Reward Distribution - Existing Rewards Going Out to Backers!
Hello Ultra-Backers,
It's been two weeks since we started sending out our Pledge Manager invitations. If you haven't yet filled out your backer survey, please do so as soon as ...
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James Bell
28 days ago
Pledge Manager Surveys Coming Soon!
Hello Ultra-Backers,
It's time for our first update of the post-Crowdfunding campaign phase!
We finished up the Crowdfunding portion of our campaign just over three weeks ago ...
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James Bell
about 2 months ago
We've come to the end of the Story path.
Hello Ultra-Backers,
We did it! We came together for this book, a toolkit to build your own games and tell your own stories using the system that powers many of Onyx Path's upc...
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James Bell
about 2 months ago
FINAL HOURS: CHECKLIST & WHAT COMES NEXT
Hello Ultra-Backers!
Welcome to the final hours of this campaign! We've had an amazing run - funding very quickly and coming up to the end with over 1200 backers! We've unlocke...
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James Bell
about 2 months ago
Final Days Review - Stretch Goals
Hello Ultra-Backers,
We're not quite in the final 24 hours, but getting very close! With these last hours, I wanted to review some important topics, most especially our current...
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James Bell
about 2 months ago
VOTE for the FANTASY EXAMPLE SETTING/GAME
Hello Ultra-Backers,
As one of the perks of backing, you get a say in some of the contents of the final version of the Storypath Ultra Core Manual.
The first way, of course, i...
At last we come to the final manuscript preview. With this update, the entire current draft manuscript is available for Backers to download and read, before any pledges are processed or any payments collected.
We've actually had the bulk of the rules and systems from Storypath Ultra for a bit now, and with today's chapter we're going to see what it could look like when you use all of the building material from SPU to assemble your own game.
The final version of the Core Manual will present three different settings that use Storypath Ultra as a system. They won’t spell out absolutely everything, but each of them will be a complete game to run for your players. We'll just leave some room for you to adjust and expand on them to suit your own taste.
The first example, presented in today's download, is Pinfall from Grace, Body Slams from Hell, which showcases alternative history, supernatural player characters, and a way to add more granularity to combat. Unlike the other chapters, this one also contains a variety of “Under the Mask” sidebars, explaining some of the design decisions of this setting to better illustrate how to create your own Storypath game.
Two additional game examples will be added to the final book, one flavored with a science fiction theme and the other with fantasy trappings. For our Sci-Fi example, backers have chosen "An experimental space flight flings the player characters into a distant galaxy full of strange and alien sights."
For the final poll, you'll be voting on a Fantasy setting example. Your options:
A cozy fantasy game where explorers look for ingredients to help heal their sick dragon friend.
A war-torn world ripped apart by a devastating magic war, and a few surviving wizards try to prove who is the best among them.
A group of young heroes are blessed with magical armor and weapons in order to defeat an evil sorcerer queen seeking to destroy their land.
Voting will run until the Crowdfunding campaign ends on September 26th. You must be a backer of this project to vote for this setting.
WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK
I've now shared the complete draft manuscript over this campaign. Along the way, the team has gathered feedback to help guide the manuscript through the next steps of editing and development. To that end, they've created a special Feedback Form for you to submit your comments after reading each section!
International Shipping – Collected in the Pledge Manager
One last note about Shipping before we get into the manuscript previews.
First up, it's amazingly expensive to ship, especially from Onyx Path's home base in the US. We get that, but there's not much we can do at this time. Onyx Path is in a difficult space where the company is big enough that they're not saving money by fulfilling out of Rich's garage, but small enough that they can't really set up international partners to handle portions of the fulfillment. So we are where we are - for now.
The best we can do at this point is to plan carefully, advise everyone up front that international shipping will likely be expensive (see our projections on the main page) and only charge what it costs us when the time comes. We’ll be charging for shipping in the Pledge Manager once the books are being printed and we can deal with the actual shipping charges rather than using our best-guesses this far out. If you live outside the US and aren't sure you want the hardcover or other physical items, you can pledge to the PDF tier now and upgrade your pledge in the Pledge Manager once we know the final shipping costs.
