The Cards Are Here!

So I got them, yep. We're still missing a few due to printing issues, so don't expect to see any decks just yet. But the important thing is I can actually physically touch them.

If you live on the Champlain campus, please find me if you'd like to take a look at them. The cards came out really nice.

The Unpacking

The actual box. These still need a little work on the next print

All the cards save for one, we're missing the 61st card, the Plague Doctor

A close up on the cards. The art Deanna did is outstanding and really sticks out

The card backs

It's been a long, strange trip and there's still a long ways to go. After the missing card problem gets sorted out (I'll have to wait for another shipment from home for that), I can start to hand out these babies to some of the backers nearby.

I probably won't get everyone on Kickstarter their prizes until sometime in May though. Just a heads up. My capstone is the next biggest thing on my plate, that and preparing for graduation.

But please don't worry, the end is in sight. Thank you all for your support!

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!

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.

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.

What Video?

So my main focus this week has been the Kickstarter page or more accurately how I'm going to get Masquerade noticed on Kickstarter. If you're ever been to a Kickstarter page, this is what the first thing you see looks like.

Boss Monster's Kickstarter page. Their card game is awesome!

As you may notice, there's the name of the product, the funding for it so far, and a brief description. But there's also the video taking up the majority of the page. This is what many of the viewers for the project are going to refer to.

Most Kickstarter videos last only 2-5 minutes at most because that's what many viewers only have the patience for. That is a very short time limit to:

-Introduce myself

-Tell the story of the project

-Talk about the rewards

-Explain what the project is

-Ask for help

Of course there's the quality of the video to consider to. I want people to realize that this isn't some company asking for help, this is a young college student with a goal to publish a unique card game/story. But that shouldn't excuse the quality of the video. Thankfully my school allows for me to rent good video equipment because of the filming majors.

This week I plan on writing out the script as best as I can and possibly filming myself when I return home next week for Thanksgiving break. Don't think the holiday is going to stop me from working!

In other news, I finished the box art and plan on making art for the Kickstarter page with it! Check it out and give me your opinions!

Kickstarter Prizes

So besides today's blog video, I've also put together the prizes I'm going to have for the Kickstarter. The thing is I'll need some feedback for them to see what you guys think of them. Anyway, here's the video real quick if you're all interested.



Do I seem nervous? I certainly am starting to feel it!

Here's the list of prizes I decided on for the Kickstarter project. If you don't know how it works, basically if you donate the listed amount of money or more, you can choose the prize you want plus all of the prizes beneath it. You can check out the Kickstarter pages for more details (http://www.kickstarter.com/).

$5 or more: You get your name added to the rulebook as thanks

$20 or more: The card game is yours plus all the below

$35 or more: The book is yours plus all the below

$50 or more: Both the book and the cards will be personally signed by me plus all the below

$100 or more: Special Edition pictures from the original card game and book plus personal special mention in my blogs. You will also be mentioned in a special thank at the back of the book plus all the below

$200 or more (Limited to 5): Your name will appear as a character’s name in the game plus all the below

$300 or more (Limited to 1): You will get to design your own card that will appear as the special 61^st card in the game. This includes a picture of yourself as designed plus all the below

The limited prizes are obviously limited to only a few people, the first few who donate that much. I decided to make the prize for the Bloody Christmas Contest, which failed big time, the main prize for Kickstarter. I'm not expecting a whole lot but I am going to try to market the crap out of Masquerade once I get started.

Also, here's the card box I'm working on as promised.

I used a design I found online for poker boxes, so it should be about the same size and hold up to 61 cards for the deck. The design is pretty straight forward and I'll go into more detail with it in the future when I complete it.

Until then, take care guys!