EDIT: We reached out goal, and Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic is now on DTRPG!
The good news is that we have reached the minimum funding we need for the game to be released. However, before we all start high-fiving and pouring champagne, I wanted to take a moment to talk about the stretch goals for the game, and why it's important for projects like this to get more than just the minimum amount of funding they ask for.
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| We've got them on the run... take that hill! |
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The Difference Between Funded and "Funded" on KS
Crowdfunding has been a viable way of getting games made for a while now, but there's still a lot of us who don't know what goes on behind the scenes. Academically we know that the more money and pledges a project gets, the more money the creator makes, but it can be tough to really grasp what that means when it comes to specific terms. So I wanted to pull back the curtain a bit on my project, and give my readers an unvarnished look at what goes on behind the scenes.
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| Watch the shell casings. There's been a lot of test runs around here. |
Typically when a creator asks for a minimum funding amount, that's the price tag it takes to get all of the initial bills paid so that a thing can exist. In the case of this RPG, that's the amount of money it takes to pay the other writers (I did the bulk of the work, but this was not a one-man show), the artists, to print and distribute the books, to pay for layout, and all of the other necessities.
So while getting over the minimum goal is definitely a good thing, it's by no means a full "Mission Accomplished" kind of situation.
If I were making a movie, or writing a novel, then this might be a one-and-done sort of setup. Backers give me the funds I need to finish the product, I deliver it to them, and everyone walks away happy. However, while Army Men is a stand-alone RPG you can play in its entirety with just the base book, I have additional supplements and follow-ups that I'd like to write for it. I mentioned some of them a while back in What's Next For "Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic" After The Kickstarter?, but from expanding the rules to include vehicles, mounts, and animal companions, to writing out mission packs, making new monsters, adding new factions, and generally expanding the setting, my hope was that this book would be the first stepping stone in a series that would grow over time.
And while that's still very possible, the best way to ensure that happens is if Army Men manages to hit its stretch goals so that this extra funding can be used to make those additional installments happen.
I can certainly write supplements and expansions for Army Men; that's not even a question. However, it would be a lot easier to write them if there was a little nest egg of extra funding that came from the initial Kickstarter that would allow me to keep the lights on and the rent paid for a little while, allowing me to dedicate my full time and energy to the project. If there's extra money in the pot, then I won't have to take on additional freelance work for other systems to pay my bills. I won't have to pitch fresh projects to other companies, and find time for Army Men in between paying gigs. I could just focus on these expansions, giving them the attention and polish they need to put our best foot forward!
If the audience makes it clear they want more content, then more content is what I'll provide... I'll just be able to do so a lot faster if I'm not juggling a dozen other assignments, and I can focus entirely on building up and expanding this game.
Which Brings Us To Those Stretch Goals!
The main way that you persuade your audience to help you expand a project, and to fund it past the base level (aside from just making something that a lot of people want to see become a reality) is to offer stretch goals. For those who aren't familiar, these are options that unlock once a campaign has reached a certain level, and they're usually fun, extra things to go along with the base product.
So what does Army Men have to offer?
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| Glad you asked! |
The first stretch goal we have unlocks at $10K, and it's a "standard-issue" set of army green dice. While it may not have the floating skulls, light up numbers, or irreverent phrases some specialty dice have, that's almost kind of the point. Just like how bags of the little plastic toys were always the same, these dice are meant to give you that feeling. Instead of being issued a pair of combat boots, a set of BDUs, and a rifle, these dice are meant to be the weapons you take out into the world with you to help you achieve your missions in this RPG.
The second stretch goal is something I absolutely love, because it was partially (though not completely) my idea. Some folks might remember how, in decades past, you could sometimes get a foot locker of little plastic army toys. Well, to sort of recreate that feeling, we wanted to offer an ammo can that will hold your book, minis, dice, and other accessories that will unlock at $15K.
At time of writing we've slipped down just under $7K... so while both of these stretch goals are a goodly ways off, there's no telling what the Internet may do with a little bit of prodding.
So if you'd like to help us reach those goals, and help myself and other members of the team get the resources we need to work on everything from rules expansions, to mission packs, to future installments of game books, please back Army Men on Kickstarter, and share the link in your social media for folks to see. We're in an uphill battle against the algorithm, and even against gamer apathy, and we need all the help we can to plant our flag so folks can see it from miles around!
Thanks in advance for all of your help... we really can't do this without you!
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