ASX-2 The Ghost of Jarvis Island now on BackerKit
almost 10 years ago – Mon, May 30, 2016 at 06:37:51 PM

For all those that backed at the $29 ADVENTURER level or above, the ASX-2 The Ghost of Jarvis Island side adventure should now be available in your BackerKit account.

If you indicated that you also wanted distribution via RPGNow / DriveThruRPG, it will appear in your account there in two or three days.

The Ghost of Jarvis Island  is an optional side adventure occurring after the events in AS-3 Muscle, Sinew, and Wood. The party is chased across the Dawn Sea to Jarvis Island, where they put in for repairs. Like any good uninhabited island, there's a haunted lighthouse that isn't everything it seems.

The players will first encounter one of the iconic NPCs of the Asatania campaign - one whom many play-testers loved to hate.

I hope you like this little optional side adventure and as always, please feel free to send me any feedback on it you've got. (There's almost always future errata releases to clean up any errors or inconsistencies.)

p.s. Expect additional adventures to continue every week or two until everything is published and in your accounts. Thank you very much for your patience.

Update and Announcements (new writers!)
almost 10 years ago – Fri, May 27, 2016 at 04:41:28 PM

I wanted to send out a quick update going into the weekend...

RPGNow / DriveThruRPG Access to PDFs

If you would like everything to also appear in your DriveThruRPG/RPGNow account, please email me at [email protected] with the subject "RPGNow please" and I'll add you to the list. (There will be a slight delay between when PDFs appear in BackerKit and when they appear in RPGNow. As of the time I write this, only AS-1 Face Down in a Muddy Road is available.)

I'm collecting an errata list for everything being published. If you've got questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to post them in the comments here or email me.

Current Delivery Status

AS-1 and AS-2 are published and in your digital downloads on BackerKit.

AS-3 Muscle, Sinew, and Wood is currently going through final edits. I hope to have it released to both BackerKit and RPGNow next week.

New Writers on the the Team

Because this has taken so much longer than I wanted it to, I've brought on a couple of writers to help. John T Jessop is currently doing the heavy lifting on ASX-1 The New Mine Masters and I absolutely love the direction he's taking it. It is going to add some interesting backstory and a great adventure for groups that decide to run it.

Prior to coming on board to write ASX-1, John wrote a neat little zombie RPG called "Fear the Living" which you can find on DriveThruRPG. If you are into zombies, I highly recommend it.

I also hired James "Grim" Desborough to write ASX-3 The Prisoner of Crone Rock (working title). ASX-3 is an optional adventure that will send the players to the notorious Crone Rock for a prison break. It should be great fun for those that choose to attempt it!

Grim Desborough is an old hand in the RPG space. He has written for Wizards of the Coast, Mongoose, Cubicle 7, Steve Jackson Games and others and has won an Origins award.

I've set the writers loose and given them wide latitude on the specifics of their adventure. But, I'm going to be content editing the work to make sure it fits into the Asatania campaign world and narrative. 

(With just a touch of edit, side adventure can be played in campaigns outside of Asatania if you like.)

And, these adventures are part of the original Kickstarter. If you signed up for Adventurer level or higher, you'll get them automatically at no charge!

The home stretch...
about 10 years ago – Mon, Feb 01, 2016 at 06:38:47 PM

There's just over two days left before this project closes. We're fully funded and most of the stretch goals have been reached.

I've got a stack of drafts, artwork and maps in front of me and am pulling everything together. All of the NPC portraits have been complete and delivered.

With the generous backing, I was able to commission some additional landscape and mood pieces, which have been arriving over the last couple of weeks (and there's still more to come!)

Finally, I've commissioned the services of a fantastic cartographer. In addition to the pieces we're doing in-house, we should have her work coming in shortly.

There's still plenty to do, but I'm thrilled how the entire project has gone. 

With very little time left, now would be a great time to share the project with your friends and others who might be interested! (I think we've still got one stretch goal that could potentially be unlocked...)

Two Weeks Left!
about 10 years ago – Thu, Jan 21, 2016 at 12:31:29 PM

The Asatania Kickstarter project has just two weeks to go before it closes and I couldn't be happier about how things have gone so far!

Now is a great time for a status update.

We've reached several stretch goals and as it stands, all backers at the ADVENTURER ($29) level and above will receive the following:

GUIDES

• Asatania Campaign Guide
• Asatania Player's Guide

STORY ADVENTURES

• AS-1 Face Down in a Muddy Road (Level 1 Adventure)
• AS-2 Smoke on the Horizon (Level 2 Adventure)
• AS-3 Muscle Sinew and Wood (Level 2-3 Adventure)

SIDE ADVENTURES

• ASX-1 The New Mine Masters (Level 2-4 Adventure)
• ASX-2 The Ghost of Jarvis Island (Level 3-4 Adventure)
• ASX-3 Title TBD (Level 1-3 Adventure)
• ASX-4 Rock Point Keep (Level 2-4 Adventure)

Next Stretch Goal - An Additional Story Adventure!

