A DOZEN STRETCH GOALS!
about 2 years ago – Fri, Feb 25, 2022 at 06:33:12 PM

Hello Mages,

Well, we did it! We hit our 12th Stretch Goal target!

ACHIEVED! - At $130,000 in Funding – Forgotten Ones & Forbidden Orders III – This PDF Supplement will be expanded one final time, with even more traditions and cults detailed within.

With that, we've given the developers plenty of room to outline a bunch of fun stuff, and space for the writers to really dig in! Love it!

Thanks to everyone who's supported this project since Day 1 for building an amazing foundation for us to build on! And to everyone who's joined in over the past 24 hours for helping top up these rewards for everyone who's backed this project! And to everyone in between as well for keeping it going and growing over the past 29 days.

Ha, we've all worked together to add these bonus rewards to *all* of our reward lists, and that's the magick of building this council.

But James, you say, there's still time left!

Well, yeah, we're getting down to the wire, but I guess there still is some time left. We've unlocked our big goals, the two new supplements, so really the plan was to put anything beyond this back into our main reward, the Lore of the Traditions book. I hadn't really expected or prepared much.

But let's see if we can't mark off a milestone or two with some quick bonuses before we get there.

At $133,000 in Funding - Digital M20 Posters – A trio of M20 digital posters, including the Akashic Brotherhood, the Celestial Chorus, and the Cult of Ecstasy will be added to the rewards list of all backers.

At $135,000 in Funding - Digital M20 Posters – A trio of M20 digital posters, including the Dreamspeakers, the Euthanatos, and the Order for Hermes will be added to the rewards list of all backers.

At $138,000 in Funding – Digital M20 Posters – A trio of M20 digital posters, including the Sons of Ether, the Verbena, and the Virtual Adepts will be added to the rewards list of all backers.

Up to $140,000 in Funding - Increased Art Budget – Additional funds based on our total funding beyond $130,000 will be allocated to the art budget for M20: Lore of the Traditions, adding even more epic magick and more inspiring illustrations!

You've worked your magick! We've unlocked new content and a bunch of milestones! Onyx Path will use additional funds generated beyond this point to add even more art to the book - but we'll also unlock some fun bonus milestone markers along the way. And demonstrate our support for Mage: The Ascension once again!

Thanks to everyone for your support, and let's keep rocking right up until the end!

#LoreOfTheTraditions

#FinalDay

Final Days Review - Stretch Goals
about 2 years ago – Fri, Feb 25, 2022 at 06:33:00 PM

Hello Mages,

We're in the final days countdown for M20: Lore of the Traditions on Kickstarter - it ends on Thursday, February 17th at 2:00 PM EST - there's still time to find additional mages and invite them into the council, but we're definitely getting closer to the finish line. With that in mind, I've been sharing updates over the past few days that touch on some of the basics to make sure that everyone has all of the information they need to support the project in the way that works best for them.

Key Info Updates

• February 13 - Pledge Tier & Add On Review  
• February 16 - Stretch Goal Review (That's today!) 
• February 17 - Final Day Checklist & What Comes Next 

Whether you've just accrued Paradox for the first time or have been bending reality for a while, these are good items to review to make sure that we all end up where we want to be.

(An aside, if you're a new backer, make sure you check out this Final 48 Hour Countdown/ Resource post. It has links to the manuscript previews, interviews, and podcast discussions.)

Refresher Course

We've had, and will have, many new backers join in during these last days. 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 - As noted, the complete Preview Manuscript is available for you to review prior to the conclusion of the campaign. 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 94.8% finished. Making the manuscript available for review before the campaign ends ensures that everyone know exactly what our goal is - making this book - and are on board with our aims for this project. Thanks for your support, we're all in this together!

Feb 13 update - REWARD TIERS - your best starting point for figuring out which Backer Reward Level to choose to help support this project.

Your key decision:

•  PDF Only - The CELESTIAL CHORUS Tier is what you're looking for
•  Hardcover + PDF - The CULT OF ECSTASY Tier fits the bill
•  Wait and See? - If you want access to the manuscript previews but don't yet know if you want the PDF or hardcover rewards, the The Akashayana tier also grants you access to the Pledge Manager after the campaign so you can upgrade your pledge in the future.

ADD ON REWARDS- the other half of the Reward Tiers update, including information on the second step of pledging. There are several Add On options that you can add as part of your pledge process. However, at this time, I'd suggest a few alternatives.

