and very inspiring to read, and also quite fluent in actual play. The supplements are great too. Worth every penny.
Shinobigami and Tenra Bansho Zero. Two japanese games that were translated through KS. Had a blast with the former, haven't played the later.
The Spire. Almost played but ended up missing the session. My friends loved it though.
Undying. We had a blast.
Kult: Dinivity Lost. We're still prepping to play it but I like what I see so far.
Blades in the Dark. Another blast.
Masks: a New Generation. Blast.
The Sprawl. Blast.
Hillfolk. Idem.
Mutant: Year Zero. Idem.
;)
I've never paid for any kickstarter, though I guess I've gotten quite a few as review copies.
Ok, so I've backed a lot and played quite a few I didn't back but got later.
Hellas – Epic Greek myth in space! Ran a one-off and then a campaign. The one-off was great. The campaign fell apart mostly due to players not meshing well with the setting and some vague rules issues here and there. Would recommend at least a look, especially since I think there was a revised book that came out and fixed some rules.
Conspiracy X 2.0 – Played in a year long campaign. Had a blast. Great game.
Numenera 1+2 – Got in on the ground floor on this way back. Ran a few one-offs but never a campaign. I did play in a The Strange campaign and had a good time. There are a few rules issues, like how armor scales, but the books are high quality and I'd recommend them.
Shadows of Esteren – Yes! Go buy this right now! The books are top notch in every way: art, presentation, rules, everything. The setting is awesome ghost story/weird things in the woods Celtic gothic fantasy/horror. I've backed every book in the series and loved every one. I ran a 2 year long game and everyone enjoyed it.
Ryuutama – Ran at GenCon for some friends and got them to buy the book too. Japanese game about fantasy traveling, often called Miyazaki fantasy. Wholesome and enjoyable with a few different "tones" you can set for different types of stories.
Wraith 20th Anniversary + Changeling 20th Anniversary – Got purely for nostalgia. Other than taking forever to get I really enjoyed revisiting the settings but probably will never play.
Shinobigami – Haven't gotten to play/run yet but "ninja drama game" is something my group is interested in giving a go.
7th Sea 2nd Edition – I really liked it when I ran it but my players had mixed reactions. Some really liked the more narrative nature, others hated that.
Mutant: Year Zero/Genlab Alpha/Mechatron/Elysium – Just wrapped up running a campaign that combined all but Elysium. 90% great with 10% frustrating issues. The robots seem way overpowered to have combined with the others. A little more crunch with the Ark projects would have been nice. Still, overall I'd say yeah, it's worth checking out.
Forbidden Lands + The Bitter Reach – Haven't gotten to play or run yet but the books (the FL ones as BR isn't out yet) are very nicely done and have my group excited to give it a go.
Tiny Wastelands/Supers/Beach Patrol – Ran Beach Patrol and Tiny Supers. We had fun. I'd recommend them to people looking for quick and light games to fill off nights.
House of Keys – Just recently got my books (I got both rules versions). It's a Slavic fantasy adventure. Haven't had time to read and digest it yet but looks interesting and I'm eager to see a more robust setting book.
Legacy: Life Among the Ruins (and all the add-on setting books) – All the books look gorgeous and do a good job of presenting the setting and rules. I have a small group lined up to give it a go but the holidays pushed it off a little.
Mythsea – Only read the preview stuff and I'm looking forward to the release. Might not be everyone's cup of tea, but the art is really nice.
The Midderlands + The City of Great Lunden – Great fun. My group calls it potato sack fantasy. You got your slightly above average joes in a dirty, muddy world that isn't quite right trying to make a living via "adventuring".
Fateforge – A D&D 5e setting by the Shadows of Estern guys. It's hard to sum up in just a few words but it's part sword & sorcery, part D&D, and enough different that I wanted to know more about the world. Haven't run it yet and I'm a little disappointed that they are changing the release format. The plan was for a core book, a magic book, a world book, a bestiary, and a supernatural/artifacts/planes book. Now instead they are combining the last three into smaller softback "atlases". So you get world, monsters and items all in one, but only for a specific region. I think they plan to do 9-12 of those and collect every 3 into a larger hardcover.
