A pastoral fantasy tabletop RPG about traveling animal-folk and the way they change with the seasons.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Funded! 306K!
over 3 years ago
– Fri, Sep 04, 2020 at 01:12:45 AM
Good morning,
Wow.
We did it.
Thank you, so much.
So what happens next?
Well I'm gonna go to the bank and make sure everything's squared away with them, and then I'm gonna call a friend and chat for a few hours, and then I'm gonna hopefully get some more sleep.
Nolike, what should I do next?
Yes! Well there's a pre-order store up now on Backerkit, and so if you've got any friends who still want to back Wanderhome you can do it there. We'll be sending out surveys in a couple weeks, and you can get add-ons (like merch) then and there, and also tell us your shipping address, the name you want in the dedication, and all of that. If you have any questions about anything, feel free to message me here, leave a comment, or send us an email.
Besides that, you're golden! Kickstarter has collected the money, and the great wheels are underway.
What's happening behind the scenes?
Well, we have ~2-3 weeks in between now and when I'll actually have access to the money, so there's a little bit of a lull period, logistically. Behind the scenes our artists will still be working, our writers will still be writing, and the business side of things will continue to churn. As mentioned, Ruby and I are going to take a short vacation. We'll still be active here and on Twitter, but replies might be a bit slower and we're gonna take a break from the advertising train. We have a lot of long term plans, but before we can do them we need to actually rest!
Also this weekend Ruby is gonna come up and spend a bit of time in quarantine with my house, so we can go swimming in the creek and celebrate the Moon Dance on Monday with a bunch of food and probably some silly posts on Twitter.
HeyJay, how're you doing?
I'm doing okay, all things considered. I mean, I'm excited and emotional and blown away and anxious as heck and a bit sleep deprived and I'm writing all this through a nasty nasty migraine, but, I'm doing okay.
This has been the most bonkers month of my life, and trust me - I've had some pretty bonkers months. This has changed my life in ways I don't even properly have words for. Possum Creek Games is a dream, and Wanderhome is the manifestation of that dream. Going into this Kickstarter I was terrified - is this something people actually want? Is there appeal to this? Will I be able to be enough? And the fact that Ruby and I were able to present our philosophy and our promise as creators to all of you, and you all responded with such enthusiasm and joy, was heartwarming beyond words.
I wanna thank a few people - this isn't everyone, by no stretch is it everyone - but they're some folks who helped make this possible I really want to acknowledge.
Ruby, thank you so much. We've been working together for a bit now but this is our first project as partners over Possum Creek Games, and she's been invaluable beyond words. There were so many times where I thought I was gonna break down entirely, and without Ruby I'm not sure I could've handled the enormous logistical and social complexity that comes with running a Kickstarter that has abruptly made six figures, and in the process becoming a small business owner. Ruby is smart and hilarious and creative and, despite her best attempts to hide it, an incredibly kind person. I am so endlessly thankful for her presence and involvement.
I also wanna say thank you to my roommates, Wes and Chase, for being twin anchors of stability in a world of chaos. They cheered me on when I danced around their rooms at 1am, helped me fall asleep when I was freaking out, and reminded me to stop writing and actually eat, c'mon. Also thank you so much Jammi, Adira, M, Kazumi, Luke and Riley - none of this would be possible without any of you.
Finally I am so so thankful for all of you. You're all such an incredible community, made up of people from all over the world and with a ton of different life experiences. We've got Forge veterans, OSR grognards, Itch designers, lyricists, queer nerds, weird teens, occupational therapists, podcasters, school teachers, critters, furries, and a thousand other identities and communities that I can't even start to wrap my head around. Shoutout to the people who have never backed a Kickstarter before, who have only ever played D&D, who have always wanted to play D&D but felt overwhelmed and alienated, who barely even knew what a Tabletop RPG was. Shoutout to everyone who found out about us through advertising, through Tweets about unrelated things, through their favorite artists, and through all their friends who won't shut up about tabletop gaming (at least a few of you have said "I've never wanted to play a tabletop RPG before, but this one looks fun" - I see you).
I'm especially grateful to everyone who backed at the Ragamuffin tier. When money is hard and times are tough, every penny matters so much more. The fact that Wanderhome has enabled so many people who couldn't afford to play it otherwise get access to the game is the sort of fact I'll keep very close to my heart for many years to come. I was only able to get into this hobby because of the generosity and kindness of strangers, and I am so grateful that you all have given me the chance to repay that generosity.
