Unlocked: "Noah's Flying Ark of Junk," a.k.a. the possum expansion! Next up: the deck of cards
about 3 years ago – Sun, Feb 21, 2021 at 09:35:41 AM

Stretch Goal Unlocked!

Hooray! We've unlocked the "Noah's Flying Ark of Junk" stretch goal! With expanded roles for other trash animals, you'll be able to take to the skies as a passel of possums in a zeppelin, or as rats, pigeons or roaches in their own flying contraptions. (Auto-gyro, hang glider, paper airplane? Hit me up with your ideas in the comments!) These will take the form of added trash-animal Character Sheets with variant Actions. I know at least a few backers who are particularly excited for this stretch goal, and my partner assures me that there is a strong possum fandom out there. You can also play raccoons competing with your trash-animal cousins, in the form of new story prompts in each Scene. And somehow, I have to work the Rat King into this expansion!

Next Up

Next is the "Luck of the Draw" stretch goal, which I'm very enthusiastic about. The game's current design relies on cards to generate each Scene's goals and conflict, but it uses regular poker cards, with lookup tables to say what each number and suit means for the story. While I want to keep this in the zine for people who don't get special cards, having the card's meaning right on its face would give the game so much more momentum. (The cards would still have suits and numbers on them so they work as poker cards too.) So here's hoping we get to $6000!

After that, at $7000, is the special 12-sided die with a raccoon's face where the 12 would be. Dare to dream!

Other Projects that Look Cool

Cephalopod: Ocean Home is the aquatic opposite number to Raccoon Sky Pirates. Instead of raccoons on a raid, you play octopodes and other cephalopods escaping your aquarium tank for the sea. It's as in love with octopi and their ways as I am with raccoons, incorporating that into the mechanics. Just as an octopus's tentacles can function independently of the brain, each player controls only half the octopus! Cooperation is key to your prison break.

In the Light of a Faded World is a game about exploring spaces reclaimed by nature. You play small animals—think beetle, toad or mouse—exploring a post-post-apocalyptic environment. Especially cool: it is the town or area where you now live, which you reimagine as overgrown and empty of humans.

Ever wish you had Tolkien's knack for deep worldbuilding? It comes from language. The Journal of Fantastic Linguistics gives you the tools to be your own Tolkien. Add accents, dialects and place names to your fantasy setting in a smart way, making the whole world come alive. What taboos do people mark and break in their language? Why are elves high-tea English, dwarves Scottish and orcs Cockney? (And does that even make sense?) How can creatures affect the world through language? (I'm thinking of the dragons in A Wizard of Earthsea!) And more.

Unlocked: "Not Your First Trash Rodeo," a.k.a. campaign play! Next: possums and other trash animals
about 3 years ago – Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 05:44:10 AM

We've unlocked the "Not Your First Trash Rodeo" stretch goal! With campaign rules, you and your raccoon shipmates will be rewarded for going on multiple raids, enabling you to build your ship and your junkyard home into something truly special.

Next up, at $5000, the much-anticipated possum rules (and rats, pigeon and roaches) in "Noah's Flying Ark of Junk"! Play a wide variety of trash animals, or compete against them and their flying machines for the best trash.

Past that, we get into the physical stretch goals: $6000 will unlock the deck of cards containing story prompts, and $7000 will unlock the special 12-sided die with a raccoon face in place of the 12.

Thanks for your support! Keep flying—

Chris

P.S. There are so many good zines being made right now. I'm a big fan of Scurry! by Dungeons on a Dime, Precious Little Animal by Alex Roberts, In the Light of a Faded World by Derek Kinsman, and The Journal of Fantastic Linguistics by the Freelancing Roleplayers' Press. Check them out!

Stretch Goals
about 3 years ago – Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 05:43:36 AM

This is such a surreal situation to be in for a stupid zine about raccoons and suburban sky piracy. Thank you all again. Here’s what will happen if we reach the following funding levels:

🦝 At $4000, I’ll include campaign rules for increased replayability. Everyone who pledges at the Digital Burglar ($2) level and above will get these expanded rules.

🦝 At $5000, because you demanded it, I’ll include rules for playing (or beating) possums in an airship. I’ll also include rats, pigeons and roaches. Everyone who pledges at the Digital Burglar ($2) level and above will get these expanded rules.

🦝 At $6000, I’ll print up a deck of cards to help you play the game. They’ll provide story prompts—complications that add drama to each scene in the game. In the same black-and-white theme as the booklet, the cards will describe challenges for both ship and house scenes. Everyone who pledges at the Printed Pirate ($8) level and above will get this deck. This will increase my shipping costs, so I’m putting it at a rather high funding level. If we reach $6K, you will have earned it!

🦝 At $7000, I’ll order a custom 12-sided die, in black and gray, with a raccoon face where the 12 would be. Everyone who pledges at the Printed Pirate ($8) level and above will get this die. This will be the cherry on top of a miraculous Kickstarter campaign.

You're amazing!
about 3 years ago – Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 05:43:00 AM

Thank you so much. You funded this raccoon-based project in just eight hours, and then you went on to blow past that. I'm so grateful to everyone who has pledged, at any level, and who got the word out and said kind things about it.

I'm now considering stretch goals, although I want to be careful about that. The last thing I want to do is risk my ability to deliver the campaign's core commitments. (Careful and deliberate—how very un-raccoon of me!)

More soon. Let's fly this ship as far as it will go!