Crowdfunding Round-up (Patreon)

There's some exciting projects crowdfunding right now, and while my budget is limited, my interest is not. So here are some projects that have my attention:

Gubat Banwa 

http://kck.st/3Q8tBHU

"The War Drama Martial Arts Tactics RPG set in the Sword Isles: a Fantasy setting inspired by the refulgent stories of Southeast Asia."

Gubat Banwa has been making waves in my ttrpg circles for a while now, with an incredibly striking visual style and a combination of a setting drawing on an under-represented part of the world in games (Southeast Asia) and crunchy tactical combat.

Most of the time, when I see an indie ttrpg, I can expect that the combat will be thoroughly narrative-focused, theater of the mind. I don't often see a indie ttrpg place its marker down on tactical combat, mostly associated with D&D, the 800-pound elephant in the room of ttrpgs. 

As a fan of martial arts, the idea of a game that draws on non-western cultural traditions for an action and combat-focused game of high-stakes storytelling is very exciting, and I'm glad to see that they've raced past their initial goal and have already hit a stretch goal to add more art.

Orbital Blues: Afterburn

http://kck.st/3tBq3Fk

Afterburn is an "Expansion Wave" for the Sad Space Cowboys RPG Orbital Blues, inspired by works like Cowboy Bebop.

Afterburn includes a Slipcase Collection, a VHS with adventures, an Expansion Book and more. The game is very deliberately lo-fi sci-fi rather than hi-fi. Everything is VHS and tape deck and CRTs. Space is filled with raggedy junk, and only the rich have nice things. That's never going to be you, cowboy, you're stuck trying to get by with inter-planetary gig work hunting bounties.

Cowboy Bebop was a formative anime and just formative show for me, so I'm very excited to see designers drawing on it so thoughtfully in making an rpg. There is an official Cowboy Bebop rpg, but I honestly haven't heard as much buzz for it as for Orbital Blues. That may be confirmation bias based on my circles, but who knows.

If you're curious about Orbital Blues, award-winning actual play show My First Dungeon is running a season playing the game right now.

Deathmatch Island

https://www.backerkit.com/c/evil-hat/deathmatch-island

"Deathmatch Island is a fast-paced game about a deadly gameshow on a mysterious island chain."

The latest offering from Evil Hat Productions (Blades in the Dark, Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Girl by Moonlight, etc.) is a competitive/collaborative rpg inspired by media like Squid Game, The Hunger Games, Survivor, LOST, etc.

Using the PARAGON system (PARAGON is to AGON as Forged in the Dark is to Blades in the Dark), player characters are generally randomly-generated people plucked from their lives to compete in life-or-death games against one another and numerous NPC competitors.

I've really enjoyed a lot of the source material for this, and Evil Hat has a very strong batting average for me. I'm not sure how I feel about an assumed PvP game, though I note it has rules and support for an all-co-op mode. The PvP/antagonism between victims is often tough for me to swallow, as I want people to move directly to "We have to team up and fight against the people treating us as playthings and pitting us against one another".

Evil Hat produced a one-shot actual play of Deathmatch Island to give folks a taste of what the game can do.

Which of these are you backing? Are there other RPG projects that have your interest right now? I want to hear about them, even if my wallet recoils at the prospect of more things to buy.