Secret Societies!
about 8 years ago – Sat, Mar 12, 2016 at 04:34:59 AM

Our earlier journey to Quamountaine was just a taste of what Acadia has to offer, but now we have seen it all: the Castillian occupation of the south, the Montaigne trappers of the north, and the Avalon colonies just starting to take root and spread across the eastern seaboard. There will be much conflict here… but perhaps also a chance for a new beginning!

$900,000 means that we’ve unlocked a map of Acadia/Wabanahkik and our tenth sourcebook: The Colonies! All $40+ backers will receive both PDFs for free, and we’ll add both the map and the new sourcebook to the list of add-ons. We’ve also opened up an additional tiers for folks who want all ten sourcebooks: COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF and PIRATE KING.

With The Colonies behind us, we turn our eyes to the rest of Terra, to the world that’s laid out before us in our travels. Of course, there are those who have always had their eyes watching the world from the shadows... 

New Stretch Goal ($950,000) - World Map of Terra 

If we reach $950,000, we'll commission a map of the entire world of 7th Sea (like the map of Théah we released for an earlier stretch goal). All $40+ backers will get the map for free as a hi-res PDF, and we'll create a new add-on for folks who want to add a physical map (roughly 24’’ x 36’’) to their order. We’ll also add it for free to the pirate’s booty, so that everyone who backed at a tier that includes pirate’s booty will have the map added to their order for free!

This final map completes the map collection we began with the first map of Théah at the start of the campaign. Each of the other maps zooms in on a single continent, but only this map reveals the full expanse of Terra, the grand scope of all the lands that can be found by those brave enough to travel across the world, including the lands of the East...

But long before we journey away from the lands we have seen so far, there is one sourcebook that people have been asking us about since the very first day of the campaign: 

New Stretch Goal ($1,000,000) - Secret Societies 

If we reach $1,000,000, we'll release our final 7th Sea: 2nd Edition sourcebook for this campaign in Print and PDF: Secret Societies! All $40+ backers will get the book for free as a PDF, and we'll open up a new tier for folks who want to all the sourcebooks. We'll also make it an add-on for folks who want to add to their pledge separately.

Secret Societies greatly expands on the information offered in the Core Rulebook about the secret societies that drive Théan politics. You’ll find anything and everything you want to know about these clandestine organizations, from the heroes of the Rose and Cross to the masterful manipulators of Sophia’s Daughters to the noble martyrs of the Invisible College. And there might even be a few more groups that have thus far remained secret even among those Théans who usually know such secrets!

This is our eleventh sourcebook… and to keep our promise of delivering all the books before the end of 2017, Secret Societies will the last sourcebook we fund as a part of this Kickstarter.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be more sourcebooks down the road! In fact, we’re pretty sure that you have launched our line with so much excitement and energy that we’re already planning for 2017... 

The East: Planning for 2017

Mark and I spent a long time considering the best way to tackle a sourcebook about the Far East. Eventually, we came to the conclusion that a single sourcebook wasn’t enough. We couldn’t do it justice. We wanted to do India, Japan and China… and China alone would be an entire book. Just 200 pages for all that real estate and all those cultures… it just wasn’t enough. 

So, we made a hard decision. But also, an exciting one. 

In 2017, we plan to launch 7th Sea: The East as it’s own 7th Sea brand. A 300 page full color stand alone core rulebook with 200 page supplements for every Nation.

And by “stand alone,” we mean you can play 7th Sea: The East without the standard 7th Sea rulebook. Of course, both books will also be fully compatible: you can play your Théan Heroes in The East and Eastern Heroes in Théah. 

New Backgrounds, new Sorcery, new Fighting Styles! We’ll have rules for samurai, wuxia, heku and everything else, all from the perspective of people who live in the lands East of Théah! 

What does that mean for our production schedule? A lot depends on how these sourcebooks go, but if our schedule holds, we’ll be teasing information about The East by the end of 2016! And assuming our schedule holds, we'll launch this new line sometime next year, once we've delivered most of the sourcebooks from this Kickstarter.

All the Books Reward Tiers 

For this Kickstarter, however, we’ve reached the end of adding new sourcebooks to the line… and so it’s time to announce our “All the Books” tiers! (Every stretch goal from this point forward it going to be something really special and new, but it won’t be a new sourcebook.)

