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!

Art Update #7

With the book nearing total completion (just need to do a quick edit thanks to Wendy who looked it over for me), we can expect to see them printed soon. Hopefully within a week or two. All that's left is to wait on the card art, as I've stated in the previous post.

So here's the next update for art, lucky number 7.

Dame Sela- Her name is going to change. The Dame is every example of a tough guy who's actually a girl. She's the one who could kick every guy in the Barrack's butt. Except maybe Gunter Newgate.

"The Limper"- The definition of disgusting, the Limper is a tough soldier who has seen his fair share of things. His focus is defense, yet somehow he has managed to lose his leg and eye. The Limper makes a brief appearance in the book.

Princess Isolda- Another member of the royal family from the Pinelands. The Princess was secretly taken in my the Assassins Guild and raised to murder nobles in the Court with ease. On the outside, she's just a quiet girl with a pretty face.

Sir Oddo- The residential crazy person in the guards. Oddo is said to have a sad past, based on his insane ramblings, but even other guards are afraid to approach him and set him off. 

Sir Olaf- Another extreme in the guard, this time of gluttony. Often, Olaf is seen going into battle with a leg of ham instead of a mace. His hunger is only matched by his greed.

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!

Art Update #5

We're almost at the halfway point now, I'll be expecting the last 5 until 30 card pictures in the next few days. This means that we're making pretty good schedule and hopefully we'll see the cards printed in a matter of weeks.

I plan on getting shipping information from all the Kickstarter backers next week, so keep your heads up on your emails folks.

Aside that, I want to finish up all details for the novel this week so that it's ready to print. Card details are still being worked out, including the printer. But that should all get sorted out by spring break in March.

Now, you all came to see card art. And here we go:

Ghost the Silent Killer: Ghost almost never talks, she prefers to simply kill her targets and be done with it. As a result, she's one of the most deadly assassins in the game.

Mary the Shiv: Mary gets her name from the small knife she uses to slit between her target's ribs. Because she's so small and unsettling, they never see her coming before it's too late.

Thomas Two Strikes: Thomas is obsessed with the number two, and carries around two of everything. He was driven mad by the loss of his eye as a result of his face being uneven.

Walter the Brave: Walter is a lord who has been in many wars and earned several medals. However, what no one knows is that he spent most of those wars hiding in the corner.

Stay tuned for more updates really soon this week.

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.

Art Update #4

It's been awhile but then again, this has been a busy week in terms of organizing things. The work with the printers has been hectic, but thanks to my family things have been going pretty well. We may even be able to stay under our budget and get more decks printed than I originally hoped!

Anyway, onto the art, as I know that's what many of you come here for. As always, thanks Deanna for your hard-work:

Count Ida: Once a beauty, the Countess has taken to eating to distract herself from her long dead lover. She is also known as the "whale woman" to more of the crueler nobles.

Bishop Shepard: The Church in Avo has fallen on hard times as of late. But for some reason, the Bishop can still afford many accessories well beyond a clergyman's salary.

Prince Drago: The Prince of the Pinelands has something of an ego. His glimmering armor and smiling face hides the twisted envy and careless pride underneath the surface.

Gossip Lady Avelyn: Lady Avelyn is the worst gossip in the kingdom. She talks badly about others because she is far too ugly and has terrible personality.

Still waiting on the new card design images. Hopefully we'll have something to show you guys soon!

Card Art Update

Here's the newest selection of card art added recently by Deanna. She's really done some amazing work with the characters and I can't wait to see where she takes things next.

The Avatar of Festivals is a whimsical spirit that goes to parties disguised as a noble. It adores parties and the chaos that can happen during them.

The Barbarian Lord Jaroc hails from the cold north, where fighting and food are all that matter. He was invited to the masquerade merely to avoid conflicts with his tribes.

Beatrice Serell is a disgusting and hated noble lady in Avalot's Court. She's been through several husbands already. Many player don't like this card in the game.

Snivellous Feck is, like most Fecks, a massive coward. Though he is the head of his royal family, he hates making decisions and would sell his own mother to avoid being hurt.

The wizard Whitemane is a relic from the past, where magic and mystery ruled the land. Today, he uses what little power he had to manipulate the courts.

There are several other characters completed, but I don't want to reveal everything just yet. Expect more updates in the future, we're almost at 20 characters completed, a third of the way done!

