Welcome to Kickstart Monday! This is our weekly series featuring 2 or more crowdfunding projects that have caught our eye. We scour over platforms like Kickstarter, Gamefound, and Indigogo to find projects that interest us.

There are certainly some exciting projects out in crowdfunding land. Let’s take a look at a couple of games that we think you should check out.

Elyse’s Guide to Magic

Our first project this week is the Kickstarter for Elyse’s Guide to Magic from Draco Studios.

Elyse’s Guide to Magic is a 300 page Dungeons and Dragons 5E supplement in the Dragonbond setting. You will be able to explore a whole new spellcasting system in your game that features mechanics like spontaneous spellcrafting. Players will be able to create spells on the fly by creating them out of combos of primary and secondary effects. This kind of spell casting can potentially be accessed by any character using what are called Vaala points – the ability to access a new raw form of magic. Crafted spells can include environmental and stacking effects to make combos even more powerful. But beware! If the raw magic this system is used in too complicated a fashion it can backlash against its user with negative effects. There is also a new summoning system focusing on communing with magical spirits and a built in level of unpredictability that can work in your favor sometimes and against you at others.

Elyse’s guide introduces four new classes from the Dragonbond setting: the Vaala Witch, the Scion, the Summoner and the Arcanologist each of which has at least 3 subclasses to choose from. There are also new subclasses for traditional 5e classes like the Enthraller Clerics who beguile and hypnotize others and the Mindwalker Sorcerers that haunt the dreams of their foes.

Beyond all that there are 150 new spells, a magical bestiary, new potions, poisons and magical items, powerful arch-villains and introductory adventure and much more to discover in this jam-packed magical tome. There are of course a number of different pledge levels starting at $25 USD for a PDF copy of Elyse’s Guide to Magic. A printed copy of the core book is available for $60 USD or you can go for the Game Ready pledge which includes the core book, introductory one shot, character sheets and a dry erase spell tracker. For those looking to go all in there is the Core Box at $150 USD and the Deluxe Box at $250 USD which include additional physical and digital components like liquid core dice and spells cards. The campaign for Elyse’s Guide to Magic will end on November 30, 2023 so be sure to visit the Kickstarter page before then!

A Short Rest

To go along with the role playing theme this week our second project is A Short Rest, a dice collection Kickstarter from Lindorm Dice.

A short rest is a collection of dice sets inspired by rest relaxation and nature. The collection will feature up to 11 different dice sets. Here are some of the current available sets

  • Star Gaze – Lilac with gold swirls
  • Ancient Glade – Grass green with gold
  • Gone Fishing – Deep blue with gold and white swirls
  • Fellowship – Bright yellow with gold and silver
  • Leather Bound – Mahogany with black and white swirls 

The descriptions won’t do them full justice though so you should definitely head to the Kickstarter page to check out each beautiful set. There are even more sets still locked behind stretch goals so the collection may still expand as the campaign progresses.

In addition to the beautiful dice sets there are quite a few accessories and add-ones that are available. There is a 35mm raised metal coin featuring a fox on one side and a lovely cornflower design on the other. For those curling up with a book on their short rest there is a leather bookmark depicting a gold design of campfire in the forest. If taking notes is more your style you can add a traveler’s notebook bound in faux leather with a gold print of the fox and cornflower designs. There are two dice storage options, a brown faux leather case for a single dice set with a gold cornflower print, and a larger “Traveller’s Findings” that holds up to 5 sets of dice and features the campfire in a forest design in gold print. And once you are ready to pack up your things and continue your adventure you can load everything into a custom printed canvas backpack with the “A Short Rest” logo. All of the add-ons are ala carte and can be added to any pledge level.

The pledge levels are very open ended starting with 1, 2 or 3 dice set for $14, $25 and $37 USD respectively. The “A Short Rest” core set is available for $59 and comes with 5 sets of dice and collector’s case. On the upper end is the “Forager” pledge for $146 which includes 11 dice sets, a dice case, the traveler’s journal, a bookmark, a fox amulet, 3 coins and a cornflower dice box. You should really see these beautiful offerings in person so take A Short Rest now and head over to the Kickstarter page. The campaign will end on December 7, 2023 so you will need to finish your rest before then!

Did we miss your favorite project?

Thank you for checking out this week’s Kickstart Monday! If you find these interesting or want some attention on a Kickstarter or other crowdfunded projects that you would like to read more about please share your thoughts with us via our social media or email.

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