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90 Seconds to Midnight: A Module for Mothership RPG

Created by RANNE

A 16-page Mothership RPG module about a resort colony called Midnight, the trouble the Crew will find there, and what'll happen to it all when time runs out.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

🃏 #2 - Happy Thanksgiving: Map & Dice Previews and Black Friday Deals!
20 days ago – Thu, Nov 28, 2024 at 09:37:59 AM

Hello, everyone. Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone has has a good couple of weeks now - wanting to shoot out a quick update before the weekend is here!

So, let's begin...



Campaign Progress

We are now halfway through the campaign and I remain absolutely floored by how successful it has been from my perspective. Thank you all again and thank you to any future Backers. I have unfortunately not been able to do ANY creative work on the product since we launched: The initial week of the campaign was so distracting I literally couldn't focus on anything other than the campaign and this week is Thanksgiving week (so all my kids are home) which also happens to be the week of my wife and I's anniversary so needless to say it has been quite busy. This shouldn't worry anyone regarding fulfillment as I am still on schedule but I'm just choosing to be transparent about the process. For anyone thinking about going into their first crowdfunding attempt, know that you will not be as productive as you thought you would be 😅 - It's quite hard not to constantly stare at all the data all day long.

Some good news though! The initial idea was to do a pin to celebrate the success of Mothership Month and as a reward for all the projects funding. This felt lazy on my end, costly (without appropriate value), and also like all the people that are supporting me digitally will completely miss out (as they can't get any Physical rewards) - so I've opted instead to expand the book by 1-2 spreads (that's 2-4 pages). I'll have more details on this later but it's going to be concerning Midnight's luxury jumpliner, Good Fortune, the cruise ship that ferries visitors to and from the colony. That will likely be detailed once funds from the campaign are received (so I can commission the artwork) so be on the lookout! Also, since we hit all the targets, expect some extra-licious art on all fronts. I'll be sharing some examples in future updates!

TLDR:
  • Past 2 weeks have been busy! 
  • Expanded content coming (extra pages in the module). Details later!
  • Extra art coming due to Stretch Goals/Achievements. More Ross Hayes' illustrations, another map from Guy Pradel, improved NPC portraits from Rob Lieder.



Map of Midnight

The map, illustrated by Guy Pradel, is ready to be shared! If you're not familiar with Guy, his credits (to name a few) include Prison Station Echo, Abilities Considered Unnatural, and other Mothership Month projects including Interloper. So, yeah, the dude is stupidly talented and I'm honored to have his work in my module.

So, without further ado, here is Midnight:



I went with this abstracted design for two reasons. One, I love it. Two, it reminds me more of the type of thing a tourist would receive which seems very on brand for the book. I hope you love it as much as I do. In any case, the map will be provided in the Digital Assets Pack in both a keyed and keyless form and the poster will feature the keyless version. 



Also!!!! Tomorrow is Black Friday which means rampant consumerism here in the United States.. to celebrate, I'll be offering $2 off the purchase of the posters (I will extend this to all current purchasers). Anyone that picks up the map as an add-on between now and December 2nd will have that credit applied to their purchase. I will likely have to manually apply these but you should see it once surveys go out after the campaign finishes. Remember the poster is ONLY being produced for this campaign so pick it up as an add-on if you want this at your table as it won't ever be available again.

Check out Guy Pradel and his other work here. Really nice guy, and super pleasant/professional to work with. Go show him some love and consider him for your own projects if you have anything in mind! Highly recommend.

TLDR:
  • Map by Guy Pradel. He is awesome
  • Black Friday sale for the poster - $2 off until December 2nd. Will apply to all current purchases


Midnight Dice

Anyone that has been waiting for some more info on the dice hopefully will be content with a digital mockup of the design - the dice maker, BadWolf Forge, is in the 3D modeling stage at the moment and was kind enough to put together a 3D render of the current design for me to share with all the Backers:





For those that don't know, the process for the dice looks like this:
  • 3D Design
  • 3D Print/Cure/Clean the master dice (between 10-20 masters will be made)
  • Each side of each master die will be polished with 6 layers of polish
  • The masters will be used to create the molds 
  • Molds are filled with high quality resin 
  • Filled molds are cured under pressure (the pressure removes any noticeable air bubbles)
  • Cured dice are cleaned and polished to remove mold lines and for any imperfections that may be found
  • The dice are painted (the numbers and Midnight logo)
  • Final polish
  • All the above for 100+ dice!




