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We Launched yesterday, and are going strong! I want to give everyone who is new to this thread for the first time a peak of where we are now and a glimpse of our Kickstarter.

Metamorphosis Alpha™ 28mm Miniatures Kickstarter
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/497254986/metamorphosis-alphatm-28mm-miniatures



In 1976, while working with TSR, the original publishers of Dungeons & Dragons, James M. Ward created the foundation for another genre of adventure role-playing. His game, Metamorphosis Alpha™ Role-Playing Game, established a foundation where Science Fiction storytelling could harness the imagination of players in this classic paper and pencil role-playing game. Game enthusiasts have been waiting a long time for Metamorphosis Alpha™ to have miniatures that represent even a small portion of the incredible creatures and survivors on the Starship Warden.

And YOU are a crucial part of making that happen!



Pretty much everything is available at early Pledge Levels as an ADD-ON!!




With your backing, we have the unique opportunity and honor to bring a portion of this world of imagination to life in the form of 28mm miniatures. Being able to do this is a huge honor, and we are thankful that James M. Ward is giving us this opportunity to make miniature representations of his world. We agree with Mr. Ward when he says “gaming on the Warden is better if there are visuals to look at.”

Your support will allow us to purchase a license from James M. Ward to not only create the miniatures for this kickstarter, but also establish a schedule of quarterly releases of new Metamorphosis Alpha™ Miniatures.

To make this all happen, we've engaged the talents of a number of artists to create sculptures using both traditional materials and 3D digital sculpting:

Anton Ducrot
Mark Evans
George Fairlamb
Shane Hoyle
Jason Wiebe

STRETCH GOALS:
Should the community exceed our basic funding level we will match their generosity with additional miniature options...

LEVEL 1 - $9,250 Unlock Miniature 1 as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 2 - $10,000 Unlock Miniature 2 as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 3 - $10,750 Unlock Miniature 3 as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 4 - $11,500 Unlock Miniature 4 as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 5 - $12,250 Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 6 - $13,000 Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 7 - $13,750 Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 8 - $14,500 Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 9 - $15,250 Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 10 - $16,000 Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 11 - $16,750 Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 12 - $17,500 Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 13 - $18,250 Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 14 - $19,000 Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 15 - $19,750 Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 16 - $20,250 Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
LEVEL 17- $21,000 Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
OBSERVATION DECK - $20,000 Unlock James Ward's Miniatures Combat Rules for Metamorphosis Alpha Miniatures as Tier 2 Add-On.
Facebook "Effin Cool Minis" 800 Likes Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
Facebook "Effin Cool Minis" 1,600 Likes Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
Facebook "Effin Cool Minis" 2,400 Likes Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
Twitter "@effincoolminis" 1,000 Followers Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
Twitter "@effincoolminis" 2,000 Followers Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On
Twitter "@effincoolminis" 3,000 Followers Unlock Mystery Miniature as Tier2 Add-On

SOME WIP



ORIGINAL "PRE-LAUNCH" POST BELOW!
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As some of you are aware, Effin Cool Minis is a small startup and as such we are looking to crowdfunding to help us get our start and make the First Ever Miniatures for the First Sci-Fi RPG Ever Written. This is a huge honor, and we are thankful that James M. Ward liked us enough to give us this chance to make miniature representations of his world, for as he has said, "gaming on the Warden is better if there are visuals to look at."

Game enthusiasts have been waiting a long time for Metamorphosis Alpha(tm) to have miniatures that represent some small portion of the creatures and survivors on the Warden. In 1976 James M. Ward worked with TSR, the original publishers of Dungeons & Dragons, when he created the foundation for Science Fiction to meet the imagination utilizing paper and pencil through his RPG scenarios.

The Warden was an enormous and benevolent ship whose A.I. made certain everyone was taken care of and every machine stayed in its place. At least, it did before the event that changed everything.



In Metamorphosis Alpha, anything is possible as it takes place long after the radiation based event that reshaped the living creatures who were fleeing on the Warden to what they hoped was safety. They were wrong, and most perished but for those creatures that survived in their remote sections of this enormous ship new cultures evolved. Small pockets of humanity still exist though they are often tribe-like with simple rules passed down from generation to generation. Other creatures evolved their own cultures with their own set of rules, some more advanced than others. These rules have enabled a primitive form of survival in a high tech environment where stepping ever so slightly outside of the known and finding some new object could yield more understanding and prosperity, but most often brings destruction through ignorance.

