If you thought that Dungeons & Dragons and sci-fi did not mix well, think again. After raising over $3 million on its first day, Neon Odyssey, the latest project from popular actual play group Avantris Entertainment, just smashed Kickstarter records, surpassing $15.2 million in just 30 days and becoming the most-funded TTRPG in the platform’s history.
The secret behind Neon Odyssey‘s success is that it’s not trying to sell “D&D with lasers.” Previous attempts to adapt the famous fantasy tabletop roleplaying game to sci-fi settings, such as the Spelljammer line of products, proved less than fruitful. Avantris Entertainment, instead, focused on creating a fully fledged science-fantasy space opera, tinged with synthwave and hopeful cyberpunk aesthetics, and influenced by classics like Star Wars and Cowboy Bebop.
It doesn’t hurt that the project is offering a lot of content, with three big books totaling over 1,400 pages, containing a cornucopia of new character options for D&D 5.5e, including more than 40 new subclasses and 30 unique species. And of course, lots of space monsters are ready to terrorize players. All this will build a vibrant campaign setting called Space Rhapsody. You can get a taste of Neon Odyssey‘s vibes in the official AMV trailer, which has surpassed 2.5 million views on YouTube (of course, accompanied by the notes of a catchy synthwave pop song).
“Honestly, this is hard to wrap our heads around,” said Avantris Entertainment Co-Founder Mikey Gilder in a news release. “Neon Odyssey started as this big, ridiculous dream of building a massive science-fantasy universe for people to play in, and the community showed up for it in a way we’ll never forget. We’re incredibly grateful to every single backer who helped make this happen.”
In the same announcement, Avantris Entertainment also revealed that Dungeons & Dragons media veteran Todd Kenreck has officially joined their company as director of media.
If you were not able to secure your copy of Neon Odyssey before the campaign ended on June 3, worry not, because the books will also become available through Avantris Entertainment’s webstore.