I back a lot of things on Kickstarter. Like. A lot of things. Especially during the annual ZineQuest, where indie TTRPG creators are encouraged to take a chance on the small, wild ideas that sometimes grow up to be Something Big.
At PAX Unplugged I had the chance to speak briefly with one such creator, and they asked me what I looked for when I was deciding to back a project, so this post is written to them. Well. Also you, you’re reading it. Hi! But mostly to them, and anyone else who might at some point want to try to publish a TTRPG supplement.
What I’d like to do is go through each of the projects I’ve decided to back in the 2024 ZineQuest and explain why, exactly, it caught my eye. Plus a couple I decided not to back but want to promote. I won’t be punching down and talking about anything I decided not to back. That’s feedback that might be useful to those specific creators if they ever asked for it, but I don’t think it’s generally helpful to publish as a list.
First, A Rubric
Essentially I’m asking myself three questions:
- Do I think I would ever play it? (Medium-likely.)
- Do I think I could convince my friends to play it? (Almost impossible.)
- Do I think I could pilfer it for ideas or mechanics? (Most common outcome.)
Sometimes there’s a few extra points tossed in for “I think this idea is really cool and I want it to exist in the world,” but you can’t optimize for je ne sais quoi.
Things I’m Backing
Blister Critters – I don’t think I’ll ever convince my friends to play this, but the art and idea are unique, the presentation is outstanding, and it’s entirely unlike the canon of TTRPGs I already own. This is the game I expect people to be copying in ZineQuest 2025.
Shadow over Gloomshire – Five words in the project description were all it took: “dark fantasy and gothic horror.” This falls into the category of things I’m not sure will be directly useful to me, but I want more of it to exist in the world.
The Lair of the Skateomancer – I really want to see how the skateboard is implemented as a magic item, and I’m interested in the skatepark themed lair. It seems just ridiculous enough to work.
Radish Quest – The art is half of what sold me. Half of the remaining half is that I’ve backed another project from this creator before and been happy with it. The remaining half-half is the all-in dedication to the bit in the project description. Radishes.
The Wigmaker’s Fingers – A heist where you steal a prosthetic finger. Everything about the way this is packaged makes me want to know more, and the samples of the layout on the book look great.
Cartograph - Atlas Edition: A Mapmaking TTRPG – I’m interested in the mechanics. Like many TTRPG nerds I someday wish to publish my own world as a supplement, and I’m usually interested in systems that I think could help me develop that world.
I Crave The Loop – Curious to see how the mechanics work, plus the name and idea are clever.
The Details of Our Escape – Mostly I want to see how the domino mechanic works, but the art also looks compelling.
Courier - Repacked – The description reads a lot more like a solo board game than a TTRPG to me, so I’m curious to see what that’s about. It also claims to touch on some interesting ideas, like building a base, and I want to see how that’s implemented. I’ve always liked the idea of the players being able to make a home, but I find a lot of the mechanics for doing that in traditional TTRPGs to lack depth or interest.
Valhek’s Guide to Treasure Hunting – At $3 the PDF falls squarely into “why not” territory. It only needs to have one interesting monster or magic item to feel like I’ve probably got my money’s worth.
8-BIT THEATER THE ROLEPLAYING GAME – Many hundreds of years ago I was an avid reader of 8-Bit Theater. Honestly I’m just glad Brian Clevenger is still out there, doing his thing. This is somewhat me just kicking some money to a creator who brought me a lot of joy a very long time ago. It mostly doesn’t matter if the product is any good. But it looks like it probably will be, if nothing else, pretty funny.
Bookwyrm: Loot some books! – Much like Valhek’s Guide, the $4 entry price for a PDF of random tables is enough to get it a “why not.” The concept is cute, and I could probably make use of it in a campaign somewhere.
Cult of the Morach: An Old School Adventure – Mostly interested to see how the encounter clocks function. That’s something I’ve done before, and I think it can be a useful way to pace events that happen whether or not the players are paying attention. I’m curious to see if there’s a better way to do it. The adventure itself looks like it could also be interesting, but it’s for a system I don’t play, so it’s probably going to serve as inspiration and not be something I ever use directly.
Milk Bar: sci-fi roleplaying in post-Soviet Poland – Once again looking at the base building mechanics, although the setting is also wholly new to me. I didn’t know what a Milk Bar was before. The physical edition and layout also looks fantastic.
Dimday Red TTRPG - Nodus Zine 02 – I backed the original Dimday Red kickstarter in ZineQuest 2023, and I think the world is an interesting one. Mid-apocalyptic catches me in much the same way post-apocalyptic would, but it’s a relatively unique take. Stories rarely linger in the middle of the world ending.
Mystery Under Magi-Mart – I think this might be a fun thing to run as a Line Entertainment [E]nforcer at PAX.
Beetle Knight – You can be a moth.
The Tower - A System Agnostic Puzzle Dungeon Crawl – This hits a few highlights. It’s a puzzle/riddle dungeon and it’s system agnostic. The kind of thing I’m likely to be able to slip into any campaign where it might be useful. Too many supplements want to give me more monsters, but I don’t really need more monsters. I have too many already. A good puzzle that players might enjoy solving is hard to come by.
DNGN CLUB: Relics Remastered Vol. 1 – A kitchen sink of the author’s best ideas. Some of the samples are evocative. I’m curious to see what can be pilfered.
Sentai & Sensibility RPG – If you have never wanted to be simultaneously both the green Power Ranger and also Mr Darcy, then I’m not entirely certain that we can relate. But if you have, now is your chance.
Thrifty Trades of Fey – I’ve backed just about everything Gametee have ever made and been delighted by all of it. What particularly caught my eye is the use of an origami fortune teller. I want to see how they make use of it as a mechanic.
Things I’m Not Backing
These are projects that I’m not getting for one reason or another, but I think they’re cool and maybe you’ll be interested.
Field Agent Handbooks: Observancy Dept. 1924–28 – This is a cool idea, but I know to my teeth that I’d never make any use of it. The idea doesn’t seem to be pilferable. For the right person this would probably be a lot of fun, I’m just not that person.
Tiny Fables – The art on this is gorgeous, but it’s for a system I don’t play and don’t think I’ll pick up. The examples make it seem like it would be difficult to adapt any of it to the games I do play.