Crossing the Finish Line, Next Steps, and a Peek at Our Next Project
over 2 years ago – Sun, Nov 21, 2021 at 10:35:11 PM

Hello planar travelers!

Thanks to your support, we have funded—and massively upgraded—three great books (and the Resource Deck) for planar exploration.

Our last stretch goal—reached in the final hour of the campaign!—was a huge one that upgraded all three books. Thank you all so much for reaching it before the campaign closed, and for all the great stretch goals unlocked along the way.
We have some critical info for you, but first here’s a little run down of Team MCG behind this Kickstarter, all of whom helped make this campaign a success:

Designers Bruce, Sean, and Monte are the creative minds behind Path of the Planebreaker, the Planar Bestiary, and Planar Character Options. Their hard work and ingenious ideas are making these books truly  out-of-this-world. Bear (and the many great illustrators he works with) coordinated the artwork and handled the graphic design of this campaign; Teri and Tammie wrangled words and logistics; and Jen and LaTia provided answers and support to you, our wonderful community, here and everywhere gamers congregate online. The man behind the curtain of this campaign is Charles, who has planned and run this campaign, while Shanna—along with the rest of the team—provided valuable feedback for this campaign and kept our other projects humming along.

All of us want to extend our thanks to you, the backers. Your support brings our imagination to life and to thousands of game tables.

Here’s what to expect as we move forward from here.

This Evening and the Next Few Days

Running Kickstarter campaigns is rewarding in many ways, and we have greatly enjoyed interacting with you through these updates, the comments, social media, and so on. But it’s also a brutally hectic challenge to administer it all. And most of the MCG staff has been keeping up with our regular duties throughout—shipping your orders, bringing out books like Claim the Sky, getting existing projects like Stealing Stories for the Devil through editing and into layout, and writing forthcoming titles like The Origin and The Devil’s Dandy Dogs.

So, as we often do after Kickstarter campaigns wind down, we’re taking a short break.

Don’t expect to hear much from us this weekend, or in the week or two ahead of us. In fact, we’ll probably be pretty quiet through the holidays. If you have questions, feel free to send a Kickstarter message, but don’t be concerned if you don’t get a response right away. Production of Path of the Planebreaker and the other titles will take some time (they’re being written as we speak). If you do reach out during this time, you may need to wait for a few days. But don’t worry—we WILL get back to you.

The Next Few Weeks

Kickstarter began collecting pledges the moment the campaign closed. But it takes Kickstarter a full two weeks to release those funds, along with the data on our backers.

In the meantime, we will get BackerKit fully set up so we can open it when we have that data. BackerKit is a third-party platform that lets you confirm all the information we need to fulfill your pledge. If there are add-ons you’ve missed, or if you decide to increase your reward level, you can do that through BackerKit as well. You’ll be notified when we open BackerKit, which should be shortly after the Thanksgiving (US) holiday.

NOTE: Signing into BackerKit is vital to getting your rewards. Kickstarter does NOT provide us with the information we need to fulfill your rewards; we MUST gather it from you after the campaign. If you don’t respond to your BackerKit survey, we can’t send you any rewards!

(We hope to have BackerKit open for non-backers to make late pledges right away. This is a different process than the part that manages your pledge. Don’t worry if the pledge manager opens a little later; it just takes some time for all the data to settle out.)

The Next Few Months

Once you’ve done your BackerKit survey, we won’t need anything else from you until it’s time to start fulfilling rewards. We’ll be busy crafting the products and rewards you will be receiving in the months to come.

At times during this period, you won't hear from us, maybe for a couple of months. Don’t worry if that happens—we've delivered thousands of rewards on time in the past, and we'll be working diligently on yours.

But at the same time, please pay attention when you do get communications from us. Our emails and Kickstarter updates include critical information about your rewards.

When Your Rewards Ship

Every time a reward is ready for you, we’ll contact you again by email to begin the fulfillment process. Generally, we’ll direct you to the MCG Shop, where you’ll log in, “buy” the product (for free with a coupon, because you’ve already paid for it through Kickstarter), and check out.

This is an important part of the process because it ensures we have accurate delivery information for every item we send out. (With thousands of backers getting rewards, it's amazing how many people will change their address over the fulfillment period.) You'll pay for shipping at that time.

Make sure you're paying attention to communications from us—don't let our updates or emails go to your spam folder, or otherwise ignore them, because if you do you could miss out on some of your rewards.

This was a wonderful Kickstarter campaign, and we are very happy you chose to be a part of it. Thank you all for your support, and for setting out on a journey into the planes with us! 

Before you set off, here’s a special peek into what you can look forward to from us on Kickstarter next year:

Now Gather Round, Family . . .

Long before anything human roamed the Earth, the Appalachians towered tall and menacing. The mountains' might was made a prison and tomb for beings of immeasurable malice and incomprehensible madness. A place to hold them; to keep them, perhaps forever, from dimming the light above.

But time marches inexorably on, and even mountains do not retain their grandeur forever. These hills now lie rounded, the walls of the prison grown thin. Things that slumbered soundlessly for millennia begin to stir and become restless. . .

Coming to Kickstarter in 2022. Sign up to be notified here!

Thanks again for your support!
  —Team MCG

Resource Deck Expanded—HUGE Stretch Goal Up Next!
over 2 years ago – Sun, Nov 21, 2021 at 01:25:29 PM

Hello planar travelers!

We’ve emerged from the Sea of Uncertainty, successfully finding the treasure we sought. The Resource Deck has more than doubled in size to 100 cards featuring spells, creatures, and items!

Since we began this journey, we’ve visited the city of Timeborne and the Sea of Uncertainty on the Planebreaker itself, as well followed the Path to the planes of Erewhon, Navarin, the Grove of Crows, and the Planes of Mirror and Shadow. Where else will the Planebreaker take us? When we travel the Path, what fascinating new planes will we discover along the way?

