Latest from the Creator
PROJECT UPDATE
Tammie Webb Ryan
CREATOR
Gold Tier
This user is a top contributor to this community!
over 1 year ago
Project Update: We’re Funded! Thank You for Making It Happen!
Thank you, backers!
Things are going to get weird! That’s because, thanks to your incredible support, The Weird has already passed its funding goal. We’re going to give you the inspiration, advice, and thousands and thousands of ideas for making your game—any game—more interesting, engaging, memorable, and fun. And we’re going to take you into the Glimmering Valley, giving you a weird region of the weird Ninth World to explore in unprecedented detail!
As we continue this campaign over the next few weeks, we have a number of stretch goals we hope to hit to further inspire you. Now that we’re funded, let’s talk about the first of these:
For our first stretch goal, let’s make The Weird even bigger! We’ll expand the existing content plan (which already includes thousands of interesting, surprising, gonzo, and whimsical ideas for PCs, NPCs, creatures, places, magic items, gear, spells, abilities, names, appearances, backgrounds, plots, structures, and vehicles, for virtually every genre of play) to include weird events that you can drop into any game. These will have more detail than other categories of ideas—but they’ll still be 100% system-neutral, so you can use them in any game.
This campaign is running hot, and today has been very exciting—and the excitement is sure to continue as the day progresses! We’ll unlock this stretch goal at $150,000.
Be sure to help spread the word—the more people who discover this campaign, the faster we’ll be able to unlock this and other stretch goals!
Thanks again for your support!
—Team MCG
PROJECT UPDATE
Tammie Webb Ryan
CREATOR
Gold Tier
This user is a top contributor to this community!
over 1 year ago
Project Update: Deluxe Upgrade Unlocked!
Thank you, again, backers!
Yesterday was an exciting first day for this campaign—thank you so much for your support, which helped us fund and unlock our first stretch goal. This morning we’ve hit our second stretch goal, and the first upgrade to the deluxe edition of The Weird has been unlocked!
Now that we’ve upgraded the deluxe edition, let’s upgrade your character sheet! We’d like to make a set of stickers to “weird up” your character sheet—because your character's sheet needs to be as unique as the game you're playing. We'll make weird images and replacement headers for the sheet, to dress up the common entries like "Equipment" and "Special Abilities." You can highlight that strange new magic item you found, or tailor the sheet to your own personal oddities. Use them to modify your character sheet however you want to make it weird.
This sticker sheet will be included with every copy of The Weird. If your rewards include The Weird (standard or deluxe edition) in print, you’ll get the sticker sheet too. We’ll unlock the weird stickers at $250,000.
Keep spreading the word! We have lots of additional upgrades and expansions—weird, practical, or both—we’d like to make to The Weird, The Glimmering Valley, the decks, and more. Let’s unlock this stretch goal, and see what else we can do!
Thanks again for your support!
—Team MCG
PROJECT UPDATE
Tammie Webb Ryan
CREATOR
Gold Tier
This user is a top contributor to this community!
over 1 year ago
Project Update: We’ve Hit Our First Stretch Goal!
Thank you, backers!
What an exciting first day it’s been—so far! No sooner than we announce the first stretch goal, it seems, you have us back writing an update for the next one. Yep, the expansion of The Weird is unlocked, and Monte will add ready-made weird events you can drop into any game!
Things are still moving along at an amazing pace, so let’s talk about another stretch goal. The deluxe version of The Weird is going to be really cool, with its transparent dust jacket, foil cover, and other exclusive features. We’d love to make it even cooler, and we have a lot of ideas to do so.
Because this is a book you’ll reference frequently—at the game table as well as while prepping—the deluxe edition includes a couple of bookmarks. These will be beautiful as well as handy, featuring striking (and weird) art. Let’s improve this feature! At $200,000, we’ll increase the number of bookmarks to three, and add foil stamping and/or a die-cut design to make them truly deluxe.
Keep spreading the word! We have a number of other great ideas for improving and expanding the items you’re funding, and the more people who discover this campaign, the more of these stretch goals we can make happen!
