Where I Went Right, pt. 1/2

Oops: This was meant to go up yesterday. I forgot to submit it.

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about what I did wrong in terms of running the Kickstarter for Character Cards. But when it comes down to it, the kickstarter succeeded; it raised over £4000.

So, clearly, I did some things right. I've been looking at other people's failed Kickstarters in order to work out what those things were:

1) The video.
a) We have one.
It's very rare that you're better off without a video. You can either use it to demonstrate the product, engage the audience, or (if you're good enough) both.

b) It's badly edited, but it is edited. The fact is, we recorded an hours worth of video, and only used the best 3 minutes. A lot of videos aren't edited at all.
The editing made it a lot tighter, and cut out useless waffle that would have annoyed the audience. We left in the useless waffle that amused the audience.

c) We didn't fail to make it look professional... because we didn't try. If you're going to try and look professional, be sure you'll succeed.
Trying and failing shows that you're pretending to be something you're not.

2) The Shipping Plan
This one's simple: We offered inclusive shipping in the US despite not living there; to do this we had to find a service that would handle the postage within the US for us, so we did.
US backers aren't used to paying extra for postage. They also aren't used to paying in a foreign currency.
Asking them to do both at once is not a winning proposition, it would have cut our backing significantly as we'd have lost out on a lot of custom.

Now, if you're a US group you don't have as much of a problem, you're offering the US shipping inclusive anyway.... right? Good. Still, it may well be worth considering whether you can cut the cost of shipping to another market, like the EU or even Australia. Just work out what scale you're operating on and, if you can, try and save money by getting someone local to accept a big shipment and repost it. Companies like Amazon are quite happy to handle such services,.


To be concluded on saturday

Jumping to concepts

The Kickstarter is over, so now is the time to move on to the next stage: updating all the cards to fit the new layout, and creating all the needed major arcana.

The cards that are going to be hardest are the ones that don't, innately, represent people. Strength was easy, and The Lovers is relatively simple, but The Tower... well, it represents disaster, but it's a tower. How do you fit those two together?

Mages live in towers. Mages can cause disasters... It's that kind of thinking that we'll have to use as filling out the major arcana; fitting things on the basis of a couple of steps of removal.

That's actually one of the major aspects of creating interesting concepts in general; by taking a couple of steps along the path you have formed a new idea, but one grounded in an old concept that your audience already understands.

A brand new idea is exciting, but without that link it can be incomprehensible.

When you have a pure new idea a part of your job is to work out why it's not a purely new idea, and therefore help people grasp it.
Magic The Gathering had a brand new idea; a trading card game. But it couched it in familiarity; using concepts from fantasy (and, surprisingly, from nuclear physics) to draw people in; and also applying the principles of trading card design.
The colour system is grounded in common tropes: White is good, Black evil, Red chaotic, Blue calm, and Green nature [although they have become more complicated and well-defined as time goes on]

Dominion was a new concept, it spawned a whole genre of deck-building games, but at its base were the concepts taken from trading card games.

And the same is true elsewhere. A brand new idea is both unlikely and rarely useful. If you have an idea that seems unique and spontaneous, try and work out where it came from. Once you understand the source, you have an idea how to explain it to others.

Story Time - A Day Off

Today's story is an extra-long one starring Oliver Rasmin and Serena Milgard (her card needs updating slightly, which will be done the moment the kickstarter ends)

Serena was walking alone on a cold autumn evening; a deep gash along her thigh and a pouch full of teeth were the only signs that she had been fighting for her life mere minutes earlier. Her head was pounding - were hydras venomous? She wasn’t sure, but it would be best to find a healer soon. She heard hoofbeats. They reverberated around her skull... she felt faint.

Everywhere she looked the world was tinged a lurid yellow. She closed her eyes, listened for the horses. They were coming closer.

She gathered up the last of her strength, and bellowed an order: “Help me!”.

----------

She awoke at sunrise, surprised to find herself in a luxurious bedchamber, laying on a goose-feather mattress. The wound on her leg was healing well, and her head felt clear.

Her armour had been set out for her on a bedside table, alongside a fresh set of undergarments. She quickly changed, throwing her torn leggings aside, before donning her armour. The leather was light enough that she could wear it continuously; on occasion she would even sleep in it.

As Serena was fastening her armour there was a knocking at the chamber door. “Come in”.