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT PREVIEWS - BACKERS ONLY
Remember, thanks to BackerKit magic, these download links are visible to Backers only - you must be logged in and reading this on the website to have access to the manuscript preview links. So, if you're reading this via e-mail, click that "Reply to this Update" link on the bottom and I'll see you below the SPU logo.
It's been two weeks since we started sending out our Pledge Manager invitations. If you haven't yet filled out your backer survey, please do so as soon as possible - you can change it or update it right up until the books are printing and we're getting ready to ship. We use the Pledge Manager for all reward fulfillment, so having your backer page set up ensures you'll be getting your rewards in a timely manner.
If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://storypath-ultra.backerkit.com/
Many of the rewards for our Crowdfunding projects take a lot of time and effort to complete. Usually, the campaign is a means of moving the project from an idea (even when it's a mostly-fully-written idea) into the actual channel that turns it into a project/product. It'll be a while before we're ready to talk about delivery of the Storypath Ultra Core Manual, especially with the two new setting examples that have to be written.
That said, there are a few rewards that are available now, as they were mostly add-on pre-orders or bundles of existing products. And now we can work on getting those out to you over the weekend.
The following Add On Rewards WillBe Distributed This Week:
They Came From the RPG Anthology! Draft Manuscript
At The Gates Draft Manuscript
The World Below Backer PDF
Storypath Seeds Jumpstart Digital Bundle PDF titles
Storypath Seeds Corebook Digital Bundle PDF titles
It's basically this section from our Add On menu during the campaign.
Since They Came From the RPG Anthology! and At The Gates are still in development, anyone who added the pre-order to their rewards list will receive the draft manuscript for those projects. As with our draft manuscript, there are still rounds of editing and development that the text is going through or has gone through, but you can consider it about 95% there.
For The World Below, the Backer PDF has become available today! Great timing! For those who added the pre-order to their rewards list, the World Below design and development teams have done their best to proofread and correct any errors and typos - but some always sneak through. If you catch any typos, incorrect math, visual glitches, and the like, we want to hear about them and correct them before we send the book off to print. Onyx Path will be launching a special The World BelowFeedback Form, which you will be able to access here: https://forms.gle/jTQ95sHhJmhGvYUq8
In addition, the two Storypath Seeds bundles will have the PDF redemption codes going out. There are multiple titles included in each bundle (especially that Jumpstart bundle) so lots of rewards going out despite a short list.
If you want any of these and didn't add them on during the campaign, you can still update your BackerKit page and add them to your rewards list. See the BackerKit How-To instructions above.
REWARD DISTRIBUTION
Your link to claim these digital rewards will be sent out by our BackerKit pledge manager over the nextfew days. Since we are using our partners at DriveThruRPG as the hosts for these, you will need to set up a DriveThru account if you don't have one already. If you encounter any problems with downloading your rewards, please contact DTRPG's customer service to resolve the matter, they've always been top-rated for customer service. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/contact_us.ph
Thebest way to ensure these redemption codes work smoothly is to log in to your DTRPG account first, and then click (or copy) the link shown in your BackerKit.
Again, you will receive an e-mail from BackerKit with links for these rewards over the next 1-2 days if any of them are on your expected list of rewards. I'll be releasing them in waves, so don't panic if you only see a couple links at first... the rest are coming. (We're in a digital world, but there are still a lot of manual processes. And there are manylinks to go out!!)
The easiest way to see if you've got digital downloads available is to login to your backerkit account: https://storypath-ultra.backerkit.com/ and it'll show anything available. Your backerkit account should also confirm all rewards that you should expect from your reward tier selected.
