We are live on Kickstarter and the Upwind campaign is underway. Here's the link so head on over and check out the project page and if you dig it, back it! If it's not your thing that's cool, but please pass on the link to any gaming friends you think might like the game.
Tuesday morning (10.11), 10a EST the Upwind Kickstarter finally goes live!
Imagine Bakshi’s classic animated film Wizards has a head-on collision with Disney’s Treasure Planet and the resulting fire is put out with a whole lot of Studio Ghibli’s Castle in the Sky.
Upwind is a narrative style RPG set in a strange alternate world of floating island nations, flying sailing ships, long-lost technology, wild elemental powers, looming war and forgotten legacies. The game is powered by the Q system, an original stakes-based, playing card-driven mechanic that gives every encounter consequences with meaningful, narrative-building outcomes. With its unique bidding rules, Upwind plays as fast as you can tell your story.
As a reward for jumping in early the first 100 backers will receive early access to the current draft of the Upwind Quick-Start Primer containing the basic rules you need to play, an introduction to the setting, pregenerated characters and the ready-to-run scenario Bait and Switch. The final quick-start document is actually a social stretch goal and is currently in proofreading and layout so these early backers will be getting advance access to the working draft.
We hope you like what you see and choose to support the project as early backers help build the momentum that will help us reach all our cool stretch goals. If Upwind is not really your thing, thanks for your consideration and it would be great if you would pass the link on to any gaming friends you think might like the project.
I promised a giveaway as part of our Upwind Kickstarter countdown and here it is. We have a one-of-a-kind Upwind poster that we have been taking to conventions. It predates James Stowe’s brilliant cover and instead features the artwork we used on our earlier promotions. The poster is 23” x 30” and laminated. It is the only such poster that exists and will be the only one ever made. If the winner chooses I can also make sure it is signed by the design team before we ship it out.
If you would like to be entered into a raffle to win the poster, all you have to do is email Biohazard Games with proof you have made at least one social media post or contact promoting the Upwind Kickstarter to your gaming friends or community - a cc’d note, screenshot, link or similar. The contest will start with the Kickstarter launch Tuesday morning and remain open for the first 24hrs of the campaign. When the 24 hours are up we’ll make a random drawing from the submitted entries and announce the winner.
Good luck and thanks for helping to spread the word about Upwind.
Follow this link to a press kit containing text, art and banners suitable for blog posts, websites and podcasts. Use whatever you need and pass on the link to anyone you think might be interested.
So let me frontload. You have to realize that I'm not much of a performer and am terrible in front of a camera, so for me making the video was the hardest part of preparing for the Upwind Kickstarter. If not for the help and advice of my techie buddy Eric it would have been even harder and considerably more wooden. Yes - this is me NOT being wooden. The second round of shooting was easier and I've always enjoyed editing video, so in the end it was fun, but what I am trying to say is Spielberg did not make our Kickstarter video...
We are 4 days out from the launch of the Upwind Kickstarter (10.11) and as promised here's another sneak peak into the core book.
Hemoths, Dwellers and Meat Crickets...Oh My!
The Kin are not the only inhabitants of the strange world of Upwind - not by a long shot. Here are three examples - and an awesome illustration by James Stowe - of the wondrous and often dangerous creatures that can be found in the uncharted skies.
Hemoth
The Hemoth are massive creatures that drift through the skies of the Realms in large familial herds. They are shaped like ship-sized teardrops, with rows of stubby, seemingly ineffectual wings along their flanks, and huge sail-like tails. Their gigantic, ponderous forms are held aloft by the elemental power of the Wind - like the hulls of skyships - though arcane zoologists disagree about whether their flight is an innate use of wild Potential or something more enigmatic.
Hemoth are truly gentle giants. They are clever for animals and apparently communicate using low frequency airborne vibrations that are felt more than heard. Though hunted for meat by some Kin cultures, Hemoths are only aggressive in defense of their herds, otherwise drifting peacefully through the sky. Stories are told of feral Kin who have somehow domesticated hemoth herds, not only riding upon them like ship’s crew, but of whole tribes living nomadic lives upon their backs. Such tales always seem to accompany strong drink and so should be taken accordingly.
Hemoths graze on cloud gardens, diving through the dense vegetation that grows in these drifting groves, consuming great swaths of the plants, and often the animals, that live within. A sizable herd can decimate even a large garden, eating all but a few remnant tatters in short order. These shreds however, are quick to seed new gardens and some of the species within even depend on being consumed and disbursed by feeding hemoths to facilitate this.
Dwellers
Dwellers are enigmatic creatures. They are gaunt, bipedal beings with long limbs, squat bodies, heavy jaws and bulbous eyes. They are social and self aware but otherwise appear prelingual. Dwellers are found across the skies but are most commonly encountered in the Twilight Frontier. Though regional populations are usually small there have been reports of large concentrations in specific locales.
The creatures are furtive and live in small, family bands. Strangely, dwellers are most frequently found denning in Masters’ ruins - living in the deepest chambers and using the tunnels to move about unseen. The more warren-like the cache the more likely dwellers are to be found. Dwellers to not appear to make tools or build structures, but they have been observed using found objects in tool-like ways - including as effective weapons. They appear to be omnivores and only opportunistic hunters.