If you are interested in the Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary PDF or the Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary PDF, you should instead take advantage of the sale at DriveThruRPG this week only. You can find those titles, along with related books, here:

• Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition
• Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition

Next week, DriveThruRPG will be hosting a similar sale for Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary PDF titles. We have a selection offered as Add Ons for this campaign, but you'll be able to get some of them much, much cheaper (like the M20 core book and the M20 Spellbook supplements bundle titles) next week. I suggest holding off and grabbing them as part of Onyx Path's 10th Anniversary sale.

Choose Wisely

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 + ADD ONS + SHIPPING. You will also be able to select Add On options in the Pledge Manager after the campaign, but remember that only funds added during the campaign count towards Stretch Goal funding targets.

Also to note, only those who participate during the campaign are able to have Stretch Goal rewards added automatically to their rewards lists. If you're waiting to pre-order at a later time, it's better to pledge to the Akashayana tier now and then simply upgrade your pledge later to include these bonus rewards.

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 hunt down one final Stretch Goal achievement as we race through our final day of the campaign!

Over the past nearly 4 weeks, we've been crushing Stretch Goal targets non-stop, achieving an amazing 11 Stretch Goal targets. We've had two main foci during this run, building two additional M20 supplements, and buffered our momentum with some fun milestone markers as well.

Let's review and see what we've accomplished so far...

ACHIEVED! - At $45,000 in Funding– Faces of Magick– A tome of legendary and notorious mages for incorporation into your chronicle as allies, antagonists, or rivals will be created and released as a small M20 PDF Supplement. All Kickstarter backers receiving the M20: Lore of the Traditions PDF will automatically have this PDF added to their rewards list.

ACHIEVED! - At $50,000 in Funding– Redbubble Backer T-Shirt Opportunity – A Lore of the Traditions-themed Kickstarter Backer shirt will be hosted on Onyx Path’s Redbubble store for a limited time. Only backers will be notified when the shirt becomes available for purchase.

ACHIEVED! - At $65,000 in Funding – Forgotten Ones & Forbidden Orders – A collection of lesser known but no less magickally potent orders, traditions, cults, and gatherings of mages, from the Ahl-i-Batin to Ngoma (and some in between) will be created and released as a small M20 PDF Supplement. All Kickstarter backers receiving the M20: Lore of the Traditions PDF will automatically have this PDF added to their rewards list.

ACHIEVED! - At $70,000 in Funding – Digital Wallpaper– Dress up your computer monitor with some magick-packed artwork from the Lore of the Traditions. This reward will be added to the rewards list for all backers.

ACHIEVED! - At $85,000 in Funding – Faces of Magick II – This PDF Supplement will be enlarged, adding more mages for use in your chronicle.

ACHIEVED! - At $90,000 in Funding - Mobile Wallpaper – Take your magick on the go with this mobile-sized version of the Lore of the Traditions wallpaper. This reward will be added to the rewards list for all backers.

ACHIEVED! - At $95,000 in Funding – Lore of the Traditions VTT Token Pack – Digital assets will be created to support online play for M20 games using the Lore of the Traditions artwork. This online asset pack will be added to the rewards list of all backers.

ACHIEVED! - At $100,000 in Funding  – Forgotten Ones & Forbidden Orders II – Additional orders, from the Bata'a to Solificati (and some in between) will be detailed will be added to this expanded PDF supplement.

ACHIEVED! - At $105,000 in Funding – Lore of the Traditions Streaming Overlay Set – A set of overlays for your online M20 game will be created, for your use when running your Lore of the Traditions online game. This reward will be added to the rewards list for all backers.

ACHIEVED! - At $110,000 in Funding – Faces of Magick III – This PDF Supplement will be expanded one final time, filled with legendary mages to use in your chronicle.

ACHIEVED! - At $115,000 in Funding – Faces of Magick VTT Token Pack – Digital assets will be created to support online play for M20 games using the Faces of Magick artwork and characters. This online asset pack will be added to the rewards list of all backers.

WOW! That's a pretty amazing list. There are some standard Onyx Path celebrations in there - redbubble T-Shirt and digital wallpaper (now with a new bonus version, the mobile wallpaper, so I can have something cool formatted for my phone), along with some online play tools like a couple book-focused VTT token packs and a streaming overlay. 

