BACKERKIT CLOSING! And our first Master Storyteller submissions!
almost 6 years ago – Tue, May 15, 2018 at 11:31:15 PM

Hail Journeyman,

I don't mean to harp but I felt I should send out another update about the Backerkit closing in the morning, May 16th, 2018.  As I have said before if you have not verified your address and pledge in the Backerkit please do so in the next 24 hours!  You do not need to pay anything or select any ADD ONS to do this.

Once the Backerkit closes you will have to contact me individually to verify your pledge and enter your shipping address.  There are only about 31 pledges that have not been confirmed and about ten of these are $0 or $1 pledges which I will be closing out myself unless you contact me directly and indicate you would like to obtain some ADD ONS but just need more time.

Once the Backerkit closes I will have the information to start sorting the pledges and judging what to start paying for first.  I am happy to say that Robert Altbauer who did all three of the current maps has returned for The Wooddam Forest map.  I am very excited about seeing what he comes up with based on the concepts and proposal I gave him.  

Finally, we have started receiving the first batch of Master Storyteller concepts and I am really liking the thought and creativity that has went into them thus far.  Some of them even share a common theme which gives me an idea of what Backers would like to see more of in future supplements (Jesters! anyone?)

As promised I am copying the concepts here for the Backers to discuss and offer comments and suggestions on.  I have removed the names of the Backers who submitted them as this is not a competition and everyone's submission is just as valued as the others.  Instead though I have given the submissions the names of Dwarves from The Hobbit so Backers can refer to the groups by their Dwarven name when discussing them.  I am waiting on a few more, as I know at least one Backer wanted to pick up The Master Storyteller pledge before the day was out so hopefully I will have enough to add to the next update as part two:

DWALIN  

1. First character is named Krrrystal the Dark Bane. She's sort of a fox spirit-like person. That is, she is a humanoid fox that can shift into the appearance of a human. She is almost always wears her human face, and very very few know what she really is. She uses her looks, style, knowledge, and mastery of languages to talk her way into places that are normally hard to get into, particularly temples or dens of "bad guys." When that fails, her ninja-assassin side comes out, and she uses her ninjitsu to turn invisible, help her scale walls, see in the dark, and even run across water to get where she needs to be: and that is to dispatch whatever evil is her target. You have to purr the "rrr" so to speak, if you say her name in fox-form.  

2. Second character is named Brandish, and he is a towering warrior clad in a suit of mail from head to foot. He has two pairs of arms, one arm of which is used to wield a massive shield, two of which often hold a large two handed sword, and the last which can be used to throw ranged attacks which are often explosive potions he has brewed of his own design. Very few have seen this warrior's face. Few know his true face or true name, but those who have survived encounters with him all agree that the nickname Brandish applies to more than his impressive weaponry, but to whatever purpose drives him ever forward... seeking... something. It is said that he comes from another world.  

3. My third character is a mage named Ulfen (a "weak" name that his clan gave him). He comes from a tribe of arctic dwellers (think Viking-like people), except he dishonored his clan by not passing the trials that would have made him a warrior. Too weak and frail to take up the mantle of berserker (those who tattoo themselves and run into battle for glory, honor, and death in the first life and prepare for the great battle in the second), Ulfen found he had a knack for the arcane. He tattooed himself wth forbidden magics, and he now journeys forth seeking to make a name for himself and either earn himself a new name, or gather enough fame and magic knowledge to turn the name Ulfen into one which his race doesn't deem weak but royal  

BALIN  

1. Campfire (Character) - name: Sanja Rej - background: deceased traveler, who is haunting the campfire for centuries  

2. Circus (Encounter) - name: Eclipse Bizarr - background: Travelling folks who have been cursed by their former fortune teller and are forced to cannibalism  

3. Tribe (Encounter) - name: Manicha Er - background: coming from the far of unknown lands and plundering the continent  

4. Hollow (Character) - name: Romor Kustak - background: got lost and died in the swamps, now haunting and teying to lure travelers to the same fate 5. Monastry (Encounter) - name: Circle of doldrums - background: peaceful druids, who have been settling down quite recently and providing their services to any char of good alignment  

KILLI  

1. Karl McGwire - Fighter / Ranger - Very experienced/knowledgeable about plant and animal life. Great survival skills -- foraging for food, knows healing properties of local plants, etc. Usual ranger fighting/tracking ability. Very loyal. Animal lover; doesn't like to kill animals unless absolutely necessary  

2. Brother Francis - Monk - Has extensive knowledge of archaeology - great at identifying treasure/magic items, especially those of a religious nature. Some medical knowledge as well - healing powers. Speaks several languages. Absolutely lawful good and will not participate in unlawful/evil activity and may leave the party if too many others do  

3. Bobby Dillon - Bard - Can play several instruments and can use them to raise party morale, calm/hypnotize adversaries, etc. Only a journeyman and is still learning his craft. His songs sometimes backfire.  

