Let's get the Contagion Chronicle crossover Chronicles of Darkness book into stores!
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Hello Contagious,
We're in the final week of this amazing campaign - it ends on Thursday, April 25 at 2:00 PM EDT - there's still time to spread the sickness and expand the contagion, but we're definitely in the home stretch now. With that in mind, I wanted to touch on some of the basics over the next 5 days to make sure that everyone has got all of the information they need to support the project in the way that works best for them.
Review topics to cover over the next 5 days:
Whether you're a new backer or have been with us from day one, these are good items to review to make sure that we all end up where we want to be.
(An aside, if you're a new backer, make sure you check out the MANUSCRIPT PREVIEWS that have been posted - the entire manuscript will be available to review before the campaign concludes)
Like it says right at the top of the campaign page, we've come together to help create a beautiful prestige version of the Contagion Chronicle for the Chronicles of Darkness game lines. To borrow an analogy that I've used in past Kickstarter campaigns, this works similar to the "Viewers Like You" support campaign from your local PBS Station (for those who get American television channels or watched Sesame Street): There are various levels of support that you can pledge to, and these come with various levels of rewards offered as a thank you. Like getting a tote bag or t-shirt when you give money to public broadcasting to fund them doing their thing, you can get rewards for helping Onyx Path work on this project.
Let's review the Backer Reward Tiers to ensure that you've pledged to a Reward Tier that provides all the rewards you wish to receive.
The main reward offered in this campaign is, of course, the main goal of the entire proposition: the Contagion Chronicle book. The first decision you need to make in figuring out your reward tier is whether you want to receive a digital PDF version or if you want the prestige hardcover book.
PDF ONLY REWARD TIERS:
These are PDF-only reward tiers. So, if you're saving trees or saving shelf space - or avoiding the shipping charges that seem to be ever-increasing - these are the reward tier options that you should begin with. The PDF will be fulfilled by our partners at Drivethrurpg.com - when it is ready, you will receive a link to add it to your DTRPG library and be able to download at your leisure.
HARDCOVER+PDF REWARD TIERS:
These reward tiers include the traditionally-printed prestige hardcover version of this book. That means the books are produced in a large print run at one time, and will have the best production values, from color clarity and appearance to binding and materials. In addition, this option also includes the PDF version, so you will get a digital copy as described above.
The only Reward Tier that does not include the PDF version of the book is the PATIENT tier. You should select this Reward Tier if you want to read the manuscript previews posted in the Backers-Only updates (and continue to have access to them after the campaign ends) but do not wish to receive either a PDF or hardcover version of the final book.
Once your primary decision between PDF-only or hardcover + PDF (or neither) has been made, it's time to learn about the additional rewards you may wish to receive.
There are few additional reward options we'll cover before discussing Multiple and Premium reward tiers:
MANUSCRIPT PREVIEWS – All Reward Tiers include access to Backers-Only manuscript previews. With the exception of the final two settings previews (which will be posted on Sunday and Wednesday next week), I have posted the entire manuscript across multiple sections. You must be a kickstarter backer to access these previews, as the link will remain in a backers-only update post. The manuscript previews are not available to those who pre-order the book at a later date.
PLAYER'S COMPANION PDF - A supplement containing crunchy rules section(s) on supernatural interactions with examples and guidance (ie, "What happens when a Vampire does "X" to a Mage?" and similar issues). Built via Stretch Goal achievements, final length and scope will be determined by how many sections are added.
GLOBAL OUTBREAKS PDF - A travelogue supplement PDF will be created for the Contagion Chronicle, adding new locations and new manifestations of the Contagion. The Global Outbreaks book will also contain more on the factions, vectors, and sub-splats. Built via Stretch Goal achievements, final length and scope will be determined by how many sections are added.
OPTIONAL "AT COST" PoD VERSION – For the Contagion Chronicle, you will have the option of using DriveThruRPG’s Print-On-Demand service to purchase a physical, printed copy directly from their PoD partners at as close as we can get to the cost of printing and shipping (this cost is not included in your pledge, and you do not need to increase the cost of your pledge to use this option). When the PoD versions are available to order (which will be some time after the book has gone to print), you will receive links to purchase these versions of the book from DriveThruRPG.com and cards from DriveThruCards.com. You DO NOT need to take advantage of this PoD offer as it does not affect in any way your pledge rewards.
