Pledge Manager Surveys Coming Soon!
7 days ago
– Fri, Oct 18, 2024 at 07:38:24 AM
Hello Ultra-Backers,
It's time for our first update of the post-Crowdfunding campaign phase!
We finished up the Crowdfunding portion of our campaign just over three weeks ago with a successful run, adding many backers and voting on content to the final book. Now it's time to start the next phase of the project - the Post-Campaign, where we track the progress of the various projects we helped fund and send out rewards as they become available.
To help with all of that we use BackerKit's Pledge Manager.
Today's Topics
- BackerKit Pledge Manager Surveys Coming Soon
- Compiled Draft Manuscript (available in BackerKit Digital Rewards)
- Coming Next
BACKER SURVEYS
Over the next handful of days (Oct 18-21), you’ll receive an email from us with a special link to your Pledge Manager survey. It’s important to respond to your survey as quickly as you can since we need this information to fulfill your rewards.
You don’t need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey (although you probably already have one from pledging to this campaign). When you receive the email with the survey, click the survey invitation link to respond. Answer the questions about your reward preferences, provide shipping information, and purchase add-on items if you like.
You don’t have access to this survey link yet, but it will be available later this week via email!
The e-mail will have a button that looks something like this:
After you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change your responses at any time before we close the surveys and get our final counts, and that won't happen until the books are being printed and we're preparing to ship.
If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at
https://storypath-ultra.backerkit.com/If you have any other questions or concerns, you can post them to the comments for this update, the comment section, or message me via one of these methods:
TO CONTACT JAMES
- Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
- Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
If there are any issues you find with the Pledge Manager, please contact me as soon as possible to let me know. It rolls out in waves so that I can correct issues on the fly and make it work as best possible as people come on board.
I had initially expected to be sending this out a few weeks from now, but caught a free moment even while I'm battling a cold that's worked it's way through my family over the past month. The chances of a few errors in the Pledge Manager set up are ...
greater than zero ... so let me know if you see something off and I'll fix it as quickly as possible.
Within the BackerKit Survey and Pledge Manager, you can:
- Review your Pledge Tier Selection and Rewards
- Upgrade your Reward Tier pledge selection
- Confirm Add On selections
- Set up payment information for any failed payments from the Crowdfunding campaign or to pay for any new Add On options selected.
When you click on your BackerKit invitation link, you should see something like this...
From the Pledge Manager welcome page you can choose to
-
Review Your Pledge Level and Rewards
-
Start Your Survey, confirming pledge rewards, confirming or selecting new Add On options, and confirming any shipping and payment info that may be needed
- Switch Your Pledge Level
If you've pledged to a reward tier that includes physical rewards, you can enter your shipping country at this stage. As noted during our campaign, we haven't set shipping costs yet - those will be calculated and added in when we're preparing to ship the book. That won't be for a long time, though, and there will be plenty of opportunity - and notice - for you to make changes.
If you click on your Pledge Level, you will see a list of all items included in your Pledge Rewards (including Stretch Goals and the Draft Manuscript), and also have the option to switch your Pledge Level, in case you've decided to get the hardcover pledge instead of the PDF-only pledge tier for example.
Once you've confirmed that your Pledge Level is correct and where you want it to be, you can GET STARTED with your BackerKit Pledge Manager Survey.
Once we've got a fair response to our survey and collected a reasonable amount of info, I'll be working on fulfilling rewards that are available now - like the PDFs of the titles included in our Add On section (for example, Storypath Seeds jumpstart bundle and the Storypath Seeds Core Rulebook bundle). Those will likely be coming to you in late-October, and I'll send another update with more info when that time comes.
So, in summary:
- Look for an e-mail invitation to BackerKit's Pledge Manager sometime over the next 4-5 days
- Get Started on your survey
- Confirm your Pledge Level (or SWITCH your Pledge Level if you want to change it)
- Confirm and Select Any Add On options
- Confirm Your Shipping Information (if needed)
- Confirm Your Payment Information (if needed)
I will post an update in another week or two as I begin outlining the delivery of our first Add On rewards (the existing title PDFs, as noted above) and beginning distribution of those PDF rewards.
