Colostle - A Solo RPG

BACKERKIT CONFIRMED + another Kickstarter you might be interested in!
about 5 years ago – Sat, Jan 30, 2021 at 01:06:18 PM

Hey guys! Me again!

I don't have any official news on the postage issue yet, but I can tell you it is looking promising. In the meantime however I can say that Colostle has teamed up with Backerkit which means add-ons post-campaign are now going to be possible! So if you want extra journals, decks of cards or even copies of the rulebook, every single reward will be available as an add-on when the Backerkit surveys come out after the campaign.

SO, set your pledge for now at the base level for what you want, safe in the knowledge that you will be able to add whatever extras you want when it comes to the survey at the end! Huzzah!

My wife is currently running a Kickstarter as well, so I thought I would drop a link here to her campaign as it only has a couple of days left!

She's come up with an awesome idea for a medal for creative endeavours! As a self-motivating tool, you can order one of these gorgeous looking medals as an incentive for you to get that big creative project done for this year! Medals are no longer just for sporting events, let's get some for creative projects too!

The medal is a gorgeous golden metal object on a ribbon, in the design of the image above, with enamel for those popping colours! Its the perfect motivator if you have a big creative project this year, or as a gift for a friend who could do with some friendly encouragement!

I hope you will check out her Kickstarter, she's SO close to her first stretch goal and it would be awesome to just pop over that on her first campaign! But act soon if you want one, there's only 2 DAYS LEFT!

You can see her campaign here!

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Right, now I must get back to sorting postage out!

More from me soon!

Nich x

NEW REWARD TIERS - Hardback + Deck of Custom Cards
about 5 years ago – Sat, Jan 30, 2021 at 05:32:00 AM

Ok, we're doing this. You guys have been amazing, so supportive, so passionate, its only right that I reward that fervour with some radical new reward tiers that enhance your Colostle experience so, without further ado... here we go....

Hardback Edition - Premium A4 hardback edition of Colostle, containing all base book rules PLUS all stretch goal modules (64 pages approx). It will be bigger than the A5 floppy version, with the internal artwork re-laid to the new format. On top of that it will include new full-page full-colour artworks, a world map and an illustrated items library to even further enhance your adventures!

Deck of Custom Cards - A pack of 54 standard playing cards (4 suits and 2 Jokers), with fully artworked deckbox and card backs. The cards will have the suit, colour and number in the corners (like classic playing cards) but will have new Colostle artwork in the centre of the front sides of the cards as well. (Mockup image to follow shortly)

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The new rewards are structured as follows:

Hardback Print Edition - £20 - Hardback copy of Colostle + Blank Journal + PDF version

Paperback Print Edition + Card Deck - £26 - Colostle base book + Expansions book + Blank Journal + Deck of Cards + PDF

Hardback Print Edition + Card Deck - £40 - Hardback copy of Colostle + Blank Journal + Deck of Cards + PDF

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Note about postage costs:

I've done a lot of research and maths to try and get the international postage costs down lower, but sadly I think due to Brexit, they are a little higher now than on previous campaigns I have run in the recent past. As such, I have brought the Reward Tier costs down as low as I can to compensate for that. I hope they will be acceptable to you guys, but please know I have done everything I can!

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Estimated Delivery:

You will notice that the estimated delivery for these new reward tiers is later, set to June. This is to give me time to do all the new artwork required for the cards and the hardback, and also all the gameplay design for the new modules.

This means that even the lower tiers (paperback and PDF) will also be delayed to this new timescale as they will also be receiving all the new content for the stretch goals, and I am not in a position to be able to do multiple waves of postage.

I am over the moon that this campaign has grown so far beyond my initial expectations, but with that comes some costs for making all this exciting new content. I hope that my transparency on this is enough to compensate for the delay. I will as always reply to all your comments and messages and keep you updated throughout.

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I am SO excited to be able to offer these new, more luxurious tiers to the campaign. The book will be a proper object now that will have an ISBN and everything. This means it could become a product that ends up in game stores and everything, along with the deck of cards. This is more than just a fun little project now, it's a real living breathing product and I love that. This is the power of Kickstarter!

If you want to partake of these new rewards, all you have to do is go to the campaign page and click 'Manage Pledge' at the top, and you can select one of these new tiers instead, and as simple as that, you will have upgraded!

I hope you are all as excited as I am about these new tiers. Let me know in the comments below, and you will hear from me very soon with some new artwork, once I've got it drawn!

thanks!

Nich x

WORKING ON MORE STRETCH GOALS! - Nearly 1000 Backers!
about 5 years ago – Fri, Jan 29, 2021 at 08:31:35 AM

Wow wow wow! This is incredible. I can't believe we are nearing a thousand backers on a campaign I was expecting to get 30 or 40 on! You guys are so awesome for rallying around this little project! And it's becoming bigger and better because of you, so thank you.

First up, Battlements artwork:

I will do the design for the cover of the Journal next and then Cities... but before all that. Points to discuss!