Here are the new tiers we’re adding to the campaign:

ALL THE BOOKS, OFFICER! 

If you want to get all the sourcebooks for the line through the Kickstarter, ALL THE BOOKS, OFFICER is the right tier for you. For just $500, you get:

• 7th Sea: Second Edition Core Rulebook 
• Eleven 7th Sea: Second Edition sourcebooks 
• All PDFs, including stretch goals and 1st Edition PDFs 
• Any three add-ons or another Core Rulebook

We’ll ask you after the campaign ends if you want add-ons (dice, decks, maps) or another Core Rulebook. This is a deal we're only got to offer through the Kickstarter and Backerkit (immediately after we close). It's over $750 worth of stuff!

ALL THE BOOKS, PIRATE! 

If you’re interested in getting pretty much everything this Kickstarter has to offer, you’ll want to back at the ALL THE BOOKS, PIRATE tier. For just $650, you get:

• 7th Sea: Pirate Edition hardback book 
• 7th Sea: Second Edition Core Rulebook 
• Eleven 7th Sea: Second Edition sourcebooks 
• All PDFs, including stretch goals and 1st Edition PDFs 
• Pirate's Booty: all six maps, all three decks of cards, Hero points, dice, and a GM screen!

Yup, that’s right. It’s over $1,000 of awesome 7th Sea stuff for just $650…

Our Final Week 

Whew! We’ve still got more updates about achievements, more stretch goals for our final week, and plenty of excitement still to come. For now, THANK YOU. It’s absolutely stunning to our whole team that we’re laying out a $1,000,000 stretch goal. We appreciate you all so much for making this happen!

The Colonies
about 8 years ago – Sat, Mar 12, 2016 at 04:33:21 AM

And as quickly as we set them out before you, the Cities of Faith and Wonder have been added to our travelogue. We have journeyed the world to see such faithful places, such constructs and points of beauty, such diversity and excitement! And now we have them in print!

$830,000 means that we’ve unlocked two new sourcebooks: Cities of Wonder and Cities of Faith! All $40+ backers will receive both PDFs for free, and we’ve added both books to the list of sourcebooks unlocked for add-ons. We’ve also opened up additional tiers for folks who want eight or nine sourcebooks: ARMADA MASTER/PICAROON (eight books) and SECRETARY OF THE NAVY/BRIGAND (nine books).

With those two City of Adventure compilations under our belt, it’s time to turn our attention back to the new lands of Wabanahkik. We have many adventures left to seek on this continent, in lands where native peoples and the new colonists—from Montaigne, Avalon, and Castille—are trying to find a peaceful coexistence… 

New Stretch Goal ($865,000): Map of Wabanahkik/Acadia 

If we reach $865,000, we'll commission a map of Wabanahkik/Acadia (like the map of Théah we released for an earlier stretch goal). All $40+ backers will get the map for free as a hi-res PDF, and we'll create a new add-on for folks who want to add a physical map (roughly 24’’ x 36’’) to their order. We’ll also add it for free to the pirate’s booty, so that everyone who backed at a tier that includes pirate’s booty will have the map added to their order for free!

The map of Wabanahkik is but a prelude to our real exploration of this new continent. In addition to Quamountaine, we’re also excited to present a full sourcebook for these new lands!

New Stretch Goal ($900,000) - The Colonies 

If we reach $900,000, we’ll release The Colonies as a 7th Sea: 2nd Edition sourcebook in both print and PDF. All $40+ backers will get the book for free as a PDF, and we'll open up a new tier for folks who want to all ten sourcebooks. We'll also make it an add-on for folks who want to add to their pledge separately.

The Colonies explores the meeting of two cultures: the native peoples living in Wabanahkik and those colonists who have fled (or been sent) from Nations across Théah. In some areas—like Quamountaine—the two groups have already found a peaceful integration, a sharing of cultures that promises to build something new in the ashes of old histories. But in other parts of this vast land, there are Villains lurking on both sides, those who would turn to war, colonization, and conquest to obtain power and wealth.

This new book gives you new Quirks, Advantages, and Sorceries for playing Heroes from Wabanahkik, including tribes that taught the Montaigne how to trap in the frozen north and pueblos on the verge of open resistance in the face of Castillian occupation. When tensions run high and many openly discuss bloodshed... can your Heroes carve a path forward for both sides?