Two two most exciting projects, in my opinion, are the new content supplements. We expanded the Faces of Magick supplement three times, giving the developers and creative team plenty of room to write up some legendary mages for our games, and have doubled the size of the Forgotten Ones & Forbidden Orders supplement, which will explore some of the lesser orders and cults. These two projects are just entering the outline stage (I mean, we just built them via Stretch Goal, so couldn't be much more than that until the campaign concludes!), so if there are mages or cults you'd like included, sound off in the comments!

And why stop there? I'm pretty sure we could add another third as much space to the Forgotten Ones book just including notes on some of our favorites... so let's do that!

At $130,000 in Funding – Forgotten Ones & Forbidden Orders III – This PDF Supplement will be expanded one final time, with even more traditions and cults detailed within.

A twelfth Stretch Goal to add a third more space to this supplement, letting the developers expand their outline and giving the writers room to really dig in to some of these groups! 

YOUR REWARDS!

That's right! You backed this project to help make and publish M20: Lore of the Traditions! Our 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 the VTT Token Packs, the desktop and mobile Mage20 wallpaper, the Online Streaming Overlays. And most exciting of all, two new Mage20 PDF supplements, Faces of Magick and Forgotten Ones & Forbidden Orders, automatically added as a bonus to your kickstarter rewards list alongside your Lore of the Traditions PDF. 

 One More Stretch Goal, Not Much More Time 

I know this last funding target may seem daunting, but it wouldn't be a STRETCH goals if we didn't have to really STRETCH to reach it! I'm confident that final goal is within striking distance, though it won't be easy. I'm sure we'll be watching right up until the end of the campaign, but it is completely within our grasp!

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 this final day to jump in and share the 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 the Forgotten Ones supplement!

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 bring this game to life and make great things happen!

THIS CAMPAIGN ENDS AT 2:00 PM EST on THURSDAY, February 17th, 2022!

#FinalDay

#LoreOfTheTraditions

#WeCanDoThis

Final 48 Hours - Stuff to Know as we Approach the End!
about 2 years ago – Fri, Feb 25, 2022 at 06:32:33 PM

Hello Mages,

We've just sent out our "48 Hour Notice" as we approach the end, and I wanted to share a post for any new backers who are joining us, as well as any backers who just want a refresher before we end.

Hello new backers! Hello existing backers!

First up, I'm James, your humble host and "Kickstarter Concierge" for this Onyx Path project.

PLEDGE TIERS + ADD ON OPTIONS

Information you may need about the pledge tiers can be found in <this summary post>. The simplest decision: If you want to support this project and would prefer PDF-only thank you rewards, pledge to the Celestial Chorus reward tier. If you want to support this project and would prefer a deluxe hardcover and PDF thank you reward, pledge to the Cult of Ecstasy reward tier. 

You can dig in to that summary post to see more options and more about the rewards, but those two tiers cover the basics.

There are several Add On options that you can add as part of your pledge process. However, at this time, I'd suggest a few alternatives.

If you are interested in the Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary PDF or the Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary PDF, you should instead take advantage of the sale at DriveThruRPG this week only. You can find those titles, along with related books, here:

• Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition
• Changeling: The Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition

Next week, DriveThruRPG will be hosting a similar sale for Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary PDF titles. We have a selection offered as Add Ons for this campaign, but you'll be able to get them for the same price (likely Rich Bastard's Guide to Magick) or much, much cheaper (like the M20 core book) next week. I suggest holding off and grabbing them as part of Onyx Path's 10th Anniversary sale.

DRAFT MANUSCRIPT DOWNLOADS

Backers of this project are able to access every chapter of the current, approved draft manuscript for this book here: <Backers Only Manuscript Previews>

These are only accessible by backers of this project and will come out regularly throughout the campaign. Onyx Path makes an effort to be as open and clear as possible about their projects on the go, and it’s become part of the process to post the entire current draft of the manuscript for backers to review before the campaign ends and any pledges are processed or payments collected. You will know exactly what you’re getting with this book.

MORE INFORMATION

You can learn more about the creative process involved in writing this book in these podcast interviews:

• Lore of the Traditions Author and Dev Interview: Akashayana, Dreamspeakers, and Ecstatics
• Lore of the Traditions Author Interview: Order of Hermes, Society of Ether, and Verbena
• Lore of the Traditions Author Interview: Celestial Chorus and Virtual Adepts with Terry Robinson

And more about Onyx Path's overall Mage: The Ascension process (with some tangents, for sure) in these Onyx Pathcast roundtable discussions:

• Onyx Pathcast Episode 193: Mage the Ascension Part I
• Onyx Pathcast Episode 194: Mage the Ascension Part II

FINAL DAYS SCHEDULE

Over these final 48 hours, we'll have two more updates outlining some of the "process stuff" for the campaign.

