1. DriveThru Partners
  2. Crowdfunding Fulfillment
  3. Fulfillment Options

BackerKit x DriveThruRPG Integration

Boost Followers, Reservations, and Pledges with Instant Access Rewards Delivered through DriveThruRPG

Instantly deliver digital content

Available only on the BackerKit Crowdfunding Platform, our new integration not only simplifies your fulfillment process, but it gives creators another powerful way to build campaign momentum early.  

Key Benefits

  • Instantly reward fans with digital content like quickstart guides and bonus materials
  • Boost pre-launch reservations and followers to peak pre-live demand 
  • Maximize launch-day funding with Instant Access Rewards
  • Drive higher-tier pledges with digital exclusives 
  • Automate and streamline digital reward fulfillment 

Deliver Instant Access Rewards via DriveThruRPG

If you publish on DriveThruRPG, you can connect it to BackerKit and automatically deliver your titles to backers as Instant Access Rewards. When a backer is eligible, the title is dropped straight into their DriveThruRPG library — no manual fulfillment, no codes to hand out.

How It Works

Screenshot from BackerKit campaign showing Instant Access Rewards as options of campaign reward tiers

Backers

For backers, the experience is easy and intuitive:

  1. Digital rewards show up clearly marked “Instant Access” in the reward tier
  2. Right after they pledge, follow, or reserve, they’ll see a link to access their rewards
  3. One click, and they’re in their DriveThruRPG library onto their next adventure

Backers without a free DriveThruRPG account will be prompted to create one to access their library. 

Publishing Partners

For Publishing Partners you'll need the following to use the integration:

What you'll need:

  • A DriveThruRPG publisher account
  • An active BackerKit crowdfunding project
  • Your DriveThruRPG Application Key

Step 1: Connect your DriveThruRPG account

  1. Go to your project's Project Details tab and click Integrations
  2. Find the DriveThruRPG section
  3. Paste your Application Key into the field and click Verify & Save

Where to find your Application Key: 

Partners can receive their application key from their customer account settings under The Library App Key section of this page under Additional Preferences.

Distribution should be toggled on before getting the application key.

If you run into any issues, please contact Partner Relations.

Once you have your API key, connecting to BackerKit and adding books or media files to your reward tiers takes just a few minutes. Once your key is verified, the DriveThruRPG section will show your account and a green Connected status.

Step 2: Add a DriveThruRPG reward to a tier

  1. Navigate to your project's Rewards section
  2. Open the reward tier you want to add the title to
  3. Under Instant Access Rewards, click Add Reward
  4. Give the reward a title (this is shown to backers)
  5. Select DriveThruRPG as the type
  6. Enter your Product ID — the numeric ID from your DriveThruRPG publisher dashboard (e.g. 123456)
  7. Add optional instructions for your backers
  8. Save

How delivery works

When a backer pledges, follows, or reserves and it's attached to a DriveThruRPG Instant Access Reward, BackerKit automatically grants the title to their DriveThruRPG library, matched by the email on their pledge.

  • If the backer doesn't already have a DriveThruRPG account, one is created from their email and DriveThruRPG sends them a confirmation.
  • In their BackerKit rewards dashboard, the backer will see a "View in DriveThruRPG library" link once the title has been delivered.
  • The title appears in their library at drivethrurpg.com/en/mylibrary.

Seamlessly Send Your Digital Rewards Directly Into Backers’ DriveThruRPG Libraries After the Campaign Ends


Blog post - DriveThruRPG x BackerKit - post campaign digital delivery.png

When you fulfill your rewards through BackerKit Pledge Manager you can seamlessly send your digital rewards directly into backers’ DriveThruRPG libraries after the campaign ends.

Deliver digital downloads via DriveThruRPG

If you use DriveThruRPG, you can connect it with BackerKit and automatically deliver your titles to backers as digital downloads. When a backer is eligible, the title is dropped straight into their DriveThruRPG library.

