Marc_Tassin's page

Just in case you missed this, the project funded, there's still 1 day left, and we're unlocking stretch goals right now! Soooo excited to see this book happening! Plus, this project's success means I can start the next round of Pathfinder compatible products!

Check it out here!

WE NEED YOU! A few months back, we took the first steps toward organizing a group to playtest new material for Aetaltis. The group is up and running now, and I want to invite you to join us.

The space is limited, but if you sign up soon you shouldn't have a problem. You'll get first access to new Pathfinder compatible game material, sneak peeks of Aetaltis art, early reader access to new fiction, and info on upcoming products.

We want your feedback, ideas, and input! What works? What doesn't? What do you want more of? How can we get even better?

For more information and to join, visit the Aetaltan League of Adventurers group on Facebook!

For more information about Aetaltis Visit the Aetlatis Site and download the free PDF version of the Heroes of Thornwall sourcebook!

And if you're looking for info about the fiction we'll be having you pre-read (including stories by Michael Stackpole, Larry Correia, Dave Gross, Elaine Cunningham, Bill Willingham, and more) check out the anthology Kickstarter going on now!

We have REALLY big plans for Aetaltis and a lot of amazing people working with us including Mike Schley, Amanda Hamon Kunz, Steve Long, Eric Lofgren, and more! We hope you'll join us at the beginning of this new world!

Hey everyone! The Phase II Kickstarter is now live. Please check out The Champions of Aetaltis and help us to spread the word!

In this phase of the plan to bring Aetaltis to life, we're putting together an anthology of short stories set in the world we introduced in the Pathfinder compatible sourcebook, The Heroes of Thornwall

Here is the official press release...
------------
Heroic Fantasy Anthology Assembles Dream Team of Authors
The finest authors in science fiction and fantasy band together to bring a rich new fantasy world to life.
May 18, 2015—Ann Arbor, Michigan—Seventeen of the greatest science fiction and fantasy authors working today have come together to bring a new fantasy world to life in CHAMPIONS OF AETALTIS, an original heroic fantasy anthology from Mechanical Muse LLC.

Fans will be in for a treat when the completed anthology is released at the end of 2015, since the contributing authors are a veritable who’s who of the fiction, comics, and game industries. The confirmed list is a who’s who of New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors, along with Eisner Award and Bram Stoker Award winners, and includes Michael A. Stackpole, Elaine Cunningham, Larry Correia, Cat Rambo, Bill Willingham, Jean Rabe, Lucy A. Snyder, David Farland and many more. These authors, with more than a hundred published novels and several hundred published short stories among them, will ensure that readers find a treasure trove of top quality, pulse-pounding fantasy stories inside.

“It’s amazing to have so many fan-favorite authors in one book,” said Marc Tassin, creator of Aetaltis. “It’s going to make for an incredible collection of stories.”

The Kickstarter for the project takes flight on May 18th, although many of the stories have already been written, and work on the book is well underway. The anthology is a first for Mechanical Muse, but they’ve recruited a team of seasoned professionals to help put the book together. With one successful Kickstarter already under their belts (for the Pathfinder RPG-compatible sourcebook The Heroes of Thornwall, also set in the world of Aetaltis), the successful completion of this ambitious campaign will also be a huge win for both Mechanical Muse and fans of fantasy adventure.

Among the industry pros on board is award-winning editor John Helfers. During his sixteen-year tenure at Tekno Books, the largest commercial book packager in the nation, Helfers worked with many, bestselling authors and co-editors, including Charlaine Harris, Tom Clancy, Mercedes Lackey, and Kevin J. Anderson. He’s edited more than one hundred anthologies for major publishers such as DAW Books, Tor, Baen, and many others.

“I’m thrilled to be part of this project,” said Helfers. “Aetaltis is an amazing fantasy setting, and the authors that are bringing it to life are some of the best around. It also helps that Marc and his fantastic team are putting out some of the best-looking published work I’ve ever seen.”

The Kickstarter campaign for CHAMPIONS OF AETALTIS launches on May 18th and runs through June 23rd. For more information about the campaign and the world of Aetaltis, visit www.aetaltis.com/fiction .

