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Thousand Arrows: a Samurai Action & Drama TTRPG

Created by Brennan Taylor

The Thousand Arrows BackerKit preorder is now closed. You can still pre-order books via the GalileoGames.com website, or PDFs via DriveThruRPG.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Oops
over 7 years ago – Fri, Jan 18, 2019 at 12:31:19 PM

If you saw an update just now, that was an error. Sorry! Meant for another thing entirely.

Another Upgrade Unlocked!?
over 7 years ago – Sat, Dec 08, 2018 at 07:34:31 AM

Well, this last twenty four hours has been an epic ride! We’ve passed all three backer number levels and three out of four dollar-value stretch goals. 

All print books have been upgraded to include color art, end-papers, spot UV, this book is going to be so good looking, we’re almost in disbelief ourselves.

Spoils of War has been upgraded again to include a Thousand Arrows patch

And now in our final hours, we’ve unlocked the brand new BIG NAME backer level. It’s an upgrade from Spoils, and we’re unbelievably excited to offer an awesome screen-printed cloth scroll map of warring states Japan, from our friends at the makers of Fall of Magic, Heart of the Deernicorn.

Fall of Magic
Fall of Magic

Further, both the Martial Arts Lessons and Ninjagram backer levels now include everything from the BIG NAME level

And one final reminder, these are not going to be available as piecemeal add-ons, but you will be able to upgrade to Spoils of War or Big Name through BackerKit, if you miss it now.

Thank you so much for helping us make this happen. We’re making something amazing here and you all are a huge part of it. 

Thank you and you and you and you and it don't stop
over 7 years ago – Sat, Dec 08, 2018 at 07:34:10 AM

Ayyy we back from PAX Unplugged triumphant. I honestly did not think we'd make it as far as we did. I thought we'd fund, but barely, in the last few hours. Instead we hit every stretch goal save the very last—and even then, we have plans to bring you Street Samurai versus Code Ninja in the future, along with several other alternate settings for Thousand Arrows. Bakumatsu? Shimabara Rebellion? That period in superhero comics with all the random ninjas?! They're coming.

Over one thousand of you have become a part of this strange little game. You took a chance on an intimidating historical setting with scarce precedent in Western gaming. Many of you didn't know anything about the time period, the culture, or the genre of samurai fiction. Many of you have never met me or Tim or Brennan, or played an Apocalypse World-based game. Still, we're here, because of you.

If you see me in person at a convention or a game or something and you backed, I wanna know. Hell, if you didn't back but you shared this KS or talked to someone about it, I wanna know. I wanna give you a pound and/or a hug if you want one, and look you in the eye and smile at you and tell you thank you. But just in case I don't get the chance: thank you for bringing Thousand Arrows to life. Thank you for standing with Asian American gaming. Thank you for making a place for gamers and characters who don't look or play like Aragorn and Galadriel. Thank you for validating decades of training, preparation, and research.

Tonight, we all deserve to feel like badasses. So here's Hōtei Tomoyasu, the electric samurai himself and the star of Samurai Fiction, with the badass national anthem (which he plays three times in seven minutes and levels up each time, like the rock and roll equivalent of the final boss of a video game).

Yours in love, gunpowder, and betrayal,

Mendez

Dawn of the Final Day: Turn x Thousand Arrows Crossover Playbooks!
over 7 years ago – Sat, Dec 01, 2018 at 08:42:31 AM

We got twenty-four hours to go! And by the way … do you like animal shapeshifters and Apocalypse World-influenced games? Did you know Brie Sheldon's Turn, an ill RPG about animal shapeshifters in small towns, is also approaching its last twenty-four hours on Kickstarter?

Well, guess what? If you back both Thousand Arrows and Turn—like, even for a dollar each, whatever—I'll give you a special set of crossover playbooks. One is the Faerie Lands allegiance for Thousand Arrows, which allows you to play a fey immortal or shapeshifting creature from the Japanese backcountry. Are you a tengu bird-goblin, a mischievous raccoon-dog, or a human changeling whisked away to the forest darkness or the dragon palaces at the bottom of the sea? Will you serve the Great Goblins of the Mountains' capricious whims, or give in to your fascination with the human world? You'll also get a hengeyōkai-themed playbook (fox, crab, turtle, or raccoon dog—which would you most want to see?) for Turn which brings Japanese mythology to your small town!

Come get it now, because after the Kickstarters end, you'll have to text me a photo of you physically handing a dollar to Brie or something to get these playbooks! This special, limited-time offer brought to you by all the coffee Mendez drank today on the way to PAX Unplugged.

First $ Stretch Goal Unlocked!
over 7 years ago – Sat, Dec 01, 2018 at 08:35:50 AM

Spoils upgraded with even more goodies!

We hit $17,500, that means we have unlocked an enamel pin and custom dice for the Spoils of War level! If you are already backing at this level, it just adds to the loot you will be getting. If you are backing at a lower level, it means you'll get even more stuff if you upgrade. Check out these (not final) samples of designs and color choices we're looking at:

Next Milestones

We are on track to hit $21,000, but it may be very close to the end of the campaign. If we do hit it, that means we are going to add color art to the book! We'll also open up the Big Name reward level which will include a beautiful cloth scroll map of Warring States Japan that will be produced by Heart of the Deernicorn, the makers of Fall of Magic. These maps are so great and we want to make them available so badly that, given the timeframe, if we hit the stretch goal even if it's minutes before we end the Kickstarter we’ll add the Big Name to BackerKit and you’ll be able to upgrade after the fact. But that only happens if we hit the stretch goal! Spread the word, and let's see if we can't reach that final goal!

We are also less than 50 backers away from including the Dragon King's Gambit in the core book. It's a scenario set in the Imjin War that opens up characters of Korean, Chinese, and Mongolian backgrounds to the game.

And don't forget about the $25,000 level where we'll add the cyberpunk take on Thousand Arrows: Street Samurai vs. Code Ninja. We're also going to have to explore options for another number-of-backers goal! What would you like to see!?

Social

It's all coming together here at the end of the campaign! We're so excited about all of the great rewards we've opened up, as well as the ones to come if we can just get a little bit farther! Share our tweet from this morning, write your own, and remember, every additional backer gets you more!

https://twitter.com/GalileoGames/status/1068133263842123776

PAX Unplugged

We will be at PAX Unplugged! Brennan Taylor will be running sessions of Thousand Arrows at Games on Demand if you are interested in giving it a try, and Tim Rodriguez and James Mendez Hodes will be at the con as well if you want to track either of them down for a chat. See you at the con!

The Buzz

Also, here are some interviews and articles about Thousand Arrows you can listen to,  read, and share while you wait for more backers to brighten our days.