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT
Looking in the example pledge list above, you can see a listing for the Draft Manuscript. In your BackerKit digital rewards page, you will have access to the compiled draft manuscript. It won't be different from the one that was shared during the campaign - it'll just be all gathered together in one big file. The Draft Manuscript link may not be active when you first login to your BackerKit survey, but I'll throw the switch and it'll send you a notice next week after all of the invitations have gone out.
I will talk about how to access your BackerKit digital rewards links in an update coming later this month, when I send out the first wave of available rewards.
COMING NEXT
In the next 2 weeks or so, I'll send an update with details about the distribution for that first wave of Storypath Seeds Bundle rewards. I'll also get the compiled draft manuscript up and ready for you.
In November, we'll also begin our regular monthly check-ins, tracking the progress of this project as it moves through this phase. It'll take some time, but we'll have regular updates all through the process. I'll also have notes on how to check the weekly and monthly All Project Progress updates on Onyx Path's website.
TO CONTACT JAMES
- Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
- Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
CURRENTLY FUNDING
Curseborne is a game about being unapologetic monsters in a world where being monstrous is the least of your worries. In Curseborne, you play as Accursed, descendants of monstrous lineages lurking in a modern world that closely resembles our own. You rebel against the ancient feuds between these entwined families, as well as against the web of curses that bind you, while fending off inhuman antagonists seeking to claim — or reclaim — your power.
The world of
Curseborne is full of intrigue, magic, and things that go bump in the night. It’s just like our world, except the reason that things don’t go your way or that bad things happen is that the people are literally living in a world of curses. Some people are cursed more than others, and these are our Accursed characters. They have a particularly large curse that hangs over their heads and makes them more prone to bad things happening to them and around them. The nature of this curse also makes them magical in nature. They have a sense of the thing holding them back, and they can manipulate it in ways that normal people cannot.
This book is comprised of two main parts. The first part is the setting of Curseborne, as well as more about the Accursed themselves through the view of the characters. It shows how they see themselves, their world, and their place in that world. Lineages represent five broad categories of Accursed: The Dead (ghosts and spirits), The Hungry (vampires), The Outcasts (angels and demons), The Primal (shapeshifters and werewolves), and The Sorcerers (magicians).
The second part of the book are the instructions on how to use this book to play a game. You’ll find the chapters on how to play the game using the Storypath Ultra system, how to create a character, all the cool powers those characters have, and information on how to run a game of Curseborne.
With 13 days left in the campaign, we've hit 500% of our initial funding target and unlocked several Stretch Goals - including three new supplements that will be added as bonus rewards for backers of this project!
Want to know more about the Curseborne RPG?
PREVIEW MATERIAL: You can find information from the numerous previews Onyx Path has shared.
Curseborne Actual Play Sessions, including:
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT: Over the course of the campaign, backers will receive access to chapters from the current draft manuscript of
Curseborne. By the end of the campaign, backers will be able to read the entire book as it stands now, before any pledges are processed or payments collected. No secret curses with this campaign - you'll know exactly what you're supporting with your pledge.
Read the manuscript and make sure the project is right for you.CURSEBORNE was built using the Storypath Ultra system! You'll have three example settings in the final Storypath Ultra Core Manual, but if you want to see a game completely designed from the ground up that uses SPU, check out
CURSEBORNE on Kickstarter!
We've come to the end of the Story path.
29 days ago
– Thu, Sep 26, 2024 at 11:32:39 AM
Hello Ultra-Backers,
We did it! We came together for this book, a toolkit to build your own games and tell your own stories using the system that powers many of Onyx Path's upcoming projects.
Thanks to the support of an impressive 1,261 backers, Onyx Path will be able to develop PDF and hardcover versions of the
Storypath Ultra Core Manual!
This project has exceeded my expectations, and I was amazed to see it grow over the course of this past month! We had so many new backers join in over the past week - and really, so many in the past 48 hours - and it was fun to see the numbers jump up dramatically in these last few days. Great job!
There's more to celebrate! Not only did we fund the project in the first day, we also unlocked a super SIX Stretch Goals. From standard Onyx Path milestone markers to helping Onyx Path prioritize community content creation, it's been very cool to have these extras!
It came down to the last few days but we managed to hit every Stretch Goal we'd posted and hit 585% of our funding target!
Our Bonus Reward Collection
Some Milestone Markers
All backers for this project will automatically have these bonus rewards added to their rewards list.