For media inquiries, please contact: Melanie Meadors, Publicist, melaniermeadors@gmail.com .

About Mechanical Muse LLC
Mechanical Muse was founded by Marc Tassin to bring joy, hope, excitement, adventure, enlightenment, and inspiration to everyone who daydreams of fantastic worlds beyond our own. Its created fantasy world, Aetaltis, is the first world in an interconnected universe of immersive new settings that people can interact with and explore. For more information, visit www.aetaltis.com

Congratulations Itchy!

Thanks for running this contest Marc!

My pleasure!

- Marc

And the winner is....

ITCHY

Congratulations to Itchy on winning the hardcover copy of Heroes of Thornwall and the poster map.

And thank you to EVERYONE for your feedback. This has been fantastic, and I can't thank you enough for all your help. Thanks to your comments I've got my next mini-project mapped out (the player's guide), caught an ugly typo, and got some fantastic guidance for the next book.

I hope that I can continue to share new material with you in the future. Even this short round of feedback made a big difference.

Thanks!

Marc
www.aetalts.com

Opportunities to Improve: I too was a little confused by the races, at first thinking they were either new names for existing ones, or subdivisions of humanity. I agree that should have been more clear.

Yep. Gotcha on this! If you're looking to offer more advice, I'd be happy to hear what you think of the playtest races I posted. I may start a different thread for that to avoid cluttering up this one.

I have to admit… I was torn… I noticed the color map was beautiful, like a photograph almost, and but noticed the black and white version had the numbers on it… I thought to myself… why have both… you would have to look at two maps. Then it occurred to me that putting the numbers on the color map would detract from it almost seeming like...

I have maps in B&W, Color, and on line on Parchment for all the maps. I also have them with numbers and no numbers in each format. I'll probably make them all available for download at some point in the near future.

And thanks for all the other excellent feedback. Great stuff!

I'm also liking the description of Elias Mires.

** spoiler omitted **

I am SO happy someone else saw and appreciate that. :) You made my day!

I'm slipping in under the wire here, but I wanted to give myself the most time to check out the book. I have not had as much time as I would like to read it, but I have read as much as I can.

Thanks for the feedback, Itchy! This is fantastic stuff, and I really appreciate the time you took.

-Menus, Recipes, and Tavern Games: I love food. I want to try some of these recipes now.

If you do, let me know how it goes! The guy who wrote them up, Daniel "Doc" Myers, is a medieval cooking expert! http://www.medievalcookery.com/

-Where is the Player's section? Is that perhaps also a pdf product that is separate? If so, a note in the text would be helpful to point us that way. Perhaps it is a $0.99 or free pdf available here and on OBS? Just a thought.

This is a fabulous idea! I am definitely going to put one of these together! I'll let you know when I do! In fact, perhaps I'll put the races in there and make it a companion ebook people can use while they wait for the full campaign setting.

Thanks again!

Nice Marc!

I still have to download mine, but I will send all my friends here :)

Thanks! And make sure to tell them to check out pages 148-149! :)

Things I like (so far, only about 1/3 of the way through the book):

Thanks for the feedback. Based on the overwhelming comments about the races, in addition to the playtest documents I posted here, I'm working up a cleaned up and improved (with pictures) race playtest packet.

Thanks again!

@Marc - just looking at the race PDFs.

This is all great! Thanks for all the details, typo catches, and more! I really appreciate it. I won't go item by item, but to answer a couple questions:

• Newardin Complex Mind: It does not give them a bonus against disease. That's a mistake.
  
• Newardin Gender: Newardin are not asexual. They do have interchangeable names. I'll clarify that!
  

And yes - you likely looked at an earlier version!

Thanks again!

Ah, yes, now I remember - from an earlier thread regarding an NPC contest.

Interestingly Cheebats have changed from having greenish hair and skin to having skin that changes with their mood, but no mention of hair color.

Yep - Cheebat are getting some tweaks. Early feedback was "So they're goblins?" which is not the point.