So, yeah! A lot of work but also you can tell that these will be really high quality dice which was extremely important me! 

I will also extend a Black Friday deal to anyone that gets the dice as an add-on. Until December 2nd, if you add the dice as an add-on I will extend a $5 credit. And anyone that gets the High-Roller tier I will offer a $3 credit (I will extend this offer to everyone that already Pledged at this tier) Again, I will likely have to input this credit manually and you will likely see this on your pledge manager.

TLDR:
  • Dice by BadWolfForge. They are awesome. 
  • Dice are awesome and take a lot of work
  • Actual photos coming as soon as samples become ready. Enjoy the render for now!
  • Black Friday deal on dice - until Dec. 2nd, get a $5 credit for purchasing a pair of dice and a $3 credit for High Roller pledges (will apply retroactively to all current purchasers/Pledges).


Black Friday Summary:

Until December 2nd 11:59p.m CST & if at least 20 people take advantage of the sale:
  1. $2 off purchases of the Poster and/or Patch add-on
    • If you Backed in the first 48 hours, you are already getting the Poster for FREE and do not need to purchase unless you want an extra one! 
    • Applies retroactively - if you already added a Poster or Patch as part of your Pledge, you will get the $2 credit. No additional action required on your end.
  2. $5 off purchases of the Dice add-on
    • Applies retroactively. If you already added the Dice as part of your Pledge, you will get the $5 credit. No action required on your end.
  3. $3 off High-Roller Pledges.
    • Applies retroactively - if you already Pledged at the High Roller tier, you will get the $3 credit.

Credits will be applied manually before Surveys are sent out so you will see it in your cart as part of Pledge at that time.


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That's all for now. I hope everyone that celebrates has a Happy Thanksgiving and, even if you don't, may you find something to be thankful for regardless of your circumstances. 

Thank you all and have a great rest of your week!
Let me know what you think of everything in the comments!

-RANNE
 







Re: International Shipping....Important to those considering upgrading!
about 1 month ago – Sat, Nov 16, 2024 at 01:05:42 PM

Hello! 

In my last update I said I would not do these but every two weeks and here we are two days later. However, this is a sort of sudden and important update so do forgive me :



I've decided to open up shipping to the following countries:


  • Canada
  • Mexico
  • EU Member States
  • United Kingdom
  • Australia
  • New Zealand


That being said, it is very important to understand that shipping to these places will be MORE expensive than the current price estimates I have listed (I will update the Shipping price estimates when and if I accurately can) which are for the US only at the moment. Additionally, many times (probably in every case) shipping will cost more than the price of the Core tier. ON TOP OF THAT, I'm not going to be collecting VAT/duties/GST/etc. on my end, so international Backers that opt for the Core or higher Pledges are going to be required to pay those and any associated fees prior to receiving their purchase. This will be prohibitively expensive in possibly all cases. Some countries will require payment before releasing from customs, and some will collect payment at the time of delivery. These are facts I'm sure many of you are aware of but really new to me so forgive my ignorance. That being said, I will be able to fill out the required customs documentation to the above countries no problem.

Please consider the above factors before upgrading your Pledge and I thank each and every one of you regardless of whether you chose to do so. Seriously...your money is important! Consider it wisely before making a decision.

Thank you.
-RANNE.






🃏 #1 - Post-48hrs...
about 1 month ago – Thu, Nov 14, 2024 at 01:29:48 PM

Hi, everyone!

I'm reaching out with an official update now that we have passed the first 48 hour mark (which I'm told is an important mark). First off, I want to say (again) thanks! Thanks to everyone that backed this project - you have collectively made it a great success and I am super excited to begin work to get it across the finish line and into everyone's hands ASAP. Thank you a thousand times.