For The Community
More Content!
The first of the included example settings, Pinfall from Grace, Body Slams from Hell, not only offers a complete game set in the parallel version of the year 2000, but also illustrates exactly how Story Path was implemented and adjusted. We have plans to write two more, and as a backer you'll be able to vote on which ones you prefer.
For our Sci-Fi example, backers have chosen "
An experimental space flight flings the player characters into a distant galaxy full of strange and alien sights."
For our Fantasy example, backers have chosen
"A war-torn world ripped apart by a devastating magic war, and a few surviving wizards try to prove who is the best among them."
We had more than 600 votes for this sample game, and option 2 held the lead pretty much from the get-go, but it was still exciting to watch and fun to think about ways to interpret all of these concepts.
Again, there's nothing yet written for these two example settings - we'll see them in the final version of the book - but we've provided the developers and writers with these inspirational launching points, so it'll be very interesting to see how they develop and grow into their own SPU mini games!
So a huge congratulations to the Onyx Path developers and the creative team on this project, and to all of the backers who've joined in to make this possible. I'm happy about the goals we hit and rewards we introduced, but I'm also always amazed and excited about having so many backers join in during this campaign. Even though Storypath Ultra has appeared in a few forthcoming projects and the earliest Storypath system games have some overlap with the system, it was still a bit of a gamble for the team as to whether this setting-free SPU Core Manual toolkit would find an audience. Crossing the mighty 1000 backer line was impressive, and I really look forward to seeing what things the community brings out to support SPU in the future!
AN EXTRA THANK YOU!
So, thank you to all the backers who supported us and made this happen. And an extra thanks to everyone who participated online, either in the Community comments section of the campaign, and on social media around the web. Thanks to everyone who talked about the project on the Discord and thanks to the Onyx Path team who answered questions and provided insight.
COMMUNICATION
So, as noted in today's earlier update, starting in October I'll be sending out updates once a month and whenever we've got a new goal, survey, or other item to cover. If you have any questions or need clarification on something related to the campaign, feel free to get in touch. I may take a bit to answer as I recover from these past four weeks and sneak in a a quick anniversary dinner somewhere in there, but I'll eventually have an answer!
TO CONTACT ME
-
Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
-
Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your forthcoming survey page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
ONYX PATH DISCUSSION CHANNELS
If you've got questions about the rules or setting, or just want to discuss this game with other fans (as well as the Onyx Path writers and developers!), you can check out these Onyx Path discussion zones:
WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK
I've now shared the complete draft manuscript over this campaign. Along the way, the team has gathered feedback to help guide the manuscript through the next steps of editing and development. To that end, they've created a special Feedback Form for you to submit your comments after reading each section!
Great job everyone!
The Discord is particularly lively, and I loved seeing the thoughts and jokes as the chapters came out bit by bit. Again, I really loved the early seeds that will, I'm sure, develop into new content in Storypath Nexus or other avenues in the future!
BackerKit will begin collected pledges and processing payments later tonight, so be ready for that.
High fives all around in the comment section and on the Discord, and you'll hear from me again in a month-or-so when I've got the pledge manager set up and ready to roll out!
#StoryPathUltra
FINAL HOURS: CHECKLIST & WHAT COMES NEXT
29 days ago
– Thu, Sep 26, 2024 at 06:13:14 AM
Hello Ultra-Backers!
Welcome to the final hours of this campaign! We've had an amazing run - funding very quickly and coming up to the end with over 1200 backers! We've unlocked all six of our Stretch Goals and we we're closing in on 600 votes in our final Example Setting poll for the final book.
The most important part of this campaign, though, is that we have successfully funded this project! Thanks to everyone who's come out to support this campaign, we'll be getting this cool book!
And backers have made the book even better by voting on two additional example settings that will be included in the final version!
For our Sci-Fi example, backers have chosen "
An experimental space flight flings the player characters into a distant galaxy full of strange and alien sights."
For the final poll, you'll be voting on a Fantasy setting example. Your options:
A cozy fantasy game where explorers look for ingredients to help heal their sick dragon friend.
A war-torn world ripped apart by a devastating magic war, and a few surviving wizards try to prove who is the best among them.
A group of young heroes are blessed with magical armor and weapons in order to defeat an evil sorcerer queen seeking to destroy their land.