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT
In addition to redemption links for these digital rewards, all backers have received a link to the compiled draft manuscript. This link can be found in your BackerKit digital rewards page, and you likely received an e-mail linking to that with the Backer Survey invitations. Again, this isn't a new manuscript, it's just all of the pieces we shared during the campaign put together in order. It's the same link that I share at the bottom of these campaign updates, but I want to make sure you have access to it in any place that makes sense.
MONTHLY UPDATES
With the Pledge Manager up and running, next month I'll have our first "regular" update for our project. I'll send these updates out every month to let you know where we sit. We're still in the earliest stages of this post-campaign, where projects make incremental movements along the progress path. A lot of months will be pretty similar, just a quick note to let you know that the Onyx Path team is still working on it. Any time we have a new reward or something of interest to share, I'll include that as well.
At the end of each month, I'll include a summary of our rewards and their current status (they'll either be delivered or marked as still pending, possibly with additional details if I know more). I'll also list any relevant Update posts, in case you want to go back and check into something.
Each month, I'll list our "Pending" rewards and our "Delivered" rewards. We'll track the project status of our pending rewards by filling in the stage dots, and I'll note which update (and include a link) with each delivered reward, in case you want to go back and re-read the relevant update for more information. If any of these rewards were on your pledge list, you can access download codes in your BackerKit Digital Rewards page. And once they've been added to your DriveThruRPG library, you can access them through your DTRPG digital library at any time.
That's for November, though. For now, enjoy these Treats on Halloween!
You can find the weekly Monday Meeting blog updates <here>, which note any projects with status changes since the previous Month End summary. The project statuses listed are current as of last Monday, so do check it out each Monday night to see if anything may have progressed!
I will continue to post regular updates everymonth until the final reward has gone out.
TO CONTACT JAMES
Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
FINAL MINUTES OF THE CAMPAIGN
The End is Nigh!
Today, October 31st, at 1:30 PM eastern, the Onyx Path team is going live on twitch.tv/theonyxpath to celebrate and countdown to the end of the Curseborne Kickstarter! It's been a whirlwind of a month, and we've smashed through a ton of stretch goals, so we're excited to be there for the finale with anyone who wants to join our wrap party. Come hang out with Danielle Lauzon, Eddy Webb, and Dixie Cochran as we race toward the campaign total!
Thank you all for your support, and we'll see you on the other side.
CURSEBORNE ends the Kickstarter Camapign at 2:00 PM EDT TODAY!
It's time for our first update of the post-Crowdfunding campaign phase!
We finished up the Crowdfunding portion of our campaign just over three weeks ago with a successful run, adding many backers and voting on content to the final book. Now it's time to start the next phase of the project - the Post-Campaign, where we track the progress of the various projects we helped fund and send out rewards as they become available.
To help with all of that we use BackerKit's Pledge Manager.
Today's Topics
BackerKit Pledge Manager SurveysComing Soon
CompiledDraft Manuscript (available in BackerKit Digital Rewards)
ComingNext
BACKER SURVEYS
Over the next handfulof days (Oct 18-21), you’ll receive an email from us with a special link to your Pledge Manager survey. It’s important to respond to your survey as quickly as you can since we need this information to fulfill your rewards.
You don’t need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey (although you probably already have one from pledging to this campaign). When you receive the email with the survey, click the survey invitation link to respond. Answer the questions about your reward preferences, provide shipping information, and purchase add-on items if you like. You don’t have access to this survey link yet, but it will be available laterthis week via email!
The e-mail will have a button that looks something like this:
After you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change your responses at any time before we close the surveys and get our final counts, and that won't happen until the books are being printed and we're preparing to ship.
If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://storypath-ultra.backerkit.com/
If you have any other questions or concerns, you can post them to the comments for this update, the comment section, or message me via one of these methods:
TO CONTACT JAMES
Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
If there are any issues you find with the Pledge Manager, please contact me as soon as possible to let me know. It rolls out in waves so that I can correct issues on the fly and make it work as best possible as people come on board.
