Year: 2015

Skeleton Crew: Don’t Hate the Playtester, Hate the Game

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sc open beta events

The Open Beta for the Skeleton Crew Playtest ends in a little over a month. (It’s not to late too squeeze a few more into the playtest, if you know any who might be interested. Share the documents with your friends, or better still, give them the link to our website, so they can join in the test themselves.)

If you find yourself at one of the following cons, give us advanced notice, and we would gladly arrange time to run a game:

  • Ravencon – Richmond, VA – April 24-26
  • Tidewater Comiccon – Virginia Beach, VA – May 17-18
  • Awesomecon – Rockville, MD – May 29th-31st
  • DC Capcon – Washington DC- June 19-21
  • We can even see if we can arrange an over-the-interwebs game!

This week, we’ve posted all of our pre-made character sheets. While creating a character can be one of most enjoyable parts of an rpg, we know that it can make one-shot games hard to arrange. To help you out with your games, we’re sharing our pre-made sheets with you–if you want to run a one-shot game, just print them off, and you’re good to go!

Below Average: If you open the sheets, you’ll notice that the nearly all of the Average (+1) skills are left blank. That’s intentional! We’ve found that giving players that extra little space gives the players more flexibility and creative input. When I run these games at conventions, I laminate the character sheets, and have players write them in with dry-erase markers. (Speaking of dry erase, you DID see our kickstarter for Fate Accompli launching in July, right?)

Enjoy the following ready-to-run characters!

SC Character sheet Abby Normal– Librarian

SC Fate Character Sheet Amonanda- Mummy Sorceress

SC Fate Character Sheet Bulldawg – Gangsta Werewolf

SC Fate Character Sheet Caomh Culain – Wight Berserker

SC Fate Character Sheet – Doc Turnell – Mad Scientist

SC Fate Character Sheet – Peekaboo – Small Medium

SC Fate Character Sheet – Shelley Turnell – Frankensteinian Construct

SC Fate Character Sheet – Weston Peese – Vampire

SC Fate Character Sheet – Zomboy – Teen Zombie

SC Fate Character Sheet- Blank

Fate Skill Hack: Zero Tolerance

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Last week I introduced idea of the Zero Sum skills (nutshell version: having all skills paired up, with a set total sum.) Sadly, I didn’t really get a chance to analyze them, and discuss when to use them.

Before that, a shameless plug:

I'm the tin dog...

I’m the tin dog…

Tangent Artists is going to (Re)Generation Who this weekend, the brand new Doctor Who convention not far from Baltimore, Md. Come check it out!

First, let us take a look at the existing Fate Skills and Approaches.

FATE ACCELERATED
Number of Skills (Approaches) to pick from: 6
Skill Cap: 3
Pyramid Spread: one 3, two 2, two 1, one 0.
Total Skill points: 9
Average Skill Strength: 1.8
Number of skills at 1+: 5
Percentage of all possible skills with at least 1+: 83%
Percentage of all possible skills above average: 50%

FATE CORE
Number of Skills to pick from: 18
Skill Cap: 4
Pyramid Spread: one 4, two 3, three 2, four 1, eight 0.
Total Skill points: 20
Average Skill Strength: 2
Number of skills at 1+: 10
Percentage of all possible skills with at least 1+: 55%*
Percentage of all possible skills above average: 16%

*Note from the Editor: In the Fate Codex ezine by Magpie Games, Ryan Macklin wrote an article advocating that 55% was the perfect skill percentage. I recommend you look it up: Fate Codex, Volume 1, Issue 2, under “Changing Skills: A Matter of Survival.”

And thus, we see, how the Fate Zero Sum stacks up.

FATE ZERO SUM: DOCTOR WHO HACK (The one from last week)
Number of Skills to pick from: 8
Skill Cap: 4
Pyramid Spread: one 4, two 3, two 2, two 1, one 0.
Total Skill points: 16
Average Skill Strength: 2
Number of skills at 1+: 7
Percentage of all possible skills with at least 1+: 87.5%
Percentage of all possible skills above average: 37.5%

Comparison to Fate Accelerated: As you can see, Fate Zero has a wider range of skills to choose from, but a higher percentage of skills at +1. Fate Zero caps at 4 instead of 3, meaning that there’s a greater difference between your top skill and the average mook’s skill rating.

Comparison to Fate Core: Zero Sum has a much skinnier pyramid- as such, you feel less like a “jack of all trades” and more of an expert in a specific field; characters still skilled, but less versatile. This also means that there is more variation in your dice rolls- you have as many skills as +3 as you have at +1, making +2 a mathematical average, but not the actual number you’ll be consistently adding.

SLIDING THE RULER

Of course, that’s based entire on using the Doctor Who hack, with each skill pair equaling 4 and with 8 skills. Let’s play around and see what we get:

ZERO SUM: FOUR SKILLS
Prototype Skill names: Thought, Feeling, Intuition, Sensation
Number of Skills to pick from: 4
Skill Cap: 3
Pyramid Spread: one 3, one 2, one 1, one 0.
Total Skill points: 6
Average Skill Strength: 1.5
Number of skills at 1+: 3
Percentage of all possible skills with at least 1+: 75%
Percentage of all possible skills above average: 50%

ZERO SUM: SIXTEEN SKILLS
Prototype Skill names: Too Many!
Number of Skills to pick from: 16
Skill Cap: 4
Pyramid Spread: Several Options:
a. two 4, three 3, six 2, three 1, two 0.
b. two 4, four 3, four 2, four 1, two 0.
c. three 4, four 3, five 2, four 1, three 0.
Total Skill points: 32
Average Skill Strength: 2
Number of skills at 1+: For each Pyramid Option
A & B. 14
c. 13
Percentage of all possible skills with at least 1+:
A & B. 87.5%
c. 81.25%
Percentage of all possible skills above average:
a. 31.25%
b. 37.5%
c. 43.75%

In the effort of pushing something to the breaking point (or past it), let’s see what happens with a zero sum with 16 skills, only this time each Skill Pair is set at 5, with a skill cap of 5!

ZERO SUM: SIXTEEN SKILLS –FIVE POINTS, FIVE CAP
Prototype Skill names: Too Many! Aaaaaargh!
Number of Skills to pick from: 16
Skill Cap: 5
Pyramid Spread: One five, three 4, four 3, four 2, three 1, one 0.
Total Skill points: 40
Average Skill Strength: 2.5
Number of skills at 1+: 15
Percentage of all possible skills with at least 1+: 93%
Percentage of all possible skills above average: 50%
This might seem a bit power-mad at first glance; compared to Fate Core default characters, you have 4x the number of 4+ skills. However, it’s not far from Atomic Robo, which can result in characters with two or three skills at 5+, and four or five skills at 4+. This might be ideal if you plan on using a Fate Ladder with a base of 10 or 12.

Also, things get more interesting if you add the possibility of negative numbers into the mix. Let’s see that last one, but with the sum of every pair still equaling 4.

ZERO SUM: SIXTEEN SKILLS –FIVE POINTS, FIVE CAP + NEGATIVES
Prototype Skill names: Too Many! Aaaaaargh!
Number of Skills to pick from: 16
Skill Cap: 5
Pyramid Spread: One five, three 4, three 3, two 2, three 1, three 0, one -1.
Total Skill points: 32 (33-1).
Average Skill Strength: 2
Number of skills at 1+: 12
Percentage of all possible skills with at least 1+: 75%
Percentage of all possible skills above average: 43%

Thus, we see how a few negatives can potentially stem the range of skills that your heroes are good at. Imagine the original Doctor Who hack with each pair adding up to 3 instead of 4; you would have PCs that have less power and more breadth (although, if you wanted that, you could just use the default FAE or FATE list.)

So, I’ve thrown a bunch of numbers at you, but I still haven’t answered the BIG question:

WHY USE SKILL PAIRS / ZERO SUM SKILLS?

An excellent question. Here are a few ways in which it might be useful:

Fast character creation: Because two skills are linked together, picking one automatically picks the value of the other. This means you could have players pick 16 skills in the time it takes to pick 8. If you want to use a very lose skill pyramid (ex. Can only have one skill at 4), this makes the skill process even faster, as players don’t have to constantly consult a chart- they can just go to town adding points where they want. I’m tempted to try this at a convention some time, and let players build their characters. Likewise, it lets you create a NPCs with the same strength as the players in no time, in case you need to pull a new character out of your hat.

Separate but Equal Philosophies: Even if you are not using the Zero-Sum angle, I would recommend building your skills in pairs- that way, you are guaranteed that all characters have as equal chance of being effective in a scene, even if they have completely different philosophy; not every conflict should be won by the most aggressive PCs. In Fate Core, Fight and Shoot are perfect opposites- one involves directly getting into the fray, the other deals with indirect combat. In a social conflict, Provoke can be used to deal mental stress, however it doesn’t have a non-aggressive opposite; personally, I would alter Rapport into “Evoke”, and add the ability to add mental “stress.” If evoke/rapport is used to take an opponent out of a conflict, it represents the target being convinced to agree with you, while any consequences might represent any feelings they have for you that might linger into later scenes.

A World Divided: If your campaign focuses on two opposing worlds, you could have each pair have one skill attached to each “side.” For example, a Star Wars campaign with each pair having a Light side and a Dark side; a setting in Revolutionary France, with each skill having a “common” skill and a “noble” skill.

I had originally planned to cover the Impossible to beat threats and how to scheme against them, but looks like we ran out of room. Next week: To Scheme the Impossible Scheme!

FATE HACKS: ZERO SUM SKILLS and DOCTOR WHO

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This week’s entry will cover roleplaying games in general, and end with a Doctor Who hack for Fate; but I want to start with a tangent:

doctor10a_water_original

Art by Monica Marier, used with her permission. Tangent Artists claims no right to Doctor Who, or any of the other billion BBC owned characters.

 

I love Magic the Gathering.  I don’t play all that much (it’s hard to find opponents when you’re a goofy, casual player and all of your friends are busy,) but I love the symmetry of the color pie.

Each faction has their own place in the chart, but the placement is not arbitrary. With any color, the two neighboring colors compliment it, and have some overlapping strengths. What’s more, the opposite colors have diametrically opposed abilities, and even better still, opposed philosophies.

I thought of this when I started working on Masters of Umdaar: I noticed that the different approaches, by accident or design (I’m betting the latter), had natural opposites. For example, the “Flashy” approach, all about drawing attention to yourself, is the exact opposite of the “Sneaky” approach. I don’t want to take any of the steam out of Umdaar when ii publishes, so I’ll leave the rest a surprise.

Instead, let’s see if we can find any in Fate Core. Here’s a few that jump out at me:

  • Athletics – your ability to move – is the opposite of Physique – the ability to resist being moved by others
  • Contacts – your knowledge of living people and your connections to them vs. Lore – your ability to find information on your own, from the present or past.
  • Deceive – the ability to cheat people and mimic real feelings –  vs. Empathy – the ability to emotionally help people and detect the real feelings of others.
  • Fight – to deal damage up close and personally through direct contact vs. Shoot – to deal damage indirectly without close contact.

Of course, some of the Fate Core skills don’t have an opposite- for this reason, I think a few skills could be added or tweaked, but we’ll get into that during another post.