Effin Cool Minis has the distinct opportunity to bring a portion of this world from the imagination into a person's hands in the form of miniatures, but first we will need a bit of help from the fans of Sci-Fi that would like to see this made a reality!





For More information:
http://metamorphosisalpha.com/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphosis_Alpha

You have my attention... Will there be renders or even casts of the minis to show off?

Was Met Alpha ever published?

I thought it was shelved and became the D&D module Expedition to the Barrier Peaks?

If so you're mining nostalgea for a game that never saw print.

Which is awesome in some sort of dada way.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Was Met Alpha ever published?

I thought it was shelved and became the D&D module Expedition to the Barrier Peaks?

It was indeed published, in 1976. Last year, Goodman Games Kickstarted a deluxe edition reprint, and I believe they've been releasing a number of modules for it. I never played it, but it seems kind of neat. It'll be interesting to see the minis.

The first few issues of White Dwarf had quite a lot of MA material as well.

Great idea, and it would be great to see a variety of RPG-oriented sci-fi sculpts, as there are plenty of wargame-oriented ones already out there. (I.e., More with the character and diverse roles, less with the giving absolutely every miniature a gun and a martial pose.)

However, this project, no matter how deserving, will not go anywhere without renders or greens to show the level of sculpting quality. Personally I'd prefer to see hand-sculpted greens done to a high professional standard rather than renders, as the tide has been shifting a little too much in the computer-generated direction lately, and while I like CG models, I prefer to see a healthy mix of CG and traditional sculpts.

But regardless of how the minis are sculpted, I hope examples will be forthcoming. If not, you aren't ready to launch the project and get it funded, and can avoid wasting your time by postponing until sculpts are ready to show.

Also, I'm presuming these will be metal or resin casts, as hard plastic would be impractical and too expensive for a bunch of RPG character sculpts. But you'll want to make your choice of material carefully, as people have strong preferences (a fair number, used to working with lighter plastics, can't stand metal), and above all you'll want to make it clear to your backers what material each mini will be cast in.

I love the first edition of GAMMA WORLD too.

I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with here!

First I would like to thank you all for your response. I was embroiled in a 9k point team battle today of which we were totally demolished. I do not get to play often.

 Vermonter wrote:
Great idea, and it would be great to see a variety of RPG-oriented sci-fi sculpts, as there are plenty of wargame-oriented ones already out there. (I.e., More with the character and diverse roles, less with the giving absolutely every miniature a gun and a martial pose.)

However, this project, no matter how deserving, will not go anywhere without renders or greens to show the level of sculpting quality. Personally I'd prefer to see hand-sculpted greens done to a high professional standard rather than renders, as the tide has been shifting a little too much in the computer-generated direction lately, and while I like CG models, I prefer to see a healthy mix of CG and traditional sculpts.

More spoilers will be coming, but as 2 guys doing a startup we are trying to keep costs low, and currently only have some test prints and renders on hand. Hence, we opted to start with our concept sketches while we tweak the renders.

Very glad to hear your take on current miniatures and poses, and I am glad to let you know there will be some traditional greens as well.

 Vermonter wrote:

But regardless of how the minis are sculpted, I hope examples will be forthcoming. If not, you aren't ready to launch the project and get it funded, and can avoid wasting your time by postponing until sculpts are ready to show.

Also, I'm presuming these will be metal or resin casts, as hard plastic would be impractical and too expensive for a bunch of RPG character sculpts. But you'll want to make your choice of material carefully, as people have strong preferences (a fair number, used to working with lighter plastics, can't stand metal), and above all you'll want to make it clear to your backers what material each mini will be cast in.