BTW - if you check the pregen section in the book, you'll find Scott Janke's (aka Curaigh on the boards) winning character from the contest! A fantastic character concept!

I'm still working up my review (It's a big book!), but here are some observations thus far:

I like the detail put into the town of Thornwall with read aloud descriptions of many of the locations and a table of random events, many of which can be fleshed out into full sidequests.

I like how new GM friendly the entire product is.

I like how matter transfer is limited.

I love the art and cartography.

I dislike that many of the new races don't have physical descriptions.

The misspelling of Modren in its chapter header makes me sad.

Overall it is quite good!

Hi, Ken! Really glad that you like so much about the book. Thanks!

The misspelling is still there?? ACK! We saw that, fixed it, and replaced the PDF. I'll re-upload the corrected file ASAP! Thanks for noting that. FWIW the print version DEFINITELY has the fix!

For the race descriptions, yeah - clearly something I should have included. Once I get more playtest feedback from the race docs I posted (see my previous comment), I think I'll put out a free mini-race guide to make up for that oversight.

Thanks!

A couple comments after reading the World of Aetaltis section.

Thanks for taking a look and for sharing. I made notes of your comments, and I'll definitely give them some thought.

I really struggled with how much world material to include. In particular, I get a lot of folks asking about the races.

We actually have playtest material for the races, so I'm going to share them with all of you. Feel free to download and check them out if you're interested. I also posted some concept art of the Drothmal to help you visualize them.

Click here to get the playtest documents!

Want to win a hardcover copy of the Heroes of Thornwall plus a tavern battlemap from Mike Schley? Now is your chance!

This is a special version of this contest that I'm only running here. This is the only place where I'm offering the 22"x28" battlemap, something I'm not offering anywhere else.

Click here to check out the map!

Here is how you can enter!
1: Download a copy of the Heroes of Thornwall PDF from DTRPG. (It's Pay What You Want so the price is right!)
2: Post a comment on this thread telling me something specific you liked, didn't like, or want to see in the next book.
3: On Friday (5/8) @ 10 PM EST I'll randomly choose one name from everyone that posted a comment here about the book, and I'll send that person a PRINT HARDCOVER copy of the book plus the POSTER MAP.

Get extra chances to win!
Want some extra chances to win? Tell a friend to enter as well and have them mention you in their post. I'll put your name in an extra time for each person that says your told them about this.

Why Am I Doing This?
Obviously getting the word out is important to any small publisher, but more importantly I'm prepping my next project and I'd really like to get feedback on this one. Hearing what you liked and want will help me a lot!

I couldn't agree more about teleport and magic of its ilk being a problematic magical effect. How can you have epic quests without the long arduous journey. I think players and some GM's have come to see the trip from point A to point B as simply a number of random encounter rolls and a handful of Survival checks. What a missed opportunity! My partners and I are working on some guidelines for our next adventure about forming expeditions and setting up semi-permanent base camps so PCs can enjoy some of the benefits of home without the need to teleport to their favorite magic shop after every session.

I also dislike the spells I like to call "suspense-killers". Stuff like detect secret doors, detect evil, find the path, true seeing, commune.

I agree about making a journey part of the game. There are times to make it a montage and just get the heroes where they need to go, but there are times where the journey really should be part of the story. I look forward to seeing your guidelines! Sounds like my sort of tool!

As for the Detect spells, I actually have some optional rules that we use for this that I hope to include in the campaign book if I get a chance to make it!

Great questions!

Just out of curiosity, where did you draw your inspiration for this setting?

I drew inspiration from other campaign settings I love, fiction, mythology, and real life. I was definitely inspired by Earthdawn. It's a wonderful setting and they way they wove rich stories around traditional game elements was quite wonderful. Of course fantasy fiction was an inspiration, including a long list of the usual suspects: Tolkein, Alexander, Vance. Myth really inspires me as well, and I drew on everything from ancient folk tales to Arthurian mythology. ANd course real life inspired me as much as all the rest combined. History is filled with wonders and delivers a wonderful blueprint for a rich fantasy setting.

and how much playtesting was involved?

