Vale: Day 10 - a game for our time + coasters?
about 1 year ago
– Thu, Mar 20, 2025 at 08:45:56 AM
Hello Chosen Ones,
Here we are at day 10, hovering just under 50% funded. I will fully admit, that's not where I hoped to be at this point, but it doesn't mean we won't get there in the end! Everyone that has backed and shared so far is awesome! Thank you so much for your support!
Doing any kickstarter project is always a gamble, and given the state of the... everything... right now, I completely understand why folks would be hesitant to back anything. But I can tell you what isn't a gamble: when this project funds you WILL be getting your game, it WILL be high quality, and it WILL give you a fun and memorable experience fitting for the current times.
During one of our late stage playtests, I asked my players, "Is this bait and switch? Did I promise doom and gloom, but really delivered too much heroism?" and the answer is no. This is a game about overcoming that doom and gloom. It is ultimately a game about hope.
As my friend Cubby said yesterday on Nat21's crafting show (which you can watch here!) "This is a game for our former gifted kid generation." Vale is about picking up the pieces of a shattered world and putting them back together. It is about rising to the challenge and overcoming your past fears and baggage. Cubby also has his sparkly purple Mensa card, so I think you can believe him.
Speaking of friends, and playing games, and ideas one has in shower...
I am currently playing in a Mage: the Awakening game at my friends' house. Mage isn't really one of my top-10 games, but it is what my friends wanted to play (after spending months playtesting Vale), and I wanted to hang with my friends, so I stuck around for it. That said, our GM (storyteller) is awesome!
For the second session, the GM gave us laser engraved slate coasters with the symbols of our magical towers. Is it part of the game? Not at all. But having that cool physical token at the table does remind us that we made a choice and that choice is now etched in stone (with a laser!) Yesterday, I decided that since the choice of playbook in Vale is so important, I wanted to enable a similar experience to the one I had at our Mage table.
I don't have a laser, but I do have a 3d printer, and a long held desire to learn blender... So I am creating coasters for Vale that folks could 3d print (at home or at their public library) to symbolize the choice of magical artifact (which is your playbook) and keep with them at the table. Once we fund, the coaster files will be available to all backers as part of the play-aids packet. Here is a photo of the Shadow one, but I will make them for all the playbooks.
Please, keep the faith. Take care of yourselves in these trying times. Seek out your friends to light the fire of hope and community... and, if you have the spoons, share this project with someone new. You know plenty of people that I don't, and that I will never reach with my advertising, but they might listen to you. Together, this game will get made and you will get an awesome book (and now some printable coasters).
Thank you.
-Robert