286
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$15,425
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on December 19.
Pledge $10 or more Pledge $10 or more
Sign the Logbook: You get a PDF copy of the final book, 96 pages of adventure, fully playtested, edited, illustrated, and laid out to the Open Design standard.
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
Join the Crew! You get all the prior rewards, plus access to the Open Design Forum where you, other backers, and lead designer Christina Stiles will pitch, brainstorm, and playtest the adventure. A behind-the-scenes look at the design starting the day the project is funded!
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
Bosun: All the prior rewards, and softcover print copy of the final book is yours! If you live outside the US, include an additional $10 postage to make sure it survives the longer voyage.
Pledge $75 or more Pledge $75 or more
First Mate: All the prior rewards, and as a First Mate backer you can add new gear, spells, and monsters to the adventuring gear for the voyage -- the best of the backer concepts will be included in the book, along with full design credit!
Pledge $75 or more Pledge $75 or more
Retailer Reward Tier: Five copies of the softcover book including US shipping via Media Mail, without access to the design boards, playtest, and discussion. Meant for retailers who want enough early copies for their store. For International locations, add $20 shipping.
Pledge $85 or more Pledge $85 or more
Autographed Retailer Reward Tier: Five autographed copies of the softcover book including US shipping via Media Mail, without access to the design boards, playtest, and discussion. Meant for retailers who want enough early copies for their store. For International locations, add $20 shipping.
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
Lieutenant: All of the above, and you may pitch adventures and NPCs. If your idea is voted in by other backers, it will appear in the final book. You'll also learn the ropes of collaborative design and may submit a formal proposal to lead a future design project!
Pledge $150 or more Pledge $150 or more
Captain: All of the above, plus your face serves as artist reference for a character in the book: A sailor, adventurer, or explorer with your features will appear in the Journeys to the West! Also, if you choose you may pitch adventures and NPCs. If your idea is voted in by other backers, it will appear in the final book. You'll also learn the ropes to lead a future design project, should you so choose!
Pledge $250 or more Pledge $250 or more
Commodore: All of the above, and you command the fleet. You get one of 5 extremely limited edition hardcover copies of the final book, signed by Christina Stiles and delivered to your current port of call. In addition, Christina Stiles, Wolfgang Baur, or another member of the Journeys crew will run a private game for you at PaizoCon in July 2012.
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
Admiral: All of the above, and much more: 1) Christina Stiles and Wolfgang Baur coach you on your adventure and article designs, 2) you are written up as an NPC captain or villain in the book, 3) you may add a whole island/adventure concept to the book based on your map or premise, 4) you or someone of your choice will be artist reference for 2 character illustrations, 5) you get a one-year print and PDF subscription to Kobold Quarterly magazine, 6) you get a signed copy of the Zobeck Gazetteer for Pathfinder book signed by Wolfgang Baur and Christina Stiles, 7) you get 3 copies of the signed, limited edition hardback, 8) We run a private game for you and up to 5 of your friends at PaizoCon or another mutually-agreeable convention. 9) you get a special, full-size copy of the ocean map, signed and annotated by the Open Design crew, 10) and finally, your choice of two art prints or original sketches from the book.
Project By
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Since 2006, Open Design has been an RPG game design company focused on collaborative design for anyone and everyone, and it has published more than 50 game books and magazines in that time. Its backers have gone on to lead new projects for Open Design and at Paizo, Wizards of the Coast, and elsewhere.
Christina Stiles is a freelance roleplaying game writer and editor living in South Carolina. She is the author of Journeys to the West and the co-author of both The Village of Briarton and the 2007 Origins-Award-nominated Faery's Tale, a role-playing game for children. She has done work for Open Design, Goodman Games, Green Ronin Publishing, Eden Studios, Misfit Studios, and Atlas Games.
Correct, the cartographer is Jon Roberts. And I couldn't be happier.
Morgan, the cover shown so far is very much a placeholder! It's just hard to commission a cover when the funding doesn't exist for it yet.
Jim, I agree that the art budget is a good place to invest. And it's easy to spend a fortune there.
I second that Butterfrog guy!
I hear that Hugo Solis guys is pretty good. They should try and get him. ;)
Any hints on the artists? I'm guessng the Cartographer is fabulous Jon Roberts right?
I agree with improved art budget generally AND a WAR cover! Ocean of blood, ship, slavering savages, sahuagin (1e art version-style) - could really raise the profile of the final product. Unless the cover shown so far is final?