The world was originally created for my own campaign, although I always designed it with an eye toward sharing it in the future. I started running/playing games set in the world more than 15 years ago, so as a world it's seen a LOT of play.

Much of that play was d20 (3.0/3.5). That said, I'm preparing playtest materials I can distribute in the near future, because the Pathfinder ruleset is still relatively new, and I'd love to get more people involved in running the game through its paces. One of my goals, however, is to stay as close to "standard" Pathfinder as I can, so hopefully it will run just as well as PF itself.

Also, why the restriction on matter transfer spells? I have a guess but I hoped you could enlighten me.

In the game, there is a story behind this dealing with the unintended gifting of magic to mortals and the efforts of the gods to mitigate this error.

From a meta-game POV, I think matter transfer is one of the more problematic magical effects from a cultural/anthropological perspective. Difficulty of travel is a major force in shaping our civilizations and societies. Remove this barrier and it has many consequences that are highly disruptive to a traditional fantasy setting. There are also some key story elements that are undermined if matter transfer exists.

That isn't to say that there is NO matter transfer on Aetaltis. Ancient enchanted devices and tapping into the corrupting power of Darkness offer ways of bypassing this restriction. In both cases, however, this becomes a part of the story rather than an easily accessible power.

I just happened to be perusing drivethrurpg and happened upon Heroes of Thornwall. After spending a couple of hours reading through it I was excited to find someone else out there who thinks that really fleshing out a town/city for the PCs to connect with is worth the time and effort to do well. I applaud your effort Marc. As another fledgling publisher I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiment of this work being more a labor of love than a labor of profit, though that would be nice as well.:)

Hey, Lars. Thanks for the kind words! I'm really glad you like what you see! And yeah, profit would be nice, but breaking even would be pretty cool too. :)

I assume you plan to produce some further adventures that take place in and around the town of Thornwall? How will you handle town dynamics while the PCs are adventuring? By that I mean, will the town be affected by the actions of the PCs or will the adventures be completely separated from what goes on in town?

Yes. If the book does well enough, I'd love to do more. In fact there are a couple more adventures already started.

As for the evolving town, the book already touches on some of that. For example, there is a section in this book that discusses different events that can happen in town while the players are there or off adventuring. This creates the sense of a living community rather than a static backdrop. There is lots of advice as well for how players can get more involved in the town as the campaign progresses. Lots of buildings/sites/characters are there to support this in a story-driven way.

Finally, you'll see at the start of the adventure that there is advice for how the events impact the town. This is just a brief write-up, but allowing the actions of the characters while adventuring to have a direct impact on the community is something I plan to include.

And thanks for checking the book out!

No worries Marc, I get the passion. I'm much more interested in folk using and enjoying stuff I created than concentrating on sales, which is why I'm happy for my content to appear on d20PFSRD. Not that the two are mutually exclusive.

I know! That's it exactly/

I'm actually very supportive of PWYW as a concept, quite apart from corollary advertising benefits.

Yeah - it doesn't HURT that there are marketing benefits, but that is the main reason.

FWIW, having tooled around your blog a bit, and read a few posts you seem quite genuine. ;)

Thanks! :)

It is me or the new races are just shortly described but not stated out in the book?

Hey, Nicos. The book isn't a complete campaign setting. It's a town/tavern/campaign starter that happens to be set in the world I created. That said, we have full write ups for all the races, and we'll share those at some point soon (and eventually in a campaign book).

As an example, here are the Scythaa. Note that all art for this is visual development and may not reflect the final look of the race.

Download Scythaa

Yeah, I get where you're coming from.

The thing is, I'm just a guy who dreamed of putting out a book (like a million gamers have), and it finally all came together. I'm insanely excited about it. It really is a dream come true.

I spent quite a bit more to make it than the Kickstarter covered, so I also have a nice pile of debt as a result. From that perspective, the whole PWYW thing really is an exercise in trust. If it turns out I was wrong, the first Aetaltis 3PP book might also be the last one, no matter how great the rankings. To put my situation in perspective, I'm in the top 100 Hottest Titles but my profits on DTRPG are just about enough to buy a copy of Pathfinder unchained. BUT I'm an optimist and I really do trust that people will support it if they like it.

