Goblinworks, Inc., the division of Paizo Publishing led by game designer and chief Open Game License (OGL) architect Ryan Dancey, is in the final days of its ambitious $1 million Kickstarter to bring the Pathfinder role-playing game to life as a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). At $725,000 and with just three days to go, Paizo Publishing CEO and Goblinworks COO Lisa Stevens made one final plea outlining all the benefits of supporting the crowdfunding initiative:
One of the most amazing aspects of running this Kickstarter has been the support of our peers in the adventure gaming industry. They've come out of the woodwork to help us with cool products that we can use to sweeten the pot for our backers. Our Crowdforger PDF Superpack has grown to encompass 59 PDFs from 37 different companies, with a retail value of $318.50. The Emerald Spire Superdungeon now features 14 of the industry's top writers, and has grown to encompass 144 pages, with 7 Flip-Mats in the works! If we hit our funding goal, there will be nine Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures from WizKids. And now I am super happy to report that our partners at Reaper have agreed to make two brand-new unpainted metal Pathfinder Miniatures for this Kickstarter! Baron Tervin Blackshield, ruler of Thornkeep, and goblin commander of the Accursed Halls, Murgmo, come from the pages of the Pathfinder Online: Thornkeep book, which happens to be shipping this month! These two Reaper minis will be added to the $100 Crowdforger Pioneer level (and any level which contains the Crowdforger Pioneer benefits), the $100 RPG Print Pack Add-on, and the $500 Hellknight's Most Wanted Add-on.
This is not the first time a role-playing game brand has thrown its support behind a MMORPG -- Dancey has previously argued that Dungeons & Dragons Insider would eventually launch another D&D MMORPG -- but it is the first major crowdsourced RPG-to-MMORPG. The Pathfinder community has rallied for other projects before, such as when Stevens threw her support behind the Dungeons & Dragons Documentary. She closed the email with:
This is the final push! We've laid all we've got for you and pulled in every favor we had to bring you a huge benefit for your money in addition to providing you with an online game that I think you will truly love—something that is truly Pathfinder. It's now in your hands, Paizo Nation. Time and again you've wowed me with your passion and loyalty to Pathfinder; you've helped Paizo do some amazing things in just a few short years. Help us get the Pathfinder Online MMO Kickstarter over the finish line! You have my undying thanks for your help!
If you'd like to support the project, visit the Kickstarter web site.
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