Wow. We barely had time to get out the $22k stretch goal update and we already hit the next one. Dark Streets is now a reality: we’ll be putting together the Urban Shadow’s City Guide Compendium for publication. The book will contain all the city guides unlocked, those chosen by our Marquis and Marquess backers, rules for playing Urban Shadows in Victorian Era Europe and the American Wild West, and additional content for expanding your Urban Shadows experience!
All backers at the $10 level and above will receive a pdf copy of Dark Streets and all backers of $25 or more can add in a print copy of Dark Streets to their pledge for $20 (includes domestic shipping). International backers who wish to add Dark Streets to their pledge please add and additional $10 for shipping.
Our next stretch goal of $26,000 will give us the London City Guide by Paula and Steve Dempsey followed up by the $28,000 goal of the Bangalore City Guide by Ajit George. Can we make it to $26,000 today?!
Thank you for sharing our project with friends and family, your efforts have led us to this success! Let’s blow the roof off of this before the end!
The Vessel Arrives… With Two New Stretch Goals!
over 10 years ago
– Fri, Jun 27, 2014 at 08:52:07 AM
As we enter the final 72 hours of the campaign, we’ve unlocked our $22,000 Stretch Goal! We left it up to you all to decide which Wild Archetype would be unlocked, and you have chosen… The Vessel! Nearly 300 of you cast your votes to help us pick, and The Vessel won by a wide margin!
The Vessel: A Preview
Chained and shackled to their Duty, The Vessel struggles to craft an identity in a body that is not their own. Sometimes they are stitched together from parts of others; other times they are hewn from stone and rock, imbued with life by magic or ritual. Either way, they are bound to carry out their tasks, to fulfill their purpose, even when they fear that they are nothing more than an empty husk.
The Vessel, like many of the other Wild Archetypes, holds great power. They can weather extreme conditions, suffer terrible damage, and even survive “death” under certain conditions. In addition, they tend to be quite strong and resilient, capable of performing feats of strength that no other Archetype can accomplish. At the same time, their Duties keep them occupied, driven to serve out a purpose that may have been given to them so long ago that they cannot remember who bestowed the work upon them.
Stretch Goal #13 ($26,000) - Paula and Steve Dempsey’s London
Our 13th Stretch Goal (insert creepy noises) will be a London City Guide written by none other than the amazing Paula and Steve Dempsey, two of Britain’s finest game authors on the subject of the weird, the occult, and the supernatural.
Paula Dempsey is an English writer who takes much of her inspiration from Britain's rich folklore tradition. She’s also keen on all things weird including UFOs, ghosts, cryptozoology, astrology and tarot and has a particular interest in the history of British occult movements. She first encountered role-playing games over 25 years ago and enjoys games with historical settings and the occasional LARP. All of the above was brought together in a supplement for Pelgrane Press' Bookhounds of London campaign, The Book of the Smoke, which won a gold ENnie for Best Writing in 2012. Paula lives in London with her husband Steve, also a writer and gamer, and fits writing around the day job, visiting unusual museums and going to the pub.
Steve Dempsey has been a gamer for over 30 years. He has contributed to several ENnie Award winning publications in the GUMSHOE range for Pelgrane Press and is also their demo guy, having run the same scenario over 50 times at conventions. He has recently started to publish short fiction in anthologies such as Shotguns v Cthulhu and The New Gothic. His study is adorned with the statuary of geekdom and other Yog-Sothery. He lives with his wife Paula, an occult scholar no less, in London where they spend weekends in ancient cemeteries and at esoteric events.
Paula and Steve will be bringing us a mix of the old and the new, a 21st Century multicultural melting pot in the heart of Britain that is still mired and caught up in the ancient occult forces that predate the British Empire.
Stretch Goal #14 ($28,000) - Ajit George’s Bangalore City Guide
From London, we’ll zip across the world to India for our fourteenth stretch goal! Ajit George will be writing a City Guide for Bangalore, India’s third largest city and premier tech hub. His City Guide will give us the lowdown on setting a campaign in India, including grappling with the forces of globalization that are shaping the modern city. What conflicts will we find in India's Silicon Valley? How do the different Factions contest for power?
Ajit George is Director of Operations for an international non-profit. He has spoken at numerous events on the topic of non-profit education, including TEDx. He attended the Clarion West Writer's Workshop in 2004 and studied under several leading science fiction and fantasy authors, including Kelly Link and urban-fantasy guru Charles de Lint. He's been a play-tester for several games, regional storyteller for White Wolf's Mind Eye Theater, and run and organized games across the country.
Next Three Days
We’re so excited to add both of these international stretch goals… and to see what the next three days holds for this campaign! We’re close to unlocking the full, printed City Guide (only $500!), more international cities, and a few surprises that lie on the other side of the Stretch Goals we’ve already laid out! Please post about the project on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter. Let people know the campaign is ending! We’d love to have them on board!
- Andrew and Mark
Three Days Left!!
over 10 years ago
– Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 08:52:28 PM
This is it folks, we’re into the final three days of the project and I couldn't be more excited/humbled/nervous/tense......yeah, you get the idea!
This entire experience has been thrilling, and it’s all thanks to YOU! We're less than $500 away from announcing the newest member of Wild. Will it be the lonely Exile, or the shackled Vessel? (Just between you and me, the Vessel has a small lead but anything can happen before the end).
