I've got a lot to go over today, so let's fire up the boilers and start up the steam!
Before we get into it, one more quick reminder about our current Stretch Goal target!
At $18,000 in Funding - DIGITAL WALLPAPER
Fantastic TC: Steam Wars artwork will be used to create a wallpaper for your computer desktop. This digital wallpaper will be added as a free bonus reward for all backers supporting this project. [Envoy reward tier+]
We're in the Final Days countdown for this Crowdfunding campaign. Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars finishes the crowdfunding campaign on February 27th at 2:00 PM Eastern Time. There's still time to assemble a few more backers, 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 final five days to make sure everyone has the information they need to support this project in the way that works best for them.
Final Days Schedule
Feb 23 - Reward Tier & Add On Review (that's today!)
Feb 25 - Manuscript Preview # 5 - Chapter 5+6
Feb 26 - Stretch Goal Review
Feb 27 - Final Day Checklist & What Comes Next
Whether you're a rookie co-pilot in a Runabout Class rig or sitting in the big chair of a Behemoth Class machine, these are some good topics to review over this week to make sure we all end up where we want to be.
(An aside, if you're a new backer, make sure you check out our Final Week Countdown / Resource Update. It has links to the manuscript previews, youtube videos, and other helpful information.)
PLEDGE REWARD TIERS
Like it says right at the top of the campaign story page, we've come together to help create a fully developed PDF and hardcover version for these quirky divergence for the Trinity Continuum roleplaying game. Other eras and settings have been explored in the Trinity Continuum's Alpha timeline, but this is the first time a close tangent universe has been the focus of a main book rather than part of supplemental material, and it's interesting to see what other opportunities this presents to branch out from the Continuum we know.
PLEDGING YOUR SUPPORT
To borrow an analogy that I've used in past 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.
Digital vs Hardcover
The main reward offered in this campaign is, of course, the main goal of the entire proposition: the finished book that is Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars. The first decision you need to make is what form your rewards will take. Do you want your main rewards in digital form and are going for the PDF version? Or do you have space on your shelf for the hardcover book? (Note - the hardcover version includes the PDF as a bonus!).
With that decision in mind, we've got two key reward tiers to choose from:
Pilot
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.
Captain
This reward tier includes the hardcover version of this book. Shipping costs ARE NOT included in the cost of your pledge. You will be charged for shipping after the campaign through the pledge manager. In addition, this option also includes the PDF version, so you will get a digital copy as described above.
An important reminders at this stage:
Shipping Costs: We’ll be charging for shipping in the Pledge Manager once the books are being printed and we can deal with the actual shipping charges rather than using our best-guesses this far out. We’re still anticipating pretty hefty costs to ship the book internationally (see our current guesses on the story page) so be forewarned, but we’ll cross that enormous bridge when we get to it.
In addition to these primary reward pledge roles, we also offer the following options:
Envoy: Not ready to commit, or just looking to offer general support? This pledge role 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 Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars that we post throughout this campaign.
Engineer: This pledge role offers a special limited premium reward in addition to the basics: an option to supply a name to be used by an NPC added to the setting.
After the campaign is over we'll launch our BackerKit 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. We will also use BackerKit's Pledge Manager to charge actual shipping costs for orders when we're approaching order fulfillment. Funding collected by BackerKit after the crowdfunding 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 crowdfunding campaign!
OPTIONAL DISCOUNTED PoD VERSION – For this Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars campaign, you will have the option of using DriveThruRPG.com’s Print-On-Demand service to purchase a 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 maybe 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.
TRINITY CONTINUUM: STEAM WARS BACKER PDF - Crowdfunding backers will receive a redemption link 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.
TRINITY CONTINUUM: STEAM WARSHARDCOVER 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 hardcover version also include the digital PDF version as a bonus. Shipping costs ARE NOT included in the cost of your pledge. You will be charged for shipping after the campaign through the pledge manager.
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 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. Funds for additional extras can be added to your pledge by selecting Add On options 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 crowdfunding campaign is to ensure you've selected the appropriate Backer Reward Tier. Selecting the right Reward Tier covers about 95% 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-On Options
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.
You can select an Add On option, which will increase the amount of your pledge by the listed amount. Add on options will be selected and confirmed again in the Pledge Manager when that's up and running.
In addition to additional redemptions/copies of the Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars book, Onyx Path is also offering digital version of previous Trinity Continuum and They Came From releases.
The Trinity Continuum is a tabletop roleplaying game about possibilities and human potential. In the continuum, you will portray characters who can act and achieve even the most outlandish goals. Talents are people who have the ability to unknowingly reach into the continuum and change their own circumstances, appearing to be extremely lucky or very skilled individuals. Unlike TC: Steam Wars, which contains all of the rules needed to play, the era sourcebooks for the main "Alpha" Trinity Continuum universe all require the Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook to play.
Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook - The Trinity Continuum Corebook is a standalone setting within the Trinity Continuum, but also serves as the foundation for other era/genre expansions, such as Æon, Aberrant, Adventure! Inside, you will find rules for creating characters within the Trinity Continuum; rules for Action Adventure, Intrigue, and Procedural play; advice for running genre games and styles of play in the Trinity Continuum; information on playing Talents in the modern era.
Trinity Continuum: Æon - Humanity has begun settling on planets circling other suns. Teleporters and the new Leviathan jump ships can take anyone across the galaxy in a few hours, so the stars are at last within our reach. However, we have found dangers as well as wonders out there, and only by working together can we overcome them and take our place on the galactic stage.
Trinity Continuum: Aberrant - Trinity Continuum: Aberrant is a game of superpowered adventure in the near-future of the Trinity Continuum. In 2018, novas — people with superhuman powers — first appeared following the explosion of a space station high above Earth. Now, 10 years later, thousands of novas have transformed the world, using their extraordinary powers to fight crime, clean up the environment, invent new technologies, and create wonders.
Trinity Continuum: Adventure! - Trinity Continuum: Adventure! is a pulp action game set in an alternate history 1930s putting the players in the shoes of daring adventurers who seek to right wrongs and stop evildoers. In a world altered by strange telluric energy, characters may find themselves transported to places out of time where dinosaurs still roam or stopping an evil genius from blowing up the moon.
Trinity Continuum: Assassins - Trinity Continuum: Assassins transports players to the Contiuum’s underworld where well-dressed killers-for-hire use high-tech weapons and gear to eliminate their targets. Assassins join hidden Societies, each unified by their preferred method of doing violence. Their lives are brutal, blood-stained, and glamorous.
Trinity Continuum: Anima - Trinity Continuum: Anima is a game of cyberpunk and LitRPG (short for “literary roleplaying”) adventure set in the future of the Trinity Continuum. Characters in Anima are Talents — supremely talented individuals with an innate and unconscious ability to change the world. They have come to Cascade for their own reasons but are drawn into the intrigues of both the physical and virtual worlds. Some will enter the dangerous world of corporate cloak and dagger to uncover the answers lurking in shady business deals, while others will delve deep into the virtual world’s mysteries, discovering secrets meant to be left buried. Whatever the campaign’s focus, troupes will need to work in both worlds to ensure survival. Players need strong allies for security in the real world as well as high-level animas to fight back about the forces seeking to control a world fighting to rebuild itself.
Trinity Continuum: Aether - Trinity Continuum: Aether is a game of steampunk adventure, exploration, and mystery set in 1895 in the Trinity Continuum. In the decade prior, Nikola Tesla identified and learned to harness Aether, an energy source capable of spinning new realities or unwinding the effect to restore reality. Now, Aether users dot the globe, silently spinning and unwinding with ease while Victorian era society goes about unaware of the dangerous experiments taking place in underground laboratories, dark alleys, and foreign worlds.
Trinity Continuum: Aegis - Trinity Continuum: Aegis is a game of epic adventure and exploration set during Greece’s Iron Age. The setting features figures and events from history and mythology, viewed through the lens of the Trinity Continuum. In this game you’ll play Champions, Oracles, and Olympians — characters who have come into contact with the mysterious substance called ambrosia and been transformed into Inspired individuals with powers similar to Talents, Psiads, and Novas millennia ahead of their counterparts’ times.
The They Came From... tabletop roleplaying games take your favorite movies, television shows, video games, and pop culture touchstones and turn them into action-packed and wise-cracking opportunities to tell your own versions of these cinematic stories. Featuring the art of Steam Wars® creator and artist Larry Blamire.
They Came from Beneath the Sea! is a dramatic and farcical tabletop roleplaying game encompassing the wonder, horror, thrills, and humor of 1950s and 1960s science fiction. This game allows you to play with all the great content from the B-movies of decades ago, and promises a dynamic, fun time for all involved!
They Came from Beyond the Grave! is a dramatic, hammy, and horrifying tabletop roleplaying game encompassing the shock, terror, eroticism, and humor of 1970s horror. This game allows you to play with all the magnificent content from the movies of Hammer, Amicus, and Roger Corman, and promises the fun and thrills of the horror movie genre!
They Came from the Cyclops's Cave! - From an epic like The Thief of Bagdad or grim fantasy such as The Sword and the Sorcerer, Cyclops’s Cave! has everything you need for swashbuckling, noble heroism, and monster slaying.
