This was my first crowdfunding campaign on Backerkit and it was a great experience! I've collected a ton of notes about the process and what I learned. I'll be sharing those thoughts later this week.
The next steps for Wildest Shape...
Going forward:
Backerkit will be processing campaign pledges in the coming days
I'll be working on the text and illustrations for the book and sharing first looks here
Backer surveys will go out later this month where you'll be able to add bonus items to your pledges and pay for shipping
PDFs will go out in April!
Manufacturing of books and minis will begin in April for shipping in May!
The Wildest Shape Druid and Arboreal STL files are available now to my Patreon supporters
My Patreon supporters can now download the Wildest Shape Druid and Arboreal STL files. I'll also be making the STLs available to purchase a la carte during the Backer Surveys.
I can't thank you enough for supporting this campaign!
Yesterday, we unlocked the free Fractured Flower Vinyl Sticker! Every backer receiving physical rewards will get one of these with their zine or hardcover book. We’re definitely on track to unlock more stretch goals!
Tell your friends!
We’re in the middle-part of the campaign where word-of-mouth and media coverage are the best ways to bring in new backers. If you have friends who have been itching to play a Druid or if you’re part of communities which might be interested in Wildest Shape, let them know! There are still a few of the discounted EARLY BIRD rewards available.
Because I love charts and data, here’s how Wildest Shape is doing compared with my most popular previous crowdfunder, The Prayer’s Handbook…
A Wildest Shape Shout-Out:
My friend Matthew Sargent is cooking up a new Zine called Magika Nostalgika: Catalog of Magic Items.It’s “A catalog of magic items inspired by your favorite toys of the 90s. Designed for D&D 5e.”
As I've mentioned, this is my first time crowdfunding on Backerkit and one of the great surprises has been the creator community. They've been incredibly supportive and are so helpful to one another. It's so nice to see.
In that spirit, here are a few of my fellow TTRPG creators also taking part in Zinetopia - some of these are original games, some are solo journaling games, and some are supplements for other systems like D&D and Mothership. I hope you'll check them out. :)
-- Steve
Blightfall- Doomed villagers infected by darkness sacrifice shreds of their humanity for the power to defend their home. Combines collaborative worldbuilding, player-driven narrative, and strategic combat to tell stories of hope and tragedy.
The Deepest Dark - A turn-based GM-less oneshot inspired by The Quiet Year and Ten Candles about a group of scientists trapped by a cave-in, forced to explore underground.
Fang Dungeon Bestiary - Get 36 whimsical monsters with children’s-book-illustrator Monster Manual energy. Plus a stretch goal for Dolmenwood stats!
H.O.M.E.- Haven of Misplaced Existence is a tactical TTRPG set in a Cyberpunk Horror setting. Players take on the role of a party of adventurers affiliated with a Guild similar to those in fantasy manga like Goblin Slayer, with the same dynamics, in a futuristic dystopian metropolis divided between the corporate rich and the poor, isolated in an unreal dimension like Lovecraft's Dreamlands.
Tales from the Cockpit - A Lost & Found solo game about a giant robot, its many pilots, and the passage of time; now also funding The Cog That Remains, a Wretched & Alone solo game of a mecha mechanic.
Three Punk Games - 3 small, angry, fast games, which stick to their own rules.* SEX/VIOLENCE/POOP 3* explores the limits of your bad taste. HEX & THE PUNKS rebels against patriarchal systems. We were punks goes back to an era where everything seemed possible.
The Wanderer's Bookshop - A mixed media solo journaling bookshop simulator; Guided by tarot cards, read books, solve a mystery, collect stories and journal your way to a keepsake.
Worms Worms Worms - Five distinct sci-fi horror scenarios, each with a different flavor of worm-soaked disaster. Run them as parasite fuelled one-shots or drop them into an ongoing campaign!
I was so nervous about moving my crowdfunding from Kickstarter to Backerkit. As I mentioned on Patreon in January, I made the switch because there’s more and more A.I. slop on Kickstarter and Backerkit has a strict No A.I. policy.
I owe my comic-publishing and fledgling game-making career to Kickstarter and I’ve always done well there so I didn’t make the switch lightly. I knew getting away from the rapidly swelling tide of A.I. slop was the right choice but was it the right business decision? Would my supporters follow me to Backerkit?
I can now say that I’m very relieved! After one week, Wildest Shape is very close to being the most supported 5E project I’ve ever launched!
To be clear, I’ll still be supporting human-made projects on Kickstarter and hope you will too. Those humans need our help! And if Kickstarter doesn’t make creator-friendly changes, I hope those creators will bring their future projects to Backerkit and other human-only funding platforms.
Another Stretch Goal Unlocked!
Thanks to your amazing support, we’ve already unlocked the second stretch goal! Thank you all so much!
I was thrilled to find that Wargamer.com gave Wildest Shape a very kind shout out!
Big thanks to writer Mollie Russell!
Answering one of the great questions posed in the article, “Why is there a duck on the front cover?”, it’s because one of the pregenerated alternate selves a Circle of the Fractured Path Druid can become is a duck of the royal muscovite lineage. They are not to be trifled with!
