It's pretty well known at this point that to have a million dollar TTRPG crowdfunder, you need a lot of merchandise along with the actual core game product you're selling. Sometimes this takes the form of gaming accessories which complement the core product itself--dice, cards, GM screens, maps, and so on--and sometimes it takes for the form of more generic merchandise--pins, hats, plushies, even denim jackets.

The Average Pledge Level

In fact, in the Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarter Club, only two creators out of 58 have managed to make that magic million without the extra loot: Shadowdark, and Coyote & Crow. The idea is to push that average pledge level up. If all you're selling is a hardcover roleplaying game book, no matter how amazing it is, the average pledge level can't be more than $50 or so (or whatever you've priced it at, bearing in mind that half the backers will back a cheaper PDF option, so it will be less than the price of the hardcover itself). Ideally, you need an average pledge level of over $100, and many million-dollar TTRPG crowdfunders push the $200 level--in fact, Neon Odyssey's average pledge level was $328!

The most recent million dollar TTRPG crowdfunder (at least until Dungeons and Daddies finishes in a few days) was the Deathbringer TTRPG by Professor DM, from Roll For Combat. This particular campaign utilised two notable strategies: a massive 'early bird' reward for a statuette which they sold separately for about $300, and an expensive pile of loot which included not just dice and statuettes, but a vinyl record and even $300 denim jackets. It's a strategy that works, and it's no surprise that so many million dollar crowdfunders have adopted it.

Mike Shea's recent Kickstarter had about 9,000 backers. Deathbringer has nearly 8,000 backers. Both are comparable in terms of following and popularity. But Deathbringer made $1.3M compared to Rise of the Lazy Gamemaster's $464K. That's three times as much with fewer backers. The difference? The average pledge level. Shea's was $52, Deathbringer's was $171. Or, to put it another way, Shea sold more copies of his book than Roll For Combat did, but Roll For Combat also sold additional merchandise worth twice the book itself.

But, as we’ll discuss below, the crowdfunding total might be fun to look at but it is not the most important figure. It is entirely possible that Lazy Gamemaster is more profitable than Deathbringer. Certainly a million dollar Kickstarter does not mean the creator is now a millionaire. We’ve all heard of massive crowdfunders which lost money despite the big number on the page.

Crowdfunding's Three Eras

I've said this before about Kickstarter and TTRPG crowdfunders in general. I only follow TTRPG crowdfunders, so I can't speak for the broader crowdfunding market for gadgets and satchels and toys and toasters and all the other varied things you'll find on Kickstarter and the like. But this crowdfunding market has had three eras:

1. Creators. The first era was when creators raised funds to make a thing they could not afford to make otherwise.
2. Pre-orders. The second era was when creators used it as a sales and marketing platform to sell something they had already created, or had nearly created.
3. Storefronts. The third era is this one--a crowdfunder is a pop-up merchandising store front for a brand, and sells a plethora of things related to it.

While the majority of campaigns are in the second era, the emerging class of campaigns in the third era is growing.

It's All About Profitability: A 600% Markup?

One question about these large crowdfunders always revolves around the profitability. There have been enormous Kickstarters in the past which have raised a ton of money, but somehow ended up in the red. So a large crowdfunding total isn't a guarantee of profit. This will, of course, revolve around profit margins.

So, let's look at this most recent crowdfunder. One thing which stands out is the high prices of some of the add-ons. While the core hardcover is a fairly standard $60, there's a $200 set of playmats, $120 set of dice, $300 statuettes, $300 denim jackets, and a $300 slipcase set. Let's look at one item in the Deathbringer campaign which a few people have pointed out--the $120 dice set.

At $120 for six sets, that’s $20 per set. That doesn't sound unreasonable on the face of it. However, the key is in the profit margin: what's the markup?

Haxtec stocks what appears to be the same set of dice for $17.99. That's six sets plus a bag. They're sold out. If these are the same dice, the markup on these dice sets, from $17.99 to $120, is quite notable, in the region of 600%! Or, to put it another way, people are happily buying an $18 dice set and throwing in an extra $100 on top. Admittedly, only 33 people backed that particular add-on.

With margins like that, this crowdfunder is not going to have any problems with profitability. The denim jackets, too, look similar to a number of different garments available online which sell for around $20 (the patches are then added separately, of course, which has its own cost, plus a labour cost). Obviously, those jackets pictured on the campaign are just a digital mockup, but it seems likely that the markup is similar. I'm not an expert on statuettes, but the fact that they were used extensively as a free early bird reward for a whole week suggests that they aren't expensive to make. It’s an odd dichotomy: items which are being given away for free like candy, and also sold for $300 each.

Now, this is just an example because it's the most recent million dollar TTRPG crowdfunder, and some of the add-ons stood out. The reason I bring it up is to illustrate how these campaigns work. I sense that many creators who produce wonderful gaming books might wonder why their book didn't make a million while somebody else's did. Or maybe they don't, and this is all obvious to them! Of course, reach is a massive factor--a platform with a large audience such as a big YouTube channel, podcast, blog, livestream, etc. makes an enormous difference (14 of the million dollar TTRPG crowdfunders are influencers using platforms like YouTube). But that only gets you halfway there; equally important is making sure that average pledge level is up well beyond $100.

But The Logistics!

The downside of selling so much merch is, of course, the logistical challenge which comes afterwards. Some creators are experts at this, know exactly what they're doing, and everything runs like clockwork. Others have been known to overpromise--especially when it comes to the excitement of adding stretch goals and then realising, when the campaign ends, just how much stuff they now have to produce and supply.

It's important to remember that a crowdfunder which has raised a million dollars now has a million dollars worth of product to supply to thousands of people around the world. A million dollars in funds isn't a free bag of money--it's a million dollars worth of obligation. A million dollars worth of stuff that now needs to be produced and shipped. To the inexperienced, that can be a challenge. I've always been shy of attempting such a thing for exactly that reason--I don't want to be still trying to get plushies to people a year or two from now. But I can see the reasons for doing it and an upcoming crowdfunder from us at ENP will feature a small amount of stuff (dice, etc.) as an experiment. Not too much stuff though; we don't want to get in over our heads!

So, Finally...

I don't know if this article is particularly news to anybody, but hopefully it helps a crowdfunding creator gain a small insight into how they might want--or not want--to structure their campaign, and a small glimpse into the numbers behind such a campaign.

Of course, as a caveat, I have zero actual knowledge as to Deathbringer's actual behind-the-scenes numbers. This is all based on what I can see publicly, and my experience tracking such campaigns over the last decade or so, along with having run and fulfilled over 60 crowdfunders myself, albeit nothing on this scale. For all I know those might be Gucci denim jackets! But my general impression is that the markups here make this crowdfunder a very safe venture for Roll For Combat. They clearly know what they're doing.

It’s also worth noting that a big funding total doesn’t necessarily translate into a big playing fanbase. With a conservative estimate that about 10% of backers will actually play a crowdfunded game, and maybe 10% of those will do so long-term without continued player acquisition, a million dollar Kickstarter isn’t particularly impacting the market. What matters is what happens after that—continued game support is crucial, as are third-party buy-ins. One potential weak point in a massive crowdfunder arises if the creator spends the next two years fulfilling the core promise, rather than supporting it with new material, losing any momentum the crowdfunder might have provided. There's a reason crowdfunders have a (onl;y partly deserved) reputation for "one-and-done" splashy campaigns for games which are promptly forgotten about a year later. But that’s another topic for another day!