How It Works

Backers

For backers, the experience is easy and intuitive:

  1. Digital rewards are added seamlessly to the Digital Rewards tab via their survey.
  2. In their Digital Rewards tab they will land on a link that takes them directly to their DriveThruRPG library.
  3. One click, and they’re in their DriveThruRPG library onto their next adventure

Publishing Partners

For Publishing Partners you'll need the following to use the integration:

What you'll need:

  • A DriveThruRPG publisher account
  • An active BackerKit pledge manager project
  • Your DriveThruRPG Application Key

Step 1: Connect your DriveThruRPG account

  1. Go to your project's Project Details tab and click the Integrations tab
  2. Find the DriveThruRPG section
  3. Paste your Application Key into the field and click Verify & Save

Where to find your Application Key: 

It's in your DriveThruRPG customer account settings. Make sure to toggle on "Distribution." Distribution should be toggled on before getting the application key.

Once your key is verified, the DriveThruRPG section will show your account and a green Connected status. If you already connected DriveThruRPG during a crowdfunding campaign on BackerKit, the integration carries over automatically.

Step 2: Create your download

  1. Click Create a New Distribution Rule
  2. In the Name of Distribution box, enter a name for the download
  3. In the If the order includes list, select the item associated with the download
  4. In the give them this download list, select Create a New Download
  5. In the Name box, create a name for your download. This name will be backer-facing, so choose something that will make sense to backers receiving the download.
  6. Select DriveThruRPG as the type
  7. Enter your Product ID — the number that appears in your title's DriveThruRPG URL. (If your product page is drivethrurpg.com/en/product/123456/your-title-name, your Product ID is 123456.) It's also listed on the title's page in your publisher dashboard. This is different from the Stock ID #.
  8. Add optional instructions for your backers
  9. Save

You can also create and manage downloads from the View Downloads tab, but setting one up as part of a distribution rule is the simplest way to get started.

Step 3: Send it to your backers

Click Start Distribution on a single rule, or Start all distributions to send everything at once. Then click Blast Notification Emails to let your backers know. See How do I send my digital download to my backers? for the full walkthrough.

How delivery works

When you start distribution, BackerKit grants the title to each eligible backer's DriveThruRPG library, matched by the email on their order.

  • If the backer doesn't already have a DriveThruRPG account, one is created from their email and DriveThruRPG sends them a confirmation.
  • On their rewards page, the backer will see a "Go to my DriveThruRPG library" link rather than a download link.
  • The title appears in their library at drivethrurpg.com/en/mylibrary.

How do I troubleshoot DriveThruRPG error messages?

If your digital download was not successfully delivered to backers, you will see one of the below error messages. Please review the instructions below each error message to resolve the issue.

   "DriveThruRPG product 580938 is set to restricted access in your catalog."

Update the product settings in DriveThruRPG to make the content accessible. Then come back to the Digital Downloads page and click 'Refresh' next to the distribution rule.

   "We couldn't find DriveThruRPG product {123456} in your catalog."

Your Product ID is the number in your DriveThruRPG title URL (https://drivethrurpg.com/en/product/ 123456/your-title-name ). Note that this is different from your Stock ID #. Once you verify that the DriveThruRPG title matches the download title set up in BackerKit, click 'Refresh' next to the distribution rule.

   "We couldn't sign into your DriveThruRPG account."

For DriveThruRPG to connect with BackerKit, Distribution has to be toggled on in your DriveThruRPG account settings. If you entered your application key in BackerKit before Distribution was toggled on in DriveThruRPG, the integration may not have connected.

Retry by setting it up in this order:

  1. In DriveThruRPG, open your account settings and turn Distribution on.
  2. Copy your Application Key.
  3. In BackerKit, go to Digital Downloads → Integrations, paste the key, and hit Verify & Save.]
  4. Click 'Refresh' next to the distribution rule.

  "DriveThruRPG was temporarily unavailable. Try again in a few minutes."

No settings need to be changed. Simply wait a few minutes then click 'Refresh' next to the distribution rule.

 
 


 

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