It was 2015 when Kobold Press gathered 2312 backers and $191.431 in order to create the Tome of Beasts, a bestiary with more than 400 new monsters for D&D5e. In these days there is an attempt to repeat the success and achieve the Tome of Beasts II. The project became reality in less than one hour. All that remains is to see how far it will go!
Kobolds knows how to do it
Kobold Press was born in 2006 under the name of Open Design. It went from crowdfunding to the publication of periodicals to become a small publishing house. Their magazine, Kobold Quarterly, has won more than one ENnies Award. On Kickstarter Tome of Beasts II is the latest of 16 projects, the most recent of which have always attracted thousands of supporters. It is therefore an expert production that knows both the mechanisms of Kickstarter and the world of role-playing games well.
What is it about?
Tome of Beasts II will be a bestiary with over 400 new monsters for D&D5e. But the offer doesn’t stop at a book full of monsters. In fact, the project wants to support the production of monster pawns, also in VTT version (Virtual TableTop, in particular for Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds), monsters’ lairs with maps and, as they say, much more! The previous Tome of Beasts was already accompanied by the Tome of Lairs, a collection of places, with maps and descriptions, designed to host the monsters of the other book. Also in this case there will be the Tome of Beasts II Lairs, with mini-adventures related to the dens of the monsters present in the book.
The pawns will be cardboard, the manuals will be made with hard cover. There is also a special limited edition (at the moment there are still thirty available) with quality materials and quality details. The special edition is surpassed by the handbound edition, even more expensive but also much more precious in each finish.
Kickstarter possibilities
The offer of Tome of Beasts II is very articulated: there are 16 possible pledges. This is because there are many elements to choose from among PDF and physical versions, pawns, VTT versions. My advice is to visit the project page and study the pledge table very clearly, with all the possible options. Stretch goals are solely dedicated to adding new monsters. On the other hand there was very little to add to all the possible rewards that have been proposed!
All pledges from $ 25 and up will also have the opportunity to propose their own monster to be included in the tome. An opportunity to give glory and visibility to an old creation or a nice idea. It is also possible to collaborate as a playtester or reviewer to help develop the book in the best way.
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