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CODENAME: MORNINGSTAR Kickstarter Launched - and it's for PATHFINDER!

Trapdoor Technologies has launched its Kickstarter for Codename: Morningstar. As expected, the software is for the Pathfinder RPG, with other systems being supported later. It has a number of modules - home, character, adventure, campaign, party, library, and forge - and is designed for mobile devices and laptops. They're looking for a whopping $425,000 - one of the largest RPG Kickstarters I've ever seen! - and are looking at an April 2015 release date.

Trapdoor Technologies has launched its Kickstarter for Codename: Morningstar. As expected, the software is for the Pathfinder RPG, with other systems being supported later. It has a number of modules - home, character, adventure, campaign, party, library, and forge - and is designed for mobile devices and laptops. They're looking for a whopping $425,000 - one of the largest RPG Kickstarters I've ever seen! - and are looking at an April 2015 release date. Of course, this software was originally designed for D&D 5th Edition before the relationship between Trapdoor and WotC came to an end, so many folks will have seen beta versions of the software when it was configured for that game. It's more than a character generator, though -- "Players will be able to quickly create and manage characters, track the progress of their adventures, send secret messages, roll virtual dice and more. GM’s will be able to manage adventures, track encounters, share maps and notes as well as organize large scale campaigns all through a cleverly designed mobile interface." And later comes the "sharing" part -- "Through the Forge, Game Designers can create adventures and campaigns, share them with their friends or publish them in our Library for the entire world to enjoy." You can already sort of see how some of that sharing will work, as some pledge levels for the Kickstarter include additional content (in this case an adventure). Click here for the Kickstarter!


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I don't see all that much value in systemless tools. If I get software to help with a tabletop game then its the system stuff that is worth buying.
The selling feature of the product is the adventure design and worldbuilding tools. Which can be system neutral, as shown by EpicWords and Obsidian Portal. Having an app of those sites that also allows MasterPlan style adventure and campaign designing in a very intuitive fashion would be super handy. The character builder aspects are really the least interesting and important parts of the program.
 

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It doesn't look like Morningstar is doing well on Kicktraq:
http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/trapdoortech/codename-morningstar/
They're currently trending to 30% of their goal.

There's likely a lot of factors. The poor web beta making people hesitant for one. The lesser interest in Pathfinder from 5e fans. And Pathfinder fans being uninformed on who Trapdoor is, and PF players who want digital tools likely having bought one years ago. Plus launching prior to Christmas, which is always a rough time for Kickstarters.
 

Hollow Man

Explorer
It doesn't look like Morningstar is doing well on Kicktraq:
http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/trapdoortech/codename-morningstar/
They're currently trending to 30% of their goal.

There's likely a lot of factors. The poor web beta making people hesitant for one. The lesser interest in Pathfinder from 5e fans. And Pathfinder fans being uninformed on who Trapdoor is, and PF players who want digital tools likely having bought one years ago. Plus launching prior to Christmas, which is always a rough time for Kickstarters.

The biggest factor, methinks, is the fact that they're asking for almost half a million dollars USD. That's just a staggering amount of money for the community of this, let's face it, niche hobby, to give to an unproven team.

-HM
 

The biggest factor, methinks, is the fact that they're asking for almost half a million dollars USD. That's just a staggering amount of money for the community of this, let's face it, niche hobby, to give to an unproven team.

-HM

Yeah, that too. There's a vicious cycle in that. You have the initial surge of people, but once that ends people don't pledge because the pledges are low and it doesn't look like the project will fund which makes pledges even lower. You might get the occasional person pledging thinking it's practically no risk as the project is so far from funding, but after a while people just stop giving money.
They're trending to $130k but had they asked for $150k or even $200k more people might have been willing to take the dive. A lower minimum with stretch goals.

I heard somewhere that WotC didn't pay Trapdoor, so the high amount might be tied to recouping money for 2014 as much as paying for future development for 2015. But that's much more in the realm of speculation.
 

Hollow Man

Explorer
Yeah, that too. There's a vicious cycle in that. You have the initial surge of people, but once that ends people don't pledge because the pledges are low and it doesn't look like the project will fund which makes pledges even lower. You might get the occasional person pledging thinking it's practically no risk as the project is so far from funding, but after a while people just stop giving money.
They're trending to $130k but had they asked for $150k or even $200k more people might have been willing to take the dive. A lower minimum with stretch goals.

I heard somewhere that WotC didn't pay Trapdoor, so the high amount might be tied to recouping money for 2014 as much as paying for future development for 2015. But that's much more in the realm of speculation.

Yes, I've read (and/or heard on one of the interviews done with Chris Matney) it was all self funded, and WotC paid them nothing.

They also stated here (I can't find it now, so I think Newtonian may have removed it) how they got to that figure. A lot of it was basically paying the salaries of all the people working on the project. I think all the money that was given to them for the initial development for WotC is (more or less) gone.

-HM
 

The selling feature of the product is the adventure design and worldbuilding tools. Which can be system neutral, as shown by EpicWords and Obsidian Portal. Having an app of those sites that also allows MasterPlan style adventure and campaign designing in a very intuitive fashion would be super handy. The character builder aspects are really the least interesting and important parts of the program.