I had initially expected to be sending this out a few weeks from now, but caught a free moment even while I'm battling a cold that's worked it's way through my family over the past month. The chances of a few errors in the Pledge Manager set up are ... greater than zero ... so let me know if you see something off and I'll fix it as quickly as possible.
Within the BackerKit Survey and Pledge Manager, you can:
Review your Pledge Tier Selection and Rewards
Upgrade your Reward Tier pledge selection
Confirm Add On selections
Set up payment information for any failed payments from the Crowdfunding campaign or to pay for any new Add On options selected.
Whenyou click on your BackerKit invitation link,you should see something like this...
From the Pledge Manager welcome page you can choose to
Review Your Pledge Level and Rewards
Start Your Survey, confirming pledge rewards, confirming or selecting new Add On options, and confirming any shipping and payment info that may be needed
Switch Your Pledge Level
If you've pledged to a reward tier that includes physical rewards, you can enter your shipping country at this stage. As noted during our campaign, we haven't set shipping costs yet - those will be calculated and added in when we're preparing to ship the book. That won't be for a long time, though, and there will be plenty of opportunity - and notice - for you to make changes.
If you click on your Pledge Level, you will see a list of all items included in your Pledge Rewards (including Stretch Goals and the Draft Manuscript), and also have the option to switch your Pledge Level, in case you've decided to get the hardcover pledge instead of the PDF-only pledge tier for example.
Once you've confirmed that your Pledge Level is correct and where you want it to be, you can GETSTARTED with your BackerKit Pledge Manager Survey.
Once we've got a fair response to our survey and collected a reasonable amount of info, I'll be working on fulfilling rewards that are available now - like the PDFs of the titles included in our Add On section (for example, Storypath Seeds jumpstart bundle and the Storypath Seeds Core Rulebook bundle). Those will likely be coming to you in late-October, and I'll send another update with more info when that time comes.
So, in summary:
Look for an e-mail invitation to BackerKit's Pledge Manager sometime over the next 4-5 days
Get Started on your survey
Confirm your Pledge Level (or SWITCH your Pledge Level if you want to change it)
Confirm and Select Any Add On options
Confirm Your Shipping Information (if needed)
Confirm Your Payment Information (if needed)
I will post an update in another week or two as I begin outlining the delivery of our first Add On rewards (the existing title PDFs, as noted above) and beginning distribution of those PDF rewards.
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT
Looking in the example pledge list above, you can see a listing for the Draft Manuscript. In your BackerKit digital rewards page, you will have access to the compiled draft manuscript. It won't be different from the one that was shared during the campaign - it'll just be all gathered together in one big file. The Draft Manuscript link may not be active when you first login to your BackerKit survey, but I'll throw the switch and it'll send you a notice next week after all of the invitations have gone out.
I will talk about how to access your BackerKit digital rewards links in an update coming later this month, when I send out the first wave of available rewards.
COMING NEXT
In the next 2 weeks or so, I'll send an update with details about the distribution for that first wave of Storypath Seeds Bundle rewards. I'll also get the compiled draft manuscript up and ready for you.
In November, we'll also begin our regular monthly check-ins, tracking the progress of this project as it moves through this phase. It'll take some time, but we'll have regular updates all through the process. I'll also have notes on how to check the weekly and monthly All Project Progress updates on Onyx Path's website.
TO CONTACT JAMES
Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
Curseborne is a game about being unapologetic monsters in a world where being monstrous is the least of your worries. In Curseborne, you play as Accursed, descendants of monstrous lineages lurking in a modern world that closely resembles our own. You rebel against the ancient feuds between these entwined families, as well as against the web of curses that bind you, while fending off inhuman antagonists seeking to claim — or reclaim — your power.