Also, I definitely get how the business works, and I have no illusions about the impact of ranking on sales. At the same time, what I'm really excited about is that I saw my book on a list with a Numenera book above it and the FATE book below it on the Hottest Titles list. THAT was awesome, and it only happened because people went out and downloaded the book, and I'm truly thankful for that.

I know some people will think I'm full of it when I write the sort of stuff I wrote here or put on my blog, but I'm taking a risk there too. I trust that as people get to know me and my products, they'll know I'm not just spouting a marketing line. I'm just a gamer who's extremely excited to share what I created.

Thanks to everyone that downloaded the book so far! We're in the top 50 for small press on DTRPG and just broke the top 100 Hottest Titles! I appreciate all the support!

And I'll put it in the Paizo store ASAP! Waiting for the rep to get back from a well-deserved vacation!

Marc_Tassin wrote:

Jacob W. Michaels wrote:

Gorgeous maps on that preview, Marc_Tassin...

Thanks, Jacob! Those are by Mike Schley. He's fantastic. I also decided to go with my gut and make the game PWYW (Pay-What-You-Want). I'm probably crazy, but I feel good about it!

My confusion stems from the fact that you offer to give people review copies, but then then PWYW enables folks to do so themselves...

When I posted that offer, I hadn't switched over to PWYW yet. About 12 hours after I launched the book I decided that I really wanted to go with PWYW and I made the switch. Sorry for the confusion!

Gorgeous maps on that preview, Marc_Tassin...

Thanks, Jacob! Those are by Mike Schley. He's fantastic. I also decided to go with my gut and make the game PWYW (Pay-What-You-Want). I'm probably crazy, but I feel good about it!

Nicos wrote:

What is a PWYW?

Pay what you want.

This is a nice looking book; I'm working up a review right now. Are there plans for a PoD via OBS?

Thank you! I had an amazing team to work with. And thanks for working up a review! Hope you like it!

As for PoD, yes! In fact it was supposed to be available already, but it got tied up in the formatting process. We're sorting that out now. It's possible to order a hardcopy from my site since we have a 2nd printer preparing more copies.

I also wrote this since a lot of people have asked me why I did it: Why I made my book PWYW

That's a promising collection of writers.

Thanks! And as of yesterday, I also set the Pathfinder compatible book to PWYW. I hope you'll check it out!

The Heroes of Thornwall is now available on DTRPG! This is my first complete Pathfinder compatible book, and I'm extremely excited about it. Please take a look! I'd love to hear what you think!

Ok - so here's the official blurb!

----------------------------

Goblins are loose in the hills surrounding the town of Thornwall, and Mayor Thane has learned that no reinforcements are coming from Downbury Castle. You and your intrepid band of heroes are the only hope for this harried hamlet. If you cannot defeat the goblins and seal whatever Deepland hole they crawled from, Thornwall is doomed!

The Heroes of Thornwall campaign starter provides you with everything needed to launch your campaign. Inside you’ll find:

• An Introduction to Aetaltis: Discover Aetaltis, a fantastic new campaign setting where stalwart heroes fight to protect the people they care about from the rising forces of darkness.
  
• The Town of Thornwall: A detailed town environment for your fantasy campaign. It includes a full map, detailed building descriptions, equipment lists, and a rich supply of exciting adventure hooks.
  
• The Green Briar Tavern: A classic fantasy tavern where the party can relax after a long day at the dungeon! It features a color map of the tavern, an authentic medieval menu, recipes for making the cook’s specialties at home, and various tavern games.
  
• The People of Thornwall: Stats for 20 non-player characters you can use to populate your town, including constables, farmers, merchants, priests, tavern staff, and woodwards.
  
• The Temple of Modren: A heroic Pathfinder® compatible adventure for 4-8 1st Level Characters. Delve into the Deeplands and face the dark power of the Endrori as you begin your quest to save Thornwall!
  

