Red Markets Rewards

[Cthuluzord]

Hello all,

Though we are still a long way out and a lot can change, Red Markets is on track for a late May Kickstarter.

I'm not signing up for any games of RM this GenCon because I hope to sell after hours games to backers.

Which brings me to my question, what kind of rewards would people most want to see. I certainly have some ideas, but I figure the group of people that have heard about the game the longest might have some ideas.

[Adam_Autist]

Stuff with "The Debt Dies With You." On it if possible.

[The Lost Carol]

Well, let's get the obvious stuff out of the way:

A print edition of the book. Upgrades would be nice (color, hardback, maybe one of those cool bookmarks like in the Eclipse Phase book,) but those are likely to be stretch goals and dependent on Drive Thru RPG's services.

Sharp Edged Dice. I can't think of anything fancy to emboss on any of the numbers to make them fully Red Markets, but one black d10 and one red d10 are needed. Maybe also as an add on so people can buy multiple sets for their groups.

Some sort of playmat like Jace's and a GM screen would be nice.

T-Shirts are nice; I never wear T-Shirts I get in Kickstarters, but others can and do.

You've intimated that your and Ean's experiences with the figurine from No Security would probably make that a no, and I can't think of any I'd even want.

I'll try to think of anything else, but the only other advice is:

If Chaosium tried to make it for the Horror on the Orient Express Kickstarter; no. No. NOOOOOO.

[Alethea]

Posters, postcards, bookmarks, etc. of the cover or other nice pieces of interior art.

Seconding the playmat and GM screen.

This might be more of a stretch goal than a reward but extra pre-gens and several pre-made contracts for GMs. I'd pay money to contribute a character to the pre-gen pool.

Dice tins, particularly if they look like they're converted from old, beat-up Altoids tins or other scavenged materials

Stretch goals for supplements:
Dastardly Deathtraps: Quarentechture as Passive Resistance
Malevolent Maelstroms: Field Observations of Casualty Weather Patterns

[trinite]

I like the idea of dice sets, maybe five red/five black sets for a whole group.

T-shirts are a cool idea, I'd say.

Maybe the opportunity to add a quick NPC name/basic concept to a big list in the back of the book, for use in creating on-the-fly NPCs? Since NPCs just need spots and not full character sheets, that could be a pretty easy table to put together. Or an entry in whatever big giant table of random possibilities you'd trust your backers to help with (could save some labor for you, too!).

Definitely a photocopyiable playmat and a GM screen, as a stretch goal.

Would you be up for selling some online games to backers, for those of us who can't go to Gen Con? I'd probably be up for backing to get a spot for an online game with you.

[Tadanori Oyama]

A GM screen and pre-made jobs are the only things I'd seriously consider spending for as a Kickstarter rewards.

-Peter

[Crowley]

Aside from print versions of actual game content/play aids and maybe custom dice at the outside I would strongly recommend against any other physical rewards, myself. They're orthogonal to the point of the project and from what I've seen tend to be overly difficult and expensive to deal with compared to their value as a draw. For my own tastes I'd be going mostly for game PDFs, core rules and adventure content being the biggest draws, but I've chipped in extra for one or two RPPR-related Kickstarters because there was a reward level that contained additional/early Actual Play episodes.

[Jace911]

A series of "beginner's games" or mini-campaign (Emphasis on mini) written to introduce people to the mechanics and tone of Red Markets, sort of No Soul Left Behind but on a much smaller scale? Could be set in the earlier days where everyone is getting their footing and the setting is being established.

First scenario takes place during the Crash and deals with the basic mechanics of survival; killing/avoiding zombies, scrounging and keeping track of supplies, dealing with other survivors, etc. Second scenario follows a timeskip where the group has to travel east to get across the Mississippi, which is where you introduce them to Legs and random encounters. Third scenario timeskips again to after the Loss/Recession are divided and the group was forced to seek shelter with other survivors; now you teach them enclave creation. Fourth scenario timeskips even further to when the enclave is tentatively established enough to hire Takers, which is where you introduce the negotiation mechanic and send them on their first Job using everything they've learned so far. After they get their first big payday, it's time to talk about their futures and what they plan on doing with that money.

[Gorkamorka]

A GM screen and ...

