Thank you, backers, for so quickly unlocking additional audio assets for The Darkest Woods. Monte has big plans for making sound an even more important and immersive aspect of your players’ experiences in the Woods!
As PCs lost in the Woods’ depths are often heard to say: where do we go from here?
The Darkest Woods app is highly optimized for gaming online. (And the book, while built for the physical environment, is also well-suited for online games.) So let’s make those games even more immersive!
This is a crowdfunding exclusive. It won’t be part of the product itself; we’ll deliver it separately, just for you, backers of this campaign. This reward will go to backers at all pledge levels.
As usually happens, the pace of this campaign is picking up in its final week. We unlocked the last stretch goal in less than two days, and we probably unlock this one even faster—and have time for more!
But only if you help! We've all seen or supported campaigns that really soared to exciting heights, hitting loads of goals. This only happens because their backers help spread the word. Please take a moment and share these social media posts—or share your own thoughts on why you’re excited about The Darkest Woods!
Happy Monday, backers! We enter the final week for this campaign with some great news: you’ve unlocked The Broken Tarot! We’re excited to make this unique prop a reality—and to add to what is becoming one of the most immersive horror experiences ever brought to the RPG table.
The Broken Tarot is a set of tarot cards loaded with notes and clues, apparently lost or left behind by someone previously trapped in the Woods. It’s not a full deck, nor is it an original design—there are 50 or 60 cards, all from the classic Rider-Waite Tarot. Some are damaged, and many are marked with hand-written notes. Image files of the cards are included in The Darkest Woods, and now we’re making a physical prop version, too.Â
If you’re backing this campaign for all the cool stuff, The Broken Tarot is now part of your rewards. If you’re backing at a lower pledge level, you can get The Broken Tarot as an add-on—but you should really consider the excellent deal you get at the Temple of the Moon and The Dark Lodge pledge levels, which now include The Broken Tarot.
What’s That Sound?
The many rooms of The Darkest House lie, for the most part, wrapped in a sinister stillness. When sound erupts, it’s often unexpected and almost always significant. For that reason, we produced a number of audio files that are integrated into The Darkest House in the same way the many handouts are, made easily accessible through links (in the app) and QR codes (in the book).
The Darkest Woods, in contrast, is often alive with sound. Things move through the underbrush; unseen birds call mysteriously; and the Woods’ many terrors can often be heard before they’re seen. When Monte first began working on The Darkest Woods he wanted to include even more audio. That’s already baked into the design, but Monte wants to integrate sound more thoroughly into the experience.
So at $235,000 we’ll significantly increase the amount of audio assets you get with The Darkest Woods to use in your Darkest Woods games. They’ll be included in both the app and book versions (accessed with a click in the app, and via a shortlink and QR code in the book), and both the standard and expanded editions.
Two of those files are for The Darkest Woods. But we don’t want to include any spoilers, so these are simply background tracks, suitable for adding a little mood and immersion to your encounter. The files included in The Darkest Woods will generally be more directly game-related—like the handouts, they’re not just about immersion, but also often contain useful clues or hints. If you’d like an example, there’s a third file borrowed from The Darkest House. It’s what the PCs hear if they switch on the radio in a room called The Shoin.Â
This is the final week, and it's common to see the pace pick up quickly as the campaign nears its end. We can hit this goal—and more—with your help. You can find posts about the campaign in our social media streams—it takes just a few minutes to give us a share or two. We work hard to reach new backers, but it's only through your help that campaigns like this really soar!
A Look at Monte's Design Process for The Darkest Woods
Are you interested in finding out what Monte’s considering as he’s designing games? Check out his Substack. His most recent post gives some insight into what he’s thinking as he designs The Darkest Woods.
BackerKit has been rolling out a new feature that allows backers to pay for their pledge over four months instead of all at once. And there are no additional fees, nor interest charged. This option applies only to pledges of $150 or more—you can find more information about it here.
Good news! The Darkest House has been selected by BackerKit to give this new feature a try. So if you’ve been contemplating backing at a higher level, but the one-time payment was a bit daunting, you can now pay for that pledge over four months instead.
Choose the pledge level you want to upgrade to and click the Learn More button
Click Switch to This Pledge Level
And from there you can choose to pay in four installments!
Add-ons also help you reach the $150 threshold, so if you have your eye on any of the great add-ons, you may also be able to take advantage of this feature.
We are into the last 48 hours. So far, every physical pledge is getting an Adventuring Pinna and 3 Kobold Legionaires. We will probably unlock those 3 Grilps and maybe the 3 Hobgoblin Warriors in the last two days as the mad rush to close out pledges ensues. Be sure to grab the Villain Bundle if you need some extra cool baddies for your games.Â
Digital backers will be thrilled with the 61 minis in the digital package too. That includes Bloodlord Varrox all the villains as well as the two large monster models.
If I do the $1 option for the pledge manager, can I get a pinna and maybe a villain party or two, or is she reserved for physical pledges prior to the campaign ending?
 You've just unlocked 3 Kobold Legionaires with your box pledges! We've also added 3 Grilp reinforcements at $90,000 followed by the Hobgoblin Warriors at $100,000. Four days to go!
