Superhero Soundtrack Teaser Sample
over 2 years ago – Fri, Feb 25, 2022 at 04:17:48 AM

Good morning, backers!

One of the popular stretch goal ideas we came up with during our Anime 5E Kickstarter was to hire a professional composer and conductor to create an original one-hour fantasy anime RPG soundtrack score. We included it for free with some pledge tiers and made it available for purchase afterwards as well. It’s weird to think that in addition to being a game publisher, Dyskami is now a music producer too! 😂

This time, we planned ahead and hired a composer to create a superhero soundtrack before this Kickstarter began. This soundtrack is a single, epic piece of music in multiple tracks that moves through the narrative beats of a dynamic role-playing adventure – assembly, discovery, chase, rescue, treachery, battle, celebration, etc. It serves as the perfect background mood music for your dramatic Absolute Power gaming sessions. The mp3 soundtrack download is automatically included as a FREE BONUS (no stretch goal to unlock) with the $150 Collector, $200 Superhero, and $350 Storyteller pledges – which makes those tiers even more valuable! The soundtrack can also be added onto other reward tiers for $10.

Today, we have uploaded a 2:45 teaser sample showcasing portions of three tracks: The Guard Assembles, The Last Knight, and Last Stand for Humanity.

Enjoy listening, and have a wonderful Thursday!

Reference Sheet Unlocked, Plus Two $90K Stretch Goals!
over 2 years ago – Wed, Feb 23, 2022 at 04:06:55 PM

THANK YOU!

With still more than a week to go in the campaign, nearly 600 backers (just like you!) have pushed campaign funding beyond 400% it’s original goal, reaching $80K! 🥳 You have now unlocked the two-page attack and defence modifier summary reference sheet that will be included as a FREE BONUS to all backers of physical rewards at any pledge tier!

Are you up for conquering a yet another stretch goal? LET’S DO IT!

$90K Stretch Goal #1: Bonus Absolute Power Dice Tray!

With table space often at a premium, it's handy to have a compact option for dice rolling. Two snap-together 20 cm x 20 cm neoprene dice trays are already included in the Absolute Power Dice Tower and Trays product. These trays have been a big hit with backers of our previous campaigns (the image above shows the BESM Fourth Edition RPG trays), and with so much amazing art in Absolute Power, we thought an extra tray would make a sweet, sweet bonus.

If the campaign reaches $90K in funding, every backer at the $200+ Superhero tier and $350+ Storyteller tier will receive an exclusive bonus neoprene dice tray featuring the characters from the corporate supers team from the Bronx, the Five Shields (image below)! We’ll also extend this gift to lower tiers with pledge totals of $200 or more (after considering add-ons, but before shipping fees).

This tray won’t be available for sale in retail stores; it’s an exclusive promotional gift to show our thanks for your support. We will, however, make this promotional item available as a separate $10 add-on during the BackerKit pledge manager.

$90K Stretch Goal #2: Promotional Sticker Set

Best things come in pairs, so your support in helping the campaign reach $90K in funding will unlock not just one but two stretch goals!

We have designed a 4” x 6” kiss-cut sticker set (image below) that includes a bookplate and Absolute Power logo. We will send two of these sheets as a FREE bonus to every backer who pledges for physical rewards! Like the bonus dice tray, these stickers won’t be available for sale anywhere – they are exclusive promotional gifts only. You can stick the bookplates in the front of your Absolute Power RPG books (two volumes means two sticker sets!) to mark your territory, so to speak.

THANK YOU so much for helping make today a Happy Hump Day!

Exploring The Guard and White Rooks
over 2 years ago – Wed, Feb 23, 2022 at 08:00:40 AM

As you narrow in on the final thousand dollars before unlocking the $80K stretch goal, we wanted to provide some additional background setting context for the two most famous metahuman teams on Sentinel-Earth: the Guard (heroes) and White Rooks (villains). This update is a lengthy read, but it should be an interesting one! 😁

Meet The Guard

Many of Earth’s greatest heroes call Empire City home, yet all of them operate in the shadow of the Guard. The most successful, beloved, and influential superhero team in the world, the Guard’s five heroes – Sentinel, Red Phoenix, Caliburn, Slipstream, and Grandmother Raven – have a unique operational status with both the United Nations and their home country. Born from the tragedy of the first Lady Starbright’s death in 1980, the Guard continues to protect the world in her name, carrying on her legacy.

Empire City and American Trust

The Guard has unique authority throughout the world, thanks to their many efforts in protecting it. After they defeated their evil counterparts from Dark Empire in 1984, the Empire City Council granted them a special legal status. This allows them to intervene during public disturbances and make arrests when “life and liberty are at immediate stake”. It served as the foundation of Congress’s approval of the Guard’s nation-wide special status in 1988, after the incident with ELITE Operations that led to the latter organisation’s disbandment.

Worldwide Special Status

The United Nations ratified a treaty in 1998 decade later, providing for international activity by the Guard. Theirs was more limited in scope, providing only for disaster aid and efforts against non-human threats. It encouraged most Western societies to provide greater leeway for the quintet, though several others placed restrictions on the Guard’s activities. As of 2020, they can help with natural disasters and fight alien forces in any nation on Earth except North Korea. Most democracies also grant them some equivalent of law enforcement authority, with restrictions similar to those in America.

