It looks like I missed the September update. Whoops. I’ve had my head down on two big projects recently: fulfilling the crowdfunding campaign for Liminal Grimoire and preparing the crowdfunding campaign for The Baron’s Grip.
Which got me thinking…I’ve been doing a lot of this crowdfunding thing. The Baron’s Grip will be my 6th campaign in 2 years. In this edition of Ink & Dice, I’m going to go through a little retrospective of the experience I’ve had, as well as giving some tips for anyone curious about getting started in crowdfunding.
Some cool stuff that’s happened recently
Thinking about crowdfunding
October Production Update
In a complete surprise to me, In Ruins got a very nice review over at EndlessMode.com. I’ll admit I’ve not solicited reviews/interviews for any of my work in a long while, so this was a cool thing to come across.
I talked about the Appx. N Jam a little while ago, and I had pretty much forgotten about the jam until I saw that the awards livestream was going to happen. I tuned in, and to my delight, my little dungeon for OSE got a sort of honorable mention from the judges. As a Between 2 Cairns listener, it was very cool to hear Skull Boy call it a “Capital-D Dungeon.”
As work continues on our Mausritter Month submission, Jamie Douglas (who did the amazing art for In Ruins) finished up the cover for The Baron’s Grip. I am thrilled with how it came out, and I’ve pulled some of the colors from the cover to use in the text layout. I’m really happy with how this book is coming together, and I’ll be showing off more mockups from it next month.
Recipients of this newsletter probably already know that I have really committed to using crowdfunding platforms as part of my game development and release cycle. In the past 2 years, I have run 5 campaigns:
Godspark: January 2024
Foul: May 2024
Endling: November 2024
In Ruins: March 2025
Liminal Grimoire: April 2025
Each of these has funded successfully, which has been quite the thrill. Especially after my first campaign in July 2023 did so poorly that I cancelled it after 3 days. Between that first experience and my most recent campaign, I have learned a lot. Here are some of my top tips for anyone considering diving into crowdfunding:
Have your product 95%+ complete before you launch. This is probably the most important point (which is why it’s #1). Sure, this isn’t going to work for every kind of project, especially if you need the money for art/editing/etc., but the closer to print you can be, the better. This will allow you to fulfill promptly after the campaign ends, which keeps backers happy and gives you the opportunity to quickly shift focus to the next project.
Don’t launch until you have “enough” people following the campaign. In my experience, the final number of backers ends up pretty close to the number of followers when the campaign launches, even though only about 20% of those followers covert to backers. So, “enough” is the number of backers that would result in whatever you consider a successful campaign (which is not necessarily just one that funds). This was my biggest mistake in my first, failed campaign.
Start on Kickstarter. The internal marketing that Kickstarter offers is unbeatable. Sure, I have started doing some campaigns on BackerKit as well, but only when I am linked up with other creators to increase our reach (such as with the Liminal Horror Deluxe Edition campaign or now with Mausritter Month). This was probably my second biggest mistake with that failed campaign.
Offer add-ons. This was a suggestion that I got from Exeunt Press before the Godspark campaign, and it has made a world of difference to my crowdfunding journey. Having a back catalog of games to offer during new campaigns has been huge, often amounting to 25% or more of my total funding.
If you are an artist, spend the most time on the cover. Covers sell games.
If you are not an artist, spend the most money on the cover. Covers sell games.
Don’t set the bar too high. Experienced backers will know if you are asking for $25k for your first book that you don’t know what you are doing. If you really do need $25k for your first project, maybe consider making that your second or third or fifth project, and do some smaller things first to build a following and a reputation as a reliable crowdfunder.
Don’t set the bar too low. You don’t want to squeak by on funding at $200 and then go into debt producing and fulfilling your project. I made this mistake with some of my early campaigns, but I have been fortunate enough to fund each time at a level where I could make the product I wanted to make.
Three backer tiers only. Every one of my campaigns has used this approach. Tier 1 = Digital only. Tier 2 = Just the book. Tier 3 = Book + some game-related goodies. Putting in a dozen tiers with every possible mix of products is more likely to confuse possible backers. I have heard more than a few times people say that they couldn’t figure out which tier they needed to pick for the thing they wanted, so they just didn’t back. Now, if you have a complicated product with multiple variations, the 3 tier approach might not be feasible. I would suggest, however, that for your first campaign you choose a project/product that works with the 3 tiers, as it will make fulfillment that much easier.
I think a good way to set the goal for a TTRPG project is to make the product “just” a book or zine. Price out printing 100 copies of that book/zine on Mixam.com. Add whatever you are spending on art/editing/proofreading. Add 10% for fees. That is your funding target. Divide that number by the price of the book. That is the number of backers you need, so that is the minimum number of followers you need before you launch. Don’t launch until you’ve found those followers.
Are there exceptions to these points? Absolutely. Every project is different, and these tips won’t work for everyone. These are just my experiences, mistakes, and observations over the last couple of years of crowdfunding. I hope you found this helpful if you are considering jumping into crowdfunding, or at least an interesting glimpse behind the curtain if you are a backer of crowdfunding campaigns.
A few big moves on the timeline since last I posted this!
Liminal Grimoire has shipped, and it will be headed to distribution (and then retail) in the next few weeks.
Grimm Solitude has been printed and fulfilled by Creature Curation (Brian Colin). These should be available at PAXU this year as well.
Midnight Muscadines has seen its digital release, and the physical release will be coming soon. If you get a chance to read this game, you’ll see my handiwork in the adventures “Starfall on Tyrian Peak” and “The Cloudlight Cellar” as well as in the Guide to Nimm, where I wrote the tables of Locations, People, and Encounters for each of the towns.
The Baron’s Grip is coming along beautifully, and the BackerKit campaign will be launching on November 4th along with the rest of the Mausritter Month campaigns.
Raptor Ruckus (by Snapback Game Studios) funded and hit loads of stretch goals, unlocking more solo tools for me to write. I hope to dig into these as a distraction from The Baron’s Grip campaign in November.
I’m also preparing for PAX Unplugged! This is my biggest event of the year, and is coming up on November 21-23 in Philadelphia. If you’re at the convention, you can find me at booth #4303, the same as last year.
Thanks for making it to the end. I’ve really been focused on getting The Baron’s Grip campaign ready, so I have not had as much time for reading and playing as I usually do. I hope to show off some more Mausritter details next month, and maybe even show off one of the dungeons from that book. We’ll see!
—MAH
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