D&D 2024 - Multiple Sessions In

 We're multiple game sessions in to using the D&D 2024 PHB and DMG, and I have to say: they work pretty well. We have encountered enough new changes in both rules and working parts to merit considering this a "D&D 5.5" (though of course any other RPG out there would consider this a 6th edition), and it holds its own so far against its immediate competition: Pathfinder 2E Remastered and Tales of the Valiant. Of the two main competitors, Tales of the Valiant has the biggest hurdle, as its selling point is now "modified classic 5E" and will appeal to people who dislike change for its own sake, I suppose? I don't know...I like TotV, but I gotta say....D&D 2024 holds its own just fine. 

Pathfinder 2E Remastered tried hard to divorce itself from the D&D OGLisms that previously defined it, so I suppose its merits as an alternative are that it is "D&D-styled fantasy gaming, without any of the D&D trappings." This is a selling point for some people (along with the more detailed mechanics), but that's destined to be its own niche, and Pathfinder's divorce from the OGL is ultimately going to keep it from having any real potential to grab market share from D&D again. 

I am especially interested in seeing how the next Monster Manual shakes things up now. I am, admittedly, more interested in seeing if D&D 5.5 can maintain this momentum next year. WotC is a monolith in the RPG industry, but people forget that its really Hasbro. Without their owners, WotC would probably be a lot closer in size and scope to Paizo or Kobold Press (well, except for MTG I suppose...)

So if you're wondering where things have shaken out for my groups: we're pretty well sold on D&D 5.5 and it looks like that's where will be at for the duration. I am playing in a TotV game, and I do have a very intermittent PF2E game online which I GM, but for my weekly regulars, we're hip deep in the new 2024 books and enjoying it. 

The Cost of a Hobby - Kickstarter Strategies for the Consuming Backer

 I had a brief exchange with a Kickstarter creator for a product I backed, then a few days later (well before it was ready to close) decided to back out on. He asked why I backed out and I explained the problem from a consumer/backer stance: the product was not overly expensive (about $70 for two books....specifically Dragonbane books for the Lone Wolf setting) and I am interested in it. But a couple issues prompted me to back out: the first being it was scheduled for November 2025, and I have learned, time and again, that backing a Kickstarter you are interested in today does not equate to it being a Kickstarter you will be excited for a year or more from now. That is, of course, assuming the project is not delayed; about 75% of the Kickstarters I have backed are usuallly delayed a few months or even a couple years. 

The second problem I pointed out to him is that when a Kickstarter has a big ask and a distant date, I know its not a project that has effectively started; its a project looking for money to get off the ground. This means there's no written text ready to go, no artist on board yet, no editor, no playtesting. The KS is effectively advertising a concept to backers willing to take a risk on it happening. Other Kickstarters I have backed, the most successful ones (imo) are the ones that have maybe only a couple months to completion after the Kickstarter is done. These are projects which are practically ready to go, and the publisher/author is using KS to build interest and sales before the release, or maybe the bulk of the work is near completion and they just need that last funding push to pay for art/printing or something. These Kickstarters are great - they reflect a commitment ahead of time, and get a product out within the window of interest for the prospective consumer/backer. Examples of this (with kudos) go to D101 Publishing (Newt Newport), Matt Finch with Mythmere and Steve Jackson Games (with their smaller KS's at least).

In any case, the point is that if I'm going to back something, years of backing other Kickstarters have taught me that I need to look for scenarios where the KS is just "the final push" and not "ground zero." Ground zero requires a lot of commitment way down the road, and in a twist, the few publishers I might consider backing are also very good at getting those products out to retail once released so backing the KS becomes more a matter of convenience or solidarity than anything else. Steve Jackson Games, Monte Cook Games and Pinnacle Entertainment are all examples of publishers using Kickstarter to start off products that I know will appear eventually, but the motivation to Kickstart them is low for me because I am confident their product will eventually arrive and be purchasable by me down the road, assuming I am still interested in it. And if it turns out they fail? By not backing I am not out of the product if it fails.

There are a couple other strategies to being a backer to consider. For example, I always look at what the creator has done before; if they have no prior Kickstarters? Unknown risk, don't back it. If they have lots of Kickstarters that seem to be incomplete? Bad sign. As an example....the creator of the Lone Wolf books for Dragonbane seems to have at least one Kickstarter that appears to be 7 years overdue (and people are very pissed about it). Even with my two prior items of logic, this alone is a huge red flag against backing another Kickstarter by the creator, when it is clear they can't finish the existing projects.

Another peeve I have about backing things is unrelated to Kickstarter, but rather its competitors,  Backerkit and other crowdfunding venues. Notice how it is atypical of a creator on those venues to even put a deadline in place? Yeah, that's a deal breaker right there. At least with Kickstarter it requires you to provide a month and year on when to expect project completion. 

Honestly....I'd love to back the Lone Wolf adaptation for Dragonbane for what it is. I just can't reconcile all the risks involved, and based on the creator's prior history, I now realize it is probably destined to be a 2031 release, to go by his other projects.