Most Guild zoologists believe dwellers are related to the ferals encountered in the Dark - another vestigial line of Child. Some fringe thinkers believe they may be degenerate relatives of the Kin or even corrupt descendants of the Masters of the Wind themselves. Necropsies of recovered specimens have provided scant clues to the mystery and scholars continue to debate their origins.
Though the creatures generally avoid contact with Kin there are cases of violent encounters and savage battles with dweller hordes. Whether larger populations make them more aggressive or drive them into territorial frenzies these attacks have been unprovoked, vicious and deadly. Accordingly, Guild members are instructed to treat all contact with dwellers as potentially dangerous.
Meat Crickets
Meat crickets are large, regionally abundant arthropods found throughout the Frontier. They are ugly, pallid, hard-shelled creatures the size of dogs with dangerous pinching claws and long, multi-jointed hind legs that allow them to leap 30 feet at a bound. Meat crickets are voracious, carnivorous pack-hunters that employ both pursuit and ambush tactics with equal effectiveness.
When chasing prey, crickets cooperate to bring down individual animals much larger than themselves - snapping at their limbs with their formidable claws, leaping ahead to cut them off, wearing them down by injury, blood loss and fatigue. The loud and eerie chirping sounds they use to coordinate their pursuit add chilling notes to the kill.
When lying in ambush, meat crickets array themselves around a kill zone, camouflaging themselves in ground litter. The ring of predators will then take it in turns, chirping quietly, their cooing calls serving to attract other predators that are themselves on the hunt. When the unwary target finally enters their ring the crickets burst from cover, swarming the prey and eating it alive. Meat crickets in a feeding frenzy are frightening and dangerous even to themselves, often taking slices out of each other as they eat.
Meat crickets are actually quite tasty and if explorer crews are willing to risk being hunted themselves crickets are a ready source of fresh meat. They are easily roasted and served in their own shells and have a mild, fish-like taste. It has become a common pastime for the more artistic among Guild crews to scrimshaw images from their explorations on the large pincer claws leftover from a meat cricket feast.
Five days to the launch of the Upwind Kickstarter on October 11th. As part of the continued countdown we wanted to share one of the stretch goals we are most excited about.
Upwind Incursion - A Print & Play Skyship Combat Game
This goal funds the production of Upwind Incursion, a print-and-play “miniatures-style”, tactical wargame of skyship-to-skyship combat in the dim reaches of the Twilight Frontier. A target and destroy battle of sharp-eyed lookouts, daring maneuvers and devastating broadsides, Incursion brings the war between the Explorers’ Guild and the Children of the Dark out of the RPG and onto your nearest tabletop. The game is a fast playing, tactical challenge that depends on stealthy movement and decisive actions. Since it’s print-and-play you can scale up to fight as many ships as you care to put in the sky against as many opponents as you care to challenge!
Mock-ups of the tokens we are using for playtesting. The final counters will be much prettier.
The Upwind Kickstarter launches in 6 days and as part of the countdown we wanted to tell you about the funding focus of the campaign - three products that will provide a complete game line and a limitless sky of adventure. These are not stretch goals but all core elements of the project.
Upwind Core Book (of course)
Upwind will be a full color, 225+ page, beautifully illustrated, hardcover book. It will contain everything needed to adventure across the endless skies of the Kingdoms in the Light and deep into the Dark. At higher pledge levels the book will feature a collector’s edition embossed cover and signed dedications by the design team.
The Knight’s Deck Playing Cards
Upwind is played using standard poker cards rather than dice with an original bidding mechanic that uses the various features of those cards to direct the narrative. The Knight’s Deck is a custom-designed deck that enhances the Upwind setting. Beyond use in play, every card in the deck features an illustration of a specific settlement, location, or Master’s cache as well as descriptive text. An integrated coordinate system allows players to arrange the cards into an illuminated schematic of the Upwind setting that provide fun and useful insight into the uncanny geography of the game.
Prophecy of the Grand Amplifier Campaign and Setting Supplement
The Prophecy of the Grand Amplifier is a setting-spanning, Upwind sourcebook and campaign written by Upwind’s authors. The book is packed with new locations, NPCs, Relics, creatures and Master’s caches, and the adventure will draw players deep into the setting. The story takes a band of young Knights from novice recruitment, through their Academy training, challenges them with their graduation cruise, leads them on a ranging series of missions across the Realms and then sends them deep into the Dark in pursuit of an ancient legacy. The discoveries they make will upend everything they know about the history of the Children, the Masters of the Wind and the origin of the Kin themselves.
Biohazard is a week out from the launch of our Upwind Kickstarter on October 11th! We are excited to finally get the campaign underway and to show it we are going to count down with cool art, KS previews, sneak-peaks and giveaways over the next seven days. Join us here, on Twitter and on Facebook and help us count down to the big day!
Check out the art that has been coming in from the amazing James Stowe. It is bringing the strange world of Upwind to vivid life!
The very cool Megan and Aser over at "The Redacted Files Podcast" just posted an "Upwind" demo and interview we did recently. Check it out if you want to hear the game in action.