Voting will run until the Crowdfunding campaign ends later today. You must be a backer of this project to vote for this setting.
FINAL DAY CHECKLIST
Whether you've chosen three Paths and selected all of your Edges or are just assinging your first dot, hese are some good topics to review over these final five hours...
1. KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SUPPORTING
2. PLEDGE TIERS and ADD ONS
This update breaks down your best starting point for figuring out which Backer Reward Tier to choose to help support this project in a way that works for you.
The first decision you need to make in figuring out your reward tier is whether you want to receive the PDF version or the hardcover edition (which comes with bonus PDF version).
STORYPATH ULTRA PDF REWARD
This is the PDF-only reward tier. So, if you're saving trees or saving shelf space - or avoiding the shipping charges that are absolutely ever-increasing - this is the reward tier option that you should begin with. The PDF will be fulfilled by our partners at DriveThruRPG.com - when it is ready, you will receive a link to add it to your DTRPG library at no cost for you to download at your leisure. As a backer, you will be able to vote on new content during the crowdfunding campaign.
STORYPATH ULTRA HARDCOVER REWARD
This reward tier includes the hardcover version of this book. Shipping costs ARE NOT included in the cost of your pledge. You will be charged for shipping after the campaign through the pledge manager. In addition, this option also includes the PDF version, so you will get a digital copy as described above. As a backer, you will be able to vote on new content during the crowdfunding campaign.
As noted, shipping charges will be calculated later and charged in the BackerKit Pledge Manager. We'll have exact shipping costs once the book is in production and we know the specifications, but we do expect it to be expensive. See our estimates on the front pate. If you're an international backer, you can pledge to the PDF Reward tier and upgrade in the pledge manager to the hardcover tier once the shipping costs are known before we lockdown orders.
ADD-ON OPTIONS - The other half of our Reward Tiers update, including information on the second step of pledging. There are several Add On options that you can add as part of your pledging process, including pre-ordering three of the Onyx Path games that use the SPU rules and two bundles of products that use the original Storypath system that planted the seeds for SPU.
ADD ON selections will be available in the post-campaign Pledge Manager as well.
SO: Ensure that you've selected the Reward Tier you want, and select any Add On options you wish to include. AND - make sure that you are comfortable with the Pledge amount, in terms of it covering everything you want and the affordability of the pledge at this moment!
I'm going to speak against my own self interest for a moment, and repeat something I say at the end of every campaign - 2024 has been financially challenging for many, and there's still lots of uncertainty ahead. Ensure that your circumstances enable to afford this pledge at this moment - BackerKit will begin processing payments late tonight after the campaign ends and neither Onyx Path nor I have any involvement in that process. If you are unsure of your financial situation but don't want to miss out, please pledge for a tier you can afford now and know that you will be able to upgrade to open pledge levels in our post-campaign Pledge Manager for some time before the book is completed. There are no refunds for regret, and the funds raised start being spent immediately on paying for the work done thus far and the additional work ahead plus the projects unlocked via Stretch Goal. So please be financially responsible.
- Choose a Reward Tier You Can Afford
-
Read the Manuscripts and Make Sure You Know What You're Getting
-
Be Aware of the Projected Delivery Date (Onyx Path will try to deliver earlier than this, but the book will take some time to get perfect)
3. PAYMENT AND CONTACT INFORMATION
Once you're comfortable with your pledge, please ensure that the payment and contact information in your BackerKit account is up to date and correct. Making sure your e-mail is entered correctly and your credit card isn't expired will speed up the next step process. (
I have learned from experience!)
4. OVERTIME MODE
Overtime Mode extends the campaign past its original end time to give backers a final chance to make their pledge and adds an interesting twist to the end of the campaign. How long will it extend? That’s entirely up to backers: The campaign will keep going for an additional 10 minutes as long as pledges keep coming in – a chain of back-to-back pledges is called the
Backer Train. The campaign will end only when the Backer Train stops after a period of 10 minutes passing without any pledges.
You’ll know we’re in Overtime Mode when the campaign’s Backer Train counter displays a bright rainbow border and a new countdown that resets to 10 minutes after each new backer joins that final Backer Train ride.
