Studio Agate has earned itself a reputation for effective Kickstarters and gorgeous products. I’m not surprised that launch day for Encyclopedia: Lore Book & Toolbox attracted nearly 2,000 backers.
The campaign’s goal was $20,000, and we’re approaching $150,000 in less than 24 hours. There’s no pitch video for this campaign, but lots of art on display. There’s also a free mini, actual and STL, for early birds who act today. You can check it out on the campaign page.
Studio Agate is a French studio, and the Kickstarter will produce both an English language version of the Encyclopedia: Lore Book & Toolbox and a French one.
The book will be 360-pages long and will be statted for D&D’s 5e. D&D does not have a default campaign setting, and in many ways, Encyclopedia: Lore Book & Toolbox is designed to either support your homebrew or help you make one.
Perhaps the backbone of the book is the 15 cities it brings to life with cartography and art. Studio Agate has worked to avoid those old fantasy tropes which are increasingly unpopular with experienced gamers. For examples, the orcs in this book aren’t all barbarians and evil.
Along with these cities are NPCs, magic items and plot hooks. The locations themselves are designed to lend themselves to the plot. One of the villages is populated by kobold miners, for example. Another is a hobgoblin pirate port, and another a diabolist city.
Fateforge
Studio Agate have a pedigree on 5e world-building. The Fateforge setting uses 5e and nudges out from typical D&D assumptions.
The Kickstarter gives backers a chance to get into Fateforge through pledges. Fateforge 5e deluxe collection books, each one several hundred pages, are available.
Tier summary
There are plenty of tiers, but here’s a summary of the main ones.
A $10 pledge is required to get the digital stretch goals and access to the pledge manager (with your $10 credit intact). This means you book your place now and then decide what you want at the end of the campaign. Over 150 people have done this.
Digital stretch goals and the PDF of the Encyclopedia are unlocked at $20.
$40 is rewarded with the hardcover standard edition and the PDF, along with all the stretch goals. 650 people, at the time of writing, have picked this tier.
There is a collector edition, known as the Red Dragon Collector Edition, and that, along with the GM screen and 26 condition cards, complete with the PDF, are unlocked for $70. This is the most popular tier.
Higher tiers, which include Fateforge, are available.
The estimated delivery is July 2021, a frightfully swift turn around for a physical book Kickstarter project.
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