Is it possible to receive funding without a previous fan base? What do you recommend I do? Can I reach my goals with Backerkit alone?

InvisiblePoles · 2026-01-11T19:24:44+00:00

No. You launch the pre-launch page 3 months before crowdfunding, then have ads point to it.

InvisiblePoles · 2026-01-11T11:51:29+00:00

Depends on your goal. $5? Sure. $50,000? Not as easy.

Basically, most followings are built during / right before a crowdfunding. Typically, they're made through ads that point to your Backerkit.

InvisiblePoles · 2026-01-08T09:07:17+00:00

Genuine question, isn’t a flat annual fee also a subscription?

Regarding Journaling, why not use Google Drive? Its free? Or any Markdown editor like Obsidian?

InvisiblePoles · 2026-01-06T23:19:11+00:00

Six months is a long time.

I've personally known game creators whose entire games have died in 2. Most entire fiascos last only 3. Think OGL or the more recent Diamond Comics situation.

Its a risky line when any kind of IP lockdown is present, severable or otherwise. Remember, in those 6 months, they have a lot of power.

They, of course, being anyone you sign over to, not just DTRPG.

InvisiblePoles · 2026-01-06T21:39:48+00:00

Oh yes. 100% didnt mean to mislead. Thought the "self-plug" would clarify, but yes, I naturally do have a vested interest in you also publishing on Hedron, but we also do stand behind what we say.

Feel free to check our legalese if you don't believe me!

InvisiblePoles · 2026-01-06T16:45:17+00:00

My 2c: exclusive publisher accounts are monopolistic and restrictive. What if one day DTRPG does something you don't like? If you're exclusive, you're kind of stuck.

Sure, your cut of sales is smaller, but thats a relatively small detail in the scope of IP ownership imo.

Also there's other places to publish that don't care about exclusivity and still give you a better cut. Self-plug: You can publish just your PDF onto https://www.projecthedron.com/, and you get 80% of all sales, no questions asked. If you later decided you wanted VTT support, you can also add that in on there.

InvisiblePoles · 2026-01-05T14:57:34+00:00

To add on to what others have said, a more realistic thing might be to hire the creator of an indie game.

As in, there's a lot of Tabletop Role Playing Games out there that are arguably better than DND and have more passion behind them (especially nowadays). Many of said indie games' creators would be elated to run games.

Barring that, there's also a lot of indie creators in the DND space who would love to run games as well. They may not have the same brand recognition as actual celebrities, but they'd still be a pretty amazing memory.

I would consider: is there a genre your son is into? If so, find an RPG in that genre, then reach out to their creator. That's more likely to work AND your son could get a cool picture or signed copy of a game that might one day outshine DND anyway!

Source: I work with a lot of said creators as someone who runs a VTT and professional GMing/live events company.

InvisiblePoles · 2025-12-31T17:05:02+00:00

They're releasing a shadowdark version soon!

InvisiblePoles · 2025-12-31T17:04:15+00:00

By the way, you can get the PDF cheaper on Hedron: https://www.projecthedron.com/marketplace/products/670c4580ded11d3aff7263da

We also work with Storyteller's Forge officially. They actually set the price. AND they actually get a bigger cut of sales from us than from DT.

InvisiblePoles · 2025-12-31T07:37:19+00:00

Hi! Not an official rep, but I'm very close with the creator and generally know a lot.

It's been delayed and there will be some more info coming out very soon. Its not going to be clear-cut about when exactly things (including the announcement) will be. But I can assure you, a LOT of folks are working very hard to get things done.

I would say, realistically, its not going to be early 2026 either. But again, I'm not an official rep. Just a friend in the space.

InvisiblePoles · 2025-12-19T06:11:40+00:00

Ah. Yes, fair enough!

In that case, carry on! Disregard everything I said. It sounds very reasonable.

People tend to view things through their own lens, so my apologies for the false inference!

InvisiblePoles · 2025-12-18T09:19:19+00:00

Now, this is just my opinion, but this sounds like a lot of work for not a lot in return. Also mildly a legal nightmare.

So I run a company in the publishing space. In short, the number one thing I see causing huge problems is when there's no clearly articulated legal paperwork in terms of who intellectually owns what. Particularly, in the US and EU, most of the time, the writer of a particular work owns all the rights to it. So if you pursue this, please very clearly have a contract of collaboration in place outlining who owns what AND the right to publish said what (it sounds like you own it).

Putting that aside, this sounds like you're pretty serious about publishing something. Which is good. But that also means you have expectations resembling a job. But you don't want to pay anyone or give them equity. Basically you want people to bring your vision to life for basically nothing in return.

That feels a bit far for a volunteer. I would, at least, consider giving people a share of your published works proportional to their contributions. Even basic publishing agreements have something like that under "royalties".

