Alchemy RPG has launched on Kickstarter, picked up a “Project We Love”, been promoted by Free League Publishing as their official VTT partner and smashed funding goals by crossing the $200,000 mark.
The pitch looks slick, although it’s not straightforward to determine how Alchemy VTT differs from others. I think it’s by integrating streaming and campaign management features, showing more on the screen to be more cinematic and even less theatre of the mind. The claim, though, is more theatre of the mind. You can see what I mean on the pitch page.
Version One of Alchemy has licensed support for 12 games, with modules from 4 dozen creators, motion graphics, new music and ambience.
The Alchemy content is partnered with physical card decks, which you buy access to and kicks off with big titles such as Pathfinder, Dragonbane, Humblewood Tales, Kobold Press’s Scarlet Citadel and with content from the likes of Will Savino’s Music D20 and CZEPEKU scenes.
Instead of describing the characters, you create them as fully-playable Alchemy characters. Instead of describing a location, you create it as an immersive scene with environmental art, music, audio ambience, motion effects, and battle maps ready to drop into a game. Even magic items can be crafted within a Universe and brought into your games with ease.
A pledge of $25 gets supporters an exclusive Backers Account, which means you’ll be marked as someone there from Day Zero. It comes with 6 months of access to the platform and add-ons.
Stepping up to $50 (regular price $98) means you get 10 physical cards with codes to transform into digital content from one deck of your choice or $125 for access to three digital content decks.
Prices shoot up after that, with $200 unlocking all four decks and an exclusive Dystopia deck and your Alchemy Unlimited license doubles to 12 months.
The last tier, a Hail Mary, has had over 200 backers and that gets you lifetime access. As long as Alchemy runs, you won’t have to pay to access it and get all the stretch goals.
When is Alchemy Verison One expected? September 2023.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!