The door swung open and a red haired woman entered, carrying a small pouch. She smiled “Ah, sleeping beauty has awoken I see. I’m Heather Surcott; the resident physician.”

“I’m Serena Milgard. Where am I?”

“You’re in Rasmin Manor, west of Kingstown. M’lord Sir Oliver Rasmin found you in the woods while out hunting.” She paused “The venom in you was extremely virulent, but it looks like my antidote worked. You’d best stay here for a day or so, just in case.”

Serena’s stomach rumbled.

“Ah, I’d best show you to the hall. Breakfast is being served.”

It was a feast beyond anything Serena had seen in her four years as a wanderer. There were four roast birds, a large pile of exotic fruits and enough wine for everyone; even the servants were eating well.

A tall well-dressed noble rose from the head of the table. “Welcome to my home, and please join us for a meal, I’m Sir Oliver Rasmin” He held out a hand to her.

“Serena” As she went to shake to his hand, he gripped hers and pulled it close, pressing his soft lips against it, leaving an imprint of their form in red upon her hand. She blushed.

Sir Oliver smiled widely. “Sit, eat, be merry.”

While merriness wasn’t on her agenda, Serena’s stomach wouldn’t allow her to turn down the feast; getting wounded always gave her an appetite, and she was feeling especially voracious today. By the time she was full she’d picked a whole a whole pheasant clean.

“I’m glad to see the food was to your liking.” Sir Oliver’s eyes traced the sword tattoo on her cheek. “Perhaps you’d like to come for a ride with me once it’s settled. I’m sure you must have some very interesting stories to tell.”

“I suppose I do. It’s been a very long time since I told any.” Serena thought for a second. “Let’s make a deal: I’ll tell you my tales if you will stock my bag. I’m always running out of bloodstone, and it looks like you have a good collection of cures.”

“It will be done by the time we return.”  Sir Oliver called over a servant, and began making arrangements.

Serena sat again, her leg was still aching slightly.

Despite Dr. Surcott’s strenuous objections, they were soon racing through the Rasmin Woods. Guiltily, Serena found that she was having fun. When they got tired they stopped for a rest, and she told Oliver stories of her adventures, and he told her of his. She could tell that what he told her wasn’t the whole truth, but she didn’t care; she wasn’t telling him the whole truth either.

She was happy in the moment, drinking wine in the woods with a handsome man, and telling the tales of her tattoos. The sword on her cheek that marked the day she defeated her grandfather in combat, and became an adult; the shell on her hand that marked her as a soldier; the headless snake on her arm that represented the army of the Sirilian Kingdom; the axe on her navel which was her prize for defeating Erwin Stoneheart in battle; the star on her breast that told of her successful navigation of the Saline Sea; the knot upon her thigh that represented her first love...

They were there for hours, alone in the woods together, exploring each others bodies. As the sun set they were tight in each others arms, and there they remained until morning, covered only by a thin blanket.

With the first break of dawn they awoke; and some time thereafter they returned to the manor.

Serena stayed for no more than a few minutes, for she knew that staying longer would tempt her to break her vows, and she couldn’t risk that. She simply grabbed her bag, her axe and her herbs, and then she waved goodbye to Oliver.

--------------------

It was a week later that Serena first heard how the great Sir Oliver had defeated a hydra. How he had saved a swooning maiden from it’s vile clutches and nursed her back to health. How he had collected its teeth as proof... she searched her pack. They weren’t there. He’d stolen the hydra’s teeth!

It took her another week to track him down; she confronted him just outside a small town, shortly after dusk. “You stole from me Oliver Rasmin, and you betrayed my trust. You even stole my deeds to use as your own. Are you a real knight? Will you duel me?”

Oliver dismounted and then turned to his squire “Take the horses, I’ll meet you in the tavern.”

Once his squire was safely away Oliver drew his sword, then bowed. His armour glistened a pale yellow... an after effect of the hydra’s venom?

Without a word Serena charged, swinging towards Oliver’s left. He parried skillfully, but she pulled his sword aside leaving him open. Taking advantage she kicked out, but he withdrew, scurrying backwards and resetting his guard.

“Now my dear, there’s no need to be like that, we can talk about this!”

“Be like what? A thief and a liar?” she cried, searching for an opening.

