We're closing out the second day of the Kickstarter, but you all have already completed three stretch goals, adding two new Archetypes (The Hallowed and The Dragon) and our first City Guide! Andrew is excited to get to work on making Gotham the perfect setting for your home campaign.
Want more stretch goals? How about…
Stretch Goal #6 ($14,000) - City Guide: Chicago by Kenneth Hite
Our sixth stretch goal features none other than the Avatar of Chicago himself… Ken Hite!
Multiple Origins, Golden Geek, and ENnie Award winner Kenneth Hite has designed, written, or co-authored over 80 roleplaying games and supplements, including GURPS Horror, The Day After Ragnarok, Trail Of Cthulhu, and Night’s Black Agents. He has written Chicago horror into The Dresden Files RPG, World of Darkness: Chicago, and Deadlands Noir. His “Suppressed Transmission” column explored the Higher Weirdness for ten years; he currently writes “Lost in Lovecraft” for Weird Tales and a column for Swedish gaming magazine Fenix. Outside gaming, his works include Tour de Lovecraft: the Tales, Cthulhu 101, The Nazi Occult, and a series of Lovecraftian children’s books. An Artistic Associate at Chicago’s WildClaw Theatre, he served as dramaturg for their recent stage production of The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Half of the podcasting team behind Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff, he lives in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood with two Lovecraftian cats and his non-Lovecraftian wife, Sheila.
Ken will be writing a Chicago City Guide for Urban Shadows that features iconic Chicago characters, unique Threats and moves for The Windy City, and all of Ken’s typical horror mojo. We're really honored to have Ken as part of the project!
Urban Shadows at Origins Games On Demand
Want to try out Urban Shadows? Headed to Origins next week? Both Mark and Andrew will be on hand at Games on Demand to run Urban Shadows. Come request games from us and we’ll be happy to show you how the system works!
Lightning Crashes
over 10 years ago
– Wed, Jun 04, 2014 at 05:58:50 AM
Whew. You all keep us busy. We awoke this morning to find that we’re already over 200% funded, less than 24 hours after launching the campaign. You all rock! And since we’ve hit $6k, we’ll be adding The Dragon to the book as a regular Archetype, including advice for playing The Dragon and for running games for the Dragon as the Master of Ceremonies. Stay tuned for a Sneak Peak of the Dragon Archetype in the next few weeks! Rawr!
The Dragon: A Preview
Ancient and restless, the Dragon is an old soul born in a new body, cursed by knowledge and power that lies just out of reach. Long ago, the Dragon was a powerful monster, a master of humanity that ruled with iron claws… but those days, like the bones of the dragons themselves, have turned to dust. Now all the Dragon has is the hazy memories of the people they loved and the possessions they held, echoes of the royalty they once wore like a mantle.
The Dragon Archetype is driven by these hints of the past. The Dragon knows the secret mysteries of powerful objects and the hidden lusts of those who seek to possess such treasures. They are immune to the fires and brimstones in which they are born, but vulnerable to their own greed and avarice, slowly losing the small bits of humanity they possess in their search for the things and people they once owned. Corruption allow the Dragon access to their true dragonic nature, but will they be able to hold on to their present when they are so obsessed with the past?
Stretch Goal #5 ($12,000) - City Guide: Los Angeles by Whitney “Strix” Beltrán
Our fifth stretch goal for the campaign is the first to feature an awesome writer developing a City Guide for their home city! We think it’s incredibly important for local voices to bring cities in Urban Shadows to life (and to present cities west of the Mississippi), so we’re proud to feature Whitney “Strix” Beltrán’s City Guide: Los Angeles as our fifth stretch goal.
Whitney “Strix” Beltrán is a script doctor and consultant in TV, film, and game development, and currently works with several small studios in North Hollywood doing transmedia and content development and with the independent game publishing house Galileo Games. She is a long time gamer as well as a PhD student that focuses on gaming in her research. She often gives lectures and sits on panels that discuss gaming at both academic and industry conferences and conventions such as Gen Con and the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association, among many others. World building is her favorite aspect of design, and she is very excited at the chance to develop a city guide for her home turf. Los Angeles is a weird, strange, wonderful place, and she would love to bring it to life for you.
Like the other City Guides, the Los Angeles guide will help you drop your players into the middle of a living, breathing city, filled with monstrous politics, magical locations, and custom Threats and moves for your stories. Viva Los Angeles!
- Andrew and Mark
Sunday Bloody Sunday - Stretch Goal #1 Unlocked
over 10 years ago
– Tue, Jun 03, 2014 at 04:34:02 PM
Wooo! We’re aboot (as Andrew says!) 8 hours in to the Urban Shadows campaign and you all have already cleared the first stretch goal. That means we’re going to add The Hallowed to the main book as a regular Archetype, including the playbook, advice for playing The Hallowed, and MC advice for running games with The Hallowed as a player character. Look for that Archetype in the coming weeks as we wrap up our latest improvements to the moves and character options.
The Hallowed: A Preview
Unlike most of the other Urban Shadows Archetypes, The Hallowed starts play with a flock, a group of people to which The Hallowed is committed to serve. Sometimes this means that the community formally recognizes the Hallowed, as in the case of a priest or a community leader, but Hallowed can also be a community organizer or revolutionary who have the respect of common people without any formal authority. Regardless of their position, however, they want to see the community change--the world needs to be made whole, and the Hallowed wants to find a way to bring the community to making that change. The Hallowed isn't a cult leader--their decisions reflect back on the community they are called to serve.
Corruption for the Hallowed is a truly slippery slope. The Hallowed gains Corruption anytime they use their powers for personal gain instead of on behalf of the community, but the powers granted by Corruption are great indeed, allowing the Hallowed to strike down the community’s enemies, banish other Factions from safe spaces, and force members of the community to act in the community’s interest. It's tempting to try to make decisions for the community when you're trying to make it whole.
Next up: THE DRAGON!!! Hide your valuables...
Stretch Goal #3 - City Guide: New York, New York unlocks at $8,000!
Our third stretch goal is a City Guide for the city of New York, written by Andrew specifically for Urban Shadows. A City Guide is a ready-to-use playset that contains location descriptions, custom Threats, NPCs (allies and enemies), custom moves, and Factional maps for use in your game. The New York City Guide will get your gaming group up and running in the Big Apple, even if you’ve never set foot in the city. (Look for more City Guides in upcoming stretch goals!)
Stretch Goal #4 - Dead Souls: The Revenant unlocks at $10,000
Our fourth stretch goal is The Revenant, an undead angel of death drawn back across the veil to seek revenge against those who hurt them when they graced the land of the living. The Revenant has a special relationship with Corruption, using it to fuel most of their moves and drawing on it despite the dangers it poses. But is revenge justice? Do they care about the difference?
THANK YOU!
Again, thank you all for your support, questions, and feedback already. It's been a crazy day as we figure out where this Kickstarter is going, and we're blown away by all the support. Thank you!
- Andrew and Mark
Ready to Start
over 10 years ago
– Tue, Jun 03, 2014 at 11:50:40 AM
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