This is what Kickstarter trailers have become? I genuinely feel sorry for anybody who isn’t Legends of Avantris right now. This is the Kickstarter video for Neon Odyssey, a new RPG trilogy space opera for D&D 5.5e on Kickstarter.
Before we get into the details, first, watch this astounding music video for the project. The video is created by Doigswift and the Knights of the Light Table, Inc, the same company that did the amazing Starlight Brigade video that we all thought should have been a standalone anime series.
Neon Odyssey
It’s 1,400+ pages of campaign manuals, and drawns inspiration from legendary SF films, retro video games, classic animation, pop culture nostalgia and apparently the kitchen sink.
Neon Odyssey consists of three manuals.
- Outrunner’s Handbook – The Core Character Book! Everything you need to begin your cosmic journey including reimagined sci-fi classes, subclasses, species, backgrounds, spells, and more.
- Cosmic Codex – The Core Setting Book! The whole Stardust Rhapsody campaign setting at your fingertips including factions, worlds, monsters, missions, items, and more.
- Overdrive Expansion – The Expansion Pack! Even more of the above to fill out an entire galaxy, plus optional and advanced systems like Professions, Racing, Stress & Entertainment, Ship Upgrading, and more.
From what I’m reading here, it looks like it sits on top of the basic D&D 5.5e game mechanics, but replaces literally everything else. There are new vehicle rules, a cinematic space combat system, 40+ new subclasses, 30+ new species, 100+ new spells, 120+ new feats, 250+ alien monsters, 100+ upgradable vehicles, and 30 worlds you can explore over 40 prebuilt campaign missions (or write your own).
There’s so much here, it’s hard to figure out why they tied it to the D&D ruleset. Other rulesets might have done as well, the first to my mind being Pathfinder, but they could have gone with GURPS or half a dozen other possibilities. The popularity of the base platform most likely played a significant role in their selection of it.
Apparently the system Legends of Avantris has built is so sound that you don’t actually need to buy the D&D 5.5e rulebooks to play it. It is fully compatible with the free D&D Beyond Basic Rules.
Blast off to the stars, explore the galaxy, and chart your own cosmic destiny.
Sounds good to me. This kickstarter funded its initial goal of $60,000 in its first ten minutes, and reached two and a quarter million dollars pledged within its first hour. Richie Gilder is the man behind Legends of Avantris. He must be over the moon.
For our part, the music by The Midnight is inescapably massive, and you’ll hear it in rotation right here on SCIFI.radio.