4. Parker Doe - Rogue / Thief - Very agile, high dexterity, thief skills. Handy with small weapons - knives, daggers, etc. Orphaned street urchin, will join party but may abandon you and steal your stuff if she feels she's being underpaid or otherwise not treated properly  

5. Maria Maleva - (Dark) Cleric - Master of some very dark, occult, arcane magic. Interprets dreams. Claims to be able to, and possibly can, tell the future to some extent. Member of a dark, mysterious sect. Not clear how loyal or trustworthy she is. True motives hard to discern. May not be as evil as she at first may seem.  

FILLI  

#1 A jester that has a battle of whits and riddles that may tell secrets about important events/items/people in the overland or lead the PC astray.  

#2 A dwarf Merchant named Erik Stormsson that depending on the npc reaction roll may attack the players or offer to sell them dwarf wears. If bested in combat will offer to travel with the players and aid them working to sell things and helping with dwarf npc reactions. only aides in combat if fighting orcs/goblins/elves/dragons  

#3 A scholar lost and hungry. If fed ration will aid the PC providing a bonus or negative to any npc interaction. first roll to see if the scholar impresses or insults/annoys the npc then apply relevant bonus or negative to the PC roll. Leaves PC if rations ever run out. even stays and tries to aid PC in getting out of court/jail so long as PC still had rations when arrested.  

#4 Ronin named Arashi. Challenges PC to a duel. If wins yet duel is close offers to train PC perhaps helping to become a samurai or teaching quickdraw skill or archery skill of some sort. If wins by a lot Gives PC healing and 3 days rations saying come seek me after you have trained more. If loses travels with PC aiding in rolls in samurai area and with samurai style NPC reaction rolls. Also helps in combat.  

#5 Family of thieves pretending to be lost and starving. Begs for food. Then based on if PC has little food and money may leave food and gold while PC is asleep, or steal portion of rations and money, or attempt to attack and rob PC off all food and money. If bested in combat leaves their second eldest son or eldest daughter to work for PC in exchange for their lives. Second eldest son acts as a low level rogue/thief that can steal to help PC when in a town, or sneak attack/ low blow/ dirty fighting vs. enemies in combat. Eldest daughter triples the usefulness of all rations and aids in hunting and rolls to avoid getting lost. Bonus to taming animals. Avoids combat and has a percent chance of running away in any town.  

DORI  

1. Court Jester. Retired from King’s court. If the Jester is cooperative, he will travel with the party. Very talkative, but unpredictable—he might help convince an encountered NPC Character to be cooperative, or he might antagonize him! Roll d% to determine the Jester’s effect on the encounter: 10% chance: -20 to NPC reaction roll; 30%: -10 to NPC reaction roll; 30%: no effect on NPC reaction roll; 30%: +10 to NPC reaction roll; 10%: +20 to NPC reaction roll. If you kill the Jester, you become an enemy of the King. He will never be an NPC comrade.  

2. Mistro the Magnificent. Mistro is a wizard. Mistro has a megalomaniacal desire for world domination – he wants to command everyone in the entire Overland. He thinks he is all-powerful (his power level can be adjusted as you see fit). If he travels with the party, subtract 20 from the NPC reaction roll from any encounter—he wants to fight everyone!  

3. Farmers. Jacob and Franklin are brothers, and they are travelling in their wagon to sell their produce at the nearest town. If a favorable NPC reaction roll is made, they will sell some of their wares, which can be used as meals. The better the reaction roll, the cheaper the meals will be. They will fight to defend their wagon and its cargo. They will not travel with the party.  

