FINAL HOURS: CHECKLIST & WHAT COMES NEXT
over 4 years ago – Sun, Jan 26, 2020 at 02:56:38 AM

Hello Bloodthirsty Backers!

Welcome to the final hours of this campaign. What an amazing ride this project has been! These past 30 days have been exceptional, starting in 2019 and finishing in 2020, seeming to last forever and at the same time over in an instant. We gained backers and support throughout every step of the campaign, and community we've built has been awesome.

As I prepare to post this, we are just about EIGHT hours from the end of this campaign, and approaching an amazing finish!

Great job, everyone!

We've had a bunch of new backers join in over the past few days (hi, new backers!), and many backers adding on to their rewards or changing their reward levels. I wanted to  review the overall method to ensure you've set up your rewards, and then talk about what comes next.

1. REWARD TIER, ADD-ONs, PLEDGE TOTAL

Please ensure you've selected the Reward Tier that best represents your desired rewards for this project. An update breaking down all of the Reward Tier decisions is HERE <link>, summarized by this chart:

Once you're sure you've selected the correct Reward Tier, double-check to see if there are any rewards that you want to include via ADD-ON, as described in the update HERE <link>.

Your REWARD TIER determines what your base rewards are - you must select a Reward Tier to receive those rewards. Again, your reward list is based on your Reward Tier, not your total pledge amount.

Your PLEDGE TOTAL is the sum of your REWARD TIER + SHIPPING + ADD-ONs.

Shipping is calculated automatically by Kickstarter, based on your location. Add On rewards will be selected in the post-campaign pledge manager sent out once payment processing is complete.

SO: Ensure that you've selected the Reward Tier you want, and included funding for any Add Ons you wish to include. AND - make sure that you are comfortable with the Pledge Total amount, in terms of it covering everything you want and its' affordability.

And remember - any physical reward Add On (additional copies of the book) can only be added to reward tiers that include the hardcover book (Family Head reward tier and higher).

AGAIN: Review your pledge amount and make sure it is affordable for your circumstances. Remember, you are pledging this amount to fund the creation of the Cults of the Blood Gods PDF + hardcover book. As a thank you, you'll be receiving the rewards listed for your chosen Reward Tier on the Reward Tier chart, plus any that were added via Stretch Goal. We've come a long way on this journey, but there's still a long (and exciting!) road ahead of us, so this is the last chance to turn back before we press on!

2. PAYMENT AND CONTACT INFORMATION

Once you're comfortable with your pledge, please ensure that the payment and contact information in your kickstarter account is up to date and correct. Making sure your e-mail is entered correctly and your credit card isn't expired will speed up the next step process. (I have learned from experience!)

WHAT COMES NEXT?

3. AFTER THE CAMPAIGN ENDS

First, we celebrate. Kickstarter will send out a "Hooray!" email confirming the campaign ended with final totals. We'll give high fives in the comments section.

Then, the Kickstarter payment process begins. Over the next week, kickstarter will begin charging your payment methods for the total amount you've pledged.

If there is an issue with your payment method (expired credit card or incorrect number or pre-paid Visa awaiting funds, for example), Kickstarter will keep trying to process payment during this time.

Once this step is done, which will likely be late-January, Kickstarter will confirm everything with Onyx Path and transfer the funds over to them (less the Kickstarter fees, of course!).

Once the payment is confirmed, I can begin to set up the project with BackerKit and link it to the Kickstarter data.

BackerKit is a robust fulfillment integration and pledge management program that will allow us to work with all of the data and distribute the rewards to you. It will take me a few weeks to set the project up. Once I've got it all entered and built, the team from BackerKit will review to ensure I didn't mess anything up too badly, and then I'll make any changes they've suggested and we can move on to the Survey stage.

4. BACKERKIT SURVEYS

Once BackerKit says I'm good to go, I will send out a survey to all backers. This is why confirming your e-mail is important!

The BackerKit survey is both a verb and a noun - it will collect data for the analysis of some aspect of a group (enabling Onyx Path to set print runs, prioritize new projects, and fine-tune future kickstarters), as well as providing a general review or summary of the reward tier you've chosen, confirm all of the rewards associated with that reward tier, and confirm your total pledge amount.

