We can now guarantee hard cover book print on demand codes for backers at the Awakened Scout level and above, and we are offering to ship books directly for shipping + processing (see Gnomish Shipping Captain and our addons below).
To the common, human men and women of Grimaton, the central continent on which they live is the only world they know. But King Stewart has long been aware of other, smaller continents surrounding the one he seeks to control. "The Isles Seven" his advisers call them. Tabs are, of course, kept on the activities across each of the isles, but a rash of recent and strange occurrences on one in particular have drawn his attention away from the war he wages on his homeland.
'The Isle of Bones' is a new anthology of stories set on the world of Grimaton. Each story in this collection depicts the different races of the world's eastern-most continent. If the threats of the isle spill over, Cliffside will be the first to suffer, and the path to the rest of the main continent's prominent cities will be laid bare.
12 authors, both new and returning to The Awakened ongoing series, bring to life the heroes, villains, and unfortunate souls caught in between on the Isle of Bones. We'll provide banners in our first update so that you can pick your favorite and display it on the social media outlet of your choice.
We are also setting up some Kickstarter Live sessions with a couple of our authors as the project presses on. Join us for some insight into their work, their stories, and some of what else they do. It should be a blast! The current schedule is:
- A.L. Cholerton: Thursday, 2/7 at 7:00 pm EST (Click Here to Watch) [Story Preview]
- Christopher Yono: Saturday, 2/9 at 11:00 am EST (Click Here to Watch) [Story Preview]
- Jonathan M. Thompson: Wednesday 2/13 at 8:00 pm EST (Click Here to Watch) [Story Preview]
- Sam Berry: Saturday 2/16 at 9:00 am EST (Click Here to Watch) [Story Preview]
- William Kenyon: Sunday 2/17 at 12:30 pm EST (Click Here to Watch, begins around 13:45) [Story Preview]
- Hal Greenberg: Friday 2/22 at 7:00 pm EST (Click Here to Watch), [Story Preview]
Not available to join us live? The videos will be available to enjoy any time once they're complete. If you're looking to hang out at an earlier time, let us know in the comments, and maybe we can schedule a hang out at an early time during one of the weekend dates.
In terms of spending and our goal, this project is much the same as we have done in the past. We have already paid for the cover, layout, and editing, and our authors have been more than patient on receiving their fair share, so we set our goal to cover their fees and recoup what we have put in so far, with some extra to push toward things like setting up the hardcover if we hit that goal and putting some finishing touches on the RPG before we start sharing our progress there. For an easy summary:
- Author pay, to be expanded as we hit our stretch goals so we can properly show our appreciation for their time and effort.
- Recoup cover and interior art costs, as well as layout and editing.
- Build some funds up to cover stretch goals as we reach them.
- Begin covering fees for the campaign setting we're finally releasing later this year.
As a backer, you have a few, choice options before you; from riding out the storm with the 'Isle of Bones' digital eBook all the way to our helping you come up with a new and interesting character to add to the upcoming Pathfinder Roleplaying Game offering, The Awakened RPG.
Character requests will be approximately 2 pages (8.5" x 11") in length and contain both playable and NPC information, as well as a background, similar to the example here.
Artist Brett Neufeld will be handling the character pieces for those who want to send the extra $50 his way.
We have a few great addons that you may want to consider picking up to help build on your knowledge of the world of Grimaton and The Awakened.
Once we've funded, we'll start working on our stretch goals.
Risks and challenges
Timing is most often what a Kickstarter such as this comes down to. Thankfully, we have curbed that by having the anthologies complete and ready for distribution as soon as we have received the campaign funds.
For those who wish to give us a little more of their time, we are working on the RPG campaign setting that we are listing to finish by December of this year (to account for any potential hang ups), but which we hope to be done with much sooner.
That leaves backer requests (Isle of Bones Emissaries). Experience tells us not everybody is quick to reply when it comes to providing requested information. We address this simply by reaching out to those backers as early as when they make their pledge to begin the process of bringing a character to life with their concepts and our knowledge of 'The Awakened.' Should somebody fall behind, we will not hold back digital release, and will add their content as an update once they're ready and able.
If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to reach out here, in the comments, or through our website at www.samuraisheepdog.com. We also have a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/samuraisheepdog.
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Funding period
- (28 days)