Kickstarter Korner for October 2018, Week 2

Each week during the Quests & Adventures live chat, Saturday at 2 p.m. eastern, Nerdarchists Dave and Ted and Nate the Nerdarch hang out live with fans from the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. It’s a chance to share announcements and news, answer questions from the live chat and generally just hang out and talk nerdy with the Nerdarchy community.

In the description of each weekly video, Nerdarchist Ted compiles a list and links to all the videos and website content from the week. But he also shares a selection of cool Kickstarter campaigns. As an avid Kickstarter supporter, he’s happy to share his favorite RPG and gaming-related Kickstarters with you, the Nerdarchy community. Enjoy!

RPG Related Kickstarters

• The Runewild – A Dark Fairy-Tale Setting for 5E
• Fiends & Foes – Adorably Deadly Chibi Style 5e Monster Cards
• Legendary Dragons: A 5th Edition Supplement
  • Find out more about unleashing the power of legendary dragons on the Nerdarchy site here
• Rex Draconis RPG – Rising Tides
• Tales of the Old Margreve: 5th Edition Forest Adventures
• TOME OF HOLDING: The hardwood dice box and rolling tray
  • Learn more about this expertly crafted RPG accessory on the Nerdarchy site here
• Into the Dungeon choose-your-own-path book
• Dungeon Discoveries – Card Decks for any TTRPG
• Limitless Encounters vol. 1 Revision (173 5E encounters)

Protip: When you sit down at the gaming table for a session of Dungeons & Dragons or any of your favorite RPG, what kind of player are you? Do your characters look for adventure, seeking the hooks and motivations that propel them forward? Or are you open to the adventures that come to you, and embark on quests for the sake of questing?

This is a question I answered for myself a few weeks ago. Despite being an RPG player for about 30 years now, most of that time was spent playing in small groups of folks who were already friends. We never really thought about playstyles, or if our sensibilities matched up or whatever. We just got together to roll funny-shaped dice and go on adventures because that’s what we did.

But ever since fifth edition D&D came around, my gaming life has changed considerably. My first experience was 5E D&D was at Gen Con, when it was still in playtesting and called D&D Next. I’d never played at a convention before, or with strangers, and it was fantastic! We were part of a really cool adventure involving everyone in attendance at a whole bunch of tables — at least two dozen groups of 4-5 players each — each party defending a tower of Candlekeep while sinister forces assaulted the legendary library. Meanwhile a solo Dungeon Master played the part of a blue dragon who circled the tables (with an awesome blue dragon miniature) and would swoop by for attacks.

My next big leap was when I lived in Austin and got involved with Adventurers League, playing 5E D&D for the first time. It was really awesome to meet new people and play some super fun D&D every week. We even got a static group together to play through Princes of the Apocalypse.

Since then I’ve played D&D with a ton of people in a bunch of different campaigns. I even ran a live stream campaign with people I’d never met before.

Just a couple of weeks ago, it occurred to me what kind of player I am, and the question I posed at the beginning here was answered. I’m totally open to whatever adventures lay before the characters I play. Convincing me, or my characters, to accept a quest is not even a thing — I’ll do it! Discovering a character’s motivation on the fly is something I really enjoy. And while I appreciate the work of any Dungeon Master to craft a setting, a world, a sandbox and so forth, I’m an easy mark for any DM’s adventure.

Missing person? Sure, I’ll help find them.

Cult activity? Let’s check it out and put the kibosh on their nefarious plans.

Dangerous dungeon delve for treasure and power? I didn’t become an adventurer to play it safe.

None of this is to say my approach to D&D is superior or anything — far from it. Recognizing this quality about myself as an RPG player was really liberating. I mean, I still play the same way, but articulating the perspective in my thoughts was a fun exercise. I looked back at my gaming history and all the characters I’ve had a great time playing, and it made me realize my favorite part of D&D, the character dynamics. Becoming a party with fellow adventurers is a non-issue. As players we’re at the table to experience adventures together. As characters, the conceit is they’ve taken up this crazy life because doing the normal societal things isn’t for them. Banding together with strangers to take up the impossible is what adventurers do.

And like most of this editorial protips, there’s some real-life crossover as well. When adventure hooks present themselves, I tend to take them. I put various amounts of thought into them beforehand but more often than not I just go for it. Does it always work out for the best? I can’t really say, since I have no idea what would have happened otherwise. But I strike out on adventures to see what will happen, and because I know if I didn’t, I’d always wonder what if.

So, what kind of adventurer are you? Do you need convincing to take on the quests before you, or do you approach life — both your own and those of your D&D characters — with an attitude that you didn’t come here to sit idly by or wait for someone to pull you along or offer a compelling reason to participate?

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