“You’re a brave warrior, no doubt but-” He got no further because Serena’s axe slashed across his shoulder. His armour put up next to no resistance but she didn’t stop to think about that, instead pressing the advantage to drive him further back off the path

Oliver stifled a scream through gritted teeth switched his sword to his left hand, and dodged behind a tree, trying to get behind Serena. She turned to face him, but swung wide. Oliver took advantage and snuck an attack past her guard, but her armour was built for fighting, and she moved more freely in it - he hit nothing but air; still he had the high ground now and was advancing. She took a couple of steps back; Oliver followed, searching for an advantage.

Her back was against a tree. She could go no further; so she went on the offensive. As Oliver swung his blade toward her throat she ducked and aimed for his belly; not enough room for a proper swing of her axe, but it might get him off-balance.

The axe blade breached his armour, which shouldn’t have been possible...

Her contemplation was cut short as Oliver’s blade struck the tree and passed straight through it, shattering as it did so.

As the tree fell away from her they both paused - that definitely shouldn’t have been possible.

Serena threw her entire weight into a shoulder barge which sent Oliver reeling backwards and he landed heavily on his back, holding nothing but a hilt. Serena advanced, her axe readied, and a glint in her eye.

“Please, I have gold! Another night of passion! Anything!” Something in Oliver’s cries for clemency stopped her; she couldn’t kill him. He was something special, what he’d done to the tree showed that. Of course now she had a better look she realised he was special in another way too: his armour was made of gold!

“You’ll need your gold to buy some proper armour and a better-made sword, because a year from today we will meet again, for another night of passion, and another fight. You’d best prepare for both.” She glared at him. “And I’ll be needing those hydra teeth back. You’re better off without them anyway. There are people who would kill you for those, and then use them to bring you back as their soldier.”

Oliver clambered to his feet. “They’re with my squire at the tavern.” As Serena began to walk off he called after her: “Won’t those people come after you too?”

She just smiled at him “I’m looking forward to it!”




If you enjoyed this tale; please follow me on Google+ or Twitter to hear when each one goes up. It makes it much easier for me to write if I know I have an audience.
As an added incentive, if at least 50 of you follow me and share this link to the kickstarter: http://kck.st/16RpaDt we'll increase the character fiction to one a week for the next year :-)

Admitting your errors

Sometimes it is best to admit you've been wrong, as we did today.

We'd overestimated the level of funding required to do the full major arcan, and so we'd put our stretch goal for doing so too high. Because of this there was a high chance we'd be stranded in the realm between 54 and 80, where we have only part of the major arcana.

In this case admitting the error was an easy choice to make. I found the idea of being stuck in that gap oddly repulsive: it was such an inelegant situation. I hadn't realised at first that I would feel that way, but I did.

And so I was very tempted to give up some of my gains from the adventurers, and take a loss on the normal decks, in order to make the full major arcana happen.

Knowing I could make it happen without resorting to such means made me happy. And knowing that it's an achievable goal will make our backers happy. It's good news for everyone; so why not admit it?

Two other things have also come up that I got wrong; which I haven't announced to the general audience of backers yet.

The first I won't be announcing at all: The large decks are making me a (tiny) loss, and are much worse for me than regular decks. I should have charged more for them. Why not announce that? Because it would make the backers who've picked large decks feel bad, it wouldn't make any of the backers happy, and it wouldn't really affect them anyway.

The second I will be announcing generally, but only once it's dealt with. One of the possible cardbacks I commisioned is not actually original art, it's a copyrighted piece made by someone else. Free for non-commercial use.

I got conned, essentially. But it was a cheap commission, so I'm not too bothered.

I promised three cardback options, and I intend to deliver three options. Which means I've had to commission a third option. Once that option comes in, I'll announce the change.

The backers aren't thinking about the backs at the moment, so there's no reason to distract them with the news.

Why do I write?

As part of the Character Cards Kickstarter I've promised to write stories for the cards every fortnight.
Well, actually, I've promised to provide stories; but I fully intend to write the majority of them.

One of the most common questions I see on writing forums* is "Why do you write?". For me, the answer is now simple: Because I promised to.

If it wasn't for the promise to provide stories I wouldn't be writing. Unlike game design I don't feel a need to write.

But I do enjoy it; I love the feeling of having a world flow from my mind onto paper. Or, as is more common these days, onto a hard drive.

So, ultimately, why do I write? Because it's fun, and because I've given myself an excuse.