I have more to say (I'm a writer, of course I have more to say), but Wes won't stop reminding me that I promised I'd take a nap, so I must go.
You've all put a lot of trust in me, and I'll never stop being grateful for that.
Until next time,
Jay
Last Twelve Hours !! Here We Go!
over 3 years ago
– Thu, Sep 03, 2020 at 02:02:55 PM
Hi everyone, Jay here!
Holy smokes we're in the last 12 hours. It feels like it's been a thousand years since the campaign launched, and also like ... 2 days. Lots and lots of love for everyone who's been following along this whole time, and also to everyone who's just joined for the ride!
This is a pretty quick update - just a few links and some reminders.
FIRST, Compass Rose Productions played Wanderhome a few days ago and it was so sweet! They've uploaded the VOD onto Youtube and it's really wonderful and their characters have some downright adorable art. Go check them out! I'm confident there's also more people who I straight-up don't know about, so if I'm missing anything please give me a heads up.
SECOND, there's a few really exciting Kickstarters happening! My personal favorites are BOLT by one of our stretch goal writers Ajey Pandey - a rules light fast-paced combat system with a ton of aesthetics (launching in 2 days), and Orbital by Jack Harrison of Mousehole Press, a cool diceless, masterless RPG about being on a space station with really amazing art and layout (and I'm a stretch goal!)
THIRD, Ruby and I will be taking a short (~2 weeks) vacation after the Kickstarter wraps up and before the Kickstarter money hits our bank account. We'll still be answering questions and stuff, but we're also going to take a little bit of time, catch up on sleep, and celebrate the Moon Dance at the end of Breathe and the start of Silt. Please be patient with us in this time, and keep up with us on Twitter at @jdragsky, @rubylavin, and @possum_creek. As a reminder, please send any interview, business, or other inquiries to our email at [email protected]. It's easy to mistake Kickstarter DMs for spam messages, especially when they (for some absurd and incomprehensible reason) use my deadname.
FOURTH, we're going to get Backerkit up and running as soon as we can once the Kickstarter wraps up. You'll all get an email about it then. Once on Backerkit you can buy additional copies, snag some special stuff (except for the backpack and bag of tokens, which are Pilgrim-exclusive), upgrade your pledge, and donate additional PDFs for folks. If we hit $300K (which we're pretty close to!) in the next 12 hours, you'll also see some more merch go up on there! Here's some mockups we've made of the sheet of stickers we wanna produce.
Set of stickers by various artists (the frog in the middle will be colored in)
FIFTH, we love you all so deeply! Thank you for building something so special! It's hard to even start to explain what your support means to a couple of marginalized creators like us (although I'm sure I'll try plenty more times over the many many months), and the journey - for us, for you, for Possum Creek Games - has only just begun. I can't wait to find out where we'll go together.
See you all in 12 hours, and many more times after that.
Last 48 Hours, Reddit Link, Community Fund, Upgrading from Early Bird Dancer!!
over 3 years ago
– Thu, Sep 03, 2020 at 03:30:28 AM
good morning everyone, we're super busy in the crunch of the last 48 hours of the kickstarter, but I have some brief exciting news for you all!
here's a link to our reddit AMA where we'll be answering questions all day about Possum Creek Games, Wanderhome, whatever you like!
this morning we hit our Community Fund stretch goal of 250k! this is a super exciting one. Jay will have more news in the coming weeks but basically what this means is that if you want to make your own Wanderhome playbooks, natures, etc., there's a hefty fund set aside so you can pay yourself for the writing, an artist to illustrate, and get some guidance and formatting resources from us!
Finally: lots of people have been asking how they can upgrade from their Dancer (Early Bird) tier to get a hardcover or other goodies, but still keep the dedication and be able to see their name in the book. We're going to try a system where if you upgrade to a different tier but forward the original email confirming your early bird pledge to us ([email protected]) we will still credit you in the book. I'll try to send out confirmation emails that we've received these in batches over the new couple days as they come in. hope that helps!
also again--we wrap Thursday morning, 8:25am EST! any last minute sharing the project on social media or with your friends would be really appreciated. thank you so so much for everything you've done for us so far--it's been a wild ride and we're excited for everything to come together at the end of the week.
xoxo
ruby
Last Few Days! Shipping Rates, AMA, and More!
over 3 years ago
– Wed, Sep 02, 2020 at 08:55:13 AM
Good morning everyone! Jay here.
