‘City Builder’ Platinum Edition Kickstarter Update #25: ‘Tournament Ground’ Writeup Unlocked!

Just an hour into day twenty-seven of our Kickstarter campaign for a "Platinum Edition" of Skirmisher Publishing’s City Builder: A Guide to Designing Communities we were pleased to unlock another Stretch Goal, allowing us to further expand the special companion book we are creating for backers! 

* When we hit $23,000 we unlocked the sports complex at Olympia, a specific example of a Tournament Ground on the Pilgrimage Route that is the subject of the “In the Footsteps of Hercules” system-free RPG gazetteer we are creating as a bonus publication for backers of this campaign. Storytellers will be able to use this place either in conjunction with the overall sourcebook or by itself, and within their own worlds or as part of the historical fantasy country we have set it in. 

This place located at the far western edge of the pilgrimage route was established by Hercules after completing his 12 Labors and is used both for the Olympiad every four years and as a venue for training, worship, and diplomacy. It is also the location of the statue of Zeus that is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. This entry will include a detailed description of the tournament ground and the complex of which it is a part, information about the non-player characters associated with it, a custom full-color illustration by fantasy artist Amanda Kahl, a custom map/floorplan by artist William T. Thrasher, and two or three adventure hooks. 

* When we reach $24,000 we will unlock the Asclepion of Lerna, a specific example of a Hospital (one of the general sorts of places that appears in City Builder). This healing center is situated beside a deep freshwater spring along the Footsteps of Hercules pilgrimage trail and near the place where the demigod slew the foul Lernaean Hydra and is supported in part by gifts from visitors. 

Thanks to everyone who has come on board with this project and helped bring it to the point it is at! Backers of this campaign will now be receiving two complete publications — both a core book with descriptions of 85 general sorts of places and a companion sourcebook with a growing number of specific places — as a result of the Stretch Goals we have unlocked. We very much hope you are enjoying our updates on this project and pleased with the exciting things we are doing with it.