Final Week, Accessibility, Outreach and Last Stretch Goals!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Dec 09, 2021 at 05:51:07 AM

Oh wow, there's only five-ish days left on the Kickstarter! 

The last few days we've jumped all the way up to £24k. I'm confident we can make our £25k goal for a full system-neutral campaign in Pictland!

In this update, I wanted to highlight some of the efforts being made for accessibility on the project, and our progress so far. Here's a summary, and there's more detail inside:

• Community Box - we've raised over 450 free books for schools!
• Accessible Media - we're committed to producing a text-only version of the book, with image description and screen reader tagging.
• £30k Stretchgoal - Pictish Papercrafts! Build longhouses, standing stones and sheep pens.

Community Box Books

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our community, I can confirm at the time of writing that there are 457 free physical books in the Community Box,  or just over 90 packs of books that social institutions like libraries, schools and clubs will be able to claim.

How these books will be distributed is going to be carefully considered by our team, balancing factors to make sure the books go where they are most needed. 

Accessible Media

We want to make Carved in Stone as available as possible to as many audiences as possible. This requires a multi-faceted approach, starting with writing styles, illustrations and layout, but also including what formats our final outcome will be available in.

We're committed to creating a text-only printer-friendly version of Carved in Stone, as part of the public release under a Creative Commons license. This document will include special image descriptions, with the goal of creating an experience that is just as enjoyable and immersive as the full-colour book.

This will not be a small task but is far from the most that can be done.  We have hopes of producing an audiobook version of the book as well, available as downloadable MP3s and also to stream via YouTube. We also hope to create a fully re-tagged version of the main PDF, making it more suitable for screen readers.  Lastly, we're considering translations in Scots Gaelic and Braille.

These efforts will most likely require additional funding, which we will be seeking outside of Kickstarter. We have the intention of pursuing them but may not have the ability to at this time.

£30k Stretch Goal - Pictish Papercraft!

Our next stretch goal after the Pictish campaign will be new papercraft models! 

Sheets of these designs will be printed with all mailed rewards from £15 and up, and digital versions will be available for free to all early access backers, before becoming free for everyone. You can fill your game table with late-antiquity longhouses, sheep pens, and famous standing stones!

Watching and Waiting 👀

A final thought for everyone following the project along. Of the 900+ folks following the campaign and its updates, only 10% have backed our project. If you're as keen to see Pictland come to life as we are, we'd really cherish your support! You could be the one to help us tip over into our next goal!

.

That's all for this update. We'll be back at the very end with a round-up of how we're doing this weekend. See you soon!

-- Brian

Celebrations, Music and Stretch Goals!
over 2 years ago – Sat, Dec 04, 2021 at 08:52:53 AM

Hello everyone! First of all, a massively sincere thank you from the bottom of our hearts for supporting the campaign so far. We've hit our initial goal, which is so gratifying ❤

Soundtracks on a Dime - Borders

To celebrate the Kickstarter funding, I've put together a playlist of exciting, jubilant and mysterious music inspired by red dawns on misty highland hills. Have a listen by clicking on the image below!

Stretch Goals

We've got plenty of dreams we'd love to make a reality, with the help of you fine backers.

Ver and I are working on new artwork to showcase how awesome Celebration of Blades will be (if we hit this next goal!)

£25k - Celebration of Blades. We have drafted a system-agnostic TTRPG campaign, setting you and your players in the village of Lair. Your smith, an old friend of the King, is on death’s door. It’s down to you and your friends to travel the wilds of Scotland in search of everything you’ll need to host one hell of a Wake.

This expansion comes with a roster of action-packed adventures to go on:

• Stomp through the streets of Burghead, one of Fortriu’s busiest ports.
• Rustle cows from pastoral herders.
• Corral carousing bards to entertain your royal guests.
• Haggle over the price of beer with Abernathian Monks.
• Appease local rituals to bless a grave-offering for your dying smith.
• Rekindle social traditions for the smith’s apprentice.

£30k - Bonus Rewards. To show our appreciation for your generous support, we'll be adding more physical rewards to all £15 tiers and up! More details to come as we get closer to this goal (you didn't hear it from me, but there might be notebooks, pin badges, keychains and more 👀)

Community Box

Last but not least, by the numbers of backers so far, we have over 300 books in our free-to-claim community box, available specifically to schools, libraries and other social institutes. That's incredible!

That's all for now. We'll be back with more details soon!