ACKS II is Now Available
Visit the Autarch Emporium Today to Get Your Copies!
I’m delighted to announce that ACKS II is now available for purchase on the Autarch Emporium. If you’ve been waiting to get your hands on these black-and-gold PU leather offset-print beauties since last year’s crowdfunding campaign, your wait is finally over!
Supplies are very limited - we have fewer than two dozen Judges Screens available at the moment, and only a few hundred of the other books. If you miss out on purchasing the books now, you’ll will have to wait until the books receive a second printing or settle for the print-on-demand starting in July.
(Remember that when you purchase a hard copy on the Autarch Emporium, you get the PDF along with it. It will be delivered automatically to you via DriveThruRPG. Just check your DTRPG Library after your purchase.)
ACKS II in the Wild
One of the delights of the last few weeks has been watching my X stream fill up with glorious photographs of ACKS II in the wild. The books are just so beautiful! I’ve been reposting all the photos - here’s a few of my favorites. You can find more at https://www.x.com/archon. Be sure to click on the images to give these backers a “like,” too.
A Retrospective on ACKS II
ACKS II has been both the most rewarding and most challenging creative project of my lifetime. I don’t say that lightly. There was a lot of hard work involved in many of my past projects, including Ascendant, the original ACKS, and of course large-scale businesses such as The Escapist. But ACKS II was, in its own way, harder than all of them.
Now that it’s in the rear view mirror, I thought I’d offer a few closing thoughts. An After Action Review, as it were.
The obvious one: Wow, am I exhausted. Some of my close friends know that ACKS II was make-it-or-break-it for Autarch. Had it not been as successful as it was, I would have had to shut the company down. As it was, it's been just successful enough to keep me afloat, but not quite successful enough to enable me to afford to have a team on payroll. I need Autarch to grow bigger or I'll burn out. As it stands, I've had more weird stress-related health problems in the last 24 months than in 10 years prior.
But how to grow bigger? Given the network effects that dominate tabletop RPGs, it seems to me that more than new product I actually need better marketing. Freelancers who would love to write ACKS books are instead writing books for other systems because there aren't enough players to make it worth their while! I think my games are good enough to deserve more attention then they get, and I need to figure out how to make that happen. But how? I'm open to ideas! Let me know in the Comments if you’ve got insights to share.
The question of “what to do” is complicated by the rapid rise of AI. How does one plan for the future when the future is just so darn weird and unpredictable? AI has already changed the landscape for RPG development. I've invested the time and money to test out the cutting-edge models rolling out of the frontier labs, and the level of progress is astounding.
It seems to me that ACKS II will likely be the last 1,500-page RPG ever developed by the hand of man. I mean that literally. Heck, I've told Amy that I'm not sure what will happen first - designing a cyberpunk RPG or living in one. It's a strange timeline, that’s for sure.
What’s Next for Autarch?
Starting in July I will make ACKS II available in print-on-demand on DriveThruRPG. The print-on-demand books will feature the Michael Syrigos covers and will be available in softcover and hardcover. (They will be in standard color, not premium color -- the premium color POD cost is more than the MSRP for the book, e.g. it costs over $70 just to print the book.) I will likely buy POD for my own use, as the PU leather books are so beautiful that I am almost afraid to bring them to the cheetoh-infested warzone of my game table.
I have a number of crowdfunding campaigns planned but in exactly what order I shall undertake them remains unclear.
Before All Others: Because ACKS II and Treasure Tome have been delayed in various ways, Before All Others has taken longer than anticipated and so I don't think that campaign will launch as swiftly as I'd hoped. The promotional page isn't yet available but I'll link it when it is.
ACKS II Second Printing: There will, of course, be a second printing of ACKS II. That will need to be bundled into another crowdfunding campaign, however. One possibility that seems worthwhile is to coordinate the Second Printing with a re-release of The Sinister Stone of Sakkara or something similar.
