Going Digital... with new Stretch Goals
almost 4 years ago – Wed, Apr 29, 2020 at 04:12:47 PM

Hello Agents & Operatives,

Well, once again, we're unlocking Stretch Goals faster than I'd anticipated! That doesn't mean I'm unprepared, just that you guys continue to be awesome! (I say this as I'm slurping down spaghetti and running back and forth to my computer!)

ACHIEVED! - At $110,000 in funding - Technocracy Reloaded Player’s Companion: Constructs and Symposiums Expanded — An earlier section of this PDF supplement will be doubled in size.

So, let's go double digital with our next two Stretch Goal targets:

At $115,000 in funding - Digital Wallpaper — An awesome digital wallpaper for your computer desktop featuring art from Technocracy Reloaded. All backers will have this automatically added to their rewards list.

At $122,000 in funding - Technocracy Reloaded Player’s Companion: Digital Web 3.0.2 —The update for Digital Web for M20 will be increased in size.

Really, I should have those goals in binary and say we're targeting $11100000100111000 to unlock our Technocracy Reloaded Digital Wallpaper, and then $11101110010010000 to upgrade our Digital Web section to version 3.0.2.

That's a lot of ones and zeroes! I'll stick with our decimal system for now!

Let's keep at it, operatives!

#Technocracy Reloaded

Prelude: PROCESSING
almost 4 years ago – Wed, Apr 29, 2020 at 12:53:14 PM

Processing

Myths have power.

I know this, because I am held prisoner within one.

The myth of Room 101.

Our Union’s boogieman.

“Did you think we didn’t know about you, John?”

This is not happening.

“I mean, I’m certain that you knew.”

This man is not real.

“You had to know your antics had not gone — unnoted.”

The repetition is a plot. A rhetorical technique. This entire situation is a mind game. The scene is too carefully constructed, too archetypal, one might say, to be real.

“We’ve been watching you. Your so-called Friends. Your little plans. Did you somehow think we didn’t know?”

Processing Engineers do not monologue like villains in escapist cinema. This is artifice. Psychological architecture designed to instill a sense of media-induced familiarity.

None of this is real.

Not even me.

The nanotech bindings are not real. This room is not real. The Processing Engineer who looms above me is as illusory as the light flickering across a television screen. This entire exercise is a construct designed to induce fear blended with a sense of hope.

The reality is that there is no escape from this scenario. No cadre of allies will arrive to set me free. I have run such programs myself on countless occasions. Room 101 exists outside material reality, measured only by dimensions of consciousness. This is, as they say, all in my head. There are no physical doors to break down because not a single element of my imprisonment is physical.

Room 101 is installed in the minds of every Technocratic agent. Even mine.

Especially mine.

After all, I helped make it what it is today.

“I admire you, John. Obviously.” The not-man hallucination stands above me, his bald head shining in the glare. Gloved hands caress baroque instruments of pain. Crude theatrics, but they work. I know how well they work. I’ve employed them myself. “You’re a legend. A ‘secret agent’ who’s never been a secret.” His fingertips linger on something that would not have been out of place in Dr. Mengele’s surgical theatre. “A mad sort of paradox… but then, that is the point, isn’t it, John? Paradox. And madness.”

He hasn’t earned a reaction, so I don’t give him one.

“Oh, John.” He manages to sound disappointed. “Are we really playing that game now?” He picks up the instrument. “Have we really grown so predictable that I actually have to use this on you? I had hoped we were all advanced beyond such crude theatrics.”

Theatrics. This is all theatrics. He knows it. So do I.

There is no table, no instrument, no skin. I am not strapped naked to a table, he is not standing over me, and none of this exists in a physical location. This entire pageant is played out in the truest level of reality: human consciousness. Bodies are illusions. Location is a state of mind. Time, space, form — all of them are ultimately tricks we play upon ourselves.

This is the secret truth we go to war to protect. Because the human mind, unbound by illusions, goes mad. Our necessary illusions save us from ourselves.

“And that is what you are, John,” the Engineer declares, my thoughts as clear to him as this delusion is to us both. “You’re mad.”

/Prelude... more to come.

Funded! Framework! Forward!
almost 4 years ago – Wed, Apr 29, 2020 at 07:23:15 AM

• /initiate Concierge Protocol
•  /override exhaustion levels 
•  /simulate post-coffee cognitive state 

Hello Agents & Operatives!

Well, that was quite the start for our Technocracy Reloaded kickstarter campaign! I'm a bit overwhelmed and awed by our launch yesterday. I've been hearing how excited and eager fans were for this book for quite some time - I still underestimated how much support we'd see right out of the gate! Amazing job, everyone!

