About
STRANGE ARCANA: The Stars Are Right is a mind-bending collection of eldritch horror stories set in a weird, dangerous universe, where superheroes must face immensely powerful ancient beings, crazed doomsday cultists, and a dark secret they all share.
STRANGE ARCANA: The Stars Are Right is an 6.75 x 10.25 inch, 128-page, color volume with a collection of eight original illustrated short stories and an epic 24-page comic finale.
Bonus materials include ebooks, a 54-card playing deck, a tee shirt, custom character illustrations from our award-winning art team, custom short prose stories by author Darren Pearce (Dr. Who, Lone Wolf), art prints suitable for framing, and more.
The writing team includes: Arnold T. Blumberg, Satyros Phil Brucato, Ian Eller, Dean Gilbert, Shane Lacy Hensley, Dan McGirt, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Aaron Rosenberg, and John Wick.
The art team includes: Aaron Acevedo, Matheus Calza, James Denton, Jason Engle, Bien Flores, Grosnez, Aaron Riley, Alida Saxon, Jonathan Taylor, Jeremy Wilson, and Cheyenne Wright.
Our contributors have won a wide range of awards for their previous work, including Hugo, ENnie, and Origins Awards.
The goal of this Kickstarter is to raise production and print funds for the creation of our anthology, art prints, playing cards, and comic book pages. We currently have all but one of the prose stories written and illustrated, the playing deck designed, and all of the art prints created. We'll need additional funds to bring the grand comic finale to fruition and print.
Any funds raised beyond our goal will go toward future Strange Arcana products; we've already got a Savage Worlds roleplaying game setting in the works and some other exciting products in mind too.
You see the world in four colors— bright, primary comets that streak across the sky. They fling themselves at one another, punching with the force of a wrecking ball and blasting each other with beams hot enough to turn sand into glass. These heroes, in their capes and their power armor, are beacons of light, no doubt. But everyone forgets that light casts shadows. I see into those shadows. I see the things that skulk in the darkness, waiting for a chance to pounce, while everyone is blinded by the light show. I know what the nightmares are, but what’s more I know who—no, what— the dreamers are that make the nightmares. What I have to tell you, you are not going to want to hear. You are not going to want to know what I know and you sure as hell are not going to want to see what I have seen. Here's your chance to change your mind, to turn back toward the light and leave the shadows at your back. You can stay in your four colored world. I wouldn’t blame you. If I knew then what I know now, I might have done the same, but I can’t go back and neither can you once you step into the darkness with us. So? What are you going to do—keep punching badly dressed men with stupid nicknames, or face the real threat?
Strange Arcana is, on its surface, about superheroes going toe to toe with tentacled horrors. It's the mutant offspring of an otherworldly love affair between Stan Lee and H.P. Lovecraft.
The world of Strange Arcana is our own, with the same history of people, places, and events. But beneath the surface, there is a secret history, a Strange history, in which forces both “good” and “evil” contend over the power of Strange Arcana, the dreamstuff of vast, terrible alien intelligences called Sleepers. These beings gestate in the deep places of the Earth, coming ever closer to waking with each human death—especially those deaths accompanied by pain and terror. Such deaths, in large concentrations, cause the Sleepers to stir, which in turn causes their dreams to leak into the waking world. Sometimes the dreams take form, becoming a walking nightmare like a demon or monster of myth. Often, they find purchase in a human mind and bestow awesome and terrible powers. In ancient times, these people were hailed as demigods and divine champions--or avatars of evil. In the modern times, they are known as superheroes and supervillains.
Nora Nostalgia is back! Doctor Noir never faces a more confounding foe than the woman he once loved, and who still loves him even as she battles him time and again for supremacy over the Strange Arcana itself! With her nefarious Nethermen, Nora plans to enslave millions via magically-enhanced music. Will even the Guru of the Gnostic Graces dance to her tune?
Ever since Hex inherited reality warping powers from her father -- the mysterious and powerful man called Void -- and a ghostly wolf guardian from her mother, she has been on the run. Living on the streets and in shelters, the indigent and destitute become her family and she does what she can to protect them. When many of them start to disappear she goes looking for answers. What she finds is one of her villainous father's henchmen, a wild child called Lyssa, tasked with getting her out of the city before something happens that is so big even Void fears it. But Hex won't abandon her friends so she and Lyssa embark on a quest to save them while the city runs out of time.
When Overseer, a former computer programmer now merged with a mastermind’s AI, detects a mysterious transmission coming from a previously unknown military base in the Canadian arctic, she leads a team of Vanguard Knights to investigate. Accompanying them on his first mission is Lucas Crow, a teleporter, but inexperience is no match against the Strange Arcana. There, they discover something never before seen by human eyes, and discover a force that threatens the existence of the entire world.
Octopoid monsters rise from the depths and rage across Boston. The exiled Prince of Atlantis, Sea Lad, could easily use his powers to send the things back to the abyss. But Sea Lad has one demand--an apology from the former villain-turned-hero called Titan. Can Mender, his reluctant sponsor in Vanguard, convince the man once known as "The Bully" to put aside his pride and convince the prince to save Boston? Spoiler alert--she can't.
Investigative reporter Anna Crane comes to Red Hook seeking the key to a string of mysterious murders. The search leads her to a depraved nightmare cult devoted to hideous sacraments of evil performed beneath the very streets of the unsuspecting Brooklyn neighborhood. When Anna falls into the foul grasp of the cultists and the inhuman monstrosities they serve, only the power of Naak-Ra can save her! But can the Warrior Out of Time reach Anna before it is too late?