Thanks again for your support!
—Team MCG
PROJECT UPDATE
Charles Ryan
CREATOR
about 1 month ago
Project Update: The Weird Deck and Glimmering Sites Deck Are Ready For You!
Hello, Weird backers—
Great news! We have begun fulfillment of two of your remaining rewards: the Weird Deck and the Glimmering Sites Deck. If these are among your rewards, check your email for redemption instructions.
Although they took some weird twists and turns making their way through the production and shipping process, both of these turned out spectacularly—we love them, and we think you will too!
That leaves us with just one more item: the minis. These have been in production for several weeks now, but it’s a slow process, so they won’t be complete for another month or so. They do look great, though!
Knights of Dust and Neon!
If you like weird stuff from the fertile minds of the MCG design team, you might want to check out the Knights of Dust and Neon crowdfunding campaign, featuring exciting new sourcebooks for the Cypher System and some fantastic deals for those new to the Cypher System. We’d love it if you joined us in this campaign!
We’ll have more news on the Weird minis—the final reward for this campaign—in our next update!
Thanks again for your support!
—Team MCG
PROJECT UPDATE
Charles Ryan
CREATOR
3 months ago
Project Update: Weird Dice!
Hello, backers—
We hope that those of you who backed for the spectacular deluxe edition of The Weird have been enjoying that beautiful book—and that, regardless of what edition you use, your games have become more colorful, exciting, and memorable.
Now we’re ready to make your game table even a little bit weirder!
We are now fulfilling the Weird Dice set, and the special promo d20. These silicone dice are really cool—sharp-edged and just a little bit bouncy. They feel great in the hand and roll wonderfully. We’re super happy with how they turned out!
If the dice set or special promo d20 are among your rewards, and you haven't done so already, check your email now for redemption instructions. (If you missed the email, you can find redemption instructions here.) But before you do, here’s a reminder. We’re down to just one more reward for this campaign: the Weird Minis. These are in production now, and we hope to have them in six weeks or so. If you’re getting the physical minis and would like to save a few bucks on shipping, you can hold off on redeeming the dice (or other rewards) until the minis are ready.
We’ll have more news on the Weird Minis in our next update!
Thanks again for your support!
—Team MCG
PROJECT UPDATE
Charles Ryan
CREATOR
5 months ago
Project Update: The Weird Deluxe Is Ready for You!
Hello, backers—
We live in a time in which supply chains and freight systems are afflicted with a lot of weird disruptions, so we have been sad not to be able to get the deluxe edition of The Weird into your hands for so long. But the wait, fortunately, is over: we have begun fulfillment of the deluxe version, including the autographed deluxe edition of The Weird.
We are really pleased with how this book turned out, and we think you will be, too! If the deluxe edition (autographed or unautographed) is among your rewards, you should already have received an email with redemption instructions. (If you didn’t get the email, simply log into the MCG Shop, navigate to the My Account page under the Store menu, and click on the Coupons tab. Then just click on the coupon or the Add All Products to Cart button to add the reward to your cart, and proceed to checkout.) Please note that our warehouse will be operating on a reduced schedule through the remainder of the year, so some orders may take a bit longer to ship than usual.
We hope you love the deluxe edition as much as we do. And that you have a wonderful holiday season!
Thanks again for your support!
—Team MCG
Speaking of holidays…
It’s a holiday tradition at MCG: we give you $10, and you can use it to get something at the MCG Shop—or donate it to charity! 100% of the donation goes to the chosen charity, and over the years we’ve given thousands to some really worthy causes. So take $10 off a gift for a loved one (or yourself!) or tell us which charity you’d like us to give it to. It’s the MCG Holiday Gift!
PROJECT UPDATE
Charles Ryan
CREATOR
6 months ago
Project Update: The Glimmering Valley Is Fulfilling!
Hello, backers—
The Glimmering Valley is in our warehouses and beginning to fulfill! And that’s not all: during the campaign, you unlocked the The Glimmering Valley Player’s Guide. It’s a reward for every backer getting The Glimmering Valley. We’re fulfilling that as well.
