Kingbeast's Lair

Date At Start Of Game: September 12th, 1935

[Author’s Note: This is the log for the 8th session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be in the exact order that they occurred during play.]

Following The Tears Of Azazoth

After questioning the circus performers the PC decide that they need to track down the Tears Of Azazoth. They head back to the circus to arrest Claudia (aka the fortune teller) and to look around in the various tents. Detective Keegan takes the lead by going to Claudia’s tent and summoning her. When confronted Claudia admits that she handled the book and did not know its value until she tried to sell it. The fortune teller sold the book the previous night at King’s Book in Arkham. She confesses to knowing that the book is stolen goods. After Claudia gets dressed Detective Keegan locks her in his car and proceeds to speak with Clyde Beatty about his wife Harriet Evans who has been arrested. His goal is to discover if Clyde knew anything about the robberies. While speaking with Clyde, Archie takes the opportunity to search Claudia’s tent. He finds some cash, an empty wooden box that likely once held the book, and her fortune teller costume. Archie takes the box and the bracelet from her costume as the small pendants match the one found taped to the latest Armitage file. The box looks quite old and has a word in German on the side. The hidden compartment at the bottom is very well crafted.

Clyde Beatty is settling down with his morning coffee when the Detective knocks on his door. With a concerned look Clyde offers some coffee to Detective Keegan and asks what brings him to the circus. Detective Keegan explains that his wife Harriet, Vladimir the strongman, and Sergei the acrobat have been arrested breaking into a local mansion. Clyde seems upset by the news but somehow not surprised. After talking for a bit Clyde grabs his coat and Detective Keegan escorts him to Claudia who is waiting in the squad car. When entering the car Claudia says hello to Clyde but they do not talk any further.

This gives Archie a chance to search the Beatty trailer and Vladimir and Sergei’s tent. In the trailer among Harriet’s trunks he finds some cash and a scrapbook with newspaper clippings from her career. One interesting clipping is of Harriet performing as a magician’s assistant. This must be where she learned how to pick pockets. In a desk Archie finds an accounting journal that confirms Harriet’s statements in the interrogation room. The Clyde Beatty Circus is failing fast. Escalating costs are killing all of their profits. In Vladimir and Sergei’s tent Archie breaks into Vladimir’s trunk. Inside he finds $100 in cash and a velvet bag with a silver scale. The scale is comprised of two plates and a loose balancing chain. On one plate in the concave center are the symbols of three tentacles. Archie takes the money and scale.

At this point the PC head to King’s Books to find the Tears Of Azazoth. After knocking on the door for some time with no response Tredge picks the lock and the PC enter the small store. At the back counter they see some strange scratches and find a receipt book with “p. Murphy”. When they move upstairs they find Milton dead in his bead. An oval sized bite mark on his chest shows a ring of razor sharp teeth. Milton’s hands are at his fear struck face. ..his eyes rolled back into his head. Near the bed posts and window ledge the PC find more scratch marks. The window shutters eerily slaps against the frame. At this point Detective Keegan calls in the incident then the trio of PC head to the church to check on Pastor Murphy.

As they are driving up the gravel path to the church the spot a young man on a bicycle with a look of terror on his face. When the PC stop their car the boy is so spooked that he falls from his bike sending himself sprawling on the gravel road. After calming down the boy the PC learn that his name is Phil Hughes. He explains delivering a package to Father Murphy. After delivering the package Phil went into the church to say a quick prayer. Upon leaving he heard some strange sounds coming from the basement under the house next to the church. When Phil went to investigate he found these strange flying creatures surrounding the Pastor who was preaching to a hobo that was tied up in front of him. With that Detective Keegan hands out a shotgun to Archie and the three PC approach the house.

