Ride in on Your White Horse... I'm sorry to use this update feature to do this, but a great creator and big friend to many of us in the small publishing world, David Baity, is trying to get his next project up and running on Backerkit, but their analytics will not let him launch until he has 267 followers... And this is a guy who's ran many a successful Kickstarter!
Anyhow, if you could be so kind as to follow his project (whether or not you intend to buy his amazing wares), that would help him launch and get going on this. The project is a nice reference book for his Weird Frontiers (Cthulhu meets Wild Western) game and a zero-level module by the talented Daniel Bishop. Please give the algorithm the ransom it demands, so he can get on with this cool project!
Update ...Oh, to make this a true update, layout is done for "The Gammatastic Voyage" (52 interior pages, including 6 pages of pull-outs). Now the cover is being perfected (it looks like it will be a 6-panel design, like some of the old TSR modules). There is still nothing settled on the transparencies.
Hey backers, just wanted to drop a quick note (mostly because I am excited and needed to shout it out to the world), things are moving very quick on having "The Gammatastic Voyage" ready for print! The editor did a killer job getting things turned around, and almost all the art is in at this point (as well as maps). Layout has been tricky (there are some pull-out sections I'm trying to fancy up, and finding places for all the randomizing charts and illustrations while maintaining balance has been a challenge.
I'm waiting for to see it in actual printer's proof, but I have some concerns with the transparency concept. Though my printer can do them, I have found that getting opaque ink will look much better, and I'm working with them to see if they can do that while simultaneously looking for other vendors as options as well. My plan C is to do these as giant cling stickers, but that just wouldn't feel as thematic, now would it? (though it does offer a little more usability-not sliding around, etc.).
I have priced out doing the little bonus PDF zine "The Village" as a print and it seems it will be economical, so I will be offering that as an add-on when I send out the surveys.
I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, here's a not-quite-final version of the map for the StarSpawn facility done in isometric form...
Well, the funding is over and things are shifting into high-gear for "The Gammatastic Voyage." We're getting in the final pieces of art slowly but surely (they are all due in by mid-July). I'm going to do a version of the map of the StarSpawn facility in an isometric format (I feel like those maps are more fun) next week. I would imagine that will be the version for the final project. Meanwhile, final (professional) edits of the manuscript begin this week!
Timeline
It's always hard to guess exactly when things will be done. My record is to deliver projects pretty much on time (with two projects that shipped a month late). I think this project should land in August as planned, I don't see much that would draw it past that time frame.
Surveys at the End of July
When surveys get sent out (probably at the end of this month), there will be chances to add things, etc. This being my first time using Backerkit, I am still working some of that out and have a slight concern that backers who added things on during the campaign might be confused when offered add-ons again during the survey. If you have any questions at all during that process, reach out to me and I can tell you what you are already getting, so that you don't double order (unless you want to!). This is also true for folks that were part of the early bird deal and get the PDF of the "The Village" supplement for free. On that note, Backerkit allows for a "minimum order" add-on, so I will be able to offer (on the survey) a print version of "The Village" so long as a certain number of folks pick it up (I'm still running the numbers, but I think it will be a thing that will likely work out). If you have any questions during the survey process, email me at [email protected].
Appreciation and Impact Well, I guess I'm burying the lead here;my main point was to just thank all you wonderful people for believing in me and my project. Thanks to all of you, not only do I get to keep creating, but multiple artists got some income, an editor gets an income, the folks at my badge-making vendor (a US company) get an income, and the folks at my local printers will be making an income. I think all of us just won at the game of microeconomics!
HKN-B01t5
Here's some of the new art. This is a haywire maintenance robot called HKN-B01t5. The poor thing just loves to weld and rivet - Alloy-steel, duraplastic, flesh - doesn't matter! In the adventure, the StarSpawn facilities AI sends the seekers down to a weapons vault to get some equipment (or they wander there on their own) and this thing is trapped between the seekers and the vault...
I don't think we'll make it to the stretch goal where all backers get a print (or PDF) copy of "The Village." This little zine isn't really needed to play this game. There is only a small portion of the adventure's opening where a village layout might be useful (in playtests "theater of the mind" worked fine), and then again at the end (depending on timing) the village map and extra information could help feed into the climax where the mega-beast is nearing "town."
This zine product simply presents a fun little coastal (post-apocalyptic) village, all laid out and ready for use. It has a nice full-color map of the village (across a 2-page spread) and then over a dozen pages briefly detailing locations and giving random charts to help flesh out details about the people, governance, events, and other such stuff for the village.
I have thought about putting it up as a $12 add-on, but I'm not sure if it's worth doing unless a lot of people think they would like it.
I am setting up a poll to see if that's worth doing. Please visit the Backerkit page and make your voice heard if you are interested. Thanks!
The campaign has been going great thanks to you all and all the love you have been showing it online. Not being my first rodeo, I'm pretty confident that we will have the numbers for at least the first stretch goal by the end of the campaign, so I have gone ahead and put in the order for the extra pieces of art. I think these will allow me to help a few of the minor scenes that didn't already have their own art come to life on the page!
Speaking of art, the map for the experimental craft the seekers use in the adventure is nearly complete (see below). I tried to really crack down on making the ship a fun vessel to be on-for everyone. We all know how dreadful things can get when PCs are aboard a craft, and the only one that gets to do anything is the pilot. Well, that will NOT be the case here. The ship has many different poignant systems (piloting, gunnery, sensors, shields, life support, and engineering) that need to be operated in communion for it to function at its best. There is a fun little mechanic where the engineering controls allow the operator to distribute some "boosting dice" into the different systems, but there are only so many of these dice and the PC will have to be wise on how and when to allocate these energy resources. On top of that, there are many situations that are bound to come up where the PCs will have to deal with leaks in the ship, clogged jet ports, and other troubles that get them to engage with things at a character level. I'm also making progress on "The Village." This is a PDF product that will be sent out for free to everyone that backed in the first 48 hours. It will also be available to others as an add-on. This digest-sized mini-book contains a map of a sea-side post-apocalyptic town (perfect for use in this adventure), details about its buildings, and tons of random charts for generating personalities in the town, events, and rules of governance. The cover art is by Dean Spencer!
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...continue to tell folks about this project. I would love to get to those stretch goals where I can add the pregens into the pull-out section in the adventure's middle, and (if we can about double where we're at) get this bonus piece ("The Village") printed and distributed to all physical backers!
Thanks for helping this crazy dream come true. I should be getting some of that new art in the coming week, and will be anxious to show if off as it comes in. Thanks.
