Celebrations and Next Steps!
about 7 years ago – Mon, May 01, 2017 at 09:37:43 PM

Wow, what an awesome final 48 hours for the Kickstarter! Thank you so, so much! I'm going to keep this update pretty brief as we're all still recovering from the Kickstarter rush. Here's what we'll be up to in the coming days as we take the first steps to making Tyrants & Hellions a reality!

• Today and tomorrow I'll be setting up BackerKit. When that's done, we'll send out a backer-only update with all the information you need to get started with selecting add-ons, modifying your pledge, and figuring out shipping! 
• After BackerKit is setup, I'll be contacting backers at the Lord of Villains and Mastermind levels to schedule Skype calls during the rest of May. These calls should take around an hour to an hour and a half. We can have multiple sessions if there's a lot to discuss. Calls with Mastermind backers will happen first, because we need to figure out those villains so we can get the team started creating them!
• After that, we'll get the Rogue's Gallery going and send out instructions for how to submit and vote on villains! 
• Following this initial barrage of updates during May, we'll slow down a regular monthly update with a synopsis of new developments during the previous month, as well as previews of art and writing. If any major developments happen (for example, hitting stretch goals through BackerKit), we'll put out a Kickstarter update dedicated to that. You'll be well informed about how this project is going every step of the way.

BackerKit should be ready by tomorrow evening (U.S. Central Time), so that'll be the next thing you hear about!

Thank you again for helping us make this project happen! I'm so excited to get started!

Steven Gordon - 2CGaming Team

Another Stretch Goal!
about 7 years ago – Sun, Apr 30, 2017 at 05:25:32 PM

I hope you enjoy emails, because here's another one! We're getting upgraded maps! That's a third stretch goal we've hit, so I guess it's true what they say about 48 hour madness on Kickstarter!

The legendary cartographer, Tommi Salama, will be bringing the villain's lairs to life with his detailed and gorgeous maps! This stretch goal also adds high resolution copies of the maps included in the PDFs for easy printing, or for smooth uploading to Roll20 and other Virtual Tabletops.

For our last stretch goal, if we hit $27,500 in total funding, we'll add two more villains to the book, bringing the total to 15! If we get at least halfway there, up to $26,000 we'll add one more villain to the book, but it'll be a very hard choice between the Hex the fearsome and powerful Minotaur Lord or Jibblinplip, everyone's favorite Continental Ooze. They both have fans! I'm hoping we get to add them both.

If we go past the last stretch goal (which would be amazing), we'll funnel every extra bit of support back into the project. If we go a little over, that's more artwork! If we go a lot over, that's more villains! If we get there, we'll keep you informed about how we're expanding the project.

We've gotten a couple questions about the Deluxe books, so I want to address those as we enter the final 8 hours of the Kickstarter:

• Every backer that pledges for a Deluxe copy of Tyrants & Hellions (All $80+ backers) will have the choice of the standard cover and an alternate version based on a different villain. This includes the Last-Minute Deluxe Storyteller tier, and every tier above it (Lord of Villains, Mastermind). You'll pick the cover for your book through BackerKit once we have the alternate version to show you!
• The Deluxe copy of Tyrants & Hellions is only available through this Kickstarter! This book is a physical way of saying thank you to everyone who went above and beyond in supporting this project, and we want it to be special! 
• You will be able to upgrade your pledge tier through BackerKit until we lock in all pledges in mid to late May. Once that happens, no more Deluxe books will be available.

Hopefully that clarifies the Deluxe book for everyone!

Lastly, don't forget that any add-ons or pledge upgrades you pick up through BackerKit still contribute toward stretch goals! So even if we haven't hit the last stretch goal by the time we close out the Kickstarter, it still might happen!

I can't say thank you enough for all the wonderful comments and support we've been getting. It's so encouraging and exciting to see people believing in this project! And thanks to your generosity, it's getting extra art and more content!

It's the last 8 hours here, so we'll how far we can get! You'll hear from us again tomorrow morning with our first steps toward making the book, which will involve scheduling our Skype calls with backers at the Lord of Villains and Mastermind levels, and setting up the Rogue's Gallery!

See you on the other side. :)

Steven Gordon - 2CGaming Team

Two Stretch Goals & 24 Hours!
about 7 years ago – Sat, Apr 29, 2017 at 10:45:14 PM

I'm completely blown away by all the support we've received today, both in new backers and in all the awesome comments you've been posting. Thank you! Two stretch goals in one day!

Ravilvost, the Apex Dragon

We've hit one of the stretch goals I'm most excited about, because it means I get to write a new villain! Ravilvost the Apex Dragon is a powerful Archvillain meant for parties of 17th to 20th level.