If The Glimmering Valley is among your rewards, check your email for your redemption instructions for these two items. (For an overview of the process, see our previous update.)
We have more good news, but first, a caveat. In this age of constrained supply chains and frequent freight delays, it’s difficult to predict or control when our printers and other vendors will deliver products to us. Due to factors outside our control, we’ve received several large shipments in a short period of time—items that should have been received over the course of two or three months. As a result, we have multiple large fulfillments going on at the same time.
We are a small company, with a limited number of employees who are all real human beings. We’re putting in long hours, and have brought in temp workers, but the volume of orders is very high. We’ll do everything we can to ship your order quickly, but it’s best to expect delays. Thank you in advance for your patience as it may take longer than we’d like to get your order out to you.
Now have a look at this!
That’s a first-off-the-presses copy of the deluxe edition of The Weird, and holy cat crackers is it beautiful. The effect of the iridescent foil cover, beneath the transparent dust jacket, will give this tome a place of pride on any bookshelf. (Photos definitely don't do it justice.) You’re going to love it!
In past years, we’ve always fulfilled deluxe books at the same time as the standard edition, but, again, we live in trying times. But the good news is that we expect to be able to fulfill this within a few weeks—we’ll let you know when it starts!
Thanks again for your support!
—Team MCG
PROJECT UPDATE
Tammie Webb Ryan
CREATOR
Gold Tier
This user is a top contributor to this community!
7 months ago
Project Update: The Weird Deluxe Version Is Still in Production
Hello wonderful backers—
This is a small update to clear up confusion we caused when we sent out the last update and the most recent redemption email.
This is a small update to clear up confusion we caused when we sent out the last update and the most recent redemption email.
- The Weird in PDF is fulfilling now; there is only one version of the PDF.
- The Weird standard version in print is fulfilling now.
- The Weird deluxe version (both the autographed and not autographed versions) is still in production and therefore not fulfilling now.
Those of you at these pledge levels, THE WEIRD DELUXE EDITION, BOOKS AND DECKS, and RETAILERS ONLY, get the deluxe version of The Weird, which is still being printed at this time.
Those of you at the GONZO pledge level get the deluxe, autographed version of The Weird, which is also still being printed at this time.
We are on track to deliver The Weird deluxe—both the autographed and not autographed versions—to backers in the coming weeks. We'll keep you informed.
We're sincerely sorry for the confusion we caused by not being clear in the update that the deluxe version is still in production and not fulfilling right now.
Team MCG
PROJECT UPDATE
Charles Ryan
CREATOR
7 months ago
Project Update: The Weird Is Fulfilling!
Hello, backers—
We let you know earlier this week that The Weird had reached our warehouses, and promised to inform you as soon as we began fulfillment.
Great news: we’ve begun fulfillment!
Check your email or simply click here to redeem your rewards. We do not automatically ship your rewards—you must redeem them!
If this is your first fulfillment of an MCG crowdfunding campaign, you may find our process a little different than you’ve experienced with other companies. Here’s a quick overview of what happens:
- You go to our store and “buy” your reward. But there’s a coupon attached to it that makes it free for you.
- You check out just like you would with a normal purchase. (In fact, you can add other things from the MCG Shop to your order before checking out, if you like.)
- During the checkout process, you provide your current address and pay for shipping.
- Then we ship it out to you!
- One last note: You can choose when to do this. If you have other rewards coming in the future (for example, if you backed for The Glimmering Valley), you can wait until they’re ready and save a few bucks on shipping. Or if you’re moving soon, or going on vacation, and don’t want to miss the package, you can wait until you’re ready. (We promise your reward will be available for at least a year.)
We can’t wait to ship your copy of The Weird out to you, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we’ve enjoyed making it!
Thanks again for your support!
—Team MCG
PROJECT UPDATE
Charles Ryan
CREATOR
7 months ago
Project Update: We Have The Weird (and Just Wait Until You See It)!