We're getting close to the funding level required to unlock a fourth story adventure.

It is going through play testing now, but so far, it has been one of my favorites! 

The party finds themselves under intense stress working for a local noble behind enemy lines. They'll have to use diplomacy, stealth, and strength of arms to overcome the obstacles in an occupied town.

If they succeed, they may even secure a royal title for themselves. (But, whether or they should accept is another matter entirely...) 

The fourth adventure is where we start to see political considerations and intrigue enter the campaign as the players shift from mere survival to becoming an impactful force of their own.

Fun stuff!  I hope we make it!

PROJECT STATUS

I didn't know what to expect when I launched this Kickstarter and as the scope has increased I've brought in additional resources to help push it across the finish line. 

The adventures are written and being converted from a play testing format to publishable quality. As the writer of the campaign, that has been and continues to be my primary task.

The final maps and artwork are under development. Overall, I feel good about hitting the dates outlined in the reward sections. 

I NEED YOUR HELP.

And finally, I'd like to ask for your help.

The most effective way to increase the exposure of this project is to spread the word. 

Word of mouth is so important to Kickstarter campaigns.

As gamers, and especially as table-top gamers, we all have a circle of friends that we play our favorite games with.

If you think the Asatania project is interesting and worth a look, there's a good chance that your friends and fellow gamers will as well.

So, let them know! 

Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and others are great places to share the project and why you decided to back it. The more people hear about the project, the better we can make it for everyone. 

Thank you in advance!

Michael Cerny

p.s. Here's a little of the artwork that's come in over the past few days... (and plenty more has been commissioned and is underway...)

Argenta makes her appearance in AS-2 Smoke on the Horizon. She's an elven scholar with a secret. When she meets the party, she's seeking a group of elves who led an expedition off the main continent centuries ago and was never heard from again.

She'll gladly accompany the party while their travels head in the same direction. 

Over the course of the story, Argenta will come to realize that the elves on the mainland have diminished over the centuries. 

Understanding why and reversing that will be a problem threaded through a great deal of the campaign.

Mesaluna is another elf that the players will encounter in their travels (ASX-2 The Ghost of Jarvis Island).

Like Argenta, Mesaluna has a secret, though as her artwork foreshadows, a much darker one. 

Can the players figure it out before it is too late?

Mesaluna is another favorite of mine. Designed as an important character for a one-off side adventure in Asatania, she can play a much longer and larger role if you like. 

(For one of my play test groups, she's a constant source of stress for them, even though she's not made an actual appearance since ASX-2.) 

Above is concept art for ASX-4 Rock Point Keep. The players have been tasked with securing the keep for the young prince of an island nation. The keep was abandoned hundreds of years ago when a treaty with a neighbor demilitarized the island.

The prince wants to rebuild his military and the keep protects an important route from the sea to the interior. Taking it is high on his priority list and he sends the players on a mission to investigate and clear out any interlopers.

What seems like a simple task is complicated by the political realities. The prince's actions are violating a treaty that has stood for hundreds of years and will have significant political ramifications for the realm and the group.

This is just a smattering of what awaits in Asatania.

If you haven't already joined us as a backer of the project, I hope you'll consider it.

Another Stretch Goal Reached!
about 10 years ago – Mon, Jan 11, 2016 at 02:21:11 PM

This morning the Asatania project achieved another milestone by reaching its third stretch goal. 

I'd like to give a big "thank you" to all of our generous backers for helping us get this far!

This stretch goal introduces two additional side adventures into Asatania for backers at the ADVENTURER ($29) level or higher.

These new adventures are set in Asatania and will offer up bits of additional backstory to players. But, they aren't exclusive to Asatania and could be dropped into nearly any campaign world imaginable. 

They are also less character level dependent than story adventures. While I write them with specific levels in mind, you could easily drop in creatures of higher or lower level to adapt them to your groups. 

The first of the new side adventures is well along in its development and involves the players securing a crumbling keep that guards a critical mountain pass. To succeed, they will need to negotiate with some factions and take direct action against others. It should yield a fun night or two of adventuring combining role playing and combat.

I'm still heads down on the second and I'm going to keep it under wraps while I continue to plug away at its outline and content.

Thanks again to all of Asatania's supporters who have helped us get this far!

Michael