Gaming Ballistic welcomes you to the Pre-Order store for Four Perilous Journeys. Get the products from the Kickstarter, or other GB items, below!
Well. We've now exceeded 200% funding, which is the second "better than Norðvörn" milestone. The only one left is to see whether we can hit 601 backers by tomorrow at 10pm.
We're now within the 48-hour window until the Four Perilous Journeys Kickstarter comes to an end. Thanks to the generosity of over 500 backers, we're approaching 200% funding. The campaign got a complete makeover on May 30! If you've not checked out what's on offer since then . . . now would be a good time!
Welcome! Since the campaign started, the four GM'd 16-page adventures . . . the original "Four Perilous Journeys" have grown to five, now including a 32-page solitaire adventure called Vampire Hunter Belladonna. Here's a preview of the cover:
Additionally, check out the die-cut counters!
Also, the NPC/Creature Cards follow the pattern of the Creature and Wizard cards from Decks of Destiny. Shuffle them in and poof! Instant challenge. The placeholder art shows color (it's what I have). The actual decks may be turned to greyscale to harmonize with the Decks of Destiny.
The card backs will match exactly those of the Decks of Destiny.
If you've already pledged at the basic Digital Voyager ($20) or Print Quartermaster ($50) level, you get all five adventures, which include on their last page the greyscale counters to print yourself. If you want the physical die-cut counters or the NPC/Monster cards, or the PDFs of that content, the "ALL THE DIGITAL THINGS" ($50) and "BRING ME THE THINGS. ALL OF THEM." ($110) levels both include substantial discounts in overall pricing of the combined totals. Consider upgrading if you're interested in more than one or two of the component pieces.
Ironskull Castle (Pulver). Visit Ironskull Castle, the headquarters of Lady Raelle Ironskull, mercenary warlord turned magical arms dealer, mistress of Eldritch Arms. An entire castle filled with nasty surprises, strange magic items, and detailed NPCs. 16 pages.
Crown of Eternity (Rice/Tremlett). The party is tasked with finding a lost researcher for an exclusive league of magical explorers. The lost eldritch archaeologist was in search of the fabled Crown of Eternity. 16 pages.
Citadel of Ice (Pulver). The dungeon is a frozen labyrinth inside an iceberg drifting in the ocean. The team of adventurers must journey to the floating tomb before it melts, taking the treasure with it. 16 pages.
Curse of the Pirate King (Rice/Tremlett). Travel to the former capitol of a vast pirate nation, and find the fabled Blade of Dawn. Go to the lifeless rock, and loot the treasure of a thousand dead buccaneers. What could go wrong? 16 pages.
Vampire Hunter Belladonna is a programmed adventure for The Fantasy Trip. You won't need a Game Master—instead a system of branching paragraphs directs you from encounter to encounter as you make your own choice. This independent adventure has ties to Ironskull Castle, so you can use both together in a campaign if you wish. 32 pages.
Check out the prototype cover art templates. The megahexes leave no doubt that you're playing The Fantasy Trip, and while the art is a placeholder, I'm drawing from a highly successful pool of artists who have all worked with Gaming Ballistic before.
For quick reference and easy play at the table, nothing beats the utility of a printed NPC or monster card.
The basic add-on will be 42 cards in the "Creature and Wizard" size: 3.5 x 5". These will be printed on quality UV-gloss coated stock for maximum compatibility with dry-erase markers.
There is not a unique card deck per adventure: there's a single deck that draws from the selection of creatures that come with the adventures, including the solo adventure we added when we passed the $21,000 stretch goal.
The "deck" will also be available in PDF format.
Each adventure has creatures and NPCs to fight, negotiate with, or charm. While print-your-own tokens are on the last page in each adventure, this add-on gets you a COLOR version of that page, either in PDF or die-cut 1.6mm glossy cardboard.
Each sheet contains 42 1" square tokens depicting the creatures and characters from the adventure. There is a separate sheet for each adventure.
This pledge level includes a PDF of all the rewards offered in the campaign in digital format.
These are discounted as a bundle from their price as individual add-ons (see below for item pricing).
This is the place for those that must loot and pillage. This pledge level includes a PDF of all the rewards offered in the campaign in physical AND digital format.
These are discounted as a bundle from their price as individual add-ons (see below for item pricing). There are, of course, other reward levels for those who just want the adventures in PDF or Print format without the (super-cool, really) extras. There is also a retailer level for those wanting multiple copies to sell in your store!
OK. This should be enough to give my cover artists some inspiration, and mostly what they do is put the temp image up (and sometimes request I take the placeholder away, and fill it with white, yellow, or green) and paint over it.
The background of the hexes is frozen green ice, which is important because [FNORD], and that comes in near the [FNORD] of the adventure. The background of the writing is also ice, but of a different type.
Geek note:
The water phase diagram is actually really complex and cool.
In any case, I couldn't resist mucking around with the floating iceberg and slapping down the tower that even the blind will see approaching the floating berg, and the wyverns that you may notice flying around it.
As you can see, I've maintained the megahex look and the cut-outs. I like 'em, you seem to like 'em, and as y'all said, it makes the work distinctive.
It was almost too tempting to throw an image of Sarah or Kate in there (Buffy or Anna Valerious, who actually looks sufficiently like Belladonna that it might just have to inform my art direction). And I might just have such a thing, but posting it would be a bridge too far.
I'll admit it: this is my favorite color scheme to date with the red.
You'll see the similarities.
Again, the image will be replaced with a custom one. I'm not entirely wild about the color scheme of the text on the front cover. At least this placeholder image is slighly more action-evocative than the last one.
And yeah, I couldn't resist the "Isle of Dread" homage/pun.