$500,000 Reached With Over 6,600 Backers!
over 3 years ago – Wed, Apr 21, 2021 at 08:53:51 PM

THANK YOU!

You have kept this campaign rolling steadily for three weeks now, and helped push the funding beyond the remarkable $500,000 milestone – or 5,000% of its original funding target! 😱

Since you unlocked the $500K stretch goal, we will now make an Anime 5E dice tower and tray kit available as an add-on to your pledge (after the campaign, through the BackerKit pledge manager). Even better, every backer who adds on the dice-rolling kit will receive free custom Anime 5E dice tray bonus, too!

$525K Stretch Goal: Connecting with Organisations

From the Thieves’ Guild to Merchants’ Union, from the College of Harpers to the Cult of the Being-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, organisations and associations play a crucial role in many role-playing campaigns. So let’s connect with some of them.

If campaign funding reaches $525K, we will create two original fantasy organisations for your game – with descriptions, hierarchy, and resource details. Furthermore, we will provide notes for each organisation that breaks down various Ranks of Anime 5E’s Connected Attribute, so player characters can join the organisations and call upon membership privileges.

This bonus content will be available as a free PDF download for all backers pledging at least $25 in the Kickstarter. Like most of our content stretch goals, the file will also be available for sale to those backers with pledge tiers that don’t align with this free bonus.

Anime 5E Preview: Energy

Energy represents a character’s reserve of personal stamina, luck, and spiritual power. They are used to power the Dynamic Powers and Spell-Like Ability Attributes, as well as other Attributes that have the Deplete Limiter. Additionally, Energy may be drained as a result of attacks by Weapons with the Enervation Enhancement, or by general fatigue.

Since Energy is only used for specific applications during gameplay, this section is considered optional for campaigns that do not have any characters with the aforementioned Attributes.

Character Energy Pool

All characters can have an Energy pool that they can tap as an internal power source. A character’s maximum Energy is equal to a base of 10, plus 5 times their character Level (15 at 1st Level, 20 at 2nd Level, 25 at 3rd Level, etc.). This number can be increased by the Energised Attribute, which adds an additional 10 Energy/Rank to the pool.

Fatigue

The DM may rule that a character will lose Energy if they are travelling or working without taking any time to rest. As a guideline, every 5-10 minutes of hard work or tiring travel (dashing, swimming, etc.) can result in a loss of one Energy. In most situations, this is too much trouble to worry about tracking precisely, but the DM may wish to impose it during a situation where characters balance their exhaustion with a race against time.

Out of Energy

If a character’s Energy pool is ever reduced to zero or below, they will collapse due to exhaustion until their Energy is sufficiently recovered after a period of rest.

Recovering Energy

Characters recover 1d8 Energy after each short rest. After a long rest, a character regains all expended Energy.

Dramatic Feats

A character’s Energy can also represent a character’s reserve of luck or karma that can be used in moments of high drama or extreme emotion to transcend a character’s normal limits. Only player characters and significant NPCs may use Energy in this way.

A moment of high drama is one in which something the character holds dear is at risk. This could be the character’s own life, of course, but should usually be something that transcends that, such as the safety of a loved one or close friend, or the success of an important cause (including revenge against a hated nemesis). In such circumstances, Energy can be spent to temporarily provide a bonus to any d20 dice roll the character makes. The character may spend this Energy after rolling the dice. Each +1 bonus to a d20 die roll burns 5 Energy.

Energy spent activating a dramatic feat returns to their pool at the character’s normal recovery rate.

Player Retcon

Retroactive continuity, or “retcon”, can be a helpful role- playing device in which established plots or actions in a game are changed or ignored for the betterment of the unfolding adventure. With DM permission, players can expend Energy to alter the story plot details in some way.

Minor Plot Changes

By expending 10 Energy, a player can make a minor change to the adventure, which allows for a slight alteration in the game environment that works in their character’s favour. Examples of minor changes include: finding a weapon conveniently located under a table, modifying an NPCs reaction to the character’s activities, gaining a burst of inspiration (ie. a DM hint), etc.

