Jamison Stone's Blog, page 15
October 6, 2020
Diamond Throne - "Last Chance" Kickstarter Spotlight
Most of these KS Spotlight we put out are focused on bringing attention to up-and-coming indie creators whose work we think deserves more attention. Well, for this particular installment, I’d like pay some attention to a prolific veteran of the gaming world.
If you’ve been playing TTRPGs for any significant amount of time, there ‘s a good chance you’ve played something created by Monte Cook. The name doesn’t ring a bell? What about The Cypher Gaming System, Numenera, or D&D 3rd Edition? Yeah, that Monte Cook.
Well Mr. Cook has partnered with Here Be Dragons Games to bring yet another epic adventure into the universe called Diamond Throne.
In the creative team’s own words:
Monte Cook’s Diamond Throne is based on Monte’s popular Arcana Unearthed and Arcana Evolved series of supplements. Those books, among the most popular third-party titles created under the d20 License built a magical setting—a setting we’re bringing back using Monte Cook’s Cypher System!
Three centuries ago, the draconic dramojh held the land and its people captive, subject to their monstrous tyranny and hideous experiments. Then the giants came to these shores, unstoppable in the war-dance they called Chi-Julud. The giants freed the people, vanquished the dramojh, and built a new realm with the help of those they saved.
This magical world ruled by seafaring giants is populated with transcended humans, leonine litorians, dragonkin dracha, and many more species. In this realm, one’s honor is more important than personal desire, individual choice can rule over destiny, and the land is a thing to be protected, not exploited.
It is a land steeped in ceremony, upheld by the innate strength of one’s sworn oath, and bound together by the burning power of hope.
One thing I particularly like about this project is it’s a standalone game that doesn’t require extra source books. The creators have noted it can also be easily merged with other Cypher System games. For those of us heavily steeped in D&D, it can sometimes feel dauting to consider learning a whole new system. Diamond Throne appears to be a very “user-friendly” entry to trying out a different TTRPG rules system. If you’re on the hunt for your next big legendary fantasy saga, I’d highly recommend you check out Diamond Throne today. And I do mean today… like right now. There are just a few days left in the Kickstarter Campaign. So, hurry up and click the link below:
Well, that’s all from me for now. Until next time…
Take Care, Owlbear
Pat
Featured Images: Here Be Dragons
Patrick Edwards is the co-writer of the upcoming 5E Campaign, The Red Opera , as well as the writer of the Space Tripping series of novels. Check him out on Twitter @ThePatEdwards or his website thepatedwards.com
October 2, 2020
1612% Funded on Kickstarter and Pre-Orders now LIVE on BackerKit!
1612% FUNDED! Wow, just wow! A huge THANK YOU from everyone at Apotheosis Studios!
We now have a bunch of stretch goals to work on for you (yay!) but in the meantime, join us and our growing community in celebrating this wonderful success over on Discord!
If you are interested in Playtesting The Red Opera, Discord is the place to organize it! Our server is also a great place to find wonderful Game Masters and Players for your current or upcoming TTRPG campaigns, too!
Did you miss TheRedOpera RPG Kickstarter?!? FEAR NOT! You can still Pre-Order this epic TTRPG Campaign and Setting on BackerKit and get the book ON LAUNCH DAY! We also ship internationally! No gamer left behind!
https://the-red-opera-rpg.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
OK! So, after we all at Apotheosis Studios celebrate over on Discord (come join us!) we then are going to finish those EPIC Stretch Goals you all unlocked! And Rest assured, we are going to be working full time on them and will be keeping you all up to date every step of the way! So exciting!
And, again, THANK YOU!September 30, 2020
LAST CHANCE! Only A Few Hours Left On Kickstarter!
This is it! The final few hours before our Kickstarter ends!
If you have not pledged yet, don’t miss out on our Kickstarter!
And if you have already backed, we have some AWESOME add-ons to check out, which will…
After you have pledged and snagged some epic add-ons, come celebrate with us on Discord!
We have a wonderful community over on Discord and would love for you to join us as we celebrate the epicenes that is The Red Opera!
See you there!
September 28, 2020
Our Pilot Episode is Now Live on YouTube!
So excited to announce that our "The Red Opera: Last Days of the Warlock | Act 1 Pilot" is finally finished!
Starting: Alcuin Gersh - GM, Michelle Nguyen Bradley - Xiggy, Satine Phoenix - Amber, Jamison Stone - Domadred, Rick Heinz - Knox, and Jacob Kile - Vander, this epic Pilot Episode was one of our stretch goals, and we all worked very hard to bring it to you before the end of the Kickstarter!
If you all like it, PLEASE leave a thumbs up and let us know in the comments if we should make more! If it gets enough traction, we could even run another Kickstarter to fund a full 10-Act Web Series of the whole campaign for you all--and maybe even record it all in person, on a real studio set! How exciting!