------------------------

Finally...I really need to tip my hat to a few people. Special thanks to Mike Schley for his incredible maps, Amanda Hamon Kunz for her work on polishing up the Pathfinder rules for the adventure, Steven S. Long and John Helfers for their work on editing, Shawn King for covers, Mitchell Malloy for art, and Michal Cross for his incredible layout! This book is what it is because they're all awesome!

Meanwhile, now that this is out the door we're starting work on an anthology of short stories set in Aetaltis called Champions of Aetaltis. It includes stories from Richard Lee Byers, Larry Correia, Elaine Cunningham, Erin M. Evans, David Farland, Ed Greenwood, Dave Gross, John Helfers, Steven S. Long, Mel Odom, Jean Rabe, Cat Rambo, Aaron Rosenberg, Lucy A. Snyder, Elizabeth Vaughan, and Bill Willingham!

The Heroes of Thornwall, my first complete Pathfinder compatible book, went live on DTRPG today! It's a campaign starter and includes a town, tavern, NPCs, and a first adventure. As much as I'd like a review from a sales POV, I'd love to just hear back on how I did! If you'd like a review copy, PM me! http://drivethrurpg.com/product/145499/Heroes-of-Thornwall

We need your opinions, expertise, and feedback!

The World of Aetaltis is a new fantasy setting that we revealed in May of 2014. Our first pathfinder Compatible product, an introductory adventure, is available now on DriveThruRPG.

But we have lots more planned, and we'd like to get your help to make these products even better. We're looking for everything from quick feedback ("That's great!" "I don't like that!") to actual playtesting of the new material.

Want a peek at the type of material we're putting together?

• The Scythaa: A new race planned for the campaign setting book.
  
• The Map of Thornwall: Part of an expansion for the Temple of Modren book due out in February.
  

If you like the looks of what we're putting together and you'd like to help us make it even better, please use the link below to sign up and let us know.

Sign-up Here to get Playtest Information!

NOTE: I hate spammers. Do you hate spammers too? Good! We have that in common. By signing up at the link, all you'll receive is information about playtesting and nothing else. And it's all through MailChimp so it's easy to unsubscribe.

The first product from the Kickstarter campaign I ran in May is now available!

It's a Pathfinder Compatible adventure called The Temple of Modren, and you can get it now on DriveThruRPG.com!

The PDF is just $4.99 and the PRINT + PDF combo is only $9.99.

If you aren't familiar with the product or the project, here is the executive summary for the adventure!

Goblins are loose in the hills outside of Thornwall, and the town is under attack! With the nearest royal guard post more than three days ride to the south, you and your stalwart companions are the only hope for this harried hamlet! You must defeat the goblins and seal whatever Deepland hole they crawled out of or Thornwall willbe lost.

The Temple of Modren includes a 44-page Pathfinder Compatible adventure that introduces you to the amazing World of Aetaltis. Use one of the ready-to-play Aetaltan heroes or bring your own character as you and your companions descend into the monster infested ruins of the Deeplands!

Some pretty amazing people helped make this possible, including Mike Schley (cartography), Amanda Hamon Kunz (Editing), Steven S. Long (Editing), and Mitchell Malloy (art). In the end, we think it turned out pretty great.

And there are more Aetaltis products to come, so please let me know what you think of the first World of Aetaltis product!

You can also learn more about the World of Aetaltis here.

Thanks! I received an electronic proof for the final commercial version of the stand-alone adventure today. Looks like I may have some hardcopies on hand at Gen Con!

The Temple of Modren Free Preview went live on DriveThruRPG today! The final version of the stand-alone adventure will be out later this month. Thanks again to everyone here for your support during the Kickstarter! This is just a first step, but it feels great. And special thanks to Amanda Hamon Kunz, Mitchell Malloy, Tiara Lynn Agresta, Steven S. Long, and Mike Schley for their stellar contributions. Thank you!

Check out the Temple of Modren Free Preview

And to learn more about Aetaltis...

Go here for information about the World of Aetaltis
Check out the Aetaltis Forums here.
And learn more about the Aetaltis Adventurer's Guild here!

