200% Funded - Behind the Screen Giveaway - NPC Generator Preview
about 5 years ago
– Tue, Mar 26, 2019 at 04:52:51 PM
Hello backers! Just a quick update today - we've crossed the 200% funded mark with just over a week to go. Got a GM friend who could use a HeroBook? They've only got 8 days left to pledge!
I've been working away at putting together the tables and generators that you'll find inside HeroBook GM, and have another one to show you! Next, a member of our art team was recently featured by CBC for his work, which you should definitely check out. Finally, I'm holding a fun little giveaway for the final week of our campaign, so if you want to win your copy of HeroBook GM for free, or score some HeroBooks for your party, check it out!
HeroBook GM Giveaway: Behind the Screen
It's giveaway time! This one is real simple: I want to see behind your GM screen. Simply respond to one of our posts on Twitter or Facebook with a photo of what tools you have behind your screen - I wanna see those loose notes, messy binders, disorganized folders, and anything else you're excited to replace with HeroBook GM. Replying with a photo on either post counts as an entry, and you can gain an additional entry by sharing or retweeting the post. If you reply to both posts, share, and retweet, you'll get a total of four entries! So what can you win? There are four awesome prizes available!
1x Grand Prize: One copy of HeroBook GM, an original HeroBook for every member of your party, and your choice of a gorgeous semi-precious stone dice set from our friends at Level Up Dice
3x Runner-up Prizes: One copy of HeroBook GM, one original HeroBook, and a $25 gift card to Level Up Dice
The winners will be randomly chosen on April 4th, the final day of the Kickstarter campaign. If you've got a session in the next week, snap a photo, comment it on our posts, and get your GM tools in order!
Enter via Facebook / Enter via Twitter
Content Preview - NPC Generator
This NPC generator is actually a combination of ten unique tables - three d20 tables (race, speech, voice) and seven d100 tables (positive trait, negative trait, profession, quirk, appearance, equipment, quest hook) - that you can use to generate just about any detail you might need for an NPC. Use all of them together to create a robust, memorable character as you prep for the session, or roll on just one or two of the tables in the middle of the game to give your vanilla town guard or stock bartender NPC some unique flair. To get new example results, just refresh the page.
Preview the NPC generator here!
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this preview - how do you generally create NPCs? Will you find something like this useful during your sessions?
CBC In Residence - Alex Gibson of the HeroBook Art Team
I'm bursting with pride to share with you last week's CBC artist In Residence, my good friend Alex Gibson! Alex is originally from Barbados and much of his art explores the anxiety created by his conflicting queer and Caribbean backgrounds. As a graduate of Emily Carr University of Art & Design with a major in animation, Alex turns the uneasy "boiling" of his animations into a stirring metaphor for the complexity and confusion of growing up queer in a society that rejects it.
Alex was a huge part of the art team for the first HeroBook, providing all of the beautiful items and trinkets found in each class section, as well as the full-page treant on page 85. I'm so excited to have him back as part of the team for HeroBook GM! Congrats on the feature, Alex!
Important note for all backers
Please double-check that the email address on file with your Kickstarter account is one you check regularly, especially if you've logged into Kickstarter using your Facebook account, which often has an old email address on file. I will be communicating with you throughout the campaign and all the way up to shipping time via these backer updates, and I want to make sure you don't miss a thing. If you have any questions whatsoever about HeroBook or the campaign, don't hesitate to contact me through Kickstarter (click on my profile) or email me at [email protected].
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175% Funded - NPC Tables Preview
about 5 years ago
– Tue, Mar 19, 2019 at 07:23:57 PM
We're rolling right along with 15 days left in the campaign and we should hit the 175% funded mark by the end of the day! Huge thanks to all of the backers so far for your support. Here's a quick look at some campaign stats so far:
- 1,221 backers (783 from the United States, 153 from Canada, 124 from the United Kingdom, 79 from Australia, 82 from other countries)
- 1,363 books pledged for
- 16,468 video plays
With half the campaign left to go, there's still plenty of time to pledge if you'd like to be one of the first to get your hands on HeroBook GM!
Hello to ECCC attendees!
We had an awesome time exhibiting at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle this past weekend! Thanks to everyone who dropped by our booth to check our HeroBook. It was super cool to meet so many backers from the first project who were excited to back again. Thank you for your hospitality - I have a good feeling that we'll be back next year!
Content Preview: Place Name Generator
With the project over 100% funded, I've been getting to work writing the content that will appear in HeroBook GM, and I'm excited to share a preview of one of the many tables and generators that you'll find inside the book. Rather than create a basic table of place names that would be exhausted fairly quickly, I'm instead using multiple d100 tables that are designed to be used in conjunction with each other, giving you thousands of different potential combinations. In the case of this place name generator, you'll be able to generate several different permutations of standard and exotic names, as well as location types. To get new example results, just refresh the page.
Preview the place name generator here and try it yourself!
If you get a chance to check it out, feel free to share your thoughts, as all of this content is subject to change based on backer feedback.