Hello, backers—
Check this out:
That’s a first-off-the-presses copy of The Weird, and holy wow is it astounding. We’ve talked about how many amazing ideas and prompts this book contains (in the vicinity of 12,000), but until you hold this hefty tome in your hands and flip through it, the enormity of the creative content doesn’t really sink in.
And, boy howdy, does it look great! (This is just the standard edition, too—we have not yet seen a physical copy of the deluxe.)
Assuming no GM intrusions, we expect to receive the full shipment of The Weird this week. We’ll begin fulfillment as soon as we can. We’ll absolutely post a short update to let you know when that’s happening.
See You at Gamehole Con?
We’re going to be at Gamehole Con—and by “we,” we mean almost the entire MCG staff! Come join us next week at this delightful, relaxed mid-sized RPG convention in Madison, Wisconsin. Take a load off in the MCG Lounge, where we hang out and host dozens of games. There’s a bar in our area, and coffee and ice cream stands adjacent—it’s really living the best con life! We’d love to see you there!
If You Like Weird Things. . . .
Invisible Sun, the legendary RPG of magic and surrealism, is returning!
Highly praised by gamers and critics alike for its detailed, immersive, and truly innovative surrealist setting, rich mechanics, and astounding beauty, Invisible Sun is one of the most sought-after tabletop roleplaying products of recent history. Learn more about it at the Invisible Sun website. And don’t miss the campaign to summon the Black Cube back into existence!
Thanks again for your support!
—Team MCG
—Team MCG
PROJECT UPDATE
Charles Ryan
CREATOR
8 months ago
Project Update: The Weird Heads to Press, and The Glimmering Valley Heads into Layout!
Hello, backers—
Last month we reported that The Weird was moving through layout and into proofing. We’re happy to report that proofing is about wrapped up, and the book heads to the printer in a matter of days!
(Want a quick look inside? We showed off a few page spreads in our last update, but you can get an even better look by downloading the free preview at the MCG Shop. Preorders are now open for The Weird, so if you know anyone who missed the crowdfunding campaign, be sure to let them know; but don't worry—as always—we’ll ship your copies first!)
Assuming no issues at the printer, we expect to have the book in our warehouses by the end of September. We’ll begin fulfillment as soon as we do!
The Glimmering Valley Starts to Glimmer
The Glimmering Valley has completed the editing phase, and layout has begun on that title. It’s a less unconventional than The Weird, so layout won’t be quite as challenging. We anticipate it will move into proofing in just a few weeks, and that proofing will also fairly quickly. We should be able to give you a look inside in our next update.
Coming Soon: The Magnus Archives Roleplaying Game!
For over 200 years The Magnus Institute has been dedicated to researching of the esoteric and the weird. Its archives contain hundreds of statements, from people of all walks of life, detailing their experiences with the supernatural.
Enter the archives and help investigate the supernatural horrors found in its records. Encounter the NotThem, the Anglerfish, or the Man Upon the Stair. Learn the truth of the books of Jurgen Leitner, the coffin that is also a pit, and The People’s Church of the Divine Host. And begin to see the patterns that reveal the true horrors connecting these disparate statements.
The Magnus Archives Roleplaying Game, based on the wildly popular The Magnus Archives fiction podcast, crowdfunds soon. Sign up to be notified of the launch, and get an exclusive gift when you pledge at any reward level: an actual Magnus Institute audio cassette. What will you find when you put it into your tape deck and hit play?
Will you enter the Magnus Archives with us?
Thanks again for your support!
—Team MCG
PROJECT UPDATE
Charles Ryan
CREATOR
10 months ago
Project Update: Let’s take a look inside The Weird!
Hello, backers—
The Weird has been in layout for the past few weeks, so we thought you’d like a look at what’s shaping up to be a book that’s as fascinating visually as it is conceptually. Here are just a few page spreads from this 256-page behemoth.
