Modern Military Kickstarter project

[aspqrz]

Hi all,

I am currently preparing a long-time project for a KickStarter launch, probably in late September or early October which may be of interest to anyone who likes Twilight: 2000.

The project is Road to Armageddon and a short form version has been available for some years on RPGNow (see Phalanx Games Design as a Campaign Background for Greg Porter's EABA (BTRC) game system ... and some of you may have come across it (or not).

The basic premise is one of one-way time travel 25000 years into the future, dropping a quite substantial military and civilian force from the 20th and 21st centuries into a Science Fiction/Fantasy world and seeing how they cope with the situation, develop local technology etc.

The current KS project, however, doesn't include the SF/F components - it is entirely about a WW3 in the near future and is intended to provide a long introductory background and campaign leading up to the PCs involved being caught up in the transference into the future ... so it's basically as 'real world' as TW2000 is/was.

The KS will launch at least seven books ... D10 System Core Rules (~180 pages, character creation and game system, based on a D10 pool mechanic), Equipment Book (~180 pages. Guns, Gear and Vehicles), Modern Encounters (~200 pages. Encounter Tables. Encounter Descriptions. Special Encounters etc. Detailed enough to allow for the creation of a complete post-nuclear exchange campaign pretty much anywhere), In the Beginning/False Dawn (~48-64 pages. Introductory adventure to get the PCs connected, set in the USA somewhat before WW3), Jungle Traveller (~180 pages. Campaign Book #1 - slightly pre-WW3 mercenary campaign in West Africa ... Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Nigeria-Biafra), Short Days Ago (~180 pages. Campaign Book #2. West Africa - Nigerian Civil War. Federal Nigeria vs Islamic Republic of Nigeria (Boko Haram) vs Biafran Republic), Let them Laugh at Fate (~180 pages. West and West Central Africa. The war expands - into Cameroon and Chad).

Depending on how successful the KS is, there may be other books as well and a second KS (in 2016) will cover (tentatively) post nuclear exchange operations, possibly in Cuba, the US and (certainly) Europe leading, eventually, to the PCs being 'transferred' into the far future, but certainly usable as a standalone TW2000 style campaign up to that point!

This is the first KickStarter that I have ever done, but I do have something of a track record in the gaming industry, a pretty good one (at least I think so) ... co-author, Space Opera, author of supplements for SO and Chivalry & Sorcery (FGU); author Rigger Black Book (1st Edition. FASA); author Road to Armageddon: EABA, Farm, Forge and Steam (Ideas on how to design a coherent and believable campaign world), Displaced (Generic sideways/dimensional and one way time travel campaign guidelines), Orbis Mundi (real medieval society and economics ca. late 13th-14th centuries) and Audace ad Gloriam (Survival and Exploration equipment for a well known SF game with Black Covers) (Phalanx Games Design. Me.)

The writing for all except the Getting Involved/False Dawn and third Campaign Book are all complete as I write this and work on those two books continues. Cover artwork has been commissioned and finished for the first three books and two of the Campaign books and more is being commissioned for the remaining books as I type this ... and the completed books are all laid out and ready to go. The ones still being written will be laid out and ready to go either before, during, or soon after the KS is launched.

The KS will offer all these goodies at a considerably reduced price compared to what they will cost to purchase after it is complete (successful or not, they will be published). Tentative pricing for the KS is US$75 for PDF only and US $100 for PDF + PoD voucher (that is, you'll get a voucher that will enable you to pay for the actual printing cost component of the PoD, which will be substantially less than what will be charged on RPGNow for all the books.

To buy the books after the KS will cost ~US$20 for the 180 page ones in PDF only (proportionally more or less if the page count is more or less) or ~US$35 (not including the actual PoD printing cost or postage) for PDF + PoD.

If the KS is minimally successful, then the PDFs will be available as soon after it ends as possible (depending on time delay - I'm in Australia) and I envisage a 60-90 day window for backers to read and pick up any problems that may still exist, allow for me to address/correct them, and then send off for proof copies (B&W Soft and Hardcover, Colour Soft & Hardcover and, possibly, Premium Colour Soft and Hardcover) from RPGNow's print partner. As soon as they are printed and checked (remember, I am in Australia - even fast shipping from the US takes time) the final version will be made available.

If, however, the KS is more than minimally successful, then, paradoxically, this may lead to delays ... a lot of the stretch goals involved buying more colour or b&w art for the books, Chapter Headers, mostly, and, commissioning the art and then getting the finished pieces from the artists is subject to all sorts of possible problems ... so a very successful KS would mean a delay of longer than the 90 days + print proof delay minimum.

If people are interested, if anyone is interested, feel free to ask questions about anything - the rules, the background, the project - and I will post replies here, privately, or on my web page (http://phalanxgamesdesign.com ... though there's not much there as I type this, I'm in the process of setting it up)

Happy hunting ...

Phil McGregor