Kickstarters Thread

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I just received word my pledge is finally shipping; seems the Canadian pledges got delayed at the hub. Some of the reviews have me a bit leery but still looking forward to opening this...hopefully next week.
 
We've played three games so far. It's a fun game, but the lack of a campaign mode could hurt it. There's no real variety in the game tbh.

However we haven't failed a mission yet. I wouldn't say it was easy, but the challenge level isn't really high enough
 
Oh, boy another western game set in the most common period of the wild west and maybe with weirdness.

Rant mode engaged :shock:

I get it the 1880s had a lot going on but it has been done to death. The Frontier covers a period of at least 150 years from the 1780s into the 1930s. Parts of Southwest, Canada, Mexico and Central / South America were still wild enough for "old west action" as late as 1940. The hunt for Bonnie and Clyde was not much different than the hunt for Butch and the Sundance kid, except they traded horses for cars.


And why the fascination with weird tech, there was plenty of real tech that is rarely explored. The wild west being the frontier was kind of primitive, but the East and Europe wasn't. There were self propelled steam carriages in 1815 and Daimler was selling his IC powered automobiles by 1892. Semi-auto firearms were on the market in the early 1890s, the Maxim Machinegun came on the market in 1886, soon followed by the 37mm Maxim autocannon. Modern forensic methods like fingerprinting and mugshots began to be used in the early 1890s. X-rays were discovered in 1895, and the theory of Radioactivity in 1897. There is so much real tech a mad scientist can play with in the old west.

Was I the only one that watched The Wild Wild West with Robert Conrad and Ross Martin as a child? Sure there were a few way out there devices but most would have been possible at that tech level by somebody that made the right mental connections.



Rant mode off... :ooh:
 
Oh, boy another western game set in the most common period of the wild west and maybe with weirdness.
For me part of the problem is that it is the exact same weirdness in each game (undead, Native American Werewolves, gamblers with deals with the devil, steampunk, etc). This genre, "Weird West," needs a shot of something new. Or better yet, just stick to a Western that just bypasses all that.
 
Since people seem to have weird reasons for not wanting in.
I got mine.

Creator is from Caly, that's a pass for me.
 
I’m not a hundred percent clear on the eras but while I do like the post-Civil War era, the one most often used for Spaghetti Westerns, I also like the ‘end of the frontier’ era that you see in classics like The Wild Bunch and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Both as options would be best.
 
I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea that you play the bad guys . . .
You will play as one of these outlaws . . .

. . . but you're forming a posse?
Form a posse, saddle up, and hit the trail!


Yes, I know it's just sloppy ad copy, but if you can't get your Kickstarter right, why the hell should I pony up for your game?
 
Yes, I know it's just sloppy ad copy, but if you can't get your Kickstarter right, why the hell should I pony up for your game?

I don't think that is a trivial thing. The ad copy is a big part of the issue. Buy our game it is awesome. We can't be bothered to actually get into any specifics of why it is better than the other 35 western themed games just like it, but it is.

You can get away with vagueness like that if you are offering something without much competition, like a game set during the French Revolution, but the old west is a pretty popular genre and the 1880s is the most popular default period.

They offer no reason to buy their game instead of Boothill, GURPS, HERO, BRP, Aces and Eights, Coyote Trail, Deadlands et al (and I just scratched the surface of what is out there with that list).
 
Meh. I still want Western The RPG by Åskfågeln.
I backed the Kickstarter. Progress is being made but it's understandably very slow considering the serious medical issues at play.

the other 35 western themed games
Straight historical western is not a very commonly encountered RPG genre IMHO. I've got Coyote Trail, Gunslingers & Gamblers (Streamline Edition), Print the Legend, GURPS Old West and that's about it. Other "Old West" games are all weird west or alternate timeline.
 
I backed the Kickstarter. Progress is being made but it's understandably very slow considering the serious medical issues at play.