The world of Curseborne is full of intrigue, magic, and things that go bump in the night. It’s just like our world, except the reason that things don’t go your way or that bad things happen is that the people are literally living in a world of curses. Some people are cursed more than others, and these are our Accursed characters. They have a particularly large curse that hangs over their heads and makes them more prone to bad things happening to them and around them. The nature of this curse also makes them magical in nature. They have a sense of the thing holding them back, and they can manipulate it in ways that normal people cannot.
This book is comprised of two main parts. The first part is the setting of Curseborne, as well as more about the Accursed themselves through the view of the characters. It shows how they see themselves, their world, and their place in that world. Lineages represent five broad categories of Accursed: The Dead (ghosts and spirits), The Hungry (vampires), The Outcasts (angels and demons), The Primal (shapeshifters and werewolves), and The Sorcerers (magicians).
The second part of the book are the instructions on how to use this book to play a game. You’ll find the chapters on how to play the game using the Storypath Ultra system, how to create a character, all the cool powers those characters have, and information on how to run a game of Curseborne.
With 13 days left in the campaign, we've hit 500% of our initial funding target and unlocked several Stretch Goals - including three new supplements that will be added as bonus rewards for backers of this project!
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT: Over the course of the campaign, backers will receive access to chapters from the current draft manuscript of Curseborne. By the end of the campaign, backers will be able to read the entire book as it stands now, before any pledges are processed or payments collected. No secret curses with this campaign - you'll know exactly what you're supporting with your pledge. Read the manuscript and make sure the project is right for you.
CURSEBORNE was built using the Storypath Ultra system! You'll have three example settings in the final Storypath Ultra Core Manual, but if you want to see a game completely designed from the ground up that uses SPU, check out CURSEBORNE on Kickstarter!
We did it! We came together for this book, a toolkit to build your own games and tell your own stories using the system that powers many of Onyx Path's upcoming projects.
Thanks to the support of an impressive 1,261 backers, Onyx Path will be able to develop PDF and hardcover versions of the Storypath Ultra Core Manual!
This project has exceeded my expectations, and I was amazed to see it grow over the course of this past month! We had so many new backers join in over the past week - and really, so many in the past 48 hours - and it was fun to see the numbers jump up dramatically in these last few days. Great job!
There's more to celebrate! Not only did we fund the project in the first day, we also unlocked a super SIX Stretch Goals. From standard Onyx Path milestone markers to helping Onyx Path prioritize community content creation, it's been very cool to have these extras!
It came down to the last few days but we managed to hit every Stretch Goal we'd posted and hit 585% of our funding target!
Our Bonus Reward Collection
Some Milestone Markers
All backers for this project will automatically have these bonus rewards added to their rewards list.
For The Community
We've unlocked these rewards that will benefit all SPU fans!
More Content!
The first of the included example settings, Pinfall from Grace, Body Slams from Hell, not only offers a complete game set in the parallel version of the year 2000, but also illustrates exactly how Story Path was implemented and adjusted. We have plans to write two more, and as a backer you'll be able to vote on which ones you prefer.
For our Sci-Fi example, backers have chosen "An experimental space flight flings the player characters into a distant galaxy full of strange and alien sights."
For our Fantasy example, backers have chosen "A war-torn world ripped apart by a devastating magic war, and a few surviving wizards try to prove who is the best among them."
We had more than 600 votes for this sample game, and option 2 held the lead pretty much from the get-go, but it was still exciting to watch and fun to think about ways to interpret all of these concepts.
Again, there's nothing yet written for these two example settings - we'll see them in the final version of the book - but we've provided the developers and writers with these inspirational launching points, so it'll be very interesting to see how they develop and grow into their own SPU mini games!
So a huge congratulations to the Onyx Path developers and the creative team on this project, and to all of the backers who've joined in to make this possible. I'm happy about the goals we hit and rewards we introduced, but I'm also always amazed and excited about having so many backers join in during this campaign. Even though Storypath Ultra has appeared in a few forthcoming projects and the earliest Storypath system games have some overlap with the system, it was still a bit of a gamble for the team as to whether this setting-free SPU Core Manual toolkit would find an audience. Crossing the mighty 1000 backer line was impressive, and I really look forward to seeing what things the community brings out to support SPU in the future!
