Vagabond: An ambitious Kickstarter for a solo and group RPG with an autonomous system

The pitch for Vagabond is enticing. Taron Pounds is working on a system that can run itself, is super fast and will support both solo and group play.

It’s also a $25,000 ask for a ‘development’ PDF release and a second Kickstarter planned for a physical book. The point? The project allows Taron as Rebel Rouser Games to actually make the product. There are six weeks on the clock, and the campaign has just launched and is edging towards 100 backers.

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There are free samples of the game already, and Taron’s Patron. Included in the offered files is the Vagabond playtest document.

At the core of Vagabond is the belief that the GM has the most challenging job on the table, so the system is designed to run itself as much as possible. This means the GM can be creative.

For example, the GM (aka the Arbiter) does not roll dice for the enemies and statblocks for the baddies have an “AI” approach.

There are 16 classes in the game, a story-based levelling system, armour that makes people harder to hurt, not harder to hit, luck and a d20 critical hit engine.

VAGABOND is a “lean-and-mean” tabletop roleplaying game, laser-focused on practical play with a modern TTRPG feel. Drawing inspiration from Medieval romance, dungeon synth, and the litany of dungeon crawlers to come before it, VAGABOND is a hybrid tabletop roleplaying game that blends old school utility with modern TTRPG character expression and sensibilities. It also takes inspiration from both Eastern and Western influences, with the potential for a Goblin Gunslinger to be delving a mummy’s tomb alongside a Harpy Dancer in search of the fabled Excalibur.

Things will get weird.

Supporters of indie RPGs and backers can, in the usual way, help spread the word and the campaign by sharing it and pledging money.

Backers who find $30 or more get official recognition with a playtester credit, the in-development version of the Vagabond TTRPG core rulebook and a form-fillable character to download.

There are leaps up from there, with the next tier offering the same rewards but asking for $100.

$250 unlocks the above for backers, plus a custom character commission by one of the team’s artists.

There’s a $1,000 tier which does not include the custom commission but a Producer credit. There are two backers at this level already.

Taron is a streamer, and at $2,500 (about £2,009), there’s a “Design Stream Ad Campaign”, which gets backers the producer credit and up to a year’s worth of livestream ad spots.

The Rebel Rouser Games team, or Taron “Indestroboy” Pounds, estimate a May 2023 release for the in-development PDF of Vagabond TTRPG.