• February 16 - Stretch Goal Review
• February 17 - Final Day Checklist & What Comes Next

Tomorrow, we'll be talking about our impressive Stretch Goal accomplishments. We've got one more big target on the horizon and I'm hopeful we'll unlock it before the end! We've added a new supplemental M20 book to the project list called Forgotten Ones & Forbidden Orders. It started out as a small PDF covering a narrow range of groups, but we're hoping to expand it a final third time so that the developers and writers can really go to town on some of these less magickally potent orders, traditions, cults and gatherings of mages.

At $130,000 in Funding – Forgotten Ones & Forbidden Orders III – This PDF Supplement will be expanded one final time, with even more traditions and cults detailed within.

PLACES TO TALK ABOUT MAGE

You may also be able to get further insight and possibly some in-depth conversation at these Onyx Path discussion zones:

• Onyx Path's Mage the Ascension Forum
• Onyx Path's Discord
• World of Darkness on Reddit
• Onyx Path's Facebook

Let's make some Magick!

#LoreOfTheTraditions

Virtual Adepts Preview
about 2 years ago – Tue, Feb 22, 2022 at 11:32:16 AM

The Virtual Adepts

The Virtual Adepts are the expert hackers, revolutionaries, mathematicians, and information distributors of the Traditions. For most of the 20th century, they filled those roles as computer-based technomancers but now, the computer is no longer the only way. Humanity must unlock its potential to win the Ascension War and the more tools in the arsenal, the better...although having a smartphone and a Trinary deck certainly doesn’t hurt. Sure, much of the Tradition still cares about clock speeds and Digital Web Icons but the Adepts are outrunning irrelevance by remembering their millennia old ideological roots and doing so very loudly.

We were for a time the best hope the Council had to lead not just a new avenue of personal ascension but of global ascension. We forged a new reality embedded in the advances computers made possible. Remember, were the best hope. The 21st century vastly expanded access to computers and digital communication but without bringing the subversiveness we thought accompanied the Web’s radical empowerment. While the tools were new, the methods used to subvert the tools were not. Sleeper governments sought to control news and opinion. The Technocracy controlled information and discovery. The Nephandi manipulated desire and fear each to their own ends. And as we scrambled to define the Digital Web, we scramble again to define Augmented Reality; a new layer of reality as adjacent and intimate as the Penumbra but forged by humanity and accessible by Sleepers.

We now focus on empowering Sleepers to rise against an unjust world by handing them the tools of unfettered communication. We do so by pushing understanding of the universal language of math. In the past this just meant spreading broadband and programming tools but now includes disrupting our enemies. Technology is a force multiplier and while we were the first to harness the Digital Web’s potential, our enemies, mundane and magickal, caught up. The machine-learning required to identify and track every person in a country can also create a bot army that gets people screaming. Each shitpost siphoning a bit more Quintessence to the Fallen, distillate of Sleeper rage.

While our focus broadened, so has our membership. No longer recruiting exclusively from the college graduates and dropouts of the developed world, the white boy club is becoming less so as more of the world goes online. People rarely follow a call for action if the person shouting it does not look like them. In the process, we Virtual Adepts learn the best computational tools need not always be electrons coursing through a silicon chip. Sometimes it’s skilled fingers working a mechanical computer, skilled eyes at a Euahlayi star chart, or skilled fingers at Peruvian knotwork. Regardless of its form, we recognize and demand excellence. Nothing else will save us.

The Virtual Adepts attract strong personalities leading strident groups. These are the personalities an in-the-know Adept may run into.

Marisol “Justicio” Coronado

Marisol heads the Indigenous Learning Collective and seeks to document, study, and preserve the scientific and mathematical practices of native cultures. She’s helped return a set of Ammassalik wooden maps to the Inuit of Greenland. Investigating the carvings led to discoveries regarding communicating with the Court of the Humpback Whale and Narwhal in the Middle Umbra. Marisol has done half a dozen similar learning projects. Marisol is one of the few Adepts to spend significant time in the Umbra outside the Digital Web and she’s currently tracking down a lead regarding the location of two Maya codices in a place called “Stygia”.