Forgive my lack of proofreading.. I meant its sad whenever Brass and Steam come up. Plus commercial after sales supports OD as a company.
I'd love to see a Midgard AP someday. If the company is healthy, that becomes more realistic.
Art budget is a good investment.
I am not sure about making it an exclusive no matter how high the budget is. That seems like going backwards for Open Design. We enjoyed that once, but its said that the woulds 'steam' and 'brass' make us all edgy, tired, and prone to sigh.
Right now, I'm inclined to say sink the extra money in the art budget. Maybe get a WAR cover or something. Or just a few really nice pieces of premium artwork for inside.
Only need about $500 an hour at this point. If every backer added an addition $10 that would close the gap by over half...
Well sure, the Open Design projects for about the last two years have had public printings offered without the perks: no design forums, extras, battle maps, patron credit, etc.
The suggestion below is different: if the project raises $17,500, the proposal is for a PDF release under Creative Commons for non-commercial use. With 10 hours to go, I don't think it's going to happen but I"m curious how backers see the idea. We can discuss further on the boards.
Do that answer the question?
Stupid question: What's this about releasing to the public? Isn't this like the usual OD project? This wil be for sale without perks after??
Patrick
@avidreader514: It is a very rich bounty. I've already pledged and raised my pledge based on stretch goals. It's not about me or you wanting more. It's about trying to entice people who haven't backed the project yet. I'm assuming Open Design would think the more $ would the merrier...
@Open Design: I think releasing the PDF to the public would be really cool!
I don't think additional stretch goals are necessary at this point. It's a rich bounty already!
Well, it's as long as it can be and still have a reasonable timetable for delivery, so adding wordcount is not a great choice. Printing on better paper and so on is cool but I don't know that people care about it deeply.
Maybe turn the book into a limited edition for backers only at $17,500? Or .... go the opposite route, release the PDF to the public under a CC/OGL hybrid?
Open to suggestions.
So... a last stretch goal/reward? If hit $17500 maybe? :)
We are there!
I just did some quick calculations. If all existing 188 backers put in about $3.5 we would get the 16 page Wolfgang authored adventure.
Ah, that makes sense Morgan. Yeah, the standards and customs at Kickstarter are worth spelling out. I've backed a few projects here and seen them firsthand, but it's non-obvious that any given reward tier can offer more rewards if the project is overfunded. Not all projects go that way.
I'll see about the shipping. Not sure I can make a good guess at final weight while things are still in flux.
Wolfgang
@Morgan: Thanks! There are so many conversation spaces, it's hard to keep up!
@avidreader: No, it was Wolfgang posting that he was concerned about what's being offered for how much on the Paizo Journeys thread. I agree, we are getting a lot for not so much. :)
Lol, no, it's not so much me not "getting what I paid for" (i'm guessing this means exclusivity - i definitely agree more ideas equals more chance for greatness), but rather thinking there might be a better way to go about changing the structure of how backing is offered. Like mentioning initially the fluidity of offers, and perhaps letting current non-senior patrons that positions will be offered (perhaps on the forum) so they have a heads up and can change their pledge to nab it... Just a thought. I'm personally very happy with the project so far, and as I said, shoot me an email re: increased freight costs for hardcover shipping.
Paizo's worried about what's being offered? Is the mighty Open Design crew breaking a business model?
Well, the project is offering a LOT more material at a lower price, and that is thanks to both having more backers and more major supporters.
And you are right, I added two captains to clear the next goal. I don't anticipate adding more than 0 or 1 seat to the admiral or commodore reward tiers by Sunday, in part because they are meant to be small groups. We're talking about 4 admirals among almost 200 backers.
One thought: You could certainly reduce your pledge if you feel a certain reward tier is not what you thought; you'll need to do so before Sunday when the funding locks in.
My goal is, of course, to secure the most funding possible for Journeys because it looks like it will be Open Design biggest and most comprehensive project yet.
Woah! Just saw you added two more Captains... How many more seniors are you planning on adding, and does this have to do with your Paizo "worried about what's being offered" post? This happened already with Admirals appearing after I joined up and being snapped up quickish... I know you said in the forum that it's the standard for kickstarter projects but that doesn't mean it's right. Still, ultimately you're in command I guess.
Wolfgang: Now that I'm getting a hardback, email the added freight cost to Oz.
