3 tips for Kickstarter newbs.
#1) Pledge a $1. Afraid you might not have the funds in your account the day the kickstarter ends? Just put in a dollar. Once the backer kit goes live, you'll be able to up your pledge. Are you only interested in a stretch goal and don't know if it'll make it? Just pledge a dollar. You'll get the backer updates and once the goal you want is available you can always up your pledge. If it doesn't and your forget to cancel your pledge, you're only out a dollar.
#2) Kickstarter is NOT a preorder. There is always a risk with kickstarters You're not preordering, you're investing in a new product. If successful, you're investment is paid back with product. If the price of plastic suddenly quadruples driving Randell into a mad rage causing him to delete all the only copies of the 3D files for the minis and PDFs for the new books, then you're just out of luck. Related to this, if a iskickstarter saying they're to deliver August 2020, expect it by August 2021 and just be pleasantly surprised if it's earlier than that.
#3) Don't just bid $1! Does nothing I brought up in #1 apply to you? Then make sure your bid is high enough to get everything you want. The more everyone pledges, the faster we unlock stretch goals which means better deals, more add ons, or both. Just don't try to get cheeky by pledging a lot to get stretch goals and then lowering your pledge back to what you can actually afford. Kickstarter recognizes this and will kick you out.