What system neutral part of adventure design would you need software for? There is a reason that system neutral adventure modules don't sell that well.
 

Darth Quiris

First Post
It's nice to see you guys going forward with this project and I personally hope it succeeds. It's never a bad thing to get another character generator/campaign management tool out for us customers and gamers to choose from. Sure starting with Pathfinder isn't the most glamorous choice but I don't blame you... its a well known game and it's been a very popular game for a long time and that popularity isn't going away and if you do offer something that other online tools don't than I do believe you will have a winner on your hands.

I can't say whether or not going for 425k$ is a good thing or not as I am not a person who knows how costs for programming works so I won't be telling you if you're crazy or on target... I just hope it works out for you. :)

I am not a Pathfinder player, and not really a d20 player in general yet I am tempted to pledge to see this come to fruition, if only to help support a dream, which is the purpose of Kickstarter is it not...? If you later do expand to other systems, or do one better and provide the tools for us to actually create our own customized campaigns for any rules set that has an OGL... Fate Core/Fate Games, Mutants and Masterminds 3rd edition, etc... I think you will have a true winner on your hands. If you can even manage to expand it to FFG's Star Wars games and their Warhammer 40k lineup and Anima: Beyond Fantasy... well, that'd be truly awesome. :)

Starting with one system is smart, as it lets you really focus your work and showing it off. I really wish you the best of success. :D
 

Pauper

That guy, who does that thing.
I'm a fan of the concept and I hope the project goes well, but I'm not going to hold my breath, nor am I likely to contribute any cash.

For starters, subscription model. Zardnaar and others touched on the biggest issue, but to put it in specific words: I dislike a model that requires me to pay regardless of whether or not I'm using a product. There were a couple of times during DDI that I got involved in other activities that caused me to skip my 4E game for a few months at a time, and it was just too much of a pain in the butt to figure out how to cancel the subscription and then renew it when I needed it, so I gritted my teeth and kept paying because I knew I'd need it later. If you have to go with a subscription, at least consider using a 'time bank' where I can pay in for the amount of time I think I need, then pay in for more if it turns out I need more; that way I can leave the bank empty while I'm directing a play or some such and fill it back up when I'm ready for more gaming. (It's not dissimilar to the way cellular data subscription works on my iPad, if you want a concrete example of the concept.)

Next, Pathfinder. I can see why you'd believe that Pathfinder is the next logical step after not being able to implement licensed 5E, but Pathfinder isn't a new market and despite the cool factor of the project, the folks who are most likely going to want to support you will have to weigh that support against any costs they've put into an existing product. I myself dropped $80 on HeroLab licenses for Pathfinder to prep for a new game a friend is running; some significant portion of that might have gone to your Kickstarter if you were getting ready for Pathfinder three months ago, but now that's money that's committed; tossing cash into a Kickstarter for a product that might not replace the tool I'm currently using (and that I don't have to keep paying for as long as I don't add new licenses) seems like a risky investment.

Lastly, and in a more philosophical sense, I'm not sure that high-end software development processes make a good fit with traditional tabletop RPGs. I'm sure you've chatted with a lot of DMs over the past few years; have you noticed how much like FOSS* developers they sound? ("I don't like that rule, so I made up my own." "I've been using a homebrew hybrid of FATE and 3.5 D&D for the past few years, and it seems to be doing OK." "I need a few more sessions to tweak before my mass battles module is ready for beta testing.") It's great that you recognize that DMs want flexibility and the ability to deliver story and rules content in interesting ways; it's weird that you seem to believe that your product will be the one to overcome the cheap-as-free way things like that have gone for decades. If you're really interested in the project surviving, I'd think the absence of a licensed partner would have given you the perfect opportunity to go open-source and establish yourself as the best-of-breed code available for the task. Instead, it seems your dream is more about making a living off of your work, which is admirable, but might not be actually workable.

Best wishes.

* - FOSS = Free and Open Source Software, for those who may not have encountered the acronym before.
 

gribble

Explorer
The biggest factor, methinks, is the fact that they're asking for almost half a million dollars USD.
Does this actually bother anyone? I usually don't even look at the total the project is trying to raise - to me I'm much more interested in the pledge levels and associated rewards. After all, if they don't make the target it doesn't cost me anything, and if they do and I've based my pledge on the reward levels then I've got value for my money. I couldn't care less if their target is $10 or $10 million...
 

turkeygiant

First Post
Does this actually bother anyone? I usually don't even look at the total the project is trying to raise - to me I'm much more interested in the pledge levels and associated rewards. After all, if they don't make the target it doesn't cost me anything, and if they do and I've based my pledge on the reward levels then I've got value for my money. I couldn't care less if their target is $10 or $10 million...

Pledge levels are the first thing I look at, but there is a lot to be gleamed from the total of what they are asking for, it lets you compare them to similar projects, and inform you if what they are asking for is reasonable. For example most major RPG core books like Numenera or Demon: The Descent tend run from $20,000-$40,000 while full RPG video games like Shadowrun Returns are often looking for as much as $400,000 if not more. This kickstarter should have come in somewhere between the two, and probably closer to the lower goal. Asking for a lot of money can be signs of an underdeveloped project, a poorly managed/indebted company, and even in some cases outright greed.
 

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