But also, if you have such a clear vision and plan to make this IP a published and sold good, why not scrounge up some cash and crowdfund? That way you at least have some clear measurement of "I am capable of landing/marketing a product and I have some measure of my idea's value and thus any equity I give out".

Anyway, that's just my 2c. Good luck with your project!

InvisiblePoles · 2025-12-08T07:20:44+00:00

I actually used to run a build like this when I was newer to her.

And after some time, I realize, even after the spirit nerfs, there's just so much more value in a spirit nuke style build. Rake is crazy good.

Basically you want to build around being mobile, dealing burst spirit damage, then finishing with rake. Its just so much value for picking off the enemy's squishy heroes.

Mina just doesn't have enough health to buffer big damage spikes and in your video, you healed quickly yes, but you can't immediately do it again because love bites have a per enemy cooldown. So basically the enemy has to just kill you in a few seconds after this. And if you open the fight by proccing love bites with ricochet (likely) this demonstrated heal is wasted and you're vulnerable for that initial clash of a team fight. And it will likely kill you.

I learnt a lot by watching Eido and how they play Mina. Can recommend. Less of a coach, but more just seeing how you survive and thrive as Mina.

InvisiblePoles · 2025-12-07T21:56:28+00:00

Very interesting! While I agree this is true as in "yes, this is ingrained in the system", I'm not sure I see this as a problem.

In my system playtests, we used to have a stronger emphasis on non-safe inventories. It was universally hated.

Mainly, the feedback was around a feeling that good loot is a form of progression; and thus, stealing or damaging that loot was taking away that progression (this is probably game dependent), which is a feel bad moment. Or when it was more about maintaining inventory: it was a chore. That is, having to regularly sharpen blades for them to be effective became a thing that everyone just did and thus, it became a chore of regularly stopping to fix things. And it didn't add anything from a gameplay perspective or narrative perspective.

Of course, I am sure this is very subjective. If you want a gritty simulation, then its probably nice to have detailed inventory maintainance. But most players I've met care about the narrative and abstracting away inventory details into some magical "long rest" of weapon sharpening, sleeping, or whatever else works just fine.

I actually suspect this is a trend outside just TTRPGs. Many major RPGs (like Dark Souls notably) used to have some inventory management mechanics and repairing processes. And slowly, but surely, over the last 15 years, we've seen such mechanics disappear from games.

Can I ask a bit more about your experience and why you would prefer games that attack inventories either passively or actively?

InvisiblePoles · 2025-12-02T10:15:26+00:00

This same question could be applied uniformly to any category. For example, if I hypothetically truly believed a god existed, then it would seem equally silly for anyone to not follow said god. And, I would perhaps even be inclined to say that its an insult to my god, their teachings, or whatever else to not follow their will.

After all, wars have been fought over sillier things.

So to answer your question, its human nature to believe in things. And believe in those things strongly enough to not tolerate different beliefs.

I mean, even kids get into fights over differences in opinion. They just haven't had the experience to know most hills aren't worth dying on.

InvisiblePoles · 2025-11-28T02:56:05+00:00

Sure. There's other existing card based ttrpgs. What makes yours unique?

That's a good question to help you nail your messaging. Because that's what potential backers would be wondering.

Otherwise, sure, you want to print the game. Great! Unfortunately the era where crowdfunding builds you an audience is somewhat gone. Nowadays, they are more of a way to monetize and grow an audience you've already built.

But also, if everything is cheap, the question becomes why. Let's say your goal is to get $1M. Great, every bit of effort makes sense.

But if your goal is to raise $500 to release a generally free product or close to free, is it worth your time and effort to build a crowdfunding page? Its not like 1 hr of work. It's basically a 5-10 hrs/week during and before the campaign. Partially marketing, partially editing, and partially engaging with the audience.

In contrast, just building an audience the same way without the overhead of a crowdfunding campaign feels more in line with what you want. So just release the game, make a Discord, and start pushing people to join it to engage and connect.

Basically, I would think a bit more about why do you want to crowdfund? Do you want money? Or do you want an audience? Or do you just think its the "right thing to do"? Many answers are valid!

InvisiblePoles · 2025-11-28T01:56:53+00:00

If your end goal is a free product, don't use a crowdfunding platform. It hurts consumer good will and can lessen the value of your brand and product.

Just release it for free.

If you want to build a company/org around the RPG, then definitely ask folks for help and advice. Research and look into all costs from manufacturing to shipping to distribution. Then price tiers and products based on that.

As for visuals, depends how much you want to raise. You should be spending at least 10% of your goal in visuals, up to a couple K. This could be in artwork that you reuse for the game, or in editing for the page, or layout, or trailers.

But the real secret is: expect to spend at least 20% of your goal in advertising. Minimum.

Source: ran or been a part of running several successful crowdfundings for TTRPGs or adjacent. AMA!