YOU have enabled the process that will turn this Technocracy Reloaded supplement for M20 from an idea into a reality! And we've still got 29 more days to see what else we can add to the slate of projects for this one!

Not only did you fund this project with amazing speed (under an hour!! Come on!), but we've already created an outlet for additional content in the form of the Technocracy Reloaded Player's Companion PDF, which will automatically be added to the rewards list for every backer pledged to the EXTRAORDINARY CITIZEN tier or higher.

In addition, we've unlocked two amazing Add On offers and the eventual opportunity to show your Kickstarter Backer pride with the eventual release of a limited edition Technocracy Reloaded Backer T-shirt.

For only +$20, Add On a sturdy, three-panel screen featuring a collage of Technocracy Reloaded art on the outer side, and a selection of charts and other reference info on the inside to make running a Technocracy-focused M20 game session a little bit easier.

This additional reward can be added on to any reward tier containing a hardcover book by increasing your total Pledge Amount by +$20 and then confirming your selection in our Post-Campaign Pledge Manager.

A PDF bundle of earlier-edition Mage: The Ascension titles available to be added to any reward tier for only $25. This PDF bundle includes:

•  Convention Book: Iteration X PDF
•  Convention Book: N.W.O. PDF
•  Convention Book: Progenitors PDF
•  Convention Book: Syndicate PDF
•  Convention Book: Void Engineers PDF
•  Guide to the Technocracy PDF
•  Technocracy Assembled 1 PDF
•  Technocracy Assembled 2 PDF
•  Technomancer’s Toybox PDF

And, to circle back and move forward at the same time, not only have you initiated the Player's Companion, you've built an entire framework for it through Stretch Goal achievements! The Technocracy Reloaded Player's Companion will contain the following sections:

•  Constructs and Symposiums — A collection of ready-made NPCs and locations;
•  Digital Web 3.0 — An update to the Digital Web for M20;
•  Technomancer's Toybox 20 —More gadgets, devices, adjustments, and procedures;
•  Unlikely Allies — A guide to cross-faction play incorporating the Traditions into a Technocracy Campaign and vice-versa

That's a pretty solid framework that the development team and writers can work within as they craft this book, and now it's time expand within that structure and add even more room for creative team to explore. So, we're gonna start adding size and space to the book and let the writers run wild!

Our next Stretch Goal, more More MORE!

At $110,000 in funding - Technocracy Reloaded Player’s Companion: Constructs and Symposiums Expanded — An earlier section of this PDF supplement will be doubled in size.

So, let's keep at it! Within our FIRST 24 HOURS we have over 1100 backers and have raised $100,000 in funding to make this project a reality and add more content to the world of Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary and the Technocracy! 

We've unlocked our first SEVEN Stretch Goals! And we've got 29 days ahead of us to unlock many more! We can double the size of the Player's Companion, adding more room for the writer's to explore all of the ideas and topics we've been dreaming about for years! We can add more rewards to our pledge rewards! We can find ways for even more content and projects to spin out of this campaign!

And - AND - we still get to read the complete Technocracy Reloaded manuscript over the next 4 Tuesdays!

So, take a deep breath! Celebrate our amazing launch! Keep being funny and witty and silly in the comments section, and let's keep this project going and growing!

#TechnocracyReloaded

#OneWorld.OneTruth.OneOrder

• /end communication routine
•  /prove ongoing demand for more Mage! 
•  /make things happen 

Transmission Received: Additional Stretch Goal Targets Acquired.
almost 4 years ago – Tue, Apr 28, 2020 at 02:32:55 PM

• /initiate Concierge Protocol
• /initiate Crowdfunding Update Post
• /initiate Backer Communication Routine Beta
• /Disbelief that he's gonna start with this every time

Greetings Agents & Operatives!

Well, I've just had another communication downloaded. We've cracked another set of Stretch Goals!

ACHIEVED! - At $65,000 in funding - New Add-On Reward: Technocratic Union PDF Bundle —We’ll make this PDF bundle of earlier-edition Mage: The Ascension titles available to be added to any reward tier for only $25.

ACHIEVED! - At $75,000 in funding - Technocracy Reloaded Player’s Companion: Digital Web 3.0 — An update to the Digital Web for M20 will be added to this PDF supplement.

