Zine Expanded! More Goals for Last 48 Hours!
about 4 years ago – Sun, Feb 16, 2020 at 12:46:35 PM

Knock me down with a feather, Desperados! We're approaching the final 48 hours, and we've already hit the big $2100 stretch goal to expand the zine. Let's set our sights on a few wild dreams as the train chugs onto the last stretch of tracks: New Conductors for the train to Hell, and a piratical re-skin of the game! Read on.

Expanded Physical Zine Unlocked!

Thanks to your daring and nerve, Desperados, we hit $2100 and unlocked an expanded physical zine. Now the stretch goal content like the new classes, the expanded play example, and the railway cars authored by Jesse Ross, Linda Codega, and Rosamund Hodge will all be part of the physical zine! We'll be able to print it with 44 pages or more, and (thanks to the previous stretch goal) a gorgeous cover by Emily Cheeseman. You've done me proud, train robbers.

New Special Goal: 200 Total Backers—Six New Conductors

When we reach 200 total backers of the Kickstarter, we will add a table of 6 new Conductors for the train to Hell!

As of this update, we're at 170 backers. If we can up that to 200 in the last two days, we'll add a table of six new Conductors to the game! For reference, here are the six current Conductors:

Plug the project to your game-playing friends and help us hit the big 200 and unleash another half-dozen fiendish Conductors!

3 More Physical Backers Needed for Art Lottery!

This one is getting real close, pardners. If just three more people back at the $12 or $38 levels (either by climbing newly aboard or stepping up from the digital level) we'll do a random drawing from among those 100 backers and give one of them a custom character portrait from the game's designer, Alexi! I have a feeling we may hit this special goal real soon, so if you've been making up your mind, remember you've got to be backing at a physical level to have a shot at the art.

New Stretch Goal: $2300—Nautical Re-Skin of the Game with Leah Sargeant!

Shiver my timbers, shiver my soul. There’s a fleet that sails for Hell below. An Armada bound for the infernal depths, crewed by sirens and carrying treasure and souls to damnation. You’re going to rob it.

Do you smell that salty ocean breeze, Desperados...or perhaps Freebooters? When we hit $2300, Leah Sargeant and I will create a nautical re-skin of the base game and publish it as a PDF free for all Kickstarter backers. The re-skin would be tentatively titled Between The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea: a game of Freebooters raiding the Armada of the Damned.

Leah Sargeant is an author and freelance writer interested in theology, hospitality, and statistics. She is the creator of the RPG Bring Home the Babe, a game for one player and one GM about bargaining with the fey to  rescue your baby sibling. She is also Alexi Sargeant's lovely wife and a proud new mom.

Here's an example of her contributions to this salt-and-skullduggery reimagining of the game:

Heave ho, Freebooters! And giddy-up, Desperados! There's plenty of devils to rob blind on sea and land before the last, blazing sunset.

Two Goals Unlocked, Big Finish in Sight!
about 4 years ago – Fri, Feb 14, 2020 at 03:45:50 PM

Time to throw a big shin-dig, Desperados! You've lassoed two big goals. Now there's a (final?) pair of goals on the horizon as we ride off into the sunset—or are those the red-hot spires of the infernal city of Dis? Either way, here's the scuttlebut:

Cover Illustration Unlocked!

We've cleared the $1850 stretch goal, so Emily Cheeseman (@emcheeseman) will be creating amazing art for the cover of The Great Soul Train Robbery! Without flim-flam or hyperbole, I can say this particular goal fills me with excitement and pride. Thanks to you all, the game will get the professional cover it deserves!

#HellBentDesperados Recruited, Stickers Unlocked!

We got the last few #HellBentDesperados that we needed, rounding out our full posse of 25! This has unlocked sticker sheets that will go along with every print copy of the zine. (PDF-only backers, if the stickers catch your fancy, why not make the small leap to backing at the print zine level?)

Some fun facts: The most popular Desperado classes among the #HellBentDesperados were Snake-handlers and Fiddlers. The most popular motives were prophecy and sheer stubbornness. You lot are a cussed and fate-laden bunch!