We need your help!

We are less than $1000 away from unlocking stories by Ed Greenwood, James Sutter, and Elizabeth Vaughan!

But we only have 6 hours to go!

Please help us unlock these new stories from these awesome authors!

http://kck.st/1ifZfwT

And now, what just might prove to be the penultimate Aetaltis Kickstarter Update! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1486366537/world-of-aetaltis-the-templ e-of-modren/posts/859948

We're down to the last 28 hours, folks! It's now or never to unlock some incredible short fiction from 13 legends of fantasy fiction and gaming!

http://kck.st/1ifZfwT

You have reached the end of the hallway.

There are exits to the:

Down
Thread That Contains the Winner's Info!

Before I get to the part where I remind you that there are only 2 days to go in the World of Aetaltis Kickstarter, I have an important announcement to make!

It is with great pleasure that I present to you, the winner of the first ever Stand Along Industry Giants Create a PC Contest (you have to do your own drumroll here). Presenting...

Scott Janke!

Scott, aka Curaigh here on the Paizo Boards, sent in a fantastic character! Scott told the tale of a young dwarf woman who dreamed of being an adventurer. Her parents, talented tailors from Callios, decided that there was only one way to get those silly dreams out of her head: they banished her from their home to live a year as an adventurer!

Scott's full write-up, the character's stats, and more will be revealed in the near future, and you'll love what he put together as much as we did.

And thank you to all of our entrants. As I may have mentioned, the hardest part of the contest was choosing just one winner!

Now, that other thing...
TWO DAYS! That's all we have left to finish unlocking 13 Aetaltis stories by some of the finest fantasy fiction authors alive! Michael A. Stackpole, David Farland, Mel Odom, Ed Greenwood, Larry Correia, and MORE!

Not to mention the full color 136 pg Temple of Modren Campaign Book that we already funded, the Adventurer's Guide to Aetaltis online reference that we just announced for backers at ADVENTURER and higher, and the soon to be announced poster map add-ons (oops...the JUST NOW announced add-ons I guess! Watch for them on the site tomorrow!)

So don't wait! Time is running out for you to be part of this awesome new world from day one!

Hi! We have selected the winner and will announce tonight! I wanted to inform the winner first and with the holiday we had a little hold up! The announcement is coming!

New Kickstarter interview published!

21 May: Mike Myler & the Snow White Kickstarter [published]
27 May: Marc Tassin & the World of Aetaltis Kickstarter [published]

Thanks for giving me the opportunity talk about the World of Aetlatis project. I really appreciate it, and I hope that it helps other freelancers and project designers!

Just a quick update. We've closed the contest and we're in the process of reviewing the awesome entries you all sent! I'll make an announcement tomorrow about our winner!

In the meantime, the project continues to unlock stretch goals. We just added the Town of Thornwall expansion and now we're working to unlock short stories from Ed Greenwood, James L. Sutter, and Elizabeth Vaughan! Plus we'll take characters from their stories, stat them out, and add them to the Green Briar Tavern expansion!

Finally - HELP US SPREAD THE WORD! This project is about much more than this first book. To learn more, check out this post and please share it!

An Open Letter to Gamers Everywhere: Make History With Me

I so wish I had 50,000 to pledge, even if it were just to see Larry Elmore's cool cover!

I wish you had $50,000 to pledge as well! :) Thanks!

We're not done yet! 7 days left. Plenty of time. We're $90 away from the Town of Thornwall expansion. After that, we are into the fiction. When that happens I have an appeal I plan to make to the gaming community as a whole to help make this project happen. I'll be sure to post here!

In the meantime, please help us to spread the word!

LAST DAY! LAST DAY TO ENTER!
It's not too late to get your entries in! The contest is still going strong, and there is even more information about Scythaa, Dwarves, and Humans in the Kickstarter updates!

Free Gen Con Ticket! Your Character in a Book! Don't wait! I'll be here to answer questions all day!

- Marc

I just posted a first look at the Dwarves of Aetaltis in the latest Kickstarter update. It includes concept art as well as information about Aetaltis dwarves and their culture.

