Step into a bizarre, post-apocalyptic America with two new regional settings for the Backwards: American Gothic Horror universe. Please Note: Shipping fees for this project will be calculated at a later date. We plan to enter & charge backers for shipping a month or two before fulfillment when we have the most accurate estimates of what it will cost to ship rewards. We will alert backers when shipping costs are finalized & before we charge cards. We will keep you informed all along the way!
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
This is our monthly update for the month of January. If you’d like to hear more from us, you can check us out on twitter, sign up for our newsletter, follow us on itch, or chat with us in our discord.
Sorry if this update isn't as long as you might like. Unfortunately, this is the second time that I'm writing this, after I saved the draft, received the Draft Saved message, and then proceeded to find an empty draft upon returning to Kickstarter...
Here is what we have for you in today's update:
Last month, you received a link to your BackerKit survey! Don’t forget to fill it out! 82% of your peers have already done it! You'll need this survey to confirm your pledge, and it is your last chance to upgrade your pledge level or select add-ons. Finally, this survey is an opportunity to add some other special content that we have been working on... See "Adventures for the Backwards Universe" below.
As a reminder: Due to the volatility of shipping prices globally right now, shipping fees for this project will be calculated one or two months before fulfillment. We will alert backers when shipping costs are finalized & before we charge your cards.
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://backwardsttrpg.backerkit.com.
As we mentioned last month, we had a couple of stretch goals that we didn't quite reach during the campaign: some adventures for the newest books in our series, Backchannels and Backwoods! We decided to make them anyway, and we'll run a keep-it-all crowdfund in February for ZiMo. They'll be available as a PDF and as a Zine, and you can already add them to your order via Backerkit.
Each adventure collection will include two adventures plus two one-sheet adventures. The physical copy will be a thick digest-sized zine. Here is a peak at the covers by Vincent Cecil (left) and Nala J. Wu (right)!
What are some things to love about these covers? Look at the texture of that spanish moss on the Backchannels Adventures cover, the lighting, and the very cool little spirits in each bottle! And look closely at the grass and apple tree near that old, abandoned cider mill on the Backwoods cover. Believe it or not: no green is used in this very creepy cover!
As a reminder, both of these new books include contributors from their featured region:
Backchannels Adventures features two contributors from the Southeast:
Backwoods Adventures features two New England-based contributors:
I’m also working on some physical copies of our original books! You can check out a proof of Backwater Adventures here:
This update is arriving a week late after a rough December and a busy start to January. Between the holidays, some unexpected medical appointments and COVID, and a busy season for work, it's also time to organize tax-related materials. Thanks to those of you who have been patient with me, and if you're waiting on updates from other ttrpg creators at this time, please share some grace with them, as this can be a hard and busy time of year.
That said, the busy time has not slowed down the progress on the new books. A lot has happened since I sent last month’s update. Artists have started on the remaining art for the new books, and I’ll show you a few of those pieces today. Work on the remaining writing continues, in addition to some layout work and print proofs for the Backwater and Backroads adventure books. What else? Well, at the end of January, I’ll begin charging cards for any upgrades in Backerkit, and at that point, we'll start working on the Create A Monster tier work. If you’re in that tier and have already answered your survey, you’ll be hearing from me soon!
First up is a Geiger counter and hazmat helmet by Tate Allen! Now you too can visit the irradiated craters of Old World cities! I just love Tate's style, and these are going to look so cool when they're done.
Now, some thumbnails for the map of the Gulf Ward, by Aaron Radney. Aaron has put a lot of thought into these pieces and how the geography of the U.S. has been altered by climate change and nuclear weapons. You can tell! Personally, I really enjoyed looking at these pieces and the questions that they raised about how the altered geography affects trade and travel around the peninsula but also between the Gulf and Atlantic. Doesn't it get your imagination spinning?
And finally, the finished version of Carlos Eulefi's Giant Crocodile! I like how the mangrove trees and half-sunken ship bring in the book's themes. And at the same time, I enjoy the perspective in the art, particularly how the seagull's relative size to the crocodile forces us to reconcile just how large that crocodile actually is.