+1 on the GM screen. Even just printable A4s play-aids with all the important rules and tables in one place. 

A series of "beginner's games" or mini-campaign (Emphasis on mini) written to introduce people to the mechanics and tone of Red Markets, sort of No Soul Left Behind but on a much smaller scale? Could be set in the earlier days where everyone is getting their footing and the setting is being established.

First scenario takes place during the Crash and deals with the basic mechanics of survival; killing/avoiding zombies, scrounging and keeping track of supplies, dealing with other survivors, etc. Second scenario follows a timeskip where the group has to travel east to get across the Mississippi, which is where you introduce them to Legs and random encounters. Third scenario timeskips again to after the Loss/Recession are divided and the group was forced to seek shelter with other survivors; now you teach them enclave creation. Fourth scenario timeskips even further to when the enclave is tentatively established enough to hire Takers, which is where you introduce the negotiation mechanic and send them on their first Job using everything they've learned so far. After they get their first big payday, it's time to talk about their futures and what they plan on doing with that money.

What he said.

Also I would be interested in a t-shirt with this text on the back

And something like RED MARKET on the front.

But I fully understand the hassle in getting that produced and shipped.

EDIT:   PDFs of printable wailing walls. No hassle in shipping because of PDFs and can be used as props or mood setters.

[Twisting H]

First off some good ideas I'd wish I'd thought of myself.

Stretch goals for supplements:
Dastardly Deathtraps: Quarentechture as Passive Resistance
Malevolent Maelstroms: Field Observations of Casualty Weather Patterns

Maybe the opportunity to add a quick NPC name/basic concept to a big list in the back of the book, for use in creating on-the-fly NPCs? Since NPCs just need spots and not full character sheets, that could be a pretty easy table to put together. Or an entry in whatever big giant table of random possibilities you'd trust your backers to help with (could save some labor for you, too!).

EDIT:   PDFs of printable wailing walls. No hassle in shipping because of PDFs and can be used as props or mood setters.

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Aside from print versions of actual game content/play aids and maybe custom dice at the outside I would strongly recommend against any other physical rewards, myself. They're orthogonal to the point of the project and from what I've seen tend to be overly difficult and expensive to deal with compared to their value as a draw. For my own tastes I'd be going mostly for game PDFs, core rules and adventure content being the biggest draws, but I've chipped in extra for one or two RPPR-related Kickstarters because there was a reward level that contained additional/early Actual Play episodes.

As much as I pitch T-shirt slogan ideas I agree with Crowley's sentiments completely.

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In general I don't back Kickstarter projects.  For stretch goals I prefer more content or more of the creator's ideas and thoughts on the project.

For example as much as Game Designer's Workshop has been a FANTASTIC help and really interesting and I'm very glad it's free; GDW is essentially Director's cut commentary for Red Markets and I would pay extra for that as well as "additional/early Actual Play episodes" of Red Markets.

Even the stretch goal "early release of the AP of Caleb's next project TBA" would be a draw I think.

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Stretch goal ideas

--Taker name/nickname list  -- Ever since I saw the printed list of backer names for use as NPCs in Sine Nomine's Silent Legions, I thought what a great way to fill a need every GM has.  As trinite said, allow backers to chose a nickname and have the option of putting their real name as a Taker. For example: Ross "Terrible Monster" Payton. Aaron "Shark Puncher"

--Visual wailing wall -- Gorkamorka's idea of a blank wailing wall got me thinking. Backers could submit a picture of themselves or some personal memorabilia (picture of framed degree, car, whatever) and you hire a graphic artist to make a wailing wall. So you have a useful in game prop with details filled out by backers.

--Become a veteran taker -- In other game lines like White Wolf, before an enemy stat block usually there is a blurb narrated by a character that describes the details of the enemy.  A backer who pays a certain amount gets their taker name and choice of voice (soldier, teacher, raider, etc.) to narrate the in game description of an enemy like say one type of aberrant.

--Become a famous victim -- Caleb mentioned there will be unique zombies called aberrants. At this tier the name chosen by the backer is either the in game first recorded victim of the aberrant, or the patient zero who became the aberrant.

goddamn I sound like a sellout. Anyway good luck!

--Caleb takes backer on a tour of a gun show -- ever since the fabled story of the croc-jerky mogul in God's Teeth, Caleb I'm serious offer to take a backer on a tour of a local (to Caleb) gun show.  Backer must pay for travel cost.