I expect Surveys to go out by late February. If you opted to include any Add-On rewards to your pledge, this is the point where you will select them. BackerKit will deduct the cost of your reward tier (+shipping) from your total pledge and show you how much you have to allocate for add-on purchases. You simply select the ones you want and proceed. From that point forward, those add-ons will be included in your list of rewards.

During the Survey period, you can also also choose to increase your reward tier. If you've managed to hit the lottery and decide it's time to trade up to get two copies of the book or include another add-on, you can do so at this time. Note, you will not be able to reduce your reward tier selection, only increase.

If there was an issue with payment to Kickstarter, you should also be able to address that at this point in the process.

The survey will ask you to confirm your shipping address, even though it'll be some time before we ship out the final product. Do not worry about moving before shipping begins - you will be able to update BackerKit right up until the point that we begin fulfilling the final book. We will send out a notice prior to lock down so you can update any information.

I'll also use the Survey to confirm some details for the limited and premium reward tiers.

5. REWARD DISTRIBUTION

This is a long process, but I will send out regular updates (usually at the end of the month) to keep you up to speed on our progress. There will be strings of updates that are just "still working on it," but I will share new artwork or information when I can.

Eventually, we will have a completed PDF of Cults of the Blood Gods. We'll take some time to distribute, review, and compile any errata or corrections that need to be made. When we've made any necessary changes, we'll send out updated copy of the PDFs and then begin creating print-ready files for the Print-on-Demand and hardcover version.

It's yet another long process ahead, but one that we wouldn't be on if not for your faith and support.

#V5BloodGods

#LastCall

An Imaginary Conversation with Actual Results
over 4 years ago – Fri, Jan 24, 2020 at 05:34:34 AM

Hello Backers,

As many of you know, the Onyx Path Team was in Milwaukee last week for the Midwinter Game Convention. Like you, possibly, I lived vicariously through online photos and cryptic tweets, trying to figure out what secrets were being discussed and what dark rituals were being performed.

And now, I present to you...

An Imaginary Conversation

Two gentlemen are seated in the Monarch Lounge. Well, to be slightly more precise, one grizzled veteran of the RPG industry and one gentleman gamer. We'll call them Rich and Matthew.

RICH: So, Matthew, how do you think this Cults of the Blood Gods kickstarter project will finish? It started strong, but will it maintain enthusiasm and excitement until the end?

MATTHEW: Absolutely, Richard! Vampire fans are a passionate bunch, and this project is an exciting and interesting new presentation for the Fifth Edition of the game.

RICH: Very good to hear! I'll say, if it's so successful, we should celebrate with some sort of bonus for your writing team. A percentage of their pay as a thanks for their hard work!

MATTHEW: Yes, that is a capital idea! We featured such an idea with our previous V5 kickstarter for Chicago By Night. Sadly, though, we were unable to achieve the Stretch Goal target that would allow for such a reward to be factored into the budget. Quite close, though!

RICH: Ah, yes, Chicago By Night! I remember it fondly. I believe James is losing sleep each night while trying to sort out the final shipping obstacles! That lovable fool!

RICH and MATTHEW laugh heartily!

RICH continues: So, with this writer pay celebration - how did we budget it on our previous kickstarter?

MATTHEW: It was a Stretch Goal set for $125,000. Unfortunately, we fell slightly short and finished just over $119,000. Very close, and very rewarding, but just slightly shy of the mark.

RICH: Well, let's set a similar goal with this campaign! $120,000 as a Stretch Goal to provide a pay bonus to your writing team! That's comparable to how Chicago By Night finished, and should be achievable by your estimation.

MATTHEW: Actually, Richard, we've already exceeded $120,000 and continue to make healthy gains.

(Remember, this was last week!)

RICH: Very well, let's set it for $130,000 then!

MATTHEW: Agreed!

Both men shake hands. The deal is struck.

A moment passes.

RICH: And this Blood Gods campaign, it's continuing to do well, you say?

MATTHEW: Yes, quite. We've just exceeded the final total of Chicago by Night and will outstrip that campaign in terms of dollars and backers. 

RICH: Perhaps, a gentlemanly wager then? You have faith that this campaign will continue it's upward trajectory?

MATTHEW: The book itself is about faith, Richard! I certainly feel it's appropriate to have faith in this book on faith!

RICH: Well then, let's say of the backer count for Cults of the Blood Gods exceeds the backer count that we achieved with Chicago By Night by a certain amount... why, if it does, let's double the writing team reward!