In celebration of such a momentous number, at $500,000 we’ll unlock a planar treasure trove of upgrades.

• We’ll add 10 new monsters to the Planar Bestiary 
• And 12 new spells to Planar Player Options 
• And—most incredible of all—we’ll add 12 new planes to Path of the Planebreaker!

You can help make this happen—and maybe win a fabulous prize!

This is an aggressive goal, but it’s within reach and the rewards are well worth it! We’ll need to attract new backers to reach this goal, and that’s going to require your help—but we’re making it easy. You can have a chance to win a copy of the stunning Deluxe Numenera Slipcase Set, a $240 value, by entering this raffle. And every entry helps spread the word about the Planebreaker Kickstarter!

Don’t miss the really cool exclusives!

Path of the Planebreaker, the Planar Bestiary, and Planar Character Options are going to be awesome books. But don’t miss out on some of the other cool rewards. Many of these items are limited-edition—this Kickstarter is the only way to guarantee you’ll get a copy. They’re all available as add-ons, but the best deal is the Ascended Traveler (or Multiverse Master) backer level! Take a look at these rewards below!

Thanks so much for your support!
  —Team MCG

New Subclasses and More Unlocked—New Goal: Expanded Resource Deck!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Nov 18, 2021 at 01:54:56 AM

Hello planar travelers!

We have passed through the plane of Erewhon, and those there have shared their knowledge! Twelve new subclasses and additional planar character options will be added to what we have been calling the Planebreaker Player’s Guide. But all this new content requires a bigger book—so we’re also upgrading the binding and giving it a new name: Planar Player Options!

Back upon the Planebreaker, we can now look closer at the Sea of Uncertainty. Drowned in the fathomless deeps of the sea are exotic objects, strange artifacts, portions of larger structures, and all manner of extraplanar salvage.

Let’s dive into the Sea of Uncertainty, and see what we can find. At $450,000 we’ll significantly upgrade the Resource Deck! This deck gives GMs and players quick access to spells, creatures, and items from the books unlocked in this campaign. With this stretch goal, we’ll grow the deck to 100 cards—more than doubling its size and making it an even more fantastic accessory for your planar adventures!

Tweet and tag us (@MonteCookGames) and tell us which of the #Planebreaker locations we’ve traveled through so far is your favorite! Use the hashtag and we’ll RT you if we like your reply.

Thanks so much for your support!
—Team MCG

We’ve Added an Introductory Adventure! New Stretch Goal: More subclasses!
over 2 years ago – Wed, Nov 17, 2021 at 10:51:09 PM

Hello planar travelers!

Thanks to your support, we’ve added an introductory adventure to Path of the Planebreaker, making it even bigger and better. This affects the PDF and hardcover versions of the book, so literally every pledge level just got an upgrade! To celebrate, let's have a look at some new art that's come in since this Kickstarter launched! (There's more at the bottom of the update.)

We’ve somehow escaped the Planes of Mirror and Shadow, smashing our way free just as we’ve smashed through this stretch goal! The Planebreaker is now somewhere new: a dimension of gauzy, translucent pseudomatter threads. Some in Timeborne say this realm, called Erewhon, is antithetical to powerful divine and demonic beings. To them, Erewhon just doesn’t exist.

There are refugees here, hiding from the attention of the gods. Why these people might flee from such powers is worth investigating: perhaps we may even learn specialized skills and abilities that will come in handy for a planar traveler. If we reach $400,000 we’ll add 12 new subclasses and additional Planar species options to the Player’s Guide. It’s so much new content that we’ll upgrade the book’s binding and rechristen it as the Planar Player Options!

There’s a lot of buzz about Planebreaker—here are a few thoughts from The Magicians’ Summer Bishil! Tweet and tag us (@MonteCookGames) to tell us about your favorite character and what they’re most interested in finding when they venture out into the planes. Use the hashtags and we’ll RT you if we like your reply!

Like the Planebreaker Minis? Want More Cool STLs?

Lair Miniatures is making cool miniatures of creatures that appear in Beasts of Flesh and Steel (for 5e) and Numenera. While they aren't specifically planar creatures, they're all cool and weird, and many have extraplanar origins. If you're interested in even more cool creatures for your game table, check out their Kickstarter. And hurry—it's ending very soon!

Thanks so much for your support!
  —Team MCG

Bestiary Upgraded! New Stretch Goal: An Introductory Adventure!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Nov 09, 2021 at 10:47:39 PM

Hello planar travelers!

Thanks to your support, we’re now able to make the Planar Bestiary bigger and better: 10 new planar creatures have been added, and we’re making the Planar Bestiary a hardcover book. If this title is among your rewards, your pledge just got a bit of an upgrade! (And if it’s not, what are you waiting for? Pledge at the Explorer level or higher to get this great book in hardcover!)

Just as we have smashed our way through this stretch goal, the Planebreaker has hurtled through and out of the Grove of Crows, and has now crashed into the Planes of Mirror and Shadow. This is a dimensional adjunct of infinite variation and replication. Perhaps someday you’ll find your campaign reaching these planes—but how will you get there? Let’s add a new adventure to Path of the Planebreaker, one that helps you move your campaign into the planes—or launch it there! At $350,000, we’ll add a hefty adventure to Path of the Planebreaker, introducing the Planebreaker and the Path into your campaign and making the book that much bigger!

Check out this interesting message about the Planebreaker from none other than Felicia Day! Then tweet and tag us (@MonteCookGames) and tell us how you imagine introducing your players to the #Planebreaker. Use the hashtags and we’ll RT you if we like your reply!

Thanks so much for your support!
—Team MCG