BESM 4e – New edition of a fun system. From what I've read so far it's still a good system and an easy recommend.
SLA Industries 2e – Only read a little of the preview material so waiting for more before I can really comment.
Heart: The City Beneath – I missed the Spire KS but picked it up at GenCon. Haven't run or played it yet but liked it so much I instantly backed this. I think I like the concept of Heart even more than Spire.
Vaesen – The art alone makes this worth a look. I'm just getting around to reading the alpha so it'll be some time before I can get to run it. I'm not expecting much new from the rules, as it's Mutant: Year Zero based and I know what that's like.
Gradient Decent (A Mothership Module) – I ran a Mothership one-off over the holidays. We had a good time and I feel good about backing this. I wish the Mothership boxed set was closer to being done, but for now the pre-release is pretty solid.
Blades in the Dark – I played in a game that lasted a few months. The other 2 players had some trouble with the system. Too narrative for them. I enjoyed it though. If you like Apocalypse Engine game derivatives and want to play bad guys it's worth a look.
The Sprawl – Hugely enjoyed. Surprisingly, the same guys that have issues with Blades really got into this one and had a good time. If what you want is to just run jobs in a cyberpunk world without a lot of support of anything outside the job, give it a go.
Tenra Bansho Zero – Only played a quick one-shot a few years ago, but I've read the books a few times and keep going back to it thinking about running a campaign.
Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea is a really great expression of old-school (A)D&D.
13th Age: I didn't back the Kickstarters, but I love its idiosyncratic take on D&D.
The only Kickstarted ruleset I've actually played is ACKS, which I'm hugely fond of; I now take bits and pieces of Alex's default setting to fill in anything unspecified in the setting when I'm starting a campaign - like, if deities aren't core to my concept of the setting, I'll start with his. I'll assume the existence of Venturer and Aristocrat class-like constructs in the background even if they aren't offered to players. More importantly his economics / geography / demographics really helps inform how I build things.
ASSH takes AD&D in directions that don't interest me; I'd rather see that kind of setting for 5e, and so Primeval Thule and relatives are on my "might buy someday" list.
I have Forbidden Lands but haven't decided yet whether I like it.
My players *think* they won't play anything but WotC, but I suspect I could get them into Blades in the Dark or Beyond the Wall.
Talislanta: The Savage Lands - Running a hybrid version of it now. Having a good time. Literally had a DM from a player out of the blew 2-minutes ago telling me "I'm kind of excited for the game tomorrow. No reason specifically." It was a hard sell to my group, but everyone is digging it after the first two sessions. Jury is still out. No matter what I think, it's not good unless the gaming group gives it the Stamp(tm). I'm biased, so you know, while *I* know it's good... they gotta weigh in.
Savage Worlds Adventures Deluxe Edition (SWADE) - Run several campaigns. LOVE IT. Looking forward to diving in DEEEEP when the genre-splats land, as well as the new Deadlands. I'm going to get a massive amount of use out of this over next decade.
Savage Worlds Rifts - Have not used it natively. But I've used a lot of the mechanics from it. Half my group REALLY wants to play it, the other half seem poisoned on Palladium in general or think Rifts is "too out there" - which is weird coming from a group that loves Spelljammer... I have plans to run it, all in good time.
Savage Worlds Wiseguys - Have not used it yet. It's a real gem. I plan on using elements of it in other games. I got it more as a supplementary book, but it is REALLY cool on its own merit.
Savage Worlds American Armageddon - Has not been delivered yet.
Savage Worlds Interface Zero 3.0 - Has not been delivered yet - but the updates are looking *awesome*. 99% sure I'll be running this with my crew... though with Cyberpunk Red incoming probably in April... it might be pushed back a bit. I'm reasonably sure elements of both games will be leaking their way into the other.
Yeah... so Savage Worlds has been a real winner for me and my group. But it's got heavy competition at my table from non-KS games.
Quote from: tenbones;1118680Talislanta: The Savage Lands - Running a hybrid version of it now. Having a good time. Literally had a DM from a player out of the blew 2-minutes ago telling me "I'm kind of excited for the game tomorrow. No reason specifically." It was a hard sell to my group, but everyone is digging it after the first two sessions. Jury is still out. No matter what I think, it's not good unless the gaming group gives it the Stamp(tm). I'm biased, so you know, while *I* know it's good... they gotta weigh in.
