June 2024 Monthly Update
almost 2 years ago
– Thu, Jun 20, 2024 at 06:30:08 AM
Hello Curious Cats,
As I mentioned last month, we'll have a regular update around the second last week of every month to review the status of our Curious Cats of Mau book as well as the status of our various Stretch Goal rewards. Most will be pretty similar, with incremental progress happening behind the scenes. But whenever there's a reward ready for you, I'll be in touch with an update and provide more information on what to expect.
We're still in the earliest stages of this post-campaign, though, so it'll be a while before we are ready to talk about rewards. For now, let's check in on our projects...
REWARDS STILL PENDING
No big changes since last month, but things are being worked on in the background.
I'll post this chart in each monthly update, and fill in dots as projects move along.
REWARDS DISTRIBUTED TO BACKERS
If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at
https://curious-cats-of-mau.backerkit.com/
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT
In addition to redemption links for distibuted digital rewards, all backers have received a link to the compiled draft manuscript. This link can be found in your BackerKit digital rewards page (See the link above for Claiming Your Digital Rewards if you need a refresher). Again, this isn't a new manuscript, it's just all of the pieces we shared during the campaign put together in order.
ONYX PATH PROJECT TRACKING
You can find the
weekly Monday Meeting blog updates <here>, which note any projects with status changes since the previous Month End summary. The project statuses listed are current as of last Monday, so do check it out each Monday night to see if anything may have progressed!
I will continue to post regular updates every month until the final reward has gone out.
ONYX PATH DISCUSSION CHANNELS
If you've got questions about the rules or setting, or just want to discuss this game with other fans (as well as the Onyx Path writers and developers!), you can check out these Onyx Path discussion zones:
TO CONTACT JAMES
- Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
- Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
CURRENTLY FUNDING - ONYX PATH ADJACENT
From
The Bodhana Group, the Branch Riders tabletop roleplaying game is currently in a campaign on Kickstarter. The Bodhana Group advocates for and utilizes tabletop gaming as a directed therapeutic and clinical practice that can benefit personal growth as well as enhance social and educational services to individuals and families. Gaming has usefulness in education, skill building and therapeutic applications.
Branch Riders is an RPG that came out of years of design and development - with the help of some of the Onyx Path team - to be a fun and compelling game first and foremost, but with the right therapeutic and skill-building tools "under the hood" for trained instructors to utilize beyond that.
If you're interested in a multi-genre action-packed easy-to-learn and -teach fun game with different approaches to problem solving and a variety of GM tools and player challenges, come check it out!
As if writing the Curious Cats jumpstart adventure and coordinating a three-day online convention wasn't exhausting enough, Onyx Path's Travis Legge as rolled right into launching his latest Kickstarter! Bizarre Kingdoms is a setting expansion for Odysseys & Overlords, though the lands and creatures introduced herein could be easily adapted to any Savage Worlds Fantasy setting. In this book you'll find four new kingdoms your adventurers can explore or even hail from! This book requires the use of the Savage Worldscore rules and the SWADE Fantasy Companion.
May 2024 - Regular Monthly Updates
about 2 years ago
– Thu, May 23, 2024 at 11:26:32 AM
Hello Curious Cats,
It's been almost three weeks since our
last update, which covered the first round of reward distributions (all of the Add On options for the 1E bundles). It's now time to get started on our regular monthly update schedule.
MONTHLY UPDATES
With the Pledge Manager up and running, this is officially the first "regular" monthly update for our project. I'll send these updates out every month to let you know where we sit. We're still in the earliest stages of this post-campaign, where projects make incremental movements along the progress path. A lot of months will be pretty similar, just a quick note to let you know that the Onyx Path team is still working on it. Any time we have a new reward or something of interest to share, I'll include that as well.
At the end of each month, I'll include a summary of our rewards and their current status (they'll either be delivered or marked as still pending, possibly with additional details if I know more). I'll also list any relevant Update posts, in case you want to go back and check into something.
Each month, I'll list our "Pending" rewards and our "Delivered" rewards. We'll track the project status of our pending rewards by filling in the stage dots, and I'll note which update (and include a link) with each delivered reward, in case you want to go back and re-read the relevant update for more information. If any of these rewards were on your pledge list, you can access download codes in your BackerKit Digital Rewards page. And once they've been added to your DriveThruRPG library, you can access them through your DTRPG digital library at any time.
REWARDS STILL PENDING
Our main book, the Curious Cats of Mau, has finished up in editing and now off to Eddy for his final big development pass, ensuring the edits all work and the book has a uniform voice. The team has also begun their first draft of our jumpstart adventure. So, incremental progress as we move forward whisker by whisker.
I'll post this chart in each monthly update, and fill in dots as projects move along.
