About
Tome & Wish You Were Here RPG Zines
$8,658
412
This campaign is raising funds for not one but three RPG zines:
- Tome - a system-agnostic supplement for fantasy RPGs
- Wish You Were Here -a compilation of postcard and zine games from my Patreon in 2018
- and Return to Sender (currently locked!) - containing additional games via unlocked stretch goals and available for free to everyone backing for at least 1 of the other zines.
Tome was written in the fall of 2018 as part of Inktober. Instead of drawings, I used Inktober's official list of prompts to write supplemental material for fantasy role-playing games over the course of October's 31 days, and inevitably bleeding into November for days I missed. The resulting material is largely system-agnostic, ready for you to drop into your campaign regardless of your chosen rule set or fantasy world.
In the pages of Tome you will find
- Generators for various NPCs
- World-building via short stories and in-world legends
- Dice tables for magic and cursed items
- Dungeon maps for plundering
- Landscape maps for exploring
- And more!
Tome is presented here for the first time as a 48+ page 5.5x8.5" zine with black & white interior (page count isn't final as layout is still being worked on).
(Check out a four page preview of Tome here)
Wish You Were Here is a compilation zine of various roleplaying games I designed during 2018 and released to my backers on Patreon. Most of the compiled games were published on the backs of postcards and mailed to recipients, with a few exceptions in short zine format. This will be the first time these games are collected in print.
Many of these games were written to be very short, a necessary evil to fit on the back of a postcard. In Wish You Were Here, each game is getting additional art, bonus content, and author's commentary to give readers a peek into how and why they were made the way they were.
When gearing up for this campaign, I realized I had put too much work on my plate, so I decided to get some other writers to help out. A very cool crew of guest designers are writing supplements to each of these games and are credited below!
Games included in Wish You Were Here:
- Peril - a gm-less philosophical debate game about the end of the earth for 3 players. Additional writing by myself.
- Kintsugi - a gm-less time-traveling rpg for 3 players. Additional writing by Noella Handley.
- Standoff - a gm-less western-themed hidden role game for 3+ players. Additional writing by D.G. Chapman.
- Snow & Cocoa - a Lasers & Feelings hack of kids avoiding responsibility on a snow day for 2+ players and a GM. Additional writing by Tyler Crumrine.
- Cur820 - a gm-less party game of found objects for 3+ players. Additional writing by Aaron King.
- 815 - a roleplaying game emulating the TV show LOST for 2+ players and a GM. Additional writing by Will Jobst.
- Time Capsule with a Demon Inside - a gm-less reflective storytelling game for 3+ players. Additional writing by Will Jobst.
- Cause & Effect - a sci-fi rpg of lost memories for 2+ players and a GM. Additional writing by Ash Cheshire.
- RUST - a gm-less summoning ritual for 3+ players where you listen to stoner metal and perform worship acts for an expanding pantheon you create. Additional writing by Theodore Mallison.
Wish You Were Here is presented here for the first time as a 32+ page 5.5x8.5" zine with full color interior (page count isn't final as layout is still being worked on).
(Check out a preview of PERIL with additional art and content here)
Over the course of 2018, I started a handful of games for the postcard series that, for various reasons, didn't see the light of day. A few of them didn't fit on postcards and were abandoned, a few weren't making sense in the moment, and a few just got lost in the notes app on my phone. Now, a few of them are getting a fresh coat of polished and compiled into their own zine: Return to Sender.
ALL GOALS ARE NOW UNLOCKED:
- UNLOCKED - $3500 - We Are Worms - a game for a group of minions sabotaging a hero's journey for at least 2 players and a GM. FFO: D*sney's Hercules. Illustrated by Flint Bedser/TechnoBabbl. PDF to all backers at $5 level and higher.
- UNLOCKED - $4000 - Protectors - an rpg using the forces of nature to deter would-be colonizers from a pristine island for up to 4 players and a GM. FFO: Spirit Island. Illustrated by Christian Arnder. PDF to all backers at $5 level and higher.
- UNLOCKED - $4700 - Tome backers receive VOLUME, an additional collection of inktober fantasy resources by Viditya Voleti. WYWH backers receive You Will Be Liquid, a fold-out narrative solitaire game by Sharang Biswas. Physical additions at no cost to all backers $7 and higher.
- UNLOCKED - $5200 - Parasite - an rpg of a tense symbiotic relationship between a host and their parasite for two players and a GM. FFO: Venom, Upgrade, and similar media. Illustrated by Cassie Hart Kelly. PDF to all backers at $5 level and higher.
- UNLOCKED - $5600 - (Name TBD) - a storygame of familial drama when dynamic children and their less than perfect parents are stuck under the same roof for three+ players and a GM. FFO: Wes Anderson movies. Illustrated by Zac Gorman. PDF to all backers at $5 level and higher.
