Swords & Wizardry Light - Forum

Saturday, February 10, 2018

Kickstarter - Strongholds & Streaming - 1 day - $730k (5e)


Sometimes success can't fully be planned for. Sometimes success exceeds all expectations.

Then we have Strongholds & Streaming.

$50k goal.

A day into the campaign? $730K to raised. A month left to fund.

This is the success many dream of but few, if any, achieve.

Oh yeah, what's the product?
A hardcover book (or PDF!) for 5th Edition that gives your character something to spend their money on and extend their influence in the local area. Raise armies! Research spells! Spy on your enemies!  
This is a book! 
We’re printing a book and we need money for art and layout and printing costs. The core release is 128 pages, hardcover, but the content and page count increase with each stretch goal!  
That means the book you order just gets more content as more people pledge. It grows!  
A Style Of Play 
More than just a set of rules and charts, this book also describes a style of play that assumes your character becomes more interested in influencing the world around them. You’ll still adventure and fight monsters, but this supplement gives you tons of fun things to do during your downtime. 
It's also:
Because the other goal of this kickstarter is to raise money to cover the lease on studio space for us to stream our next game starting with character creation! I’ve already spent several thousand dollars on gear, we just don’t have any space to stream and we have very specific requirements. No, your garage won’t do. No, your living room isn’t big enough. :D We’re basically building a TV Studio.  
Since finding studio space means signing a multi-year lease and being on the hook for a lot of money, it terrifies me. It’s my hope that enough people want this book, or want to support the stream, to cover some or all of that cost. If not, no big deal. You still get a great book! 
Follow this one, if even only for a buck. It will be glorious as a success or even as a successful failure.

I may even back for the book. I'm sure there's enough to yoke for my S&W  games.

BTW, watch the videos in the updates. If you want to see the nervousness unexpected success can result in, the first is priceless. I like it, because it is real and unvarnished.

11 comments:

  1. His YouTube channel has excellent videos on many aspects of dm'ing rpgs. Very well done. Much of his good advise is just as valuable to OSR dms as it is to 5E dms.

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  2. A lot of that amount is because they baked shipping costs in to be charged when you pledge. So up to a third of that is just for shipping.
    I backed this. I like his videos and his prior discussions of his stronghold rules hooked me.

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  3. I gotta see what three-quarters of a million bucks gets you for a stronghold building book. The thing should come to life and build a miniature of the castle!

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  4. Oh, no. Minis in the stretch goals. And then this...

    "I’ve never made miniatures before and I’m super excited to give it a shot!"

    I was going to back it, but this is giving me pause.

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    1. Watch some od his youtube or read some of his twitter...

      The mimis are where all the risk is but he's done some groundwork already. And seems pretty risk averse.

      Note it's not "minis for everyone" or anything crazy.

      Of course it's going to fund. There's no need to back it if you just want a pdf. I can't see him not selling that through normal channels afterwards. There's no promise not to.

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    2. Yep. He's been planning this for a while, and has looked into the process. He isn't a newbie, and is in fact an industry vet and insider. He talked to people, and found out what things will cost, and the pledge levels reflect that. He isn't making hundreds, just five. And, they are entirely optional.

      Also note that he isn't going to go nuts with stretch goals. If he makes a lot, great! But, he's well past his goal for this, and doesn't want to screw things up by over expanding.

      The over arching goal is to fund the game stream, with the lease on the space being the brunt. And so, a lot of the backers are paying for that. They want the streams, so they have put in the cash.

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  5. Let's be clear, this isn't really about books, or minis. It's about streaming D&D. The profits from the products are meant to fund that. And, many of those backing want that, not the book or the minis.

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  6. I want the book and the minis. The stream is a pleasant side affect of the process. I am pleased with the results and matt colville has a plethora of content worth using in your game.

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