Red Markets Rewards

[trinite]

I can see the wisdom of making sure that all of the Kickstarter's products are part of the same "production type" so to speak - i.e. making sure that everything for an RPG kickstarter is a written and published RPG supplement, not a physical item of some other type like a mini or a set of cardboard punchout tokens. That way you only have to manage one type of production, and don't have to figure out how to deal with boardgame publishers, sculptors, etc. just for one little fiddly thing.

I agree that the Delta Green Kickstarter looks like a model of successful practices (though the data isn't in yet on how well they'll hit their expected fulfillment dates). It was all written products that supplement the game, that I feel confident that Arc Dream can produce.

With that concept in mind, maybe one-time"experience" rewards like running games for folks or doing shout-outs/answered questions for them on the podcast is easier to swing. The game mats/GM screen seems to be sufficiently close t

I do still like the idea of dice, since the color coding is important for the gameplay. And they wouldn't have to be custom or anything, just straight red and black (and ideally high quality, to avoid those infuriating breakages of math).

[Twisting H]

Stretch Goal: 1M  Caleb runs a World of Darkness game for you and he has to like it.

[Morbid]

Ideally, more details on the RM world, fiction, and resources for players and GMs.  Also good would be example job-lines, Enclaves, or anything else that can get people playing the game right after they pledge.

Just nthing that GenCon play spots are a cool reward. 

I like the idea of a GM-screen - even if it's the "print and maybe laminate yourself" type.  During the playtest, I ended up printing the rules for Critical Successes and Failures, Humanity Loss, and basic combat.  Quick repeats of the rules for casualty groups and stampedes would also be useful.  And printable playmats for sure.

I am a bit leery of physical add-ons just because of how many KS projects have had problems with them.  I would love a physical copy of the book and maybe some dice, but past that I am more interested in funding more content/pdfs. 

[Gorkamorka]

Ideally, more details on the RM world, fiction...

I'm sort of surprised that Caleb hasn't been doing in gameworld fiction already, given his education.

@Caleb.  How come you haven't done any fiction (short or longform) for any of your projects?  I at least don't remember seeing any from you in Eclipse Phase, No Security or No soul left behind. Not more then a page anyway.  Is it to much work for the money involved. Or just not a fun thing to do?

[Cthuluzord]

Well, NSLB and Eclipse Phase never asked for anything. If it's freelance work, they don't like writers turning in more than was asked for.

As for No Security, I wrote two short stories: To Bright Boy and a piece about the companions. Both were rewards for backers.

And they were, by orders of magnitude, the least popular rewards. Unless you have, like, Pathfinder market share, game fiction doesn't sell well enough to justify the time it takes to write it well (at least for me). Hell, most people that by game books don't read them in their entirety. Most people, in general, don't read at all. And there's a lot of really terrible game-related fiction out there (mine may be among it), so you can't really blame people for not wanting to be burned again anymore than you can blame people for passing over the movie tie-in novelization of something.

Granted, I'm going to finish the Red Markets novella and hopefully offer an audiobook version of it as a backer reward, but I started writing it for myself, to get an idea of what the setting was all about on the ground level.

[Gorkamorka]

Well, NSLB and Eclipse Phase never asked for anything. If it's freelance work, they don't like writers turning in more than was asked for.

As for No Security, I wrote two short stories: To Bright Boy and a piece about the companions. Both were rewards for backers.

And they were, by orders of magnitude, the least popular rewards. Unless you have, like, Pathfinder market share, game fiction doesn't sell well enough to justify the time it takes to write it well (at least for me). Hell, most people that by game books don't read them in their entirety. Most people, in general, don't read at all. And there's a lot of really terrible game-related fiction out there (mine may be among it), so you can't really blame people for not wanting to be burned again anymore than you can blame people for passing over the movie tie-in novelization of something.

Granted, I'm going to finish the Red Markets novella and hopefully offer an audiobook version of it as a backer reward, but I started writing it for myself, to get an idea of what the setting was all about on the ground level.

Thank you for the answers.  I had forgotten about Bright Boy.  But I have to say I have to disagree with you about the quality of in game-related fiction.  I for one think that the saga of Baron Urik von Kharkovs life is a literary masterpiece. 

Seriusly.  I, in my naivety, thought that you might have tried to pitch Eclipse Phase short stories at the Posthuman people.  They seem to stick at one into the books every now and then.

Looking forward to the novella.

[The Lost Carol]

The novella sounds good; know you've been working on it for awhile.