There's been some churn this past week - a lot of Reward Tier adjustments and changes by backers , as budgets changed and parts of the manuscript were released. In these final days it's best to ensure that you've selected the Reward Tier that offers you the options and rewards you want to receive and are ready to lock down. This timing - before the campaign ends - is the absolute most affordable and inclusive these rewards will be, and will save headaches and heartbreaks if fully considered now.
Right! In addition to our "core" Reward Tiers, we've got two other areas for consideration. These are Multiple Copy rewards and Premium Rewards.
If you are backing for yourself and a friend (or just want a second copy for your collection), the EPIDEMIC Tier was designed for you.
If you are the point person for your entire gaming group and need 5 copies of the hardcover, the PANDEMIC tier is your clear choice.
And, finally, if you are a retailer interested in making this available in your store, a special retailer tier, the BIO RESPONSE UNIT, is open to you upon prior approval from Onyx Path (please email [email protected] prior to selecting this reward to confirm your status).
As discussed on the first day of the campaign, shipping outside the US has gotten quite expensive. Splitting the shipping cost across multiple copies in a single shipment is one way to bring the cost per book down, if you're able to coordinate your backing and delivery with friends.
These special reward tiers offer some enhanced interaction with the setting, from naming characters, serving as inspiration for interior illustrations, getting copied on e-mails and reading early manuscripts on a future Chronicles of Darkness project, or just collecting signatures from the writing team behind this book. These options are extremely limited, however, and most have been claimed for this campaign.
If you were interested in a premium reward tier that is currently closed (completely accounted for), keep an eye on them during the final days of the campaign, as there is sometimes movement that opens them up as we approach the conclusion.
So, with all of that said - consider your Reward Tier selection. Are you backing to receive your copy of the PDF or hardcover version of Contagion Chronicle? Have you considered which additional rewards you're most interested in and selected the configuration that best works for you? Did you jump on one of the limited premium reward options?
Make sure your Reward Tier matches what you're looking for - or, at least, covers most of what you're interested in. Tomorrow, we'll cover Add Ons and talk about how to tweak your Reward List to ensure you're getting anything that's missing from your list.
And, with that, the final countdown begins. Let's lock in our Reward Tiers and keep working towards growing the project so everyone has a chance to join in. DO NOT MISS OUT! And on to the next Stretch Goal!
“You screwed up, man. I mean, you royally screwed the pooch this time!” The pickup bounced along the forest trail toward the highway, lights illuminating the trunks of trees as they sped along the potholed road through the dense woods.
“Ah Jesus, don’t have a cow.” Darren grumbled, staring out the dark window.
“Don’t have a cow? Who even says that this side of the ‘90s? Do you even hear yourself? I mean, are you fucking high?” Jesse snarled.
“Not since I was alive,” the laconic Kindred drawled, sucking the blood out from under his fingernails.
Jesse glanced at his so-called friend, disbelief and panic rising in his chest. They were feelings he hadn’t known for decades.
“Oh God, Jocelyn’s gonna have our heads over this, I’m serious. I oughta pull over right here and kill you myself to save her the trouble!” The truck lurched over a thin fallen log on the downhill track.
“Why are you going all fangs out over this, it’s no big deal,” Darren scoffed.
“Me? You’re the one who left the girl alive! I said the couple was too much!” Jesse howled. Darren’s attitude was quickly turning his fear to anger.
“I thought I was hungry,” Darren sniffed, running a hand through his greasy, black hair. Jesse wondered if Darren was coming down with a fever but dismissed the wild idea. Vampires didn’t get sick.
“You thought! There are precious few rules here, man! Don’t turn without permission, don’t feed off the locals, don’t leave witnesses, and clean up after yourself! It’s not hard! But you broke two, two fuckin’ rules!” Jesse slammed his hand against the steering wheel in frustration.
“No one’ll believe her. They’ll say she’s crazy.”
“Crazy? With your goddamn tooth marks in her neck and a full front poster shot of me suckin’ on her damn boyfriend? This isn’t a fuzzy photo of Bigfoot we’re talking about!” Jesse had given himself over to the flow of blood down his throat just as the flash of a phone’s camera blinded him among the dark trees.
“You worry too much, man.”
“Really? Seems like I don’t worry enough, you dumb shit! We pick off lone vacationers for a reason, okay? If we have to go clean out their rooms and drop their keys with the night porter it’s a little extra effort, but it’s a sweet spot as long as we keep a low profile!”
