Successful Selling!

The week of selling Masquerade card decks to Champlain College students has already proven to be wildly successful, more so than I thought. As of right now, the last remaining decks are on hold to be purchased. That's over 30 decks sold (or given away to the backers in school.)

If you're a Kickstarter backer, you'll be happy to know that your cards are going to get cut back in New Jersey and that I've sorted out the list of backer's addresses.

If you live in the New Jersey area, I'll probably go drive to you and hand deliver your prizes personally. If you're not local (and even out of country) expect it to be shipped to you. I'll message you or email you when the shipment goes out.

I have everything sorted out and am trying to reach out to several tabletop game producers. Someone suggested I get a one page document going, so here it is. Probably will hand these out at conventions and the like.

Speaking of conventions, anyone have any good suggestions for some over the summer? Cheers!

Scheduling for Shipping

To avoid some confusion in the coming month, here's going to be the absolute dates for all the shipping in terms of the books in cards in case you supporters would like to know anything.

April:
15th- Final decks will be completed (missing card received)
19th- Senior Show, presenting Masquerade afterwards
20th-Remainder of month- Masquerade decks available for purchase to Champlain College students (in the game labs or upon requests)

May:
4th- Graduation
6th-10th- Shipping dates for all Kickstarter backers

The reason we're looking at a shipping day a month from now is simply because this might be the only chance I'll get to give out the decks to many of the friends and supporters here at college before I might never see them again. That and there might be some polish we need to apply to the boxes to ensure their durability and I can't do that until I return home in May.

If you are a Kickstarter backer on Champlain College campus, I will find you and I will give you your prizes. Expect that soon.

If I know you personally, say you're family perhaps, I'll find a way to get you your backings soon too. For now the focus is successfully graduating. The future of Masquerade is looking bright though.

Thank you all!

We're Printing!

I know this blog hasn't been updated in awhile, but things have been moving along on Facebook. We've already printed the books and we're working on printing the cards.

In fact, the cards have all been printed as of today (though there's a slight issue) and all they need to do is get cut out.

Here's what I mean, this is the card box

I'm expecting to see the cards in my hand next Tuesday. That means HOPEFULLY, the game will be ready to ship next weekend. But with the complications at the printers, we'll have to see.

If you're on the Champlain College campus though, expect to see the decks around. I'll be sure to show them.

Other than that, all that's left is the book signing and printing out the certificates some of the backers on Kickstarter have earned. There's also the matter of mentioning a few backers on this blog, which I'll be sure to do once the games have been shipped.

It's going to be an exciting week! Once more, check out the Facebook page if you haven't to see some of the pictures of the printing process.

Final Art Update

This is it guys! On tomorrow (Monday the 25th) we will be sending the final version of the cards to be printed from the printers. It is my hope to have them printed in a week and a half.

First off, I'd like to give a big, big thanks to Deanna Vaida who did all of the card art and Elliott Lutton who designed the Masquerade book and card layout. You can find Deanna's websites here and here. Elliott's main website is here.

And without further ado, here they are:

Blacksmith Roger- Roger is a tough man who spends his whole day smelting and hammering weapons for the guards. His is a booster card and offers a bonus to other card's attack.

Alchemist Leon- Roger's counterpart, Leon is a tricky wizard-like man who secretly experiments on his patients, testing potions and ointments on them. He grants a bonus to defense for all other cards.

Dancer Isabella- This exotic dancer comes from the South and captures the attention of all those around her. She plays the role of a mesmerizer in the game, distracting the opponent and weakening their cards. 

Henry the Bard- Henry is a singer who used to play the flute, but after an incident with a noble no longer carries any wind instruments. He's a cheery fellow who goes around bringing joy to anyone around him.

Nan the Disgruntled- Nan is the embodiment of anger in the commoners towards the nobility. She voices the rage they all feel towards the rich and even appears in the first chapter of Masquerade.

Squire Terry- Despite being so young, Terry is tougher than he looks. He's one of the orphans Newgate trains and is on his way to being a strong guard. In the book, he serves as a messenger for Wymund.