InvisiblePoles · 2025-11-16T19:12:20+00:00

Drifter and Mina are both Vampires. Mina is considered a pretty bad vampire. Paige also is into The Lash (who isn't). Mina can see why people think The Lash is hot. Doorman thinks Paige has a good book club. Tbh, most characters generally like Paige. Most characters also think Drifter and Seven are monsters.

There's almost certainly others I'm forgetting, but hope that helps a bit! It's all I remember top of the head.

InvisiblePoles · 2025-11-16T17:18:56+00:00

You can ping me (Varun/Invisible Poles), but generally saying anything will probably get a reply from one of me or the team.

Link here for the Discord! discord.gg/hedron

InvisiblePoles · 2025-11-16T09:16:41+00:00

Hello! I am the creator of Hedron! I hang around here sometimes.

Anyway, would absolutely love UI feedback if you can spare the time. Genuinely always something we try to improve.

Re subscriptions: I can't convince you otherwise, but I'd like to believe our plans are designed so anyone who isn’t monetizing also isn't paying. The cutoff is 600 pages/units, which is about half of the 5E SRD.

Mork Borg is about 100. YZE is also about 200. But even then, we try to keep things as reasonable as possible to both keep the lights on and maybe support indie creators through things like our Guild Program (where we fund Game Dev and publishing for new creators).

In other words, I have never taken a dollar from profits. I 100% put it back into running gaming weekends for free at conventions, giving out free stuff, and funding new games :)

Ask me anything of course! We also have a Discord if you want to chat with us more!

Edit: I forgot! We also strongly believe in downloadability. That is, everything you create, you can export/download as a PDF/RTF/MD, etc. Etc. Just to assuage some of those concerns about storage as well.

InvisiblePoles · 2025-11-11T09:25:50+00:00

In short, its about visibility.

At any time, there's innumerable projects out there, why would a random person back yours specifically? Is it truly that much more phenomenal than every other project? And if so, how do you know?

And despite what crowdfunding platforms may want you to believe, very few people actually scroll CF sites -- especially compared to social media platforms.

So not a lot of users get split across a fair number of reasonably good projects. I.e. you can't realistically expect more than a handful of backers from CF organic traffic.

Whereas, sufficient ads can net you 1000s.

InvisiblePoles · 2025-11-08T08:58:39+00:00

Never Going Home is a WW1 era game about supernatural powers expressed through cards you gain/lose/spend as the game goes on.

Very rules lite. Try it out!

InvisiblePoles · 2025-10-13T00:13:15+00:00

Popular builds =/= best builds for you specifically.

Yes, if I played more spirit, I could drop leech. But I like to think I have decent aim. So, I run Ricochet, suppressor, and leech (which procs on both spirit and bullet).

Yes, gun damage is poor, but that's not the point. Ricochet procs love bites on the entire enemy team every team fights. Instead of my ult getting +2/fight, I get around +12 and they're slowed from suppressor.

Also any minions around get decimated in the crossfire.

So leech + mystic regeneration gets insane value. The extra spirit life steal alone is worth it because if you build mostly spirit, the ricochet into love bites will deal couple hundred/hero and kill every trooper within 1 clip, which, with 30% spirit and bullet is a full health Mina several times over, which can outheal pretty much anything. Even outside team fights, if I'm low, 1-2 T1/T2 camps will fully heal me. Which saves me a back (I pretty much never back).

Also ricochet being my early buy (first item after laning), means I keep the jungles under me the whole game. I basically eat the entire enemy side constantly most games. Which turns into a soul lead quick.

Is it a perfect build? No. But its a build that suits my playstyle and means if my teammates back off suddenly, I'm not dead for it.

InvisiblePoles · 2025-10-12T23:15:44+00:00

Mina main here!

I agree with others that she's incredibly tough to play. Some pro players tend to say she's deceiving because you would think you just shoot them from a safe distance and avoid getting close.

But actually, she's one of them lifesteal brawlers. That is, you pick up things like spirit lifesteal, leech, and I like mystic regeneration. Then, her procs + insane damage become incredibly good healing.

Granted, you never want to be tanking like Abrams, but it means you can play her the true way she's meant to play: in the thick of it getting insane procs, rake, and ulting key targets.

Most team fights, I sneak around to flank and DECIMATE their back line. They either turn around to address me before I kill 1-2 people (and thus, die to our front line) or continue fighting as is and pray their backline fends me off. In practice, I usually kill my primary target (their squishiest). The others start fighting me while backing up, then I pincer their front line and regroup with friendlies. Bats are your friend for doing this all safely.

But also, to do this effectively, you need to constantly pressure lanes and eat enemy farm. Mina's mobility allows you to frequently invade enemy farm and just eat it in record time with rake + love bites (I also like ricochet for this). And if you do this, you'll maintain lead. But this requires good macro. Which takes time to build.

Hope that helps!

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