Important note for all backers
Please double-check that the email address on file with your Kickstarter account is one you check regularly, especially if you've logged into Kickstarter using your Facebook account, which often has an old email address on file. I will be communicating with you throughout the campaign and all the way up to shipping time via these backer updates, and I want to make sure you don't miss a thing. If you have any questions whatsoever about HeroBook or the campaign, don't hesitate to contact me through Kickstarter (click on my profile) or email me at [email protected].
Follow us on social media
Follow the campaign or drop us a line on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or Discord!
100% FUNDED!
about 5 years ago
– Wed, Mar 13, 2019 at 02:21:17 PM
After less than four days, we have reached our funding goal, and HeroBook GM is going to get made!
I'm absolutely humbled by your support this early in the campaign. Thank you to each and every one of our incredible backers for believing in the project. Our first campaign, which had the same CA $40,000 goal, crossed the 100% mark on day 18, and you've beat that by a full two weeks. The campaign is far from over - we have 26 days left! - so if you're excited about the project, this is a great time to share it with your party's GM, a friend who's looking to start running games, or anyone else you think might find HeroBook GM useful. With the continued support of awesome backers like you, maybe we can even eclipse our total from last time!
A statement on stretch goals
I've been spending a lot of time over the last few weeks thinking about stretch goals for this campaign. After a ton of back and forth I've decided that I will not be adding any stretch goals this time around. There are three main reasons for this:
- Reason #1: I'm including the material upgrade stretch goal from the first HeroBook project (which was a $100,000 goal) by default on all of our books. The unlocked upgrade was from 100lb to 120lb cover stock, and in fact, the final version of the first HeroBook that shipped to backers actually uses 130lb cover stock for even more durability. It felt like a step backwards to start with a lighter cover stock than I used for our first HeroBook, so that stretch goal is out, and every copy of HeroBook GM will use 130lb cover stock. Also, those of you who were part of the last campaign will recall that we unlocked edge painting as a stretch goal, but it was later cut during manufacturing due to it causing significant delays. I've finally got my hands on a prototype of the first HeroBook that includes edge painting, and while it does look pretty cool, there are still some quality issues I am not totally satisfied with, so I will not be offering edge painting as a stretch goal again.
- Reason #2: as a product designer, I don't really agree with the practice of putting extra content or bonus rewards behind a stretch goal. My philosophy is that I want to create the best, most complete product I can, whether we raise $40,000 or $400,000. The list of planned content for HeroBook GM includes all of the things that I think should be in the book, and it feels disingenuous to arbitrarily lock a portion of that content behind stretch goals. Offering full value should be the default.
- Reason #3: adding additional rewards as stretch goals - for example, a bonus item that all backers receive with their pledge - takes my time and attention away from creating an awesome primary reward, and increases the risk of complications and delays. Every additional item also increases our shipping costs from a weight perspective as well as our per-item cost for order picking at our fulfillment warehouses.
The short version is that I care deeply about the quality of the product and the timeliness of the campaign, and stretch goals introduce problems in areas where I'm not willing to compromise. I hope those of you who are veteran Kickstarter backers will understand, and at the end of the day, I think it will result in a better product.
Material Components @ ECCC
Heading to Seattle next weekend for Emerald City Comic Con? Our team will be at booth 615 slinging HeroBooks all weekend long. Meeting backers is my absolute favorite part of Kickstarting a project, so please do drop by and introduce yourself if you're attending, and grab one of our convention-exclusive HeroBook buttons for free!
Important note for all backers
Please double-check that the email address on file with your Kickstarter account is one you check regularly, especially if you've logged into Kickstarter using your Facebook account, which often has an old email address on file. I will be communicating with you throughout the campaign and all the way up to shipping time via these backer updates, and I want to make sure you don't miss a thing. If you have any questions whatsoever about HeroBook or the campaign, don't hesitate to contact me through Kickstarter (click on my profile) or email me at [email protected].
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40% Funded - Join us at the launch party!
about 5 years ago
– Wed, Mar 06, 2019 at 07:56:14 PM
Hello amazing backers! We're back once again on Kickstarter, and I'm so delighted to have your support. An extra huge thank you to all the repeat backers pledging for the second time. I hope to exceed your expectations with an even better product this time around.
I'm very excited that we've already eclipsed the 40% funded mark in under 12 hours! That's absolutely incredible - almost triple what we did on day one of our first campaign, and the day is not over. I'll be providing updates via posts like these throughout the campaign, so keep it tuned right here for all the latest.
If you happen to be in our hometown of Vancouver, Canada, I'd love nothing more than to see you at our launch party tonight at the Storm Crow Alehouse!
We're hanging out from 7 to 10 pm and will be giving away a stack of HeroBook prize packs, and an exclusive grand prize pack that includes a $50 Storm Crow gift card and a deluxe steel/bronze miniature from our friends at HeroForge. The only way to win is to be in the house, so we hope to see you there!
Important note for all backers
Please double-check that the email address on file with your Kickstarter account is one you check regularly, especially if you've logged into Kickstarter using your Facebook account, which often has an old email address on file. We will be communicating with you throughout the campaign and all the way up to shipping time via these backer updates, and we want to make sure you don't miss a thing.
If you have any questions whatsoever about HeroBook or the campaign, don't hesitate to contact me through Kickstarter (click on my profile) or email me at [email protected].
Follow us on social media
Follow the campaign or drop us a line on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or Discord!
