Final stretch goal! Listen to us talk about SCUP!
about 7 years ago – Tue, Apr 25, 2017 at 07:21:23 PM

SCUPDATE! New stretch goal!

We are extremely close to hitting $17k and getting the Tasha Robinson primer on dark fantasy. With just a handful of days left, we wanted to reveal our final stretch goal. If we hit $18k, gamer extraordinaire Willow Palecek will write an essay for us called "Playing Hard: How to push yourself to the limits to up the stakes for your roleplaying." Willow gets SCUP better than almost anyone outside of the people who have made it and worked on it, and her sensibilities as a playtester and fan of the game have dramatically shaped it. As such, we are super psyched to be able to get her thoughts on how to play SCUP to its fullest! 

Want to hear us talk about SCUP?

As some of you may know, us squirrels at Wheel Tree Press also do a podcast called The Jank Cast. Three of us Jank Cast hosts (Megan, Jenn, and myself) sat down with my co-designer Tom to have a conversation about the history of the game's development, what we've enjoyed about playing it, etc. If you'd like to hear our melodious voices fill your ears, click here to check out the podcast. Warning: there's a little bit of language in it, so be forewarned if you're not into that sort of thing.

That's it!

There's a few more high tier rewards still available, and just a handful of days left, so grab them if you're so inclined. Otherwise, thanks again for your support, and we look forward to getting more information about the game into your grubby little hands.

With a heart full of treachery and malice,

Todd and the Squirrels at the Wheel Tree

Last Week SCUPdate!
about 7 years ago – Mon, Apr 24, 2017 at 12:59:48 PM

It's the last week of the SCUP Kickstarter!

We really appreciate all the support, feedback, and comments we've received from folks and we're excited to bring you the best possible product we can going forward. In the meantime, we are verrrrrry close to our next stretch goal of getting Tasha Robinson to write a primer on dark fantasy. We're fans of her work and we'd love to see that happen.

To sweeten the pot to get there, we've opened a new tier! Marnie Galloway, our book's award winning artist, has agreed to draw three people's characters. In this tier, you'll get the book (hardcover or softcover), the PDF, and a portrait of your character done by Marnie, to your specifications. 

Thanks again for your support, and we'll be in touch again if we make that stretch goal!

-Todd and the Squirrels at the Wheel Tree

NEW STRETCH GOAL ANNOUNCED!
about 7 years ago – Thu, Apr 20, 2017 at 09:25:31 PM

We could not be more excited about our next stretch goal!

Good day, folks. Just a quick message to announce our newest stretch goal. If we hit 17k, Tasha Robinson, culture writer and gamer, will write a primer for us on the genre of dark fantasy. We are big fans of Tasha's work for sites like The Onion AV Club, The Verge, and io9, and we are super excited to see what she can do to help people actualize the themes of dark fantasy at their table when they play SCUP. 

Let's make this goal happen, folks! 

-Todd and the Squirrels at the Wheel Tree

Retailer tier! Media tour! More!
about 7 years ago – Wed, Apr 19, 2017 at 06:51:57 PM

I've been busy doing SCUP related media!

If you haven't gotten a chance, I've been blabbing about SCUP to anyone who would listen, lately. 

First, I was on one of my favorite gaming podcasts, The Gauntlet, talking about the game.

Then, I did an interview with the always interesting and talented Brie Sheldon.

Finally, I was on Misdirected Mark, for a more wide-ranging conversation, including some stuff about the Jank Cast. (Speaking of the Jank Cast, we'll get a new episode up with some info about a recent SCUP playtest tomorrow, most likely!)

I really enjoyed getting to chat with all these lovely folks about SCUP. 

Also! Retailer tier!

As per popular demand, we have added a retailer tier for the US and Canada. If you are or know someone who works for a brick and mortar game store, we've got you covered! 

More coming soon!

We have passed our 15k stretch goal, meaning that we get the primers from Eric and Julia. We could not be more thrilled to be working with such talented people on this. We hopefully have some more stretch goals I'll be able to announce soon, so keep your eyes out for them.

In the meantime, have fun and be well.

With a heart full of treachery and malice,

-Todd and the Squirrels at the Wheel Tree

New Stretch Goal and Preview Documents!
about 7 years ago – Fri, Apr 14, 2017 at 06:11:49 PM

Greetings, friends!

It's the two week anniversary of our Kickstarter and we have a big, ol' SCUPdate for you, so let's get right to it!

Preview Documents of SCUP

A number of people have requested that the backers get access to preview documents for SCUP. We have put together a zip file that includes:

• A guide for the preview documents.
• A preview of the first chapter.
• MC materials to help run the game.
• Moves preview documents.
• Two pregen settings.
• Six previews of playbooks for SCUP

That should be all you need to run a session or three of the game, if you want to try out the moves and characters in action. Obviously, it's not everything that will come in the final book, but it'll definitely give you a taste of the basics of the game. 

Look for a link to those documents in a backers only update I'll post just after this update!

BUT WAIT... there's more!

New Stretch Goal

I continue to be shocked and humbled by the fact that we past all our stretch goals. We sincerely appreciate all the support we've gotten from people on turning our little game into a reality. When we saw the final one approaching, we decided it might be cool to line up an extra stretch goal for 15k, and we're going to go ahead and post it today!

When Tom and I wrote SCUP, we knew many folks would default to playing in a fairly generic, Western European fantasy setting, a la Game of Thrones. That's not a problem at all! Tom and I love settings like that, and most games of SCUP we've run look like that. 

AND YET...

We didn't envision SCUP as limited to that fantasy setting. We've run games of SCUP that draw on Mesopotamian, Egyptian, African, and Asian history and mythology before, and we wanted to make sure people had tools to play in non-Western European settings in their game of SCUP. As such, Julia Bond Ellingboe and Eric Simon, have agreed to write primers for people interested in playing SCUP in non-Western European settings if we reach 15k. We love the work of these folks and we're delighted to have them on board. For more information, check out the main page of the Kickstarter. 

Finally...

There's more to come. We'll be adding some new tiers, including retailer tiers, as soon as possible, as well as providing some more previews of the game in the coming weeks. Additionally, I've done some press, recently, that should be dropping next week, so I will direct you to that when it arrives. 

Thanks again, for your support. We sincerely appreciate it.

With malice and treachery in our hearts,

Todd and the Squirrels at the Wheel Tree