MATTHEW: Most generous! An excellent wager, and an interesting idea! If we beat the backer count of Chicago By Night by a certain number, I'd be most happy to reward my writing staff.

MATTHEW checks online quickly for the final figure.

MATTHEW: Chicago By Night finished with 1,852 backers. Quite a number. What additional amount to you propose to add to this to set as our target?

Thunder rumbles ominously. Lightning momentarily brightens the dark room, before returning the setting to shadows. Richard leans forward, devilishly...

RICH: Let's say we'll set the backer count at your 1,852 plus an additional 666 backers!

Matthew swallows hard. Richard disappears in a puff of smoke, his dark laughter lingering in the air.

A deal has been struck... but at what cost? And what price failure?

I'm not saying that this conversation actually happened. Or actually happened in those exact words. OR that Matthew's soul may be on the line here. But, the evidence speaks for itself...

ADDITIONAL STRETCH GOAL

If we finish with 2,518 backers or more, the pay bonus for the writing team will be doubled!

Let's find another 81 backers and double our celebration of what the writers have achieved! And maybe keep the Gentleman Gamer from a darker fate...

MEANWHILE, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE POND...

Hey there, Vampire: The Masquerade fans. I'm excited to say that Cults of the Blood Gods isn't the only V5 product that Matthew has recently participated in. Our friends at Modiphius are taking pre-orders for their newest Chronicle, the Fall of London.

The Fall of London is a Chronicle set in London in 2012, exploring the events that led to the canonical destruction of the city’s Kindred by the Second Inquisition. It is centered around a group of members of the Cult of Mithras who are awakened during the turmoil to retrieve five ancient relics of the Kindred god-ruler of Britain. This is the first Chronicle sourcebook released by Modiphius Entertainment for Vampire: The Masquerade, 5th Edition.

If you pre-order the hardcover (expected to ship in March 2020), now, you will receive a FREE PDF on completion of purchase. Check it out HERE: https://www.modiphius.net/products/vampire-the-masquerade-5th-edition-fall-of-london

**Note, for the record, Rich is a being of light and joy, with a passion for the work and an incredible fondness for all of his creative team! He'd be the first to try and figure out how to achieve pay bonuses and would offer himself up to help out his people if he could. Read any devilish insinuation with a grain of sale and healthy dose of humor.

VICTORY FOR THE BLOOD GODS!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Jan 23, 2020 at 04:27:29 PM

WE DID IT!

SIXTEEN STRETCH GOALS!!!

Celebrate, you bloodthirsty backers!

What a campaign! What a journey to get here! Like a lot of you, I've been excited and intrigued in the concept since I first saw the title "Cults of the Blood Gods" appear on Onyx Path's website.  It seemed like forever since I first heard the news about Matthew Dawkin's latest V5 project and eagerly awaited the eventual kickstarter launch. It also seems like mere moments since we began this campaign 4 weeks ago. But here we are!

I think I aged about 100 years in that last hour!

We certainly made those moments count, though! Thanks to every backer on this project, we have funded the creation of Cults of the Blood Gods - a sourcebook for Vampire: The Masquerade, Fifth Edition!

And not only that - we helped launch THREE new supplements:

•  Trail of Bone and Ashes - a collection of playable stories
•  Forbidden Faiths - expanded information and additional rules for cults
•  Faithful Undead - new SPCs and their cultish coteries, and LORESHEETS!

ACHIEVED!!!!!!

One thing I'm also very happy about - we also funded a pay bonus for the writers of this project, who have done a fantastic job (as always)! I'm happy that we hit stretch goals that were not only able to work that bonus into the budget, but double that bonus with our additional support! We just missed that with our last V5 campaign, so it's very gratifying that we were able to achieve so much more this time around.

THANK YOU!

So, thank you to all the backers who supported us and made this happen. Thanks to everyone who checked out the podcasts and interviews and listened to Matthew and team talk about Cults of the Blood Gods!

COMMUNICATION

So, as noted in an earlier post, I'll be sending out updates once a month and whenever we've got a new reward, survey, or other item to cover. If you have any questions or need clarification on something related to the kickstarter, you can leave it in the comment section - I will be notified with every addition. Or, you can find the Contact Creator button and Rich will forward your message to me.

