A Beloved Universe Now Available In Tabletop Form? August 8th, 2024 Crowdfunding Roundup

Does your inbox fill up every Tuesday with Kickstarter emails? Well, mine does - so I decided to start writing my thoughts on new tabletop gaming Kickstarters every week. Keep in mind, most of these thoughts are based on initial impressions and looking at the Kickstarter video.

Once again I'm here to "fish" around Kickstarter to find some juicy tabletop campaigns for you to "crate" around. Will you "Master" your urges and jump on these, or will you "shuffle" on by…

Fishblade! The One Page RPG

I mean, the title alone sells this campaign - what's better than a Fish RPG? A fish with a blade! This one page RPG can be yours for only $1, and it's already funded. You play as various types of fish that have stumbled upon a cache of weapons and now are armed against all the deep sea terrors that threaten your school of fish. The PDF also includes a lot of ocean maps to use for your battles. If you don't run this game, these maps could be useful for just about any ocean themed RPG.

HobbyPaintCrate: Paint Minis Anywhere! Portable Hobby System

Go into the right discords/subreddits, and you'll find a wealth of pictures of people showing off their miniature painting setups. There are all kinds of organizational tools out there that help the right paints/brushes/figures close at hand to help maximize your productivity. But not everyone has space for those kinds of setups. Or, you might be the kind of person that likes to paint in different areas. Then the HobbyPaintCrate is for you! For about $17, you can get all the 3d files for this campaign, which results in a little cube that you can use to transport your painting setup. There is a "work plate" that slides out and rests on top with wet/dry palette spaces and holders for paints, and then down below there is plenty of storage for more paints and/or other minis that you are currently working on. I really like how the work plate sits on top of the cube, as I hunch over a lot when I paint and this would probably help me sit up straighter during painting.

DeckMaster - 3D Printable Deck Stands for Card Games

Speaking of STL files, the one thing about backing a 3D printing themed Kickstarter is you usually don't have to wait very long to get the files. Typically, once the campaign is over, you're getting an email with your files ready to go. In this campaign, you can make your components a bit more themed with a series of deck holders that have different genres and artwork sculpted into the holder. Instead of a generic holder that you might find from several other sources, you could get a pirate chest themed deck holder for when you are playing more Pirate-y games. The campaign also contains scaling numbers for how to make the holders bigger or smaller to hold specific sized card games. There are still early bird pledges at the time of writing this, so for $22 you can get the files for all 6 of the DeckMasters so that you can swap them in with whatever genre of game you are playing.

Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere® RPG

There are a ton of people out there who are big fans of Brandon Sanderson's writing. I just happen to be one of the people who haven't read any of his books yet. If you fall into the former category, then you are probably already aware of the campaign for his Cosmere RPG. The system currently will consist of 6 different books, 3 based on the Stormlight Archive series coming in 2025, and 3 based on the Mistborn series in 2026. Each series of books comes with a World Guide to set up the lore for the setting, a Handbook teaching you how to play, and an adventure set in that world. For $60, you can get PDF versions of 2 of these books. The physical tiers get pricier, but you are getting at least 2 books, not just 1 like many campaigns. If you love Sanderson's settings and world building, I feel like this is an auto-back for you.

Shuffle Dungeons: The Co-op Board Game of Endless Dungeons

This game has a pretty cool premise - it reminds me of "Betrayal: House on the Hill", without the potential backstabbing and confining the board to a standard grid. In Shuffle Dungeons, you play as a party that's gotten lost on its adventure, scattering the players in a dungeon. By exploring the dungeon, you are trying to get back to your fellow players so that you can work on defeating the monsters inside. However, loot inside the dungeon can tease you and keep you from proceeding onwards, while the dungeon shifts behind you cutting off your way. Very intriguing concept, and one that is only $29, although there are the obvious deluxe goodies such as better dice and a neoprene dungeon mat. The game is very well funded at this point, so by jumping in now you can help the campaign reach some higher stretch goals.

Note: I generally assume I know nothing. So if I've missed something, let me know in the comments. Or let me know on Twitter or Facebook. If you like these types of posts, consider subscribing to our patreon.