AN EXTRA THANK YOU!
So, thank you to all the backers who supported us and made this happen. And an extra thanks to everyone who participated online, either in the Community comments section of the campaign, and on social media around the web. Thanks to everyone who talked about the project on the Discord and thanks to the Onyx Path team who answered questions and provided insight.
COMMUNICATION
So, as noted in today's earlier update, starting in October I'll be sending out updates once a month and whenever we've got a new goal, survey, or other item to cover. If you have any questions or need clarification on something related to the campaign, feel free to get in touch. I may take a bit to answer as I recover from these past four weeks and sneak in a a quick anniversary dinner somewhere in there, but I'll eventually have an answer!
TO CONTACT ME
Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your forthcoming survey page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
ONYX PATH DISCUSSION CHANNELS
If you've got questions about the rules or setting, or just want to discuss this game with other fans (as well as the Onyx Path writers and developers!), you can check out these Onyx Path discussion zones:
I've now shared the complete draft manuscript over this campaign. Along the way, the team has gathered feedback to help guide the manuscript through the next steps of editing and development. To that end, they've created a special Feedback Form for you to submit your comments after reading each section!
The Discord is particularly lively, and I loved seeing the thoughts and jokes as the chapters came out bit by bit. Again, I really loved the early seeds that will, I'm sure, develop into new content in Storypath Nexus or other avenues in the future!
BackerKit will begin collected pledges and processing payments later tonight, so be ready for that.
High fives all around in the comment section and on the Discord, and you'll hear from me again in a month-or-so when I've got the pledge manager set up and ready to roll out!
We're not quite in the final 24 hours, but getting very close! With these last hours, I wanted to review some important topics, most especially our current Stretch Goal situation! Let's get reviewin'!
We're in the Final Days countdown for this Crowdfunding campaign. Storypath Ultra Core Manual finishes the crowdfunding campaign on Thursday, September 26th at 2:00 PM EDT. There's still time to get others to join us on this path, but we're definitely getting closer to the finish line. With that in mind, I wanted to touch on some of the basics over this final day to make sure everyone has the information they need to support this project in the way that works best for them.
Whether you've chosen three Paths and selected all of your Edges or are just assinging your first dot, these are some good topics to review over this week to make sure we all end up where we want to be.
(An aside, if you're a new backer, make sure you check out our Final Week Countdown / Resource Update. It has links to the manuscript previews, podcast and panels, and other helpful information.)
Refresher Course
Note for New Backers: Please check out the updates listed above. There's a lot of information there that will be important to know about before the end, like how we're not including shippingcharges in our pledges for this campaign and instead will be charging them in our pledge manager before we ship out the books, and you can also read the entire draft manuscript before the end of the campaign and any pledges are processed.
Note for Since-the-Start Backers: It's probably a good idea to review that stuff as well. Never hurts to make sure you haven't missed anything! And it's fun to listento those podcasts and interviews.
We've had, and will have, a bunch of new backers join in during these last days. I want to take a moment to highlight some key Update posts that new backers may want to check out (and existing backers may want to read as a refresher!).
MANUSCRIPT PREVIEW - As noted, the complete Preview Manuscript for the book is available for you to review prior to the conclusion of the campaign. If you're a backer, you'll have access to this preview manuscript after the campaign. Remember, though, there are still some minor edits, development and proofing that need to be done, plus two new example settings that will be added to the final version. But, you can consider it most of the way there and a good representation of what you'll get in the final book. Making the manuscript available for review before the campaign ends ensures that everyone knows exactly what our goal is - making this book - and are on board with our aims for this project. Thanks for your support, we're all in this together!
PLEDGE TIERS -This update breaks down your best starting point for figuring out which Backer Reward Tier to choose to help support this project in a way that works for you.