Marisol believes saving culture is an important end unto itself but finding advances in knot theory through studying Peruvian ropework and other ways of understanding numbers may prove vital in some unknown future situation. She made many friends during her research on both sides of the Gauntlet.

• Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3, Charisma (Charming) 4, Manipulation 3, Appearance 3, Perception (Things Out of Place) 4, Intelligence 3, Wits 2
• Abilities: Alertness 2, Academics (History) 4, Art 2, Athletics 1, Awareness 2, Crafts (Ceramics) 2, Computer 1, Cosmology 3, Drive 1, Empathy 1, Enigmas 3, Etiquette 2, Investigation 1, Law 2, Occult 3, Politics 2, Science 1, Stealth 1, Subterfuge 2, Technology 2
• Arete: 5
• Spheres: Correspondence 4, Entropy 2, Matter 1, Mind 3, Time 2, Spirit 2
• Willpower: 6
• Health Levels:OK, -1, -1, -2, -2, -5, Incapacitated
• Armor Rating: 0

Image: Marisol is a short round woman with hair going prematurely white around her designer glasses. Her face and skin clearly show her Yaquis heritage and complement her deftness at the combination of body language, wardrobe, and speech required to thrive in Western academic halls but always wears a woven shirt of the style of her village.

Roleplaying Notes: You’re remarkably tired. Tired of explaining yourself, tired of explaining what you do, and tired of explaining why your work is important. Still, you laugh frequently. You put in the work to understand the world and find it comical how narrow some other people’s world views are. Always notice when flowers are around.

Focus: Tech Holds All the Answers. Practices include Craftwork and Hypertech. Instruments include just about any physical cultural artifacts which embed knowledge as well as modern electronic computers.

Tomorrow, we'll have the entire final chapter covering the Virtual Adepts available for backers to download. That means you'll have the entire approved draft manuscript to review before our 48 hour notice goes out - and before any pledges are processed or payments collected. 

We've still got a big Stretch Goal target ahead of us, but we're getting closer, and the final 48 hours is usually pretty amazing. So, please continue to spread the word and invite others to join our council and work some Magick!

#LoreOfTheTraditions

Final Week Review - Reward Tiers & Add Ons
about 2 years ago – Sat, Feb 19, 2022 at 12:26:19 PM

Hello Mages,

We're in the final days countdown for M20: Lore of the Traditions on Kickstarter - it ends on Thursday, February 17th at 2:00 PM EST - there's still time to find additional mages and invite them into the council, but we're definitely getting closer to the finish line. With that in mind, I wanted to touch on some of the basics over these next 5 days to make sure that everyone has all of the information they need to support the project in the way that works best for them.

Final Days Schedule

• February 13 - Pledge Tier & Add On Review (That's today!) 
• February 14 - Preview from the Virtual Adepts chapter 
• February 15 - Backers-only Manuscript Download for The Virtual Adepts 
• February 16 - Stretch Goal Review 
• February 17 - Final Day Checklist & What Comes Next 

Whether you've just accrued Paradox for the first time or have been bending reality for a while, these are good items to review to make sure that we all end up where we want to be.

(An aside, if you're a new backer, make sure you check out the Final Days Countdown/ Resource post. It has links to the manuscript previews, interviews, and podcast discussions.)

BACKER REWARD TIERS

Like it says right at the top of the campaign page, we've come together to help create a fully developed PDF and hardcover for this game, the latest supplement for the Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary line.

PLEDGING YOUR SUPPORT

To borrow an analogy that I've used in past Kickstarter campaigns, this process we're a part of works similar to the "Viewers Like You" support campaign from your local Public Broadcasting Station (for those who get American television channels or watched Sesame Street in the pre-HBO era): There are various levels of support that you can pledge to, and these come with various levels of rewards offered as a thank you. Like getting a tote bag or t-shirt when you give money to public broadcasting to fund them doing their thing, you can get rewards for helping Onyx Path work on this project.

Let's review the Backer Reward Tiers to ensure that you've pledged to a Reward Tier that provides all the rewards you wish to receive.

Choose Your Realm: Digital or Physical?

The main rewards offered in this campaign is, of course, the main goal of the entire proposition: the M20: Lore of the Traditions book. The first decision you need to make in figuring out your reward tier is whether you want to receive the PDF version or do you pass through the Gauntlet and go for the the hardcover version (which includes the PDF as a bonus!).