Today, I’m going to use the idea of opposite skills to experiment with something else: ZERO SUM SKILLS.

ZERO SUM SKILLS

Zero Sum Skills would work like this: imagine you all of your skills in your hacks are arranged into opposing skill pairs. For the first example, we’ll use Jung’s Four personality Types: Sensing vs. Intuition, and Feeling vs Thinking.

  • Sensing vs. Intuition – Jung defined these as two opposing ways to receive information and ideas.
  • Sensing individuals prefer using touch, taste, sight, smell, and the other concrete senses. They deal with outside stimuli, and live in the present.
  • Intuitive individuals gather stimuli from less tangible ways. This include through “sixth sense” premonitions about the future, or fanciful images of imagination and dream. Intuitive individuals respond mostly to internal stimuli, and often focus on the past or future.

Now, let’s turn those two into Skills, and build a character. This character has a limited number of points to spend between these two opposite skills; how about 4 points?

If the character is very intuitive, maybe a Psychic, you could add +4 points to Intuition, with Sense +0. Likewise, if the character is better at physical clues, such as a Detective, you could add +4 points to Sense, giving you an Intuition of 0.

4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4
Sense x x x x Intuition

However, you might not want a character that’s entirely one or the other: how about a Detective that’s deals with facts, but also knows that sometimes you have to trust your gut?

4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4
Sense X X X x Intuition

 

Thus, you get a Detective with Sense +3, and Intuition +1. Alternatively, you could have it be an even split, with +2 in each.

Now, to test this further, I needed a Fate skill list that wasn’t FAE, and was shorter than the Fate Core list. So, I decided to think of a new game setting that I could test it out with.

Now, I know what you’re thinking:

FINALLY, HE GOT TO THE “DOCTOR WHO!”

In honor of the debut (Re)Generation Who Convention in Rockville MD on March 27th, I’ve put together this hack:

HOW TO PLAY

You’ll use the following skills to create your character: you can make an original character, recreate your favorite companion, or even play as one of the incarnations of the Doctor (there’s lots of precedence for having several in one place.)

Look over the skills pairs below: you will pick one to be at 4, and the opposite skill at 0. You will pick two skills to be at +3, making those two opposite skills be +1. The last skill will be split evenly, giving you +2 in each.

Thus, the skill tree will look like this:

  • +4 – one
  • +3 – two
  • +2 – two
  • +1 – one
  • +0 – one

Here are our skill pairs, which we divided into Physical and Emotional (more details on the breakdown later.)

Physical:

  • Brains vs. Instinct
  • Scrap vs. Scamper

Emotional:

  • Evoke vs. Provoke
  • Purity vs. Deviousness

PHYSICAL SKILLS – Interaction with the physical world

Brains vs Instinct – Because you can’t have a Doctor Who setting without letting people show their braininess.

Brain – Includes: book-smarts; ability to research facts quickly; formulating plans; pulling from experience. Actions: overcome, create an advantage. Cannot be used to attack or defend (without stunts).
Pro-Brain Characters: The Doctor; Martha; The Great Intelligence; The Master
Stunts:
Time Lord 101 – The master gains to +2 Brain when creating an adventure related to knowing information about science or history.
Cyber-brain – Cybermen are beings of logic, not emotion. They can use Brains instead of Purity when defending against Mental attacks.

Instinct – Includes: reacting quickly to danger; acting without a plan; making knee jerk decisions; dumb luck. Actions: overcome, create an advantage. Cannot be used to attack or defend (without stunts).
Special Rules: Reflexes – Instinct can be used to defend against surprise attacks and traps. Generally, can only be used once per scene.
Special Rules: Initiative – When rolling for turn order in conflicts, add your Instinct to the roll.
Pro-Instinct Characters: Donna; Wilfred; Weeping Angels
Stunts:
Doctor Donna – Once per session, Donna may use Instinct as Brain for all actions for the rest of the scene. However, after the scene, Donna immediately takes a Consequence.

Scrap vs. Scamper – Scrap vs. Scamper – With many settings, I wouldn’t put the opposite of “physical attacks” as “scamper,” but there are soooo many Doctor Who characters that aren’t fighters (sometimes not even MENTAL fighters) and who spend most of their episodes simply running away.

Scrap – ability to deal damage in a fight; the ability to defend against damage; the ability to destroy obstacles; the ability to bounce back when physically hurt. Actions: Overcome, Create an Advantage, Attack, Defend (physical).
Pro-Scrap Characters: Captain Jack; Soltari; Daleks
Stunts:
Ex-termi-nate – If a Dalek has one or more allied Daleks with it, it gains +2 Scrap when attacking, provided it loudly yells out “Ex-termi-nate” first.
Jack’s Dead Again – Captain Jack can never REALLY die. If Jack is killed, he is merely taken out of the scene. At the start of the next scene, roll 4dF and add his Scrap- if the result is 2 or more, he is returned from the dead, with all stress and physical consequences removed. If the roll is failed, he is still dead until the start of the next scene, when he can try again (don’t worry about dragging his body around, he’ll just magically show up.)

Scamper – athletic ability; dodging attacks and opponents; sneaking around; staying out of danger. Actions: Overcome, Create an Advantage, Defend (physical). Cannot be used to attack (without stunts).
Pro-Scamper Characters: Rose, Sarah Jane, Lady Christina de Souza
Stunts:
“Low” Priority – If Susan encounters an opponent and successfully uses Scamper to defend against a physical attack, she immediately gains an aspect with a free invoke regarding how the villains overlook her. She only receives this aspect once per scene, and only if she has allies in the same scene with her.

EMOTIONAL SKILLS– Interaction with the social and mental world

Evoke vs. Provoke – Evoke vs. Provoke – Fate Core includes the skill provoke, which allows characters to draw out the negative emotions of others. It only makes sense that there is an opposite skill (although, I think I’ll save that for a further discussion.)

Evoke – inspire positive feelings in others; make friends; seduce; draw attention to yourself; heal the mental consequences of others. Actions: overcome, create an advantage. In social conflicts, it may sometimes be used to “attack” (ex. when convincing someone to ally with you.) It cannot be used to defend.
Pro-Evoke Characters – Rory, Rose
Stunts:
I’m a Nurse – Rory can use Evoke to help heal the physical consequences of others as well as mental consequences.
Last Chance – Doctor – Once per scene, if lives are threatened, the Doctor can use Evoke as if it were Provoke to make a threat (mental attack) against hostile beings.

Provoke – bring out the negative emotions of others; conquering others through fear. Actions: overcome, create an advantage. It can also be used to attack, but this is often limited to social conflicts.
Pro-Provoke Characters – Amy, Daleks, Peri
Stunts:
Harbingers of Hate – When Daleks successfully use Provoke and deal 2 or more stress, the first 2 stress must to taken by a Minor Consequence, if possible.

Purity vs. Deviousness –  I’m not 100% happy with the names on this one, but I think it works. (and again, stresses the importance of purity in Doctor Who.)

Purity – your resolve; your honesty, and ability to convince others in your sincerity; your ability to recognize when others are being honest with you others; your ability to keep your resolve and convictions when others try to influence you; your ability to collect yourself after being psychologically beaten. Actions: overcome, create an advantage, defend (against evoke, provoke, and deceive.) Cannot be used to attack.
Special Rules: anyone with Purity 4+ gains +1 stress box.
Pro-Purity Characters – Rose, Martha, Amy
I Believe in the the Doctor: If the Doctor is not present, Amy gains +2 Purity when defending against any mental attacks.
Pure Hearts Alike: When using Purity with create an advantage to when make new friends and forge bonds, add your Purity and also the Purity skill of the target to your roll.

Deviousness – your impurity; your ability to lie, cheat, and obfuscate; your ability to know how devious minds think; your ability to manipulate others without their knowing it. Actions: overcome, create an advantage. In social conflicts, it may sometimes be used to “attack” (ex. when manipulating others in a debate.) It cannot be used to defend against attacks, but may be used to resist attempts to discern your true motives.
Special rules: Chameleon – “Deviousness” is a skill with chameleon-like quality. Whenever a character uses it to overcome, create an advantage, or attack, the defender will be told that the character is using Evoke, Provoke, or Purity. Even when disguised as “purity,” it cannot be used to defend against attacks, although it can be used to resist attempts to discern the character’s true nature and intentions (in which case, it shows to others as “Purity.”) After a character has succeeded against a chameleon-Devious action three times (succeed with style counts as 2), the sneaky character can still use the skill, but it appears Deviousness instead of as another skill. Once a character has seen through the disguise, they can also tell any trusted allies, who will likewise see through the camouflage.
Pro-Deviousness Characters – River Song; the Silence; Autons; the Master; Zygons
Stunts:
Escaped Again! – River can use Deviousness as Scamper when physically breaking out of any type of confinement.
Doppleganger – When Zygons use Deviousness with the chameleon ability, they not only mask their skill, but also their true identity, appearing to be whatever person they want. If someone sees through their “chameleon” skill use, they see through the disguise as well.

SAMPLE PCS
Here are a few sample PCs.

THE DOCTOR (10)
High Concept: Frenetic Last of the Timelords
Trouble: Must help the defenseless
Aspects: We Only Kill as a Last Resort
Been There, Done That, Occasionally Remember

Brain +4 / Instinct +0
Scrap +3 / Scamper +1
Evoke +3 / Provoke +1
Purity +2 / Deviousness +2

Stunts:
Sonic Screwdriver – so long as you have the screwdriver, you gain +2 to Brain when overcoming inanimate or mechanical obstacles in your way. It doesn’t do wood.
Timelord Tenacity – You have an additional minor consequence.

RIVER SONG
High Concept: Mysterious Time Traveler Criminal
Trouble: Bad Reputation
Aspects: I Don’t Play Nice
One Step Ahead

Brain +3 / Instinct +1
Scrap +3 / Scamper +1
Evoke +2 / Provoke +2
Purity +0 / Deviousness +4

Stunts:
Escaped Again! – River can use Deviousness as Scamper when physically breaking out of any type of confinement.
That’s Doctor Song – Doctor gains +2 Brain when knowing information about the species or history of the universe.

CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS
High Concept: Handsome Semi-Government Agent
Trouble: What’s YOUR Name?
Aspects: Very Experienced
Man on Top

Brain +2 / Instinct +2
Scrap +4 / Scamper +0
Evoke +3 / Provoke +1
Purity +1 / Deviousness +3

Stunts:
Jack’s Dead Again – Captain Jack can never REALLY die. If Jack is killed, he is merely taken out of the scene. At the start of the next scene, roll 4dF and add his Scrap- if the result is 2 or more, he is returned from the dead, with all stress and physical consequences removed. If the roll is failed, he is still dead until the start of the next scene, when he can try again (don’t worry about dragging his body around, he’ll just magically show up.)
Vortex Manipulator – once per session, you may use Deviousness instead of Scamper to avoid a threat. If successfully, are transported to a different location or/and a small jump in time, and may take one person with you.

