Kickstarting

Talk about first world problems! There are so many cool Kickstarters running right now that I can’t afford them all!

Longtime site visitors might remember that Hannibal of Carthage was one of my heroes growing up, right up there with Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew in importance to my moral development. Well, I’ve just stumbled upon a Kickstarter that’s a graphic novel about Hannibal’s life, complete with a cool t-shirt and some other goodies that can be ordered. The Kickstarter’s actually over, but you can still join in here. Judging by the amount of money raised, I’m not the only one who grew up with Hannibal as a hero. Wish I’d known some of those other folks when I was a kid…

Speaking of my favorite Carthaginian, the acclaimed board game Hannibal: Rome Vs. Carthage is getting re-released via Kickstarter in just nine days, and it comes with an additional game starring Hamilcar, Hannibal’s father, who led Carthaginian forces through the First Punic War. I’ve been hearing about how glorious this game is for years and I’m more than a little interested in seeing how it will play.

And if THAT weren’t enough, one of my all-time favorite role-playing games is coming back into print. Steven Sechi has created a new version of Talislanta, a wondrously evocative role-playing game, and it’s being Kickstarted right NOW! I’ve been such a fan of Tal for so long I’m going to sit down with Mr. Sechi for Black Gate and get some additional details about the new edition — and gush about why I’ve admired it for so long. Succinctly — fantastic imagination with plot hooks and ideas galore.

If you want to go off and explore Talislanta on your own, here’s a site where Mr. Sechi has permitted fans of the game to archive all of the preceding books, downloadable for free as PDFs. I helped do a little of that myself.

How will I afford it all? I guess I’d better get back to work…