Straight historical western is not a very commonly encountered RPG genre IMHO. I've got Coyote Trail, Gunslingers & Gamblers (Streamline Edition), Print the Legend, GURPS Old West and that's about it. Other "Old West" games are all weird west or alternate timeline.

I'm still looking for a rules light but deadly Western rpg myself. Picked this one up recently.

8927
 
If I created a Western, I’d set it in 1870. To me, that provides the most options for all kinds of games.
My Pima County game is set in 1870 for that very reason. If I ever write up my Pima County setting, it'll be 1870 with a timeline of events going forward up to maybe 1879. I specifically chose a date not long after the Civil War, not long after the Apache wars, with various Indian tribes still strong enough to resist, prior to the railroad and telegraph coming to Arizona, close to the Mexican border, and before there was much in the way of law and order. The Gadsen Purchase was still recent history, as was the Mexican-American War. (Two recent wars are also great fodder for PC backgrounds.)
2851.jpg

I'd also enjoy an American frontier game set in the times of Lewis & Clark.
LewisAndClark-300x229.jpg
 
I'm still looking for a rules light but deadly Western rpg myself. Picked this one up recently.

View attachment 8927
Simon Washbourne also did Blood & Bullets, freely downloadable here. I haven't looked into these. I think I want a little more versatility from a western game.

Tall Tales is another OSR take on the genre that I haven't really looked into.

Unfortunately I did not like what I saw of Boothill.
 
I bought Tall Tales. I was totally thrown out of immersion as the game uses gold pieces as the currency characters use. I understand keeping it compatible with B/X, etc. but I found it jarring.
 
Got mine this week. It’s beautiful, but my Lobster Johnson miniature was defective: his face is featureless and blobby (no mouth or nose, and his buttons on his coat are hardly there).

Otherwise very nice.
 
Got mine this week. It’s beautiful, but my Lobster Johnson miniature was defective: his face is featureless and blobby (no mouth or nose, and his buttons on his coat are hardly there).

Otherwise very nice.

Have you contacted Mantic about a replacement?
 
Yeah I sent a message to their support contact (as per their latest update). Even sent them a photo. I figure I will get a response in a few months; luckily I can still play the game though!

Hopefully they don't take that long, I've heard good things about Mantic's customer support so far
 
Hopefully they don't take that long, I've heard good things about Mantic's customer support so far
For sure, and to be fair my issue is relatively minor compared with others out there. It’s just that... the Lobster is one of my absolute favourites and it it just had to be THAT figure which was messed up. Geez what are the odds.
 
BREAKING NEWS!

Backerkit is going to be re-opened so pledgers can add on the newly revealed Wild Hunt Expansion!

60055631_2655755914450978_5643609502507859968_n.jpg

Yes, that is Alice!!
 
Word to the wise: I recently saw a statement from someone at SJG that suggests Decks of Destiny will not be sent to distributors after the campaign - the intent is that it will be kickstarter only. If that turns out to be the case, there won't be a second shot at this one.
 
In the latest Report to the Stakeholders SJG explained the significance of their two Kickstarter accounts:
http://www.sjgames.com/general/stakeholders/ said:
As a part of adapting to the new world, we worked with the Kickstarter team to open a second account in late 2018. Our two accounts (and the purpose of each) are:
  • Steve Jackson Games, where we run projects that we plan to eventually take into distribution
  • Warehouse 23, for those campaigns where the end result is not scheduled for release outside of Kickstarter, Warehouse 23, and other direct sales channels
Since this is a W23 Kickstarter it won’t make it into the shops, but may / should be available through W23. Backing is the only way to guarantee getting the item, though, at this point.
 
Word to the wise: I recently saw a statement from someone at SJG that suggests Decks of Destiny will not be sent to distributors after the campaign - the intent is that it will be kickstarter only. If that turns out to be the case, there won't be a second shot at this one.


Well I think that's a mistake but I don't know what their distribution partners are telling them.
 