Major Plot Changes

Alternatively, a player can burn 50 Energy from their character to change drastically an action or event that occurred in the game – and can retell the plot from a new perspective! With such a high Energy cost, this option is only open to higher-Level characters (Level 8 and above), or those with the Energised Attribute.

DMs may limit a player with excess Energy or fast Energy rejuvenation from initiating major plot changes too frequently by restricting its use to once or a few times each character Level. Alternatively, the DM can actively encourage players to become co-narrators of the game, and enact major plot changes as often as desired – or even reduce the 50 Energy cost to place this story option within reach more frequently.

Example: The heroic characters return to their pastoral village after a successful quest to reclaim the sacred Moloch Diamond from the hands of the barbaric invaders. As they emerge from the forest surrounding their home, they discover that the entire village has been burned to the ground and all the citizens with it!

Rebecca – the player assuming the role of young Maerlin, the blacksmith’s feisty daughter who is an apprentice Dynamic Spellbinder – previously invested significant role-playing time and emotion establishing a romantic relationship with a young fellow named Robin, one of the local farmer’s sons. Not wanting that engaging role-playing relationship to come to an end, Rebecca expends 50 of Maerlin’s Energy Points and declares that Robin was actually saved from the disaster when he took refuge from the marauders in the cellar of the mill, saving six young children playing nearby when the fires began.

The DM takes their cues from Rebecca and runs with this unexpected turn of events. Robin describes to the characters the vicious and unprovoked attack against the village, and provides enough detail that the characters have suspicions who is behind this cowardly attack. The campaign continues as the characters seek revenge and retribution!

Thank you again for helping unlock the $500K stretch goal. Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday!

Welcome, 48-Hour-Reminder Backers!
over 3 years ago – Wed, Apr 21, 2021 at 08:53:49 PM

We’d like to extend a HUGE welcome to the 400+ new backers that have joined the campaign during the past 24 hours. We know that many of you may have received Kickstarters 48-hour reminder email, and we appreciate you taking the time to revisit throwing your support behind this runaway game success. The next 36 hours will be busy, go buckle in for the updates. 😁

Since your support helped unlock the $525K stretch goal, we will now create two original fantasy organisations for your game and make the PDF download available to all backers pledging at least $25 in the Kickstarter.

$550K Stretch Goal: A Second Anime 5E Adventure Scenario

As a companion piece to the short scenario unlocked at $40K, if the campaign raises enough pledges to reach the $550K funding goal, we will write another short adventure scenario for 4th-level characters. The custom adventure PDF will be send as a free bonus to every backer who pledges $100 and above. Like most of our content stretch goals, the file will also be available for sale to those backers with pledge tiers that don’t align with this free bonus.

Let’s Keep The Momentum Going!

We can continue unlocking stretch goals by spreading the news to all your gamer friends and family, and extended network. Also, don’t forget to post on your social media feeds (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) as well as on the various game industry forums to which you belong. You can either share the Kickstarter link directly, or use our master link http://Anime5E.com which redirects to the campaign. Finally, if you haven’t joined the Anime 5E Facebook community yet, we’d love to see you there, too! 

Thanks again for your support! We’ll check in again soon.

More Pre-Gens, and Let’s Keep Things Rolling!
over 3 years ago – Wed, Apr 21, 2021 at 06:14:27 PM

With several hundred more backers joining you to help make the Anime 5E Kickstarter super awesome, the funding broke through the $475K stretch goal overnight. This means we will be designing a pre-gen pack of six 16th-level Anime 5E characters, which will be a free bonus PDF for all backers pledging $13+. 🥳

It’s astounding that the $500K stretch goal is on the horizon, thanks to your dedication and support. We had great interest when we announced the inclusion of a custom Anime 5E polyhedral dice set add-on as the $400K stretch goal (with a free bonus d20), and so we’re doubling down on the dice theme for the next target at $500K.

Unlocking at $500K: Anime 5E Dice Tower and Trays!