They Came from [CLASSIFIED]! - Whether you’re a Moore-era Bond fan, an aficionado of John Steed and Emma Peel’s adventures, or an Austin Powers-esque swinging cat, [CLASSIFIED]! has everything you need for a groovy, espionage-filled story.
Pick a Pledge Tier, then Add On Options
Ready to join in? If you're backing for the first time, you can click BACK IT and select your Pledge Tier and finalize funding amount in the next menu.
Using myself as an example, I've supported every Trinity Continuum campaign since the start and want to continue building my inspired library. Once I click BACK IT, I see my pledge level options. If I want to know a bit more about each level, I can click Learn More, or if I know what I'm looking for, I can click Back It.
The two main pledges focusing on Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars are the $25 Pilot path for the PDF only reward, and the $60 Captain path for the physical hardcover book. It should be pretty self-explanatory, but you can click on the "Learn More" button to expand the Pledge Level info. For example, Clicking Learn More on the Captain pledge gives you...
This is the reward tier I'm choosing, as it exactly fits my needs for this project.
Once you're ready, you can click that BACK IT button and go right to Add On options.
For example, I've decided on the $60 Captain pledge path, so I select BACK IT for that pledge, and then I want to add on a few of the Add On optional extras to my rewards list. I'll pretend I haven't already backed the two most recent setting eras (actually, the most recent campaigns... the eras for these settings are actually the furthest in the past for the TC universe so far...), and select Trinity Continuum: Aether and Trinity Cotinuum: Aegis as Add On extras.
My total starts at $60 for the Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars Captain pledge tier, and then I add +$ 20 for Trinity Continuum: Aether PDF +$ 20 for Trinity Continuum: Aegis PDF
To bring my final total pledge to $100 USD. Once everything is correct, you can select NEXT and then Confirm Your Pledge. You'll get an e-mail confirmation of your choices.
If you're already a backer but want to update your Pledge tier or Add On choices, here's what you look for: Select Manage Your Pledge at the top of the campaign page, and then you can Edit Your Pledge
Select "Edit Pledge" on your review page, and then you can revise your pledge tier or Add On selections.
You can select a new Pledge Level from the available option menu, or Change your Add On selection.
As before, you'll confirm all of your choices, and then receive an e-mail confirmation once that's done.
And with that, my pledge level and Add On options are set for your pledge. At this time, you don't need to worry about setting shipping information.
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 the Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars book at a later date will not have any Stretch Goal rewards automatically added to their rewards list if applicable.
REWARD DELIVERY
About 4-6 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 that 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 starter existing Exalted titles and bundles. 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 TC: Steam Wars 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 8-10 weeks or so, just enough time for us to set up the reward infrastructure.)
Physical Books
If you're waiting to see the International shipping costs before upgrading your PDF pledge to any of the hardcover reward tiers, you'll have lots of time for that. We won't close the Pledge Manager until the books are ready to print and we know what shipping costs will be, so you'll be able to go back and adjust your pledge tier at that time.
It's going to take some time to create the final PDF for Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars and even longer for the eventual print run for the hardcover books. When the books are at the printer, I will be in touch with all backers to outline timeline for pledge adjustments, as well as lockdown procedures and when we'll be confirming addresses and processing BackerKit Add Ons and Shipping payments. That's a long time away, and we'll cover that as we get closer to that part of the process.
Don't fret if you had forgotten to select additional rewards 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 can investigate PDF and digital options. If you select a hardcover tier, you will be able to add additional copies of the hardcover.
Note that all funds are expressed in US Dollars, so take into account your conversion as needed.
It Adds Up!
That should explain the process of Selecting your Reward Level and adding 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 budgetand ensure you've selected the appropriate reward tier and add ons for your current financial situation. BackerKit will begincharging your payment methodat midnight the day the campaign ends, so ensure you've budgeted correctly. Choose what works best for you now and is affordable at this time, knowing that you can upgrade your pledge level or choose Add Ons in the Pledge Manager at a late date.
Conclusion
As we move through these final days of the campaign, please ensure you've chosen the correct Pledge Level for the rewards you want (at least at this point). And beyond that - please make sure you've investigated and selected any add-ons you wish to receive. If you have any issues with the Pledge process, either selecting the reward tier or figuring out the Add On options, you can reach out to me or to the support team at BackerKit. I've found them to respond quickly and offer great support.
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 see some rules for the most epic wrestling tournament, so let's make sure that none of our friends miss out!
I'll be back tomorrow with a sneak peek at some of the Storyguide Rigs from our final chapter, and on Tuesday with that final piece - the complete FINAL manuscript section for Trinity Continuum: Steam Wars, making the complete text available for all backers to review before the campaign ends!