The first decision you need to make in figuring out your reward tier is whether you want to receive the PDF version or the hardcover edition (which comes with bonus PDF version).
STORYPATH ULTRA PDF REWARD
This is the PDF-only reward tier. So, if you're saving trees or saving shelf space - or avoiding the shipping charges that are absolutely ever-increasing - this is the reward tier option that you should begin with. The PDF will be fulfilled by our partners at DriveThruRPG.com - when it is ready, you will receive a link to add it to your DTRPG library at no cost for you to download at your leisure. As a backer, you will be able to vote on new content during the crowdfunding campaign.
STORYPATH ULTRA HARDCOVER REWARD
This reward tier includes the hardcover version of this book. Shipping costs ARE NOT included in the cost of your pledge. You will be charged for shipping after the campaign through the pledge manager. In addition, this option also includes the PDF version, so you will get a digital copy as described above. As a backer, you will be able to vote on new content during the crowdfunding campaign.
ADD-ON OPTIONS - The other half of our Reward Tiers update, including information on the second step of pledging. There are several Add On options that you can add as part of your pledging process, including pre-ordering three of the Onyx Path games that use the SPU rules and two bundles of products that use the original Storypath system that planted the seeds for SPU.
Choose Wisely
Choosing the correct Reward Tier for your desired rewards, and then filling in any "gaps" with add-ons, ensures that you'll be claiming all of your desired rewards as a thank you for supporting this project and bringing this world to life.
Remember, your PLEDGE AMOUNT is equal to your REWARD TIER + ADD ONS only - Any Shipping costs will be collected at a later date. You will also be able to select Add On options in the Pledge Manager after the campaign, but remember that only funds added during the campaign count towards Stretch Goal funding targets.
Also to note, only those who participate during the campaign are able to have Stretch Goal rewards added automatically to their rewards lists. If you're waiting to pre-order at a later time, it's better to pledge to the Storypath Support tier now and then simply upgrade your pledge later to include these bonus rewards.
Tomorrow I'll be posting one further "Final Day" update, covering What Happens Next and outlining what to expect once the campaign ends.
But until then, let's review our Stretch Goal success story!
Over the past 23 days as we've worked through this campaign we've not only funded the book but also unlocked SIX Stretch Goal targets! That's right - we've unlocked all of the Stretch Goals that had been planned for this campaign!
Our Stretch Goals have been a mix of regular "milestone markers" that helped keep our pace and allowed me to plan out the rest of our campaign, as well as some new Onyx Path SPU license prioritizing and procedures, and an online game aid. Let's review and see what we've accomlished by coming together to Crowdfund this project!
MILESTONE MARKERS
Monitoring our pace during the mid-campaign, these milestone markers are great celebratory moments allowing us to keep our focus, and fun rewards going out to all who supported this project during the Crowdfunding campaign.
ACHIEVED - DIGITAL WALLPAPER - Sensational SPU artwork will be used to create a wallpaper for your computer desktop. This digital wallpaper will be added to the rewards list of all backers supporting this project.
ACHIEVED – STORYPATH ULTRA SHIRT ON REDBUBBLE – A Storypath Ultra-themed Backer shirt will be hosted on Onyx Path’s Redbubble store for a limited time. Only backers will be notified when the shirt becomes available for purchase.
ACHIEVED – VTT TOKEN PACK - Digital assets will be created to support online play for Storypath Ultra games, including key character and creature tokens from the book. This online asset pack will be added to the rewards list of all backers.
CREATE YOUR OWN CONTENT
In addition, we had two Stretch Goals that helped Onyx Path prioritize and plan for your ability to use the Storypath Ultra system in your own creations. The book itself is a toolbox designed to facilitate you creating your own homegames, but with these two goals new options are set up to share your work with the world.
