Hello everyone!
The Pledge manager is sending out some surveys for a smoke test to make sure I got it all set up the correct way. Once I get those responses and check them all...
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Christophor Rick
2 days ago
Maps: From Mindspace to Reality
Today I want to talk about the maps, which are laborious and time-consuming.
Originally I had mapped out each of the encounter zones as its own map in my mind and then scribble...
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Christophor Rick
about 1 month ago
Forgot to Hit Send on this Quick Update
Greetings all!
Just a quick note that I survived the Midwest Gaming Classic (walked 150 miles in 5 days and slept an average of 4 hours a day for a week). So I'll be getting ba...
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Christophor Rick
19 days ago
Late April Update
Hello there!
Well, the zine is off to the printer and that means my focus turns to this project. I've been sorting out the Pledge manager and will hopefully have that up and ru...
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Christophor Rick
about 1 month ago
Boom.
Thank you all so much! Now the real work begins... after this week. I'll be on the quiet side this week as it's lead up to the Midwest Gaming Classic which I help run in Milwauk...
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Christophor Rick
about 2 months ago
Let's talk about the Atomic Altar
I figured there might be a slew of questions about the top secret add-on Atomic Altar and the game mechanics. So I figured I'd start a discussion about it.
In testing, this mechanic was SUPER fun and it was all theater of the mind at the time. After I started fleshing it out ...
The Pledge manager is sending out some surveys for a smoke test to make sure I got it all set up the correct way. Once I get those responses and check them all out I should be good to go to send surveys to everyone that backed and that means we are on our way toward fulfillment!
Today I want to talk about the maps, which are laborious and time-consuming. Originally I had mapped out each of the encounter zones as its own map in my mind and then scribbled some notes. Later, when I was fleshing things out I wanted to make sure the areas worked for the encounters in them and I went to the old reliable graph paper.
And that's....great. Looks like this. Yes, extremely fancy, I know. Hey, when I started playing, this was what you got! ;) But that's not very professional now... so I'm updating them all and backers can keep reading to see how they're turning out.
Just a quick note that I survived the Midwest Gaming Classic (walked 150 miles in 5 days and slept an average of 4 hours a day for a week). So I'll be getting back to work. I've started on the Pledge Manager and that will be focus next week. The rest of this week I have to finalize the Wizard Sea zine and get it off to the printer and then I'll turn 100% attention to getting this done. :)
If you weren't there, you missed one hell of a show! And we've already announced dates for next year! Come join the 30,000+ people who went this year!
Whoa! I thought this published way back in early April but it did not.
Well, the zine is off to the printer and that means my focus turns to this project. I've been sorting out the Pledge manager and will hopefully have that up and running soon. It's complex to say the least. But I think in the end it's worth is as everyone will be able to get those add-ons they might have missed during the campaign. The big issue is shipping, just because it's complicated in some instances so I sent it for review and the BackerKit team gave a bunch of feedback about how to set things up so I'm working through that. I'll be in touch again in early May, or when the Pledge Manager opens, whichever comes first.
As far as the adventure itself, it's done and in layout. I've got the maps to finish yet but I have them all hand drawn already so it's just a matter of turning them into visually interesting digital versions to get printed or added to the digital files.
Thanks for your support, see you when the Pledge Manager opens! -Christophor
I am trying to add the electronic alter to my pledge, but it keeps saying there is a problem when I want to checkout. I hope this is still available because it is awesome, I haven't seen a bread board (I think it is bread) in a while. Please help.
Thank you all so much! Now the real work begins... after this week. I'll be on the quiet side this week as it's lead up to the Midwest Gaming Classic which I help run in Milwaukee. We're expecting to welcome some 30,000 gamers to the show this weekend and I've got a ton of stuff to get done! If you're in the area... I'll run some Ziggurats and be at ticketing, or merchandise or putting out fires (figuratively) at the show all weekend.
So, I was hoping to make a video to show how it all worked but time isn't allowing for that as I was unable to do it today I hope I will have that later this week.
So I will explain it to the best of my ability. Since we've slowed to a crawl in funding but I wanted to make sure there was enough time for word to get out, I'm going to unlock the add-on after I post this.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
But if you've backed this you're either going to run it, or display it for the awesome art ;)
The Mutation Nation are preparing a ritual that will cause a massive detonation of ancient nuclear technology. This will bathe the region in radiation which they believe will allow all to bask in the mutating glow of the Megaton Maiden and become true Children of the Atom.
The ultimate encounter is at the top of the "ziggurat" where the cult have placed the Atomic Altar. The altar is a large metal box (3’Hx2’Wx4’’L). Red lights flash on top of the metal box.
The box is the Atomic Altar, the lights are the timer counting down to detonation. This is what the add-on actually is. A physical, electronic, functioning game mechanic, but much smaller... and cooler.
For the full details... you'll have to follow the project and then come back to this post :)
NOTE: The adventure is 100% playable WITHOUT this. But it's 1000% cooler with it! I proved it scientifically! ;)
I figured there might be a slew of questions about the top secret add-on Atomic Altar and the game mechanics. So I figured I'd start a discussion about it.