Upping pledge to from $25 to $50...er $60. (You'd be amazed at how often I ask if outside the US includes Canada, and the answer is something other than "yes")
Correct, print poster is already in there. Here's the complete current status:
$10 PDF everything
$25 print book, PDF everything else
$50 print book, print poster, print pirate booklet, and printed handouts
$150 hardcover book, plus all print items above
$250 as above, plus the private game at PaizoCon
$500 3 copies of the print hardcover book, print magazine, gazetteer, full-size signed poster, etc
Well, the print copy of the poster is already included for Bosuns (it's PDF-only for the $25-and-underclass) because of the earlier stretch goal, so....[adjusts thinking cap]....a print version of the pirate society booklet and perhaps print copies of the handout bundle, along with print-outs of future supplements would be my suggestion.
Please clarify: what levels would get what in pdf and what in print? That way I can figure out how much more to raise my pledge by. :)
I'm currently leaning toward a print copy of the poster, pirate society booklet, and any other adventure that is part of the project (such as the $12K edge-of-the-world adventure by yours truly).
Thoughts on the Bosun Bonus welcome!
Ok, I'm dying to know...what's the anagrammatic Bosun Bonus?
Graeme, thank you, and yes, postage outside the US is fairly steep for a book this size and weight. The $25 pledges cover US Media Mail (book rate is slow but cheap!). The international postage....
Hm, maybe I should just make an International Crew tier of $35 and an International Bosun for $60 as well?
Just wanted to drop by and say wow!
I just upped my $25 pledge to $35 to cover the cost of posting a copy of the book outside of the US under the assumption that you guys will need that.
This is my first time using kickstarter and I just want to say Wow! What a project to get started on, as I was just about to start putting together a campaign similar to this and you have not only saved me a fair bit of time, but made it so that the first campaign I try to run will be more solid than I could do if I wrote it all myself.
Here's hoping that you make it past your next few goals as well!
Terence, that's an excellent question, and I'm delighted that we have to consider it. I'm sure there is a point where we could afford all sorts of things. Full color interior art would be a big jump (at least $15,000). There's also doubling that pirate secret society book to 32 pages. There's also autographing all the books, or tipping in a color plate. I'll get some more ideas and estimates cooking!
Steven, I am just as amazed. This sets some kind of Open Design record.
I'm amazed at how we keep passing every goal. I can't wait to see the final product.
Somebody has to ask... are there any goals beyond $10000? :)
I just joined at the $25 level based on the incredible added value from this project meeting stretch goals, and to help get the project towards it's next stretch goal...
Ben, good point. If we do hit $10K, the Bosun backers would probably get something else, like two copies of the Journeys softcover or an additional poster map. We're not really there yet.
In general, if the project is successful, I want to see the funding returned to backers in the form of print books for more people at lower tiers (several projects I've backed in the past have done exactly this). The alternative is just to keep the extra money as profit and not offer more rewards, which strikes me as unfair.
Wolfgang
If the funding reaches $10K what is the difference between the Bosun and Join the Crew rewards - other than the fact that some patrons will have paid twice as much for them (assuming minimum pledges)?
I hate to quote Barry Manilow but.. "Looks like we made it..!" We have enough for our maps! Whoohoo!
First mates, captains, commodores and admirals all on board with access to the boards at this point.
Still looking to expand the backers a bit to get that map tier funded. We'll see if it happens.
And Hugo, great to have you as a supporter on this one!
Hey, how come I didn't knew about this one? Gotta stay closer to the KQ store...
I'm really delighted to have the extra pages! Even with the holidays, I think there's a good chance we could get the maps as well.
Wolfgang
And we are there! Let's hope the pledges keep coming so we can get the poster maps! This is guaranteed to be the most awesome project ever! And Open Design has a great pedigree of Ennie winning and nominated projects like Tales of Zobeck and Tales of the Old Margreve!
Ooops, I meant the expanded page count. The map are a little ways to go yet.
Less than $250 to go for the maps!
Nice video. I am really looking forward to this project!
Thought the video was great!
@ DP, perhaps. :) I dunno. I'm of a mixed mind about the 35 page threads.
Wow! As of this writing, 73%! I'm think we're definitely going to hit one of the higher tiers of funding.
Glad you like it! You can barely tell that I'm fighting a monster cold and had to do 6 takes. :)
Snazzy video!