- UNLOCKED - $6000 - Return To Sender - a printed compilation zine of all the unlocked digital content. Included at no cost to all backers at $20 level or higher.
Since we hit all the unlocks with a couple days to go, here are some surprise bonus stretch goals:
- UNLOCKED at $6660, all physical backers will get some cool stickers based on the artwork from each zine.
- UNLOCKED at $7000, each designer will get $50 extra. might not seem like a lot but there are a lot of designers on board and they all deserve whatever bonus we can afford them. I'll offer another bonus if we get even higher than 7,500 before the campaign ends.
While I hope each pledge level is self-explanatory and you are easily able to decide which one is right for you, this chart will also help you figure out what you are getting at each level.
If adding any zines to your pledge, simply raise your pledge by the desired cost to add additional zines and games to your order. You will choose the extra zines you want in the post-campaign survey. There are no plans to use a pledge manager for late backers (I'll update if this changes) so you must raise your bid by the desired amount BEFORE the campaign ends.
Adding other zines to your pledge will NOT change your shipping price! This is especially great for those of you overseas who have to deal with brutal international shipping prices, adding additional books to your pledge can help offset that cost.
To learn more about any of the following games, visit worldchampgame.co.
$12 zines
- Protest Singer -A band of radical musicians make deals with devils to imbue their songs with magicks and fight oppressive forces. Uses unique press-your-luck dice system for songwriting and d12 dice pool for casting magick in-game. 2+ players and a GM.
- Minimum Rage -Slackers, stoners, and losers in a 90s comic shop battling the forces of evil while making sure they don't lose their jobs. Uses d6 pool system. FFO: Buffy, Clerks, Pauly Shore. 2+ players and a GM.
- Babes in the Wood - Kids get lost in an endless mystery forest on Halloween night and help out the strange characters they meet along the way. Powered by the Apocalypse system. FFO: Over the Garden Wall. 1+ players and a GM.
- All We Love We Leave Behind - Write letters to a character who has abandoned you for a greater cause. Focuses on themes of loss and overcoming grief. Uses a deck of standard playing cards for randomization. 1 player.
- After the Party - Draw maps and wax poetic about memories you made while traveling. A hack of The Deep Forest by Mark Diaz Truman and Avery Alder Mcdaldno inspired by the album After the Party by The Menzingers. Includes a fold-up 11x17" poster to use as four different maps for playing. 2+ players.
$6 zines
- The Timberland - A pensive solitaire game that unfolds as you walk through a forest and get lost in your thoughts. 1 player.
- 815+ -Live together or die alone on an island full of mysteries. FFO: LOST. *The postcard version of this game (815) is included in Wish You Were Here. This zine version has an exclusive expanded gamemaster section for populating your island with mysteries using a hex map and dice tables. 2+ players and a GM.
- The Deep Blue -Players fight to survive on a makeshift raft across an endless sea. Uses a twitterbot for procedurally generated setting. D6 resource management/gambling system for conflict resolution. 2+ players and a GM.
My name is Adam Vass, I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and I am the individual behind everything at World Champ Game Co. (WCGC). To date, I've designed, written, and published all my own games under this moniker. I started my game design adventures in late 2016 designing a setlist-building card game for my band, La Dispute, which was released in early 2017 as Carder Harmonies.
After developing and self-publishing a handful of small press card and board games, I started hacking RPGs or writing custom settings for existing rule systems. It wasn't long before my focus turned heavily to RPG design & print, focusing on rules-lite systems, emotional storytelling, outsider themes, and low cost physical editions.
You'll be charged for shipping as part of your pledge if the campaign is successful. Individual domestic zine orders will ship First Class mail, the most affordable option that will also allow for tracking. Larger orders within the continental US will be shipped via USPS Media Mail to keep costs low. International orders will be shipped USPS Priority Mail International which can carry some steep fees. You might consider adding extra zines to your pledge for yourself or your friends to mitigate some of the higher shipping costs for international orders. Zine add-ons do not affect the price of shipping.
Risks and challenges
While this is my first Kickstarter project, I have been self-publishing for two years and operating e-commerce stores for over six years. Handling the shipments shouldn't be an issue.
Involving other people can always risk hangups with everyone's schedule, but most if not all of the artists and designers involved, even those working on hidden stretch goals, are already operating ahead of schedule for print deadlines.
Another potential speed bump could happen if this project funds a lot more than expected. If funded, I'll expect to have sold a couple hundred zines, but if a crazy thing happened and thousands of orders happen, it will take a little longer to sort and ship. If this occurs, I have some contingencies in the plan and this shouldn't too dramatically affect the projected timeline.
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Funding period
- (23 days)