In testing, this mechanic was SUPER fun and it was all theater of the mind at the time. After I started fleshing it out I realized it would be an awesome add on to the campaigns.
Maybe I engrave everyone's name on it for backing it? That would be cool... on the inside! ;)
Here's how the game mechanic works.
There are four visible wires. They are red, black, white, yellow. Each of those four are assigned a purpose by random die roll. For each of those four wires roll a d4. Each number is only used once, reroll doubles until all four are assigned a purpose. If you roll the same number three times the gods have spoken and a fifth wire is added which is a decoy. This can happen up to two times for a total of six wires. Blue and green are not used for color blindness purposes. 1. Instant Detonation – Shorts the timer and trigger and detonates the bomb. 2. Defuse – Cuts the main power to the trigger defusing the bomb even though the timer continues. 3. Decrease timer speed– Timer malfunctions adding one round, or 1 minute of game time depending on game timer used. 4. Increase timer speed– Timer malfunctions and speeds up losing one round (possible instant detonation) or 1 minute of game time depending on timer used.
Smashing the device will instantly detonate it as there is a built-in impact switch that shorts the timer and trigger. An Artifact check DC 12 will alert someone to that. However, the connections on all the visible wires are hidden within the metal casings. The case has been welded shut (via mutation of course) to prevent tampering of that kind.
Design note: The reasoning behind the random assignment of wire colors to actions is for replayability and to remove any inherent player knowledge like white or red are the positive electrical connection, etc. If you really want to mess with your characters, swap out the red and white with the decoy wires. Other options are automatically including all six wires, make the increase/decrease timer speed more, or remove the defuse and have two instant detonation wires. I found four wires cause quite a bit of analysis paralysis and six caused one party to just pull wires randomly which ended in their disintegration.
We passed the $1000 funding mark, that means the exclusive Atomic Control Panel character sheet designed by Warklaw is in the book!
Also, I opened a new add-on for 6 packs of the I got Nuked in Nooktun stickers for those who missed out on the early bird or who got it but want more than just that pack (early birds will get 6, enough for an entire dead party).
The next achievement is up, and it's a big one! At $1500 we'll unlock the secret I've been working on for the past several months. An add-on so big, I had to have multiple other people help me with it. An add-on that might blow your socks off... but in a good way. :)
I totally forgot to post about the incentives I made for the campaign. Anyone who is a returning backer from previous campaigns (Stercorarius, Wizard Sea Chronicles, etc) gets a 17x17" blueprint map of the Power Plant (as thanks for supporting previous projects!). I have
The second one ended already but everyone who pledged in the first 48 hours gets an exclusive Death Sticker Pack - A pack of stickers to hand out for dead characters that say "I got Nuked in Nooktun."
I'd better get to work on those ;)
All the incentives were automatically added to your accounts when you pledged and I see a mix of them. Plus, if you were early and a returning backer you get BOTH!
I'll share the design in the campaign story for the stickers as soon as it's done.
First off, THANKS EVERYONE! I still have issues with believing that I've fully funded TWO projects in two months!
Secondly, while at Gary Con today speaking with a long list of amazing people, I was reminded that we did reference cards in the original Ziggurat. Those were made for photocopying out of the book, unless you wanted to cut out those pages... SACRILEGE!
So, I realized I had forgotten to do reference cards for the enemies in Megaton Maiden, and therefore, at $1200 I will do them. However, they won't be bound into the book this time. They will be separately printed on card stock and stuffed into the books as an additional piece. WooHoo! More BOOM for the buck! ;)
Speaking of additional pieces, I also realized I had not put Megaton Maiden in as an add-on in case someone wanted to buy more than one copy. So, I have added that as an add-on.
Now, this is my first campaign on Backerkit and I saw the question about getting add-ons attached to a pledge. Right now, I don't know how that works. I believe that when the campaign ends and the full Pledge Manager opens people will be able to add them.
Don't you worry though! The add-ons are NOT a "will sell out" sort of thing, because I hate that. I'll make as many as I need to cover the campaign and then some... perhaps even of the super-top-secret-didn't-tell-anyone-about-it-today-at-Gary-Con-even-though-I-really-wanted-to-add-on. So, there will be enough for everyone who wants them. The stickers I did a first run already and those are on the way, but that should cover all the Early Birds and I'll print more as I need after the fact.
-Christophor
P.S. I also also added Wizard Sea Chronicles Volume 1 as an add-on because.. .double duh! That might be some people didn't back and might want!
Funded in some dozen hours or so! That's phenomena doot doo doo doo doo...
THANK YOU ALL! It's easier to continue creating when there's a little scratch in the bank to do things like get more art and buy snacks. ;)
So what's next?
Well, the first community goal is $1000 in funding to get the character sheet included in the booklet. It's a great sheet done by Warklaw who did the sheet for Sinking the Stercorarius. The concept is that of a nuclear power plant control panel. You can see a preview of it on the Community tab (Achievements) and I expect that at current velocity we could hit it this morning yet (Central time).
I will get the second community achievement listed shortly, and maybe the top secret one as well.