DONNA NOBLE
High Concept: Sassy Temp
Trouble: Big Mouth
Aspects: Don’t Underestimate Me
Sucker for a Pretty Face

Brain +0 / Instinct +4
Scrap +2 / Scamper +2
Evoke +1 / Provoke +3
Purity +3 / Deviousness +1

Stunts:
Doctor Donna – Once per session, Donna may use Instinct as Brain for all actions for the rest of the scene. However, after the scene, Donna immediately takes a Consequence.
Bites Back – If Donna has been insulted or attacked with some type of Provoke, she gains +2 Provoke when attacking that opponent.

Clara Oswald
High Concept:  The Impossible Girl
Trouble: Controlling School teacher
Aspects: Actually Listens to the Plan

Brain +3 / Instinct +1
Scrap +1 / Scamper +3
Evoke +4 / Provoke +0
Purity +2 / Deviousness +2

Stunts:
Gift of Computers  – Gains +2 Brain when using create an advantage to hack or research through computers.
Parlay –During a physical conflict Clara can use Evoke with create an advantage to attempt to create a Parlay aspect.  If successful, the conflict temporarily becomes a mental conflict (ex. a debate), and no opponent may make any further physical attacks- they can only use Evoke, Provoke, or Deceive to deal mental attacks as they talk it out. This lasts until the conflict is won or conceded (by either side), until Clara is taken out of the conflict, or until one of Clara’s allies makes a physical attack, in which case, discard the Parlay aspect. Clara can only successfully create a Parlay once per session. (GM’s don’t forget you can compel a feisty PC into breaking the peace!)

NPCS

One of the things that sets Doctor Who villains apart is that, for the most part, they so tough. There are very few “mooks” that are defeated en masse; rather, most threats are severe enough that the heroes spend almost 40 minutes running away from it. There are two ways to handle this:

1. Competent Villains – most of the average villains the heroes encounter will be at the same level as the PCs – this means one Dalek is an obstacle for a group of four heroes, but not insurmountable. A ship filled with hundreds daleks, however, is a reason to concede!  If the number of threats is small, like a lone monster, it is likely at a much higher level than the heroes.

2. Impossible Villains – Some threats, whether it is a single beast, or a cadre of Cybermen, are just invincible as they stand. They have normal stats and PCs can use their Scrap to weaken them and to slow their advance, but they do not suffer stress. That would take a while to explain, so I think I’ll save that for next week’s post.

However, it’s not a bad idea to throw a few small threats in there.

SMALL NPCS

For these NPCS, either give them either +4 in only a two pairs, or give them a max of +2 points for each pair.

CYBERMAT
High concept – cyborg rodent
Aspect: small and slippery

Brain +1 / Instinct +3
Scrap +1 / Scamper +3
Evoke +0 / Provoke +0
Purity +0 / Deviousness +0

Stunts:
Basic – Cybermats are pretty basic, and cannot execute plans more complex than surveillance, attacks, or basic sabotage. They are, however, immune to all mental attacks, as they have no minds to sway.
Element of Surprise – If a cybermat has a stealth-related boost or aspect on itself, it may use Scamper instead of Scrap to deal attacks, which can only be defended against with Instincts. After the attack is done and any invokes have been used, the cybermat is exposed; destroy the “stealthy” aspect or boost.

Soltaran Scout
High concept – short bio-engineered warrior alien
Aspect: stronger than they look
Warrior code
Achilles’s heel (or neck)

Brain +2 / Instinct +0
Scrap +2 / Scamper +0
Evoke +0 / Provoke +2
Purity +1 / Deviousness +1

Stunts:
Weapons malfunction – Soltarans receive +2 Scrap when defending against conventional human gunfire.
Scout ahead – If Soltaran scouts successfully use Brains to create an advantage in regards to assessing their military opponents and surveying battlefields, they gain an extra free invoke.

BIG THREATS

DALEKS
High concept – machine-clad alien invaders
Aspect: Removed of so-called “weak” emotions
The Dalek race must prevail

Art by Monica Marier, used with her permission. Nope, still don't own this character.

Art by Monica Marier, used with her permission. Nope, still don’t own this character.

Brain +3 / Instinct +1
Scrap +4 / Scamper +0
Evoke +0 / Provoke +4
Purity +3 / Deviousness +1

Stunts:
Ex-termi-nate – If a Dalek has one or more allied Daleks with it, it gains +2 Scrap when attacking, provided it loudly yells out “Ex-termi-nate” first.
Messengers of Hate – The first time a Dalek successfully uses Provoke to mentally attack and deals 2 or more stress to the defender, the first 2 stress must be absorbed as a Minor consequence, if one is available. The consequence gains a free invoke as normal.

I think that’s enough for a start- next week, we’ll break down when to use Zero Sum skills, and more on the “Impossible Villain.”

 

Fate Adventure: TOMB ENOUGH FOR TWO

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For this week’s entry, I was going to just go through my toy box and make a bestiary entry based on that one monster. However, I realized that my toy box includes a massive amount of plastic skeletons that I have not had the pleasure of using yet. They’re vaguely Egyptian themed and sand-colored, and that reminded me of Frank Turfler Jr.’s Stuff for Storytellers and Game Masters Patreon, Patreon, which just released an Egyptian tomb tile set. (I bought into it myself to get a set, and wasn’t disappointed!) Thus, this week, we give you a mummy-tastic supernatural comedy one-shot adventure!

Waiter? Can you top me off? (Offering_vessel_of_Pepi_I.jpg - credits see below)

Waiter? Can you top me off? (Offering_vessel_of_Pepi_I.jpg – credits see below)

TOMB ENOUGH FOR TWO

Preface

Rules: This setting uses our own mod of Fate Core, named Skeleton Crew. However, I’ve included side-by-side swaps for using Fate Core. Likewise, it shouldn’t be too hard to convert to FAE or your personal hack.

Characters: This adventure does not include Player Characters- it’s assumed that you can make your own, or just drop this adventure into your current campaign. We recommend at least one character that is good in a combat (fight, shoot) and/or physical tasks (athletics, physique). We also recommend at least one character that is good at gathering clues (translators and archaeologists are ideal). If your group does not contain one of the above, it might be a good idea to add an NPC bodyguard or a professor that they can control. If you need some, there are plenty of pre-made characters in the Skeleton Crew RPG rulebook, and there’s still time to sign up for the free open Beta test (just send us a note.) Simple NPC enemies are provided, but feel free to alter them as you see fit.

Humor: This is a comedic adventure, although it might not show it at first. Humor typically works in one of two different forms: Short Form and Long Form. Short form has the humorous premise established pretty earlier, and revisits it constantly. (Example: like telling a string of light-bulb jokes.) Long form jokes build to the comedy slowly, so the joke is not obvious until near the end. An impatient audience may lose interested before the payoff, but sometimes the anticipation sweetens the final, comical reveal (Ex. the knock knock – banana joke. http://jokes.cc.com/funny-food-jokes/panmgr/knock–knock—-banana) This adventure is a Long Form joke – we advise all GMs to read the adventure before starting, so they have an idea of what the payoff is- however, do not give too many hints, as you don’t want them to get the full nature of the adventure until at least halfway through.

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW! PCS READ NO FURTHER!

FLUFF: A team of archaeologists in Cairo were investigating a newly discovered catacomb. On the midnight of March 1, the skeletons and mummies they were studying sprang to life and attacked, driving the archaeologists off. No one has been able to enter it since, although those brave enough to get within earshot swear that they hear the din of combat. Are they training for combat, to take on the mortal world? Your mission: investigate the threat and secure the tomb.

(Relocating: If you don’t feel like trekking your team to Egypt, you could move the site: maybe it takes place in a History museum, or in the secret tunnels beneath the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas.)

Waiter? Can you top me off? (Offering_vessel_of_Pepi_I.jpg - credits see below)

Waiter? Can you top me off? (Offering_vessel_of_Pepi_I.jpg – credits see below)

Egyptian_funerary_stela

Maybe people in ancient times didn't have any arms. Look at the Venus De Milo. (Haute_Egypte_Sculpture_au_crépuscule - see credits below)

Maybe people in ancient times didn’t have any arms. Look at the Venus De Milo.
(Haute_Egypte_Sculpture_au_crépuscule – see credits below)

What’s Really Going On: GMs, go ahead at the “What’s Really Going On” down at the bottom of the document. It will put the rest of this mystery in context.

SCENE 1 – THE SCUFFLE

As you approach the main entrance hall, the murmur of battle becomes a roar. In the entrance hall, there stand over a dozen skeletal warriors, fighting viciously amongst themselves. They seemed to be divided into two factions: half are bedecked in red and turquoise, half in black and green.

Conflict- The skeletons are too busy in their scuffle to talk, and will drag anyone close enough into the fray. Have the players recommend situation aspects for the chamber, and then start the conflict.

SKELETON FANATICS
There are two or four mobs of Skeletons, each with 3 skeletons in it.
Skeletons are puppets of dried bone, controlled by a necromantic magic from the outside.

Skeleton Aspects

  • Undead—Skeletons are undead, and as such, might have weaknesses to holy magic, silver, and other magical purities
  • No Pain
  • Rattling Bones.
  • Fanatical
  • Infighting!

Stunts:

  • Autonomous Parts—It is possible for a skeleton’s body part to keep moving, even after it has been severed from the rest of the body.
AVERAGE (+1)
Physique +1 and Fight +1 (per skeleton)
Stress: One stress box per skeleton

Conflict Special Rules: The two sides are fighting each other, but don’t openly have them roll to attack each other. Instead, at the end of any exchange after all players and NPCS have taken their turn, roll one fate die for each side: on a -, that side has one of the mobs reduced by 1 skeleton / stress, as the other skeletons take out one of their number. If you roll a +, ADD on stress / skeleton to that mob, as a previously stunned fighter rejoins the fray. Remember, the skeleton mobs also have the aspect “Infighting,” which can be invoked or compelled against a mob, to demonstrate the other side getting in the way.

Once the scuffle is over, the majority of the remaining skeletons don’t get up, having been returned to death or unconscious.

Any Investigation of them yields:

Physical Clues – They appear to be some form of militias, wielding cheap weapons like clubs and chains. The fighters have some cheap ornaments of bronze and clay, implying lower class.

Interrogation: If interrogating, see scene 2 for ideas about what they reveal.

SCENE 2 – The Locked Room

The next room is a dead end. Colorful murals decorate the walls, including two strong figures facing each other; the first, a female warrior, wears green & black; the male figure wears red & turquoise. Each carries a chalice. (Thorough Investigation yields: each figure is also holding an orb in their other hand.)

Very quickly, the group will realize that there is no obvious way through. There might be some sort of secret door… (spoiler: there is.)

Gathering clues: members can gather clues any number of ways, including:

  • Decipher the hieroglyphics on the walls
  • Communing with the dead
  • Interrogating any defeated fighters (assuming they speak Egyptian, have a high tech translator device, or are very good with reading body language).

When the players attempt to investigate (overcome rolls), they receive the following info:

Info A. Historical investigation – info about why everyone’s there, and what’s at stack. Depending on how well or poorly they decipher the reading, give them the Bad, Okay, or Good translation.

BAD TRANSLATIONS – Surface war fighters stork two. Victor eyeball control group cup of no death and army big-number [lost word] big-number.

