The Digital Premiere, MCM Comic Con and Crowdfunding Success!

Hi folks,

A massive thank you to everyone who has backed The Magnus Protocol Mysteries on BackerKit so far! We’ve been blown away by the support for the game, which was fully funded in minutes of launch last week. Indie Boards and Cards, the team making the game and running the crowdfund, have so far raised an incredible $156,000 and are now working towards some amazing stretch goals. Currently, they are just 9 dice purchases away from unlocking a free collector’s metal dice tin for everyone who has purchased the dice set add-on.

At the end of last week, the IBC team also announced a cross-collab project. Folks who back both The Magnus Protocol Mysteries and the Welcome to Night Vale Roleplaying Game will receive exclusive stickers and phone backgrounds, for free! You can find out more about this collaboration, and take a look at the game and add-ons (which include an enamel pin and a Mr Bonzo plushie) on The Magnus Protocol Mysteries BackerKit page!

Finally, if you missed our launch livestream last week and want to have an early preview of what the game might look like, you can find the VOD of the stream on our YouTube channel! Alex and Jonny had a go at solving some of the mysteries, joined by the game designer, Sydney Engelstein. Were any of their solutions correct? You’ll have to wait until the game is released to find out!

As well as the board game crowdfund, this is a momentous week here at Rusty Towers as we prepare for our weekend at MCM Comic Con, the digital premiere of The Magnus Protocol season 2 and our in-person celebration in Manchester.

Due to some last-minute requests, there are a small number of tickets to the in-person celebration in Manchester this weekend available for transfer. If you would be interested in purchasing these tickets, please email events@rustyquill.com by 16:00 BST on Wednesday 23rd October, and we can help facilitate a transfer. Please note these will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Information on the premiere, including the time and location, can be found here: https://rustyquill.com/event/the-magnus-protocol-season-2-premiere/

As we announced last week, the Digital Premiere will be released this Sunday 27th October at 15:15 GMT, exclusively to Rusty Knights and Nobles on Patreon and to Kickstarter backers who backed at the appropriate tier. As with last year, it will be in video format, and include the season 2 trailer, the double-length first episode of season 2, and a new clip from the documentary we have been making about the creation of The Magnus Protocol. At the beginning of season 2, we find ourselves in a familiar yet unfamiliar world… While we won’t say any more than this, we strongly suggest you listen to the Season 1 Epilogue if you have not done so; the epilogues are essential parts of the story in The Magnus Protocol.

The Digital Premiere isn’t a livestream, so it will be available when you can listen no matter your timezone, and it will remain available on Patreon even after the official public release in February 2025. As always, we ask that you do your best to not share spoilers online for folks who won’t be listening until February – that said, we do love to see your spoiler-free reactions in comments on Patreon and on social media!

There are still tickets available for MCM Comic Con in London if you’d like to come and meet some of the cast and crew of The Magnus Protocol. Our panel will be at 14:15 on Saturday 26th October, where The Magnus Protocol cast members Lowri, Anusia, Billie, Shahan and co-creator Alex will be discussing Forms of Fear: An Examination of Consequence in the Magnus Multiverse. After the panel, we’ll also be hosting a meet and greet between 16:00 and 19:00 – we can’t wait to see you there! You can buy tickets for the whole weekend from the MCM Comic Con website.

Meanwhile, this week Watcher will be releasing the second part of their Are You Scared? Hallowe’en special, which features Jonny and Alex as guest voices! Once again, we’ll be sharing an audio version exclusively on Patreon this Thursday. If you do want to watch the video, you can find it now on WatcherTV or it will be released on YouTube in November. As we’ve said before, it has been such a pleasure to work with Ryan, Shane and the whole Watcher team, and to see their writers put a Magnus-spin to the Are You Scared series. Thank you so much to everyone who has listened so far!

Finally, in some news from the RQ Network, the team from Planet Arcana are launching a Kickstarter for their new roleplaying game, A Fool’s Errand this week! Planet Arcana is a tarot-infused actual play, and A Fool’s Errand takes this idea and turns it into a full game rulebook, allowing you to create your very own campaign intertwined with the Major Arcana.

(Image description: A mock-up of the game book for A Fool’s Errand. The book is in the centre of the image. The cover features a detailed illustration of a humanoid robot walking along a teal-coloured cliff. The robot holds a bindle (small bag on the end of a stick) across its shoulder and holds a white rose out in its other hand, as if it is going to drop it off the edge of the cliff. A small dog-like mammal follows behind. In the background the edge of a futuristic city can be seen. The title of the book is: A Fool’s Errand by J Strautman and B Marsollier. To the left and right of the book are tarot cards. Above the book is the text: “Will you deny these jealous gods?”. Below is the Kickstarter logo and “launching soon”.)

Here’s what J and B have to say about the project and the crowdfund!

Hi all! J and B here from the Planet Arcana podcast. We’re launching our new tabletop roleplaying game, A Fool’s Errand, on Kickstarter this week and wanted to tell you a bit about it.

Fool, you are sacred.

A Fool’s Errand is a tarot-fuelled science fantasy game set in a post-calamity world of Androids, Humans, and those in between.

Collaborate on the Big Oops - the biggest calamity in this world’s history. What did the world lose when the previous Fools reached their journey’s zenith? Which Major Arcana consorted or clashed with each other along the way?

You are not alone. Fools travel together.

As they journey, your Fools become intertwined with the Major Arcana gods, their journeys led by unique tarot decks built with choices made in character creation.

Every calamity dreams its successor.

Explore realms both waking and subconscious, but beware: the Major Arcana will take notice, their love and anger raining down in the form of boons and calamities. As the Fools gain power, the world draws ever-closer to its next Big Oops.

Though the world will never be the same, your Errand awaits.

A Fool’s Errand is led by J Strautman and B Marsollier, game designers and creators of actual play podcast Planet Arcana. Structured for campaign play and designed for 3-5 players and a GM.

The crowdfunding campaign for A Fool’s Errand runs October 22nd to November 15th. Pre-save now to follow our journey from funding to fulfilment. You can also download a demo version of the game here, if you’re Fool enough.

You can hear a taster of A Fool’s Errand in The Network Defenders, a short three-episode special that was released on both Planet Arcana’s and Rusty Quill’s YouTube channels. Of course, be sure to check out Planet Arcana itself, wherever you find podcasts or on our website.

Have a good week all!

The Rusty Quill team