The MCDM RPG Raises More Than $1 Million in Its First Few Hours
In the span of two or so hours, the MCDM RPG launched into crowdfunding and raised more than $1 million for their new fantasy RPG.
The MCDM RPG has officially launched into crowdfunding with big goals, including finishing the RPG and developing their own, in-house Virtual Tabletop. And, from the first couple of hours, it looks like they’re going to succeed. In the opening hours of their backer kit campaign, the team surpassed their goal, raising more than $1.1 million at press time, with 29 days left in the campaign.
If you’re unfamiliar with the MCDM RPG, it’s a new tactically focused fantasy RPG being developed by MCDM Studios, whom you might know from their previous books, Flee, Mortals! as well as Strongholds & Followers and Kingdoms & Warfare. Or from Matt Colville’s series Running the Game.
At any rate, this new RPG is meant for anyone playing a “heroic fantasy RPG” who wants more out of the game. What does that look like, exactly? The crowdfunding campaign has some answers!
The MCDM RPG On Backerkit – $1 Million and Growing
The campaign launched just a little over two hours ago, so these are the earliest days yet. The video above takes you through the game, in-depth, including the core mechanics, character options, and more. If you have questions, Colville probably has them answered. But in a nutshell, though, the game is a “heroic fantasy RPG” so, you know, it takes aim at more traditional d20-based fantasy games.
And because they’re going for a brand new game, brewed up completely from scratch, they’re able to detach from some of the “sacred cows” of those who have come before. They say it in the opening copy of the campaign for “What This Game Is”:
“A Fantasy RPG where your character starts, at level 1, already a hero. Maybe even locally famous! You might meet in a tavern, or start in the middle of the action!
Whether you’re a group of local heroes sent to investigate mysterious goings-on in the nearby haunted wood, or famous mercenaries plotting and scheming in the big city, the MCDM RPG makes building adventures and fighting monsters fun.
Basically, any adventure or story you’re running in your current Fantasy RPG, you can do that in this game. Just, in a more straightforward and fun way, unburdened by sacred cows from the 1970s.”
Which, as we’ve seen in a comparable company that makes games about the kinds of denizens you find in delves, those ideas can be a burden. Especially as design moves on. The MCDM RPG (title still in the works, to come later), is all about the action and the play and fights that feel like they get more amazing, not less.
To that end, the mechanics are pretty straightforward and play pretty fast: roll 2d6 + modifier, that’s the damage you do. You don’t miss, you don’t waste spell slots on creatures who can then save and nothing happens.
Something always happens. Which is one of the core ideals of the game. Something interesting should always happen. Fights shouldn’t be a slog of dwindling resources.
The character design reflects this. You can see a sample class, the Tactician, which has shades of everyone’s favorite 4E class, the Warlord, but manages to be its own flavor of commander/master of the battlefield.
Similarly, we get a look at the kinds of people you can be. Here are Dwarves, for instance. In the crowdfunding campaign, MCDM outlines an ambitious list of stretch goals, starting with an in-house virtual tabletop, unlocked at a mere $1.5 million:
We think a Virtual Tabletop that lets you play this game with folks remotely, especially in this day and age, is critical to letting people play how and when they want. We believe very strongly that a custom-designed VTT built from the ground up to work with our game is the best solution because it means we can custom tailor the user experience for our community.
Therefore, should we hit $1.5m, we will pay someone to work on this. We can’t promise it will exist! Software development is risky and fraught with perils, but we already have a working prototype! Now all we want to do is spend some money to get it done.
And a whole new campaign setting boxed set, waiting at the $2 million mark.
Back The MCDM RPG On Backerkit!
Time to draw steel!