So, we've scheduled the campaign to conclude on September 26th at 2:00 pm EDT, but it'll be extended in 10 minute chunks as long as backers keep pledging. Will we add an extra 10 minutes? An extra 20? Or will it all finish up as we planned? Who knows, but we'll find out together! Making this story ultra indeed!
WHAT COMES NEXT?
5. AFTER THE CAMPAIGN ENDS
First, we celebrate. The campaign page will subtly change, locking out the ability to pledge and showing the final totals. We'll give socially-distanced high fives and digital fist bumps in the Community section and over on Discord.
Then, the BackerKit payment process begins. Starting late tonight and continuing over the next week, Backerkit will begin charging your payment methods for the total amount you've pledged.
If there is an issue with your payment method (expired credit card or incorrect number or pre-paid Visa awaiting funds, for example), BackerKit will keep trying to process payment during this time.
Once this step is done, which will likely be by early October, BackerKit will confirm everything with Onyx Path and I can begin to set up the project in the Pledge Manager and load in all of the campaign data.
In addition to providing the crowdfunding platform for this campaign, BackerKit is also Onyx Path's regular Pledge Manager partner.
BackerKit provides a robust fulfillment integration and pledge management program that will allow us to work with all of the data and distribute the rewards to you. It will take me about a month to set the project up. Once I've got it all entered and built, the team from BackerKit will review to ensure I didn't mess anything up too badly, and then I'll make any changes they've suggested and we can move on to the Survey stage.
6. BACKERKIT SURVEYS
Once BackerKit says I'm good to go, I will send out a survey to all backers. This is why confirming your e-mail is important!
The BackerKit survey is both a verb and a noun - it will collect data for the analysis of some aspect of a group (enabling Onyx Path to set print runs, prioritize new projects, and fine-tune future campaigns), as well as providing a general review or summary of the reward tier you've chosen, confirm all of the rewards associated with that reward tier, and confirm your total pledge amount.
I expect Surveys to go out by late October 2024.
During the Survey period, you can choose to increase your reward tier and add on additional options. If you've found $20 in your fall jacket or found an alternate income source and decide it's time to trade up to the hardcover version of the book or include another add-on, you can do so at this time. Note, you will not be able to reduce your reward tier selection, only increase.
If you selected Add On options, they'll be added to your reward list automatically.
Note that you'll be able to upgrade your pledge tier for quite some time - until we're getting ready to print the book itself and have figured out International shipping costs. So don't feel pressure to have it all figured out right away - we'll make sure there's plenty of time to get it all sorted before the books go out.
Similarly, if you have a hardcover book as one of your rewards, the survey will ask you to confirm your shipping address, even though it'll be some time before we ship out the final product. Do not worry about moving before shipping begins - you will be able to update BackerKit right up until the point that we begin fulfilling the final book. We will send out a notice prior to lock down so you can update any information.
I'll also use the Survey to confirm some details for the premium reward tiers.
7. REWARD DISTRIBUTION
Once the surveys are up and running, I'll prepare fulfillment for the existing rewards - the Add On options that are all currently available, like the digital Storypath Seeds bundles for the existing PDFs. Depending on how smoothly the Pledge Manager process goes, those should be out fairly soon after the survey stage starts. So, let's say the existing PDF rewards will be out to you by the start of November, if not earlier. That's only the beginning, though.
This is a long process, but I will send out regular updates (usually at the end of the month) to keep you up to speed on Onyx Path's progress. There will be strings of updates that are just "still working on it," but I will share new artwork or information when I can.
Eventually, we will have a completed PDF of the Storypath Ultra Core Manual. Onyx Path will take some time to distribute, review, and compile any errata or corrections that need to be made. When they've made any necessary changes, they'll make an updated version of the PDF available in your DriveThruRPG digital library and then begin creating print-ready files for the Print-on-Demand and the hardcover versions.
It's yet another long road ahead, likely full of twists and turns and surprises, but one that we wouldn't be undertaking if not for your ongoing support.
So - one final time - please spread the word to any potential backers and fans, and thanks so much for a great campaign!
AND DON'T MISS YOUR FINAL OPPORTUNITY TO VOTE FOR THE THIRD EXAMPLE GAME!!
Voting will close once the campaign ends.
Here's to our final hours!!