OKAY TRANSLATION –There are two types of heroes must face fighters against each other . Victor have a cup of immortality and control the hordes 500 [lost word]

GOOD TRANSLATION – There are two champion fighters shall face off against each other. The victor shall possess the Chalice of Immortality, and control 500 legions [damaged word] 5000 years.

Info B. There is a secret door on one of the three walls.

Info C. Opening the Door – After they’ve slogged through the backstory info, they can find the info regarding the door. The inscription reads:

“To open the door, one must speak the password.”

The password, of course, is Egyptian for “the password.” (If you’re interrogating someone, insert “Who’s on first?” routine here.) However, if the players struggle with this, you can also accept other passwords. Examples: “open sesame”; “swordfish”, “mellon,”etc. If players are STILL stumped, you can have them “discover” further hieroglyphics giving hints like, “the password is the password,” and “No, really, it’s password. Say password. Say it.”

Once they get through the door, they should arrive at:

SCENE 3. The Gates –

The next room is an antechamber of sorts, leading through a gate. On the other side appears to be a much larger chamber, perhaps an arena. Skeletons are lining up to get to the other side. [Inspection reveals: they are each holding crumbled papyrus papers.]

At the gate’s entrance are two MASSIVE figures: they are stone Sphinxes that have been animated through potent magic. They stand watch over the gateway, only allowing those with the papyrus papers to go through. If the players are to go through, they will have to get past the Sphinxes.

Getting past: It’s up to you and the players how they are to get past. If they attempt to get physical and fight or shove their way, we recommend you have the sphinxes beat them up for an exchange or two- after their butts are handed to them, quickly offer the chance for the players to concede, rather than be taken out. Players will have much better luck trying to bluff or talk their way through (mental conflict), try to steal tickets of their own (challenge), or try to slip past them (contest.)

SPHINX STATUES

Sphinx Aspects:

  • Stone-cold
  • No one gate-crashes ME!
  • Riddles? Better be a good one
  • Just doing my job

SKILLS

  • Physique +8, Fight +8
  • Will +4, Athletics +4
  • Empathy +3, Notice +3

STRESS
Physical: O O O O O
Mental: O O O

Stunts:

  • Shrug—May Use Physique to defend against any type of physical attack.
  • Nerves of Steel – Sphinx are immune to any Intimidation (Provoke) attempts from monsters trying to scare them with their appearance. In order to scare the sphinxes, you’d need some type of leverage.

If they can get past them in some way…

SCENE 4. The Arena –

Any groups that make it to the next area find themselves in a massive underground arena. Hundreds of skeletal forms sit in the stands, howling and cheering. In the middle stand half a dozen combatants, waiting patiently for the games to begin.

An announcer proclaims (in something that you can hopefully translate,) that the contest is about to begin. The winner of the contest will receive the Chalice of Immortality. The announcer also calls into the crowd to ask if there are in the audience brave enough to join in. (Hopefully, the players will willingly jump in; if not, it’s a great time to compel some aspect, ex. Having an angry PC get taunted by a combatant into jumping in; having a clumsy player slip over the railing into the ring.) Once you have a PC involved, ask if any other PCs want to jump in too.

The officiators divide the contestants into their own separate areas, and then hand them what they are competing with: BALLS & CUPS!! That’s right, the old children’s toy, involving getting the ball on the string to go into the cup.

This contest is held like a Contest between the pc against the skeletal contestants. The first side to catch the ball three times (3 victories) wins! The NPC contestants will not initiate any dirty tactics, but if anyone attempts to sabotage them, they will respond in kind.

SKELETON CONTESTANTS

Treat all skeleton contestants as one opposing force.

Skeleton Aspects

  • Undead—Skeletons are undead, and as such, might have weaknesses to holy magic, silver, and other magical purities
  • Infighting!

Stunts:

  • Autonomous Parts—It is possible for a skeleton’s body part to keep moving, even after it has been severed from the rest of the body.
FAIR (+2)
Athletics +2

Physique +1 and Fight +1
Consequence : One minor consequence box

If the players win, they move on to the next round! If they fail, they must either be removed from the field (but keep them close, if they want to crash the main event), or force them to give up something valuable to bribe the judges.

SCENE 5. THE FINAL ROUND

Afterwards, the players learn that the contest they just joined was the semi-finals. The finals will now start, between your players and the champions: two massive mummies. The first is Isit-Senaktemyet, clad in red and turquoise; and second is Neferfret, clad in Green and Black. The referees also roll out the Chalice of Immortality (which looks suspiciously like the Stanley Cup). If the players are eliminated, it might be good to repeat the part how the holder of the cup will gain control of 500 hundred legions.

For the final round, the ball-and-cup match has become full-contact! The champions wield giant ball-and-cup flails, with spiked metal balls. Technically, the rules are thrown out for this match, but the referees are a bit biased against the players, and can be compelled to get in the player’s way.

MUMMY CHAMPIONS
If life equals magic, than mummies are corpses with their internal life force preserved inside them by mystical rites. While some occur naturally, the greatest mummies are princes and princesses interred by dozens of powerful sorcerers, in the hopes they will rise again.

Mummy Aspects:

  • Undead—Mummies are undead, and as such, might have weaknesses to holy magic, silver, and other magical purities
  • Tougher than Jerky
  • Fire BAAAD!
  • Cup & Ball of Death (of Death)* – see stunts

Stunts:

  • Thick Skin—May Use Physique to defend against Shoot Attacks (except for fire or heat-based shots.)
  • Touch of Death (Good +3 only)—If the Mummy deals 2 or more Stress on an Attack, the defender must take a Minor Consequence, if it is not taken already.
  • Cup & Ball of Death – While the mummies are armed with the Cup and Ball of Death, they have Fight +5- if they can be disarmed, it’s lowered to Fight +3.
SUPERB (+5)
Physique +5, Fight +5* (see stunts)

Athletics +3;

Sixth Sense (Notice) +2, Intimidate (Provoke) +2,

Mythos (Lore) +1, Will +1
Stress:
Three stress boxes—a three shift hit is enough to take them out.
Consequences: Minor and Moderate Consequence each

Conflict Special Rules: Play to the crowd – While the whole “catch the cup in the ball” part is basically forgotten at this point, any character who still possesses a ball-and-cup may attempt, as their turn, to use create an advantage to catch the ball- if successful, it which drives the crowd WILD, resulting in a morale-based aspect. The first time this is used, the difficulty is only +2, but the difficulty increases each consecutive time by +1 (as the ball catches have to be increasingly fancy to catch the crowd’s favor.)

EPILOGUE – SCENE 6. THE CHALICE!

The last person standing receives the Chalice of Immortality-if several PCs still remain standing, have them decide amongst themselves who deserves it (by fighting or playing ball-and-cup if need be.) The winner is given the cup, with the entire stadium cheering. They will be a bit disappointed to learn that the gift of “immortality” is a figurative one- they will get their name engraved on the chalice and on the arena wall, and will thus “live forever” (except, not really.) Also, the 500 legions will follow the champion, should they still be around in 5000 years, when the skeletons next wake up. Even as that information is given to them, the skeletons of the area start falling back asleep, waiting until the next contest.

As a consolation price, the winner does get five skeleton fans, who stay conscious through sheer will power. These five will follow the new champion around, doing odd favors around the house, and carrying their equipment on adventures. The PC gains an aspect or stunt to reflect their new minions.

SPOILER:

What’s really going on: The skeletons and mummies have resurrected for a sports competition. The sport: ball and cup (the toy where you catch the ball in the cup.) Ball and cup might not have been an actual Egyptian game, but it’s still plenty old, so who cares? In this adventure, it’s as big as the Super Bowl or the World Cup, complete with diehard fans and football hooligans in the front room. (If this seems ridiculous, Rome actually had riots in the streets due to the fans of rival charioteers.) Tease this to the players without revealing it.

Join us next week- in honor of (Re)Generation Who convention, I’ll try a stab at something inspired by Doctor Who!

CREDITS

Offering_vessel_of_Pepi_I.jpg- by Hans Ollermann – from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Offering_vessel_of_Pepi_I.jpg – This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. The licensor neither endorses me or its use.

Haute_Egypte_Sculpture_au_crépuscule – by Kikuyu3 – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Haute_Egypte_Sculpture_au_cr%C3%A9puscule.jpg – This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. The licensor neither endorses me or its use.

Fate NPCs – Chimera Little Closer

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After a month detailing Kickstarter set-ups, it’s time to get back to the fun stuff. This week: Chimera-mobs, a new format for Fate NPCS.

The Background

When creating NPCs for the Skeleton Crew Bestiary, I quickly ran into the following problem:

In order for an opponent to be a competent threat in a combat situation, it needed to have a few key skills. In my Skeleton Crew setting, these generally equaled:

  • Fight (to Defend against fight)
  • Agility (to Defend against shoot and fight)
  • Will (to defend against mental attacks)

Notice nearly makes the list- it’s not as essential, but too many NPCS without Notice basically means the players always go first. This becomes a problem in the following ways:

  • Relying just on the above is fine with a few NPC teams, but after a while, it becomes redundant.
  • Having NPCs with none of the above results in NPCs that are glass cannons at best and worthless at worst
  • Adding skills on to the above results in very complex NPCs with way too many skills at the same level (Jacks of all Trades), or tiered, mega-stunt enemies that are too much of a threat.

So, I started wondering: how do you create a villain that provides a variety of different flavors, but is not a super-strong “big boss?”

My proposal: Chimera-mobs!

How it Works

A chimera-mob is essentially an NPC character or mob that is stronger than the average mob, but weaker than a full NPC villain. It enters the scene like a lion, but once you get past the first layer, it becomes increasingly easy to defeat.

First off, decide how many “parts” are in your chimera-mob. For this first example, we’ll start with a three-sectioned beast (that just happens to be an actual Greek Chimera.)

Chimera-Whelp

High Concept – Multi-headed Monster of Myth
Aspects: Wild Animal; Foul-temper, Fouler Breaths; Hates Pegasi, Alicorns, & My Little Ponies
Parts:

Lion Head – Fanged & Savage Snake Head – Quick & Alert Goat Head– Stubborn & Fire Breathing
Fight +5
Physique +4		 Notice +5
Acrobatics +4		 Shoot +5
Will +4
Stress: O O Stress: O O Stress: O O
Stunts: None
Consequences: Minor (2)

How the three parts work:

Skills: When the Chimera first appears, it counts as having all skills as max level (+5 or +4). Likewise, when any part of the Chimera is attacked or targeted by actions, it counts as having all available skills; for example, when Shooting at a healthy Lion Head, it still counts as having Acrobatics +4 (which it borrows from the Snake Head.)

Dealing Stress: If a PC deals stress to a chimera-mob, it is up to the GM to decide which part receives the stress. You can base on the narrative (ex. The PC goes directly for the lion head; A PC is attacking from behind, which would bring him closest to the Snake-Head-tail), or based on the defending skill (ex. A mental attack would blocked with Will, thus any stress would be dealt to the Goat Head.) Either way, if a part is dealt more stress than it has stress boxes, that Part is Knocked Out. If you deal enough stress to take out a Part and still have extra stress, it is NOT carried over onto the next part, unless your attack succeeded with style. (Note: we recommend each of the Stress boxes above equals 1 stress, just to make bookkeeping a little easier.)

