In Addition
over 2 years ago – Wed, Dec 29, 2021 at 04:40:30 PM

In my excitement to get this months update out, I forgot the best part! I've basically locked in the artwork on the limited edition cover. There might be some small tweaks to it, but I'm very happy with where it's at.

It used to be this...

And while not completely terrible, it was never meant to be the final form of this beast.

And now, its this!

I think its a massive improvement. Hope you all like it as much as I do! The base cover will also be modified (aka improved), but I'm still working on that one. Swear this is the last update for today :P

-Nick

November Update
over 2 years ago – Mon, Nov 29, 2021 at 06:18:36 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

We Did It!
over 2 years ago – Sat, Nov 06, 2021 at 03:24:52 AM

It's been a long month, but the smoke has settled and we did it! 

168 of you hit 295% of our original funding goal to bring SYNAPSE to life and for that I am eternally grateful. There's a bunch of things to go over this morning but I'll try and keep it as short and to the point as possible.

While we didn't manage to hit the extended lore funding goal, hope is not lost! One of the first things on my plate is to go through and get our Backerkit mostly set up. Why do that now, so far ahead of backer surveys coming out? Because it will allow me to launch a pre-order store for SYNAPSE, and when that happens I will include all pre-orders done through Backerkit to have been a part of this Kickstarter. So if we manage to raise that extra $800 in the next several months before we lock things in for production, then we'll count that stretch goal as having been unlocked. On the topic of pre-orders, I originally set out saying I would print a maximum run of 250 of the Limited Edition hardcover, I'm going to cut that number down to 100 (further reduced by how many were taken during this campaign), and will be removing the all-in "pledge" from pre-orders. I want to make sure the value of those books is not diminished, and the all-in is recognized as something that was just available for people who backed it during the campaign itself.

While we're on the topic of backing levels, for the 9 of you who backed at the kitchen sink level, I will begin reaching out to you in the new year to begin the process of character creation and artwork. I have some hurdles to jump through prior to that and want to make sure that they aren't on my plate once we start chatting.

Now, some logistics. Kickstarter will begin collecting your payments today and will try to resolve any issues with payments over the next couple weeks. This part is 100% out of my hands so please contact them with any issues should you have them. In roughly two weeks they will take their percentage and then release the remaining funds to me, at which point I will immediately begin getting more artwork commissioned as that is something which will be very time consuming over the next several months. 

From now until the time the funds clear I'm going to do the following. First up is to take a couple days to decompress, it's ridiculous how emotionally taxing these campaigns end up being, even for projects considered on the smaller side of things like this one. Starting on Monday I'll begin getting my thoughts and reference pictures together so that as soon as funds clear I can get all that info to our artist AshHillArt and get that ball rolling right away. There's upwards of 60 original pieces that need to be commissioned (and I'll add more depending on pre-orders) so this is something that needs to get moving pronto.

Following that until the end of 2021 I'll be working on the following, getting the pre-order store set up, begin working on designing the items that were unlocked during the campaign, continue design work on the game as it currently exists, and finish up another project we have on the go due to release on X-mas day. The goal is to have everything in motion that needs to be, and to be set up to 100% dive into SYNAPSE full time beginning on Monday January 3rd. Finishing the design work, playtesting, layout, and everything else that needs to get done will basically be my full time job and sole focus from that point onwards. Prior to that I'll send out an update at the end of November to keep everyone in the loop, and then another at the end of December just prior to things going full steam ahead. And then from there updates will continue to be monthly. 

I'd also like to encourage people to link up with me through social media, as I'll definitely be adding like bits of info there along the way between updates here. And the Cardboard Dungeon Games Discord has a dedicated channel for this project which will get every bit of the process that I have to share posted to it. Links for everything I have along those lines are below (clicking the pics will take you where you need to go).

I think that's all I've got for now, hopefully I haven't forgotten anything. We've got a long road ahead, but at the end of that road is a game I think you're all going to have a lot of fun with. Chucking handfuls of dice with friends is the best thing out there.

Again, thank you all.

-Nick

Lastly we'd just like to share a couple other Kickstarter projects that we're huge fans of and have already backed. Check these out!

The Final 24
over 2 years ago – Thu, Nov 04, 2021 at 04:56:10 AM

Morning all,

Real quick one this morning. I just wanted to acknowledge everyone who has supported the project to this point over the last month, it's a thrilling experience seeing others share interest in an idea and seeing SYNAPSE reach where it is now makes me extremely happy. 

Following the end of the campaign tomorrow morning I'll post a much longer update in regards to roadmaps moving forwards, planned updates, and just everything I can provide detail wise to this point so we're all starting off on the same page.

Again, thank you. It means the world.

-Nick

Stretch Goal #5 Unlocked - the Final 48!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Nov 02, 2021 at 07:13:44 PM

Morning everyone!

Two items of note this morning, we're into our final 48 hours of funding. If you know people that would be into SYNAPSE then now is the time to share it with them ;) But more important than that, we're currently just above the next Stretch Goal!

This means I get to design a whole bunch of NPC's to toss into the book for you to use as you wish. Each of them will come with a small backstory, what motivates them, a full stat write up, and even gear they typically carry etc. 

They're basically going to be a collection of pre-made characters. So you can use them as people your players run into, allies, enemies, or even hand them out as pre-generated characters for new players to use as they learn the game.

But I don't think we're done quite yet. Just over the horizon is a stretch goal that will add a ton of pages to the book, and that's the expanded history/lore goal! Let's knock it down!

Chat tomorrow

-Nick