REWARDS DISTRIBUTED TO BACKERS
If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at
https://curious-cats-of-mau.backerkit.com/
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT
In addition to redemption links for distibuted digital rewards, all backers have received a link to the compiled draft manuscript. This link can be found in your BackerKit digital rewards page (See the link above for Claiming Your Digital Rewards if you need a refresher). Again, this isn't a new manuscript, it's just all of the pieces we shared during the campaign put together in order.
Next month, on
June 14-16, Onyx Path will be running their annual online gaming convention. They'll be streaming panels on their twitch channel (
twitch.tv/theonyxpath). Here's the panel schedule
The big info panels are usually the Opening Ceremonies on Friday, the What's Up With Onyx Path? panel on Saturday, and the Realms of Pugmire panel on Sunday! It's a full weekend of awesomeness!
ONYX PATH PROJECT TRACKING
You can find the
weekly Monday Meeting blog updates <here>, which note any projects with status changes since the previous Month End summary. The project statuses listed are current as of last Monday, so do check it out each Monday night to see if anything may have progressed!
I will continue to post regular updates every month until the final reward has gone out.
ONYX PATH DISCUSSION CHANNELS
If you've got questions about the rules or setting, or just want to discuss this game with other fans (as well as the Onyx Path writers and developers!), you can check out these Onyx Path discussion zones:
TO CONTACT JAMES
- Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
- Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
CURRENTLY FUNDING
At the Gates is a high fantasy tabletop roleplaying game about burgeoning heroes struggling to survive, fighting for what’s right, exploring dangerous places, and saving the world.
Magic fuels all parts of Gaia, from fields of wheat to the people who sow them. Magic is rooted in the living nature of the world: the elements, the mind, the body, and the soul. The Void stands outside the world, and represents all the esoteric concepts such as order, entropy, and energy. Where the Void meets the world, Outlands grow. These places are warped by the intermingling of two opposite magics, and everything that lives there is tainted and dangerous. Hidden inside these Outlands are gates into the Void, standing as literal tears in reality.
You play as heroes who have chosen to buck the status quo and try to change the course of things. Your characters may attempt to change the course of the war, delve into the secrets of daemons and the Void, fight against tyranny to protect what they love in the world, fight to restore balance to Gaia, or all the above.
You can stand at the gates and hold back the tide, changing the course of history.
Will you heed the call?
Reward Distribution: Existing Digital Add Ons
about 2 years ago
– Fri, May 03, 2024 at 08:58:06 AM
Hopefully some reward distribution will help inspire you! Because I've got some rewards to send out!
If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at
https://curious-cats-of-mau.backerkit.com/
DIGITAL REWARD DISTRIBUTION
Many of the rewards for our Crowdfunding projects take a lot of time and effort to complete. Usually, the crowdfunder is a means of moving the project from an idea (even when it's a mostly-fully-written idea) into the actual channel that turns it into a project/product. It'll be a while before we're ready to talk about delivery on Curious Cats of Mau.
That said, there are a few rewards that are available now, as they were mostly add-on PDFs of existing products. And now we can work on getting those out to you over the next few days.
The following Add On Rewards Will Be Distributed This Week:
- [Add On] Pugmire 1E Digital Collection
- [Add On] Mau 1E Digital Collection
- [Add On] Pirates of Pugmire 1E Digital Collection
- [Add On] Squeaks in the Deep 1E Digital Collection
It's basically this section from our Add On Menu:
With Realms of Pugmire currently in production, backers who have added that book to their rewards will also get the draft manuscript for that book until the PDF is available.
REWARD DISTRIBUTION
Your link to claim these digital rewards will be sent out by our BackerKit pledge manager
over the next few days. Since we are using our partners at DriveThruRPG as the hosts for these, you will need to set up a DriveThru account if you don't have one already. If you encounter any problems with downloading your rewards, please contact DTRPG's customer service to resolve the matter, they've always been top-rated for customer service.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/contact_us.ph
The best way to ensure these redemption codes work smoothly is to log in to your DTRPG account first, and then click (or copy) the link shown in your BackerKit.
Again,
you will receive an e-mail from BackerKit with links for these rewards over the next few days if any of them are
on your expected list of rewards. I'll be releasing them in waves, so don't panic if you only see a couple links at first... the rest are coming.
(We're in a digital world, but there are still a lot of manual processes. And there are many links to go out!!)
The easiest way to see if you've got digital downloads available is to login to your backerkit account:
https://curious-cats-of-mau.backerkit.com/
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT
In addition to redemption links for these digital rewards, all backers will be receiving a link to the compiled draft manuscript. This link can be found in your BackerKit digital rewards page, and you'll receive an e-mail linking to that with the first wave of rewards going out. Again, this isn't a new manuscript, it's just all of the pieces we shared during the campaign put together in order. Your link to the draft manuscript will be available in your BackerKit digital rewards page until our final reward goes out, so you'll be able to access it even after the book is in your hands.