Annals of Auran Empire: BackerKit has invited me to participate in a crowdfunding campaign in September to promote books and comic books called Printopia. Our project is called Annals of the Auran Empire. At present I've planned it as a short story anthology but I might revise it to be a comic book. I might also drop out of the project simply due to being overwhelmed. More on that below.
Ascendant: Power Overwhelming: The third sourcebook for the Ascendant RPG, Power Overwhelming is written. This 256-page book will greatly expand the Ascendant universe with new characters, organizations, and powers.
ACKS II Domains at War: A revised re-launch of ACKS II Domains at War remains a top priority. I'm working with some of the elite D@W experts within the Autarch community on this. No timeline at present.
Other future projects: I've begun work here and there on a number of other projects, including Under the Dread Flag: The Compendium of Pirate Culture, (previews of which are available to Patreon backers), After the Flesh: The Cyclopedia of Chthonic Civilization, Amalgam, Aeon Star, Armiger, etc. How these shall proceed remains unknown.
Let me know in the comments or on Discord if you have any strong opinions on the above. If you’re not on our Discord, be sure to join!
Are You a Patron of the ACKS Patreon?
If you're interested in "what's next" for ACKS II, members of the Patreon are getting monthly updates and sneak previews from Before All Others: The Cyclopedia of Elven Civilization. One of the best perks of being part of the Patreon is the opportunity to help shape the design process by seeing the earliest drafts. Those who've been with us for the long-term know that Autarch (me, really) listens intently to the community's playtest feedback.
If you've never checked out the ACKS Patreon, you can find it here. The recurring revenue from the Patreon is what sustains the business during the long spells between Kickstarters, especially in 2023-2024 when sales of ACKS I have dried up during the transition to ACKS II. In today's economy, with inflation making every dollar count, I am exceptionally grateful to everyone who chooses to allocate some of it each month to helping keep Autarch in action.
Support the Community
Once you’ve pledged for the crowdfunding campaign, head on over to these community links:
Autarch Discord with one of the smartest, nicest gamer communities around
Autarch Reddit with a sub-set of the aforementioned smartest, nicest gamers
Ascendant Patreon with a new character and story hook every month
Autarch Facebook page with news and updates about our projects
Autarch Twitter channel with brief comments and witty quirks
Ascendant Comics Facebook page with sneak previews of the upcoming comics
Ascendant Comics Instagram page with tons of art and cosplay
Ascendant Comics Twitter channel with short messages and quirky wit
3 ideas. I hope they offer some value.
1. Lower the barrier to entry for ACKs II. Look at a stripped down “Red Box” inspired entry level starter game variant that wets the appetite for new players enough to get into the system and want more. A PHB for the core classes and details for levels 1 to 3. A simplified version of the combat, skill and travel rules. A very brief Judges Journal with a few key concepts explained and a MM with say 40 monsters. Add in a simple introductory adventure and dice. Get people into your system affordably and with less commitment than 1500 pages to read. Then convert them (a % of them anyway) to the “advanced” version.
2. Do more to explain to gamers that ACKs is not just about domain level play. I believe there is a misconception that ACKs does not do smaller scale gaming well. I believe gamers that want to focus on dungeon and hex crawls and not venture into the political intrigue and domain style of play avoid ACKs. ACKs has great rules dungeon delving and need not be avoided by players looking to dungeon crawl exclusively.
3. Consider moving a more detailed Aurian Empire setting book up the priority list. People love setting books with lots of great art and loads of detail. Much of the work is done I’m sure but it’s spread over different books. A nice clean setting book and accompanying maps would be appealing and sell well IMO
Good luck and keep up the good fight (and stay healthy!).
I would suggest forming your community into a demo team to get dealers tables and multiple game sessions at the big Cons to expose your target customer - gamers - to the thing in the wild. Get people playing. Send them home with swag. Hand them little cheap to mass print intro booklets; a character sheet, combat cheat sheet, a piece of cover art, and add copy on the back.