Savage Worlds Adventures Deluxe Edition (SWADE) - Run several campaigns. LOVE IT. Looking forward to diving in DEEEEP when the genre-splats land, as well as the new Deadlands. I'm going to get a massive amount of use out of this over next decade.
Savage Worlds Rifts - Have not used it natively. But I've used a lot of the mechanics from it. Half my group REALLY wants to play it, the other half seem poisoned on Palladium in general or think Rifts is "too out there" - which is weird coming from a group that loves Spelljammer... I have plans to run it, all in good time.
Savage Worlds Wiseguys - Have not used it yet. It's a real gem. I plan on using elements of it in other games. I got it more as a supplementary book, but it is REALLY cool on its own merit.
Savage Worlds American Armageddon - Has not been delivered yet.
Savage Worlds Interface Zero 3.0 - Has not been delivered yet - but the updates are looking *awesome*. 99% sure I'll be running this with my crew... though with Cyberpunk Red incoming probably in April... it might be pushed back a bit. I'm reasonably sure elements of both games will be leaking their way into the other.
Yeah... so Savage Worlds has been a real winner for me and my group. But it's got heavy competition at my table from non-KS games.
I wish I could get my local group to try Savage Worlds, but one of my players is a huge GURPS fan and, as far as he's concerned, gaming isn't big enough for another universal system. When the group starts discussing games to run/play, he loudly vetoes anything Savage Worlds immediately. The other players have no experience with SW, so while not against it, generally have far more enthusiasm for systems they do know. And thus begins another game of D&D...
Quote from: HappyDaze;1118684I wish I could get my local group to try Savage Worlds, but one of my players is a huge GURPS fan and, as far as he's concerned, gaming isn't big enough for another universal system.
What are you lamenting? He's right! :p ;)
Quote from: HappyDaze;1118684I wish I could get my local group to try Savage Worlds, but one of my players is a huge GURPS fan and, as far as he's concerned, gaming isn't big enough for another universal system. When the group starts discussing games to run/play, he loudly vetoes anything Savage Worlds immediately. The other players have no experience with SW, so while not against it, generally have far more enthusiasm for systems they do know. And thus begins another game of D&D...
That's funny, because it was a LOT of work to convince my group to try Savage Worlds. I'm the victim of my own success at coercion and negotiation. Now getting them to *not* use Savage Worlds for everything is a whip in the ass.
But I've floated the whole GURPS idea recently and they're open to it if I'm willing to do the legwork. I mean I'd still have to do a deep pitch to them. The primary issue for me is the crunch-factor. GURPS can be pretty crunchy, and I'm certainly not against it. But I think GURPS has its own systemic conceits that Savage Worlds doesn't - and neither of them are even *remotely* trying to emulate the same things.
So yes, they're both universal systems - but one is a scalable Veritech-fighter with capital-scale missles on it, the other is an Imperial Star Destroyer capable of pin-point precision destruction on a personal scale. Both starships, but with very different aims. I'll let you decide which is which.
Quote from: tenbones;1118694That's funny, because it was a LOT of work to convince my group to try Savage Worlds. I'm the victim of my own success at coercion and negotiation. Now getting them to *not* use Savage Worlds for everything is a whip in the ass.
But I've floated the whole GURPS idea recently and they're open to it if I'm willing to do the legwork. I mean I'd still have to do a deep pitch to them. The primary issue for me is the crunch-factor. GURPS can be pretty crunchy, and I'm certainly not against it. But I think GURPS has its own systemic conceits that Savage Worlds doesn't - and neither of them are even *remotely* trying to emulate the same things.
So yes, they're both universal systems - but one is a scalable Veritech-fighter with capital-scale missles on it, the other is an Imperial Star Destroyer capable of pin-point precision destruction on a personal scale. Both starships, but with very different aims. I'll let you decide which is which.