I forget who said it or what messageboard it was on, but I recall reading a post where someone characterized The Fantasy Trip as something that might get a couple of Kickstarter-only support doses before SJG gave up on it. I'm hoping that won't be the case, but if it's true that Decks of Destiny will be Kickstarter only, it certainly seems to provide potential confirmation to the idea.
 
I'm not sure, but that wasn't my interpretation. They have already done four kickstarters for this product line and regularly mention that plans for several others are in the works. Plus the gross revenue from the TFT materials is going to end up being at least ~10 % of their company's business in 2019 (just based on last year's financial support and the income on KS's so far). I don't see them abandoning something like that.
 
I'm not sure, but that wasn't my interpretation. They have already done four kickstarters for this product line and regularly mention that plans for several others are in the works. Plus the gross revenue from the TFT materials is going to end up being at least ~10 % of their company's business in 2019 (just based on last year's financial support and the income on KS's so far). I don't see them abandoning something like that.


We know we are getting at least one more hexagram, another adventure KS, and another 'neat' thing. Plus Douglas Cole has TFT KS planned for this month. I don't think they will give up on it
 
That's what I imagined was going on behind the scenes.

I suspect the most telling thing about the way this game will evolve is the pivot they made from pdf to hard copy versions of the adventures volume. There is a big slice of the modern gaming market that is focused on pdfs, and I feel like the GURPS line has been sliding heavily that direction for years. It is a natural guess that the TFT customer base might overlap with the GURPS players and prefer the same format. But TFT is its own beast, and much of its distinctiveness comes from the experience of the components at the table. They are not enormously sophisticated or expensive, but they are well crafted, cool and fun. People want them.

The question SJG must face at the moment is how to get purchases into the thousands for each of products, so they can reap a decent profit. Personally, I don't understand why any of the 3000+ people who did the first kickstarter wouldn't jump in for the subsequent products. I suppose that question is why business have sales people.
 
Maybe I missed it, but what are "Decks of Destiny"?
 
Who knows! I assume it was just a flourish of playful alliteration. There are a bunch of decks of cards to use for various things. It is your destiny to buy it.
 
The question SJG must face at the moment is how to get purchases into the thousands for each of products, so they can reap a decent profit. Personally, I don't understand why any of the 3000+ people who did the first kickstarter wouldn't jump in for the subsequent products. I suppose that question is why business have sales people.


TFT Kickstarter backers have only recently or are just now receiving their copies (International). The current KS may rep some benefit, but to base the success of the product on how some pdf only adventures were received when the bulk of those who backed the KS didn't even have the rules physically in hand yet seems premature.

Sure they can say this will only be available through the KS, but if the demand is there I'm sure they will re-issue them, or more likely a similar product leaving the DoD special (and making a reason for DoD owners to buy the new decks).


I'm fine with pdfs for limited use items like adventures, but I like hard copy core rules.

I will probably end up backing this one. I was initially on the fence, but I am coming around to how these could be useful and unlike the adventures these wouldn't be a particularly good pdf product.
 
The other mechanism they've provided for getting previously produced products at a later date is to add them to your backerkit once a given kickstarter has closed. I wouldn't be shocked if DoD re-appeared in that format sometime in the summer or fall of 2019. But I'm not taking my chances: I waited 40 years for this and I'm getting every physical object they can stand to publish!
 
I'm definitely still in the honeymoon stage with Fantasy Trip. My views on things are still in a state of flux, not having had time to settle.

But at this particular point, I'm not really all that excited in conventional published GMed adventures, much less PDFs. At the moment, for that particular itch, I'd rather roll my own.

I think Decks of Destiny is more along the lines of what the game needs right now. It needs physical player aid components. It needs monsters.

To tell the truth, I wouldn't mind more environmental style counters, things like weapons, fire, walls, stuff like that. Those are the things I don't really have a lot of miniature options for.
 
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