THE CELESTIAL CHORUS

This is the PDF-only reward tier. So, if you're saving trees or saving shelf space - or avoiding the shipping charges that are absolutely ever-increasing - this is the reward tier options that you should begin with. The PDF will be fulfilled by our partners at DriveThruRPG.com - when it is ready, you will receive a link to add it to your DTRPG library at no cost and be able to download at your leisure.

THE CULT OF ECSTASY

This reward tier includes the traditionally-printed deluxe hardcover version of this book. That means the books are produced in an offset print run at one time and will have the best production values, from color clarity and appearance to binding and materials. Since it's a deluxe book not going into retail, it'll have an embossed title treatment, spot gloss on the cover, and a silk book mark as well. In addition, this option also includes the PDF version, so you will get a digital copy as described above.

In addition to these primary reward pledge paths, we also offer the following options:

• The Akashayana: Not ready to commit, or just looking to offer general support? This pledge tier is for you. This does not include our primary reward, but allows you to select some digital optional Add Ons, as well as participating in the post-campaign Pledge Manager as a backer. You'll also be able to read the draft manuscript of M20: Lore of the Traditions that we post throughout this campaign. In the deluxe edition of the book, you'll be listed under the "Kickstarter Supporter" heading.
• The Dreamspeakers: Picking up a copy for a friend, or just want a second copy for your collection? This reward tier basically adds a second copy of Lore of the Traditions to your reward delivery.
• Order of Hermes / The Society of Ether / The Verbena: A few Reward Tiers offer special limited premium rewards in addition to the basics, including an option to act as a Art Model, participate in an online game session run by Travis Legge,  or a chance to supply a name to be used by an NPC included in a supplement. Check each of the Reward Tier descriptions for more details.
• The Virtual Adepts: Interested in creating some content for the Storyteller's Vault community content program? This reward tier will get you hooked up with Travis Legge as a coach and consultant to help you craft a product of up to 5,000 words to release for sale!

The "premium" tiers (Order of Hermes, Society of Ether, Verbena, Virtual Adepts) have limited spots available to backers. At this time, they may all be accounted for but pledges slip and slide around as we move through these final days, so if you were interested in any of these rewards, keep checking in as we approach the finish line, because early backers may change their plans as we get closer to locking in.

PLEDGE MANAGER ACCESS - After the campaign is over we'll launch BackerKit, our post-campaign pledge manager, and invite the backers to set up their rewards via survey. This allows you to confirm your pledge and add on anything that you might have missed, as well as possibly increasing your pledged reward tier, should you choose to expand your reward selection. This option will give international backers additional time to investigate shipping options, should they choose, knowing they can confirm a physical reward at a later date. Funding collected in BackerKit after the campaign does not count toward any campaign Stretch Goals, however.

You'll note that two rewards - Access to the Manuscript Previews and Participation in Post-Campaign Pledge Manager - are included in ALL reward tiers. That's just one of the perks of participating in this kickstarter campaign!

MANUSCRIPT PREVIEWS – All Reward Tiers include access to Backers-Only manuscript previews. With the exception of the final chapter (which will be posted on Tuesday), I have posted the entire manuscripts across multiple sections. You must be a kickstarter backer to access these previews, as the link will remain in a backers-only update post. The manuscript previews may not be available to those who pre-order the book at a later date.

OPTIONAL DISCOUNTED PoD VERSION – For this M20: Lore of the Traditions campaign, you will have the option of using DriveThruRPG.com’s Print-On-Demand service to purchase a physical, printed copy of the PDF directly from their PoD partners at discounted cost (this cost is not included in your pledge, and you do not need to increase the cost of your pledge to use this option). When the PoD versions are available to order (which may be some time after the books have gone to print), you will receive links to purchase these versions of the books from DriveThruRPG.com. You DO NOT need to take advantage of this PoD offer as it does not affect in any way your pledge rewards.

LISTED UNDER THE TRADITION OF YOUR CHOICE - If your reward tier includes any version of Lore of the Traditions, you will be listed in the book as a supporter as a member of one of the Nine Traditions. It doesn't matter which pledge tier you've chosen, we'll confirm which Tradition you'd like to be listed under in our Pledge Manager survey. 

M20: LORE OF THE TRADITIONS PDF VERSION - The digital version of M20: Lore of the Traditions, fulfilled by our partners at DriveThruRPG.com. Kickstarter backers will receive a redemption links for an early version of this book before it goes on sale to the public. This initial "Backer Version" will be used to get feedback from the fans to make the final version the best that it can be. When it has been updated to the final version, it will automatically be added to your DriveThruRPG library and available for download at your convenience.