That's funny, I'm in a similar situation. I've been reading through SWADE as well as Savage Rifts and there's some really solid stuff in there. I wish more SWADE genre books were out because I'd like to sell it to a group and give it a real shot, but I doubt I'll be able to sway my current player stock away from GURPS as it's what they know and love from past campaigns; additionally, several have never even played any RPG except GURPS, due to me using it to recruit greenhorns into the fold. My brother in particular, one of my frequent players, LOVES pretty much everything about GURPS; I tried roping him and a few others a while back into playing Fate and I received a hard "no" after two or three sessions when they insisted on converting to GURPS and continuing with that.
In any case, I guess it's just a familiarity thing. GURPS feels like a comfortable glove to me, while SWADE is still an unknown quantity.
Quote from: tenbones;1118694That's funny, because it was a LOT of work to convince my group to try Savage Worlds. I'm the victim of my own success at coercion and negotiation. Now getting them to *not* use Savage Worlds for everything is a whip in the ass.
But I've floated the whole GURPS idea recently and they're open to it if I'm willing to do the legwork. I mean I'd still have to do a deep pitch to them. The primary issue for me is the crunch-factor. GURPS can be pretty crunchy, and I'm certainly not against it. But I think GURPS has its own systemic conceits that Savage Worlds doesn't - and neither of them are even *remotely* trying to emulate the same things.
So yes, they're both universal systems - but one is a scalable Veritech-fighter with capital-scale missles on it, the other is an Imperial Star Destroyer capable of pin-point precision destruction on a personal scale. Both starships, but with very different aims. I'll let you decide which is which.
I think part of it might be that the other guy is sore that nobody other than him wants to play GURPS. I've played it a bit and so has one other player. We've both had neutral-to-bad experiences with it, and the other two players have flipped through the books a bit before just saying "Nope."
The Fantasy Trip (Legacy edition) Excellent, but I already loved the system, which was my first RPG back about 1980. Amazing boxed set. Some nice new stuff. Some debatable changes.
Ancient Domains of Mystery This is a novelty tabletop RPG as a special Kickstarter option you could get at a certain level, for a Kickstarter for a new version of a classic shareware computer Roguelike RPG. The most interesting thing about it, to me, is the automatic GM function where you can roll dice to generate situations to play. Overall though I find it mainly a curiosity, with nostalgia and peculiar artifact value.
Quote from: Antiquation!;1118698That's funny, I'm in a similar situation. I've been reading through SWADE as well as Savage Rifts and there's some really solid stuff in there. I wish more SWADE genre books were out because I'd like to sell it to a group and give it a real shot, but I doubt I'll be able to sway my current player stock away from GURPS as it's what they know and love from past campaigns; additionally, several have never even played any RPG except GURPS, due to me using it to recruit greenhorns into the fold. My brother in particular, one of my frequent players, LOVES pretty much everything about GURPS; I tried roping him and a few others a while back into playing Fate and I received a hard "no" after two or three sessions when they insisted on converting to GURPS and continuing with that.
In any case, I guess it's just a familiarity thing. GURPS feels like a comfortable glove to me, while SWADE is still an unknown quantity.
I hear you man. I have some friends in LA that have become DIE-HARD GURPS fans. They're aggro on me for never having run it for them before I left, and swear to me I'd love it (and I believe them - which is funny I have a Steve Jackson story I'm *totally* embarrassed about that concerns these very same friends that used to *****HATE***** GURPS.)
But yeah - it's a comfort factor that has its own gravity. That actually is what keeps me moving. I am totally down with sticking with what works. But having grown out of D&D after decades of play and watching my friends be so utterly devoted to it, I felt it kept us from checking out other stuff. Now I'm leery about doing that again. It's certainly not black and white - but I like to always have something "new" on tap.
My list shows fairly clearly, I'm dropping a LOT of money on Savage Worlds - it's not going anywhere for me. But I'm always trying to sneak new stuff in there. I'm trying to Up the Crunch too. Mythras/Runequest, Warhammer Fantasy 2e is in our near future. GURPS is a very real darkhorse chance to land on the menu.
Quote from: tenbones;1118712I hear you man. I have some friends in LA that have become DIE-HARD GURPS fans. They're aggro on me for never having run it for them before I left, and swear to me I'd love it (and I believe them - which is funny I have a Steve Jackson story I'm *totally* embarrassed about that concerns these very same friends that used to *****HATE***** GURPS.)