Doctor Pestilence- The special 61st card as requested by supporter Kenneth Deshotel.  According to Kenneth "An eerie man hidden behind a plague doctor mask.  He dons a long dark robe fastened with large buttons and a wide brimmed hat.  Little is known of this mysterious man but many believe him to be a doctor gone crazed.  He has a very ominous aurora about him and is often seen to be followed by ravens.  He always carries a twisted wooden cane and special herbs for his “medical practices”.  He addopted the name "Dr. Pestilence" due to his infatuation with disease and the number of deaths that seem to follow in his wake."

Thank you everyone for your support. More news will follow when the process of printing begins.

Art Update #10

Here we go guys. After this update, there will be only seven cards left to illustrate. That means, hopefully, within a week the cards will be ready to go.

The book has been approved and I will be sending for the final prints tomorrow.

So let's get this show on the road:

Chef Michaelson- This guy's model is the Swedish Chef, no doubt about that. The Chef came from the idea that assassins would undoubtedly use the food to poison their victims. As such, the Chef is pretty powerful but has low defense. 

Jester Foolset- I once heard a theory that comedian's souls are dark but they deflect with humor. Foolset was supposed to be a visualization of that. He's a self-destruction clown that plays with fire. Oh, and he juggles.

Butler Job- With the commoners, I wanted to explore mechanics that affect all the players in different ways. Job is the opposite of Foolset, in that he BENEFITS the other players. He's the sort of person who enjoys helping everyone because that gives him some fulfillment.

Mistress Eva- I don't want to say too much about her, because she plays a role in one of the major twists in the novel.   Eva is a beauty who fools nobles into spending the night with her and then robs them blind. Eventually, she abandons this lifestyle and opens up her own orphanage.

Serving Girl Emma- This character is a bit depressing. She hates her job because of how the male patrons treat her, but being a commoner with no choice, she can't quit. In a sense, she's the embodiment of the terrible lifestyle many peasants in Masquerade have to go through.

Hopefully, more updates soon!

Art Update #9

We're almost in the double digits for art updates! As for card art, there are 13 left to do. We're expecting everything to be ready before April begins, meaning we can ship the first or second week. A little later than I had originally expected, but I didn't count on finding an artist for the cards when I set the date on Kickstarter.

We'll get this done and it's going to look amazing.

Gravekeeper Anathema- Anathema is actually another character in the Masquerade book, in the novel he plays as one of Wymund's servants. But originally, he was a gravekeeper as we see him in this role now. Perhaps in future sequels, he'll assume his first role. We'll have to see. He's also blind, which explains the scars on his eyes.

Arthur Stout- Another soldier, only this one of noble blood, barely. The Stout family is a  rugged group from the north who struck it rich with gold in their mountains. This earned them a place in the Noble's Court, much to the annoyance of the other nobles. Arthur has decided he doesn't like the royal life and took up a job as a soldier.

Sir "Name Too Long To Say"- This character is a bit of a running joke  I made with how some medieval names can sound so extravagant and necessarily long. His real name is (god help me) Bartholomew Theodorothaniel the Third.

Guardsman Illbert- This short weaselly little guy is the guard at the main gate of the masquerade party. He's always on the look out and stops everyone he meets to inspect them. Really though, he's just angry that he doesn't get to patrol INSIDE the party like the other guards, so he feels he's missing out.

Wench Helga- The best way to get men to drink is to give them a little eye candy. The barkeeper at the masquerade party knows this apparently and puts forth Helga to serve the nobles their drinks. But so help you, if you touch Helga, you'll meet with the barkeeper's wrath.

I might post the new card design for the next update, we'll have to see when the next art update is though. Hopefully soon!

In the other news, I've been doing the last edits of the Masquerade book with plans on getting that printed next week.

Art Update #8

As promised, here we are later in the week with a new set of card pictures and 5 more already on the way. Things are really winding down here, the card art and card backs are nearly done. I'll be posting those soon as well. Lots of updates this week, or at least I'm hoping.

Also, I should probably mention here Elliott (our graphic designer) has a new portfolio website. Check it out.

And now, on with the unveiling:

Bodyguard Ogg- Another barbarian from the outland countries, Ogg has come here as  Jaroc's bodyguard. Unfortunately, he's lazy and sleeps a lot.

Richard Leowulf- Richard is a bit of an odd shaped man with lanky arms and legs, making him good with a spear. He's not too bright, especially for a guard and might have accidentally let in a few assassins.

Arthur Mourne- A young guard, but still very determined. He respects the  Guard Captain, Newgate, and the King. Though he can be a bit of a bully as a guard.