Designing a foe for characters at the peak of their power presents a few unique challenges. The villain needs to have ways of dealing with the heroes' game changing abilities, in particular high level spells, a monk's vast supply of stunning fist attacks, or a paladin/fighter using action surge and divine smite to deal incredible damage in a single turn. But Ravilvost is an Archvillain, she need not stand alone! She has the armies of a Tyrant at her disposal, and a cunning villain will sacrifice their minions to wear down the party before swooping in to finish them off. When it comes to dealing with specific abilities that are a big threat to a villain, like powerful spellcasters, it can be helpful to offload the counter to a lieutenant. Rather than give Ravilvost innate antimagic abilities, we can instead give her a lieutenant who specializes in countering and dispelling magic. This is most helpful because it gives the players a tangible target to attack if they want their magic to be a more effective option, and it lets them strategically wear down the villain's resources before a final confrontation. That's how it should feel, fighting an Archvillain. Surgical strikes and careful maneuvering, not just running in blindly!

Art Expansion 1

Le'ts not overlook our first Stretch Goal hit earlier today; the Art Expansion 1 Goal brings another villain sketch to every villain in the book. This'll manifest in backstory-related sketches, rather than new poses for the villain, so you can expect items, lieutenants, scene sketches or similar for each villain in addition to the base art.

I've got my fingers crossed we can hit more stretch goals! If we do as well tomorrow as we did today, we might hit them all!

Steven Gordon - 2CGaming Team

Our Plan For the Final 48 Hours
about 7 years ago – Sat, Apr 29, 2017 at 03:05:22 PM

It's looking like we'll hit our first stretch goal today, which is just awesome! We'll be posting on Reddit and reaching out on social media to try to bring in people for a final 48 hour push, and we have a few things you might be excited to hear about too.

First, we're opening a new reward tier the Last-Minute Deluxe Storyteller. We initially set a limit on Deluxe Storyteller rewards because it includes a Written Reference to your D&D character, and if 100 people picked that up there's no way we could include that many characters in the book and still do them justice! But it's clear a lot of you want a fancier physical book, so the Last-Minute Deluxe Storyteller tier includes everything the Deluxe Storyteller gets, but without the written reference to your character. We're keeping the pledge amount the same as a way of saying thank you to everyone who backed the Deluxe Storyteller tier (or higher) right away. If you've already backed at the Deluxe Storyteller tier or above, you don't need to worry about this new tier, you're already getting the Deluxe book!

Second, we're planning to open another Mastermind pledge tier if we reach our second stretch goal, so let's see how far we can get!

I've said it a lot but I don't plan to stop now, thank you so much for all of your support!

Steven Gordon - 2CGaming Team

100% Funded!
about 7 years ago – Fri, Apr 28, 2017 at 04:33:13 PM

One hundred percent! Thank you for your support and enthusiasm about this project, everyone here at 2CGaming is incredibly grateful! To celebrate, we're opening new backer slots at the following tiers:

• 5 new Deluxe Supporter
• 3 new Lord of Villains
• 1 new Mastermind

In addition, we have some exciting news about the Deluxe version of Tyrants & Hellions! All backers at the Deluxe Supporter level or above will get their pick of cover art, the one you see depicted in the Kickstarter video, or a second cover design based around one of the villains designed for the Mastermind tier! You'll make this choice through BackerKit after the Kickstarter concludes, and after we have the alternate cover art ready to show you.

There are a lot of exclamation points in this update, can you tell I'm excited? 

We have a little over 2 Days remaining, and I'm really hoping we can hit some stretch goals! If you decide to pick up Add-Ons through BackerKit, that contribution will also go toward stretch goals on this project, so even if we haven't reached your favorite stretch goal by the end of the Kickstarter campaign, it doesn't mean it won't happen! 

If we make it to $21,000 in total funding we'll add an additional set of black and white illustrations to the book, fleshing out every villain with art of their lairs, magic items, or lieutenants! And if we get to $22,500 then we get to add another villain! I would love to write Ravilvost the Apex Dragon, so I've got my fingers crossed we'll get there!

To close things out, we're going to share a preview of one of the villainous archetypes, which is mostly an excuse to show off more awesome art by Ambrose!

Bloodcaster Sorcerer

One of the villainous archetypes available to player characters, the Bloodcaster Sorcerer is all about sacrificing their vitality for extra magic. Blood magic is the classic tool of the evil spellcaster, but even those of good intentions may venture down that dark road if they have no other choice. I'd also like to point you to a blog post I wrote on the subject of Players as Villains because it's an important consideration when preparing to run a game with one or more evil characters in the group.

With that, we're going to get back to promoting this Kickstarter and see just how much additional support we can bring in before we hit the finish line. Thank you again, we wouldn't be here without you!

Steven Gordon - 2CGaming Team