This post was originally sent as un update to backers of the Barkeep on the Borderlands kickstarter campaign.

Barkeep on the Borderlands has more tricks up its sleeves. As we approach the last of our initial stretch goal (for which all of our contributors will be paid an additional 10% over and above their current asking rate) at $15,000, a spectator may remark that this humble pubcrawl adventure venture has surely reached its zenith. This is not so. In fact, we merely ascend one last precipice before the full mountain that lay before us could come into view. Now we may gaze upon the resplendent beauty which, together, we shall ascend. Without further ado, presenting our new Stretch Goals:

Our Final Guest Writer: Luka Rejec

The esteemed author of the Ultraviolet Grasslands (winner in the categories of Best Art, Best Setting, and Best Adventure in the 2020 Questing Beast Awards), Longwinter and Witchburner, among others, will be joining our team to write and illustrate his own bar if we can reach the $20,000 mark. Luka is an extreme talent and one of the individuals most responsible for inspiring me to throw my hat into the TTRPG ring. I am so excited to see what he will create alongside all the other amazing guest writers.

Bookmarks on the Borderlands

At the $16,000 mark, everyone who pledges at the Print + PDF tier ($20 USD) or above will receive an illustrated bookmark with a drinking game that ties in the adventure (a PDF of which will also be available for download for those getting the PDF tiers or higher), for those groups that want to drink in real life as their characters drink (or not) in the game. At the $17,000 mark, we will add 3 custom cocktail recipes from the adventure (e.g., the Cava of Chaos) to the bookmark as well.

The form factor of the bookmarks is an important aspect of this reward. While the consumption of alcohol is an aspect of this adventure, and some groups will find a drinking game an enjoyable supplement to their fun, not everyone can drink or wants to drink alcohol. Adding the drinking game and cocktail recipes into the zine itself could send the signal that this is a default, or even required, mode of playing the adventure, which is absolutely not the case. A bookmark makes these rewards more modular; simply use it if you want or set it aside if you don't. And for those groups that do want to incorporate, it lets the gamemaster pass around the drinking rules to the players while still being able to reference the separate adventure.

Progress Report

Since our last update, we broke through two more stretch goals, adding Ben Laurence and Zedeck Siew to our star-studded roster of guest writers. I continue to spend most of my free time working on this campaign (or anxiously refreshing it; that counts as work, right?), and have a few art commissions in the work that I hope will be finished in time to show off before the campaign ends. Hopefully the next time you hear from me, I will have some details to share about the pubcrawl procedure. Before we leave, let's hear from Ben and Zedeck themselves, shall we:

Zedeck Siew (GUEST WRITING) - One half of A THOUSAND THOUSAND ISLANDS; creator of Lorn Song of the Bachelor and Spy in The House Of Eth. Will probably draw from the clubbing he did in his twenties, for this.

"I thought a little about the thing I want to write: SAVE THE WHIRLING MUMMY The mummy was cursed to dance. Nobody remembers why. It danced as its city burned down; as a new harbour rose around it. Nobody remembers the mummy's name. They built a house for the mummy. There is music every night, in the house of the mummy. One cannot dance without music. There are many dancers. Basically the Whirling Mummy is under threat. Maybe a table of scenarios? Or all at once: moral police wanting to shut it down. Flautist guild angry that the style of music being played has moved onto drums (or something). Gang financiers looking for the owner. Etc."

Ben Laurence (GUEST WRITING) - Author of Through Ultan’s Door and Mazirian’s Garden. Purveyor of dreams, merchant of nightmares, speculator in rare fancies.

"My favorite bar in Zyan is the Sky Goose in Volish Hill. I ran a session there once where the characters did drugs, ate roast cat, and burst through the pub in a skyship they found in the basement, with the authorities in hot pursuit."

Another Zine You Should Back

If you are wondering what or where "Zyan" is, it's Ben's setting that is fleshed out in the Through Ultan's Door zines, but also featured in his current project, Downtime in Zyan, which is live on Kickstarter at this very moment!

Downtime in Zyan is a zine about what characters do between adventures. It presents an elegant system for all your PC's dreams and schemes, whether it's building institutions, cultivating relationships, crafting items, researching obscure lore, engaging in wild revelries, or plumbing the perilous depths of spellcraft. While the mole rats of Zyan, illustrated by the whimsical art of Evlyn Moreau, serve as guides to this topic, Downtime in Zyan is setting and system neutral and doesn't presuppose familiarity with the world presented in Ben's other zine, Through Ultan's Door.

To your good health,

W.F. Smith of the Prismatic Wasteland