RPG Publisher Spotlight: DR Games (with 2D6 Realm live on Kickstarter)

Roll 2D6 for timing. Crit success!

Last month, Geek Native’s Patreons voted for DR Games for the last RPG Publisher Spotlight of 2023.

Little did we know that DR Games was planning a Kickstarter. So, we have got a bit of a double feature! There’s a classic crawler solo player game from Toby Lancaster to look at first and then the RPG Publisher Spotlight.

2D6 Realm still has three weeks on Kickstarter, and it’s, impressively, more than 400% funded. Nearly a thousand backers have pledged over £45,000 to bring the print-and-play game to life. You can find out more on the pitch page.

[Back this Campaign]

2D6 Realm is the official expansion for 2D6 Dungeon (DriveThruRPG | direct), so you do need the latter to play.

However, the core 2D6 Dungeon rules are free to download from Itch.

Toby and DR Games have also put together a series of playthroughs, and there’s one below, capturing a live video, with the action starting after a few minutes.

Just as the dungeon in 2D6 Dungeon is randomly generated, with creatures and loot populating the adventure so that you can level up, 2D6 Realm generates a whole realm.

The game also comes with narrative tables and lore for the world of Coradine, where it is set.

The digital edition of 2D6 Realm is a reward for backers who pledge £6 and is expected to ship in February.

The paperback edition of the solo game is added to the rewards for backers at £12 while the add-on menu expands impressively. The spiral-bound edition swaps in as the physical product at £20.

Or, as a catch-up, backers at £25 get the paperback editions of both 2D6 Dungeon and 2D6 Realm, picking up the digital copies too.

There’s also a hardback and that, along with the digital 2D6 Realm rules, is the reward at £28.

After this, the reward tiers off a faux leather edition, combinations of the books in various editions and quantities (including both in faux leather) and introduce the 2D6 Lairs Omnibus too!

DR Games interview with Toby Lancaster

Toby very kindly made time for us and if you’ve ever run a Kickstarter, you’ll know how impressive this is. These campaigns simply eat in people’s time (and money).

So, thank you, Toby!

Who are DR Games?

We’re a small family run indie game designer and publisher. We’re made up of myself and my wife Jo who works part-time in the business.

Did you change from Dark Realm Maps? Why?

I originally started out as Dark Realm Maps back in 2018. I have always been a massive gamer loving RPGS, Board Games and Computer Games. I loved these fantasy worlds and always played the DM so maps were of an interest. I also studied art at Degree and then Masters level. It seemed natural to tinker with map making. So, one day I was drawing a Crypt Map, just doodling and I liked what I did so for some reason I set up a Twitter account and shared it.

A mini trending event happened and people started following and before I knew it, I had a following and interest in my black and white maps. This type of content wasn’t as common back then so it was a good time to establish a presence.

It grew, I offered people maps for their projects and then commissions followed. But as I came to understand the market it was clear that you can’t earn a living and support three children by drawing maps. But as it happens drawing the maps was only part of the process because actually, I was also writing the stories in my head.

So, I began to write D&D Supplements. Dark Realm Roleplay was born. I had a series of successful RPG Kickstarters and they gave me a window on to something I had always hoped to do; create my own games. This was where I wanted to be, actually creating the games, combining all my skills into a design roll as Creative Director of a design company. DR Games was born. I didn’t want to call it Dark Realm Games as I felt the name was less appropriate to the content than the maps and RPG supplements. DR Games was created.

My first couple of games didn’t fund on Kickstarter, I was working full-time as a special needs teacher so didn’t have as much time as I needed but then we had the pandemic. As a result, I had more time and solo games seemed to be an upward trend and something I was keen to look at as I often found myself in solo player mode. I created the game Dark Force Incursion which funded and I realised that maybe this might work.

The big change came when I designed Rad Zone. This was the first time I could see it being a full-time job.

A couple of years on and I had immersed myself in the solo player arena, watching content and learning about games in this under catered for sector and I could see an opportunity.

With the success of the RPG supplements, I was able to go full-time which facilitated the creation of 2D6 Dungeon and was able to go full-time as a games designer. Dark Realm Maps has now largely taken a back seat, I do a few maps, mainly for my own stuff but I am forever grateful for how it established me a following and got me started on this adventure!

All three aspects; Maps, Modules and Games exist under one umbrella, a mother company if you like.

What’s the lure of cartography?

Cartography was always about drawing a narrative. I was designing stories, adding details. It was clear by my style that there was more involved than just the drawing. That’s why they became D&D modules and then games. It was a design starting point that facilitated DR Games.

DR Games’ success

It looks to this blogger that Toby made the right call in changing the company name. “Dark Realm Maps” instantly makes me think of battle maps but mention DR Games or Toby Lancaster to me and I think solo roll and write adventures.