New Stretch Goal: $2100—Expanded Physical Zine with Digital Stretch Goal Content!

When we hit $2100, we will expand the physical zine from 32 pages to at least 44 pages, in order to add ALL the PDF expansions to the printed version of the game. That means 5 new railway cars, 6 new character classes, and the expanded play example will become part of the zine you can hold in your hand!

This is the big one, folks. Help spread the word so we can give you all a bigger zine.

18 More Physical Backers for Character Art Lottery!

Between the $12 tier and the $38 tier, we've got 82 backers getting the physical zine but not character art. When that number reaches 100, we'll do a random drawing for one of that number to also get a character illustration! We can reach this number from new backers climbing aboard but also from digital-only backers stepping up the physical zine level.

Well, Desperados, we've got till Tuesday. Shall we all lend a hand to bring this Hell-train into the station?

Another Goal Cleared, and a Podcast!
about 4 years ago – Thu, Feb 13, 2020 at 08:18:48 AM

Looks like all the tub-thumping has been paying off, Desperados! We've cleared another stretch goal, and we're two whoops and a holler away from cover art. Plus, there's a podcast out in the wild, and another special goal to announce. Let's get a wiggle on!

Rosamund Hodge Stretch Goal Cleared!

With $1700 in the can, we've unlocked Rosamund Hodge's expansion train car! Looking forward to what sinister options this weaver of dark fairy tales brings to our favorite Hell-bound locomotive.

As of this message, we're also a mere $100 away from the cover art stretch goal, which will see Emily Cheeseman provide a dandy cover featuring the Hell-train itself and a foolhardy Desperado or two. A grip more of backers or a single backer at the $100 level will help us hit pay dirt!

New Podcast of Actual Play!

As prophesied, we've now got a podcast to share. We demoed the game on the Bored Ghost Actual Play podcast. Check out the first part of that playthrough right here. Find out what happens when a Cattle Rustler and a Blind Drifter board the train to Hell in search of one Delilah Cunningham—though one seeks to destroy her and one to redeem her:

Backer Stretch Goal: 100 Print Backers—Character Art Lottery

We are getting so close to a full complement of #HellBentDesperados! We need just three more to unlock sticker sheets to be included with every print zine of the game. Perhaps we'll get one that's good, one that's bad, and one that's ugly?

In the meantime, I'm excited to announce another special stretch goal. When we get to 100 combined backers at the $12 (zine) and $38 (4 zines) levels, we'll do a random drawing to pick one backer at one of those levels to receive a piece of original character art from Alexi! 

Yes, this is meant as a little sweetener to anyone on the fence about upgrading from the $6 PDF level to the print zine levels. Bump up your pledge, and you'll get a chance at a character illustration of your own! We're at 75 backers between those levels now, so with just 25 more we'll do our lottery. And of course, if you're hankering for that art and want to guarantee you'll get it, there's always the $100 or $150 pledge levels...

Make hay while the sun shines, Desperados. Lend a hand by sharing round this thread promoting the Kickstarter with a rundown of the whole motley crew of Desperados you can play as in The Great Soul Train Robbery!

Halfway Through, And a Stretch Goal to Holler About!
about 4 years ago – Tue, Feb 11, 2020 at 02:12:33 PM

Big news, Desperados! I'm pleased as punch to announce a whopper of a stretch goal: At $1850, we'll commission a cover for the game from professional illustrator Emily Cheeseman!

A fistful of other updates here at the halfway point of the campaign:

Nearly There for Rosamund Hodge Stretch Goal

When we hit $1700, we'll unlock a railway car from celebrated author Rosamund Hodge. If you're excited for this stretch goal and the ones beyond it, considering upping your pledge. A few folks who've backed at the digital level treating themselves to a physical zine would push us over the top—as would one of the folks at the character art level springing for color! 