MONTHLY PROJECT CHECK IN
And with the surveys out last week and the wave of existing titles coming to backers over the next 4 days, it's time to monitor the monthly progress on our Crowdfunding rewards from this campaign. There's still a long road ahead and a lot of work to be done on these projects, but we're going to have these regular updates at the end of each month to keep track of where we sit on our rewards.
I'll be back on the final Thursday of May to review where we stand on each project with a handy chart and some notes about where to find more on Onyx Path's project progress.
Until then, If there are any issues you find with the Pledge Manager, please contact me as soon as possible to let me know. It rolls out in waves so that I can correct issues on the fly and make it work as best possible as people come on board.
If you have any other questions or concerns, you can post them to the comments for this update, the comment section, or message me via one of these methods:
TO CONTACT JAMES
- Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
- Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
COMING NEXT WEEK...
Pledge Manager Surveys Coming Soon!
about 2 years ago
– Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 12:36:24 PM
Hello Curious Cats,
It's time for our first update of the post-Crowdfunding campaign phase!
We finished up the Crowdfunding portion of our campaign last month with a successful run, adding many backers and extra bonus rewards. Now it's time to start the next phase of the project - the Post-Campaign, where we track the progress of the various projects we helped fund and send out rewards as they become available.
To help with all of that we use BackerKit's Pledge Manager.
Today's Topics
- BackerKit Pledge Manager Surveys Coming This Week
- Compiled Draft Manuscript (available in BackerKit Digital Rewards)
- Coming Next
BACKER SURVEYS
Over the next handful of days (April 25-28), you’ll receive an email from us with a special link to your Pledge Manager survey. It’s important to respond to your survey as quickly as you can since we need this information to fulfill your rewards.
You don’t need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey (although you probably already have one from pledging to this campaign). When you receive the email with the survey, click the survey invitation link to respond. Answer the questions about your reward preferences, provide shipping information, and purchase add-on items if you like.
You don’t have access to this survey link yet, but it will be available later this week via email!
The e-mail will have a button that looks something like this:
After you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change your responses at any time before we close the surveys and get our final counts, and that won't happen until the books are being printed and we're preparing to ship.
If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at
https://curious-cats-of-mau.backerkit.com/If you have any other questions or concerns, you can post them to the comments for this update, the comment section, or message me via one of these methods:
TO CONTACT JAMES
- Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
- Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
If there are any issues you find with the Pledge Manager, please contact me as soon as possible to let me know. It rolls out in waves so that I can correct issues on the fly and make it work as best possible as people come on board.
Within the BackerKit Survey and Pledge Manager, you can:
- Review your Pledge Tier Selection and Rewards
- Upgrade your Reward Tier pledge selection
- Confirm Add On selections
- Set up payment information for any failed payments from the Crowdfunding campaign or to pay for any new Add On options selected.
When you click on your BackerKit invitation link, you should see something like this...
From the Pledge Manager welcome page you can choose to
-
Review Your Pledge Level and Rewards
-
Start Your Survey, confirming pledge rewards, confirming or selecting new Add On options, and confirming any shipping and payment info that may be needed
- Switch Your Pledge Level
If you've pledged to a reward tier that includes physical rewards, you can enter your shipping country at this stage. As noted during our campaign, we haven't set shipping costs yet - those will be calculated and added in when we're preparing to ship the book. That won't be for a long time, though, and there will be plenty of opportunity - and notice - for you to make changes.
If you click on your Pledge Level, you will see a list of all items included in your Pledge Rewards (including Stretch Goals and the Draft Manuscript), and also have the option to switch your Pledge Level, in case you've decided to get the hardcover pledge instead of the PDF-only pledge tier for example.
Once you've confirmed that your Pledge Level is correct and where you want it to be, you can GET STARTED with your BackerKit Pledge Manager Survey.
Once we've got a fair response to our survey and collected a reasonable amount of info, I'll be working on fulfilling rewards that are available now - like the PDFs of the titles included in our Add On section (for example, the Pugmire 1E Digital Bundle, the Mau 1E Digital Bundle, and the others). Those will likely be coming out at the start of May, and I'll send another update with more info when that time comes.
So, in summary:
- Look for an e-mail invitation to BackerKit's Pledge Manager sometime over the next 4 days
- Get Started on your survey
- Confirm your Pledge Level (or SWITCH your Pledge Level if you want to change it)
- Confirm and Select Any Add On options
- Confirm Your Shipping Information (if needed)
- Confirm Your Payment Information (if needed)
I will post an update in another week or two as I begin outlining the delivery of our first Add On rewards (the existing 1E Bundles, as noted above) and beginning distribution of those PDF rewards.