What are you best known for, and what would you like to be known for?

Rad Zone Totality and 2D6 Dungeon.

I would like to be known for designing narrative and innovative games.

You’ve just launched 2D6 Realm on Kickstarter and it looks like a flying success. Are you surprised?

I am delighted with how the new campaign is going. After the success of 2D6 Dungeon we had hoped to have the same interest. But this isn’t just a new game. It’s about brining content to a community that has flourished.

I love engaging with the players via emails and on the Facebook page and hearing their stories, seeing their maps and answering questions. It is down to them that 2D6 Realm is doing well. It humbles me and drives me on to create better and better products. It’s not just about a game, it’s about a world, an experience, about being part of something bigger. You become an adventurer and create your own legend. That’s where my mind is.

I want this for people and am trying my hardest to make it happen.

Solo tabletop games and indie publishers

Over the last few RPG Publisher Spotlights, I’ve been asking about trends. One trend I’ve highlighted is solo games… and here we are with a solo game success story.

Let’s see what we can find out from Toby.

Do you think you’d have gotten into solo games if it had not been for the lockdown?

It’s a good question. Probably not. I only had a short time off during lockdown as I taught in a special needs school, so my output didn’t go up dramatically. It was more about the changing gaming climate and the increase in interest in solo player games which as I previously mentioned did interest me.

Have you spotted any other trends in RPG publishing that interest you, and are DR Games part of any?

The solo player field has grown dramatically over the last five years. It’s clear that people now expect a solo player mode for most games. I would say on some level the larger companies have jumped in on this and ‘tag on’ solo player modes to their games. These are then presented as solo player games when in reality they haven’t been designed for solo play, it’s more of an afterthought.

A lot of influential reviewers will include these in their solo player games lists and neglect a lot of indie publishers who actually design solo player games.

I do see more solo player and two player games appearing though. Two player games in particular. KELP has just funded on Kickstarter and looks fantastic.

I do think that another side effect of lockdown was the fact that life partners were drawn into gaming, people who perhaps didn’t play much before but with more time on their hands were convinced by their other half to join in. I believe that these new gamers are interested in the less utilised concepts such as natural habitats. That these will continue to feature in the themes of games.

I would also say that this is a boom time for tabletop, even though Kickstarter is saturated with new games I cannot see an end to the rejuvenated interest in the area. Look at UKGamesExpo. Numbers are going up each year, cons are popping up all over the place, actual plays now support board gaming channels on YouTube. It’s an exciting time.

Would you say you’ve had a tough time on Kickstarter? What are your main learnings and discoveries?

No. A couple of our earlier projects didn’t fund because we were new and didn’t understand the environment. We learnt that you need to develop a community, this is vital. That can be through Facebook or BGG for example. I have found Youtube, where I stream about my games, as a great way of chatting to people.

Offering something for free is a good tip or set your goal low, with a print and play product for example so your overheads are low too. Show people you are serious about what you do and deliver a quality product when you do. Answer as many posts and comments as possible and enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy it (that doesn’t mean you can’t get stressed about it) then why do it. People will see you’re not interested.

What does the future have in store?

I always try to ask this question, but it seems especially important with Toby and DR Games since evolution, change, and community seem so key to the company.

What can you tell us about Trade Nation?

Trade Nation is a family card game that we tried to fund on Kickstarter a few years ago but it didn’t work out.

So, we redesigned the look and continued with the playtesting. It has been played thousands of times now. It’s been solid and loads of fun to play and we believe in it so printed a load and sold them at the UKGamesExpo. People really love it.

We’re talking that to the next level in 2024 and you can buy it on our website as well.

Family games is an area we want to reach out into and grow the company. We’re keen to expand the range of entry games that people can get their hands on and bring some new and exciting concepts along with them.

What’s next for DR Games?

This coming year is all about the expansions for 2D6 Dungeon. We have 2D6 Realm funding at the moment but next year we have the expansions 2D6 Legendary Dungeon and 2D6 Void. Void is the sci-fi expansion and sees the player exploring a huge spaceship that has swung into orbit around the world setting or Coradine. Aliens are launching attacks on the world and you must head in and save the day by blowing up the Engine Core.

We are also at UKGamesExpo and Norcon. We’ll probably get to a few other cons as well, fingers crossed.

Thank you, Toby! Geek Native will be at UKGE as well.

DR Games

• DR Games’ website.
• DR Games on DriveThruRPG.
• DR Games on Redbubble.
• DR Games on Roll20.
• DR Games and Toby on YouTube.
• DR Games on X (Twitter!)
• DR Games on Instagram.

There’s also the 2D6 Realm Kickstarter, until the 2nd of January 2024.