I've got a lot to go over today, so let's settle and prepare for review.
Before we get into it, one more quick note about our current Stretch Goal target!
At $15,000 in Funding - THE ADVENT OFTHE SILT EXPANDED
THE ADVENT OF THE SILT - The adventure scenario will be expanded to include opportunities for base building and resource hunting. A PDF version of The Advent of Silt will be added as a bonus reward to all backers receiving either the Delver's Guide PDF or the Secrets of Kalm and Kaos PDF as part of their pledge rewards.
Let's see if we can't expand our Advent of the Silt adventure before the end of the campaign!
We're in the Final Days countdown for this Crowdfunding campaign. The World Below: Buried Treasures finishes the crowdfunding campaign on March 19th at 2:00 PM Eastern Time. There's still time to add a few more delvers to our group, but we're definitely getting closer to the finish line. With that in mind, I wanted to touch on some of the basics over these final four days to make sure everyone has the information they need to support this project in the way that works best for them.
Final Week Program
Mar 16 - Reward Tier & Add On Review (That's Today!)
Whether you're just setting out for to gather food or a seasoned bug tamer returning from selling your wares, 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, youtube Actual Play videos, and other helpful information.)
PLEDGE REWARD TIERS
Like it says right at the top of the campaign story page, we've come together to help create fully developed PDFs and Print-on-Demand hardcover version of The World Below Delver's Guide and Secrets of Kalm and Kaos, two system and setting sourcebooks for The World Below tabletop roleplaying game. These expansions are full of new player options, additional setting material, new Storyguide systems and support, and pre-built adventures for Storyguides running The World Below roleplaying game.
PLEDGING YOUR SUPPORT
To borrow an analogy that I've used in past campaigns, this process we're a part of works similar to the "Viewers Like You" support campaign from your local Public Broadcasting Station (while they still exist): There are various levels of support that you can pledge to, and these come with various levels of rewards offered as a thank you. Like getting a tote bag or t-shirt when you give money to public broadcasting to fund them doing their thing, you can get rewards for helping Onyx Path work on this project.
Let's review the Backer Reward Tiers to ensure that you've pledged to a Reward Tier that provides all the rewards you wish to receive.
One Book, Two Books, Yellow Book, Blue Book
The main reward offered in this campaign is, of course, the main goal of the entire proposition: the finished PDFs and a discounted Print-on-Demand hardcover for The World Below Delver's Guide and Secrets of Kalm and Kaos. The first decision you need to make is whether you're just looking to add the mostly character-focused Delver's Guide, or the Setting and Storyguide-supporting Secrets of Kalm and Kaos, or make it a two-book reward pledge and get both? While one book is tagged "Player's Manual" and the other is "Storyguide's Handbook," I think reading through the manuscrips you've see that there's a lot of excellent material with a ton of useful overlap in each book, and most like both are worthy of being added to your digital shelves.
With that decision in mind, we've got three key reward tiers to choose from:
LANTERN IN THE DARKNESS: This is the pledge path to select if you're only interested in The World Below: Delver's Guide book. 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 and be able to download at your leisure. In addition, you will get a special code to order the discounted Print-on-Demand hardcover version as part of your pledge reward.
LORE OF THE LABYRINTH: This is the pledge path to select if you're only interested in The World Below: Secrets of Kalm and Kaos book. 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 and be able to download at your leisure. In addition, you will get a special code to order the discounted Print-on-Demand hardcover version as part of your pledge reward.
PATHS THROUGH THE VAST UNDERGROUND: This amazing reward tier includes both The Delver's Guide PDF and the Secrets of Kalm and Kaos PDF, along special discount codes to order each of these rewards as Print-on-Demand books.
In addition to these primary reward pledge roles, we also offer the following options:
Kalm Season: Not ready to commit, or just looking to offer general support? This pledge role is for you. This does not include any of our primary rewards, but allows you to select some digital optional Add Ons, as well as participating in the post-campaign Pledge Manager as a backer. You'll also be able to read the draft manuscripts of The Delver's Guide and Secrets of Kalm and Kaos that we post throughout this campaign.