To make all that happen, though please share the link https://youtu.be/HWYHyexr86g to the Pilot Episode to all your gamer friends, which will also...
We are on our final 3 days now, and need YOUR help to unlock our last few stretch goals! Please share, share, share, share! The best way to coordinate our collective efforts is on Discord, where we have a dedicated and growing community! See you there!
Heckna! - Kickstarter Spotlight
You ever stumble across a product or a piece of media and your first thought is, “Holy Hotcakes! This looks absolutely amazing!” and then your second thought is “Holy Hotcakes! This is such a good idea, how has no one ever thought to do this before?!”
We’ve all been there before… well, maybe I’m the only weirdo who specifically says “Holy Hotcakes”, but you all get what I’m saying. (By the way, I give you all my blessing to use that expression)
Regardless of what alliterative exclamation your prefer, you’ve no doubt experienced that sensation before. For myself, the most recent instance of this feeling came when I came across Heckna! the latest offering from the exceedingly talented team over at Hit Point Press.
I absolutely love the setup:
The sounds of revelry drift through the dark, cold forest, drawing wayward travelers to a place where the senses are delightfully and bewilderingly overwhelmed. Peering out from the top of the conifers is the blood-red spire of The Revelia, where wonder and fun awaits!
But underneath the sparkling lights and gleaming facade is a sinister underbelly of chaos and terror. The magical Revelia is the work of Heckna, a creative mastermind masquerading as a jovial ringleader. Some, however, are aware of Heckna’s ruse, including a hunter who will stop at nothing to dispatch Heckna — and destroy The Revelia — once and for all.
Travelers may believe that they find The Revelia by chance, but in fact, Heckna goes to great lengths to lure only the best and brightest to his carnival in his search for greater, more spectacular challenges. Many have tried — and failed — to escape from this carnival, but with the right brains, brawn, and alliances, even Heckna can be outmaneuvered.
Will characters see through the glitzy and glamorous charade, or fall prey to Heckna’s relentless torment and become a permanent member of The Revelia?
I mean, c’mon! That sounds rad as hell… I’m getting chills just thinking about all the creepy whimsy on display here. I can’t wait to dive in a face this ghastly array of insane new monster like the Children of the Candy Corn or Sophie, the Chandler of Flesh. I don’t know what a Chandler of Flesh is, but it sounds positively gnarly.
So hurry the heck(na) up and sprint over to their Kickstarter and reserve your copy of this stunning new campaign right now:
Well, that’s all from me for now. Until next time…
Take Care, Owlbear
Pat
Featured Images: QUELL
Patrick Edwards is the co-writer of the upcoming 5E Campaign, The Red Opera , as well as the writer of the Space Tripping series of novels. Check him out on Twitter @ThePatEdwards or his website thepatedwards.com
September 7, 2020
Kaer Rune Designs - Partner Spotlight
I mentioned in a previous article how much I loved “trinkets” both within the game world and in the real physical world. So, when it came time to prepare rewards for The Red Opera’s Kickstarter campaign, you know we had to bring in some partners to help create those complementary pieces that really enrich the gaming experience.
We knew we wanted to offer a dice tower… the big question was: what would it look like? Well, we’ve got this whole city of buildings we created. Surely we could find something there. Of course! The Impossible Spire! The seat of the Accursed King’s power! The scene of one of the most pivotal moments in the campaign that strongly determines the story’s outcome for the players. We need an Impossible Spire dice tower. But who could could create such a thing?
Luckily for us, we were able to find Mr. Mark Benson and his company: Kaer Rune Designs.
Kaer Rune was able to custom design, 3D print, and hand paint a wonderful replica of the Impossible Spire that also serves as both a dice rolling tower and a dice holder. Look at this thing!
Would you like one of those? You would?! Well, there’s only one way to get yourself one of these very limited edition pieces. You’ve gotta back The Red Opera.
Take care, Owlbear
Pat
Bio: No ‘normal’ bio for these posts, folks. All you need to know about me right now is I’m one small part of the magnificently talented Apotheosis team that brought The Red Opera to life.
September 2, 2020
Incredible First Day! Now time for STRETCH GOALS!
What an amazing first day! We were "Fully Funded in 40 Minutes" and currently have raised a total of $27,202! While the "core" book is already completed, we have a lot of additional writing and art planned to make The Red Opera THE definitive Warlock Guide for Storytellers and Players! So...
We have 29 days to go, and we believe that with your help we can unlock ALL of our Stretch Goals! So, fellow gamers, lets rally together! Please share this campaign with all your like-minded gamer friends, it will be through word of mouth that this campaign goes viral, please don't be shy!
We've even created a Unique URL so we can track all of your shares! Use this URL to recruit fellow gamers into The Red Opera RPG! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stonejamison/the-red-opera-rpg?ref=3zbknj
We also have a vibrant Facebook Comunity, please join to and add your voice to the chorus of The Red Opera! We'll see you there!
