Here comes another round of tabletop RPG news from StartPlaying games. This week’s big stories show another big player take a stance against AI while Dimension 20 previews its next season. All the while, Backerkit has been building to a successful debut in the crowdfunding space. Will it challenge Kickstarter’s longtime dominance? We might be finding out soon. But first, let’s start with DMs Guild.
Dungeon Masters Guild Says No To Standalone AI Products
DMsGuild, the major third-party site for digital Dungeons & Dragons products, updated its policy to ban the sale of any products that use “standalone” AI art. DMsGuild allows creators to sell assets like NPC art packs, Roll20 token collections, and adventure modules. Now it joins its sister site DriveThruRPG in announcing that it will no longer accept submissions for art products that are solely made with AI. Adventure modules can still use AI art in their pages, but must now include a tag on their releases stating as much. Also, as of July 31, creators will no longer be allowed to sell content consisting primarily of AI generated writing such as something made in ChatGPT.
Dimension 20’s New Mental Mystery Season Stars Hank Green
Now that Dungeons & Drag Queens has said goodbye, Dimension 20 is teasing its next offering. According to a new teaser trailer, Brennan Lee Mulligan will be GMing a Kids on Bikes-powered mystery set inside the mind of a scientist. The player characters will represent different aspects of the scientist’s brain, with the cast being Siobhan Thompson Mike Trapp, Danielle Radford, Alex Song-Xia, Freddie Wong, and the especially qualified Hank Green. The set looks like some kind of science experiment meets pinball table, promising a very surreal experience over six episodes.
Play Kids On Bikes With A Pro GM!
Backerkit Emerges From Beta To Challenge Kickstarter’s Claim
Backerkit made a big announcement last week: its crowdfunding platform is officially launched and open to submissions. The name Backerkit should be familiar if you’ve ever backed a tabletop project on Kickstarter. Backerkit’s survey platform is often used to collect data like shipping information and add-ons for completed crowdfunding campaigns. Last year, however, Backerkit decided to pursue its own crowdfunding platform with a selection of hand-picked projects. Many were successful, including a massive addition to the Gloomhaven universe. It’s a good sign for anyone looking to create their own tabletop crowdfunding project, as Backerkit seems poised to offer a comfortable, viable alternative to Kickstarter.
Those were the three big stories of the week! Backerkit looks exciting, although Kickstarter is still an established name. The brand did hurt itself when it announced a commitment to blockchain technology in 2021, but has since been backing off on that initiative. It’s still too early to tell how much market share Backerkit can take. As for DMs Guild, the question remains if users will be able to slip AI art into their products with sneaky edits. Yet until those answers reveal themselves, have fun and roll dice!