Truthseeker / Othersidely Friend / Sorcerer's Workshop / Eldritch Monster Cult / Band of Masks: These premium pledge paths offerspecial limited premium rewards in addition to the basics, including an option to supply a name to be used by an NPC included in a supplement, participation in an online game session run by Matthew Dawkins, an opportunity to submit ideas for either a Sorcery or monster that'll be developed and incorporated into The World Below. and an option to submit a character description to be used by World Below artists for an interior illustration. Check each of the Reward Tier descriptions for more details.
Right now, there are still slots open for these premium tiers, but some will likely be claimed as we work towards the end, so keep an eye on availability of these tiers if you've been thinking about splurging on yourself.
After the campaign is over we'll launch our BackerKit Pledge Manager and invite the backers to set up their rewards via survey. This allows you to confirm your pledge and add on anything that you might have missed, as well as possibly increasing your pledged reward tier, should you choose to expand your reward selection. Funding collected by BackerKit after the crowdfunding campaign does not count toward any campaign Stretch Goals, however.
You'll note that two rewards - Access to the Manuscript Previews and Participation in Post-Campaign Pledge Manager - are included in ALL reward tiers. That's just one of the perks of participating in this crowdfunding campaign!
THE WORLD BELOW DELVER'S GUIDE and SECRTS OF KALM AND KAOS Backer PDFs: The World Below: Delver's Guide PDF and The World Below: Secrets of Kalm and Kaos PDF will be fulfilled by our partners at DriveThruRPG.com. Crowdfunding backers will receive redemption links allowing you to add the item to your cart at a $0 cost. Once you check out, it will be added to your DriveThruRPG digital library and available for download at your convenience.
PRINT-on-DEMAND BOOKS: In addition to the PDF releases, The World Below: Delver's Guide and The World Below: Secrets of Kalm and Kaos willavailable for purchase as Print-on-Demand hardcover books from our partners at DriveThruRPG. The cost of printing and shipping a PoD book is not part of your pledge amount, however Crowdfunding backers will receive a special link allowing you to purchase the PoD book at a discounted price.
Choosing Your Reward Tier
There has been some churn over this past week - a few Reward Tier adjustments and changes by backers, as budgets changed and people have read the manuscript previews. In these final days it's best to ensure that you've selected the Reward Tier that offers you the options and rewards you want to receive and are ready to lock down. This timing - before the campaign ends - is the absolute most affordable and inclusive these rewards will be, and will save headaches and heartbreaks if fully considered now.
This is just the first step, however, in completing your pledge for this campaign. Funds for additional extras can be added to your pledge by selecting Add On options and increasing the overall funding and maybe getting us closer to a Stretch Goal.
First Step: Reward Tier
To summarize the first part of this post, the absolute best way to ensure that you're getting the primary rewards you want from this crowdfunding campaign is to ensure you've selected the appropriate Backer Reward Tier. Selecting the right Reward Tier covers about 95% of the options available to you. If you want the Delver's Guide PDF only, make sure you've selected the correct reward. If you want both new sourcebooks, double-check your reward tier to ensure the proper option is featured.
Once you've completed that important step, you're going to want to look at the Add On rewards for any reward "bits" that don't automatically fall into your reward tier. That takes us to the Add On step.
Step Two: Add-On Options
Once you've chosen your pledge tier, you've likely already included the main rewards you want. In addition to the rewards offered as part of the Reward Tier configurations, there are a few other possible PDFs you may wish to add. All Add-On rewards are described in our Add On menu below.
You can select an Add On option, which will increase the amount of your pledge by the listed amount. Add on options will be selected and confirmed again in the Pledge Manager when that's up and running.
In addition to The World Below Delver's Guide and Secrets of Kalm and Kaos detailed above, Onyx Path is also offering PDF versions of The World Below corebook and other game PDFs that use the Storypath Ultra system.
THE WORLD BELOW (Corebook PDF) is a game of adversity, heroism, terror, and awe. Your characters will overcome or be defeated by terrible beasts, environmental calamities, and Kaos storms ravaging their surroundings and the souls around them. They will chart their journeys, chronicle their tales, and pass their stories down to their descendants, who will in turn become your characters when your old ones perish or retire.