The Red Opera RPG Live Now On Kickstarter - Press Release
The Red Opera RPG is a 5E Campaign and Setting, featuring, for the first time ever, an official soundtrack, multiple endings, branching side quests and a tragic story. All housed within a Warlock ruled city, The Red Opera RPG explores the occult nature of Patrons, sending players on a twisting saga through a dark and dangerous realm teeming with intrigue, magic, death, & betrayal.
Our Kickstarter Campaign was FULLY FUNDED IN 40 MINUTES and ends on October 1st! With massive Kickstarter Only Exclusive Discounts, don't miss out before its too late!
Click HERE To View Our Kickstarter Page!The Red Opera RPG is an extensive, player-driven campaign and setting designed for 5th edition, with an official soundtrack by DiAmorte and The Budapest Scoring Symphonic Orchestra, centered upon the oft-overlooked and much-misunderstood class: Warlocks. Does this mean, you wonder, that all players must be Warlocks to partake of the story’s wonders? No, no… certainly not. All are welcome in the Shadelands, the all-new realm where our events unfold. With all new Warlock Classes, anyone in the Shadelands, be they adventurer, noblemen, or a thief can strike a temporary bargain with one of its many Patrons. Bring along your existing higher-tier campaign and characters following a mysterious trail, or wander the Shadelands as entirely fresh characters experiencing adventure for the first time. The Red Opera can easily be scaled to suit all tiers of play, and each of the ten acts contained within offer boundless opportunities for sidequests and improvisation.
August 31, 2020
QUELL - Kickstarter Spotlight
I usually start these posts with some meandering, existential musings on life, fun, gaming, etc…. Well, today, we don’t have time for me to wax poetic about the joyful nostalgia of our respective childhoods. We need to get right into things: I want to talk about QUELL.
Right out the gate, I need to let you know: QUELL is zunking awesome. It’s so awesome, I had to make up the word zunking to describe it because there is no word in the English language that adequately encapsulate to the level of awesomeness.
“Okay… so it’s like some kind of boxing harness thing?” you say.
“Yes.,” I reply.
“And that’s all?” you say, with kind of a bit of an attitude.
“That is absolutely not all, and please don’t be rude,” I reply.
So, yes, QUELL is a home fitness, boxing harness that employs resistance bands to amplify the workload on your muscles. At this point, you’re probably thinking this is way outside the bounds of topics we usually cover. And that would be a reasonable, yet very wrong assumption. You ready for the zunking awesome part? (Yes, I’m committing to zunking and won’t stop until it’s universally accepted in the lexicon)
QUELL is also a video game. When you’re at home, tossing jabs and throwing hooks, you’re not just swinging at air. You’ll be fighting enemies like this:
I know! So cool, right?!
In QUELL you will adventure across many environments battling hundreds of adversaries in fantastical hand to hand combat. Imagine having all the fun of an epic video game while simultaneously getting in a great workout. That’s pretty zunking close to heaven for me personally.
So stop wasting time and hurry over to their Kickstarter page right now and check out this next, great evolution in both gaming and fitness.
Well, that’s all from me for now. Until next time…
Take Care, Owlbear
Pat
Featured Images: QUELL
Patrick Edwards is the co-writer of the upcoming 5E Campaign, The Red Opera , as well as the writer of the Space Tripping series of novels. Check him out on Twitter @ThePatEdwards or his website thepatedwards.com
August 30, 2020
Dogs BOND - The Board Game - Kickstarter Spotlight
Dogs BOND is an ambitious project to create a fun and engaging board game that also brings “pawsitive” change to conversations about rescue and adoption. Their mission was reviewed by over 100+ rescue organizations across the USA! This board game infuses the rescue journey with play, whimsy, joy, and hope.
At Apotheosis Studios, we are huge dog lovers. Our unofficial mascot, Shiro (our Malamute Husky mix, featured to the right) is beloved at our studio and always a good sport for our various shenanigans and adventures. He had even been known to play video games, board games, and tabletop RPG games, too. Because of this we could not help but be enamored with Alex Lu’s game Dogs BOND.
Over 100+ Rescue Organizations Reviewed Dogs BOND’s Mission & Joined Their Pack!As a mission driven organization, the Dogs BOND team have done a large amount of outreach to the rescue communities near and far to ensure that the story we tell is infused with the right sensibilities and emotional message.
As rescue dogs, players collect the sets of attributes they need to find their way to one of six available forever homes. This 2-6 player game asks players to make their best choices based on the "paw" they are dealt, offering a wide variety of choices and combinations that change every game to provide gameplay based on both strategy and luck!
Click the video below to learn how to play!We’ve already picked up our copy! Head on over to Dogs BOND on Kickstarter to learn more and grab yours!
