Ah James, its like I hardly know ya :)
4 days to go - funded and then some!
How Orcus Stole Christmas! A Holiday RPG Adventure - A joy-filled holiday adventure for either Fifth Edition, Swords & Wizardry, or Pathfinder campaigns.
Frog God Games wants your support for our first holiday adventure in over a decade -"How Orcus Stole Christmas!". Designed for lower-level characters both joyful and triumphant it has a wickedly humorous take on classic holiday tropes. Yet it is still a perilous adventure full of the unexpected. Beware festive monsters, find joyous and jolly magic items and face an iconic villain with a holiday twist.
O, Come All Ye Faithful....to Newville!
This low-level adventure introduces the players to a contained wilderness environment known as Newville. It is designed to fit into most traditional fantasy campaigns, The open nature and local environment can extend the adventure across multiple sessions. So beware the danger behind the joyful cruelty of the enemies and their pathetic holiday slaves!
It’s up to a small band of brave heroes to save Christmas this year, and without their unwavering Christmas spirit and willingness to face the cruelties of both winter and a twisted aspect of the great Demon Prince, they’ll never discover How Orcus Stole Christmas...
Can the player characters discover why Orcus Claws is waylaying the town of Newville? Will they survive the climb up cruel Mount Strumpet with its cannibal reindeer and treacherous avalanches? And for the love of Christmas, why are all these damn News singing all the time?!
Inside the finished release you will find the following-
- An adventure which can be integrated into an existing campaign as a brief (yet twisted) celebration of the season.
- New and festive creatures which have a tendency to kill and/or feast on itinerant characters that are not prepared for danger amidst all the dark humor.
- Joyful magic items with heartwarming powers.
- An description of the village of Newville, the demeanor of the News, plus exciting rumors about the surrounding valley. The valley is thought to be full of adventure.
- The author's manuscript was bursting with bloody sarcasm and holiday humor.
- A visitor who arrives in the night upon a magical sleigh.
Yep, it's a Tuesday, so that means Crowdfunding projects get a peek. But first, an update on Gail Gygax and her "30-year company". Here's are the projects I look at in today's episode: The City that Dripped Blood: A Fantasy Adventure, The Year of Cthulhu - A 2019 Calendar, Dungeon Delve #2: Dungeons of the Dread Wyrm, Brindlemarsh, a 1E & 5E adventure of Dragons and Dungeons, Dungeons of Doom V: Law Vs Chaos + Star Hat Miniatures, and Birthday Gemstone Dice.Link to Episode 90 - https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Episode-90---Kickstarter-Roundup-for-August-14--2018-e210bl
The Tiny Print Run
Why Indiegogo?
Frog God Games is testing a new approach with the launch of this project- almost the inverse of how we design our crowdfunding projects on Kickstarter. We call it the 'Tiny Print Run'.
Thus, Indiegogo projects by Frog God Games will-
So, what do we get with The City that Dripped Blood: A Fantasy Adventure?
- Be short in duration
- Be limited to a single title
- Have options priced between $5-$30
- Have simple fulfillment process that does not use Backerkit
Frog God Games is proud to announce The City that Dripped Blood, the first in a four part series centered in and around the city Temelpa. This mid-level adventure is written by D & D Legend Steve Winter, whose credits include over 30 years of best selling games, adventures, and supplements for some of the most popular RPG companies in the industry. He has played a part in many of the most beloved titles from Star Frontiers to the Fifth Edition rule books. He was a contributor most recently to the Frog God Games' Quests of Doom 4 series. Steve's incredible legacy and experience in the RPG world makes The City that Dripped Blood a perfect Indiegogo project debut title.Overview
Temelpa, an ancient walled city on a forgotten trade route, thought to be abandoned ages ago, and now, the adventurers find themselves besieged within.
Unable to leave their refuge, the adventurers will quickly discover the city is inhabited, not deserted as initially believed, by an ancient society. They will soon be embroiled in the affairs of a twisted caste system built on servitude and cannibalism and headed by an inter-dimensional vampiric overlord.
This open-ended adventure allows the GM to unleash an array of unique monsters, factional power struggles, and intriguing plots upon the characters as they fight and scheme to stay alive, entrapped in a hostile city where they are viewed as useful pawns or a tasty exotic meal.