With so much going into this book, the layout has been a bit of a challenge. Javier, our ace layout guy, had this to say about the process:
“Monte’s vision for The Weird is a giant mash of genres, and in layout we have matched that with just as much variation in the visual style. We have quirky stuff, like art peeking out of weird places, and extra text bits scattered throughout the book. We also wanted to make the book coherent and easy to use so, for example, we have genre icons for easy referencing on the page edges. Our design team came up with 110 different lists, so it’s a LOT to fit in, while keeping it legible and looking great. We had to increase the page count! It’s definitely a very different sort of product than your typical RPG book.”
The Weird moves into proofing soon, and then it’s off to press! We’ll keep you informed as it moves forward. In the meantime, it has just gone on preorder at the MCG Shop, so if you know anyone who missed this campaign, let them know!
Thanks again for your support!
—Team MCG
PROJECT UPDATE
Charles Ryan
CREATOR
almost 1 year ago
Project Update: The Weird Heads into Layout—Plus The Glimmering Valley News
Here’s a quick update on the status of The Weird.
Right on schedule, the book moved through the editing process over the past month or two, and is now about to head into layout. That keeps us nicely on track for our planned September delivery. Just as this is a super idea-intensive book writing-wise, it’s pretty layout-intensive too. We’ll show you some page spreads in our next update!
The Glimmering Valley isn’t too far behind The Weird. It’s currently in editing and internal playtest (the design team are having loads of fun with it).
The Weird Deck and the Sites Deck are now in design. They’ll move pretty quickly, since their content is derived from the books. They do have a longer production time, though, so even though they’re close to finished, they’ll take significantly longer than the books to print.
Thanks again for your support!
—Team MCG
PROJECT UPDATE
Charles Ryan
CREATOR
about 1 year ago
Project Update: 12,000+ Weird Ideas!
Hello, backers—
Monte and the design team have been quietly plugging away at The Weird over the past months. We’re pleased to tell you that the design phase is about over. The book is moving into development and editing now. Layout isn’t far away!
(We say “about” because a book like this doesn’t have a hard stop. If one of the designers suddenly says, “Wait! I have another cool idea!” we might be able to squeeze it in right up into the layout phase.)
A normal RPG book of this size might not take so long to complete. But it’s the ideas, not the words, that take the most time and effort—and The Weird is an astonishingly idea-dense book. The current count is north of 12,000 unique and different ideas and prompts to help make your games more engaging, fun, and, well, weird.
We’ll have some art to share, and maybe an early peek at layout, in the not-too-distant future.
In the meantime, signups for The Magnus Archives Roleplaying Game are now well north of 6,000, just a week or so after we announced it. This one is looking like it might set some records!
Thanks again for your support!
—Team MCG
PROJECT UPDATE
Monte Cook Games
CREATOR
over 1 year ago
Project Update: Let’s Get Weird!
Hello, backers—
It’s been a couple of months since our fantastic campaign for The Weird. Our design team has been hard at work finishing up the book and preparing it to move into editing, layout, and production. This book has an amazing density of ideas—whereas a typical RPG supplement might have many cool, even mind-blowing concepts per page, The Weird has dozens or even hundreds of them. Page after page. List after list.
Here are just a few of the many, many topics the design team has been working on, with an example weird idea from each:
- Weird Weather: Rain that washes away memories
- Weird Curses: The victim's face is erased, leaving only tiny pinholes for eyes, nostrils, mouth, and ears on a blank expanse
- Weird Materials: Liquified hate
- Weird Food: A still-living fish pinned to a wooden board
- Weird Space Anomalies: Deck plating and bulkheads begin sprouting strange growths that resist herbicide
- Weird Cities: City buildings dangle from the limbs of a gigantic tree
That’s just half a dozen of the over 5,000 (so far!) weird ideas that Monte, Sean, and Bruce have already assembled as they work to make this title the most inspiring game aid in your collection!
We’ll keep you updated as The Weird moves into future stages. For now, everything’s on track, and we’re excited about what a great resource this book is going to be!
Adventures in the Cypher System
Sign up to be notified about our next campaign and get a free bonus with your pledge. Whether you’re a Cypher System veteran, or completely new to this fast-paced, narrative-focused RPG, this campaign will offer great rewards, cool products, and exciting surprises.
Thanks again for your support!
—Team MCG