War Hero Jap Lancelot- Jap is a jouster and a knight. He is hailed as a war hero from the great battle between Berma, but really all he did was hide behind his troops.

Sergeant Oldman- The old trainer of the guard who still commands the respect of all the soldiers in Castle Dacre. He's pressing 70 years old.

So as you can see, there's a lot of soldiers here. But we're almost done and the last step will be finishing the commoners. I hope you're all as excited to see them as I am!

Marching into March

Hey guys, it's been a long time I feel since I've updated but I have been posting things to the Facebook page if you want constant news. I've done a lot of work on my own since the start of Spring break, but there hasn't been any recent art. Expect some later this week though!

I, myself, have been running around all week trying to find literacy agents for the Masquerade book and talking to printers for the cards. There's good news on both fronts too.

The good news for the printers is that we found someone willing and able to do it below the price range I was expecting, meaning we may have some extra budget to work with. No promises though! There's still much to do and combined with the costs of the box, we'll just have to see.

The promise I can make is that everything is all set and we're waiting on the art to be finished up. It's going to look perfect.

As for the literacy agents, I've heard back from a few of them...They declined. But that doesn't discourage me one bit. There's plenty of agents out there and it's only a matter of finding the right one for Masquerade. Expect to hear news on if one is found as soon as I receive word.

The next update will be an art one. Look forward to it.

Art Update #6

With the map done and the book layout underway, the request for addresses has been sent out through Kickstarter. Check your emails or message me if you haven't gotten the survey, I will need your address if you backed me up on Kickstarter and wish to receive your copy of Masquerade.

Other than that, it's time for a art update with our wonderful artist Deanna Vaida.

Enfroy: Enfroy is a man from the far south, where little is known about the culture there. As such, his choice of weapons are completely exotic, earning him the nickname "of the Exotic Blade."

The Black Widow: Not all assassins are armored men, some prefer a subtle approach. The Black Widow has earned her name by seducing men in Court and then killing them in their sleep.

Guildmaster Le'Blanc: The guildmaster of the league of assassins in Avalot, Le'Blanc is a veteran killer. He's quite skilled but longs for retirement where he can relax and smoke his pipe all day. 

Court Assassin Timm: Many assassins are hired thugs but Timm is a pampered assassin. He is under the direct control of the Noble's Court and obeys their commands but is treated royally for it.

Looys the Copycat: Some assassins use swords, other use daggers. Looys uses taunts and mimicry to lure his targets into attacking him. Distracted by anger, he can easily do away with them.

The Map of Avalot

Just a few minor updates for today. I've decided to start collecting shipping addresses this weekend, if you backed up our project on Kickstarter expect an email requesting details. Besides that, I'll be pushing to get the book in ebook and printing format over the weekend. Perhaps we will see the first printed copy in a few weeks!

Here's the sneak peek of the Avalot map promised to those who have donated at least $100 to the Kickstarter. It's my hope that this will be poster sized when we mail it out.

In other news, completed earlier this week was the Masquerade card game tutorial video, or the test run at least. Check it out and give some feedback so we can improve it!

More art updates soon for the card game art! Again, expect those emails regarding shipping info so you can claim your own Masquerade prizes!

Update for the Month

This isn't an art update this time, but an update for where the project is in terms of printing as of today (February 12th). We've done a lot so far including almost half of the card art and finalizing the card design and book cover, but there's still a lot to go.

The list is as follows and will be done by March:

1. Finalize rulebook art and wording
2. Finalize the card box art
3. Decide on the card back design (See the Facebook group for comparison)
4. Start filming How-To-Play video and put it together
5. Get Kickstarter shipping addresses
6. Decide on a printer
7. Have someone read the Masquerade book to approve it thus far

It's not a whole lot to do, but there's some work that needs doing this month. Expect the How-To-Play video up next week, that's my goal for that. I'll do the Kickstarter shipping addresses for all my backers late in the month when we decide on the printer.

More art will appear next time as well as the final card design, hopefully.

Working on the Chapter Header

If you've been following the Kickstarter updates for Masquerade (shameless link here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/708854852/masquerade), you'd know that I've recently begun my search for a graphic designer. Personally, I think I'm going to stick with a student graphic designer who'd be interested in doing the project for their capstone or such.

This includes graphic design work for both the book cover.