Knocked Out: Once a part is Knocked Out, it has all of it’s Skills reduced to a mere +1. If it has any stunts, it cannot use them. Once all parts are knocked out, the chimera-mob is taken out.

Actions: By default, each chimera-mob can only take one Action each exchange. However, if a part has taken an action, a GM can pay a Fate Point to have a different part take an action this turn.

LET’S SEE THAT AGAIN!

We’re going to give you a second example. This time, let’s see it with a mob of different individuals forming a chimera-mob. This one will be split a little wider.

THE ZOMB SQUAD

When the evil liche Sarcophoguy needs a small crack team of combatants for a task, he summons forth the Zomb Squad. These elite zombies have lost their personalities and memories in the haze of undeath, but parts of their inborn talent linger on, making them a versatile opponent.

Figures courtesy of Twilight Creation's awesome "Humans!!!" game.

Figures courtesy of Twilight Creation’s awesome “Humans!!!” game.

High Concept: Zombie Professional Team

Aspects: Mostly Mindless; On a Mission; Rotting Shells

Rocker Cheerleader Surgeon Miner Mid-Level Manager
+4 Fight

+3 Provoke

 +4 Acrobatics

+3 Rapport

 +4 Lore

+3 Stealth

 +4 Physique

+3 Craft

 +4 Will

+3 Notice
Stress: O Stress: O Stress: O Stress: O Stress: O
Stunts: Rock Never Dies! – If the Rocker is Knocked out, your Fight becomes +2 instead of +1. Stunts: Ra-Raaahh! If successful uses Rapport to create an advantage to distract an opponent, it is applied to all PCs in the zone. Stunts: Reanimate – Once per scene, at the end of his turn, the Surgeon may pay one Fate Point to wake up a Knocked Out part and remove all stress on that part. Stunts: Pickaxe – +2 when using Physique to overcome physical obstacles. Stunts: On Task – Once per scene, may use Will instead of any other skill if it relates to their objective (ex. Will as Burglary if they’re sent to steal an object.)
Consequences: Minor (2)

When do I use a Chimera-mob?

As you can tell, it’s a chimera-mob can be as very simple, or amazingly complex (the Zomb Squat, for example, has five stunts!) However, they can provide a single threat that is a threat to most every teammate without feeling like a beefed-up supervillain.

Zones & Spacing

When throwing a Chimera-mob at a group, it works best to set the fight in a small area. In a narrow corridor, it’s easy to see how you can aim at Surgeon zombie, only to have the acrobatic Cheerleader-zombie leapfrog off of your head, making you miss your shot. In a much wider area filled with many zones, it’s a little harder to justify in the narrative how the Rocker can simultaneously be attacking a player on one side of a football field and defending for the Miner against a punch 100 yards down the field. As you might surmise, chimera-mobs also work well for GMs that run map-less campaigns.

So, tell us what YOU think! Have some Chimeras of your own?

Ecognomics – In the Home Stretch (Goals)

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In what’s likely to be our last Kickstarter themed blog for a while, we’re going to focus on Stretch Goals and Backer Levels.

From the creator’s pov, the goal of a stretch goal is obvious: to make more money, or to fund further projects. Of course, if you wanted to fund further projects, you could theoretically start a second kickstarter. (And, if money was all you really cared about, you’d likely skip all of this hobby stuff and go become a stock broker.)

WHY A STRETCH GOAL?

What is the point of a stretch goal? Here are some reasons:

  • A stretch goal encourages backers of a lower level to reinvest at a higher level. This can be because of a new level is created (that wasn’t there before), or because a higher level has become increasingly valuable.
  • A stretch goal encourages players to spread the word of the kickstarter to others, as having more investors join will increase the value of a level for all backers.
  • After a project has been funded, the stopping point is more abstract. However, a stretch goal gives a psychological end point that a promoter can “push” people towards. Whenever a goal is met, it gives backers a feeling of accomplishment, much like leveling up a character in an RPG.
  • As mentioned above, a stretch goal allows a creator to fund further projects. The advantage to tacking it onto an existing kickstarter is that you already have positive momentum, with a captive audience of people who have already given you some funds, and might be interested in similar products.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD STRETCH GOAL?

Of the panels and articles I’ve seen, the litmus test I’ve seen for a stretch goal is a two-part question:

  • Does the add-on depend on the base project? (Rather than being a stand-alone product in its own right.)
  • Is the add-on finished or near finished?

If the answer to both of the above is “no,” then it doesn’t sound like a good stretch goal item. For example, if you’re selling an RPG rulebook, going through the work of writing a novel for the setting is a poor idea, as it involves as much work as the rulebook. (Of course, if the novel’s already finished and edited, that’s just fine.)

HOW DO I OFFER THESE STRETCH GOALS ITEMS?

There are three ways to offer stretch products to members through Kickstarter:

1. Add-Ons – When a stretch goal is reached, you can give members the option of adding the item on as an add-on.

  • Pros – The cost is easy to calculate; easier customization (i.e. mix & match items); anyone can do it!
  • Cons – Because it’s not listed in the basic backer levels, backers are more likely to miss it; because anyone can add it on, it doesn’t encourage members to increase their level to a higher one.

2. Added to Old Level – The item is added onto to an existing back level.

  • Pros- Pleases current backers; encourages those who haven’t backed to jump in; Good for small, no-cost items (ex. desktop art); increases backers at lower level to upgrade.
  • Cons – Doesn’t encourage current backers to increase pledge (unless at lower level); increases cost without increasing revenue (more on this later.)

3. New Backer level – When a certain stretch goal is reached, the creator adds a new backer level, which merges an older level with the new product.

  • Pros – Increases backers at lower level to upgrade; provides more revenue; easier to track cost of new item.
  • Cons – If not promoted well, older backers might miss the new level; done too excess, can make you look greedy; less backer customization of products than “add-ons.”

PRICE BREAK-DOWN: BAD EXAMPLE

Imagine if you will a fictional Kickstarter creator named Steve. Steve has a really BAD kickstarter stretch goal set-up; we’re going to do everything wrong, just to prove how wrong it can be.

Kickstarter name – KittehPower! – Steve’s fake kickstarter is about releasing a photo book of kittens wearing superhero costume pieces. It has a modest goal of $100.00 (which includes KS’s cut & taxes) and only two backer levels:

  • $5 – PDF – Backers get a digital copy of the KittehPower! Photo book.
  • $20 – Paperback – Backers get a hard copy of the KittehPower! Photo book. (Cost: $10.00)

Very early into the campaign, the goal is met (Steve is happy). So, Steve adds a stretch goal. He really wants to raise $100.00 so he can buy a cheap photo editing software- with it, he hopes to more special effects to his Kittehs! He adds the following stretch goal:

  • $200 – If we reach $200, we will add 20 new pages of kitteh pics in the book.
Photo by Krzysztof P. Jasiutowicz. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license. Alterations made by Dave Joria, because he was bored.

Photo by Krzysztof P. Jasiutowicz. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license. Alterations made by Dave Joria, because he was bored.

Flash forward, the $200 money gets raised! Steve is so pleased, he offers all of his cat-superhero-photographer friends (of which he has many) a chance to jump into the stretch goals- he wants to pay his friends $100.00 each to add their own photos to the book. He adds a series of stretch goals to the kickstarter for $100 each, all of them saying:

  • $300 / $400 / $500 (etc)- For each $100 that is pledged, we’ll add another 20 pages of Kitteh photos to the book.

Why this is a Terrible Set-Up:

The model above doesn’t take a lot into account. Such as:

  • Kickstarter Inc’s 10% cut and taxes. (Although, technically, the software might be fileable as an expense on Steve’s tax return, but that’s a whole ‘nother matter.)
  • Any backers who bought a book are adding $20 towards the stretch goal, but only $10 to the profit.
  • By adding more pages to the book, you increase the cost of the existing product without taking any additional money from the backers who’ve already bought it.

Assuming that each the first $100 was made by having 10 new backers buying new physical books, let’s see how much this stretch goal “earned”:

First Goal:
+$100 revenue
-$100 cost (software)
-$20 (KS’s 10% cut and taxes)
-$50.00 ($10 Cost for each new book)
-$15.00 (Assuming 20 color pages adds $1.50 to the 5 new and 5 old books)
= -$85.00

Now, if Steve got really carried away and reached $600 (initial $100 + five stretch goals), you end up with:

+$600 revenue
-$100 cost (software) (1st Stretch)
-$400 for friend photographers
-$120 (KS’s 10% cut and taxes)
-$420.00 (30 physical books, each now Costing $14.00)
= -$440.00

And thus, a successful $600 equals a huge deficit. Now, just imagine his goal had been for $6000 instead: he might end up with a negative $4-5K.

HOW TO AVOID THIS:

1. If you’re running a digital only or “print-it-yourself” model (see last week), you’ve avoided ONE of the pitfalls already, in that the only costs to consider are for the creators.

2. If you ARE dealing with physical items, only introduce new stretch goal items through add-ons (ex. Pay $5 more to get this keychain) or through a new backer level (ex. The Deluxe level for $50).This way you’re never increasing the print or production cost of an existing, already-paid for item, like Steve did. (Poor Steve. He’ll never learn.)

3. Include your stretch goal level to include all inherent costs plus MORE. I’d recommend double. Like the “stockpile” business model, this means that every stretch goal you reach is paying for that stretch goal and the cost of the next goal too.

STRETCH GOALS: GOOD SET-UP

Steve’s friend, Zara, is running a game kickstarter. She has reached her goal, and wants to hire a guest author to write a new adventure for the setting. It’s a little short, and uses new new art, so her guest and her agree on paying the writer $200 for the adventure (and that includes the editor too). For the following, we’ll assume that Zara is using only the digital only or “print-it-yourself” model.

$200 ~ Writer
+$50 (KS’s 10% cut and taxes- remember, divide by 0.8)
X2
= Stretch goal of $500.

This means if the goal is reached, the next guest writer, who is also paid $200.00, is already-paid for in the budget. This will likely mean that you have $200 that you, the creator, can pocket; but should something end up costing a bit more than you anticipated, you have a little more of a buffer to pay the guests.

However, Zara’s not going to give this PDF away. She’s going to encourage existing backers to increase their level:

$5 – PDF Version
$20 – Print-it-yourself Version + PDF
$30 – Print-it-yourself, + the Guest PDFs.

Resourceful, no?

STRETCH GOAL STRINGS

If you’ve met a few stretch goals, you could theoretically string them into a very long chain, giving your $30 backers an ever increasingly great value for their buck. This is what Evil Hat did with their campaign, which was amazingly successful. However, unless you really know what you’re doing, I would caution against this: while it gives lower backers a LOT of incentives to increase their pledge, it gives backers at the $30 level little reason to increase. I would instead recommend an alternative:

Soon, Zara’s first stretch goal (and thus, 1st guest author,) is reached, she introduces these two levels:

$20 – Basic – Print-it-yourself Version + PDF
$30 – Deluxe – Print-it-yourself, + all Level A PDFs

Level A PDFS – 
Guest PDF 1 
Mystery PDF 2 (Unlocked at $2000) 
Mystery PDF 3 (Unlocked at $2500)
Mystery PDF 4 (Unlocked at $3000)

Thus, the deluxe backers gain one extra pdf for $10 (not great, but not bad.) However, the players have an idea of how good the level will be (fingers crossed). As more stretch goals are unlocked, the extra value of level goes from theoretical to factual, and suddenly you’re getting 4 pdfs for $2.50 each- sweet!