If you chose a dwarf for your character concept, you definitely want to take a look at this!

Check it out!

For those of you who are following this thread to get updates on the project, here's the rundown plus all the latest news!

• We hit double our initial funding goal over the weekend!
  
• We're less than $800 from the next stretch goal.
  
• Live event at Vault of Midnight in Ann Arbor, MI on Wed, May 21st from 6 PM to 8 PM
  
• Reddit AMA on Thurs, May 22nd from 7 PM to 9 PM!
  
• New articles at www.aetaltis.com
  

On a side note, we expanded more of our stretch goals! I posted details over here!

Many thanks, loving the map!

I hate to be that guy, but a couple of the other races got left out of your expanded description... and of course those are the races I'm most interested in. Namely the Orog and Scythaa?

Pretty please?

Ask and ye shall receive! In fact I'll give a littl extra!

Orog
Orogs were brought to Aetaltis by the Atlan Enclave to serve as the fist of the Enclave military machine. These huge creatures are strong enough to go head to head with a troll and tough enough to withstand all but the most devastating injuries. They are hideous and dull-witted, but their physical strength more than makes up for these limitations.

Orogs look like huge, hideously misshapen atlans. They have wide, down-turned mouths, small sunken eyes, and heavy brows. Compared to an atlan, their hands and feet are over-large and their arms are disproportionately long. They stand over nine feet tall and weigh in excess of 500 pounds.

Scythaa
Quick and cunning, the reptilian race known as the scythaa are yet another product of the destruction wrought by the Great War against Endroren. Inheritors of a devastated homeland, most scythaa now live as nomads, scraping a meager existence from the unforgiving desert.

Their reptilian faces, unblinking eyes, and long tails set the scythaas apart physically from all other enari (ie: the good races of Aetlatis). Scythaan skin has a rough, pebble-like pattern. Their hands have two large clawed fingers plus an opposable clawed thumb. Their feet have three clawed toes. Scythaas have powerful legs and can leap great distances.

We just upgraded two more of our stretch goals today!

At $14K we've added a new Pathfinder Compatible mini-adventure by James M. Ward the creator go GAMMA WORLD! Incredibly excited about this one! This is in addition to short fiction from Mel Odom and Jean Rabe

At $18K we work with the team from Storium to adapt Aetaltis to the Storium online storytelling game and have it ready for you to play when Storium goes live in Novemeber! This is in addition to stories from Steven S. Long and Pathfinder Tales' own Dave Gross!

http://kck.st/1ifZfwT

Seems like a really cool setting, I'll definitely be keeping my eye on everything as it moves forward.

Would it be too much trouble to get a bit of information on Port Vale?

No trouble at all, Helio! I think the best way to tell you about Port Vale is to provide a bit of history.

Finally, just for fun, here's a link to a photo of my personal wall map of Port Vale. Don't get too excited - I'm no Mike Schley - it's just your standard homemade gamer-map! I thought you might enjoy it all the same! :)

Thanks, Curaigh! And you're right. Building this world was a fantastic experience, although sharing it has been the best part.

I'll watch for your entry! Good luck!

I think you're referring to this?

This is also the first step toward transforming The Temple of Modren from an awesome adventure into a Super Campaign Book for everyone at the NOBLE level and above!

That's still accurate. NOBLE level and above do get the expanded campaign book as stated, but only in it's e-book format. The printed copy they receive is still limited to a stand-alone Temple of Modren.

In my giddy excitement to post the news, I left out the word "Printed" before ADVENTURE in the last post.

A little background on this as well. Previously we planned to release all three printed books as three individual saddle-stapled books (old-school D&D module style). I discovered, however, that I could get the books printed perfect bound (much sturdier, higher quality, a spine with title, etc.) as a campaign book for close to the same cost. Originally, I didn't think this was possible.

After consulting with all the ADVENTURER level backers and up (the ones eligible for all three books) the vote for perfect bound combined was unanimous! Every person who replied wanted that option.

Sorry for the confusion on that. I'll put some additional information on the site to make sure it's clear for folks!