Seriously, thank you so much for being a part of making Folk Hero a thing!
I'm going to have a couple of weeks concentrating on other things such as preparing for Pax West (do come see us if you are in Seattle) and then I'll begin layouts for the game.
I'll keep you updated at every step of the way.
If you did miss the campaign, we have a late pledge option on BackerKit for the next couple of weeks.
I'm just doing a final shout out to say thank you to those who have backed and spur on anyone who has been on the fence about my solo songwriting game.
Come join the struggle while you may, the revolution is only a TTRPG away! (apologies to Billy Bragg).
First up, let me tease you with some layouts I am working on for the sections:
Folk Hero explores the dynamic of the individual and community.
And this...
Yes, you will be able to (try) kick that things ass!
And not forgetting this..
We're proud to have permission from the Woody Guthrie estate to include his lyrics in the book.
Plus you'll get a whole load more lore about the UuK...
You-You-Kay
Not only that, you will also get this game for free:
A dark, but hopeful game about friendship and alternate realities.
You can also stock up on my other games without having to pay any extra postage. That's right, all postage rates are capped, no matter how may games you order!
Shelf fodder...
As always, I want to thank you for your support, no matter whether it entailed giving me capitalist tokens or just shouting loud about or game on social media. Community is what keeps me doing this.
I'll be back with another update exclusively for backers later this evening.
We’re in the final stretch of the Folk Hero campaign, and what a ride it’s been so far. Nearly 500 backers have helped us push way beyond our original goal, and we’re incredibly grateful. Thank you for supporting our games.
If you’ve already backed Folk Hero - you’re a legend.
If you’re still thinking about it - now’s the time to act.
Every backer will now receive an exclusive free bonus game as part of their pledge. Fix Your Hearts or Die is a two-player epistolary game where you are fighting to restore two split realities. This offer is only available for backers during the campaign.
This is your last chance to join the Troubadours of the UnUnited Kingdom. Whether you want to kick fascist ass or unite warring communities, Folk Hero brings new lore to the world of Punk is Dead, a complete solo mode, twisted folklore monsters, and so many rollable tables it’ll wear out your dice.
Back now to:
✅ Grab the 7-inch, 90-page hardback
✅ Explore the UnUnited Kingdom solo
✅ Receive a bonus digital game for free
✅ Grab any of our other titles with a capped shipping rate
At the beginning of the campaign, I announced that every backer of either the PDF or a physical reward will receive a free game (sometime around October). This time I gave you a choice of a game, and though it was close at times, there was a clear winner:
Dark, but hopeful... one of my games, then.
Fix Your Hearts or Die is an epistiolary game for two players in which a traumatic event in a small town has created a split in reality. Now two timelines exist in this town and you and your partner/friend have been separated. Though you have found a way to stay in contact, no one in your version of the town has any recollection of your loved one. The game takes place through written communication and involves you both trying to explore dreamscapes, heal the timeline and reunite the realities and each other. There is also the chance that the realities will split for ever taking with them your memories of each other.
The game is filled with the wonderfully dark art of Christian Müller.
If this isn't the game you voted for, I am sorry, but I can also give you the good news that the other two games will be produced this year, so ultimately you will be able to get a hold of them. I will be giving you an opportunity to add all of them as physical copies for the reduced price of £10 (normally 15) in the add-ons in the survey and they will be sent with your Folk Hero rewards.
Have a wonderful rest of the weekend, and I will be in touch again next week.
I asked Adam Holloway, writer for Parable Games - who will be creating a folk horror scenario for inclusion in the book if we hit 35k - to do a guest update for all our wonderful current and potential backers. So, it's over to you, Adam...
“Nowt as queer as folk,” as my grandmother often says. And it’s true to some extent - people can be rather peculiar. Spend enough time around them and you might notice it. Personally I much prefer to keep my distance.
I’ll sit here, at my little writing desk, and glance out the window from time to time. Seeing all the people on the other side, wandering around aimlessly, sometimes shouting, often whispering. I’m safe here, behind the glass. My greyhound assures me this is all perfectly normal.
Tim is one of the few people I’ll make an exception for. He is a wonderful game designer (he’s really not paying me to say that) and friend. He really captures something in the worlds he builds - though what that something is can sometimes be hard to pin down.
What is the emotion one gets from play-pretending as a demonic overlord in D666? Why are so many of us enraptured by the thought of Be(ing) Like a Crow? And why did I so quickly throw money at him when he told me I could, through All Night Breakfast at the Midnight Owl, immerse myself in the “fiction” of exploring the dark and weird corners of the world as an unemployed writer, desperately trying to get their voice heard? I live that.
From Punk to the People
Punk is Dead was a game that blew me away (and, in its fiction, most of the UK). Tim had managed to create a vision so therapeutically bleak in its views of modern day capitalism and nightmarish class structure that, to me, rivals the greats of the genre - Fallout, Outer Worlds, Mad Max - it deserves to sit among the pantheon of the great creative end-of-the-world media.
Where it really stands out is in the sheer level of hope that pervades its grim old world. The titular Punks aren’t doomed to die without leaving their marks on the world. They’re going to break it down around them. But then that begs the question: who is going to build it back up again? That all comes down to the ordinary folk of this world - in particular those who become Folk Heroes.
When I was approached to write something spooky for Folk, I was honestly terrified. I love the original game, I have a deep respect for Tim and his work, and a long lasting love for folk horror. I was certain that by agreeing to try and bring some (more) horror to this world that I could only ruin my relationships with all three. This is ultimately a good thing: I can and will use that fear.
The Problem With Folk These Days
Folk music is such a personal thing. It comes from generational history, or from the lore of the land. It’s something that could be ingrained in all of us, in our own different ways. Folk horror is, at its most exploitative at least, not that.
It’s easy for these stories to come from the view of the outsider, looking in and critiquing that which they don’t understand, and painting those outside of the “civilised world” as backwards and dangerous. In short, the “folk” and their ways are to be feared.
And it’s easy to see why that’s the way it is - it’s effective. Who doesn’t love The Wickerman, after all? Woodward, Cage or Maiden, I’ll take them all. The fear of the unknown is effective and powerful. Like I said before, there’s nothing stranger than people.
Folk Meets Horror
What I really want to explore is, if folk music channels the heritage of a land through the years 'til it becomes familiar, can folk horror do the same? It’s an interesting, if not the most easy to explain, question. I could wax on lyrically about this for a while, and really take you on a meandering stroll with my academic side. Or, I could just say this:
Let’s hit the £35k stretch goal, and find out together.