Once the fourth pdf is unlocked at $3000, Zara opens a new level, Level B PDFS, and amends the backer levels:

$20 – Basic – Print-it-yourself Version + PDF
$30 – Deluxe – Print-it-yourself, + all Level A PDFs
$40 – Royale with Cheese – Print-it-yourself, + all Level A PDFs AND + all Level B PDFs

Level B PDFS – 
Guest PDF 5 
Mystery PDF 6 (Unlocked at $3500) 
Mystery PDF 7 (Unlocked at $4000)
Mystery PDF 8 (Unlocked at $4500)

And thus, players are encouraged to increase their level once more. Of course, you can only stretch them so far, but you get the idea. If Mystery PDF 8 is unlocked, perhaps the next goal squeezes a fifth PDF into both Level A & B (4.5 & 8.5?)- this will help satisfy your current backers.

WHEN DOES IT BECOME TOO MERCENARY?

No matter how many levels you make, always ask yourself: “Is the product worth it?” Paying $40 for several hundred pages of well-done, well-edited product sounds worth it- however, paying $40 for something you slapped out in an hour just so you can fill the obligation of one of those stretch goal slots is not. They might buy something you haphazardly publish, but they’re not going to buy it twice. That’s part of the reason raising that extra double for each author is nice: if you end up having to pay for a second author or editor, or find that the author turned in something twice the length (and thus twice the price), you can spend a little more to get a quality product.

Ecognomics – America’s Next Top Business Models

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Last week, we crunched some numbers for different Kickstarter payoff models. To recap it slightly, if you were to pay your creators $2100, you would need the following number of sales:

PDF Model – To pay artists, need to reach goal of $2600, which would take 260 sales of $10 pdfs.

Book Model – To reach goal of $2600, need to sell 65 books at $40 each. However, to pay the artists $2100, you would need to sell 116 books (making your “real” Kickstarter goal about $4640.)

An accurate representation of our financial planning sessions.

An accurate representation of our financial planning sessions.

There are a few other business models to consider, though. One of which I heard of through Evil Hat’s Fred Hicks: the stockpile system.

STOCKPILE SYSTEM

It works like this: the sale price for a paper book is exactly double the cost. Now, in a PERFECT world, the “cost” of the includes the payment for the artists and writers, but considering how high the prices are for on-demand printing, for this demonstration “cost” will solely equal printing and shipping. We’ll assume for the sake of calculations that our staff is patient enough to wait for the payoff later.

Looking back at the printing price break, the books become much cheaper when you order 100 of more. So, let’s assume the goal of the kickstarter is to purchase 100 books from the printers. An individual book costs 15, including S&H to us, but we have to apply the 10% for taxes, and 10% for kickstarter’s take, so let’s divide $15.00 by .8, which comes to $18.87. That means we sell the book on kickstarter for double that, $37.50 (and assume any additional S&H to far off locations is added on by the backer.) We set the goal at 100 times the cost, or $1,887. (Compared to last model’s goal of $2600, that’s pretty modest).

Now, let’s imagine you reach the goal exactly: all it takes is 50 sales. Here’s the breakdown:

Revenue: $ 1887. Cost of 100 books: $1500. Taxes & KS’s take: $337.40. Immediate Profit: $0.

That’s right, the immediate payoff to the kickstarter is 0 profit. However, what the creator DOES receive 50 books that have been completely paid for (and the intangible benefit of having 50 books in the hands of hopefully happy customers, who will potentially buy more of your products and spread word of mouth). This means you can do whatever they want with these 50 books. You can sell that conventions or an online store, and keep every penny. They can drop them at the local game store, which might give the creator 50% of the profit.

So, let’s see what you get if you sell those 50 books:

Sale Cost (each) Total Profit Profit to Goal Ratio: Minus Artist Cost ($2100)
$20 (Consignment) $1,000.00 52.00% -$1,100.00
$35.00 $1,750.00 92.00% -$350.00
$40.00 $2,000.00 105.00% -$100.00

You’ll note, of course, that even at $40.00, you’re still short the estimated $2100.00 to pay the creators. Easy enough to factor in: if the sale of 50 books yields $2000.00, how many books do we need to plan for to make $2100?

50     x _X_

2000  2100

x = 52.5 post kickstarter book sales. We means we have to change our kickstarter goal to pay for 105 books. We could recalculate from scratch based on 105 books, but to save time, let’s cross multiply again. (Confession: Most math I learned in high school has been generally useless in my day-to-day life. However, when my elementary & middle school teaches always repeated, “you’re going to need this,” they were right.)

100   x 105

$1887     X

Which results in a goal $1982.00. Thus, we were able to take a kickstarter for under $2000, and turn it into $2100.00, while still giving Kickstarter Inc. and the IRS their share.

PROS of this Business Model:

  • You have much more control over the product prices.
  • You have a much wider span of time to sell the product, rather than depending on a narrow window.
  • Instead of profits, you could potentially extend any gains towards more books, extending it infinitely- using the profits from the first 100 books to buy the next 100, which buy the next 100, etc.
  • Potentially gives you a low KS goal, with a high percentage pay-off (compared to last week’s models).

CONS –

  • If you can’t make the additional post-kickstarter sales, you don’t get any money. It’s a gamble.
  • Payment Timeline – The cost, as this small level, doesn’t pay for the creators at first, which means they must wait for sales to pay them (and if I was an artist, *I* wouldn’t let someone pay me based on sales.) The only alternative is the project head pays the artists out of pocket and (hopefully) gets reimbursed for it later.
  • Reach – A Kickstarter is a great way to spread the word about a product, which will hopefully stay in people’s minds later. However, once the kickstarter’s over, you now have to fight to retain interest and to get people to buy your physical book. This means they have to buy through your website (which may need advertising to get people there), through a convention booth (which costs money), or through a 3rd party store (which will take at least 50% of the cover price.) Even the best game books in the world peak in sales after a few years.
  • Sustainability – In a perfect world, you could have each 100 pay for the next 100, on to infinity. In the real world though, there is a finite number of people who are willing or able to purchase your product. Any business model that is based on endless growth is unsustainable (e.g. Ponzi schemes, the Roman Empire).
  • Bookkeeping – Even if your artist IS willing to work for a share of the sales, this leads to some heavy bookkeeping. Our convention booth, for examples, sells lots of different products, which means you’d have to meticulous of how many of each book you sell and make sure that money doesn’t get mixed into the other company funds.
  • Tax-Timeline – If you earn $1887.00 money in one year (let’s say, 2015) and invest all of that money into the printers in 2015, you’re looking at relatively low taxes- you earned little-to-no profit, as it was offset by costs. However, if you wait until 2016 to pay the printer, your 2015 company income is not offset, so you’re paying a lot more. I don’t know exactly HOW much more, which is another flaw in doing this model- you might need someone who knows current business tax law for your state.

PRINT-IT-YOURSELF MODEL

The last model I’ll discuss has supposedly been around for a while, but to give credit where it’s due, I first saw it used by the Silent Legions Kickstarter. This is how it works:

This kickstarter requires your product to be available on a website that prints its own products. Most of these print stores let the creator sell the product at a higher price (ex. $40 for a book), but allow the creator to purchase it themselves for the cost (i.e. for their own resale.) A popular example of this is DriveThruRPG and it’s sister sites (DriveThruComics, DriveThruCards, etc.)

The “Print-it-Yourself” model works exactly like the PDF model, except that if gives the backer access to the same “at cost” rate as the creator. Here’s the version as Kevin Crawford phrased it:

Pledge $20 or more

GRIMOIRE COLLECTOR: Get immediate access to the beta PDF and get the full PDF when it is released. Get an at-cost code for ordering your choice of the softcover or hardcover POD print edition of the book from DriveThruRPG, which should come to about $11 for the hardcover and $6 for the softcover, plus shipping. In addition, you’ll get your name added to the list of special Kickstarter supporters in the PDF and printed book.

Pros of this system:

  • Buyers have the option of buying physical books (sometimes in hard or soft bound)!
  • There are 0 printing costs to the kickstarter host.
  • You can sell the pdf at one tier, and the “book” at a higher tier. (Mr. Crawford set his “pdf only” level at $10.)
  • You’re effectively selling a $26-$31 book under a $20 price tag, without decreasing your profit. Psychologically, it’s easy to sell (which is why items are labeled as $1.99 instead of $2.00).
  • The book cost isn’t included in kickstarter goal cost, which inflates the 10% you have to pay without increasing the profit.
  • Some companies, like DriveThru, use local printers, allowing them to keep costs to the backers the same in many different continents.

CONS of the PRINT-IT-YOURSELF Model

  • You are dependent on the limitations of the Print Store. For example, I’ve heard DriveThru’s color pages aren’t very high quality at this time. (Note: not from personal experience.)
  • Some people find it inconvenient (and they are not necessarily wrong.)
  • The printing cost of the individual books are potentially higher, due to the fact that you’re not printing in bulk.
  • The at-cost promo code would technically allow a backer to buy any number of your products at cost, rather than one. This means it kind of relies on the honor system, but as long as someone is not reselling them without our permission, I don’t really mind.

FINAL PLAN

Having crunched all of the numbers, I suspect that our first kickstarter, the Fate Accompli is going to fit into the Stockpile system- the art is relatively light, so it’s not like we need to shell out thousands for art and editors. The goal is to print at least 100 sets from a local printer- which means the first 50 sets off-set the costs of buying the next 50 sets. If people end up ordering more than 50, then we’ll likely take what’s left over from the cost as income to us *yay!*

With the next kickstarter, we’ll likely use the Print-it-Yourself model, as the extra art and editing raises the cost to the point that adding it in physical printing is just not viable. This every stretch goal gives 100% of the revenue towards the goal.

Next week – Stretch Goals!

Kickstart the Commotion: Ecognomics, Pt 2.

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Last week, I talked about Ecognomics: the assumption that product = profit. Sadly, this is not always the case, unless you plot things out just right. Likewise, a successfully funded kickstarter can mean a product that is paid for, or a heck of lot of unforseen costs.

I’m going to run through a hypothetical kickstarter twice: once with selling electronic pdfs, once with hard books:

Electronic Version – Here’s the neat thing about pdfs… because there is no physical cost per unit, selling one costs as much to the vendor as selling one-million.*

*Assuming you go through a 3rd party to handle downloads and bandwidth cost.

However, this also makes them deceptively tricky, for a few reasons.

1. For the above reason, it can be difficult to convince someone to buy a pdf. If it cost the vendor nothing to give away, why should someone pay $1, $5, $20 for it? This argument is not without some merit- personally, I find it ridiculous that book publishers insist on charging the same amount for an eBook as a physical book; it makes sense to deduct the cost of the paper and shipping and handling, and then pay what is left over.