When the three PC approach the house they can hear loud noises coming from the basement. After breaking out one of the blacked out basement windows Detective Keegan sees a horrible sight. Four winged gargoyle like creatures are flying around his parish preacher. The preacher is loudly reciting a sermon from a black tome as he wildly swings at one of the flying creatures with a scythe. The target of the sermon is a supplicant hobo who has his hand tied together. The hobo is frozen in terror! The words coming from the Pastor are a combination of Cthulhu madness and holy diatribe! After gathering their wits the PC spring into action. The Detective starts firing at the closest gargoyle with his shotgun. Archie busts open the storm cellar doors then jumps down with a ferocious shotgun blast. Tredge rushes up to the melee hoping to be able to snatch the Tears Of Azazoth from the insane priest. As the creatures are swirling around the priest Tredge realizes that the gargoyles are also trying to grab the book. During the frantic combat Tredge takes several hits and falls unconscious. As the combat progresses the scythe glows but Father Murphy’s blows go wide. As one of the gargoyles fells the preacher another grabs the Tears Of Azazoth. Archie punches at one of the gargoyles killing him with a fractured ribcage. With the book clutched in his talons the last gargoyle races for the window. Detective Keegan nails him with a deadly shot but the creature does not fall! It busts out of a basement window trying to make a hasty retreat. Detective Keegan takes one more parting shot but it goes wide…the creature has escaped with the book. With that the PC check the hobo and the pastor. The hobo is mentally scarred but physically fine. Pastor Murphy is dead. After bandaging Tredge and stealing their nerves the PC take some photographs of the melting gargoyles then try and decide how to proceed…

Date At End Of Game: September 12th, 1935

During the early 90’s I published a newsletter that I emailed out to anyone who would listen. At the time my audience was comprised primarily of gaming buddies and folks on the Checkered Demon BBS. Each issue is like a collection of mini blog posts. 😉

Topics vary from issue to issue but focus on Hero Games product reviews/rules, video game reviews, comic book reviews, and other miscellaneous news items that would be appropriate for my gaming group. Looking back I think doing the small reviews in these issues whet my appetite for the type of more in depth reviews that I am performing now on this very blog.

You can find copies of the currently posted issues at this URL: https://usandacat.com/thelair/file-downloads/other-files/

Issues 32 to 40 include the following highlights:

• John Turner tells the story of his mysterious superhero character Sparkle.
• Comments on the top 10 computer games in 1992 from Computer Gaming World, Software Publishers Association, and Entertainment Advertisement.
• An article on Call Of Cthulhu’s influence on role-playing games.
• Reviews of Swords Of Shar Pei and Shade:The Changing Man comics by The Kid
• Reviews of Strike Force and Western Hero.
• More funny gaming quotes!

More issues are coming soon! Watch this blog for details! 🙂

–== Summary ==–

Sermin’s Uncle Bobby asked if I knew anything about crowd sourcing (aka Kickstarter). After scripting what turned out to be a long reply I decided that I could turn it into a blog post. Here is a summary of what I feel makes a great crowd sourced RPG campaign. The focus is on what the campaign authors can do to make patrons happy campers. 😉

–== My Crowd Sourcing History ==–

As of October 9th, 2012 I have backed 46 projects through kickstarter.com ( John’s Kickstarter projects ) and 7 through indiegogo.com ( John’s IndieGoGo projects ).  The first project I crowd sourced was back in October 2011 so I have been doing the crowd sourcing gig for about a year.  By far the largest percentage of projects I have backed are in the RPG industry (81%).  The others are books, comics, movies, or art related. I have never run a crowd funded project. (Note that I will use the term project and campaign interchangeably in this blog post.)

–== What Makes A Good Pitch ==–

There are several things that I think make a good crowd sourcing entry.  These are in no particular order.