Do anyone of you write? And if so, why?

*Which I've been reading more of than usual, in an attempt to scope out target markets

"Not Again"

Freya finished shoeing the skeletal horse, bid its rider farewell, and sat down for a cup of hot milk. It was time for her to get some rest.

She always insisted that The Horsemen only come by at night, or she wouldn't serve them. Sure it cut into her sleep, but she didn't want people seeing them. She'd rather they didn't come by at all, but they were rather insistent; and they hadn't actually caused any trouble.

She finished her milk, and went to clean herself up. Just a quick scrub, she didn't put any effort into it; she’d be working the forge again tomorrow, so there was no point. Once she could feel her face through the soot she changed into her nightdress and lay down to sleep.

As she was drifting off, she heard something. It sounded like clashing blades. She dismissed it, it wasn’t her problem. She closed her eyes and entered a peaceful slumber.

--------

That slumber was rudely interrupted mere minutes later by a violent knocking at her door. She sighed, slipped on a cloak, grabbed a hammer and went to greet her unwelcome visitor. A knight... in shining armour. Of course it was. Great.

If he hadn’t been bleeding she’d have told him to bugger off. She was tempted to anyway, his wound was essentially self-inflicted; his armour was made of gold.

“M’Lady, I beg your aid. I have been sorely wounded.” The knight paused to catch his breath. “I was passing by when I saw a group of seven brigands preparing to raid your humble town.”
When he paused again, Freya tried to speak, but he cut her off before she could. “I knew I had to stop them, and I bravely engaged them in combat and defeated them.”
“I’ll just -”
“After they had surrendered however, one of the cowardly fiends struck me with a concealed knife; and they all fled into the woods.”

Freya decided to ignore his babble, it was all lies anyway; that wound couldn’t have been caused by a dagger. Instead she relit her forge, and started heating a brand.

The knight followed her. “My sincerest apologies, I have yet to introduce myself. I am Sir Oliver Rasmin, of the Empress’ Guard.” His eyes flicked towards the forge. “Do you not have any bloodstone, or healing herbs?”
She smiled slightly. “Of course I do, Sir Oliver. I keep them ready in case someone has an accident.” The smile dropped. “But that’s not the same thing as getting yourself hit with an axe.”
The brand was glowing red.
“I suppose I ought to help you get your armour off first, it wouldn’t do to have the gold melt to your skin.”
“Are you sure you can’t spare any bloodstone?” Oliver’s voice quivered slightly.
“I’m sure a noble knight such as yourself won’t find a simple cauterisation too much of a hardship to bear.”
“Of course not.” Oliver spoke through gritted teeth. “I’m merely worried that it might take some time for me to return to full strength, in case those vagabonds attempt to attack again.”
Freya wasted no time in removing Oliver’s golden platemail. “Then visit the apothecary in the morning” She paused briefly “Why is your gambeson embroidered‽”
“It’s a highly -”
“Oh, you know what, I don’t care! Just take it off.”

Freya grabbed the brand as Oliver pulled off his gambeson, revealing his bare chest underneath. She caught herself staring for a second: not because he was handsome, although he was, but because of a birthmark on his right shoulder...

She pressed the brand against his wound, and it sizzled, burns cutting off the bleeding. He barely reacted to the pain, grimacing only slightly.

… a birthmark that formed the symbol of Jove, which meant he was the prophesied heir to the true imperial lineage. Which was not her problem.

“You’re not bleeding anymore, which means I don’t have to look after you. So clear off, I’m going to sleep.”

------

It was nearing mid day when a horse trotted up to Freya’s home, and began grunting loudly. Another rude visitor. She set aside the armour on which she was working (a far more practical piece than Oliver’s) and went to open the door.

The horse’s rider was still mounted, though only barely. There was an arrow through his chest, and a scroll clutched in his dead hands. The scroll was marked in the script of the ancient Pheraen Empire; she instantly recognised one word: “Thanatos”, the gate keeper...

She sat down with a cup of tea as she read it.

...well, bugger. That was everyone’s problem.

Feeling too rushed

Sunday was my wedding anniversary. Tomorrow I've got a story to post up. My wife is busy preparing for her final exams at university, and my compatriot Loz is relatively unavailable due to a family situation.

I hope you'll forgive me for just linking the update I posted on my kickstarter today, instead of preparing something more interesting.

Be well all

-Ste