2. Buyers aren’t the only ones who are unsure about the price tag. Because it costs you nothing to give it away, a generous creator’s instinct might BE to give it away. This is doubly so if they are struggling to find buyers. To quote the Barenaked Ladies lyric, “Can’t even give this stuff away, why would I sell it?”

The reason WHY you have to sell it lies in the old adage: TIME IS MONEY. Now, I advocate humans creating whatever they want, for their own joy and sanity. Creating can bring a state of mental peace or catharsis that cannot be quantified- just because a poet gets published and paid money doesn’t mean that their work was better than the Emily Dickensons of the world who choose to publish little, if at all.

However, if you DO decide to seek money for your creations, make sure you’re not underselling yourself. If you were paid minimum wage for every figure you painted or every campaign you wrote, you’d soon find out how much your work is worth.

A few weeks ago, Morris posted what an rpg writer was paid per word around the industry. http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?2301-What-s-a-Freelance-RPG-Writer-Worth#.VNwTtfnF-Sr

Using this as a basis, let’s take a look at the cost of the Skeleton Crew book, which currently around 105,000 words.

Publisher Pay per word Cost of 105,000 words Cost divided over 100 pdfs
Paizo $0.07 $7,350.00 $73.50
Wizards of the Coast $0.06 $6,300.00 $63.00
Evil Hat $0.05 $5,250.00 $52.50
Pelgrane Press $0.04 $4,200.00 $42.00
Goodman Games $0.03 $3,150.00 $31.50
Fat Goblin Games $0.02 $2,100.00 $21.00
Purple Duck Games $0.01 $1,050.00 $10.50

Now, I’m not certain what’s a fair price for a PDF, but I feel pretty certain that asking 73.50 is a bit much. That being said, many modest, first-time kickstarters are lucky to get 100 backers- and at 7 cents a word, that “free” pdf costs quite a lot.

However, as I am a humble guy who wants this kickstarter to succeed more than I desire money, let’s go with the lowest pay rate for myself, aka. .01 a word. That makes the foundation of our kickstarter at $1,050.00.

However, I can’t do the book by myself. We have one of our group members working as editor and publisher, who’s going to work damn hard on the book too. Let’s assume that this person is a saint, who will take a fraction of the cost of a professional. Let’s estimate the total pay: $350.00.

New total: 1400.00.

Next, the art! Our in-house artist charges $40 for a B&W art… let’s assume that we commission her for 15 pieces. We also pay her for a full color cover, bursting forth with tons of different characters (those cost extra), for $100.00. That’s $700.00 for the art.

New total: $2100.00.

Done, right? Wrong! Don’t forget taxes- kickstarters count as income! Our accountant isn’t here, so we’ll set it at a flat 10%. (Now: $2310.00.) Also, if you reach the goal, Kickstarter takes 10%. That means add an extra 10% on, right?

Wrong again, because math is WEIRD; adding an extra 10% (2541.00) and taking 10% again leaves you with 2286.00, about $25 short. To make sure you have enough after Kickstarter takes their cut, here’s the formula:

Kickstarter goal = amount you need / divided by .90.

In this case, the result is $2566.67.

Let’s round that up to $2600.00, just to have a buffer.

So, what does that mean? Well, let’s look back at the pdfs, and see how many we need to sell at what cost to reach that goal.

PDF Sale Cost $ Raised at 100 $ Raised at 200 $ Raised at 500 $ Raised at 1000 # to Sell Reach Goal
$1.00 $100.00 $200.00 $500.00 $1,000.00 2600 sales
$2.50 $250.00 $500.00 $1,250.00 $2,500.00 1040 sales
$5.00 $500.00 $1,000.00 $2,500.00 $5,000.00 520 sales
$7.50 $750.00 $1,500.00 $3,750.00 $7,500.00 347 sales
$10.00 $1,000.00 $2,000.00 $5,000.00 $10,000.00 260 sales
$15.00 $1,500.00 $3,000.00 $7,500.00 $15,000.00 174 sales
$20.00 $2,000.00 $4,000.00 $10,000.00 $20,000.00 130 sales

Of course, the first time you glance at the chart, it might seem that charging more money is the key. However, you’ll notice the catch that, even at $20.00, it takes 130 sales, above your average 100 backers for a newbie kickstarter, just to reach your goal. Even if your product is good, you got to ask yourself: is it harder to convince 100 people to pay $20, or to convince 200 people to pay $10? I don’t really have the answer to that, but I know that the more your kickstarter extends to people who know you and your products less and less, you’ll have a harder time convincing people that the product is worth the money.

Paper-version – if you’re going with a paper-version, the rules of the above stay the same, except every price now has the price of the product, the shipping and handling added on to it.

Let’s assume your company is printing small batches, and going through a domestic printer. In this, let’s take a great company, Ka-blam, that prints our comic. A massive book of 350 pages, with B&W interior and color cover, costs 11.50 for one book. There’s a price break at 25 copies (10.50), and at 100 (9.50). Add in a round 3.50 for shipping and handling per book, that gives you: $15 at 1, $14 at 25, $13 at 100.

For example, the same above chart, adding the same values above:

Add to Cost: Total Sale Cost 1 Revenue at 25 Profit at 25 (-350)
$5.00 $20.00 $500.00 $150.00
$10.00 $25.00 $625.00 $275.00
$15.00 $30.00 $750.00 $400.00
$20.00 $35.00 $875.00 $525.00
$25.00 $40.00 $1,000.00 $650.00
Add to Cost: Total Sale Cost 1 Revenue at 100 Profit at 100 (-1300.00) Revenue at 200 Profit at 200 (-2600.00)
$5.00 $20.00 $2,000.00 $700.00 $4,000.00 $1,400.00
$10.00 $25.00 $2,500.00 $1,200.00 $5,000.00 $2,400.00
$15.00 $30.00 $3,000.00 $1,700.00 $6,000.00 $3,400.00
$20.00 $35.00 $3,500.00 $2,200.00 $7,000.00 $4,400.00
$25.00 $40.00 $4,000.00 $2,700.00 $8,000.00 $5,400.00
Add to Cost: Total Sale Cost 1 Reach Revenue $2600 Cost at Goal Profit at Goal
$5.00 $20.00 130 sales $1,690.00 $910.00
$10.00 $25.00 104 sales $1,352.00 $1,248.00
$15.00 $30.00 87 sales $1,218.00 $1,382.00
$20.00 $35.00 75 sales $1,050.00 $1,550.00
$25.00 $40.00 65 sales $910.00 $1,690.00

So, let’s imagine a hypothetical situation: you got exactly 200 sales. Let’s see what it comes at various prices:

Cost – Remember, this includes the approximately 20% for kickstarter and tax.

Product Revenue Reach Goal? Reached Goal at Cost Profit
PDF $5.00 $1,000.00 No! N/A None None
PDF $10.00 $2,000.00 No! N/A None None
PDF $15.00 $3,000.00 Yes! 174 sales -20% (-$600) $2,400.00
PDF $20 $4,000.00 YES 130 sales -20% (-$800) $3,200.00
Book $20 $4,000.00 Yes 130 sales -20% (-$800), – $2600 (books) $600.00
Book $30 $6,000.00 Yes 87 sales -20% (-$1200), -$2600 (books) $2,200.00
Book $40 $8,000.00 Yes 65 sales -20% (-$1600), -$2600 (books) $3,800.00

Based on the 200 sales model, we can see that selling 200 $1 pdfs gets equals a failed kickstarter; whoever, a kickstarter that sells 200 pdfs at $15 each makes the same as a kickstarter that reaches $6000 selling books at $30, and makes four times the profit of a campaign that sells 200 books at $20 bucks.

One last chart: let’s see what happens if we calculate that each product level made EXACTLY the number of sales it needs to make to reach goal.

Product Reached Goal at Cost Profit
PDF $5.00 520 sales -20% (-$520) $2,080.00
PDF $10.00 260 sales -20% (-$520) $2,080.00
PDF $15.00 174 sales -20% (-$520) $2,080.00
PDF $20 130 sales -20% (-$520) $2,080.00
Book $20 130 sales -20% (-$520), – $1,690 (books) $390.00
Book $30 87 sales -20% (-$520), –$1,218 (books) $862.00
Book $40 65 sales -20% (-$520), –$ 910 (books) $1,170.00

And thus we see how kickstarter goals are really sneaky, in that they measure only revenue, not cost. Adding higher priced goods at higher costs can make you reach your goal faster (the $30 book needs half the sales of a $15 pdf). And reaching a goal is GOOD- backers are more likely to sign up if the goal is reached, so the profits are more likely to come in. However, at the $30 book level, the artists end up with a mere 1/3rd of their self-estimated cost, and less than a 1/4th of what they raised from the kickstarter.

Luckily, this is not the ONLY model for a kickstarter- we’re going to explore a few of those next week.

In the mean, if you’re in the DC Metro Area, you should visit our booth at Katsucon this weekend, Feb 14-15th, in the Artist
Alley! It’s the first anime con featuring our newest book, the Cleric’s Guide to Smiting! Come on down!

gazebo

Ecognomics of a Kickstarter

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Later this year, our group hopes to launch a grand kickstarter for

the Skeleton Crew PRG. We’ve got high hopes. We’ve got big dreams. We want to do it just right; so much so that we’re launching a second kickstarter before it, just to test the waters. I’ve read all of the blogs, heard the panels.

I am still shaking like a newb.

So, this is not a blog from a kickstarter veteran, saying how they got all-the-moneys. Rather, this is the step-by-step brainstorm, so you can see the planning process for yourself… specially, in how to avert Ecognomics.

What are Ecognomics?

Some of you might be old enough to remember the South Park episode with the Underpants Gnomes. If you’ve never seen the episode, the pivotal scene with them plays out as follows…The underpants gnomes, after amassing a large amount of stolen underpants, present their cunning business plan:

Phase 1. Collect underpants

Phase 2. ???

Phase 3. Profit

It’s a silly bit, but I’ve heard that economists and business theorists have actually latched on to it in serious lectures. Personally, I call it “The Underpants Plan,” or Ecognomics.

Who is Guilty of using Ecognomics?A lot of independent artists and creators, sadly. I’ve been on a lot of web comic panels, in which someone in the audience asks, “How do you make money?” The knee-jerk reaction from artists is to laugh, but that could be out of nervousness.

The problem is many creators think that there’s a direct correlation between Product and Profit. They have Phase 1 and Phase 3, but they fail to consider part two. Of course, at least those artists have gone ahead to think about Phase 1: a Product. I remember before the Dot-com bubble burst, some people thought you could launch a website, slap a Paypal donation button on it, and they’d be showered in money.

With Kickstarter, the same pitfalls occur. There are people who think that all they need is a product, launch a kickstarter, and you’ll have a profit. (Again, some don’t even think too hard about the product.)So, I don’t have all three phases planned out, but I’ll walk you through my ponderings.

PHASE 1 – COLLECT UNDERPANTS (Figuratively Speaking)

The first part is to clarify what the product you are selling is. With us, we’re relatively confident about this: it’s an rpg book, using the Fate Core rule system. The setting is based on our webcomic series, Skeleton Crew. Of course, there are still a few things to figure out.