“Let’s just go home. I can handle Jocelyn, if she even gives a shit.” Darren drew a finger though the condensation on the truck window.
“If she gives a shit? You are high!” Jesse wrenched the wheel as the tires hit the highway with the squeal of tortured rubber.
“I’m not high, you’re paranoid,” Darren sneered.
“And what if I am? The nights are changing. I can see it even if you can’t. The herd’s getting riled up. They look at me like they know,” Jesse insisted, flinching at oncoming headlights raced toward them. His gut twisted as he anticipated the flash of police lights from the car ahead.
“Like they know? Know what? That you’re a vampire? Gimme a break!” Darren laughed out loud at him. The car swept past, but the hush of its engine gave Jesse no comfort.
“Yeah? Well, we’ve got a mess to clean up and that’s not a point for debate! I can’t believe how close those torches were when she screamed. We were almost on top of another camp, you idiot!”
“So what?”
“So what? We’re usually more careful than that. What the hell is wrong with you?” Jesse snarled. The shouts of the other campers coming for them still rang in his ears.
“Hey, it’s good for a few spooky stories to get around. It draws in the horror fans. Bunch of loners, no ties, travelling all the time.”
“I can’t believe you’re even thinking that! We gotta go to ground. I definitely do! Goddamn smart phones!” Jesse clamped mouth shut. It was clear anything Darren said was just going to rile him up more, so he concentrated on the road.
“Hey, what’re those lights up ahead?” Darren asked after a moment. Jesse frowned. A collection of headlights of different sizes and shapes lit up the road and the trees on either side in a haphazard way, no red or blue lamps amongst them.
“Doesn’t look like cops,” Jesse hedged uncertainly, squeezing the brake to slow the truck.
“Whoever they are, they’ve blocked the road.” For the first time that night, it sounded like Darren was taking things seriously. As they approached, a silhouetted figure holding an assault rifle slid into view.
“Shit! Shit! Clean that blood off your face!” He scrambled to get the glove box open and rooted around in it for a rag, anything Darren might use to clean his blood smeared face.
Up ahead, someone gave a shout. Jesse shook his head, yanked the stick into reverse, and mashed the gas, spinning the steering wheel.
He didn’t hear the shots over the engine. He was looking over his shoulder when the windscreen shattered and something cool and wet spattered his face. Turning back to Darren, he saw his friend’s head and brains opened to the world like his vampiric endurance counted for nothing. The blood in the cab smelled rank, like carrion left in a hot, enclosed space for weeks. What was happening? A bullet hit a tire. The truck lurched and shuddered to a halt. Panicking, Jesse fumbled the driver’s door open and stepped out into the night. Slow, shocked steps carried him away from his companion’s true death in the cab.
“We gotcha now, vampire!” Jesse was close enough to smell the feverish sweat on the hunter’s brow. But he had a few tricks of his own still to play.
Then the hunt was on.
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Hello to the Contagious and the Curious,
We've started our FINAL WEEK countdown! We've come far in the past 23 days - funding the project, introducing TWO supplemental books and expanding them via Stretch Goals, sharing the majority of the manuscript - but there's so much further we can go in these final seven days!
At this part of every campaign I urge everyone to Be An Ambassador - spread the word about the campaign, share your excitement on social media and in your social circles, and let everyone know that not only is this campaign nearing the end, but it's definitely one you want everyone to jump on! Let people know what the parts are that excite you! Encourage them to read the previews - especially the Storytelling chapter we shared on Tuesday (it is really good!).
Normally, that would be the start of a joke. But in this case, it's the Contagion Chronicle - this book *is* that bar! How many Chronicles of Darkness games do you have on your shelf or in your Drivethru library? How many times have you looked at the new edition of Changeling: The Lost or your copy of Mage: The Awakening and had a rush of ideas... that would have to wait until you're done your current game of Vampire: The Requiem?
Well, here's the Contagion Chronicle - a chance to mix and match! Your friends that sit out unless you're playing Werewolf: The Forsaken? The one player that can't wait to bust out their new Geist: The Sin-Eaters rules? Now's your chance! A epic Chronicle designed to bring these disparate supernatural forces into the same story and work together.
I know you've told some friendly gamers that you know about this campaign, and shared your pledge on Twitter or Instagram, and seen the banner ad on the messageboards and people are in the know. Believe me when I tell you, though, how many e-mails I get after every campaign from a huge fan of the property who didn't know or had just missed out.