And with those Stretch Goal enigmas now deciphered, I can release this Add On reward:

A PDF bundle of earlier-edition Mage: The Ascension titles available to be added to any reward tier for only $25. This PDF bundle includes:

•  Convention Book: Iteration X PDF
•  Convention Book: N.W.O. PDF
•  Convention Book: Progenitors PDF
•  Convention Book: Syndicate PDF
•  Convention Book: Void Engineers PDF
•  Guide to the Technocracy PDF
•  Technocracy Assembled 1 PDF
•  Technocracy Assembled 2 PDF
•  Technomancer’s Toybox PDF

Also, I can run around my office shouting DIGITAL WEB DIGITAL WEB DIGITAL WEB. Not that I needed permission before, but now it seems more official!

So, with that, let's introduce a few more Stretch Goals, shall we?

At $85,000 in funding - Technocracy Reloaded Player’s Companion: Technomancer's Toybox 20 —More gadgets, devices, adjustments, and procedures will be added to this PDF supplement.

At $90,000 in funding - Kickstarter Backer T-Shirt — A Technocracy Reloaded-themed Kickstarter Backer shirt will be hosted on the Redbubble store for a limited time. All backers will be notified when the shirt becomes available.

At $100,000 in funding - Technocracy Reloaded Player’s Companion: Unlikely Allies — A guide to cross-faction play incorporating the Traditions into a Technocracy Campaign and vice-versa will be written for this PDF supplement.

So, some additional content added to our Player's Companion, and an Onyx Path classic - Kickstarter Backer T-shirt!

Now, will these latest goals carry us for a while and allow me time to eat and sleep? Let's find out!!

#TechnocracyReloaded

#OneWorld.OneTruth.OneOrder

• /end communication routine
• /maintain social distancing parameters
• /stay safe
• /be well
• /persevere

STRETCH GOALS GETTING CRUSHED
almost 4 years ago – Tue, Apr 28, 2020 at 12:40:46 PM

• /initiate Concierge Protocol
• /initiate Crowdfunding Update Post
• /initiate Backer Communication Routine Beta

Greetings Agents & Operatives!

Wow. Lots of excitement so far! I gotta say, this is amazing. Thank you, everyone, for making the past two hours... exhausting. But, in a good way for a change. Wow.

Wow. I'm gonna say that a lot.

So... Storyteller Screen. It's an Add On, now available for this campaign.

For only +$20, Add On a sturdy, three-panel screen featuring a collage of Technocracy Reloaded art on the outer side, and a selection of charts and other reference info on the inside to make running a Technocracy-focused M20 game session a little bit easier.

Can be added on to any reward tier containing a hardcover book by increasing your total Pledge Amount by +$20 and then confirming your selection in our Post-Campaign Pledge Manager.

That's because we've ALREADY SMASHED OUR FIRST STRETCH GOAL!

ACHIEVED - At $45,000 in funding - Technocracy Reloaded Storyteller Screen — We’ll create a Technocracy Reloaded Storyteller Screen, which can be added on to any reward tier containing a hardcover book for only +$20.

Did I say our first Stretch Goal? Because we hit another while I was typing this!!

ACHIEVED! - At $55,000 in funding - Technocracy Reloaded Player’s Companion: Constructs and Symposiums — A collection of ready-made NPCs and locations. All backers receiving the Technocracy Reloaded PDF will automatically have the Player’s Companion PDF added to their rewards list.

And that means, not only have we officially launched our home for more content - the Technocracy Reloaded Player's Companion - but we've got to get some new Stretch Goals loaded up!

At $65,000 in funding - New Add-On Reward: Technocratic Union PDF Bundle —We’ll make this PDF bundle of earlier-edition Mage: The Ascension titles available to be added to any reward tier for only $25. This PDF bundle will include:

• Convention Book: Iteration X PDF
• Convention Book: N.W.O. PDF
• Convention Book: Progenitors PDF
• Convention Book: Syndicate PDF
• Convention Book: Void Engineers PDF
• Guide to the Technocracy PDF
• Technocracy Assembled 1 PDF
• Technocracy Assembled 2 PDF
• Technomancer’s Toybox PDF

If you've got digital gaps in your older Technocracy collection, here's a way to fill it up with one click! And also, a great source of inspiration and ideas to apply to your M20 chronicle.

Already got those? Well, let's expand the Player's Companion then... 

At $75,000 in funding - Technocracy Reloaded Player’s Companion: Digital Web 3.0 — An update to the Digital Web for M20 will be added to this PDF supplement.

Remember, the Player's Companion PDF will automatically be added to your rewards list if you're getting the Technocracy Reloaded PDF as part of your pledge tier rewards. We're just gonna keep growing it and making it more awesome as we go!

So, WOW, again, and let's see how huge we can make this campaign!

#TechnocracyReloaded

#OneWorld.OneTruth.OneOrder

• /end communication routine
• /maintain social distancing parameters
• /stay safe
• /be well
• /persevere