First up, Onyx Path has had the STORYPATH NEXUS community content program running for a while, allowing creators to build and sell material for games like Trinity Continuum and Scion within some limits. Adding new material and opening new books has taken some time, though, as Onyx Path builds resources for creators and carefully outlines which material is available to use. Our first Stretch Goal in this section bumped the SPU Core Manual to the head of the line, though, and let Onyx Path know there was indeed a great eagerness to get some SPU material out into the Storypath Nexus for creators and fans!
ACHIEVED - COMMUNITY CONTENT PROGRAM - Onyx Path will expedite adding Storypath Ultra material to the Storypath Nexus Community Content Program.
For the next Stretch Goal in this section, Onyx Path will come up with policies and procedures to handle bigger projects that may sit outside of the scope of the Storypath Nexus program. If you've got a big game that you want to create using the SPU system, Onyx Path will develop a way to officially license the SPU material for approved partners.
ACHIEVED – APPROVED LICENSING PROGRAM - Onyx Path will develop guidelines and a review process for approved publishers to create material using the Storypath Ultra system outside of the Storypath Nexus community content program.
All of these are now works in progress, and I don't know more than what has been written here, but I look forward to see where the Onyx Path team take these new paths...
ONLINE GAME TOOLS
This final Stretch Goal was just introduced within the past week, and I thought might be down to the wire. But our Final 48 Hour notice rallied the fans, and we've unlocked it with time to spare! If you're like me, about 99% of your gaming involves Discord over the past few years, so any tools designed to make it easier are very welcome in my world!
ACHIEVED – DISCORD DICE BOT - Onyx Path will work with an external developer to create and maintain a Discord Dice-Bot for Storypath Ultra.
YOUR REWARDS!
That's right! You backed this project to help make and publish the Storypath Ultra Core Manual! Our primary reward - the big thank you that we'll send out in appreciation for your support - are PDFs and/or hardcover copies of this book! BUT AS A BONUS, you may also have a digital wallpaper, some online tokens, and an opportunity to add to your wardrobe, plus you'll get to see the new material that comes from the community!
An Ultra Achievement
This campaign has exceeded expectations, and we've unlocked all Stretch Goals with more than 24 hours to spare! Now, some may consider coasting in to the conclusion of the campaign tomorrow, but we've still got one major task ahead of us!
VOTE FOR OUR THIRD EXAMPLE SETTING
In total, the SPU Core Manual will contain three example settings and games to demonstrate how you can build your own game with the systems provided. The first of the included example settings, Pinfall from Grace, Body Slams from Hell, has now been shared in it's entirety with backers.
It not only offers a complete game set in the parallel version of the year 2000, but also illustrates exactly how Story Path was implemented and adjusted. We have plans to write two more, and as a backer you'll be able to vote on which ones you prefer.
For our Sci-Fi example, backers have chosen "An experimental space flight flings the player characters into a distant galaxy full of strange and alien sights."
For the final poll, you'll be voting on a Fantasy setting example. Your options:
A cozy fantasy game where explorers look for ingredients to help heal their sick dragon friend.
A war-torn world ripped apart by a devastating magic war, and a few surviving wizards try to prove who is the best among them.
A group of young heroes are blessed with magical armor and weapons in order to defeat an evil sorcerer queen seeking to destroy their land.
Voting will run until the Crowdfunding campaign ends on September 26th. You must be a backer of this project to vote for this setting.
Our current results, with just over 27 hours to go...
Option 2 is still holding it's lead, but it has slightly diminished by fractions of a percent! And we've still got about 600 Backers who haven't voted yet!
Make sure your vote is counted before the end! Even if you decide by rolling a die! Let's see if we can't get to 700 votes before the end of the campaign!
STORYPATH ULTRA CORE MANUAL enters OVERTIME MODE on Thursday, September 26th at 2:00 PM EDT.
We will finish up as soon as our backer train ends after that point! So let's see if we can't hit 700 votes and then keep that train running for an extra 10 or 20 minutes!!