For setting stuff and questions about the game itself, it's probably best to post to the World of Darkness forums on the Onyx Path website: http://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/main-forum/the-classic-world-of-darkness/vampire-the-masquerade

So, thanks to everyone for helping fund this project and celebrating the history of the Vampire: The Masquerade and future of the Cults of the Blood Gods!

So, that's an awesome conclusion to this campaign, and a chance for everyone to catch up on some sleep! I'm likely to be quiet for the next few weeks, as I start work on the next project, but you'll hear from me when BackerKit is up and running and surveys are ready to go out! Until then, keep fighting the conspiracy!!

Let's take a moment, though, to celebrate this massive accomplishment! High fives in the comment section, as always!

#V5BloodGods

FINAL DAY: Stretch Goals
over 4 years ago – Fri, Jan 17, 2020 at 09:13:41 AM

Hello Bloodthirsty Backers,

As I'm typing this, we're coming up on our FINAL 24 HOURS for this Cults of the Blood Gods kickstarter project.  As we zoom toward the finish line, this is our last opportunity to add backers and pledges and possibly unlock our final Stretch Goal achievements. And, with that, today's topic will cover Stretch Goals!

Refresher Course

We've had, and will have, a lot of new backers join in during this last day. I want to take a moment to highlight some key Update posts that new backers may want to check out (and existing backers may want to read as a refresher!).

MANUSCRIPT PREVIEW - I posted the final section of the kickstarter preview mansuscript yesterday. If you're a backer, you'll have access to this preview manuscript after the campaign. Remember, though, there are still some minor edits, development and proofing that need to be done. But, you can consider this about 98.8% finished.

January 11 update - REWARD TIERS - your best starting point for figuring out which Backer Reward Level to choose to help support this project.

January 12 update - ADD ON REWARDS - the important companion piece to the Reward Tiers topic, including information on how to increase your pledge amount to add PDF versions of some of the other Vampire: The Masquerade 5e sourcebooks.

If you've been looking at the Premium Reward Tiers - the expensive ones that offer a bit more interaction with the setting, system, and design team - there's always some churn near the end so some rewards that were completely claimed may become available again before the end.

Choosing the correct Reward Tier for your desired rewards, and then filling in any "gaps" with add-ons, ensures that you'll be claiming all of your desired rewards as a thank you for supporting this project and bringing this world to life.

Remember, your TOTAL PLEDGE AMOUNT is equal to your REWARD TIER + SHIPPING + ADD ONS. And we will confirm your Add On selection with our post-campaign pledge manager, Backerkit, a few weeks after the campaign ends.

On Thursday, I'll be posting one further "Final Day" update, covering What Happens Next and outlining what to expect once the campaign ends.

But until then, we're going to hopefully complete a final Stretch Goal ritual (or two!) as we race through our final hours of the campaign!

STRETCH GOAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Over the course of the campaign, we've achieved 13 Stretch Goals!  We're doing so well as we rush toward the finish line! And there's a solid chance to make that a fantastic 14 (or unbelievable 15 even!) before we end...

REWARDS, OPPORTUNITIES, CELEBRATIONS

Thanks to the success of the campaign, we've been able to unlock a collection of Stretch Goal rewards that provide cool bonus rewards (automatically added to your Kickstarter rewards list), interesting opportunities (shared via future Backer update), production upgrades, and a celebration of our amazing writing team.

BLOOD (Additional Content) FOR THE BLOOD GODS (Kickstarter Backers!)

Thanks to our successful Stretch Goal achievements, we've been able to introduce and add multiple sections to Trail of Bone and Ashes, an awesome playable story collection for Vampire: The Masquerade featuring setting material and themes introduced in Cults of the Blood Gods. As a reminder, we added a 4 sections:

• an intimate playable story in which the bonds of family loyalty are tested, when the Hecata are forced to discern the loyalty and potentially punish the betrayal of a beloved and famed relative suspected to be consorting with cults outside their clan. 
• a political playable story in which we explore the burning enmities of the Cappadocians, Harbingers, Samedi, Giovanni, and Lamiae, and whether, in the historic domain of Florence, they can ever be repaired.
• a mystery playable story in which the subject of Golconda is addressed, explored, and put to the test when a vampire with all the answers arrives in the city and somehow converts the Prince.
• a religious playable story, where the coterie takes over an abandoned cult eager for leaders, the members of which promise much but may lead to each of the vampires' fall.