Labels – This issue is mostly resolved, but it wasn’t when we started the project: we had to clearly define the genre of the setting in order to best promote it. We originally called it “Comedy / Horror,” but that didn’t seem to go over well. While there are definitely a few horror elements in the comic, and optional rules for running scary adventures, my cowriters convinced me that the “horror” tag wasn’t accurate. We’re now promoting the rpg as “Supernatural Comedy.”

Stand Alone or Supplement – Shortly into the RPG’s production, we settled on using Evil Hat’s Fate system- it wasn’t too crunchy, we (a bunch of writers) loved the story-telling basis, and the creators were generous to offer it to the Open Gaming License, making it free to use. To add icing to the cake, the Fate Core kickstarter practically exploded.

hipster elves

<hipster moment> Yeah, you heard me- we liked Fate BEFORE it was cool </hipster moment>.While I’ve seen a few kickstarters that offer to add other systems on as a stretch goal, we have decided NOT to make SC for any other system at this time (except a possible FAE side version). If your book can be so easy ported from one system to another, then how much attention did you really pay to that system?The question becomes whether to make it as a “supplement” or as a stand-alone. It’s a fat book already, roughly 350 pages. To make it a “stand-alone” book would require adding additional 100-200 pages, greatly raising the print cost. It would make it more accessible to newcomers, but most of our target audience is experienced gamers who already own the Fate Core rulebook anyway. We’re polling playtesters for their opinion. Speaking of which…

> Playtesters & edits– The last steps are to playtest the stuffing out of it, and edit the feedback into a cohesive book. Easy, right? *nervous cough*

That’s it for the Underpants. On to…

PHASE 2 – ??????

If this were a REAL economics plan, I suspect the middle area is for revenue. For non-business folks like me, that’s “money made before factoring cost.” In regards to kickstarter, it also means, “having a variety of backer levels and add-ons, providing each backer an opportunity to spend exactly the amount of money they are willing to part with.” If the only levels are cheap, you risk losing potential profit. If the only levels are expensive, you risk it all. I’m leaving the ???? in, as it also covers all sorts of other pre- & mid- Kickstarter factors. Like most brainstorms, and keeping with the ‘YES AND’ spirit, the “????” section shall include any ideas, no matter how ridiculous. This is the “yes, we can!” section… (save the “no, we can’t. Really.” for the “Profit” section.) I’ll start with our thoughts for the kickstarter levels.Backer Levels – The first thing to consider for the kickstarter is the basic backer levels. These are the Core levels, ignoring other “throw in one more thing!” Here are the very basic, platonic levels:

  • Impulse Buy
  • Electronic Version
  • Paper Version
  • Special Edition
  • More Money Than God Version

Impulse Buy – Costs a very small amount, which is very good for people who are unsure of the product, broke, or are generous relatives who want to help but could care less about the product. For our version, I think we’re going to take a lesson from Tianxia’s fantastic kickstarter, and give anyone who pledges a small amount ($1-2) gets a copy of the rough draft Beta rulebook pdf. It’s a great way to lure impulse buyers, costs us nothing, and gives the backer a product immediately after they pledge (rather than having to wait for months until the product is finished before the backer receives anything.)

Electronic Version – A digital version- in this case, a pdf of the finished product. Fortunately, Tangent Artists is lucky enough to have a publishing miracle-worker on team, so the layout can be done in house. A pdf is beautiful thing, in regards to profit, but more on that in Phase 3. At the moment, the goal is to have a B&W book with lots of art. For a creepy setting like ours, B&W is perfect, in that it helps capture the mood, and easier on the artists. We plan to have original art by one or two artists, supplemented by art from the webcomic itself. This would likely be in B&W, although, if we’re pulling images from the webcomic, we COULD make the pdf B,W & red.

Paper Version – A physical version of the book printed and mailed. Unless we hit ALL DA STRETCH GOALS, it seems unlikely that the supplemental material will be in print form.

Special Edition – This would be supplemental material tied in directly to the product itself. Some brainstormed ideas:

Art – Prints of the art itself. (May not do this, as shipping art without creasing it is a pain). Maybe the cover art for the book?

Comics – We’re hoping to do a big compilation book of our first few issues of the Skeleton Crew Comic, in a volume called the Necronomnibus. Likely in B&W, to save cost. Luckily, this one doesn’t require much in the ways of creating a new product, which is nice, and it printing in bulk is much cheaper than individually.

-Gaming Extras – If our Kickstarter for Fate Accompli, dry-erasable Fate cards, is successful, then these would be a great add-on.

-Artsy Odds-and-Ends – Any other art-related material, such as keychains, postcards, etc. As I am not an artist, I won’t insist on these, nor will we make these a priority if there’s not demand for it.

However, I remember one kickstarter panelist, who shared a great nugget. He advised against writing new novels as stretch goals to an rpg book. This was his litmus:

– if the supplement is stand-alone (i.e. doesn’t require / build on the base kickstarter), and requires work as much work to finish as the base kickstarter, why doesn’t it have a kickstarter of it’s own?Thus, adding a stand-alone novel is way too much energy to invest on something that doesn’t add to the product. (Of course, if you wrote the novel already, that might be a different matter.)
-Rules Supplements – This is where I have even BIGGER plans and schemes. Here are some wild ideas. These would expand the current rules for new locations and subgenres. Some of the ideas we’re batting around include:

– Guest Authors – Getting outside authors to write additional material for the setting. If we can get well known authors, to draw in more backers, all the better. And while we’re dreaming the impossible dream, we even hope to PAY our staff and guest authors. This would definitely beat the old system of having writers work for free, for credit, or for reassurances that their loved ones will be returned safely (mwah ha ha).
-Adventures – One-shot adventures for players. I’ve definitely a few that I’ve run before that would be great, including Fright at the Museum and the Revenge of Blackstache.

– New Locations – A fairy-focused setting, set in the West Coast, written by our very own Rachael. Several working titles, including “Triskelion.” We’re also considering: a Road Trip Campaign book (WIP title: Highway to Hell, Globe-rotters), with scatterings of monsters from all over the USA or the world; also, a setting focusing on beings from Japanese and Chinese myths.

-New Sourcebooks – A Lovecraft book (because, as we all know, if you want a kickstarter to succeed, throw in an Old One)… the working title is “The Madness of the Color on the Doorstep of the Dark”; a sci-fi 1950s B-movie book “It Came From Science!”; a source book on ancient religions, demigods, demons, cambions, nephilim and angels; a setting in the land of Cockaigne.

-New Twists – Several ideas: Paranormal Investigators – A procedural, monster-of-the-week setting, a la X-Files & Nightstalker. Would likely use a system similar to Atomic Robo’s “Brainstorm” mechanic, assuming our version wasn’t TOO similar (Robo isn’t in Open License); a rule-set for familiars and lesser demons, with a Pokemon-esque “snatch-em all” rule set; Giant, city-smashing monsters (because: giant monsters).

-Rule Adaptations – Attempts to incorporate existing rules from other Fate Core games into SC, assuming we are not violating or infringing on any rights. These might include: Skill modes; super powers / super stunts; Fate Accelerated version.

– Supplemental Info – Languages – A guide to the many real (and fictional) ancient languages, from Rongorongo, to Atlantean, to Epoch. Might have rules, but possibly rules agnostic.

– Characters – Extra mortal states and professions that didn’t fit in our (already bulging) rulebook. We might release it by itself, or might save some of the characters to drop in with supplements that fit the theme.

-Campaign Books – Fate doesn’t really lend itself really well for pre-made campaigns, but I would enjoy an expanded setting based on the Lost Continent of Lemuria.

More Money Than God Version – Generally, these are levels that most people can’t afford, but would be fun anyway. And since we’re not throwing out any ideas here:

– Personal Touch – I, Dave Joria, will official skype / drive / fly / paraglide to your living room or game store to run a game for you.

– Commission Normal – Our artists will draw every member of your party.

– Commission – Published! – Our artists will base one of the character designs in the finished book off of one of the pre-constructed characters off of YOU.

-Comic Star – We will write and draw a 4-page comic based on your skeleton crew characters.

– City of Dreams – I will create a brand new city location just for you and your party.

– Sup it Up – I will design an entire supplement for YOU- rules, characters, monsters, settings, plot points, you name it, we make it.

– We’re Really Reaching Here – I will dress as a zombie and do a happy little dance just for YOU!

– Unholy Rites – I will build a dark shrine to your honor, and sacrifice a goat, chicken or watermelon to you, while chanting in an Eldritch tongue (and film it.)

That’s all of the odd-ball ideas I have for the moment. Next year, I’ll be crunching Phase: Profit!

Slice & Dice! – Handmade Dice!

Standard

This week’s entry is going to be on the short side, as it was written while Tangent Artists

The 1-sided die!

The 1-sided die! Get them now, before they tear a hole in the fabric of the universe.

were while at Marscon. This is our 4th year at the Williamsburg-based sci-fi / fantasy con, and we’re delighted to once again showcase our comics, books, and gamer stuff. Also, we’ll be offering up one of our signature impulse items: the One-Sided Die!

In our webcomic CRIT!, we poked fun at wizards, gaming, and a little bit of breaking the fourth wall. Afterwards, we started wondering: could you actually make a one-sided die? A little bit of Sculpy modeling clay, twist it into a mobius strip, and voila! You have an affront to time and space!

The first con we debuted them, we got a lot of people who chuckled, more who didn’t get it… but when a a math teacher bought six, we knew we had a winner. While we’ve sold a number of them over the years or given them as freebies on top of larger purchases, their greatest strength comes with their ability to draw people over. Crying “1-sided dice!” aloud is enough to get several con-goers to about-face and come closer to see what the heck you are talking about. As we say, “a critical success AND a critical failure with every roll!”

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Sculpey: Looks like gold, smells like toxic death.

Since then, I’ve made a few other hand-made dice. They are not perfectly balanced, and thus I stay away from the most commonly used dice, sticking to odd things that players would seldom or never use. Here are a few close ups:

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Why, yes, that is a D5 in the back. Poor D5, you get no love.

I actually have a rough mold for the three-sided barrel dice, which I’ve found work best with a “menhir” motif. The design gives tons of space on the sides for non-functional runes and swirls, but painfully little room for the “number.”

For the four-sided barrel dice, I like using either the

I fart in your general direction...

I fart in your general direction…

pointy Cleopatra’s needle-style obelisk,or with the castle tower.

The towers are fun, in that they use the number of windows as the number on the dice face.

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Greyskull shall be MINE! Bwaaahahaha

Most of my towers use expensive stone clay, so I thought I’d appeal to the seven-year-old in me and make a few towers in Skeletor-Purple.

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They’re more impressive when they’re not wet and gooey… like babies.

To finish and to help accentuate the texture, I always give them a quick wash. Black works for most of the dice, but the yellow and off-white dice need brown.

This time I experimented with sparkly black. I like the finished look, but it changes the texture. The sparkle paint I used has a more plasticy “feel.” This might be a drawback, or mean that it has a thicker coating protecting it. We’ll see.

For your dungeon raiding pleasure!

For your dungeon raiding pleasure!

Here’s a final shot of the sales box, including some older dice. Feast your eyes!

Happy conning, my friends!

Tangent Artists in their natural habitat.

Tangent Artists in their natural habitat.