With table space often at a premium, it's handy to have a compact option for dice rolling. If campaign funding reaches $500K, we will ask our factory to manufacture a custom dice rolling kit. With the Anime 5E Dice Tower and Trays, we will package together a functional yet beautiful constructible cardboard dice tower, plus two snap-together neoprene dice trays. The 18-cm (7-inch) tower will be illustrated to represent a wizard’s spire with a dangerous moat at the base. The two dice trays will each portray a section of the RPG cover and Game Screen – one of the characters fighting the dragon, and the second of the archfiend battling a goblin hoard. When paired with the previously unlocked Anime 5E Dice to accent your gaming table, your adventures will be ready to roll!

Add-On Tower

We will make the Anime 5E Dice Tower and Trays set available as a $35 add-on to your pledge during the BackerKit pledge manager survey after the Kickstarter ends (not through the base campaign page). Since this kit falls into a different shipping category, though – which, like the Anime 5E Dice add-on, will change the pricing structure – we can only make the kit available as an add-on for the $50 Gamer, $100 Adventurer, $100 Collector, and $300 Storyteller pledge tiers. We will absorb the additional shipping costs instead of increasing the shipping fee when adding on the Dice Tower and Trays, which is why the kit won’t be available to other tiers.

In the video below, Mark gives you a look at the Dice Tower and Trays kit that we produced for our other anime RPG, BESM Fourth Edition. The kit for Anime 5E will have different images and visual design, but will be of similar physical construction.

Free Dice Tray

As we indicated when unlocking the Anime 5E Dice add-on, we like to also include a free backer gift when we unlock a new add-on product. Every backer who adds on a Dice Tower and Tray kit to their pledge will receive an exclusive third dice tray featuring an iconic adventuring party as a free bonus gift. This tray won’t be available for sale in retail stores; it’s an exclusive promotional gift to show our thanks for your support. We will, however, make this promotional item available as a separate $10 add-on during the BackerKit pledge manager.

Modifying Your Kickstarter Pledge

Several backers have asked how they can contribute more to the campaign. Fortunately, you can top up your pledge through Kickstarter with any dollar amount.

• Click "Manage Your Pledge"
• Click "Change Your Pledge"
• Under "Bonus Support", add on any monies you want that can be allocated through BackerKit to shipping costs, add-ons, etc.
• Alternatively, instead of including funds under Bonus Support, you can choose a different reward tier instead.

It's that easy! There’s still a few days remaining in the Kickstarter to modify your pledge and encourage your gaming community friends and social network to join in on the fun. Sharing the http://Anime5E.com link is a great way to unlock even more stretch goals – so we can reward you with more free bonus stuff! Thank you very much once again for your amazing support.

Free Character Folio and High-Level Adventurers
over 3 years ago – Mon, Apr 19, 2021 at 01:59:31 AM

Happy Saturday! We’ll keep this update short today.

Your dedication and the collective will of over 6,000 backers (WOW!) has pushed campaign funding through $450K! This means that every $100 Adventurer tier pledge will include an extra bonus copy of the Anime 5E Character Folio for free – that’s two copies, instead of just one! This same bonus copy will be added to $300 Storyteller tier pledges as well. Thank you!

Next Up at $475K: High-Level Pre-Gen Pack

As the campaign powers up once again, so will our pre-gen character packs! If Kickstarter funding reaches $475K, we will create six diverse 16th-level Anime 5E characters, with stat blocks and brief descriptions. This pre-gen pack will be available as a free bonus PDF download for all backers pledging at least $13 in the Kickstarter.

Designer Podcast Interview

Anime 5E designer, Mark MacKinnon, recently did a 45-minute interview with Snyder’s Return tabletop role-playing podcast. They discuss the Anime 5E Kickstarter, BESM 4th Edition, Absolute Power superhero RPG, Tri-Stat System minigames, and the future of Dyskami Publishing. Give it a spin!

We say it often, and we mean it every time: thank you for supporting the Anime 5E campaign! We’ll check back in on Sunday for another update.

Stretch Goal Clarity
over 3 years ago – Mon, Apr 19, 2021 at 01:59:13 AM

Happy Sunday! We’ve seen an increase in messages concerning stretch goal eligibility and add-on availability recently, and so today we’ll provide additional clarity.