It is a beautiful late August morning as I type this, and ribbons of mist are rising from the creek outside my house. We have 72 hours (or thereabouts) until the Kickstarter concludes, and this has been the longest and most exciting month of my life.
I have a few announcements for all of you, so let's hop right in.
Shipping Rates (Finally!)
I know a lot of you have been clamoring to know how much shipping will cost from Backerkit, and I'm excited to be able to fill you in. The delay was because it took a lot of math and finagling, and that we wanted to find a distributor to help save our friends in the UK and EU some money. As I've mentioned in previous updates, we we're logistically prepared for the explosion of this Kickstarter, so we've been thinking on our feet a bit. But without further ado, here are the shipping rates sorted by country:
Note: We designed this shipping budget to save you money wherever possible while still maintaining quality. We have built a very large buffer for ourselves, allocating a certain portion of the budget to handle shipping miscalculations and such, and we're using that extra space to provide some relief to higher tiers. The world we live in is still really uncertain, and so we had to account for the reality that when Wanderhome is released, the world of shipping might look drastically different. Thank you for your patience and compassion in this time.
Press & AMA
Wanderhome has been featured in a few really wonderful interviews and streams since our last update, and I wanted to take a moment and highlight some of my favorites!
Interview with Jay Dragon and Ruby Lavin for Lightheart Adventures. This is one of my favorite interviews I've ever been a part of, in large part because Ruby and I had such a blast bouncing back and forth off of each other. If you're looking for some delightful snarky gemini banter and also want to know about Possum Creek Games, its origins, and how we made Wanderhome - look no further!
Interview with Jay Dragon for Heartsong Radio on Radio Kingston. I'm especially excited about this one because Radio Kingston is the local radio station I listen to when I drive, and I still can't believe how cool it is that I got interviewed on a local radio station! It's also a wonderful interview where I chat about music, games, and Wanderhome.
Compass Rose Productions put on a really amazing stream of Wanderhome, and I don't have the VOD on me but I'll be posting it up pretty soon! They're an incredibly diverse cast of performers and they had just the cutest and most wonderful art possible.
Finally, we'll be doing an AMA on Reddit (/r/RPG) tomorrow! We'll make a post there (and on Twitter) soon and announce it when it happens. Come join us and hang out!
Printing
After talking to some of our backers and a few colleagues, we've made the choice to switch away from PrintNinja. We're currently planning on using Taylor Specialty Books, as they'll be higher quality and easier to ship to our distribution center. This is a small change that won't impact most of you, but it's also the sort of shift that took us 2 weeks in meetings to figure out, and trust me - you'll all appreciate the bump in quality.
More Art
Here's just a couple more finished pieces - Jo Thierolf's wetland that you've been watching evolve over the course of these updates, and the finished dustjacket illustration by Sylvia Bi. Here you go!
oneshotrpg plays sleepaway + art as always
over 3 years ago
– Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 06:47:43 PM
good morning all my angels, ruby here for a little update
oneshotrpg
we've been excited for this one for a long time but it's finally released!!! this morning oneshotrpg put out the first episode of james playing possum creek games' 2019 release, sleepaway, with my talented friends brennan lee mulligan, molly ostertag, noelle stevenson, lola binkerd, and their friend ben joseph who i definitely met at a party once. this first episode is character creation (and lots of chat about larp camp.) "Together they make a bunch of extremely emotional teens who will have to face the terrifying Lindworm." this will air for a couple weeks so please follow along!
art by kimberli johnson
as always we want to feature some of the art we have in progress, this week a draft by kimberli johnson. we are completely obsessed with how well even this photo of the linework is staged--aesthetic mastery.
ink drawing of bear, goat, and fox adventurers chatting outside a gate surrounded by flowers. drawing is surrounded by inks, flowers, picture books.
225k stretch goal reminder
we're so close to raising all our stretch goal writers to 50 cents a word! please keep sharing wanderhome with your friends so we can get there :)