Leif Nygard knew that GEBO, the global Scandinavian housewares chain he worked for, had a cultlike following and a bunch of break room jokes about Norse mythology. But he never expected GEBO’s gifts to extend to the supernatural. Once he and his girlfriend Bryn receive some, it’s time to find out what’s going on with the housewares chain that encircles the globe like the Midgard serpent….
Freddy Rodriguez thought the jade pendant he’d found had made him the avatar of the ancient Mayan gods. Then he faced off against a terrifying creature that laughed and told him, “no, little man, your gifts come from us, not your silly gods.” Now Freddy is worried that it might be true—especially since both his “god form” and his normal body have started changing in strange and unsettling ways.
We've lined up comic book artist Bien Flores to handle the penciling duties for Strange Arcana, with colors by the Sigil art team. Bien has 20 plus years experience in animation. He's worked for major animation studios as both animator and animation director and is transitioning to a full time freelance illustration career. As soon as we hit our funding goal, we'll begin production on the grand finale comic!
Here are some sample pages from Bien's portfolio:
Note: Add-Ons may incur additional shipping, determined during the survey.
The BackerKit survey is sent when rewards are about ready to ship (Target: Feb 2017). You may either pledge for Add-On items *now* or during the *survey*. To Add-On items now, click on the pledge level you want. It should show you the total reward level plus shipping to your location. Add funds equal to the Add-On item price to your total pledge. There is no special button or function for this--Add-Ons are something of a Kickstarter tradition, not part of the Kickstarter website software.
Please note you may be charged additional shipping for those Add-On items during the survey anyway (it's the same shipping price whether you Add-On now or later). For example, an additional book usually costs $1 more to ship with your order. To Add-On items during the survey, do nothing now. When you receive your survey (target: Feb 2017), you can choose what Add-Ons you want and your total will be calculated for you. You will pay via credit card. If you have any questions, email sigil.info@gmail.com.
Add-On items include...
Art Prints - add $20 each.
Our giclee prints are printed on high quality heavyweight matte paper with archival inks, suitable for framing. They are shipped worldwide in extremely protective tubes, with a maximum of 7 prints per tube. For 8 or more, the prints are shipped flat in a protective box.
Playing Card Deck - add $12 each.
Printed by Legends Playing Card Company. The colors are bright and defined, the cards handle well and, most importantly, they look great!
Tee Shirt - add $20 each.
Seamless collar, taped neck and shoulders. Double-needle sleeve and bottom hems. Quarter-turned to eliminate center crease. Men and Women's sizes: S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL.
Additional Books - add $25 each.
Want additional books? We've got you covered.
Custom Illustrations - add $100 each.
Work with our award-winning art team to create a superhero or villain of your very own! We'll send you a giclee art print of the result.
Cameo in the comic - add $40 each.
You as a character in the comic! Send us a headshot and we'll work you into the comic finale as an extra but no promises you'll survive the experience.
We have the option of collecting shipping fees during this Kickstarter campaign or through BackerKit. We have decided to collect shipping fees through BackerKit for the following reasons:
- Collecting shipping fees during the campaign artificially increases the funding level of the campaign.
- Collecting shipping fees through BackerKit prevents our backers from having to pre-pay for shipping months in advance.
- By collecting shipping fees shortly before fulfillment, we will be able to most accurately determine shipping costs based on actual book weights instead of estimating.
Should we pass our original funding goal, we’ll add Stretch Goals free to every appropriate pledge level! Let’s unlock as many as we can and make everyone’s foray into the world of Strange Arcana as entertaining as possible!
$18,000 - initial funding goal met.
$20,000 - Contributor bonus! We're a first time publisher with a modest budget. Unlocking this goal allows us to pay our awesome contributors a little extra and they're worth every dollar.
$22,500 - A new hero joins the fight! Bigger book! We'll add a brand new illustrated story by special guest author and a new art print from a special guest artist.
$25,000 - Into the unknown! We'll reveal additional goals if we're lucky enough to hit this mark, but we'll be happy just to reach our initial goal.
The book will be available in stores and online only after backers have received their rewards. Rewards will be delivered at different times. Some rewards will be delivered in August, once Kickstarter processes the pledges. The full ANTHOLOGY PRINT BOOK, TEE SHIRT, and PLAYING DECK will ship together in early 2017.
Thank you so much for considering our project! We deeply appreciate all pledges. Please spread the word and help us save NYC from unspeakable horrors!
Be aware that the colors on the screen will not perfectly match with the colors on printed paper. Graphics may change slightly in the final printed version.
Risks and challenges
While this is our first kickstarter as Sigil Entertainment Group, our contributors have worked on more than a dozen kickstarters, including:
RIFTS®:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/545820095/rifts-for-savage-worlds/description
DELUXE MAGE:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/deluxe-mage-the-ascension-20th-anniversary-edition
UNKNOWN ARMIES:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/atlasgames/unknown-armies-third-edition-roleplaying-game/description
Assuming funding is attained, we do not anticipate any challenges in publishing other than the possibility of printing and / or shipping delays associated with the printers but in all projects that involve contributions from multiple people and companies, there's the possibility of an unexpected delay here or there. If something unexpected happens, we'll keep in regular contact with backers until the situation is resolved.
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Funding period
- (31 days)