Nuna Art

An Inuit woman with child talks to a Mystic Tuniit in its cave. What is it telling her?

On KS Postage & Pricing

Hello Nuna people, and thanks as always for your support!

I had intended to post some art and content about A Rosa Branca and the Grave of Leviathans (the what now?) but got sidetracked by real life, as single fathers about to move across country do.

I don't want to talk just about Kickstarter all the time and bore you, but I thought I'd give you my thoughts and experience on postage and pricing as it has been an interesting journey of discovery.

So I did massive amounts of reading from KS articles before the campaign about postage. The advice was all the same - nail down every detail, then overcharge to account for unforeseen costs or changes at the post office between the campaign and delivery of product.

Simple, right?

Except roleplaying games are a different beast. Looking through campaigns, some had no postage, some had limited to certain areas, others had high rates. The clock was ticking, so I made the decision to overcharge and make up with content or refunds at a later date. I put it up on my pre-launch and figured I could get some feedback.

Except I didn't. I got a lot of "Looks great!" before launch, then a wave of "Why did you do that? Wish I had told you earlier!" after launch.

Maybe people didn't want to offend me or were too busy / intrigued by concept and content to look at the nitty gritty details. But even though my decision was not the best one, I was thrilled that so many of you still backed the project.

So when I relaunch in 3-6 months with an actual book in my hands, postage won't be calculated until after the campaign succeeds.

Moving onto pricing, there was a similar phenomenon. The advice was get down all the nuts and bolts, then overprice to not be caught offguard by surprises. Refund excess or offer content to make up for it.

Again, simple on the surface but not the best option for an RPG. So my work now is to get the book written and playtested, then get actual figures for printers instead of vague estimates. This will help me keep the book cost down as much as possible. I don't want to break anyone's bank with NUNA, just be industry competitive and be able to pay off my team for their hardwork.

Thanks again, and look forward to more content & art next!

NUNA & Tedankhamen Aren't Going Anywhere

 

Posted by Tedankhamen Oct 24, 2024 View on Kickstarter

Hello beautiful backers! This is Tedankhamen. It seems that our growth has levelled off. Our goal seems difficult to achieve at this time. And that is OK. Just from running Kickstarter for a week, this is what we have achieved: 200 glorious backers pledging nearly $4000. People from all over the globe giving positive feedback about NUNA. Tons of helpful people giving advice and criticism that will make our next attempt 100x more likely to succeed (first time KS succeed 40% of the time, second time 80%). Turned my notes into a playtest draft. Went from a one man outfit to a creative team of three. Created a ton of art for the project. So whether this Kickstarter succeeds or not, NUNA will live on, and will someday make its way into your hands. Let me tell you why. First, because I believe in this game, its vision of adventure and representation for people of the North. And lots of you have told me you feel the same. Second, because Tedankhamen learns from his mistakes. Why do I have a blackbelt in karate? Why did I get 2nd place in a Japanese provincial tournament? Why did I get the highest level in Japanese? Why did I push through to become prof? Because I jump in feet first, embrace my mistakes, and learn from them. Already, I have learned in weeks what other teams take months or years to acquire. And Kickstarter is a unique beast with scads of moving parts and the added complications of TRPGs and being a first timer.  So I hope you will stick around as we continue developing NUNA, and push it through to reality. And since there's always hope, I will be updating this KS till it runs out, and keeping our social media feeds open and running. Nalligavagit!

Kickstarter Is An Education

KS is a real education. School of hard knocks in a way, especially for indie creators.

It is very hard to make the right decisions.

Case 1 - Shipping

On the one hand, I was told nail down shipping cost details, which is impossible considering I don't know where backers are and what postal rates will be in 6 months. On the other, after posting it was pointed out that most KS don't include shipping, which lowers your overall funding and thus chance of reaching your goal.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Case 2 - The Interface

KS is a bit of an unforgiving interface. Once you launch it is hard to go back and change things. Maybe it is my old brain but it is taking some getting used to. I flubbed my digital copy tier so had to create a new one.

But it is all a valuable education.

Case 3 - Outreach

On the one hand, some people have reached out and given great advice. On the other, I am flooded with spam and bots. I was offered a podcast interview, but told they don't do direct messages.

I'm not sure how this is supposed to go. 

BUT

I am LOVING every minute of it!

I am LEARNING every minute of it!

Very grateful I took this chance.

Meta-ads and other kickstart considerations

 Hi everybody.