And the chapter headers, which are the little detailed pictures you see in a book at the start of a chapter. Similar to the drawings in the Harry Potter books.

These are the examples I have so far of each, I hope that there's a graphic designer out there who can do more with them.

In other news, I'll be holding a Kickstarter "fundraising" event at school in hopes that I can spread the word out more to my fellow classmates. You can find that event here on Facebook. (http://www.facebook.com/events/118540901647589/) There should be free food and a chance to read Masquerade's first few chapters as well as play the card game.

That's all for now, more updates as things move along and the Kickstarter days start ticking down.

The Plague Doctor

If you've been paying attention to how the Kickstarter has been going (shameless link here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/708854852/masquerade), you'd know that the King Prize, a prize which allowed the backer to make the 61st card in the Masquerade game, had been taken.

To sum up the story, I've been speaking in detail with the backer and he wishes to see a character he invented, a plague doctor, in the game.

This is more than reasonable, seeing a plague doctor in a fantasy game isn't an impossible thing as according to history they've been around since the 500's. The typical image of a plague doctor, however, is a creepy figure with a raven mask. It's very gothic and dark, perfect for Masquerade.

What a plague doctor looks like, art done by Torvald2000 on DeviantArt

It will be fun to play with the concept of plague in the Masquerade game, considering it is a close competitive party game. I was thinking as an effect, the plague doctor forces all players to discard a card they have in play so long as it is face up. The plague doctor, of course, will have to have high defense to make this effect useful.

What do you all think would be a good plague doctor effect? My own concept art of a plague doctor will be submitted in a few days once I get a scanner that works.

Also, please check out the Kickstarter for Masquerade and show some support!

Editors and Book Covers

The majority of my updates concerning the Masquerade projects these days have been on the Kickstarter website with the handy update feature they have. As a result, this blog has been neglected somewhat over the past few days, so here is an update just for you guys!

Remember though, you can find the Kickstarter here (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/708854852/masquerade).

The biggest news I have concerning the Masquerade book is the fact that I have two new copy-editors looking over the book for me. One is a full-time author for a variety of books and the other is a professional journalist for online gaming websites. For privacy, I won't mention their names. This is good news for me, considering I just finished applying my own edits to the entire book. I've already went through a first chapter edited by one of them and seen plenty of errors I'll need to go back and fix.

Another important thing I've been working on is the actual book cover for Masquerade if you recall in my last post. I had a simple design worked out, but I took it and modernized it.

I really like this new design a lot and want to take it to a graphic designer in school to have them polish it up. I feel the font needs a little work.

There's been no real news on the card game side for Masquerade, I need to begin work on the King prize's card, the Plague Doctor. I'll probably start sketches for that idea sometime after Christmas.

Tomorrow, We Launch

Here I am, sitting in an apartment, waiting for my ride back home for Christmas break. There's still a lot I feel like I need to do for the Masquerade project, but it's either now or never. The actual project itself has been ready for some time. All it needs now is that push and some good marketing, maybe I'll have to go look into hiring one from the majors here at Champlain College.

That's another story though. For most part, the Masquerade Kickstarter is all set. There's only one detail missing and that's the credit card information, which should be here tomorrow. Unfortunately, I won't be arriving home until late, so that means I'll have a lot of work tomorrow.

You all can expect the Kickstarter to be launched sometime between 12-2 PM, by then all the problems should be worked out and I can finally begin. I'll probably do updates regularly explaining what Masquerade even is to some of the people who come from the Kickstarter. (For those of you who don't know, you can click the tab up top to find out).

I think another project I'll be doing in the future is a how-to-play video during my time off, so look forward to that.

I'm really excited and can't wait to begin.

The New Date

After weeks of waiting for the bank to finally get back to me, I've come to the conclusion that I can finally begin the Masquerade Kickstarter project! Hurrah!

The problem is I still need to wait for my new credit card number before that happens. Hurroo...

So basically, what this update is boiling down to is me announcing when the new date is going to be for the Masquerade Kickstarter. It's going to be December 17th. Yes. A Monday. December 17th. December. Seven. Teenth. Remember it.

This is going to be for real this time. I can't wait to see what happens. The new date will also allow my general audience, people at Champlain College, a chance to look at what I'm offering without being stressed over finals, considering that's what's going on this week.

That's all I have to say. I'm also working on designing the new book cover for the Masquerade novel, pictures will happen when I'm happy with a design.