All backers receiving the Cults of the Blood Gods PDF (reward tier $25+) will AUTOMATICALLY have the Trail of Bone and Ashes PDF added to their list of Kickstarter rewards, and will receive a redemption coupon for DriveThruRPG to add the title to your digital library once it's available.

OK, I'm simply going to repeat myself here.

Thanks to our successful Stretch Goal achievements, we've been able to introduce and add multiple sections to the Forbidden Faiths supplement, a further exploration of setting and rules for Cults of the Blood Gods! This supplement will include:

• a chapter focusing on cults dedicated to power through fear, influence, or devotion, including worshipers of the Nictuku, errant houses within the Tremere, and the ancestral obsession of the Ventrue.
• a chapter in which a series of cults, all believing they know the path to Golconda, are profiled with their flawed wisdom and powerful gifts on display.
• a chapter delving deeper into the thoughts of the most wicked Nagaraja, Harbingers, and other vampires of the Hecata who seek nothing less than the end of the world and a kingdom in the remains.
• a chapter dedicated to cults that believe vampires are tools of the devil, demons, and evil spirits. These are not mustache-twirling villains, but Kindred who firmly believe their role is as hell's emissaries.

All backers receiving the Cults of the Blood Gods PDF (reward tier $25+) will AUTOMATICALLY have the Forbidden Faiths PDF added to their list of Kickstarter rewards, and will receive a redemption coupon for DriveThruRPG to add the title to your digital library once it's available.

I mean, it's easy just to copy and paste, right? Because you kept hitting rewards!!!

Thanks to our successful Stretch Goal achievements, we've been able to introduce another new supplement for Cults of the Blood Gods! Faithful Undead is a collection of tools and examples, storyhooks and samples for your Cults of the Blood God-inspired game. We've introduced it with one section:

• a section that contains new Storyteller-played Characters to act as supporting characters and antagonists in a new chronicle. 

But, you know how this works. We can grow this supplement to contain even more awesome stuff for our games! A few more Stretch Goals sit within our grasp:

NEXT STRETCH GOALS

At $145,000 in funding - FAITHFUL UNDEAD - CULTISH COLLECTIVES: Help us fund a new section of sample coteries tied to different cults, with ready-made characters in each, and uses included SPCs as sample members of each coterie.

At $150,000 in funding - FAITHFUL UNDEAD - BLOOD-CAKED LORESHEETS: Help us fund new loresheets tying to characters introduced in this book and cults introduced in Cults of the Blood Gods,

All backers receiving the Cults of the Blood Gods PDF (reward tier $25+) will AUTOMATICALLY have the Faithful Undead PDF added to their list of Kickstarter rewards, and will receive a redemption coupon for DriveThruRPG to add the title to your digital library once it's available. So, let's grow it to include as much as possible!

YOUR REWARDS!

That's right! You backed this project to help make and publish a brand new sourcebook for Vampire: The Masquerade Fifth Edition. Your primary reward - the big thank you that we'll send out in appreciation for your support - is a PDF and/or  hardcover copy of this book! BUT AS A BONUS, you may also have these Stretch Goal supplements added to your rewards list as an even bigger thank you for our success in this campaign!

More Stretch Goals, Not Much More Time

I know these numbers may seem daunting, but they wouldn't be STRETCH goals if we didn't have to really STRETCH to reach them!

So, as every update concludes: let's keep the enthusiasm rolling! Keep spreading the word and letting others know about this project. They've got just over 24 hours to jump in and share the 13 (can we make it 14? 15!! ) Stretch Goals we've achieved!

And every backer who joins in as we approach the end is not only able to enjoy the additional rewards already added by the early fans and backers, but also help reward those early backers by expanding everyone's stretch goal rewards!

Remember, only the funds generated during the Kickstarter campaign go toward achieving these Stretch Goal targets, so the time to act is now! Together, we can create a new cult, start a new faith, and make great things happen!

THIS CAMPAIGN ENDS AT 2:00 PM EST on THURSDAY, JANUARY 16th, 2020!

#V5BloodGods

#IReallyWantThoseLoresheets

#CanWeGet15StretchGoals?

BACKERS ONLY – MANUSCRIPT PREVIEW #8
over 4 years ago – Wed, Jan 15, 2020 at 06:50:10 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.