#StoryPath Ultra
#FinalDay
Final Days Review - Stretch Goals
about 1 month ago
– Wed, Sep 25, 2024 at 07:53:06 AM
Hello Ultra-Backers,
We're not quite in the final 24 hours, but getting very close! With these last hours, I wanted to review some important topics, most especially our current Stretch Goal situation! Let's get reviewin'!
We're in the Final Days countdown for this Crowdfunding campaign.
Storypath Ultra Core Manual finishes the crowdfunding campaign on Thursday, September 26th at 2:00 PM EDT. There's still time to get others to join us on this path, but we're definitely getting closer to the finish line. With that in mind, I wanted to touch on some of the basics over this final day to make sure everyone has the information they need to support this project in the way that works best for them.
Final Days Schedule
Whether you've chosen three Paths and selected all of your Edges or are just assinging your first dot, these are some good topics to review over this week to make sure we all end up where we want to be.
(An aside, if you're a new backer, make sure you check out our Final Week Countdown / Resource Update. It has links to the manuscript previews, podcast and panels, and other helpful information.)
Refresher Course
Note for New Backers: Please check out the updates listed above. There's a lot of information there that will be important to know about before the end, like how we're not including shipping charges in our pledges for this campaign and instead will be charging them in our pledge manager before we ship out the books, and you can also read the entire draft manuscript before the end of the campaign and any pledges are processed.
Note for Since-the-Start Backers: It's probably a good idea to review that stuff as well. Never hurts to make sure you haven't missed anything! And it's fun to listen to those podcasts and interviews.
We've had, and will have, a bunch of new backers join in during these last days. I want to take a moment to highlight some key Update posts that new backers may want to check out (and existing backers may want to read as a refresher!).
MANUSCRIPT PREVIEW - As noted, the
complete Preview Manuscript for the book is available for you to review prior to the conclusion of the campaign. If you're a backer, you'll have access to this preview manuscript after the campaign. Remember, though, there are still some minor edits, development and proofing that need to be done, plus two new example settings that will be added to the final version. But, you can consider it most of the way there and a good representation of what you'll get in the final book. Making the manuscript available for review before the campaign ends ensures that everyone knows exactly what our goal is - making this book - and are on board with our aims for this project. Thanks for your support, we're all in this together!
PLEDGE TIERS - This update breaks down your best starting point for figuring out which Backer Reward Tier to choose to help support this project in a way that works for you.
The first decision you need to make in figuring out your reward tier is whether you want to receive the PDF version or the hardcover edition (which comes with bonus PDF version).
STORYPATH ULTRA PDF REWARD
This is the PDF-only reward tier. So, if you're saving trees or saving shelf space - or avoiding the shipping charges that are absolutely ever-increasing - this is the reward tier option that you should begin with. The PDF will be fulfilled by our partners at DriveThruRPG.com - when it is ready, you will receive a link to add it to your DTRPG library at no cost for you to download at your leisure. As a backer, you will be able to vote on new content during the crowdfunding campaign.
STORYPATH ULTRA HARDCOVER REWARD
This reward tier includes the hardcover version of this book. Shipping costs ARE NOT included in the cost of your pledge. You will be charged for shipping after the campaign through the pledge manager. In addition, this option also includes the PDF version, so you will get a digital copy as described above. As a backer, you will be able to vote on new content during the crowdfunding campaign.
ADD-ON OPTIONS - The other half of our Reward Tiers update, including information on the second step of pledging. There are several Add On options that you can add as part of your pledging process, including pre-ordering three of the Onyx Path games that use the SPU rules and two bundles of products that use the original Storypath system that planted the seeds for SPU.
Choose Wisely
Choosing the correct Reward Tier for your desired rewards, and then filling in any "gaps" with add-ons, ensures that you'll be claiming all of your desired rewards as a thank you for supporting this project and bringing this world to life.
Remember, your PLEDGE AMOUNT is equal to your REWARD TIER + ADD ONS only - Any Shipping costs will be collected at a later date. You will also be able to select Add On options in the Pledge Manager after the campaign, but remember that only funds added during the campaign count towards Stretch Goal funding targets.
Also to note, only those who participate during the campaign are able to have Stretch Goal rewards added automatically to their rewards lists. If you're waiting to pre-order at a later time, it's better to pledge to the Storypath Support tier now and then simply upgrade your pledge later to include these bonus rewards.