2 Books or Spiral - I have made a decision. Thank you so much for all your feedback. I have gone through and read every comment and I really appreciate all of them. I have decided to go with 2 books. This is partly because of the majority and partly because it's the one that excites me more. Spiral fans, I hope this is ok. You have my word, they will be pretty!

Dot grid or Lines - After a couple of comments advocating dot-grid, and having a think myself, I think dot grid sounds like the way to go. It means you can do sketches and make maps, AND ALSO have guidance for writing the journal entries. I think it's the best option. So that is my decision on that too.

Further Stretch Goals - So, i've been having a think on this, and based on a few comments I think I want to add a couple more stretch goals. However, rather than just coming as bonuses on the £6 tier as all the previous ones have, these are going to be new tiers when they unlock, because my ideas for them are pretty big! A few of you have said you'd be prepared to pledge a little more if it gets you some really rad stuff, and I really want to be able to give you that, so thats the plan.

I am still waiting for some quotes from some suppliers on some of these so I won't announce what they are or what the thresholds are until I have done all the maths and I know for sure. This campaign has grown so much that i'm looking at fulfilment companies now, which I had not initially factored in, so there is a good amount of sums to work through!

I hope to have the new goals, and what they will get you, announced before we reach the halfway point of the campaign, so you won't have long to wait. I can tell you now though, they are VERY exciting! I can't wait to be able to tell you!

Ok, more from me very soon. Until then, tell your friends and thank you so much. You all rule.

Nich x

DEMO COPIES FROM THE PRINTER!!
about 5 years ago – Thu, Jan 28, 2021 at 01:35:54 AM

The demo copies arrived from the printer today and they look amazing! I am SO happy with the finish, the feel of the matt-lamination and the shine and readability of the foil.

Point of order though; due to the stretch goals adding to the page count of the book, we are reaching the limit of what a saddle-stitch book can do and still look good. I can't upgrade to a perfect binding as that is too expensive per unit, SO I have two potential options and I wonder if you would let me know which you would prefer in the comments:

1. Spiral Binding - I know this is not typically the most beautiful of book-binding styles but it does have some advantages, the biggest one being it can sit open and flat, which for a rulebook you will be often consulting, is quite handy. Second, it would allow for many more pages than a saddle-stitch or perfect bind without exploding the cost per unit, so we could add more modules with relative ease!

2. Separate Books - I stay in saddle-stitch territory but I put all of the expansion modules into a second book with the exact same finish as the base book (matt lamination, foil cover, saddle stitched, 24pp). This gives the book a sort of 'series' feel and it also allows you to opt to not use the expansion modules on your first playthroughs and add their rules in later when you fancy it. This would also open the door to another full-colour cover illustration which is a bit exciting!

I must stress, these are stretch goals so whichever option I eventually choose to go for, there will be no additional cost to you. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

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New reward tier - There is now a new tier added to allow you to buy 2 copies of the print/physical addition so you can buy one for yourself and one as a gift for your friend! Or just have two for yourself! If you like the sound of this tier you can upgrade your pledge to this level by going to the top of the Colostle campaign page and clicking 'Manage Pledge' to switch it over!

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We are nearly at 600 backers!! I can't believe it! If you are new here then thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart! I am overjoyed that this has stretched so far, I love the thought I can add so much to this book for you all. We're not far from that Journal stretch goal now, so once we smash that I will announce the next one!

Thanks again to you all, you are all the best!

Talk soon,

Nich x

STRETCH GOAL #3 - JOURNAL - UNLOCKED!!! NEXT STRETCH GOAL...
about 5 years ago – Tue, Jan 26, 2021 at 05:34:50 AM

Hey guys!

Just a quick one from me, as I want to try and announce the next stretch goal before we smash through it! We're already halfway there!

First up, Stretch Goal 3 - every physical pledge will receive a blank lined journal with a cover that is inkeeping with the Colostle setting, for you to record your adventures in! The tier that has 2 copies of the book will get two copies of the journal! I will show the artwork for the journal once it is complete, things are moving so fast I can't keep up!

Stretch Goal #4 will be Colostle - Cities! This will be the final additional module adding rules and artwork for living in the largest of settlements within the Colostle. These bustling centres of commerce and trade are where legendary Rook hunters sell their spoils from successful hunts, and hear of new quests. Although not adding a new class or Rook type, this module will add the most in terms of rules complexity, adding a quest and items structure to the game. As such there is quite a bit of work for me to do on this one, and so it might take a little longer than the other modules!

That said, i'm still aiming for the previously stated shipping date. I'll keep you updated if it looks as though I might not make it.

Thanks for all your feedback on the 2 books or spiral-bound conundrum, I will announce my decision in the next update, along with some new artwork!

Let's keep this crazy ball rolling! If you haven't yet, why not tell a friend who likes RPGs about the campaign? And also, check out my Instagram where I post most of my art, @nichangell, and chuck me a follow if you like what you see! Let me know you came from this campaign and we can have a chat there!

More from me soon!

Nich x