The World Below Delver's Guide and Secrets of Kalm and Kaos require The World Below corebook to make full use of the systems and rules included in the book.
AT THE GATES(Corebook PDF Pre-Order) is a high fantasy tabletop roleplaying game about burgeoning heroes struggling to survive, fighting for what’s right, exploring dangerous places, and saving the world. You play as heroes who have chosen to buck the status quo and try to change the course of things. Your characters may attempt to change the course of the war, delve into the secrets of daemons and the Void, fight against tyranny to protect what they love in the world, fight to restore balance to Gaia, or all the above.
MONSTER KINGDOMS (Corebook PDF Pre-Order) in this game, you play as a creature of darkness. You may be vampiric magus, or feyborn harlequin. You might be a warrior gauntlet, an orc cultist, a druidic elf, or a flame-spitting dragonkin. You can play a wildly creative goblinoid, a chaotic dwarf, a fierce ice elementor, or a shame-filled fiend. Your characters can be anything from hulking dreadnauts to disturbing mentalists, and many Mantles in between.
The STORYPATH ULTRA CORE MANUAL PDF presents a way for you to use Storypath Ultra to power whatever world you have in mind. We’ve created this book so anyone can use Onyx Path’s system for their own private tabletop game sessions. Many people over the years have talked about how they hacked one of our games into different shapes to play in their favorite worlds, so this book is here to allow us to give you advice on how to build your game using Storypath Ultra from the ground up.
In CURSEBORNE (Corebook) PDF, our world is connected to disturbing realms via liminal spaces. In Curseborne, you are damned. Your damnation grants unnatural gifts and terrifying impulses. In this gameworld, the sins of the father are visited upon the son. Your accursed family’s pacts and crimes lead to a web of political intrigue and lasting perdition. In Curseborne, monsters are real. And you play as one.
THEY CAME FROM the RPG ANTHOLOGY! PDF introduces its players to a multitude of genres, mediums, playable character Archetypes, and more. This book contains everything you need to play any game of They Came from the RPG Anthology!, with the following genres included: Gunslinging Westerns, Noir and hard-boiled detective cases, Costume dramas, Sci-fi space opera, Shakespearean theatre, and much more!
Pick a Pledge Tier, then Add On Options
Ready to join in? If you're backing for the first time, you can click BACK IT and select your Pledge Tier and finalize funding amount in the next menu.
Using myself as an example, I love The World Below but I'm going to pretend I'm totally new to this game and I'm looking to get the corebook PDF as well. Once I click BACK IT, I see my pledge level options. If I want to know a bit more about each level, I can click Learn More, or if I know what I'm looking for, I can click Back It.
The pledges as detailed earlier. It should be pretty self-explanatory, but you can click on the "Learn More" button to expand the Pledge Level info. For example, Clicking Learn More on the Paths Through the Vast Underground pledge gives you...
This is the reward tier I'm choosing, as it exactly fits my desire to get both books.
Once you're ready, you can click that BACK IT button and go right to Add On options.
For example, I've decided on the $55 Paths Through the Vast Underground pledge path, so I select BACK IT for that pledge, and then I want to add on a few of the Add On optional extras to my rewards list. I'll pretend I haven't already backed the two previous campaigns, and select The World Below corebook PDF and the Storypath Ultra Core Manual PDF as Add On extras.
I'm a big fan of all of the books offered, though. If I really didn't have them all, I'd be loading up.
My total starts at $55 for the Paths Through... Pledge tier, and then I add + $25 for The World Below Corebook PDF + $25 for Storypath Ultra Core Manual PDF
To bring my final total pledge to $105 USD. Once everything is correct, you can select NEXT and then Confirm Your Pledge. You'll get an e-mail confirmation of your choices.
If you're already a backer but want to update your Pledge tier or Add On choices, here's what you look for:
Select Manage Your Pledge at the top of the campaign page, and then you can Edit Your Pledge. Select "Edit Pledge" on your review page, and then you can revise your pledge tier or Add On selections.
