Kickstarters I’m Watching

The kickstarters I have my eye on are largely doing pretty well. Well enough that this is more informational than promotional – it’s more for your sake than theirs.

Excited About

  • Timewatch just started today and has already funded, and with good reason.  Kevin Kulp is  a mad genius, and this may finally be the Gumshoe incarnation that busts through the economy barrier that has kept me from embracing the game.  That it includes lasers and dinosaurs is a bonus. That said, buy in price point ($25) is higher than my preference.
  • Iron Edda is either very easy or very hard to pitch.  Mechanically, it’s baselined with Fate, and it does some fun stuff with that, but the interesting bit is more in the concept – if the promise of Ragnarok heralded by Dwarven War-Mechs battled by heroes piloting the skeletons of dead giants as their own mechs doesn’t grab you, then this might not be for you, but I think that’s a hell of a starting point.  I’m biased by the fact that I played it at Metatopia, and it was a hoot.
  • The Duo Coffee Steeper is not an RPG, but I still dig it.  Just waffling on the price tag vs the coffee output.  I’m not sure it’s that much better than just doing a pourover cup (or an inverted aeropress) but it looks awesome.

 

Less Excited, but Have Noticed

  • Pulse Fantasy looks like a labor of love, and I will always support that, and it might be brilliant, but I can’t tell by looking at the Kickstarter page. There are a lot if generalizations but very little meat, and I admit that the cynic in me see the earmarks of someone afraid that someone might steal their ideas. This is a shame, but I wish them luck all the same.
  •  On a Roll: Level up your RPG – Modest goals and a clear value proposition are part of why this book of GM advice has already funded.  I also think it’s tied into a circle of personality I don’t have any visibility into.  Still, interesting.
  • RPG Fanatic Community Website – I think this might be trying to solve too specific a problem. The reasons for this sound too much like a laundry list of complaints with existing communities and less like a unique value.  Still, it raises an interesting question of whether kickstarter is a place to start a community.  I would think not, but I’m not 100% certain.
  • Fall of Man – I know very little about this one, but it has shown up a few times in my G+ feed, so someone’s excited about it.  Premise looks like a fun thundaar-esque vibe, and mechanically it takes the smart path of going Pathfinder for baseline, but offering support for other OGL systems.  Definitely curious.
  • Aspects of Fantasy – I know exactly nothing about this, save what it says on the tin. FATE/Pathfinder mashup is a solid hook, enough to make me curious and keep an eye open, but not enough to grab me yet.
  • The Airfoil is a really interesting looking pen, but I’m not convinced I would ever use one.

 

So, that’s what’s I’ve been looking at. Anything else interesting out there?

 

EDIT – Reminded that I forgot Storyscape, which is sufficiently ambitious that I’m not sure what I think yet.

7 thoughts on “Kickstarters I’m Watching

  1. Bill Olander

    Last year for New Years I swore off Kickstarters. This year I’m continuing the trend as a guideline rather than a hard rule. My theory is that if they actually kick-start successfully then I should be able to buy the actual product once it has completed. The side benefit is that I can avoid the deluge of ‘behind the scenes’ commentary. Hopefully a number of these will be waiting for me on DriveThruRPG a year from now.

    Reply
  2. Kevin Kulp

    Rob, thanks for the kind words! For what it’s worth, the $25 buy-in price gets you:

    – Full rules
    – Any written material unlocked during the Kickstarter (and I think we just hit our 10th stretch goal)
    – An adventure-free Player Guide in PDF
    – Quick-start cheat sheets
    – Self-calculating character sheets
    – A spreadsheet of character templates, examples, and blank sheets for fast or immediate play

    So for better or worse, I’m working my ass off to provide value. You can also see the game for a $1 pledge, which I’m a huge fan of in case anyone is on the fence.

    Thanks for talking about it!

    Kevin

    Reply
    1. Declan Feeney

      Kevin, I took you up on the $1 pledge to see the draft version.

      Within about an hour I’d upgraded to the print version. I was a little dubious initially, but the Jurassic (draft) version dispelled any doubts. Nice work.

      Reply
      1. Kevin Kulp

        Well, damn. Thanks, Declan! I was originally on the fence about doing the $1 Jurassic edition, but I am awfully glad I did. The game sells itself a lot better than I can.

        Let friends know if you think it’s fun, and seriously, thank you. That’s really cool.

        Kevin

        Reply

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