All of that was preamble to get to this tale.
On Tuesday night, my wife ran a presentation at a conference held in a building about 30 minutes from home. When she finally got home, she realized that she'd forgotten her glasses in the room that she'd used for her presentation. This is not her normal work site, and she didn't really know any of the people from that location. Her schedule was already jam packed for the rest of the week, and just the mental energy of trying to figure out how to retrieve her glasses - if they would even be found - was already exhausting.
Luckily, she was able to get in touch with one of the secretaries that worked there the next morning, and confirm that her glasses had been discovered. She'd asked them to hold them aside for her until she could pick them up, but she hadn't yet been able to figure out when that would be.
So, yesterday morning, while my wife was at work, I added an extra trip to my scheduled errands for the day. I drove over to the building the conference had been in, met with one of the secretaries, and let her know that I was there to pick up my wife's glasses.
"What color were they?"
"The are... hmmmm... red?," I said, even as she produced a pair of red glasses from behind the counter! Got it on my first try!
So, I texted my wife a picture of the retrieved glasses, so that she'd know that the problem had been solved and could get on with her regular schedule!
Moral of the story: It can be pretty easy to be a hero! Just trying to cram in all of the stuff that has to get done - the regular matters of daily life - can often fill up the calendar and mental computing space. This small action on my part - retrieving a misplaced pair of glasses - can have larger benefits to someone else.
*pause*
Of course, the real tale does not end there.
My wife texted me back about 30 minutes later.
"Those are not my glasses."
I laughed for about twenty minutes.
The secretary she'd spoken with that morning was on break when I'd arrived. Her associate was filling in at the reception desk when I'd come in, and had overheard the phone call with my wife in the morning, but was not involved in the actual conversation. When I arrived, she knew that someone had misplaced their glasses, and that they'd been found, but not any other details.
When the main secretary came back from getting a coffee, she was looking around for her reading glasses. The red ones. That I'd just taken, thinking I was a hero.
My wife's glasses are purple.
So, the real moral of the story*: You might think that everyone is aware of this campaign, but it's pretty easy to get distracted. I've seen my wife's glasses 500 times - they're not new! - but totally took the wrong pair home without a second thought. The banner ads, the messageboards, the social media - they'll hit the target much of the time. But for others, it's all just wallpaper in the background.
There's so much going on - massive pop culture events like big movie releases, epic trailers, final season premiers, the start or finish of sports seasons, difficult and challenging political times, culture clashes, iconic buildings on fire and natural disasters in the world -it can be overwhelming. People can miss out on the things that bring them joy. And, for so many fans, the Chronicles of Darkness are their escape - an awesome hobby in the middle of chaotic world. It's a shame if they miss out because they were distracted by the noise - both important events as well as the daily buzz of regular life.
And, to maybe be a little maudlin for a moment, it's not just about adding Stretch Goal achievements to this campaign. One of the things I enjoy most about these kickstarter campaigns is building these communities - as momentary or focused as they may be - that see us coming together with common purpose and achieving a goal. It's important to reach out. It's important to find something to work toward with a group, to build a community.
Now, I'm not saying that anyone should spam the internet with links and ads. But, if you have an opportunity to share -again - your enthusiasm and excitement for this project with friends or friendly gamers, go for it. Let them know what's being built here - a framework to use ALL of your Chronicles of Darkness games and ideas. An epic tale told across many tables, and over many Discord sessions.
Let's spread the Contagion, and let's invite others to join in with our project! Take a little extra effort - share your enthusiasm and tell others what excites you. Talk about the Storytelling chapter. Talk about the locations that have been revealed. Share ideas - how would the Contagion affect your home town? Which Chronicles of Darkness supernatural creatures will you bring together in your game?
Let's see how much more we can grow over the final 7 days!
I did go back and correct my mistake! And we all had a good laugh, so something that brought a little joy. And then I told them about the kickstarter, because that's what I do during a campaign, and hoping to keep spreading the Contagion!
*OK, maybe that's not really the moral of the story. There's probably something there about people trying to help can still sometimes unintentionally screw things up, or an eyeglass-for-an-eyeglass prisoner exchange something, or maybe it's just a silly story that happened yesterday that I wanted to share because I love this community! Or all of the above! Take the lesson you need.