Other than additional game content, I can't think of anything else, but the key is you can't over extend yourself. Ross is still working on Base Raider stretch goals, which cuts into his ability to tackle other projects, or projects you need to work on may cut in, like Glancy having to delay Horrors of War to work on DG II.

[Alethea]

Granted, I'm going to finish the Red Markets novella and hopefully offer an audiobook version of it as a backer reward, but I started writing it for myself, to get an idea of what the setting was all about on the ground level.

Seconding (thirding?) looking forward to the novella. Let me know if you want a contact in the audiobook industry - a friend is a voice actor for audible and might be able to put you in touch with freelancers who do the type of acting you'd want.

[Morbid]

It's a shame to hear that the game fiction is so unrewarding - though not entirely a surprise.  On the plus side, I wasn't following RPPR during the No Security KS, but now I found the two corresponding stories on smashwords.

Edit: To Bright Boy was excellent, great continuation to Bryson Springs.  Still readin Cult of Two.

I am definitely looking forward to the novella, as well. 

The only other thing I can think of is a simple automated character generator, even if it's mostly a prettied up spreadsheet.  But having a good variety of pregens should accomplish almost the same goal of getting people playing quickly.

[Twisting H]

Re: Stretch Goals and Kickstarter Rewards

Take a look at Modiphius's kickstarter of Mutant: Genlab Alpha which is doing very very well.  Genlab Alpha is corebook expansion (similar to White Wolf's corebooks) in the Mutant Year Zero universe.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1192053011/mutant-genlab-alpha/description

Maybe the draw is the anthropomorphic animals, I don't know.  But M:Y0 is a well put together and interesting product based on my first light reading.

Point is, the Stretch goals are for new thematic locations to be placed on a random wasteland grid. If the M:Y0 corebook is any guide these are about 5-10 pages long, provide unique challenges to the location and surroundings of the map they are placed; and the location links to the metaplot.

Think like a major city or world dungeon expansion.

In addition one of the Genlab Alpha stretch goals is another character main base (Ark) detailed.   This is equivalent to Caleb (or guest writer) offering hey if we raise another 100K I'll write up another cool Enclave idea with a wicked nasty concept that will punch you in the gut oh and with art because I'm a rockstar like that.

Hope this helps.

[constructacon]

as a cheap low work idea you could always put some 100ish word concepts for enclaves as reward tiers. say something like for every $x amount you will add another to the book

or if i am underestimating the work load that would put out, you could do them as small one page supplements to be released over time, after the book is released.

you could even add in reward tiers where people get to add in there ideas. or you could just "appropriate" fleshed out enclaves from play-tests. just a few thoughts.

[Mr. Purple]

Silly little David-thought. Instead of just the standard "Thanks you for donating money" page, give the option of becoming a sample-reference; not only would the backer become a part of the game via a quick-reference table, but they would rest assured of the knowledge that while the game continues to be played they would continue to earn bounty. 

I've seen tons of the "thank you" pages, but it's rare indeed to see where the backers' names are inside the game where everyone will see them.  Just a thought.

[vincorine]

I agree with Tim, opportunities for Skype game would be awesome. If you think too many people would go for it (or if you don't want to do too much of it) you could have a reward tier where you get entered into a drawing to join a Skype game. Or just charge more and shift that demand curve to the left.

You could offer to compile all of the Game Designer's workshop episodes into one CD/playlist/something, maybe with extra director's commentary on certain episodes where you now have more insight.

Maybe an offer to help people with their campaigns? Like an online (or in-person) Red Markets workshop for campaign advice or inspiration. For $250 you can get realistic feedback about your campaign ideas, for $1000 you can just tell people how awesome they are with no real criticism...

[D6xD6 - Chris]

For tabletop RPGs, sometimes the best "rewards" are those extra little bits that you can't get at the store, such as paying an extra $1 to become a reference, an extra $10 to become a contact/NPC in the book itself, maybe $50 to make an enclave in the book, etc.. 

I can tell you from the D6xD6 experience that while Skype/Hangout games sound great, they are a PAIN (scheduling, technical issues, LIFE).  And packing/shipping extras like dice can be more costly in both time and money than you intend.

I've always liked the idea of giving artists more work as a reward; I might be tempted to pay $30 for a b/w picture of me as a vector permanently attached to my lawnmower, as an example, and an artist gets paid too!  #win

I THINK what you do is set a price with an artist, then add like 5 or 10 bux to help with the project, or something like that

[Lordsloth]

I'll agree with previous posters with stuff that would be cool for rewards/add-ons/stretch goals:

-Naming an NPC/Reference or designing an Enclave
-Red/Black game dice
-Skype/Gencon Red Markets game
-More artwork for the book