4. Fur trappers. A group of trappers back from an expedition (or on their way out to start one: 50% chance). If they are returning, then they have some valuable furs with them, which can be purchased at a discount. If they travel with the party, they will increase the chance of successful hunting by 50% (both finding and killing)

The Master Storytellers!
almost 6 years ago – Sun, May 13, 2018 at 12:07:07 AM

Hey

Just wanted to say I am starting to get the concepts in for the Master Storyteller pledges and I am really excited and impressed by the concepts your fellow Backers are coming up with.

In fact, when I have gotten all of them I will put them together in one document and share them with the group to discuss and enjoy.  

I don't have any hard and fast rules for "your" concepts but obviously please don't use any proprietary or licensed elements such as "Drow" but instead use "Dark Elves".  Halflings and not "Hobbits".  

Other than that you can get as creative as you want but I may "tone it down" in the final implementation but I love the conceptualization so where you may say your character can "shoot green acid" out of his mouth I may change that to he has a "bow that fires green acid arrows!"  

Also in Journey To The Overland "demons or deamons" do not exist per se.  I will be giving more detail on the lore in the revised and upgraded 2nd Edition Rulebook but what most games would call "angels or demons" are collectively known as "The Host" in the world of Overland.  Among the Host however there is a "branch" known as The Harbingers.  However unlike "demons or deamons" that are fallen angels in The Overland there has been no "fall" instead the Harbingers are members of The Host who use dark means to shape the events of the Overland.  However they are few in number and other than the Dark Harbinger are not among the most powerful of The Host.  Finally, when they do "appear" which is very rare they do not appear as "demons" with horns and hoofs and such.  Rather they are more likely to look like the "Engineers" from Prometheus but be black or red instead of blue.

Okay that may be too much information but I hope it helps to get the juices flowing!

Finally, the Backerkit is still a little less than half completed.  Even if you do not intend on doing any ADD ONS please complete the survey which simply validates your pledge and moves it to the fulfillment queue.  No further payment is required at this time as I indicated since shipping will not be collected until pledges are prepared to ship.

Well enjoy the rest of the weekend.  

Salud!

Backerkit Surveys!
almost 6 years ago – Sat, May 12, 2018 at 01:53:23 AM

This is just a follow up reminder to complete your Backerkit Surveys.  As I indicated in my last update we only have just over 100 Backers in this campaign and I would like to close the Backerkit by May 15th.  This will allow me to fulfill the Digital Rewards that do not require production or shipping.

Also the Backerkit will start charging cards on file in batches starting today.  This is so Backers don't get charges two or three weeks from now that they forgot about.  So please double check the cards you have on file.  If there is a problem the Backerkit will usually notify so you can update the card.  If you need to update your ADD ONS then contact me directly.  

Also just to clarify the MASTERY STORYTELLER Pledge includes everything that is available now.  This includes The Wooddam Expansion and the game counters, scenario book, etc. offered in the Upgrade Pledge.  There was some discrepancy between the first description in the ADD On and the description in the actual pledge but they should both be identical now.

Also if you are a Master Storyteller Backer and have your five (5) concept NPCs you would like incorporated into the game or supplement please get them to me at:

[email protected]

This will allow me to vet them and decide which supplement or card deck they would be most suitable for.  All I need is a brief description, suggested name, suggested class/type (i.e. fighter, barbarian, wizard, acrobat, etc.), a power or ability you think they might have and maybe some anecdotal background (i.e. they were raised by wolves).  I will have the final say on how I use or modify the concept but it will appear in some form or another in a game deck or supplement deck.

Finally, I did not offer any 'printed' versions of the STL files for now.  I am still producing them and looking at getting metal moulds down (or finding a cheaper plastic alternative).  Still as I indicated the STL can be printed online through Shapeways and Sculpteo in plastic or similar materials with the price varying depending on which you choose to go with.

Other than I will keep this short.

Salud!

BACKERKIT IS NOW LIVE!
almost 6 years ago – Thu, May 10, 2018 at 02:05:01 AM

I apologize for the silence over the past week however I have been busy "building" the Backerkit or pledge manager as some refer to it.  

After a few hiccups I am pleased to say that the Backerkit will go live tonight after this email posts.

Prior to doing that I wanted to clarify a few things before you all got into the actual pledge manager.