Associate Guard Members

This unique global status is the primary reason that the Guard has not expanded its official membership. If the five heroes wish to induct a new member, that person would be subject to examination by every government on Earth save one. Leaders would bicker, corporations would lobby, and factions would politicise, all for local concerns about heroes trying to defend the world. So, instead, they have allies. Officially, the Guard is the same five people it has always been. In every meaningful respect, there are more than twice as many unofficial “associate” Guard members, in the form of friends who aid them at need. Amaranth, Britannia, Archer Gold, Citizen Prometheus, Lady of the Lantern, Captain Stellara, and Tokkotai are only the most notable independent superheroes upon which the Guard relies. In spite of old wounds, they can also call on the Mystic Transcendent Witchlight as need. Able to count the Wardenclyffe Agency, Ascension Force, and the Untouchables as partners, the Guard can unite a superheroic alliance to rival UNION, which is itself a priceless ally in the fight for liberty, justice, security, and peace.

Meet The White Rooks

Kreuzritter. Iron Duke. Janus. Alice, Queen of Hearts. Venator Hominum. Together, they are the White Rooks: the world’s fiercest and feared supervillains. Since the turn of the millennium, other bands of super-criminals have joined forces to threaten the world, but none approach the Rooks’ power, genius, or influence. Alien overlords and inter-dimensional empires can perhaps prove greater dangers, but there is no greater human threat to liberty and justice than the White Rooks.

Since the Haud Crisis of 2005, most world governments insist to their citizens that the White Rooks are not the danger they once were. Without Thule’s resources (since Kreuzritter is seemingly no longer Thule’s monarch), they are no more than a band of infamous criminals. They do not question the brilliance or power of its members, nor the extent of the White Pawn conspiracy, but they claim that no five metahumans can conquer the world. Enforcement and intelligence agencies admit the truth to themselves in private. Few believe that Kreuzritter is actually King Hendrik or Venator is secretly Mister Matthews, but it is obvious to all that Rauchenberger still controls Thule and Matthews commands his “Predator of Man”.

Individual Strengths Combine

The White Rooks have only become a graver threat over the years. Kreuzritter fields super-soldiers and operatives around the world, ready to infiltrate and invade at his command – his White Pawns. Iron Duke directs legions of robot servants with which he builds weapons to topple empires. Mister Matthews grows monsters and armies to exacting specifications. Alice is the world’s deadliest assassin, able to kill anyone not protected by Earth’s most capable superheroes. Janus has few peers and no superiors as a schemer, with front companies and unwitting pawns in every major country.

While they are more than capable of fighting as a unit – combining power, versatility, and treachery to overcome most foes – the White Rooks prefer to avoid banal conflict. All five are capable of striking at their foes in unexpected ways. Only Iron Duke has fondness for the challenge of physical combat, a remnant of his brutish nature and unmatched strength. The others would rather triumph before a fight can begin.

Thanks for reading! We’ll check back in again soon.

The Guard and White Rooks Analogs
over 2 years ago – Wed, Feb 23, 2022 at 07:59:44 AM

Thank you for helping the campaign push well past the halfway point to the $80K stretch goal! Let’s keep that momentum going! 🥳

Absolute Power is a spectacularly comprehensive effects based superpowered system that can handle any character you want to create, yet it also presents an evocative and detailed campaign world for your heroic adventures.

The complete package builds upon the original setting creation established in the Silver Age Sentinels RPG. Since none of the primary characters have made appearances in real-world comic books or blockbuster movies, Absolute Power readers may find quick comparisons with mainstream superheroes and other media personalities useful.

If you’re wondering “Who does Sentinel represent?” or “Which comic character is Kreuzritter most like?” these attached images can provide you with brief context. Today, we present analogs for the Guard and the White Rooks: Empire City’s and the world’s most famous superhero team, and the world’s fiercest and most-feared supervillain team.

Dust Jacket Layout and Introducing Mister Matthews
over 2 years ago – Mon, Feb 21, 2022 at 03:48:18 PM

As the campaign continues towards the $80K stretch goal, we thought you might enjoy a sneak peek at the entire dust jack wraparound layouts (including the spines and flaps) for Book One and Book Two. The slipcase edition of the game is simply gorgeous, and is included in all pledge tiers $150+.

Then, after previewing the other four members of the White Rooks (Kreuzritter, Iron Duke, Alice - Queen of Hearts, and Janus), we now present the final supervillain team member:

Introducing Mister Matthews

Mister Matthews is a bundle of obsessions that sometimes wears a human body. Dedicated to annihilation of the superhero world, only Samuel’s needs for control and companionship can distract him. Matthews pursues his vendetta with singular fury, never imagining that he might turn others against him until he faces their wrath in kind. In spite of his single-minded pursuit, or perhaps because of it, Matthews is intensely lonely.

Though in his seventh decade, in many ways Mister Matthews stopped developing as a person when Samuel’s mother died as a bystander during a battle between the Artificer and Mother Raven. His genius may advance, but at heart Samuel remains the 13-year-old boy ruined by tragedy. Unable to let go of his need for vengeance or accept responsibility for his unfathomable cruelty, Matthews endangers the entire human race to avoid facing his grief.

Mister Matthews is a brilliant scientist and alchemist who has surpassed all known limits on genetic engineering. He possesses formidable wealth, dangerous influence, and the ability to create or command animals seemingly at will. He is normally of average physical ability, but Matthews has developed serums tailored to his genetics that allow him to alter his form. These transformations grant him powers from any creatures in the animal kingdom, changing him into his alter ego, Venator Hominum. Though hideous after a failed experiment with a grizzly bear, he refuses to heal his facial scars and wears them as a badge of remembrance. He counts the Guard as enemies, and many others would hunt Matthews if they knew his crimes.

Happy Monday!