Another Stretch Goal hit!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Dec 02, 2021 at 10:13:56 PM

We will be adding Crew Tokens!

Thanks to the awesome support for this Kickstarter we'll be adding 20 crew tokens to everyone's pledges! These will come as both bordered tokens and portrait style pictures.

And we are very excited to announce our £40,000 Stretch Goal, where we'll add more maps, tiles and tokens!

As we approach our last weekend please keep sharing this campaign so we can hit that last stretch goal!

To celebrate the close of this amazing campaign, Matt will be on Twitch for the last couple of hours of the campaign (https://www.twitch.tv/lokebattlemats ) live drawing something a little out of this world! That's on Monday night at 10PM GMT.

Thank you all again for your amazing support and kind words throughout this campaign!.

Matt & Tam

Loke Battle Mats

Last 5 Days! What to expect after the campaign ends and how rewards will be distributed.
over 2 years ago – Thu, Dec 02, 2021 at 01:37:49 AM

Last 5 Days!

Please keep sharing this campaign so we can hit those Stretch goals and add more value to the pledges!

As we fast approach our last weekend I wanted to drop out an update about what to expect from us after the campaign has ended.

We will be using a pledge manager to collect data and distribute the digital rewards, and it is important to complete it!

When we close, it will take Kickstarter approx. 2 weeks to process everyone's cards and payments. While this is happening we will be setting up the pledge manager (we will be using Backerkit), organising files and uploading everything to DriveThruRPG.

Once Kickstarter have finished processed we will send out your unique survey links.

You will need to complete your survey to receive your rewards.

The pledge manager is where we collect your address (we need this to comply with our Tax obligations for EU & UK Backers) and charge VAT for UK & EU Backers. 

You will also be able to select any Add-On purchases (including our Sci-Fi Books) that we are making available at very special rates exclusive to backers of this Kickstarter.

Once you have completed your survey your code to redeem the digital content will be available in the Digital Rewards Tab.

Your code will automatically add the titles into your DriveThruRPG library (you will need an account if you do not already have one. This is quick to set up and free). When the files are in your library you can download them at your leisure.

So be sure to look out for the email about your survey and fill it in!

Tam & Matt

Loke Battle Mats

David Bowie and other inspirations
over 2 years ago – Thu, Nov 25, 2021 at 01:11:38 PM

Hey everyone,

Stephen Hart here from The Grinning Frog - so yes, not Tamzin or Matt. As you know, they are the wizards behind all things map orientated whilst they brought me in to put icing on the cake - a space adventure.

I say icing but really it's more like a cherry given the absolute ton of maps that you get with this Kickstarter, one lil' old adventure doesn't really compare. Although, I have tried really hard to make the quality as good as Matt's maps!

This is an update to introduce myself and chat about the adventure that comes with the high tier pledges. 

A lot of you already know Loke BattleMats and I suspect I'm a little more unknown so let me quickly share my credentials -  I'm a full time RPG author and publisher. (And have been since early 2020.) I was delighted, and shocked, to win a Judges Spotlight ENNIE award in 2021 for my first printed book - Abracadabra: A Guide to Becoming a Magical Games Master. 

I also write a monthly fantasy RPG magazine The Oracle and I've run or collaborated in over twenty Kickstarters since last year. (I like to keep busy and the running joke with folks who know me is that I'm a vampire given how late I stay up to write.) I've been playing RPG's for over thirty years and I've a life long love of all things sci-fi and fantasy.

I met Tamzin and Matt at the Birmingham Expo the year before Covid and we kept in touch. Since then I wrote a 5e compatible adventure for them The Incident at Ursula Island. That was well received and they asked me if I'd write something to go along with this campaign and the sci-fi maps. I was delighted to accept the challenge! 

Adventure Storyline

SPOILER ALERT: If you're likely to be a player for this adventure skip ahead to the Writing Philosophy section of this update to avoid any spoilers. Really - we mean it!

A mysterious ship has been detected in orbit. It appears to have stopped dead in space and isn't responding to hails. The administrator of the local space outpost contacts the characters and asks them to investigate.

What they don't know is that this biomechanical ship was being manned by a crew of android/constructs who are dedicated to the capture and eradication of rogue AIs. They are on the trail of a notorious AI program that vanished years ago whilst on-route to summary execution for crimes against organic lifeforms. Meanwhile, a third party of mercenaries are trying to locate the program, entirely unaware of its genocidal tendencies.

When the player characters board the bioship they find the crew missing...    

Design Philosophy

I'm quite a visual creative so when I have an image - map or picture - that I can riff off then it really helps sparks my thinking. The only hard part about writing this adventure was picking which of the maps to use. I was genuinely spoilt for choice! I've ended up using five of them but quite honestly if I had the time I could quite happily keep writing my way through all the maps!

I also believe in credible stories. Things have to have a reason for me - cause and effect. The players might not always uncover all the connections but there will be a logic behind the scenes.

For example, take Major Tomlin*, an important NPC in The Medusa's Child. (Effectively the quest giver.) He's in charge of a nearby outpost and contacts the player characters at the beginning of the adventure to alert them to the mysterious spaceship that is in orbit. He also, later on, has information for them that they need. Major Tomlin* is a competent bloke - so why is he in charge of an out-of-the-way outpost? 