• The elevator pitch needs to be the first thing that the customer sees when they go to the page.  The statement needs to be clear, concise, and right at the top of the entry.
• A very clear description of the project is helpful.  Make sure to cover all of the questions most folks will ask so you don’t have to fill in gaps later.  The description should also define why this project is different than others in the area. Why should I buy your RPG when I already own many others?
• Add brief resumes for the authors and artists. If there are key players from the industry involved in the project DEFINITELY highlight them. I will often pledge a project based solely on the authors.  Monte Cook…ching ching…Steve Long…ching ching…you get the idea.  😉
• Be VERY clear on where you are in the campaign and how much is left to complete.  Probably my #1 gripe as a crowd sourcing patron is when people give bad completion dates.  Go WAY over on estimates if you are not sure.  One project I am a backer on is now 7 months late with an updated due date at the end of 2012.  Yowser.  L  (FYI.  Kickstarter allows each pledge level to have a different estimate. Use that if there will be a different delivery date for say a PDF and a print copy.)
• Details on why the funds are needed is really important.  For an RPG book that might be needing money for an initial print run, artwork, or to hire a layout person.  Be clear and honest.
• If the campaign uses Kickstarter be careful setting the top goal.  If the goal is not reached then the entire project is not funded and patrons will be disappointed.  Also a REALLY high goal can scare folks off.  Set it carefully and justly.
• Defining the various pledge levels with their rewards is critical and should be carefully planned.  Make sure these are very clear especially if they are additive.  In the RPG space these are sometimes named to make this easier.  For example, at Peasant Level you get your name in the book.  At Serf level you get Peasant plus PDF.  Etc.  I believe you can tweak the main text only. Make sure the initial pledge levels are clear. Later on if you need to clarify them you can update the main body content.
• Make sure that the pledge amounts hit good breakpoints for the levels that you think will be the most common.  In my simple example above maybe the PDF level is $15 and the print copy is $30 but you have other entries between and after.  The key is the major breaks that will garner the most users. These need to not be set too high.  If the first pledge level for a print copy is $95 it could put off patrons.
• Consider providing early adopter pledge levels. These can be provided in a limited numbers to heighten interest. This can sometimes sway my wallet if I know I can get extra goodies or a cheaper price if I pledge early. Surprisingly I read a long forum post where the user said they do not like early adopter pledge levels…I do not agree.
• You can get really creative with rewards at various levels.  I have seen kickstarters with custom dice, signed editions, fancy cloth carriers, gaming bags, dice bags, t-shirts, posters, pins, custom artwork, coffee table art books, additional backer only content, mouse pads, donations to libraries, etc.  Backer only content is a GREAT way to get some folks to pledge. 😉
• Details on stretch goals can be added after the project starts.  You can tack them on to the end of the project pretty easily.  On several projects where I am a member the details got so confusing that they ended up making clear pictures or bullet lists AFTER the project started to keep people from getting confused.  Again using my example, Serf gives your name in the book, the PDF, and a postcard of one of the artwork pieces.  Numenera is a good example of how this can happen.  Note how Monte’s initial goal was $20,000 and is closed at $517,255. Not a typo. 😉
• Make sure the entry is attractive and VERY professional looking.  This can really sway me to a higher pledge level.  Check out Story Realms for a good example of a professional presentation.
• There is some contention over the importance of the associated video.  I think it can make a difference in whether I would pledge AND the amount I want to pledge.  Race To Adventure is one that springs to mind.  This is a board game by the folks at Evil Hat. They even came out with a video that shows how to play the game before the end of the project.  Awesome.  😀

–== IndieGoGo Versus Kickstarter ==–

As a patron there are some things to think about when investing in projects on IndieGoGo and Kickstarter. There are advantages and disadvantages to each that need to be considered.

• If you are an international patron then often you will only get to pledge projects on IndieGoGo. Kickstarter is working to broaden their scope but currently IndieGoGo is the only international vendor.
• One big difference in the two hosts that IndieGoGo funds are taken from your account immediately. As soon as you pledge the funds are taken. It does not matter if the stretch goal is reached your money is spent. One of the campaigns I have pledged is in this state and I don’t know if I will ever get the reward for my pledge. 🙁 Kickstarter does not collect funds unless the project is over AND the campaign goal was reached. If the campaign goal was not reached nothing is deducted. The moral of this story is to consider IndieGoGo patronage CAREFULLY.
• I have not experienced this yet but I have been told that IndieGoGo does not allow you to change your pledge level. If you want to move up to a higher pledge level or remove your pledge there is not an easy mechanism. Again…be careful pledging on IndieGoGo and you will be fine. 😉

–== What Do I Like To See As A Patron? ==–

This may sounds strange but I like seeing crowd sourced campaigns where I am a patron getting attention on the internet. It is always nice to hear a campaign pitched on podcasts, message boards, RSS feeds, newspapers, blogs, etc.  Really push the project whenever possible.  Be on the lookout for aggregator sites for related crowd source projects.  For example, there are RSS feeds for RPG related crowd sourced projects. There are several RPG related podcasts that love to have guests pimp their campaigns. Search them out and make a guest appearance.

Finally remember that if someone supports your campaign they are giving monetary AND emotional support.  That means you better treat them right! Don’t blow it! :D  Patrons need updates with details on progress and any changes to the plan. Personally I like updates at LEAST every 2 weeks. After that I feel like I am not getting enough feedback. Updates that include even a tiny deliverable are wonderful. For example, one piece of artwork, a sample chapter, a detailed discussion of some rule, etc. Something from the product make me feel like progress is being made.
If you are a crowd sourcing junkie like me please comment and let me know if I missed something in this post.

GAME ON! 😀