[Redroverone]

I am totally spending for a slot at a GenCon game, that's all I'm saying.

A possible stretch goal might be a bonus adventure written by some other big name in gaming as a bonus? Aside from the other great suggestions about GM screens, dice sets, Taker name lists, beginner adventures, naming rights for NPC's, that is.

[Adam_Autist]

Assumed the Dice and playmat would be mentioned already that's why i went with the purely cosmetic thing.

[Twisting H]

Going to repost this for consolidation.

Anyway a Red Market's Idea inspired by their podcast is the idea that every body (corpse) tells a story. 

We've seen this in Fallout all the time and more demonstratively in Fallout New Vegas Honest Hearts DLC, where the story of the pre-war Survivalist is told through notes left at supply caches.  Most players found this story arc more compelling than the main arc for Honest Hearts.

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Survivalist_hidden_cache

This isn't a new idea. Very rarely some DMs that have a real ecological and holistic sense of their D&D dungeons will do this; where you find scattered treasure, the remains of a pack and then further down some yawning lonely corridor you find the body of the adventure with his magic sword.

Edit: Come to think of it the position of bodies and what they have on them is critically important to the stories in the Souls series, including Bloodborne. (See the Prepare to Cry series by VaatiVidya: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWLedd0Zw3c5SCqzfFpcy82pfliyAu2kl)

But I think linking history to loot really hits home the idea of the player's mortality and subtly amps up the fear, which is specifically useful in a economic horror games like Red Markets. 

Every gain the players make is from the bones someone else's failure. Someone who had hopes and goals like them.  And it raises the question subconsciously; how long until the player's luck runs out and their only utility for the next generation is the number of unspoiled powerbars they carried with them and if they expired in a convenient place?

In the current (Episode 1) Red Market podcast, Caleb uses this technique by putting a bunch of bounty on a Captain Morgan cardboard cutout that has become half records of the missing, half shrine for the deceased.  The juxtaposition of gritty depression with the comedy of hauling a larger than life pirate picture around the Loss because it is worth more than it's weight in gold is typical Caleb (typically Stokesian?  )

I think Red Markets (or a supplement) would benefit greatly by at least a 1d100 table for comic/disturbing/depressing corpses to find loot on (bounty) where the body tells a story/the loot had critical meaning to the perished.  Be real useful for a GM (Market) and double as adventure seeds.

Also agree with placemats like the following.

What do you guys think about cut out tokens? Dumb? Too much of a hassle?

[smalltowncinema]

I'm going to mirror a lot of what's been said but oh well...

Personally, I don't want novelty items or knick-knacks from kickstarter campaigns.  I want the product, and that's usually it.  So I agree with keeping costs down by keeping physical rewards to a minimum. 

Having said that, for Red Markets I would definitely want custom dice, especially in a 5/5 set.  I could take or leave a hardcover edition, though I am interested in a physical book. 

Using the podcast itself as a reward seems like an avenue to explore by offering a chance to be on the main show or After Hours.  You could also offer advertising on the podcast as a reward tier (not something I'm currently interested in, just spit-balling).

I love what the Delta Green kickstarter did by offering micro freebies (advice, microfiction, scenarios) as stretch goals to all backers.  I feel like that helped pushed the numbers up, but it's a lot of extra work and coordination.

[Tim]

Echoing a common thread I would say no to physical things that are not directly enhance part of the game play (game mats: yes, t-shirts: no). My office is littered with the detritus of past kickstarters and very little of it I care at all about. This thread actual reminds me it is might be time for a purge.

I am interested in skype/google hangout games or in person games (at GenCon) and have backed other items at levels to get access to those things.

I also like to have a 'all in option' which I define as a tier, it can be high $, that promises to deliver all of the content released by a kickstarter, even just as PDFs. I had some initial issue with the Delta Green kickstarter for example till they released that tier. I don't actually want to manage my kickstarter pledge, just let me get my option, take my money, and deliver your core. Delivery of stretch goals is a nice bonus.

I am not fond of the various games that some people run as part of the kickstarter (Pelgrane does this often) although they seem to be popular so that is just cranky old mans thoughts.

I do need some help painting my house this summer so ...