Tavern Tales #1: Lair of the Battle Mage RPG Adventure Zine

A project in Atlanta, GA by James Floyd Kelly
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Tavern Tales #1: Lair of the Battle Mage is a complete 32-page mini-adventure delivered in the format of a classic gaming zine.
Backers: 166
Average Pledge Per Backer: $14

Funded: $2,361 of $1,500
Dates: Feb 6th -> Feb 22nd (16 days)
Project By: James Floyd Kelly
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$2,361

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Last Updated: February 22 @ 13:07 -0500 GMT

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Latest News

Last Day...

February 21st - via: kickstarter.com
Well... it's here. The last 24 hours of the project. Some thoughts: 1. I really didn't know if this would fund or not. I set the level low ($1500) and hoped I could find 100 backers who would have some sort of interest in the old school look and feel... (Read More)

The $3000 Stretch Goal

February 20th - via: kickstarter.com
With only a few days left, I don't know if we have enough time to make the $3000 stretch goal. My intent was to provide a 5x8 postcard (or whatever size a standard US postcard is) with 2D images of some of the NPCs and creatures that will be found in... (Read More)

MINI-MINI-ZINE!

February 20th - via: kickstarter.com
Alright, you amazing backers did it! You got the project to the $2000 stretch goal which means each print copy of the magazine will get a mini-mini-zine inserted into the larger zine before it ships. This will be an 8-page mini-mini-zine, with each... (Read More)

Handle with Care - Do Not Bend

February 20th - via: kickstarter.com
I was hoping it would be a little bigger but this will work :)  (Read More)

Feedback is GOOD!

February 20th - via: kickstarter.com
Just a quick update about feedback -- I am ALWAYS open to feedback, and I do try to take your advice and suggestions into consideration. I have already purchased a small "DO NOT BEND" stamp that will put a bright red alert on the outside of the... (Read More)

Shipping the Print Copies

February 19th - via: kickstarter.com
Believe it or not, I've read dozens of articles from people who make zines. Google has given me so much information on issues to consider, and one of them is shipping. In the old days, many zine creators would staple shut the 5.5 x 8.5" booklets and... (Read More)

Progress Report - Feb 18, 2020

February 18th - via: kickstarter.com
I was planning on letting you see how I will ship the zines after they are printed, but a delivery I was expecting yesterday didn't make it on time. So, I'll postpone that one for tomorrow (hopefully it arrives today) and instead give you a brief... (Read More)

Formatting for Booklets

February 17th - via: kickstarter.com
Five days to go... and I'm not wasting any of it.  I like to use Pages for writing... I used Word for so long as a freelance tech writer, and once I discovered how Pages doesn't do all those weird shifting things when you drop graphics in... once I... (Read More)

The Map(s)

February 16th - via: kickstarter.com
There may be more than one map... it all depends on formatting and readability. I may have to split the adventure map into two, given the smaller page size.  So, let me tell you about my map artist... his name is Daniel F. Walthall... aka @axebane... (Read More)

Test Copy -- Cover, pages, and staples

February 15th - via: kickstarter.com
I went ahead and had a copy printed up -- 32 blank pages inside (16 sheets folded in half), two staples, and the card stock cover. I did this for a few reasons: 1. I keep it in front of me as I write... it's very motivational, especially because I... (Read More)

No Time to Waste

February 15th - via: kickstarter.com
So, the project is funded. I don't know about other Kickstarters, but I've learned NOT to waste any time. That means I'm off and running on the adventure design. I've got a basic outline of the three Acts the adventure will follow, but I do see some... (Read More)

Stretch Goals #1 and #2

February 14th - via: kickstarter.com
My original plan had been to add a card stock cover for Stretch Goal #1 when things reached $2000... but I honestly cannot send out a zine that has a regular paper cover... so I decided to make that first stretch goal nothing but a standard item. All... (Read More)

FUNDED! Thank you, all!

February 13th - via: kickstarter.com
Okay, so... THANK YOU! Thank you to my backers and thanks to all of you who helped spread the word about my zine project. It's now funded and has 9 days left. As a show of appreciation, I've made some changes to the Stretch Goals: 1. I'm going ahead... (Read More)

"Will There Be More Tavern Tales?"

February 13th - via: kickstarter.com
This is a question I've received from a few backers, and it's a fair one. The short answer is -- I don't know. I decided to do this because I like zines and I thought it would be fun to just try making one. I didn't have any long term plans when I... (Read More)

Tavern Tales #1 - The Cover

February 12th - via: kickstarter.com
Here it is... the cover! I have to thank Shell Presto for an amazing piece of artwork. I hope you'll all agree that not only is it an eye-catching piece, but it just feels very zine-ish...  I am so glad to be able to share this with you before the... (Read More)

Creating a Mini Adventure - The Story

February 11th - via: kickstarter.com
Before I launched the Kickstarter, I spent a few days going over some of the older one-shot ideas I had created over the years. I have a notebook that I use to hold the ideas and plots that I sometimes wake up with or that sometimes just pop in my... (Read More)

Lair of the Battle Mage -- Cover

February 10th - via: kickstarter.com
I've gone ahead and commissioned a cover image from an artist I've come to trust when it comes to taking an idea in my head and making it a real image -- Shell Presto. I may be jumping the gun since the Kickstarter has not reached 100% funding, but... (Read More)

Creating a Mini Adventure - Wordcount Limits

February 10th - via: kickstarter.com
Over the next few weeks, I'll share with you my thoughts on how I go through developing an adventure. I've done this a number of times for my own use as well as for some published adventures I've written for Goodman Games. I won't pretend to have the... (Read More)

Making EACH Zine UNIQUE

February 9th - via: kickstarter.com
One of the things that I most want to do for each of my backers who receive a print copy of the zine is to do something that makes that particular copy totally unique. I've been batting around some ideas, and what I've come up with is as follows: ... (Read More)

Organizing a Zine

February 9th - via: kickstarter.com
As I was exploring the history of zines and seeing what's come before, I quickly realized that the layout of a zine is much different than a magazine. Because I'll be printing each sheet double-sided, the order in which each page is printed on its... (Read More)

"Damaging" an Image

February 8th - via: kickstarter.com
One of the more noticeable things about an old zine is the quality of the photocopying. It wasn't great. Photocopiers often produced faded images and grayish text, but this as good as a home publisher could hope to get unless they had access to the... (Read More)

Playing with Fonts

February 7th - via: kickstarter.com
First, a big thank you to all of you who have backed this project. Thank you for helping push this project forward. Right now, I'm experimenting with various fonts. Old zines were typically created on typewriters, not with word processing software,... (Read More)

So why a Zine?

February 6th - via: kickstarter.com
I've published 14 issues of Bexim's Bazaar magazine so far, so the question I asked myself before starting this project was... why a zine? My gaming experiences (especially RPGs) started in 1980, and back then we didn't have all the online resources... (Read More)

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