Tomorrow I'll be posting one further "Final Day" update, covering What Happens Next and outlining what to expect once the campaign ends.
But until then, let's review our Stretch Goal success story!
Over the past 23 days as we've worked through this campaign we've not only funded the book but also unlocked SIX Stretch Goal targets! That's right - we've unlocked all of the Stretch Goals that had been planned for this campaign!
Our Stretch Goals have been a mix of regular "milestone markers" that helped keep our pace and allowed me to plan out the rest of our campaign, as well as some new Onyx Path SPU license prioritizing and procedures, and an online game aid. Let's review and see what we've accomlished by coming together to Crowdfund this project!
MILESTONE MARKERS
Monitoring our pace during the mid-campaign, these milestone markers are great celebratory moments allowing us to keep our focus, and fun rewards going out to all who supported this project during the Crowdfunding campaign.
ACHIEVED - DIGITAL WALLPAPER - Sensational SPU artwork will be used to create a wallpaper for your computer desktop. This digital wallpaper will be added to the rewards list of all backers supporting this project.
ACHIEVED – STORYPATH ULTRA SHIRT ON REDBUBBLE – A Storypath Ultra-themed Backer shirt will be hosted on Onyx Path’s Redbubble store for a limited time. Only backers will be notified when the shirt becomes available for purchase.
ACHIEVED – VTT TOKEN PACK - Digital assets will be created to support online play for Storypath Ultra games, including key character and creature tokens from the book. This online asset pack will be added to the rewards list of all backers.
CREATE YOUR OWN CONTENT
In addition, we had two Stretch Goals that helped Onyx Path prioritize and plan for your ability to use the Storypath Ultra system in your own creations. The book itself is a toolbox designed to facilitate you creating your own homegames, but with these two goals new options are set up to share your work with the world.
First up, Onyx Path has had the
STORYPATH NEXUS community content program running for a while, allowing creators to build and sell material for games like Trinity Continuum and Scion within some limits. Adding new material and opening new books has taken some time, though, as Onyx Path builds resources for creators and carefully outlines which material is available to use. Our first Stretch Goal in this section bumped the SPU Core Manual to the head of the line, though, and let Onyx Path know there was indeed a great eagerness to get some SPU material out into the Storypath Nexus for creators and fans!
ACHIEVED - COMMUNITY CONTENT PROGRAM - Onyx Path will expedite adding Storypath Ultra material to the Storypath Nexus Community Content Program.
For the next Stretch Goal in this section, Onyx Path will come up with policies and procedures to handle bigger projects that may sit outside of the scope of the Storypath Nexus program. If you've got a big game that you want to create using the SPU system, Onyx Path will develop a way to officially license the SPU material for approved partners.
ACHIEVED – APPROVED LICENSING PROGRAM - Onyx Path will develop guidelines and a review process for approved publishers to create material using the Storypath Ultra system outside of the Storypath Nexus community content program.
All of these are now works in progress, and I don't know more than what has been written here, but I look forward to see where the Onyx Path team take these new paths...
ONLINE GAME TOOLS
This final Stretch Goal was just introduced within the past week, and I thought might be down to the wire. But our Final 48 Hour notice rallied the fans, and we've unlocked it with time to spare! If you're like me, about 99% of your gaming involves Discord over the past few years, so any tools designed to make it easier are very welcome in my world!
ACHIEVED – DISCORD DICE BOT - Onyx Path will work with an external developer to create and maintain a Discord Dice-Bot for Storypath Ultra.
YOUR REWARDS!
That's right! You backed this project to help make and publish the Storypath Ultra Core Manual! Our primary reward - the big thank you that we'll send out in appreciation for your support - are PDFs and/or hardcover copies of this book! BUT AS A BONUS, you may also have a digital wallpaper, some online tokens, and an opportunity to add to your wardrobe, plus you'll get to see the new material that comes from the community!
An Ultra Achievement
This campaign has exceeded expectations, and we've unlocked all Stretch Goals with more than 24 hours to spare! Now, some may consider coasting in to the conclusion of the campaign tomorrow, but we've still got one major task ahead of us!
VOTE FOR OUR THIRD EXAMPLE SETTING
In total, the SPU Core Manual will contain three example settings and games to demonstrate how you can build your own game with the systems provided. The first of the included example settings, Pinfall from Grace, Body Slams from Hell, has now been shared in it's entirety with backers.