Watch Actual Play on the Cloven Pine Games Youtube Channel

Curious about how the game plays at the table? We've got several sessions of The Great Soul Train Robbery available on our Youtube channel. Here's one from the online game convention Gauntlet Con, featuring the dramatic tale of Reuben "Smiley" Flowers and Ebeneeza Scrain trying to liberate a song so pure the Devil wouldn't let humanity have it.

Rattle your hocks and make tracks to the Kickstarter page, Desperados. We've got a chance to make this game look as good as gold!

New Goal Unlocked, Another Car and a Podcast Incoming!
about 4 years ago – Sat, Feb 08, 2020 at 02:16:37 PM

Well, pilgrims, we've been going at it hammer and tongs, haven't we? Ten days to go, and we've cleared a hundred backers and busted through that $1500 stretch goal! You've earned an expanded play example, and we'll give you a taste of it right here in this update. Plus:

• New stretch goal at $1700, with guest author Rosamund Hodge!
• Less than a half dozen #HellBentDesperados still needed to unlock stickers!
• Alexi will be taking The Great Soul Train Robbery to a podcast tomorrow!

Excerpt from the Expanded Play Example

Cast: Widow Birdie Tanner, Sharpshooter Bob "Bullseye" McGee, Fiddler Herbishal "Dandylion" Crenshaw, and Tomboy Lucille "Luce" Cain

GM: So Bullseye has taken a bullet to the chest. Luce still has her hands up, pretending to surrender, as Thaddeus T. Crenshaw steps through the gunsmoke, light shining through that hole in his head. He keeps the gun trained on Luce. From your angle on the floor of the car, Bullseye, you can see the fancy script engraved along the side of the barrel. It’s a gun called “Recompense.” Thad casts weather eye over all three of you—Dandylion is nowhere to be found. “Well I reckon I know now why the Conductor gave me this gun.” Pinkerton guards file out behind him, hands on their guns as well. They’re all pretty focused on Luce. Birdie, you’ve got an opening here. What do you do?

BIRDIE: I steady myself as best I can, put on my winningest smile, and say to the guards, “I was not expecting to see Pinkertons aboard this train! I’ve always heard that you fellas act with honor and integrity whatever the circumstances. Surely you’ll have pity on a widow woman and her companions?”

GM: Interesting! Are you trying to forge a human connection with the Pinkertons? That’d be a roll with Lover.

BIRDIE: No, I’m lying through my teeth. I’ve never heard anything good about the Pinkertons.

GM: I like it. That’d be a Sinner roll then. I notice your Sinner is a 2 right now… Want to call for a flashback to show how your vices lead you to the point of robbing the train to Hell?

$1700 Stretch Goal—New Train Car by Rosamund Hodge!

When we hit $1700 we'll add a digital reward for all backers: a new railway car for the train to Hell, written by guest contributor Rosamund Hodge, author of dark fairy tale retellings like Cruel Beauty and Crimson Bound.

Rosamund Hodge (https://www.rosamundhodge.net/) grew up as a homeschooler in Los Angeles, where she spent her time reading everything she could lay hands on, but especially fantasy and mythology. She got a BA in English from the University of Dallas and an MSt in Medieval English from Oxford, and she now lives in Seattle with a mountain of books, her best friend, and the most beautiful dog in the world.

Five #HellBentDesperados to Go!

We're only 5 #HellBentDesperados away from unlocking the sticker sheet stretch goal! And we've added six new character classes you can choose from if you so desire. So saddle up, ride off into the Wild West that is Twitter, and roll up your Sawbones or Revivalist or Runaway Bride!

Great Soul Train Robbery on the Bored Ghost Podcast!

Alexi will be braving the infernal rails to reach Brooklyn, New York tomorrow and record an Actual Play podcast with the kindly souls of the Bored Ghost podcast. We're really excited to bring The Great Soul Train Robbery to life for your listening pleasure! Keep an ear out for that podcast to be shared via the Twitter accounts of Cloven Pine Games and the Bored Ghost podcast!

Get a move on, Desperados! No time like the present to spread word of this game far and wide!