Actually, you know what? I'd like to hear what you guys think. What is YOUR favorite book cover? Post it here in a comment and let me know.

Today Might be the Day

That's probably a pretty self explanatory post. The bank in my hometown is opening today, so here's hoping that they will finally approve my account and I can get back to work on starting the Masquerade Kickstarter. It really is just a waiting game this point.

In other news though, I've recently been playing with the ideas of where I'd like to go next with the Masquerade project or any side projects in general.

The first thing that came to mind was continuing the Masquerade story.

Lately I've been trying to come up with a new plot with some interesting characters to advance the story behind Masquerade. I didn't originally intend to have a sequel to Masquerade, but now that I've finished the story I can see that there's a lot more places I can take the plot. There's more I'd like to say and more adventures that will follow Mary and Newgate.

While I don't want to say anything about the plot idea I have in mind just yet (It's likely to change in an instant knowing me), I will definitely confirm that a sequel will be more than likely depending on the success of Masquerade.

I think I may have mentioned in a previous post that I'd like to eventually publish Masquerade (the book) full time with a company. That means I'll have to start looking around for an agent once I do a little editing. I would also like to wait for the Kickstarter to see how popular the idea is. If it proves really success, it will make finding someone to publish my book that much more easier.

I was also thinking about working on another tabletop game idea, only this time it would be a stealth game tabletop game. I don't think anyone's ever attempted doing something like that and I have a few ideas on how to make it stealthy while including all the elements of a sneaking game like one you would play on a console or computer.

Again, we'll just have to see where the Kickstarter goes. Here's hoping it starts this week!

Still Waiting...

I'm still waiting on word from the bank. As a reminder, I need to open up a new account at a local bank and get a credit card, which is the only thing Amazon is willing to accept if you open an account for selling stuff on their website.

Until now, I didn't even know Amazon was involved with Kickstarter but it's been an important lesson on preparation ahead of time. I'm starting to think I needed a little more time than month to prepare for Masquerade's Kickstarter, but there's nothing that can be done about that right now.

I guess the important thing to do is to study for my finals (which are next week) and continuing providing you guys updates. Once it's Christmas break, I plan on advertising the hell out of Masquerade's Kickstarter page. I've already worked on the press release and everything. I'll even be contacting various blogs and websites in hopes that I get an article up about the project, that would really be something. Of course, there's always the support of the school too and various connections I have within Champlain.

Am I worried that Masquerade is going to flop? Absolutely. But I think that enough people like the idea and it will interest people on Kickstarter. Even if I don't get the money, I have the experience of being only one person in my year to pursue a goal like this. No one in Champlain College has had the guts to try and publish a card game/ book on their own.

At the very least, it's going to make a nice portfolio piece.

Where We Are

As I mentioned last Saturday in the blog post, Masquerade is currently going through some account difficulties in terms of banking. I'd like to inform you all that the problem is currently being solved. I'm working right now to open up a separate bank account to use for Amazon (the primary distributor of money for Kickstarter).

It's going slow as does most things to do with the bank. My hope is that by the end of the week I will sort this mess out.

Apologizes to having everyone wait like this. I should have looked into this matter sooner, if this were a real job I probably would have been fired. I'd like to promise that a solution will come soon, but considering its bank involved and out of my hands I have no idea how long this will take.

I can promise that as soon as the banking gets sorted out, I'll post that the Kickstarter is up. So stay tuned until then!

Check out the map in the meanwhile! A full hand drawn version of it is going to be one of the prizes for the Kickstarter, it will even be signed.

Dawn of the Last Day

Now the nervousness is starting to kick in, knowing that I need to create the Kickstarter tomorrow. It's making me crazy!

It's the last day to get everything I wanted to do done and I have to say I feel like I've made significant progress since the start of the month. If you've been following my Facebook posts, you'll know that I now have the official Masquerade website up and running. You can find it here (http://themasqueradeproject.com/).

So the two major things I wanted to do before the Kickstarter began are officially done: the website and the trailer video. I'm going to start up the project tomorrow sometime in the afternoon and post the crap out of it. I'm not expecting a huge success, that's why I set the bar to just enough to pay for printing costs. But don't get me wrong, I'm going to advertise the crap out of Masquerade everywhere.

Wish me luck and see you guys tomorrow!