Completed Coin Designs!
about 3 years ago – Tue, Apr 27, 2021 at 11:29:24 PM

Hey All!

Huge milestone achieved! The coin designs are DONE! Not only does this allow me to cross that off the to do list and move on to other things, but what it means for being able to open up the Pledge Manager cannot be overstated. You need to be able to see the coins to decide if you might want to add them on, and now you'll be able to. In fact, for the Pledge Manager proper, I should have 3D renders for all of them from the manufacturer in place as visuals. But for now, I wanted to share with you the finished designs for all 8 coins - the 4 you haven't seen yet, as well as the revised final art for the 4 we looked at last time. 

A quick not on this one, about why the text is backwards on the back side of the coin. It won't be. I didn;'t know how to make text wrap along the bottom edge of a circle in Photoshop and still read right side up. So the text is just dummy copy, and the actual quote from Lovecraft's THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD  appears below.

Four Coin Designs, and a Pledge Manager Update
about 3 years ago – Mon, Mar 29, 2021 at 11:43:08 PM

Hi Friends!

You guys are way overdue for a look at some new art & design, and I'm happy to say I have some finished sketches of half of the coin designs to share. Let's take a tour!

OK, please keep in mind that these may get another round of revisions before going to the manufacturer.  AND, if  it turns out there are any problem areas production-wise with any of the designs, those will have to get revised as well. Hopefully, when I open the Pledge Manager, you will have finished 3D renders from the manufacturer in place of these sketches.

Yeah, ABOUT THAT - getting the final art for the coins complete is a MAJOR step towards getting the Pledge Manager open,  since it's a huge chunk of the art that absolutely HAS to be finished. You need to be able to see the items so you can decide if you want to add them to your order or not. Things like Companions or Mini Companions, you can decide to add them on because you want the CONTENT - you don't need to see the finished cover art to make that choice (but it will be sweet, once we get there.) But things like the coins? They live and die solely based on how cool they look. 

I want you to know that the info & data entry part of the Pledge Manager also took a MAJOR step forward this weekend. It's coming together.

Lastly, content continues torocket along. The Contemporary, Epic Fantasy, Horror & Urban Fantasy, Dystopian & Post Apocalypse, and Lovecraftian & Noir companions are all DONE, and in play testing/editing. 

OK, Getting back to it. Tell me your thoughts about the coins so far! Got any favorites? Tell me what you like (or don't) in the comments!

Talk soon - and Happy Spring!

Clark

Announcing the Short Story Anthology Authors!
about 3 years ago – Sat, Mar 20, 2021 at 03:00:55 AM

Hi Friends!

Enjoying the rollercoaster of March weather? As the saying goes, "In like a lion, out like a...slightly less shitty lion."

I'm here to FINALLY announce the authors & stories included in the anthology! Thank you for the extra time it required to thoroughly read each and every submission at least once. Remember, the opening story will be a new adventure by award winning illustrator and author Greg Manchess, set in his ABOVE THE TIMBERLINE universe (using the same PSYCHE preview prompts everyone else used). After much deliberation, and a lot a lot A LOT of reading, I can finally announce the authors & stories that will be included in the PSYCHE Anthology:

E. Cartwright - In Search of New Experiences

Tjalara Draper - Reflector

Lyndsay E. Gilbert - The Long Night of the Hair

Elle Greco - as-yet-untitled Reckless Deck novelette

C.H. Knyght - A Hero's Burdens

Max Martelli - The Dreamers

Jennifer Melton - Entwined

Wayne Naylor - A Manor of Embers

S.J. Pendergraft - The The Seventy-Seventh Septimus

Edward Price - Awakening 

Theodore V. Thompson - Kill The Engine

V.G Thorne - Lifeline

J.L. Weis - Arson in a Small Town

First, congratulations to those whose stories are going into the anthology! Competition for inclusion was FIERCE. There were several very painful decisions I needed to make, mostly in the effort to a) keep the number of stories under 15, and b) keep the page count under 300 pages. I'm proud to say that, thanks to the quality of both the submissions in general and the winners in particular, there's not a single weak link. Each of these stories is a powerhouse, serving up pro-level thrills, chills, feels, or serious WTF's.  I'll be extremely proud to both publish and market the hell out of this.