You're not worried that we're out of new stretch goals, are you? Cause we have saved some real show stoppers for the final days. Once we reach $22,000, we’ll shortly announce the next stretch goal previews for you to enjoy.
These last hours are so important to us and we would love it if you could share the project one more time with your friends and followers. Let's make this a huge success together!
Until then, let the shadows guide you!
Miami, New Basic Moves, and Dark Streets
over 10 years ago
– Mon, Jun 23, 2014 at 04:17:51 PM
“Baby's always attracted to the things she's afraid of
Seriously! You all are amazing. It feels like only yesterday that we launched this project, hoping that you all would as excited about what we’re doing with urban fantasy as we are. In just three weeks, we’ve gotten amazing playtest reports, a bunch of awesome feedback in the Google Community, posts on Twitter, G+, and Facebook… AND TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS! We are so humbled by your support!
Of course… this unlocks the 3-O-5 in the Sunshine State! Miami!
Stretch Goal #9 Unlocked (Eloy LaSanta’s Miami City Guide)
Since we’ve hit $20K, we’re adding Eloy LaSanta’s Miami City Guide to our growing mass of awesome quick starts for Urban Shadows. We’ve got NYC, LA, Chi-Town, Edo… and now the city of sunny sin! We’re excited to see the new characters, faction moves, and Threats that Eloy’s going to bring to your game. Miami!
But we’re not done yet...
Stretch Goal #12 ($24,000) - Urban Shadows: Dark Streets
Since we’ve started to amass such a great collection of City Guides, we’d love to get them into print! If we can get to $24,000, we’ll put together a full Urban Shadow’s Companion book filled with all the City Guides we’ve done so far, City Guides for 19th Century cities like Victorian England and the Wild West, and maybe even a few more exciting playbooks!
If we unlock this goal, we’ll release a PDF of Dark Streets to all $10+ backers and make the book available in print as an add on for $25+ backers for $20. Dark Streets will be roughly 6’’x9’’ and about 140+ pages with a black and white interior and color cover. It might even have a few maps…
New Basic Moves
Last, but not least… we’ve decided to celebrate cracking $20,000 by releasing the new Basic Moves (with feedback from so many awesome playtesters) for free here on Kickstarter as an open update:
We’re really proud of this next draft of the Basic Moves, and we’re excited to see what you all do with them in this final week of our campaign. If you know people who are on the fence about backing, please feel free to share these moves with them to show them what we’ve been up to since we launched the project. And please visit our G+ Community to discuss these new moves!
Stay tuned for an update tomorrow about The Vessel vs. The Exile... THANK YOU!
- Andrew and Mark
Stretch Goals, Archetypes, and Add ons
over 10 years ago
– Thu, Jun 19, 2014 at 09:21:49 AM
Hello all!
Thanks again for your patience this past week as we journeyed to the strange lands of Ohio for Origins. We ran a ton of Urban Shadows there, and we got some amazing feedback from “pro” playtesters and newbies alike. We’re working on taking all of that feedback (plus all the amazing notes you all have already given us) to work on a new draft of the Basic Moves and the Archetypes. We’re excited to share that with you all soon! (Seriously, we have to restrain ourselves from just posting half-finished notes!)
That said… we’ve got some cool announcements to make:
Nearly Nine Stretch Goals Completed!
We’re only $1,500 away from Eloy LaSanta’s Miami City Guide, our fifth City Guide! In addition to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Tokyo, Eloy’s guide to Miami will give you even more places to set your game of Urban Shadows. We’re especially excited about Miami because of the unique role it plays as a gateway to the Caribbean and Central/South America. It’s a city shaped by immigration, both legal and illegal, and it’s the perfect grounds for an Urban Shadows campaign.
As we start to think about the final weeks of the campaign, though, we’re pulling together our final stretch goals. Without further delays… here is our next goal!
Stretch Goal #10 ($22,000) - The Vessel vs. The Exile
The Wild Faction is filled with characters who do not belong in our world, faeries, demons, and other creatures that hail from places Beyond our reality. They are mystical others, and their stories are dark reflections of the immigrant experience in urban environments! Now that we’ve locked in The Dragon as the third Archetype for Wild, we’d like to add one more Archetype for the Faction from Beyond!
We’ve got two great ideas for the fourth Wild Archetype:
The Vessel - Crafted, created, and chained, The Vessel is an inanimate thing granted life by forces nearly beyond human control. They are immensely powerful, but struggle to find an identity when their very creation was at the behest of another.
The Exile - Isolated, angry, and vulnerable, The Exile has been banished from their home, doomed to walk this plane when they fundamentally belong on another. They carry with them powers and possessions from their homeland and a grudge against those who forced them out.
We’ve had some folks ask about picking up extra copies of the book, dice, etc. If you’d like to add some extra stuff to your order, add the following to your pledge:
Softcover Book ($25) - Backers at $25+ can add an additional softcover to their order by adding $25.
Hardcover Book ($40) - Backers at $50+ can add an additional hardcover to their order by adding $40.
Additional Dice ($5/$20) - Backers at $10+ can add an additional pair of dice for $5. An additional set of 10 dice costs $20.
Retailer Copies ($12.50/$20) - Retailers can add additional softcovers for $12.50 and additional hardcovers for $20.
All prices include domestic shipping within the United States. International backers should add $5 per book for shipping and $5 for extra dice (no matter how many you order). International retailers should message us for shipping rates.