Three Types of Stretch Goals

Stretch goals fall into three general categories:

✅ Improvements, modifications, or inclusions with specific Anime 5E products

For example, backers will only receive the $50K stretch goal that unlocked three bookmark ribbons for the Deluxe Limited Edition if their pledge includes a copy of the Deluxe Limited Edition – regardless of why they are receiving the DLE. This could either be through the $100 Collector tier, or a backer could have added a copy of the Deluxe Limited Edition under a different pledge tier (either through this Kickstarter campaign, or later through BackerKit as a separate product or as an upgrade from the standard edition).

✅ Qualification based on total pledge dollars

For example, the $100K stretch goal provides a free copy of the BESM Naked RPG to backers who pledge $100 or more – whether those dollars are pledged during the Kickstarter or afterwards through BackerKit. It doesn’t matter which pledge tier or add-ons a backer selects to reach the $100 threshold because the total pledge dollars sets the qualification threshold.

There are two exceptions to this guideline, though. First, the $100 pledge minimum excludes shipping fees added through Kickstarter or BackerKit. Secondly, some dollar-specific goals that are physical products may not apply to digital-only rewards. For example, the physical Anime 5E wall poster unlocked at $90K has a $50 minimum pledge – but since the poster must be shipped, digital-only rewards that meet or exceed the $50 threshold do not qualify for this physical bonus. To receive a physical shipped stretch goal, at least part of your pledged reward must also require shipping.

✅ Qualification based on specific pledge tiers

For example, the Anime 5E Dice unlocked as an add-on at $400K can only be added to the $50 Gamer, $100 Adventurer, $100 Collector, and $300 Storyteller pledge tiers. The total pledge dollars through add-ons is not the important aspect for qualification – the selected pledge tier is the key.

When possible, we will make attempts to catch any backer oversights that could have resulted in qualification had it be organised differently. For example, the bonus Anime 5E Character Folio is automatically included in the $100 Adventurer tier (which includes the standard game, Pocket Edition, Game Screen, and Character Folio). If for some reason a backer selected the $50 Gamer tier to receive the standard Anime 5E game, and later added on the Pocket Edition, Screen, and Folio separately, their pledge should still qualify for the bonus Folio because the backer could have selected the Adventurer tier but created their product package a different way. With many thousands of backers, though, we can’t guarantee that we’ll catch these missed qualification in every situation.

How to Determine Stretch Goal Eligibility

If you aren’t sure which stretch goals are granted based on your pledge qualifications, there are three places to check. The first is the Stretch Goal Summary table near the top of the campaign description (and duplicated above). The second is the individual stretch goal graphic located further down the campaign page; this graphic includes descriptive text that lists the goal qualifications. Finally, the most amount of detail and clarity can be found in the text of the updates over the past few weeks. Take some time to look around, and you should be able to easily understand which stretch goals are included with your pledge.

BackerKit Add-Ons

To ensure the campaign options are intuitive and easy to follow, we kept the add-ons available during the campaign to a minimum. They include the five physical Anime 5E products currently offered, plus a hardcover copy of our other (non-Fifth Edition) anime role-playing game, BESM Fourth Edition.

Those aren’t the only add-ons that will be available, though. Once the campaign ends and we open up the BackerKit pledge manager survey a few weeks later, you’ll be able to top up your pledge with numerous other add-ons, including:

• The add-ons currently available in the Kickstarter
• Digital-only copies of the Anime 5E product line products
• Printed and digital-only copies of select BESM Fourth Edition anime RPG products
• Add-ons announced during the campaign (such as the dice set), for qualifying pledges only
• Selected other add-ons for non-qualifying pledges, such as the custom Anime 5E soundtrack for pledge amounts less than the $100 threshold
• Selected other unique add-ons, such as the additional shipping fee required should a backer want to receive a rolled Anime 5E poster in a mailing tube instead of a folded copy

We hope this update helps with stretch goal and add-on clarity. Have a wonderful Sunday!