Is Path of the Wilds Cancelled?
Hell no. I’ve put in too much effort to just toss it. I’ll be damned if I give up just because of this.
Are you going to re-launch the Kickstarter?
No. Kickstarter campaigns aren’t cheap, and they’re time-consuming and stressful. This last campaign already cost a few hundred dollars just for promotional material (ads, music/stock art for the video, etc.). That’s not counting the price of the artwork that Miguel did for the book; that’s just Kickstarter stuff. At this point I will look into alternative means of funding the book. Even if that means paying for it out of my personal savings, I’ll get it done.
What went wrong with the Kickstarter campaign?
Plenty. I didn’t do enough lead up to the campaign itself (no pre-launch page, etc.). Add-ons weren’t put on until a week in, when they could have given a big surge at the start. I didn’t start running ads on places like Facebook and other campaign aggregate sites until after the initial few days (and if you know anything about a typical campaign, you pretty much should get 30-50% done in the first few days, or you can expect to fail). It all seems obvious in hindsight, but in the lead up you can get lost in the chaos of just getting the stuff in front of you finished that you miss necessary steps.
Most of this is undoubtedly my own fault. The campaign for Path of Iron went well with less prep, so I figured just doing that a second time would suffice, and it clearly wasn’t enough. However, I think the biggest factor is that PF1’s market has shrunk significantly with the release of Pathfinder 2nd Edition.
Why’d you wait until after Pathfinder 2e launched before making another 1st edition book?
It wasn’t really by choice, though I have no one to blame but myself. This book was in the works as early as 2016, but life has a way of messing up plans. Multiple job changes, moves, nearly getting evicted, illness, you name it. I had a point where I was selling my MtG cards to pay bills (RIP foiled Deathrite Shaman). It was only recently that I got back on my feet and was able to really dedicate time to writing again, but by that point PF2e was already on its way.
Have you considered writing for other systems (D&D 5e, Pathfinder 2e, etc.)?
I get asked this quite a bit, and yes, I have. One of the last updates I had posted before the several-year radio silence was a plan to port Path of Shadows to 5e. Of course, much like with Path of the Wilds life got in the way, and so it was delayed and delayed. That being said, I still have a lot I want to do for PF1e. Path of the Wilds, obviously, but the “Path” series was originally four books, the last being Path of Blood (working title, a bit too edgy but it’s accurate). Once all four books came out there was planned to be a fifth “expansion” that gave new material to all four of the books in the series. But as with this Kickstarter, PF2 has taken most of PF1’s market.
In an ideal world, I get to finish Path of Blood and the expansion/collection for PF1. Then once it’s all done, I can port the whole series as a single big collection to other systems. Not only would that let me do what I wanted originally, but will also give PF2 some time to mature as a system (and for me to get more experience with it) so I can see where the weaknesses and strengths of the game lie. That was a big reason that Path of Shadows for 5e got put on hold: I didn’t understand the system well enough and was making poor design choices because of it.
I want to finish the series for PF1, I really do. I’ve had these ideas floating around for literally years and want to see them made. Money’s not my main motivator: I just like writing books and don’t settle for “average”, which is why they aren’t cheap. But if I put $3000+ into this book and only sell $2000 worth of copies, then it’s not viable for me to keep going in the red to publish for PF1. I’m not looking to get rich, but I need to at least break even.
So here’s the deal on other editions:
I’m going to put out Path of the Wilds regardless, for PF1. This is going to be the litmus test for what edition I write for moving forward. If I at least break even, and there seems to be desire for more, I’ll jump into finishing the series for PF1. If it doesn’t, then there’s a few options. I can cut out Path of Blood and make the expansion content for just Shadow, Iron, and Wilds, and thereby wrapping up most of what I wanted out of PF1 (which I might do anyway, depending on how early development of Blood goes). I could start porting books individually to 5e or PF2, though I don’t have any real PF2 experience aside from the playtest. Hell, I could just move on to writing my own games rather than making 3PP: I have some ideas, but haven’t been putting much time into them. I’m not going to commit to a single route until I see how Path of the Wilds does.
Anything I can do to help?
First, if you haven’t already, consider joining the Ascension Games Facebook page or following me on Twitter. I’m not exactly a social media guy but it’s a good way to stay informed of any updates and helps get some eyes on new books.
If you’re a fan of Ascension Game’s products and have already bought some or all of our products, you’ve done plenty, and you have my heartfelt thanks. If you’re just learning about us from the Kickstarter, please consider supporting us through the Open Gaming Store, DriveThruRPG, Paizo.com, or here on the Ascension Games store. Print copies are only sold on DriveThruRPG or the Open Gaming Store, so if you want any in print you’ll need to go there.
You can also help with the playtest, which will still continue forward. Your feedback is vital to making sure this product is as great as it can be. You can view it on Google Drive, DriveThruRPG, Paizo.com, or the Ascension Games store.
Discussion threads are open on Giant in the Playground and Paizo.com . You can also just comment directly on the google doc.