I started running ads for Nuna on Facebook. One week left in pre-launch.

The social media campaign is a mixed bag. Doing well on Facebook and blue sky, Twitter and email list are duds. Have to try and fix that in this last week of pre-launch.

What Is it like a kick starter? Some people only do that for six months to a year in advance with their team. Not me. Go look at Coyote and Crow, an example of a brilliantly executed kickstart campaign.

Some people do a little workshop in their house and line everything up by themselves and get it done in advance. Again not me that’s Ben Milton. And he kills it.

I have connected to lots of Indie designers. Some of them work a year in advance for the team and fail. Some of them slap it together by themselves and succeeded. So there’s a lot of luck involved.

I am leaning into my creative side, learning about marketing, and putting my passion out there. By kickstart followers alone, I could conceivably have half of what I need to fund. But that number is considered 25 to 40% off.

So this week I’m going to try and plug my holes and start kickstart off on the right foot with three weeks of half decent PR behind me.

I am still being a single father to a special-needs child.

I am still working some days, but also taking days off

Most importantly, I am still going for walks in the sunshine with sunny, exercising at night, eating right and slowly getting ready for the move to the West Coast

Wish me all the luck I wish you!

Tedankhamen

SUPER SCIENCE IN NUNA

So I’ve gone on long enough about Inuit, who are one of the pillars of Nuna. The other pillar is not just Iceships, but the whole retro-futurist super science that underlies them.

Labrador and all of Canada’s arctic has an element of this. The Pinetree Line was a series of geodesic dome radars strung across the North to detect Soviet air invasion. My father worked at one, and there are lots of strange (and NSFW) stories about them. But I remember as a child seeing the white geodesic domes outside Goose Bay standing out against the rocky hills and stunted spruce trees and being awed by their futuristic shapes.

The arctic has also been the site of superpower conflicts (and attendant accidents) as well. On the 22nd of May, 1968, a cabin fire forced a nuclear bomber crew to eject Over Thule Air Base in Greenland. They left the plane to crash with its nuclear payload onboard, and its B28FI thermonuclear bomb, second stage, was never recovered. In Labrador, a German U-boat has been found sunk in the Churchill River, 100 kilometers from the ocean. German officials confirmed U-boats did operate off the coast of Labrador, and also German intelligence did set up weather stations along the coast, many of which were never found.

All these are grist for the mill in Nuna.

SCIENTISTS

What we call scientists in Nuna are more like mad scientists from comics and old movies. They strut around in shiny suits with glass cowls, fly on (dangerously radioactive) thrones, and can perform miracles when they want. They are also mysterious and secretive, and have hidden agendas that would frighten the other inhabitants of the land if they knew of them. This makes them both envied and feared by the other inhabitants of Nuna. Inuit and Vikings want nothing to do with them, but Whalers guardedly embrace their technological support.

Once, Howard Hughes tried to make a giant claw to retrieve a sunken Soviet nuclear sub in the Pacific, but told the press he was interested in underwater mining. His claw failed and the vessel broke into pieces, spilling its deadly cargo onto the ocean floor.

THIS is the vibe of mad scientists in Nuna.

ICESHIPS

Michael Moorcock introduced the idea of Iceships in The Ice Schooner, but this romantic view of classic sailing ships on ice runners needs an update.

Instead, Nuna’s light Iceships are based on the solar sails of space exploration. Anyone can be trained to use one, but repair is the sole province of Scientists.

The heavy Iceships used by Whalers are based on Soviet nuclear icebreakers, but as they would exist had the USSR had another hundred years or so of technological advancement. Remember, for a short while they beat the West in the Space Race, and their heavy aircraft are still used today. The aesthetic is Super Science Soviet City Ship (try saying that ten times fast), with light Iceships milling about them for the hunt. Kind of like Gundam on ice…

TECHNOLOGY

There are basically three tiers of technology in Nuna. There is Inuit survival technology, which seems almost magical to the other groups. Then there is modern technology, used by Vikings and Whalers, with some upgrades for the post apocalypse. Finally, Scientists use super science, retro futuristic technology that does incredible things. For a price. And there’s always a price to be paid.

Nuna Open For Questions!

NUNA - The RPG of Inuit & Iceships, winner of the 2024 BRP Design Challenge, offers a very different gaming experience. What do you want to know about Nuna? Put your burning questions below, leave a like, follow on Kickstarter. Let's reach our Kickstarter goal together!