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT
Looking in the example pledge list above, you can see a listing for the Draft Manuscript. In your BackerKit digital rewards page, you will have access to the compiled draft manuscript. It won't be different from the one that was shared during the campaign - it'll just be all gathered together in one big file. The Draft Manuscript link may not be active when you first login to your BackerKit survey, but I'll throw the switch and it'll send you a notice next week after all of the invitations have gone out.
I will talk about how to access your BackerKit digital rewards links in an update coming later this month, when I send out the first wave of available rewards.
COMING NEXT
In the next week or two, I'll send an update with details about the distribution for that first wave of Starter Bundle rewards. I'll also get the compiled draft manuscript up and ready for you.
We'll also begin our regular monthly check-ins, tracking the progress of this project as it moves through this phase. It'll take some time, but we'll have regular updates all through the process. I'll also have notes on how to check the weekly and monthly All Project Progress updates on Onyx Path's website.
TO CONTACT JAMES
- Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
- Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
COMING SOON
You had me at meow!
about 2 years ago
– Thu, Mar 21, 2024 at 11:20:21 AM
Hello Curious Cats!
We did it! We built a cat community, explored the monarchies of Mau, and brought forth this excellent expansion for the Realms of Pugmire! The Cats have come home!
Thanks to the support of more than
700 backers, Onyx Path will be able to develop and print hardcover editions for
Curious Cats of Mau!
Not only did we sneak past the 700 backer count that I was hoping for, we extended the campaign with a last minute Backer Train taking us into Overtime!! That was cool! It's still a brand new feature, but we're curious cats so it was fun to test out the new stuff! We'll be having fun with that in the future, you can bet!
There's more to celebrate! Not only did we fund the project in the first 3 days, we also unlocked a lucky seven Stretch Goals. From standard Onyx Path milestone markers to a jumpstart campaign launcher to new art for the Realms of Pugmire Guide Screen!
It came down to the last few days but we managed to hit every Stretch Goal we'd posted and passed 200% of our funding target!
Our Bonus Reward Collection
Some Milestone Markers
AN ALTERNATE ADD ON OPTION
NEW CONTENT SUPPLEMENT
AND ONLINE TOOLS!
Unlocked just in the past day, all backers will be getting Streaming Overlays so you can be a cool and stylish cat when you run your online game!
LUCKY SEVEN STRETCH GOALS
I'm so happy that we were able to unlock the jumpstart, especially knowing how enthusiastic Travis Legge was to pitch for it. He's a fantastic adventure writer, so I'm really looking forward to that. And then to unlock our final Stretch Goal as we came into the final hours was a real treat!
And all of that is, of course, on top of our main purpose here - the creating of the actual book itself! This is the real reward - everything else is a bonus!
So a huge congratulations to Eddy and Lauren and the creative team on this project, and to all of the backers who've joined in to make this possible. I'm happy about the goals we hit and rewards we introduced, but I'm also always amazed and excited about having more than 700 backers join in during this campaign. An expansion - even for one as cool as these cats - is always a risk. But when a game finds and builds a community, it's extra rewarding. And this is just the beginning, I'm sure...
AN EXTRA THANK YOU!
So, thank you to all the backers who supported us and made this happen. And an extra thanks to everyone who participated online, either in the Community comments section of the campaign, and on social media around the web. Thanks to everyone who talked about the project on the Discord and thanks to the Onyx Path team who answered questions and provided insight.
COMMUNICATION
So, as noted in today's earlier update, starting in May I'll be sending out updates once a month and whenever we've got a new goal, survey, or other item to cover. If you have any questions or need clarification on something related to the campaign, feel free to get in touch. I may take a bit to answer as I recover from these past four weeks, but I'll eventually have an answer!
TO CONTACT ME
-
Via E-Mail: Onyx.Kickstarter [at] gmail.com
-
Via BackerKit: Click "Need Help?" from your forthcoming survey page, and then fill in the Contact Us form. BackerKit will pass your message along to me.
ONYX PATH DISCUSSION CHANNELS
If you've got questions about the rules or setting, or just want to discuss this game with other fans (as well as the Onyx Path writers and developers!), you can check out these Onyx Path discussion zones:
The Realms of Pugmire has Curious Cats!
The Discord is particularly lively, and I loved seeing the thoughts and jokes as the chapters came out bit by bit.
BackerKit will begin collected pledges and processing payments later tonight, so be ready for that.
If I wasn't already tired enough, I'm off for a weekend away if the snow holds off long enough! I thought it was supposed to be spring, but not where I live evidently! High fives all around in the comment section and on the Discord, and you'll hear from me again in a month-or-so when I've got the pledge manager set up and ready to roll out!
#CuriousCats