And with that out of the way, let's get into the meat:

Updates: 
I don't anticipate sending nor want to send out constant updates of no material  value - I imagine many of you will be getting quite a lot of emails over the next few months and I want to limit that noise from my end as much as is feasible. At the same time, I want to make sure you're confident in the choice you made. So, for now I am thinking I'll be reaching out once bi-weekly with the major points. That being said, please do feel free to comment and discuss as much as you'd like - I will respond in those as much as I can.

TLDR
  • Updates bi-weekly or as needed if its important.
  • Please comment/discuss whatever and whenever - I'll be around.

Dice Questions:
There has been a question about the dice available in the High-Roller Pledge and I'm sure others have similar questions so I want to say a little bit about them now.

The dice are expensive. I totally get that. And right out the gate I want to say to anyone that does not feel comfortable paying for them ... DONT! Please don't. I respect nothing if not the choices people make with their hard earned money. However, if you're still at least interested, do know that in a couple of weeks I'll be sharing an update about them specifically with photos and such so that you can feel like your purchase is a valuable one. The main thing at this time I want to share on the dice is that they are exclusive (I won't be selling them anywhere else after this campaign - same with the patch), 100% hand made in the US - hand made being hand poured, hand painted, hand cleaned/polished, and all with care! Again, I'll share more details later with some pictures, info on who is making them, and how they are made. I'm really excited for these and I hope you are too.

TLDR
  • The dice are badass!
  • Expect details and pictures SOON (waiting on samples).

International Shipping:
I've gotten a fewwww questions about opening up shipping of the physical zine to outside of the USA. My promise at this time is that I will research it. I really really want to offer this to everyone no matter where you are - this is already the aspect I feel worst about when it comes to the project. I am handling fulfillment of 90 Seconds to Midnight by myself and the last thing I want to do is fumble at the very end which is where shipping, one of the most complicated parts, happens to be. Every country has different rules, taxes/fees/duties, and costs and I'm not going to lie to everyone and pretend to be familiar with them. It is high on my priority list to figure out if it will make sense to do so by the end of this campaign and I will let everyone know if I make that change so that you can upgrade your Pledge if you so chose. Never the less, I thank every single Backer outside of the US for your support and, at the very least, hope that the ability to perhaps pick it up later from a retailer is some type of consolation.

TLDR:
  • I promise to research it before the end of the campaign. 
  • Ya'll are important to me!






Stretch Goals and Project Goals:
So, all my Stretch Goals (Achievements) have already been obliterated and I am not going to be doing anymore. I am avoiding "scope creep" like the plague especially as a new creator and I hope everyone can understand and respect that. That being said, we hit all my targets for the extra art and higher quality print I wanted - couldn't have done that without the amazing support of the past couple days. That being said, I do have a sorta mini-stretch goal still ongoing involving the cross-collab with Syndicate Wastrels. Every 100 Backers (after the initial 150) between the two of our projects will net an additional bonus Bounty Card. I'll be updating that every day or so as needed.

We still have basically a month of funding before everything closes - that means I don't have the funds to start certain things until about two weeks later (just before Christmas). I am of course still aiming for as very very swift timeline (as I outlined in my Story) but just want to be upfront about what the process looks like a bit. All the little wheels only start turning when the money comes in! So keep that in mind - this is only day 2!

TLDR:
  • Smashed the Stretch Goals - YAY!
  • Not adding more - BOO!
  • Cross-Collab Bonus still getting better and moving ahead!

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I am so humbled and honored by this process. I can't wait to proudly deliver this module (as humble as it may be) to everyone as quick as possible. 
Thank you all again!

-RANNE

P.S
Seriously, use the discussion board as much as you want. I'll be around!

Cross-Collab with Syndicate Wastrels
about 1 month ago – Thu, Nov 07, 2024 at 06:22:32 AM

I have partnered in a cross-collab with Burning Light Press' Syndicate Wastrels - another awesome title launching under Mothership Month in a few days. Backers who Pledge to both campaigns will receive FREE bonus cross-over content (see the graphic below). Sign up on both campaigns to be notified when they launch and snag these goodies for yourself!

Thank you!
-RANNE