‘City Builder’ Platinum Edition Update #20: ‘Taxidermist’ Unlocked & Much More!

As we move into the final third of this Kickstarter campaign for a "Platinum Edition" of Skirmisher Publishing’s City Builder: A Guide to Designing Communities we are pleased to have on day twenty-one unlocked our last listed Stretch Goal! We are also excited to announce that when we hit the $20,000 mark we are going to do something very special for backers that goes beyond what we have done at previous levels.

* When we hit $19,000 we unlocked the Taxidermy Shop, a new craftsman place that original City Builder author Michael O. Varhola will write. Whether they want to have monsters they have slain preserved for posterity or more effective animation, or learn about obscure creatures they expect to encounter, characters might be prompted to visit the workshops of taxidermists in the course of their adventures.

* When we reach $20,000, rather than simply add a new type of place to the Platinum Edition of City Builder we are going to create for backers a completely new system-free companion book! “In the Footsteps of Hercules” will be a specific example of a Pilgrimage Route — the first new place we unlocked as a Stretch Goal — that will be at least twice as long as a regular entry of this sort (e.g., 3,000-4,000 words). It will include an overview of this pilgrimage trail and its history; synopsis of the twelve stages of the route and the prevailing terrain and conditions associated with them; and entries for all the major communities along the route.

++ For every $1,000 we reach after that we will add one new detailed specific place that can be found along this pilgrimage route (e.g., a Temple devoted to Hercules, a Shrine dedicated to the goddess Hera, a pilgrim Hostel established in the ruins of an ancient citadel). Each of these entries will include a detailed description of the place in question, information about the non-player characters associated with it, and a custom map/floorplan.

++ “In the Footsteps of Hercules” and its contents will be compatible with any traditional fantasy campaign setting and storytellers will be able to use the book overall, and any new specific places within it, either in the country described in it or in any other settings of their choice. Storytellers will, likewise, be able to easily swap out elements in this book for ones specific to their own campaigns (e.g., Hercules can be easily replaced with any god of strength, warriors, or hunters).

++ PDF copies of this book will be made available to backers who will be receiving City Builder in that format and both PDF and at-cost print copies will be made available to backers who will be receiving hardcover editions of the book. These will be provided automatically and there are no additional steps backers will need to take.

Part of our motivation for this dramatic move is to avoid having the Platinum Edition of City Builder become unwieldy and our estimate is that 15 new places is the most we could add without increasing shipping costs.

Thanks to everyone who has come on board with this project and helped bring it to this exciting point! We sincerely hope you are pleased with and looking forward to the great things we are yet going to be doing with it.