Can the characters hold out until the siege is broken and escape with their lives? Will they champion the cause of the downtrodden and upend the social order? Or will they be the main course for the next cannibalistic feast?
Welcome to the City!Six bucks for the PDF. Thirteen for the Print plus PDF. I'm in for 13 ;)
As we do every Tuesday, its time to look at some current Kickstarters (and one Indigogo) that strike my fancy. Oh, and a four year overdue KS from someone who shouldn't punch windows... MAIN GAUCHE, THE FANTASY TRIP, The Sinister Stone of Sakkara 5E, Dark Naga - OSR Haunting of Hastur Modules, and Glamazons vs The Curse of the Chainmail Bikini.Link to Episode 83 - https://anchor.fm/tavernchat/episodes/Episode-83---Kickstarter-Roundup-for-August-7--2018-e1vjaj
July 30 Update: $100+ contributions get Monte Cook's Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire in PDF form should the project fund!
July 23 Update: $30+ contributions get a 16 page sandbox setting by Rob S Conley (Majestic Wilderlands, Points of Light 1 & 2, etc.) in print + pdf as an added Extra. Not to be released in any form outside these campaigns. Grab Bag contributions get to choose their adventures (up to 6). $160+ get an exclusive 64 page James Edward Raggi IV LotFP adventure. Not offered in this form outside these campaigns. See the Updates tab for full details.
Lamentations of the Flame Princess presents The Unbegotten Citadel by Monte Cook, illustrated by Eric Lofgren
No one remembers the origin of the ruins in the hills. And to be sure, there's little left of the place, whatever it was. Some think that the strange black rocks were once part of a wizard's tower. Others believe that the massive red-veined stones were part of the temple to a forgotten god. But when the local herdsmen begin to notice that the ruins are becoming more substantial each day, resembling more and more a true fortress, seers and prognosticators relate what might be the truth: a dark citadel that moves backward in time, from ruin to creation. But what doom lies within, once the Unbegotten Citadel stands again? And what does it portend for those in the quiet lands around it?
A note about the bundle deals:
Pembrooktonshire Gardening Society members get discounts on the bundles. Bigger discounts than the cost to become a member, actually. Want to become a member, or just see the usual benefits? Look here for info. (alright, adding a layer of confusion to the process is never a good start)
I really think the bundle deals are what will get projects funded. (at $160 a pop, I would guess so too) It would take 600 people going in for the PDF or 300 for the Print+PDF to get an adventure funded (with 19 projects running concurrently, that is a huge amount to ask for - how many copies of LotFP did James sell as pre-orders?) ... but only 34 if they go for the full Faithful deal (at $160 a pop it's expensive as hell- and its a gamble at that)(or just 12 if going for the Collecting Faithful hardcovers+slipcase deal). But it is a bit of money and a bit risky the way the campaigns are set up (why make supporting a publisher a risk? that makes no fucking sense whatsoever), so I offer this as an incentive:
If you contribute to a project at the $160 level or greater and that project becomes the only one to fund, you will get a 100€ coupon code for the LotFP store (current exchange rate, that is worth $122.24 - so that $20 adventure just cost you $38.76). If that project and only one other funds, you get a 50€ coupon code (this sucks even more - as that code is just worth $61.12 - those two adventures, which might include one you would never have bought on its own, cost you $98.88 - that's one hell of a loss). These codes will be good through the end of 2014.
Strategy? (why should there ever need to be a "strategy" when it comes to crowdfunding?)
Those wanting the full bundle ($160+ levels) (full bundle ONLY breaks even if 8 projects fully fund - otherwise it is a guaranteed loss of money - not the way to keep customers or gain future ones) should put their money on one of the top three as-yet unfunded adventures and put their money down on one of those. Get adventures funded. Getting half of them funded is better than getting them all half-funded, yes? Once something's funded, don't put any more full bundle contributions on it, get the next one done. And they'll start to add up. (why put anything other than $20 on the project or two you might have an interest in? why the heck should you gamble? Indiegogo is extremely difficult to deal with when it comes to changing pledge levels, so anyone looking to pledge $160 is going to wait until the very end before they drop ANY money - why risk your money?)