The book cover graphic designer, Elliott, will also be working on a new design for the cards to match the lovely art being added. This month will be deciding on what print shop we'll be uses to get the cards out there. We'll be wrapping up all final designs, testing, and characters.

Hope you all look forward to seeing more.

Updated Book Cover Direction

As I mentioned in the last post, there has been a lot of work done in the art department for Masquerade. Not only in the card art but the book cover design as well.

Our graphic designer Elliott Lutton has taken a minimalism approach to the cover for the novel, and I can't say I'm not pleased with the outcome.

The new book cover almost takes a "Godfather" approach, using the color theme I think suited Masquerade the most, red, white, and black. The crown hints at the business of royalty present in the book while the single drop of blood gives a small window into the bloodshed that is present throughout the story.

Elliott is also working on the back of the book (though that's still a work in progress), the chapter headers, and has promised to look into doing new design work for the actual cards.

Look forward to seeing more art from these guys!

More Art!

Here we go with another update from our wonderful card artist Deanna, this time with 4 more and 2 on the way for the week!

Rollin Hodgkin: A wolf-masked assassin under the employment of Count Wymund. In the book, he's the most dangerous assassin in the city and sides with Newgate and Mary for most of the story. In the game, he's a one hit wonder that can do 12 damage, killing any card in the game.

Gunter Newgate: The second protagonist in the book and the most famous character in Masquerade, Newgate is a veteran soldier haunted by his past demons. He hides this fear by being strict and training himself to exhaustion. In the game, he's another powerhouse, being the card with the best overall stats (8 attack and 8 defense).

Jop Carnell: The best information broker in Avalot, Carnell is a small wizardy man who likes to boast that he knows everything. Underneath his arrogant attitude is a sleazy politician who will switch sides in an instant. He has high defense in the game.

Lance Wymund: A young count who has inherited his father's riches. Wymund is a resourceful, handsome, and charismatic young nobleman who believes in supporting the lower class rather than abusing them, like most nobles do. In the game, he is a weak card until the King or Queen is in play.

More card art will be updated as it is given to me, as always. Stay tuned next time when I start posting the new cover art from our graphic designer, Elliott!

The New Card Art

As promised in my last post, here is a preview of the new card art for Masquerade, done by the wonderful artist Deanna Vaida. These images really capture the silly yet dark feeling I wanted Masquerade to portray.

Baron Radolf Maynard: The smug, greedy nobleman who values money over all else.

Queen Beatrice Dacre: The powerful queen of Avalot, her motives are as questionable as her heritage with a rivaling nation.

King Alric Dacre: The wise ruler of Avalot. He is seen as a kindhearted king among the nobles, but the commoners have mixed opinions about him.

Sampson the Sneak: A giant of a man, who was, at one point, Maynard's servant. He's now out for revenge, taking up the mantle of a thug under orders of a mysterious masked man.

More card images will be updated as the project goes along! More images for the new book cover should be coming up soon as well. Remember to check out Deanna's page as she's a very talented artist and will doing 60 of these images! Thanks Deanna!

Plans for the Future

Hey guys! This is an update on the blog after a little hiatus. I've been hard at work finding some artists to continue the next steps for the Masquerade update.

What about the Kickstarter, you ask? Oh. We got funded!

But I've not been celebrating though, I've been hard at work at the next few steps. Polishing the project and finding printers so we can get the game/book shipped in March. What does that entail, exactly? Well, here's the planned schedule.

January

• Finish basic edits on book and rulebook
• Find graphic designer for book cover
• Find artist for redesigning cards
• Playtest game to perfect rulebook
• Get samples from several printers for cards
• Get example of final art for cards
• Create Plague Doctor card

February

• Finish final book cover
• Finish final chapter headers
• Decide on a final printer
• Complete final edits on book and rulebook
• Get shipping addresses for Kickstarter backers
• Finalize card box
• Video tape a playtesting round and create a video for it

March

• Complete final card art and put cards together
• Get first edition cards and books printed
• Ship! (late March by the latest)

Obviously, we have a lot to do and more may be added to this list as time goes on. For now, there's a lot to do in the 10 days that remain in January. The real work is going to be February though and getting the final art in place.

I'm going to need volunteers for more playtesting in the card game before we ship, so please message me if interested!

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.