But yeah - it's a comfort factor that has its own gravity. That actually is what keeps me moving. I am totally down with sticking with what works. But having grown out of D&D after decades of play and watching my friends be so utterly devoted to it, I felt it kept us from checking out other stuff. Now I'm leery about doing that again. It's certainly not black and white - but I like to always have something "new" on tap.
My list shows fairly clearly, I'm dropping a LOT of money on Savage Worlds - it's not going anywhere for me. But I'm always trying to sneak new stuff in there. I'm trying to Up the Crunch too. Mythras/Runequest, Warhammer Fantasy 2e is in our near future. GURPS is a very real darkhorse chance to land on the menu.
Ha, oh how I'd love to hear that embarrassing Steve Jackson story! :D
I totally empathize though. I had the RPG equivalent of ADD *really bad* around a decade ago, I kept hucking new systems around like I was playing hot potato. At one time, I had convinced my players to convert an existing campaign to a new system *three* separate times, all within a handful of sessions of each other... ahem. Still embarrassed about that. My brother got so mad at me he refused to play or listen to any of my system pitches until I nut up, picked a system and rolled with it (which... ended up being GURPS, as the system I've had the most success running over the years). During that period and shortly thereafter I was having an affair with Fate... which as it turns out, I actually came to hate. :o Introduced a couple newbies to roleplaying with it and ran into one of them a few years after the fact; they fucking LOVE it and it's the only thing they run. Go figure!
Anyway, I calmed down for a few years, but recently I've been getting an itch to try some different stuff; SWADE, Mythras (and M-space), Everywhen/BoL and I've even been peeking longingly into some OSR stuff (although I'm still not entirely sold or convinced I'll ever return to anything D20, not that I have any enmity towards the stuff). I'm sort of heading on the opposite trajectory as you in that I'd like to try something a bit lighter and see how it treats me. I know I'll eventually come back around for more GURPS at some point as I always have, but I'd enjoy stretching my legs.
Whether I can sell it to a group or not, I'm a bit of a collector at least with PDFs (physical space I have to be more conservative about) so I'm keeping an eye firmly on any new SWADE releases...
Quote from: Skarg;1118706The Fantasy Trip (Legacy edition) Excellent, but I already loved the system, which was my first RPG back about 1980. Amazing boxed set. Some nice new stuff. Some debatable changes.
Thanks for the reminder, it keeps slipping my mind that I got this (absolutely fantastic) boxed set! I might have to take it for a spin, I've yet to do anything with it besides open everything and drool over the contents.
Cypher System (generic, 1e) -- I liked the system and it moved ok when the players got the hang of it. The problem was I was running a supers game with it and I really don't think it's a good fit for that. I keep meaning to go back to a sort of Dark*Matter game and give it another shot.
FATE Accelerated -- We had a lot of fun with this.
Cortex (Hacker's Guide, not Prime) -- I was only able to get two of my regulars to give this a shot with me. I like how it did things, but I had a hard time getting it to go smoothly online. Using the Heroic setting for the rules and having to fiddle with dice wasn't easy in Roll20.
Ryuutama -- One of my buddies ran this for our group. Had a good time with it.
Far West -- pending
5e D&D Primeval Thule - GM & play tons, love it.
I haven't backed any RPG Kickstarters myself though, just Reaper Bones #1.
Quote from: HappyDaze;1118699I think part of it might be that the other guy is sore that nobody other than him wants to play GURPS. I've played it a bit and so has one other player. We've both had neutral-to-bad experiences with it, and the other two players have flipped through the books a bit before just saying "Nope."
That's sad. If I'm going to GM I'll for sure veto many things, because being the GM means I need to know all the rules and deal with the mechanics. But as a player I personally wouldn't veto any system unless I'd played it before and really just didn't like it. I figure with any system the GM/guy that's promoting it has the job of helping me out with character creation/learning the system.
Like, I'd imagine the guy who's into it could just create some pre-mades for the group and keep the rules basic for several sessions. It's no harder than D&D 5e once you have the characters created.