OLD/NEW Kickstarter Concerns

Hi Morrus,

I have looked at the OLD and NEW drafts and find them promising, as I have been after a simple, skill-based RPG with good tactical combat, so well done. (As an aside, is it worth crunching the stat scale down from 1 to 5, reflecting the actual dice pool rather than having a rank scale to 20? I find this more more elegant, and more suited to my previous experience with World of Darkness, where the number you had in the stat/skill was the number of dice you actually rolled.)

However I have some concerns about this Kickstarter. It may be too soon. The RPG is still in playtest and is still having major mechanical tweaks done to it. On top of that, I'm still waiting for some fulfillment from your 2012 'To Slay a Dragon' Kickstarter (the 4E version stretch goal).

Would it be more prudent to wait until you've got the finalized manuscript in hand? I am happy to fund printing and awesome artwork, but would rather fund a rock-solid, well-playtested game that will have good longevity (like 5-10 years) rather than one that will need patches and updates.

Thanks for listening.

Thanks for the kind words! I hope it lives up to the promise you see!

The Kickstarter is all about timing. I've learned so much from the previous one, and planned things *so* much better. There are a number of tasks - playtesting, art, layout, etc. which will each individually take months. The art, especially, is going to be a long process, and I want some more solid playtesting months, preferably with backers who are invested in seeing the game be as good as it can be. Doing those things sequentially, rather than at the same time, doesn't make a lot of sense in this particular instance - months of playtesting followed by months of art is a very inefficient way of doing it, when the art - and some other things - could start right now. Especially with some of the planned stretch goals which I'd want ready on launch, not months afterwards. For example, I would love to have Hero Lab support for character and ship generation right from the get-go, but that's a task that needs to start very early because it's not easy, and requires me to contract a solid, reliable freelancer to do it.

Even with all that, it's still going to take a year. Doing them sequentially, it would take up to two years.

So I want the art to commence right now, while playtesting and development is going on, so that it's ready when the manuscript is ready. Additionally I want that playtest process to be very inclusive and community-driven, and part of the plan is that there will- additionally - be large community driven databases of fan material on launch plus possible some third-party support and publication, all of which needs to start long, long before the final manuscripts go to layout.

It's like baking a cake. No, more like making a meal with a bunch of elements, and wanting them all to finish cooking at exactly the same time!

That's something I learned from TSAD, by the way! There were delays with that, and various problems, for sure, and I know how to avoid every one of those issues this time. Plan development, art, etc. all simultaneously; use an actual fulfillment company to ensure everyone gets their products on time rather than relying on volunteers; and so on. With that one I did everything sequentially and consequently it took ages - and as you say, the 4E conversion is still coming. All of that could have been done at the same time with better planning. I'll have some good news to share on that front very soon, incidentally - and the sequel, To Stake A Vampire, is currently being polished by by Mike Myler and is going to be awesome. I can't wait!

All that said, there's still the option of simply purchasing it when it's finished. It'll be available in a variety of places (well, assuming it funds, of course - there's no guarantee of that!)

(As an aside, is it worth crunching the stat scale down from 1 to 5, reflecting the actual dice pool rather than having a rank scale to 20? I find this more more elegant, and more suited to my previous experience with World of Darkness, where the number you had in the stat/skill was the number of dice you actually rolled.)

Click to expand...

Actually, it doesn't go to 20 - it goes up infinitely. A fire dragon, for example, has 40 STRENGTH. It was originally much like you suggest - the number of dice was equal to the stat - and while that is certainly aesthetically pleasing, it wasn't as useful mathematically and got changed with considerable playtesting feedback.

What I do have in the wings is the advancement system, where the actual dice size changes with each tier.