 I want to say an enormous THANK YOU to everyone who submitted. It was an honor to get to read all your work. It meant a great deal to me to see your work provide proof of concept that both Reckless Deck and RD: PSYCHE are a serious resource of creative whammy for writers and artists to make powerful, innovative, and personal work. (Or, you know, absolutely kick ass role playing games.)

Let's review the criteria, as stated in the rules:

1) Creativity of Concept. These stories all lead with an innovative take on the prompt cards. Everyone started with the same set of prompts, and these authors used them to take us to a truly unique place or circumstance.

2) Character Strength & Development. PSYCHE is a tool that is all about character. Each story selected for the anthology has a clearly crafted protagonist that goes on a compelling journey. 

3) Clarity of Author's voice & Intent. Here, we were looking for mastery of craft and language. Our chosen authors set the scene, generated tension, created stakes worth investing in, and took us on a clear journey free from clutter and confusion. And more often than not, turned a phrase with power, charm, and style.

If your story wasn't selected, don't lose heart. As I said, competition was fierce. Many of you were in the mix right up until the very end. As a working illustrator with 13 years of professional acting experience, I know from personal experience what it is to put your best work forward in front of others. Thank you again for participating, and absolutely continue to both continue writing, and continue chucking your work at opportunities as hard as you can.

Thank you again, to both those included and everyone who participated. Expect more project news this week!

Cheers,

Clark

A Quick Tour of Everything
about 3 years ago – Fri, Mar 05, 2021 at 01:16:17 AM

Friends! Beware the Ides of March. Heh.

I want to give you all a quick look at all the moving parts of the Kickstarter. I still don't have a really solid benchmark to put forward that says "This big thing is done", but there's tons of progress being made on all fronts.  Let's take a quick tour.

Anthology

This is the thing I'm getting the most comments and emails about, and that I owe you guys answes on the most. The fact is, since the last update in February, I've been getting hit HARD with my day job work as a storyboard illustrator. And, as I'm sure most of you can attest, them bills ain't gonna pay themselves. So I haven't had the usual windows of time that allow me to do things like finish reading all the stories. I know I'm overdue on announcing the authors that are getting published in the anthology, and luckily, a break in my workload has allowed me to catch up on the reading. My goal is to get all the stories read by the end of this weekend, and post a list of the authors early next week.  And, I also need to  have a quick conversation with our printer about how page count may or may not affect price. 

Card Content

This is the area production that is really flying. The Contemporary, Epic Fantasy, Horror, and Dystopian & Post Apocalypse companions are all DONE and fully in play test mode for editing purposes. Both the Lovecraftian & Noir and Steampunk & Victorian companions are about 70% finished.  Once these two are complete, I'm be able to full turn my attention to the 2 remaining full companions, Sci fi & Cyberpunk, and Espionage. (As far as Espionage goes, if any of you out there are writers who excel at military adventure or spy stories, and you'd like to try being a content contributor, feel free to reach out at [email protected].)

In the Mini Companions arena, Desiree has made good on her promise and cranked out a ton of content for Dark Folklore. We need to go back in and balance it's "personality", though, so it doesn't veer too far into something that feels more like an extension of the Horror or Epic Fantasy companions. And, we still have work to do on Pirates, Vikings, and Tribal & Nomadic (However, coming up with 15 cards per category is a lot less daunting than coming up with 50). Let me finish by saying I am SUPER PSYCHED (pun intended) about how distinct the companions & mini companions are from one another are, and how each one leans into their genre in their own special way. I an INCREDIBLY HAPPY with the quality of the cotent. I think it's exceeding my own expectations, and that the whole system will be an absolute motherload of character and story ideas for each and every one of you. Lastly, given the powerhouse output of the writing team, we may have a surprise or two in store for you, as well.

Art

The art is moving along also - but not as quickly as the content is. And, there's a lot of art to get through. I will have two final images of my own to show you shortly for the collection of 8 that will serve as the images in the premium divider pack, and also for the playmat options and the hold everything box. Two of them we saw during the Kickstarter, by artists Dave Palumbo and Vanessa Lemen. 