Why The Colonies? 

Given that we’ve only got a few sourcebooks left to announce, you might be wondering why we’ve selected North America as a 7th Sea sourcebook. In short, we think The Colonies offers a unique opportunity to bring more native cultures to 7th Sea and to expand the reach of Théan countries to a new land. I’m so proud that this Kickstarter has given us the opportunity to make the world of 7th Sea huge, and I think including North America allows us to add a lot of interesting flavor to the conflicts between Théan Nations as well.

I’m also proud to announce this book because it’s a passion project for both Mark Diaz Truman and Marissa Kelly, who are both stepping up to share Lead Developer duties. Mark and Marissa both grew up in New Mexico, a state whose history is inextricably tied up with Spanish colonialism, and they are so excited to bring North America to 7th Sea. I can’t wait to see what they do with it! 

Makin’ Raises! 

And finally… Rob Justice, one of our rules developers, shot a little video showing folks how to make raises! We’ve heard some concerns that “making raises out of ten dice” might be a little time consuming, so Rob rolls more than a few times to show you all how long it takes. Enjoy!

Cities of Faith, Cities of Wonder
about 8 years ago – Sun, Mar 06, 2016 at 08:48:59 PM

Quamontaine is the City of Friends, and friends we shall ever be. The formerly Realist colony is the perfect place from which we can stage our exploration of Wabanahkik, and I think we'll find plenty of adventure in this wild, new land. But before we move further inland to follow the Montaigne trappers and Castilian conquistadors, we must take stock of our travels to date!

$780,000 means that we’ve unlocked our sixth City of Adventure—the first in the lands north of The New World—Quamontaine. All $40+ backers will receive the roughly 40,000 word Quamontaine PDF, filled with Heroes, Villains, Plots, and Perils, for free!

And now that we’ve got six full Cities of Adventure, we can announce something really cool: city books in print! I love these kind of rich city guides, and I’m thrilled to be able to collect them into print volumes, especially with some special ties between these cities... 

New Stretch Goal ($805,000) - Cities of Faith 

If we reach $805,000, we’ll release Cities of Faith as a 7th Sea: 2nd Edition sourcebook in both print and PDF. All $40+ backers will get the book for free as a PDF, and we'll open up a new tier for folks who want to all eight sourcebooks. We'll also make it an add-on for folks who want to add to their pledge separately.

Cities of Faith brings together three Cities of Adventure--Iskandar, Vaticine City, and Quamontaine--into one complete, print volume. We'll be adding in extra art to complete the book, along with a chapter on tying all three cities together into one world-spanning adventure for your players: hop from continent to continent to discover the secrets of the world’s greatest religions! 

New Stretch Goal ($830,000) - Cities of Wonder 

If we reach $830,000, we’ll release Cities of Wonder as a 7th Sea: 2nd Edition sourcebook in both print and PDF. All $40+ backers will get the book for free as a PDF, and we'll open up a new tier for folks who want to all nine sourcebooks. We'll also make it an add-on for folks who want to add to their pledge separately.

Cities of Wonder brings together three Cities of Adventure--Frieburg, Djen, and Boisal-into one complete, print volume. We'll be adding in extra art to complete the book, along with a chapter on tying all three cities together into one world-spanning adventure for your players: journey across the known world to uncover a hidden treasure of Syrneth artefacts! 

A Note on Future Sourcebooks 

At this point, we’re getting down the last few sourcebooks we can reasonably publish as a part of this campaign. Although the campaign has blown up far beyond our wildest dreams, we don’t want to be delivering books to you years from now!

We’re committed to getting all of the line out the door by December 2017, so we’ve got to draw the line somewhere. The last thing we want to do is disappoint you all by failing to deliver because we bit off more than we could chew. (As we get close to the end of the campaign, we’ll release a sourcebook release schedule so you all can see our plan.)

That said, we’ve got some stuff planned that we think you all are going to love. We’ve still got a full two weeks until the end of the campaign! Can we reach $1 Million? Can we go beyond it? We don’t know! But we’ll try to be ready for it with new stretch goals…

But suffice to say, at least one of them will contain the words "rose, invisible, and order."