Hello Curious Cats!

There are moments it feels like we just started this campaign, but in truth we've been running for just over three weeks now and we're now officially in our FINAL WEEK COUNTDOWN!

Over this final week I'll be sharing a handful of instruction and review-type posts about Reward Tiers & Add Ons, Stretch Goal reviews, and What Comes Next, so if you've got any process questions or are wondering about how the Crowdfunding steps work, I'm hoping to clarify any remaining questions before we finish. Of course, if you're still wondering about something, please ask and I'll help as best I can.

Because we're all curious cats, we like to poke around and get into new situations. We're going to try something new with this campaign and see what happens! It's called "OVERTIME MODE" and it allows us to keep the campaign rolling as long as backers are pledging.

Overtime Mode

Overtime Mode extends the campaign past its original end time to give backers a final chance to make their pledge and adds an interesting twist to the end of the campaign. How long will it extend? That’s entirely up to backers: The campaign will keep going for an additional 10 minutes as long as pledges keep coming in – a chain of back-to-back pledges is called the Backer Train. The campaign will end only when the Backer Train stops after a period of 10 minutes passing without any pledges.

You’ll know we’re in Overtime Mode when the campaign’s Backer Train counter displays a bright rainbow border and a new countdown that resets to 10 minutes after each new backer joins that final Backer Train ride.

So, we've scheduled the campaign to conclude on March 21st at 2:00 pm EDT, but it'll be extended in 10 minute chunks as long as backers keep pledging. Will we add an extra 10 minutes? An extra 20? Or will it all finish up as we programmed? Who knows, but we'll find out together! Curious Cats indeed!

I know, this is something I've already said many times (and seem to say during every project!), but for this final week, you are officially a Curious Cat Ambassador for the monarchies and this Crowdfunding project. It's time to share your excitement for Curious Cats of Mau and the Realms of Pugmire game! Basically, we want to recruit as many curious cats as possible to see how long we can keep our Backer Train running over this final week.

I know I've ended many update posts with "Keep spreading the word! Invite others to join in!" - but what does that mean, and how do you do it?

Easy answer - don't stop talking about Curious Cats of Mau until 2:01 PM EDT next Thursday March 21st (and then as long as we continue running in Overtime Mode). Yes, family and friends are tired of me talking about it. But what else have I got to talk about? And they've learned to tolerate me during a crowdfunding campaign. But here's the thing - there are others around who haven't heard or don't know about the campaign.

There are many, many Mau and Pugmire fans who haven't yet heard about this campaign and would love to join in. We're right in the middle of a very busy season - tons of different things competing for our attention and a big Brando Sando campaign playing havoc with the system - so it's not surprising that new backers are just finding out about the campaign every day. If you have an opportunity to let someone know, please do and let's make sure they have a chance to join in before the end.

If you're inviting new backers, or if you are a new backer (hi new backers!), here are a few key resources to be aware of for this campaign.

Backers are able to review the (soon-to-be) complete manuscript for this book before the campaign closes and any pledges are processed. The entirety of the rules and options from this book are available for download and review by backers, along with the relevant rules chapters from the Realms of Pugmire core rulebook! 

Anyone who pledges to this campaign before the end can read the entire book now AND provide feedback directly to the developers to help guide the manuscript through the final phases of development and editing!

And, if you join now, as I've noted, we'll be posting the final chapter of the book next week before we reach the finish line. This final chapter doesn't feature any further rules; instead it's a trilogy of cat-themed adventures set in the monarchies of Mau.

One of my favorite ways to learn about a new game is to see it in action! And with these Actual Plays you can see these Curious Cats brought to life!

There's a lot of fun stuff there, and it's a great way to learn more about the game by diving right in!

Get a sense of the world and setting by reading two fiction pieces set in the monarchies that will be included in the final version of the book!

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

1) Don't forget to share a link to the Crowdfunding page in any discussion you have (where appropriate) - and feel free to pass any of the long list of links above to those who may need more info (or, just point them to this post!)

2) Don't forget to tell us about any post or review or discussion you write! Come to the comments section and let us know so we can all go and contribute! I know I keep saying it, but really - these last days are key. Keep the enthusiasm high and keep on inviting others to join in, either directly ("Come see...") or just by setting an example of your enthusiasm and interest.

I'm really curious (cats!) to see if we can get a backer train going at the end of the campaign and wondering if we can keep rolling for another 10 or 20 minutes past our set end time!

We've got one week to go, everyone! Thank you all so much for your support! We work together because it's the right thing to do, and because backers make it better! Let's finish strong! And let's continue exploring this new Mau book together, sharing our feedback with the writers and delving into the draft manuscript, and let's see if we can't get another Stretch Goal before we review next Wednesday!

At $32,000 in Funding - MOBILE WALLPAPER – Curious Cats artwork will be used to create a wallpaper for your mobile device lockscreen. This mobile wallpaper will be added to the rewards list of all backers supporting this project.