Shipping

Shipping WILL NOT be collected in the Backerkit.  Without the exact weight of the items to be shipped in each pledge I could not add shipping for most of the pledges at this time, so rather than collect shipping from some but not others I will be collecting shipping later during fulfillment when items are ready to ship.  This means when you pay your shipping your items will be on their way shortly thereafter.  The only exception to this is with the $55 Upgrade Pledges who will only be charged for the costs of shipping the "Hardcover Rulebook" which judging from the "proof" copy I ordered will be $8.00.  If you are an Upgrade Pledge and do not add anything to your pledge you can "add" the $8.00 shipping to pay it now or again wait and be notified when the Hardcover Rulebooks are prepared to ship.

Upgrading Your Pledges

I had several Backers contact me after the campaign closed about the possibility of being able to upgrade certain pledges like going from the ALL IN NEXTGEN PLEDGE to the MASTER STORYTELLER pledge or from one of the 3D Towscape sets to the entire bundle.  YES!  It will be possible to upgrade your pledges in the Backerkit however to do so when you first open your survey you will have to "click on" your pledge description.  So if your pledge says "$80 CORE GAME ONLY PLEDGE" and you want to switch to the $125 ALL IN NextGen Pledge you would click on the words "$80 Core Game Pledge" and then select the pledge you want to switch to.  The Backerkit will credit you the value of the pledge you are switching from toward the pledge you are switching to!  

ADD ONS

There will be lots of ADD ONS to choose from no matter what pledge level you backed Journey To The Overland at.  This includes some of the content that was not unlocked during the campaign like The Wooddam Forest Expansion, The Ghost Town of Misery Expansion, The Urban Expansion and some more digital miniatures of NPC Leaders in The Overland.

LATE BACKERS/PRE ORDERS

I am not opening the Backerkit to late backers or pre-orders at this time.  With the exception of several individuals who messaged me after the campaign ended that I will be adding manually I don't expect to open the Backerkit to late backers or pre-orders for a few more months at least.  The main reason for this is that the ADD ONS and pledges in the Backerkit now are essentially what was offered during the Kickstarter campaign like the ALL IN NEXTGEN pledges.  When I do open it up for Late Backers and Pre-Orders it will be an a la carte menu that I have to set up separately and do not want to set aside time from fulfillment to do that right now.  That being said if you are following these updates and would like to do a late pledge you can message me with your email and I will add you seeing as how you are or have been following the campaign.

Other than that I expect to leave the Backerkit open for about two weeks before finalizing addresses and contact information.  With only a little over 100 Backers I don't see needing to leave it open much longer than that.

Finally, I had hoped to have some other content to show you in this update but none of the stuff I was expecting has arrived yet.  That being said I have ordered a prototype of a new box that will hopefully allow me to ship the Overland Arena Insert, World Map, Unknown Islands map, Urban Expansion Map (i.e. The Burroughs) and the JTO Game Map with only two folds instead of four!  In fact the Overland Arena insert and World Map which are 12" x 12" won't have to be folded at all!  That may be a little thing to most of you but it is huge for me as maps play a huge role in this game and I want players to receive them in as close to pristine condition as possible.  Other than that more art is slowly coming in and I am adding some of the last content to the expanded and revised rule book in preparation of getting the art added and the layout done.  Still everything is still very much on schedule.

I would also like to mention that fellow Backer, Joshua Rothaug has been a tremendous help with getting the game cards edited and tweaking the layout to make the text easier to read and the information more clear and concise.  We have already cleaned up all the Expanded Item Cards and he just sent me the edits for the Encounter Cards from the original game.  Having an actual Backer give me feedback and assistance in this area has been greatly appreciated so if you run into him in the Comments say "hi" and feel free to share any suggestions you have with him to pass on to me.

Please check your email "junk" boxes to make sure the Backerkit survey does not get lost.

Salud!

D.C. Ware

Quick Preview of the Hardcover Rulebook
about 6 years ago – Wed, Apr 25, 2018 at 01:51:31 PM

Hi All,

This is a VERY QUICK preview of the hardcover rulebook prototype that I just got in today.

We still have a week to ten days before the Kickstarter funds but I am very grateful that out of over 137 Backers only 3 payments did not go through.  

Once the Kickstarter funds I hope to do regular "work in progress" updates covering the various items unlocked during the campaign.  These may not be very long or detailed but will at least show images (if I have them) or discuss the process.  

For now though take a look at the first iteration of the "hardcover" rule book.  I was quite impressed and wish I had done one as part of the first campaign.  

 Talk to you all later!