Machine Gods coming to Kickstarter!

Hello, everyone! As some of you know, I've decided to bring Machine Gods of the Noxian Expanse back from the limbo I had thrown it into, due to my decision to stop working on D20 rulesets. Instead of simply continuing with the same ruleset, though, it has been ported to Mörk Borg. it's no secret I'm not a fan of rules-light games, and I'm physiologically incapable of writing something like that, which is why the talented Richard Kelly has been the one to adapt the game to the MB ruleset. Having him focus on mechanics while I handle the setting and worldbuilding seems like the ideal situation. This way we get a true rules-light Blackoath game (anathema!), and I get to enjoy expanding the Machine Gods setting. So far it seems to be one of Blackoath's most popular settings, so I'm happy to oblige.

So a few weeks back I told Richard to start working on the Mörk Borg version of the game, and it is now done! As is usually the case, the project has grown a bit beyond what I originally expected, which means I've blown through my budget. I know, I'm a really irresponsible "businessman" but Richard came up with some really cool stuff, so how am I going to cut that out? I'm a gamer first and foremost, and if I see something cool, I want it. This also means that I already need some new art for this edition, among other things.

Furthermore, I've started working on the third book in the series, The Array Thicket! Here's the cover!

This means lots of more art to get it done, though. And art is not cheap! So I thought it was probably time we had a Machine Gods Kickstarter.

The idea is to cover the costs of converting both the core rules and The Voidspire Territories book to the new ruleset, and finance the production of the new expansion. As usual, this would be a quick campaign, with a quick turnaround. And don't worry, those who already own the current version of the game are still getting this Mörk Borg version for free, I'm still considering this an update to the system, since it's replacing the existing books. If you still want to support the campaign there will be a tier that will allow you to get the new expansion, though!

I have of course considered making offset copies of this new version, but I honestly don't think it's a good moment to do so. 80% of all my sales are from US customers, and I doubt very much someone is going to want to pay 50€ in shipping for a 30€ book. It's just insane, but this is where we are at the moment. And I'm afraid that making copies for the handful of non-US customers that I have (mostly Oceania and UK) is simply not profitable. So, once again, the books would go straight to print on demand/PDF.

As for when the Kickstarter will be ready, I am not sure. As I said, the conversion of the core rules is complete, and Richard is now working on converting The Voidspire Territories, a book that needs little conversion done, so it should be ready pretty soon too. I am currently working on doing my editing pass, and will soon start working on the layout. I'm sure it will all be done this month. I still need to write The Array Thicket, though, since I only have a handful of pages done, and I don't like going to a crowdfunding campaign without having the book at the very least fully written, since I don't want surprises. My guess is that I should have the Kickstarter ready to go in late April, though!

So that's all I wanted to let you nice folks now, please spread the word so we can get people excited about it!