We've funded! (We actually funded earlier in the week and then "unfunded" which I have never seen happen before). That means everyone is going to get what they've pledged for!
There are multiple stretch goals for the campaign. The first goal, at £3000, will fund the development of a supplemental zine called Hot Rising Talents. The scene will be a roster of playable characters for Transgender Deathmatch Legend II, illustrated by Hodag RPG and written by me and (funding depending) some very exciting guest writers from across the TTRPG scene. If the goal is hit the zine will be added to the Box Set pledge and be available as an Add-On for all other pledge levels.
The zine is going to black and white DL. Here's a preview of the cover:
Art by Hodag RPG, layout by Kayla Dice
And here's a preview for one of our titular Hot Rising Talents: "Classy" Cassie Arkady!
Shoot Name: Kate Fighting Style: Brawling Finishing Move: Pure Pedigree (Stalling Double Underhook Facebuster)
"Classy" Cassie Arkady was given a "posh" gimmick as a joke. She actually got good at it though, the upper class mean girl gimmick was a heat magnet and she managed to add some layers to her gimmick by dropping the fake accent in particularly person fueds. She wrestles as a brawler, though she had a technical background. She made that switch for a contrast to her gimmick and it works well for her. Audiences love to hate her, sometimes even just love to love her, she should a bigger star really. So, why isn't she?
Cassie has crashed out of at least six promotions owing to bad break-ups with wrestler in management. Peoples usual response to hearing the gossip was a simple "Classy." That's where the gimmick came from.
Her messy dating life isn't intended as social climbing, and it needs probably has the opposite effect. Management often regard her as a bad influence, while locker rooms think she's got ulterior motives. Honestly, she just follows her heart more than her head. Maybe she finds her head unreliable after how often she smashes it into opponents skulls?
There's 17 days left on the campaign and being completely honest I've been frustrated by how it's been going. I think visibility has really suffered from BackerKit requiring the page be 18+ though there are probably things I could have done differently. Looking at the data it seems the biggest problem the project is facing is just getting seen full stop. I'd like to put hope in the fact that now we're funded maybe things will be smoother, but we'll see how things play out. Word of mouth is still the only tool I have, but things aren't over yet.
I guested on this week's Talk of the Table to talk about the book and the campaign. Sitting down with Brian and Elliot was a delight and we dug into what makes the game tick, the thematic richness of the game and why the game is so specific. You can listen to the episode wherever you get your podcasts.
I'll have another update soon (sharing an actual play recording of the game in action), and hopefully if we start hitting goals I'll have even more to update people on!