And artists Kiri Leonard and M. Wayne Miller have shown me sketches already on where they're taking their own pieces. That still leaves two of these. I may be willing to open up the pledge manager with only six of the 8 finished images for the divider pack, and include sketches for the last 2 images. The next bit of art I need to address is the coins.  But I'll talk about them in their own section. Then there's the actual box art for all the companions & mini companions, which I'll likely be sharing someone else so its not all me. And THEN, there's the interior illustrations for the Anthology. (sheesh. #overcommitted.) But, neither the box art nor the Anthology illustrations will hold up opening the pledge manager.

Coins

We have 8 coins in total. The PSYCHE Protagonist-Antagonist coin, and seven genre themed coins. I have sketches now for at least one side of each coin, and in a lot of cases, for both sides. The manufacturer will need nice, clean, finished line art from me in order to execute the designs, though. I also want to have a call with them to make sure some of the more unique design ideas I have in certain places will work.

Production

Our printer and I are in constant contact. The good news is, the updated run of Volume 1 and Volume 2 for classic Reckless Deck are currently in production, and we solved a lot of our production questions using that order as a testing ground. So this time around it will be mostly plugging in the new designs into an already established template.

Pledge Manager

Its coming, I swear! I know you're all impatient, and excited for me to throw open the doors to the candy store. It will happen, I promise. All the separate products have been entered in to Backerkit, and I'm entering in their weight values now. Then comes the daunting task of inputting the shipping values for the various weights for all the various regions. My hope is that I'll be ready to open the pledge manager by the end of this month or the beginning of April. Remember, not only to the shipping rates need to be rock solid correct, but I need to have finished coin art, a designed hold everything box, and playmat designs for you so you can make informed decisions about what you want to add on. The other good thing is that when the Pledge Manager finally does open up, a LOT of work on the project will already be complete.

Digital Version

I'm trying to make something magical happen here. Stay tuned.

That touches on All The Things! I think so, anyway. If anyone has any questions or comments, please fire away. You can expect more concrete info from me about the anthology authors next week!

Until Then,

Clark

Update on Anthology Stories & Content Progress
over 3 years ago – Fri, Feb 05, 2021 at 01:32:14 PM

Hi Friends!

How's everyone? Staying sane? Not gonna lie, this winter is TOUGH. Normally, I'm a fan, being a New Englander and all. But since it feels like we've been living under "winter rules" (but minus the bars and restaurants) since well, the end of last winter, I'm feeling pretty out of gas. Lucky for me, I created this GIANT, ALL CONSUMING PROJECT for myself, so I have very little free time with which to consider doing something else anyway! (insert a smiley face emoji that barely masks my inner suffering here.) 

But I digress.

Postponing Announcing the Anthology Authors

Apologies, but announcing which stories are getting published in the Anthology is getting pushed by a couple of weeks. I was supposed to have announced that by February 1st, but I'm not done reading them all yet. I have read a metric ton of them though - happily, there were quite a few submissions! I can tell you that the process of reading all these stories has been a distinct pleasure. I've said this before, and I'll say it once again, I am absolutely floored by the high quality of the writing, and the originality of the concepts. You guys knocked it out of the park. It makes me very excited about the overall quality of the finished product we'll be putting forth into the world. I should be able to make announcements about the final line up in the 3rd week of February sometime.

Card Content Progress

I have great news to report on the content development front! The Contemporary cards from the Core Set, as well as the Dystopian & Post Apocalypse and Epic Fantasy Companion Decks are all VERY close to moving out of the writing stage and into play testing. And the Horror & Urban Fantasy Companion is not very far behind. I owe a huge thanks to the contributing writers who have contributed so much excellent content. As the entries for these sets meet & exceed the necessary card count, I'm thrilled to see the clarity of their different "personalities" truly take shape. 

New Artists on Board

I'm also excited to announce that I've secured two new artists who will be doing original pieces for the set! Artists Kiri Leonard and M. Wayne Miller have signed on to create some amazing new work for us.

Can't wait to see what they come up with. 

The last thing I want to leve you with is that I also just pulled in some extra help to assist with building the Pledge Manager, specifically, with entering all the various values for the shipping rates for the different products, pledge tiers, and regions. More on that next time!

Cheers Everyone,

Clark