A full 54 card set of TROIKA! themed playing cards with two jokers and two rules cards describing a simple battle game, House of Troika, and how to integrate the deck with our TROIKA! roleplaying game system.
The TROIKA! Playing & Initiative Cards are a 54 card deck of themed, watercolour illustrated playing cards appropriate for all traditional card games. Each suit is themed to an iconic TROIKA! creature, and every card is lusciously illustrated (not just the face cards). Additionally, the deck is perfect for use as an "initiative deck" in the tabletop roleplaying game "TROIKA!". The box will contain a rules card for both how we use the deck in our in-house games of TROIKA! and also a short battle game "Houses of Troika", by Shuyi Zhang.
The cards are finished and the campaign is to pay for a limited print run to be made by specialist card producers.
Two pledge levels for one wonderful deck of cards. In both cases they'll be very handsome, featuring the art and design of Shuyi Zhang. Each one is a painstakingly rendered watercolour of iconic Troikan creatures engaged in abstract chaos. No AI here, only years of human experience and care.
So, what's the difference?
Limited Run Troika Playing Cards & Initiative Deck
A traditional 54 card deck, printed on textured cardstock for tactile enjoyment and frictionless shuffling, presented in a custom box. These are being made by a specialist boardgame factory we have worked with in the past who have an excellent track record for reliability and quality.
It is very tricky to print cards to this standard, so it is unlikely to be viable for us to re-print them after this initial run. One and done!
Print on Demand Deck from DriveThruCards
You might be familiar with DriveThruCards, they are an industry standard for print-on-demand books and cards. Print on demand is exactly what it sounds like: you order it, they print it. Convenient! We have been very satisfied with the quality of DriveThru's cards in the past, and you can't argue with the convenience of it all. Nothing can beat the quality and cost of a proper print run of cards, but what with the world like it is, it's good to have options!
Please note that anyone pledging for the print on demand version of the cards will additionally need to pay at-cost printing and postage cost direct to DriveThruCards, who will then print and fulfil your order from inside the USA.
In DriveThru's own words:
you can... send your backers a discount that allows them to purchase the print format of your title at the cost of printing. Each customer then inputs his or her own address and pays shipping charges during checkout. This means your backers pay the absolute base print cost plus our shipping charges (which are the actual rates, not inflated).
We expect the printing cost to be roughly $7 for a basic set without a deck box, which is an optional extra you may decide on later. However please note that for most places outside the USA, shipping costs for the print on demand cards are quite expensive (https://help.drivethrurpg.com/hc/en-us/articles/12723268748055-Estimated-Shipping-Costs).
What If I change My Mind About Which Printing I Want?
No worries. Just let us know before we post anything and we'll change your pledge.
We're keeping it simple. We wanna make cards, you wanna get cards, simple as that! As such, all achievements will be nice little upgrades we can do without risking any delays.
£1000: We fund the project! Neat!
£4000: We'll get Shuyi back to build a simple PDF, making printing the cards out at home a doddle.
£8000: Embellishments! We'd like to add a bit of CLASS to the limited run cardbox with some very tasteful upgrades.
We don't believe in gilding the lily. The cards are already great and don't need stickers, buttons or minis bloating the cost, time and budget! However...
TROIKA! The Science Fantasy Roleplaying Game
Come for the tabletop roleplaying game themed playing cards, stay for the tabletop roleplaying game . The cards are completely independent of the game which inspired them, while also being perfect for use with them. You can pick up a physical or digital copy of the TROIKA tabletop roleplaying game here and put those new cards right to work.
More Decks
How do you expect to play spider solitaire, or deuces with just one deck? You need more decks! And we're happy to oblige.
The limited cards will be fulfilled from within the USA and the UK, and we will charge and dispatch them according to whichever is most cost-efficient for you. All post will be arranged duties-paid, so there should be no border troubles for any backers.
The print-on-demand cards are made, handled, and dispatched from inside the USA and sent according to DriveThru's current shipping policies.
How much?
We expect* the limited cards postage to be around £10-12 for the USA and EU, and UK to be around £3.50.
And of course alternatively there is print-on-demand and possibly print-and-play available direct from DriveThruCards. Their up to date charges can be found here: https://help.drivethrurpg.com/hc/en-us/articles/12723268748055-Estimated-Shipping-Costs
*Given world events, please take every estimate with a grain of salt
The art and layout of the cards are done. From our side, all that's left is to edit the rule cards included in the deck and to design the box. The limited edition is being handled by professional printers so should be quite smooth, while the print-on-demand might require us to go through a couple of rounds of proof copies before we can let you have at them. Both should take a month, all things going well. At that point the print-on-demand copies will be redeemable, and Iglootree (UK) and Space Penguin Ink (USA) will receive and fulfil their respective sides of the world for limited edition decks. This might take an additional month, depending on number of backers. More will be slower. So, if everything goes smoothly and there are no surprises, we would expect for everything to be delivered by the end of May.
Shuyi Zhang is a traditional artist, bringing his keen eye for illustration and design to every project he's involved in. Maybe best known for being the ilustrator of Fungi of the Far Realms, a similarly voluminous watercolour project. He is also the brains behind Iglootree!
Fulfilment
Iglootree is a design house, indie distributor, and book shop all rolled into one. Vertical integration, baby!
Space Penguin Ink is the premier source of zines and outre TTRPGs inside the USA.
Publishing
Melsonian Arts Council has been making tabletop RPGs for a very long time now.