And that's it for today! Thank you all for your patience with this update. I look forward to the next update in early February and to reaching out to those of in the Create a Monster tier who have already completed their surveys (soon!).
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
If you haven't already heard the news, we funded! Not only that, we hit our first stretch goal too! That means that all backers will receive two thematic, form-fillable character sheets (PDFs) with their pledge. Sam Rustle will design these sheets, each of which will feature creepy illustrations based on the Backwoods or Backchannels setting.
I said this when our last campaign funded too, and while it's cliché it's also entirely true: for Alex and myself these games are "heartwork." Simply put: these games are prompted by and executed with the heart, all of one's heart. We enjoy this work, and we want to create things that others can enjoy. We wouldn't be able to do that without you. So, thank you for your support! And thank you for helping us make this project the best that it can be!
We don't want to overload your inbox. Our plan is to send out one update per month via Kickstarter. We did this for our last two campaigns, and it worked well. It keeps us accountable, and it allows us to show you what we've been working on. Especially new art!
What's next? First, we need a few days off. We also have to wait until Kickstarter collects all of the funds and distributes them to us. So, please make sure that Kickstarter is able to collect your pledge.If your card has expired or there is an issue processing your pledge, Kickstarter will notify you and give you some time to remedy the situation. Keep an eye on that so that you don't miss out on your rewards!
Some of the first items on our list:
Did you pledge for a PDF of Backwater, Backroads, or the Adventures? We'll fulfill these around the end of November, after all funds are processed/distributed.
Do your rewards include a special acknowledgement? For those of you who selected a special acknowledgement or received it as part of your reward tier, we'll be reaching out soon to learn how you would like your name displayed on the Acknowledgements page. You'll also have the option to add a First Name and a Last Name to the books' random name tables.
Do your rewards include "Create a Monster"? For those of you who selected "Create a Monster" or receive it as part of your reward tier, we'll be reaching out soon to begin this process. If you aren't ready to suggest ideas yet, you can just tell us that you need more time.
Let us thank you one more time! Seriously, we are so grateful for your support, and we're excited to share these games with you. This is all that we have for our first post, but you'll be hearing from us soon!
Can't wait to get started!
We are almost there! We have less than 8% to go until we are funded, but we have only three days left. How are we feeling? Fairly confident! Based on the average pledges over the last five days and the effect of Kickstarter's reminder to Project Followers at the 48 hr mark, it seems likely that we'll make it!
That said, likelihood is not a guarantee. I rather not put our fate in the hands of lady fortune. Please be sure to spread the word to your friends and gaming table!
We're also on Twitter and Bluesky, and we have some informative posts that we'd love for you to share!
We are 21 days into the campaign! I thought I'd continue to look at the publicly available numbers (via Kicktraq), for those of you who are interested.
It's been ten days since our last update. That part of a campaign is usually a massive slog. It's the time that many campaigns fall out of the Kickstarter algorithm for a couple of reasons, at the very least because they are no longer new. However, in retrospect, we actually did fairly well, averaging around $275 in pledges per day (Thank you, thank you, thank you to our backers!). In our last campaign Backroads, we averaged around $220 or $170, if you account for an obvious outlier.
Where are we at compared to previous campaigns? In our Backroads campaign, we had reached $7,353 by this point. We've nearly doubled that. But that was a smaller campaign. The funding goal was $7,000, and we had heaved a sigh of relief at that point.
"This game exists for the bizarre narrative impulses in the heart of every GM."
That great pull quote is from a friend in the Backwards Tabletop discord, who speaks from experience after recently wrapping up a plot in Backwater. They said this in response to the adventure I was writing for Creepsville Radio, one of my most bizarre stories yet.
Above is the episode art for Pirates in Plastic Peril. I'll share the full art soon or you can preview it by checking the podcast link below for Creepsville Radio:
Again, many thanks to all of you for your support. You're helping us make these games a reality, and we quite literally could not do it without your support. I can't say it enough!
Now, let's destroy that last 8% of our goal. Maybe we'll get to see some stretch goals...