M20: LORE OF THE TRADITIONS HARDCOVER BOOK - The main goal of this campaign is to fund the creation, production, and print run of a hardcover edition of this book. Note that all Reward Tiers that include the physical hardcover version also include the digital PDF version as a bonus. Additional shipping charges are automatically added to your pledge by Kickstarter, based on your delivery location.

Choosing Your Reward Tier

There has been some churn over this past week - a few Reward Tier adjustments and changes by backers, as budgets changed and people have seen the game in play and read the manuscript previews. In these final days it's best to ensure that you've selected the Reward Tier that offers you the options and rewards you want to receive and are ready to lock down. This timing - before the campaign ends - is the absolute most affordable and inclusive these rewards will be, and will save headaches and heartbreaks if fully considered now.

This is just the first step, however, in completing your pledge for this campaign. Additional optional extras can be added to your pledge, rounding our your rewards and increasing the overall funding and maybe getting us closer to a Stretch Goal.

First Step: Reward Tier

To summarize the first part of this post, the absolute best way to ensure that you're getting the primary rewards you want from this kickstarter is to ensure you've selected the appropriate Backer Reward Tier. Selecting the right Reward Tier covers about 90% of the options available to you. If you want a PDF only, make sure you've selected the correct reward. If you want the hardcover version, double-check your reward tier to ensure the proper option is featured. If you're going digital now but want the option of getting a discounted Print-on-Demand copy later, make sure you've got a reward tier that includes it.

Once you've completed that important step, you're going to want to look at the Add On rewards for any reward "bits" that don't automatically fall into your reward tier. That takes us to the Add On step.

Step Two: Add-Ons.

Once you've chosen your pledge tier, you've likely already included the main rewards you want. In addition to the rewards offered as part of the Reward Tier configurations, there are a few other possible rewards you may wish to add. All Add-On rewards are described in our Add On menu below.

Each Add On includes an extra amount to add on to your total pledge amount. Remember that your total pledge amount includes all shipping charges and not just your reward tier level.

The Add On option menu appears in the second part of your pledge confirmation. When you decided to back the Lore of the Traditions campaign, you first choose a Pledge Reward Tier. Once you've selected that, you can configure your reward with additional options.

IMPORTANT NOTE: As I've mentioned a few times, Onyx Path is currently running their 10th Anniversary Sale, and featuring some World of Darkness 20th Anniversary titles at amazing discounts during February 2022. There are other options in our Add On menu, but if you're looking to add the Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20A PDF, go buy it here instead (right now - it ends soon!):  Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th Anniversary Edition PDF. And maybe grab some of the W20 Related Titles on Sale while you're at it.

• The Changeling: The Dreaming 20A and Wraith: The Oblivion 20A PDFs will be on sale in a few days at DriveThruRPG.com. So don't add them on here - instead purchase them for amazing discounts starting February 15th. (I'll post a note in an update once they're on sale)
• The Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary core book PDF, as well as the titles included in our "Spellbook PFD Bundle" will be on sale the week of February 22, after our campaign ends. I suggest holding off on adding these titles and instead purchasing them from DriveThruRPG at the discounted sale price later in the month. (Again, I'll post an update note calling out the sale prices when the time comes).

You can add or update your Add On choices right up until the campaign ends on February 17th at 2:00 EST. If you've already pledged, you just have to hit the Manage Your Pledge button on the top of the campaign main page.

Once you've decided to Pledge to the campaign, or to Manage your Pledge if you've already backed, you either Confirm or Change Your Pledge on the first menu.

Pick a Pledge Tier, then Add On Options

Once I click that green "Pledge" Button, I am taken to the second part of the Pledge confirmation, where I can further Configure my reward. There are many optional Add Ons, not just those visible at the top of the page. It pays to scroll down, but please remember that some of these titles will be on sale at DriveThruRPG right now or over the upcoming weeks! 

There are also some good Kickstarter FAQs on this page, so check those out if you're looking for some additional process and timing information.

Once you've selected your Pledge, and then picked any Add On options, you press continue and review one final time before confirming your pledge.

Once I click Confirm, my reward tier and add ons are set for my pledge.