It not only offers a complete game set in the parallel version of the year 2000, but also illustrates exactly how Story Path was implemented and adjusted. We have plans to write two more, and as a backer you'll be able to vote on which ones you prefer.
For our Sci-Fi example, backers have chosen "An experimental space flight flings the player characters into a distant galaxy full of strange and alien sights."
For the final poll, you'll be voting on a Fantasy setting example. Your options:
A cozy fantasy game where explorers look for ingredients to help heal their sick dragon friend.
A war-torn world ripped apart by a devastating magic war, and a few surviving wizards try to prove who is the best among them.
A group of young heroes are blessed with magical armor and weapons in order to defeat an evil sorcerer queen seeking to destroy their land.
Voting will run until the Crowdfunding campaign ends on September 26th. You must be a backer of this project to vote for this setting.
Our current results, with just over 27 hours to go...
Option 2 is still holding it's lead, but it has slightly diminished by fractions of a percent!
And we've still got about 600 Backers who haven't voted yet! Make sure your vote is counted before the end! Even if you decide by rolling a die! Let's see if we can't get to 700 votes before the end of the campaign!
STORYPATH ULTRA CORE MANUAL enters OVERTIME MODE on Thursday, September 26th at 2:00 PM EDT.
We will finish up as soon as our backer train ends after that point! So let's see if we can't hit 700 votes and then keep that train running for an extra 10 or 20 minutes!!
Don't forget to Vote!!
#SPU
VOTE for the FANTASY EXAMPLE SETTING/GAME
about 1 month ago
– Tue, Sep 24, 2024 at 10:43:00 AM
Hello Ultra-Backers,
As one of the perks of backing, you get a say in some of the contents of the final version of the Storypath Ultra Core Manual.
The first way, of course, is by sharing your feedback on the manuscript directly with the writers and developers via the
SPU Feedback Form: https://forms.gle/1fGuU881zBHPsktz7. If you've noticed an exploit that hasn't yet registered or a wording issue with a Building Block, make sure you submit your feedback to the team.
But, even more directly, you have the power to vote on one of the example settings that will be included in the final version of this book.
In total, the SPU Core Manual will contain three example settings and games to demonstrate how you can build your own game with the systems provided. The first of the included example settings, P
infall from Grace, Body Slams from Hell, has now been shared in it's entirety with backers.
It not only offers a complete game set in the parallel version of the year 2000, but also illustrates exactly how Story Path was implemented and adjusted. We have plans to write two more, and as a backer you'll be able to vote on which ones you prefer.
For our Sci-Fi example, backers have chosen "
An experimental space flight flings the player characters into a distant galaxy full of strange and alien sights."
For the final poll, you'll be voting on a Fantasy setting example. Your options:
A cozy fantasy game where explorers look for ingredients to help heal their sick dragon friend.
A war-torn world ripped apart by a devastating magic war, and a few surviving wizards try to prove who is the best among them.
A group of young heroes are blessed with magical armor and weapons in order to defeat an evil sorcerer queen seeking to destroy their land.
Voting will run until the Crowdfunding campaign ends on September 26th. You must be a backer of this project to vote for this setting.
Our current results, with just over 48 hours to go...
Right now, it looks like Option 2 is in the lead, with 46% of the vote. BUT that's with only 483 backers having voted thus far. With 48 hours remaining, there are almost 600 backers who haven't voted!
600 Backers who haven't voted!!
At this time, that's all fine if you're not interested in options 1 or 3, but if those starting points sound intriguing to you, make sure you've spent 20 seconds on the poll page and made your vote count!
And votes may change, so even if your choice is winning right now, we'll see where we are in 48 hours!
We've got the setting example in
Pinfall from Grace, Bodyslams from Hell to give us an example of how these mini games will come together in the book, so let's give the writing team a direction to point in when they create the third setting.
The poll will run until the campaign ends, in roughly 48 hours. We've scheduled the campaign to conclude on September 26th at 2:00 pm EDT, but it'll be extended in 10 minute chunks as long as backers keep pledging.
And everyone who pledges is entitled to a vote on this example chapter, so let's see how we shake out at the conclusion!
#SPUBackerVote
