Kickstarter Campaign Reviews 2017, Part 5

Time to conclude my reviews of kickstarter campaigns. I’ve reached the present or at least the end of 2016 which was the last time I was tempted enough to contribute to a project. Several of these projects only recently passed their projected delivery dates and most have been run well.

Masks: A New Generation

In October 2015, I backed a second superhero focused game using the Apocalypse World system (the first being Worlds in Peril). As has generally been the case with these games, a tiny goal ($4000) ballooned as backers poured in. 2,371 backers raised $107,328 for this project and its stretch goals, including new decks of cards and the Halcyon City Herald Collection.

Also is often the case the final product was delayed by about half a year, arriving in September 2016. Thankfully this was one of the campaigns which kept the backers updated on progress regularly.

As for the game itself, it focuses on teenage superheroes and their struggle of growing up. Unfortunately it has also happened to be a victim of my growing disinterest in new roleplaying games. So I have yet to read it. I suppose I bought one superhero RPG too many for me.

Apocalypse World 2nd edition

An updated version of the game system that started many many others (Dungeon World, Urban Shadows, Masks and more) has arrived. Since I never bought a physical copy of the original, I knew I needed to get one this time.

As expected from the wild success of other Apocalypse World based kickstarters this easily funded, raising $149,681 (seven times its goal) from over 4,000 backers in March 2016.

I paid for a soft cover and received it somewhat delayed in February 2017 (instead of the previous September). The pdf however arrived on time. In a massive improvement, this time the electronic version of the book uses bookmarks (yeah for easier referencing).

The new version tidies up death and expands combat options. The biggest addition are moves for vehicles. Overall I’ve found the book less useful for the rules than as an example of how one might change the rules to fit your game.

Now I just need to watch some Fury Road and start a new game. Maybe at DunDraCon 2018.

7th Sea, 2nd Edition

Most of the kickstarters I contribute to fund easily. But some kickstarters are something else.

I backed this project because my wife is a big fan of the original 7th Sea game. She apparently wasn’t the only one.

From a modest $30,000 goal, the kickstarter exploded to $1,316,813!! 11,483 backers joined to make this and a whole line of products a reality in March 2016.

7th Sea, for those unfamiliar with it, is a game of swashbuckling intrigue set in a fantasy version of Europe using the most interesting versions of the countries from the 16th to 18th centuries.

In addition to a new version of the game, we were promised new setting books for Theah, its cities, its version of Africa, the Americas, and more. Honestly the schedule worried me, looking like one from the early 2000s with a monthly treadmill of products. That kind of production cycles hasn’t really been reliable for a long time.

But they have continued to deliver. The corebook hardcover arrived 2 months early and while they have slipped from their original schedule, the supplements continue to arrive at an energetic pace. I expect a couple more years of products from this amazing kickstarter.

The system itself seems to be a nice improvement on old system though I have yet to see it in actual play. Perhaps if my wife had enough time to actually run a game...

Scion 2nd edition

It has been the trend these last couple years to release new versions of popular games from the early 2000s. So much so that I’ve had to pick and choose which I splurge on.

Scion is a game of high action thrillers with PCs taking the roles of the children of the gods as they struggle to claim their birthright and stave off the forces of the Titans, the parents (and then prisoners) of the gods.

I’ve always wanted to run a game of secret godlings using this system, despite the fact that the first edition is horribly unbalanced. The second edition promises to correct this problem. We will have to see. The initial material looks promising. On the other hand I am fairly convinced I will not use the setting material so this may have been money ill-spent.

Over four thousand backers raised $334,714 for this project in October 2016. The book was promised for May of 2017 but as you would expect for a kickstarter, it is delayed. On the plus side based on its current rate of progress, I could see it sometime in 2017.

Follow

My last kickstarter, perhaps for some time, was for yet another story game by Ben Robbins.

Follow focuses on a team of people on a quest. Will they succeed? Will they get what they personally want? Who will survive to the end?

It raised $36,424 for a $2,500 goal from 1,554 backers back in November 2016.

Surprisingly for a Ben Robbins game, this one is actually delayed. The pdfs were promised in April but now arrived in the summer, with print books to follow in August.

Ben of course has provided previews and I have no fear that it will be significantly delayed.

The Future

I have no new kickstarters on my horizon right now, something my wallet is happy about. I'm sure I'll another one or two by next year however.

Edit: since writing this a month ago, I've backed Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras 2, a more modest version of the DarkEras, adding new historical settings for Chronicles of Darkness.

I also added  Tour de Lovecraft: The Destinations - Cthulhu Mythos Places which chronicles the various locations featured in Lovecraft's stories.