You should also be aware that any available Add On options will be made available in our BackerKit pledge manager, so if you're unsure about adding on something at this point, you will be able to adjust your pledge in the post-campaign phase. 

Pledging to the campaign also opens up the Stretch Goal rewards as thanks for your participation. We'll review our Stretch Goal accomplishments on Wednesday, but it's important to note that backers who wait and Pre-Order Lore of the Traditions at a later date will not have the Stretch Goal rewards automatically added to their rewards list. The Stretch Goal rewards will only automatically be added to the rewards for those who participated in this Kickstarter campaign.

OPTIONAL HARDCOVER ADD ON REWARDS

All Add On and additional hardcovers can only be added to a reward tier that already includes a hardcover version of this book (and has therefore established shipping parameters). A pre-order for the Victorian Mage hardcover must also be added to a hardcover reward tier, since it is a physical item that requires shipping. As with your pledge, additional shipping charges may be included based on your location. Your rewards will be sent in a single shipment when the M20: Lore of the Traditions books are printed and ready to fulfill.

REWARD DELIVERY

About 6 weeks after the campaign has ended, I'll launch our post-campaign Pledge Manager to collect information from all backers and confirm which rewards you'll be receiving. At this point, you'll be able to review your rewards and also also adjust any Add On Options that you may have missed. Once we have everything confirmed, I'll be able to deliver any rewards that are currently available - like the PDF versions of the other WoD20A Core Rulebooks or Technocracy Reloaded or Rich Bastard's Guide to Magick (Again, I suggest you check DriveThru throughout the month for sale pricing first!). Backers who have pledged for these options will be sent special redemption links to claim these digital rewards from our partners at DriveThruRPG.com. Clicking these redemption links will allow you to add these PDF titles to your digital library to download anytime. I'll send an update when all of that is happening, though, so you are aware every step of the way.

So, while it will take some time for M20: Lore of the Traditions to move from manuscript form to a final product, you won't be waiting a year for PDFs that already exist. (You'll be waiting about 6-8 weeks or so, just enough time for us to set up the reward infrastructure.)

Physical Books

It's going to take some time to create the final PDF for M20: Lore of the Traditions and even longer for the eventual print run for the hardcover book. When the books are at the printer, I will be in touch with all kickstarter backers and go over lockdown procedures and confirming addresses one final time. But that's a long time away, and we'll cover all of that as we get closer to that part of the process.

Don't fret if you had forgotten to select an Add On by the end of the campaign. These Add Ons will be available to select in our post-campaign Pledge Manager for those who participated in our campaign and have full access to the Pledge Manager. So, if you are undecided at this time, you will be able to hold off until we're closer to the final reward shipment goes out.

Step 1: Pledge Tier

Step 2: Add On Options

Again, your first step should involve your main reward selection, and your Add On Options will build upon that. If you selected the PDF-only tier, you will be presented with PDF options. If you select the hardcover tier, you will be presented with physical reward options. You cannot add on additional physical rewards if the M20: Lore of the Traditions hardcover book is not included in your pledge tier reward list.

Note that all funds are expressed in US Dollars, although Kickstarter displays the approximate conversion rate.

It Adds Up!

That should explain the process of Selecting your Reward Tier and Add On options and confirming your TOTAL PLEDGE AMOUNT. Since increasing your pledge amount increases the overall funding level of the project, add-ons can help us achieve our Stretch Goal funding targets, so it benefits us all to suggest that you double-check to make sure you're getting all of the rewards you want.

Additionally, this may go without saying, please review your personal budget and ensure you've selected the appropriate reward tier and add ons for your current financial situation. Kickstarter will begin charging your payment method once the campaign ends, so ensure you've budgeted correctly.

Conclusion

As we move through these final days of the campaign, please ensure you've chosen the correct Reward Tier for the rewards you want. If you have any issues with the Pledge process, either selecting the reward tier or Adding On optional rewards, try a different browser or device. Kickstarter is always refining their processes, but sometimes things are a little sticky. Changing browsers often solves the issue.

On Thursday, just before the campaign ends, I will send an update detailing the steps that occur after the campaign concludes, including notes about our Pledge Manager and the communication plan going forward.

So, just like always: Spread the word! Share your excitement on social media! Tell your friends! We're about to begin our final boss encounter, so let's make sure that none of our friends miss out!

And I'll be back Tuesday with the FINAL manuscript section for Lore of the Traditions, making the complete text available for all backers to review before the campaign ends!

#LoreOfTheTraditions