Hello Steam Warriors,

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

Over the next 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.

With our boilers roiling and our gears engaged, we're able to unleash the full strength of our war rigs and achieve the nearly impossible. In this case, that'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 February 27th at 2:00 PM Eastern Time, 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 planned? Who knows, but we'll find out together! Full steam ahead!

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 Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars recruiter. It's time to share your excitement for Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars! Basically, we want to recruit as many curious backers 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 TC: Steam Wars until 2:01 PM Eastern next Thursday February 27th  (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? The state of the world? That gets a little depressing fairly quickly. 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.

We all know this project is quirky and niche - it's steam-powered warfare in the late 1800s - not a well-explored genre or setting. Those interested in this game will have interesting imaginations and a love for the unusual. That said, there are many Onyx Path game fans that "interesting and unusual" describes perfectly and they haven't yet heard about this campaign and would love to join in. We're right in the middle of relentless news and events 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.

For me, one of my main ways of coping with these exhausting times is to dive into a game world with my friends. Reading the Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars manuscript has been a much-needed escape over the past weeks, and my friends and I will absolutely be designing our own war rig as part of our self-care in the future.

So, let's help out our awesome TTRPG fans and make sure that we've spread the word as best we can and everyone has an opportunity to participate in this campaign!

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. With the exception of the Storyguiding chapter coming on Tuesday, the entirety of the rules and options from this book are available for download and review by backers, along with all of the setting information for this strange, cool world.

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 chapters of the book next week before we reach the finish line. These final chapters have advice for Storyguides on how to run their story, along with a plethora of story hooks and seeds to get them started. These chapters also provide advice on different themes that can be explored and secrets relating to how this game ties into the broader Trinity Continuum. Reader discretion is advised if you want the setting and future of Steam Wars to remain a mystery.

Plus a full selection of pre-built antagonists and war rigs to challenge your players! We'll get some previews of these over the next week as well.

Matthew Dawkins, one of the developers for this book, presents an amazing series of videos digging into various aspects of Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars on his Gentleman Gamer channel. Check these out:

You can get a great sense of the setting from these in-world letters home, presented as if part of a Ken Burns documentary.

Great stuff, and the creativity of the team is just more inspiration for your own game!

The Discord is particularly lively, but you might be able to gain further insight and some in-depth conversation at any of 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.

Final Week

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 amazingly quirkly and unique setting 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!