Kickstarter Progress Bar 2014

Originally published October 22, 2014
Last year I posted about how I jumped on the Kickstarter bandwagon. With 18 projects backed so far, I figure it is time to give an update on the status of last year's projects as well as the new ones.

For those still unfamiliar with it, Kickstarter is way for developers and artists to raise funding from their fans and potential fans. In our niche industry during an age of limited financing this is often the only way for great products to see the light of day. Despite the occasional hiccup, I find the Kickstarter process continues to work well.

Fully Completed

Last year the only one of the projects I backed that was complete was RPG Music Moods. For those interested in obtaining the tracks (which are great by the way), they can be found on their site. Success led them to launch a much more ambitious project a few months later which failed to fund. It was probably for the best.
In October 2013, I was also still waiting for the major updates to Obsidian Portal promised by the Obsidian Portal Reforged Kickstarter. As it is a website, things are always developing but I'd call this one complete. I've been very pleased with the improvements, even if they ruined the custom CSS I had in place before hand. I especially like the improved search functionality. Overall I find the site faster and easier to navigate and edit.
Though I still haven't been able to play it, my copy (both physical and PDF) of Kingdom arrived in good condition. Kingdom is game where you play the leaders of a community and determine the choices it makes. GM-less and diceless, it is still more traditional than Ben Robbins' earlier game Microscope. It looks like a lot of fun and I'm considering running a game of it at DunDraCon.
When I wrote last year I was waiting for the Demon: the Descent kickstarter to begin. The fundraising went very well and we got several nice stretch goals out of it. Even better, everything has already arrived in good condition with only a slight slippage. In Demon: the Descent you play a rogue agent of the God-Machine, hiding from its Angels and omnipresent gaze while attempting to subvert it to your own ends. Another game I am excited to start playing, I am hoping sometime next year I'll be able to assemble a group to play it.
Hillfolk just delivered the last of its stretch goal with the completion of the first year of the Series Pitch of the Month. Hillfolk attempts to emulate the social conflicts of dramas. Diceless but otherwise traditional, it is yet another game I'm excited about but haven't yet been able to play. My wife however did managed to play a game at DunDraCon last year and loved it. So at least she as excited as me about it.

Main Project Completed

I listed Mummy: the Curse as complete last year but I'm still waiting on several of the stretch goals so I'm not calling this one closed yet. In the past year the only stretch goal I've received is Cursed Necropolis D.C. I am still due the fiction anthology, Dreams of Avarice (a manifesto by a major NPC of the setting), and one more city book tied to this gameline. Progress has been slow but I trust Onyx Path to (eventually) deliver, given their track record with other kickstarter projects.
Last year Monte Cook and Bruce Cordell kickstarted the Strange, a game of dimensional travel and conspiracy using Monte's Cypher game system. I'm embarrassed to say I've only read the player's guide so far. I have the main book and an adventure to peruse with several more products still in development. It looks interesting, it's just that my current interests do not coincide with the setting and I'm already reading five other books.
There are a bunch of projects that I backed because I didn't want to miss out on something cool. Backstory Cards is one of those. Each of the backstory cards presents a specific connection between the player(s) and the game world. These seeds can then be used as springboards for developing a character's backstory. I had been working on something similar for Apocalypse World (there's a wonderful list here) so this was a no brainer. I pledged for the pdfs of the cards (I tend to play virtually and don't necessarily need another deck of cards). The main pdf arrived a few weeks ago. The prompts look nice and I'm looking forward to putting them to use. There are still a few stretch goals to look forward to as well.

Incoming

Then we have the many other projects for which I am still awaiting completion of the main product. Mostly these are still on schedule.
Telepath Tactics is the only video game I've backed on kickstarter. The Fire Emblem-style design of turn based team combat is what really drew me in. I'm sucker for old school games like that. The developer has released the beta version and been posting monthly updates but I'm waiting for final game as well as the soundtrack. There has been some slippage of dates and the money has run out but I'm hopeful I'll see the final product soon.
I've wanted to run a time travel game for a long time so when a kickstarter using the GUMSHOE system (high on my to run list) came up I had to take a look. TimeWatch launched with the beta rules freely available making this an easy game to buy into. Development has been slow going but we've been getting regular updates. At the moment it looks like it will be several months late, due in part to the upgrade to color and additional (stretch goal) sections added to the book. The main developer has said he would try to get us the ugly (pre-layout) edition by the end of the year. I'm planning to run this as one of my next games. That won't be until spring at the earliest so the delay isn't an issue for me.
I've written about my ideas for Mecha vs. Kaiju as well as my experiences playing with the developer at DunDraCon. While the finished product is running late, the developer has provided the pre-layout text to backers so the game is fully playable. I think this was also a victim of stretch goals.

I missed out on buying the Vampire 20th anniversary edition when it first came out so I was excited to get in on the Mage 20th Anniversary Edition kickstarter. They raised a massive amount of money and cracked open many exciting stretch goals. The corebook isn't predicted for delivery until March and according to the most recent Monday meeting the text is in editing. The big question is whether there will be any major slowdowns in printing and distributing this massive tome.

Then I backed three projects using the Apocalypse World (AW) engine.

Worlds In Peril applies the rules of Apocalypse World to the superhero genre. I was intrigued by the very different character creation but I'm behind on reading through the beta version of the rules. The delivery for the book appears to be slipping. It was scheduled for this month but it looks like they are still waiting on some of the art. I suspect it won't be too late.

Urban Shadows was another game that expanded AW into another genre, in this case supernatural intrigue. Basically it is the Apocalypse World equivalent of World of Darkness. The G+ community is fairly lively. I've received several beta versions and the stretch goals seem to be moving along. Again it looks likely that the book will come out past its expected delivery date.

Finally in the Sprawl, we tackle cyberpunk. I've always found the genre intriguing and the price was right. The developer seems to have the writing well together. Not much else to report as the kickstarter just ended and the final product isn't due until next year. Except that I really should read the beta rules.

I also backed Save Point Tavern to build a gaming bar here in Sacramento. I'm not a drinker but I do like to support gaming and local businesses. This was more a charity case than something I personally wanted.

Speaking of gifts, I have another project that I backed which I won't discuss here (at least this year). I'm hoping it delivers somewhat on time (give or take a couple of months) because it will make a nice birthday/anniversary present for my wife.

Lastly we have Feng Shui 2 which completed last week on the outrageous stretch goal of time travel to the age of the dinosaurs. A reboot of a classic game, I decided I needed this for my shelf.

Ongoing

I had hoped to pledge to Dracula's Dossier, a campaign guide by Ken Hite for Night's Black Agents, by now but it has been pushed off.

The Future

Then there are the kickstarters yet to come. Onyx Path should be starting World of Darkness Dark Eras soon (assuming they do a nice fancy book for it) which would give each gameline a spotlight into a particular time and place in history. Then there is the Paranoia kickstarter which I'll have to chip in for a physical copy for the same reasons as Feng Shui 2. It's a game I've heard so much about but never have had a chance to play or even read.