*yes, I do like a culture reference although I do try to hide them a little, Major Tom would have been too much I think.) 

I felt making him ex-military who is emotionally damaged from his war experiences and has chosen a quiet place to get away from the action was an acceptable explanation. It could be taken further by a Games Master as a reason why he won't directly assist the player characters in the adventure - unless absolutely necessary. Quite specifically, it could happen that the party get caught in a firefight and Major Tomlin is sitting safely back in their shuttlecraft, struggling with his PTSD and unable to come to their rescue - unless the players can talk him through his feelings...or the whole backstory can be ignored and it might never come out during the game.

You see, I believe in creating a framework that a games master can then interpret and use in the way that they want. I provide several written pieces of advice in the adventure on how to make encounters easier or harder but more than that I try to bake in situations that the GM can chose to play differently.

In my mind the first run in with the space mercenaries shouldn't end up in a shootout on the gorgeous outpost map that Matt has drawn - but it could.** (And the adventure isn't derailed if that happens). I, as the author, don't think its the optimum story path but you and your players might want the shootout - so do what's fun at your gaming table!

** The shootout is expected in the mining complex at the end of the adventure - because who doesn't like a good shoot out?

The balance of course to all this freedom is that there has to be an actual storyline that goes from beginning to end. And you very much have that in this adventure. You also get presented options for the characters to not succeed as much as they think they have so you can continue with things in your own campaigns, the mercenaries (if they survive) could return and the A.I. hunting android organisation that you are introduced to can certainly show up again.

When I write an adventure I assume it takes place inside a real, living world so there are things happening in the  background that carry on. In my head, the story doesn't end when the adventure does, it carries on - and hence providing history and characters that you can use in the future.

Writing Philosophy 

My philosophy for writing RPG material is simple - it has to be enjoyable to read and practical to play. For example, I include a cast of characters at the beginning of the adventure as a quick reference and mention if they are allies or not and if there is only one of them or more:

I also provide games master advice at points where I felt extra explanation would be useful.

As to the rules, the mechanics are compatible with Starfinder but you could EASILY swop them out for any other system. Indeed, I'm running this adventure next month using the old FASA Star Trek rules for gaming buddies of mine. This is a framework. You can adapt it as you want.

So, thank you for reading this far, I know updates are often shorter but I wanted to properly dig under the surface for you on this adventure - especially as so many of you know Matt and Tamzin and not myself.

Do please post any questions you have below and I will reply. And yes, Krell is a homage to that classic film...

Before you go

I'm running my own Kickstarter currently for a collection of 5e compatible creatures.

50+ creatures with backstories, illustrations and story hooks...

Campaign LINK

And coming this Thursday 25th November is my favourite campaign to run - the Fantasy Advent Calendar. The thing that makes it my favourite campaign is the sheer amount of fun that the backers have - you get the content fulfilled on a DAILY basis DURING the campaign and you get to vote on which content you get! 

It's just a ton of fun. The link below will notify you when the campaign launches. (Content will start to be given out to backers from the 1st December.  Decembers magazine is also going to be available via that campaign.)

Campaign LINK

Campaign LINK

Thank you for reading and thank you, on behalf of myself, Matt and Tamzin for your backing.

Until next time, stay safe and keep gaming.

Stephen Hart

www.thegrinningfrog.com

P.S. If you are quick, you can grab this months issue of The Oracle

Another Stretch Goal!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Nov 18, 2021 at 10:01:27 PM

Thank you all for your support! As we fly past our £20k stretch goal we will now add Derelict map versions to 2 of our ships and 20 derelict tiles to the tile pack.

And announcing our next stretch goal -

We're delighted to say that James Gary has designed us 20 NPC tokens to use with the maps! These super handy tokens will be a must-have for your VTT toolkit!

Other Projects we love!

And a good way to end this update is a little look at another Kickstarter project which caught my eye - 

 Thanks again for all your support and please keep sharing this project so we can add more stretch goals!

Matt & Tam

Loke Battle Mats

Flying through stretch goals!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Nov 18, 2021 at 07:51:04 PM

Flying Through Stretch Goals!

We are still in our first 48 hours and already we have hit 4 stretch goals!

The first picture shows you in a little more detail what our Hull breach variants will look like. We'll add a Hull Breach map variant to 2 of our ships and 20 tiles to the tiles & tokens pack.

We have also unlocked Nightmare pack 1, so we'll add a Nightmare variant to 2 of our ships and 20 tiles to the tiles & tokens pack.

AND we've unlocked Inner System so we'll add 2 Starscape maps and 30 tiles to the tiles & tokens pack!

And We have also unlocked even more nightmares! So we'll add a new nightmare map variant to 2 ships and another 20 tiles to the tiles & tokens.

And announcing our new stretch goal! 

Please keep sharing this project so we can add even more value to your pledges! You can find us on social media here - 

Facebook - @lokebattlemats

Twitter - @LokeBattlemats

Thanks again for coming on this adventure with us!

Matt & Tam

Loke Battle Mats