You can select a new Pledge Level from the available option menu, or Change your Add On selection.
As before, you'll confirm all of your choices, and then receive an e-mail confirmation once that's done.
And with that, my pledge level and Add On options are set for your pledge.
You should also be aware that any available Add On options will be made available in our BackerKit pledge manager, so if you're unsure about adding on something at this point, you will be able to adjust your pledge in the post-campaign phase.
Pledging to the campaign also opens up the Stretch Goal rewards as thanks for your participation. We'll review our Stretch Goal accomplishments on Wednesday, but it's important to note that backers who wait and Pre-Order the Pugmire Unleashed book at a later date will not have any Stretch Goal rewards automatically added to their rewards list if applicable.
REWARD DELIVERY
About 4-6 weeks after the campaign has ended, I'll launch our post-campaign Pledge Manager to collect information from all backers and confirm which rewards you'll be receiving. At that point, you'll be able to review your rewards and also also adjust any Add On Options that you may have missed. Once we have everything confirmed, I'll be able to deliver any rewards that are currently available - like the existing titles including The World Below core rulebook PDF, the Storypath Ultra Core Manual PDF, the Curseborne Core rulebook PDF, and They Came From the RPG Anthology PDF. Backers who have pledged for these options will be sent special redemption links to claim these digital rewards from our partners at DriveThruRPG.com. Clicking these redemption links will allow you to add these PDF titles to your digital library to download anytime. I'll send an update when all of that is happening, though, so you are aware every step of the way.
For our Pre-Order Add-Ons, backers will get the draft manuscript for those books to review and use while we wait for the eventual backer PDF release.
So, while it will take some time for The Delver's Guide and Secrets of Kalm and Kaos to move from manuscript form to a final product, you won't be waiting a year for PDFs that already exist. (You'll be waiting about 8-10 weeks or so, just enough time for us to set up the reward infrastructure.)
Don't fret if you had forgotten to select additional rewards by the end of the campaign. These Add Ons will be available to select in our post-campaign Pledge Manager for those who participated in our campaign and have full access to the Pledge Manager. So, if you are undecided at this time, you will be able to hold off on Add Ons until we're closer to the final reward shipment goes out.
Step 1: Pledge Tier
Step 2: Add On Options
Again, your first step should involve your main reward selection, and your Add On Options will build upon that.
Note that all funds are expressed in US Dollars, so take into account your conversion as needed.
It Adds Up!
That should explain the process of Selecting your Reward Level and adding Add On options and confirming your TOTAL PLEDGE AMOUNT. Since increasing your pledge amount increases the overall funding level of the project, add-ons can help us achieve our Stretch Goal funding targets, so it benefits us all to suggest that you double-check to make sure you're getting all of the rewards you want.
Additionally, this may go without saying,please review your personal budgetand ensure you've selected the appropriate reward tier and add ons for your current financial situation. BackerKit will begincharging your payment methodat midnight the day the campaign ends, so ensure you've budgeted correctly. Choose what works best for you now and is affordable at this time, knowing that you can upgrade your pledge level or choose Add Ons in the Pledge Manager at a late date.
Conclusion
As we move through these final days of the campaign, please ensure you've chosen the correct Pledge Level for the rewards you want (at least at this point). And beyond that - please make sure you've investigated and selected any add-ons you wish to receive. If you have any issues with the Pledge process, either selecting the reward tier or figuring out the Add On options, you can reach out to me or to the support team at BackerKit. I've found them to respond quickly and offer great support.
On Thursday, just before the campaign ends, I will send an update detailing the steps that occur after the campaign concludes, including notes about our Pledge Manager and the communication plan going forward.
So, just like always: Spread the word! Share your excitement on social media! Tell your friends! We're about to see another amazing adventure for The World Below from the Secrets of Kalm and Kaos tomorrow, so let's make sure that none of our friends miss out!
I'll be back tomorrow with the complete FINAL manuscript section for Secrets of Kalm and Kaos, making the complete text available for all backers to review before the campaign ends!
