One more thing from the Finnish RPG scene, aiming to make it big in the wide world outside… Mike Pohjola is working on a roleplaying game for children. Easy to learn, approachable, affordable, comes in a box with everything you need to play. In Finnish, it’s Myrskyn sankarit. In English, should an English-language version materialize (and I am confident it will), Heroes of the Storm.
These past few weeks he’s been doing a crowdfunding campaign on it over at IndieGoGo. He’s well past the halfway mark to his goal of $12,500, but he’s not there yet. By my experience, I can say that at this point it will fund, and the question that remains to be settled is by how much. Now’s your opportunity. I’ve put down $60, myself.
“But I do not comprehend your strange northern moon language!” you cry out in dismay. Fear not, for we have trained experts to deal with that. You want to take a look at the Khaleesi Daenerys Targaryen funding option: “You don’t read Finnish, but think an RPG for 9-13-year olds is a good idea. You want Heroes of Storm to be published in your language, sold in your gaming stores and being played by the children of your country. You get a copy of the game in Finnish, and if and if we get the game material translated into other languages, you get the translated PDF. If we get the game published in your language, you will get your own full copy. (Postage included.)” Personally, I figure the English translation is a fait accompli once the campaign funds, at least in PDF. (Though I should note that I’m not privy to any information beyond that which is on the campaign website, and am merely speculating.)
I think it’s important to have a game like this available. Something approachable, something the kids can read and figure out by themselves if need be. Funky dice, good-looking art. It used to be that the D&D Red Box had this function, but it’s been out of print for some two decades. We need ways to get fresh blood into the hobby. Get ’em when they’re young. Sure, it’ll have to compete with all sorts of fancy video game systems, but such is life, and the competition is probably not quite as direct as some would assume.
Besides, there’s Petri Hiltunen art, which is always a good reason to do things. Go forth, my readers—both of you!—and pledge!
Worlds in a Handful of Dice 