As it is a traditional game our intention is full white metal. We have our own casting facility and I personally love the feel of metal. It is understandable that not everyone will like that, but these are the First Miniatures for the first SciFi RPG from 1976, and James M. Ward is very excited about it.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here is another spoiler for now:

We have a sighting of another droid on the Warden. Whatever its function, it does not look like it would be safe to get too close. How long can we survive exploring this place when everything looks so deadly? Not to mention all the radiation warnings we have been picking up!!

The concept art looks great! It would be good to see at least one sculpt taken through the print-and-cast process (the main cost of which should just be a fine detail print if you're doing the casting in-house!) to prove the quality you can achieve. This will really help with your launch! Once you've shown what you can do with one mini, people will trust the renders of the others much much more.

Looking forward to tracking your progress and hopefully backing if the results match the art!

 RiTides wrote:
The concept art looks great! It would be good to see at least one sculpt taken through the print-and-cast process (the main cost of which should just be a fine detail print if you're doing the casting in-house!) to prove the quality you can achieve. This will really help with your launch! Once you've shown what you can do with one mini, people will trust the renders of the others much much more.

Looking forward to tracking your progress and hopefully backing if the results match the art!

We plan to do just that, but not ready to release that just yet as we are still 2 people wrapping up our last Kickstarter and working on new miniatures at the same time.

Thanks for checking us out, and here is another concept:

 RiTides wrote:
You have my attention... Will there be renders or even casts of the minis to show off?

I am including a render here. 3D prints from this project will follow... Our website displays previous projects that were all done completely from 3D prints. We are working with some traditional sculptors as well.

We plan to launch November 25th at High Noon Eastern Time and provide a limited slot early bird discount to the top Pledge level.

Here is some updated concept art and the sample 3D render we have spoiled on our sight and social media regarding this Kickstarter so far...

Thanks for that! Just looked up your troll campaign, make sure to deliver it before launching this one . Assuming that, I am definitely interested in picking up a few minis here... but I'd like to see the results of that campaign first (and your casts of all three trolls). Neat stuff so far!

 Vermonter wrote:
Great idea, and it would be great to see a variety of RPG-oriented sci-fi sculpts, as there are plenty of wargame-oriented ones already out there. (I.e., More with the character and diverse roles, less with the giving absolutely every miniature a gun and a martial pose.)

However, this project, no matter how deserving, will not go anywhere without renders or greens to show the level of sculpting quality. Personally I'd prefer to see hand-sculpted greens done to a high professional standard rather than renders, as the tide has been shifting a little too much in the computer-generated direction lately, and while I like CG models, I prefer to see a healthy mix of CG and traditional sculpts.

But regardless of how the minis are sculpted, I hope examples will be forthcoming. If not, you aren't ready to launch the project and get it funded, and can avoid wasting your time by postponing until sculpts are ready to show.

Also, I'm presuming these will be metal or resin casts, as hard plastic would be impractical and too expensive for a bunch of RPG character sculpts. But you'll want to make your choice of material carefully, as people have strong preferences (a fair number, used to working with lighter plastics, can't stand metal), and above all you'll want to make it clear to your backers what material each mini will be cast in.

We plan on getting the pledge layout ready late this evening and would like feedback over the next week if anyone is interested in taking a look there. We have also contracted 2 amazing sculptors for an initial total of 6 traditional green sculpts on this project so far.

Here is a test print from our original 1st concept.



and I also wanted to show some painted 80mm pewter trolls from our first Kickstarter that we are wrapping up and getting ready to ship out to show proof of print to cast quality.



Further comments are appreciated! :-D

Launched and going strong!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/497254986/metamorphosis-alphatm-28mm-miniatures

Love the art for the monster group, I've backed for that . Will we see WIP sculpts as the campaign progresses? Also was a little unclear on shipping info (it's not included so will it be a PayPal request later, or...?)

Best of luck, looking forward to seeing these concepts become reality!

Ooh, I love that toad sculpt! I don't quite understand the lowest pledge level at $10 though; could I use that money to get one mini, or would I have to pledge $10+$7 for a single mini? Also, how big is that toad?

Best of luck with the campaign!

 Mr Effin wrote:


We have a sighting of another droid on the Warden.

Friendly tip: Dont call robots 'droids', LucasArts/Disney whoever's rabid lawyers will have you.

I think you're safe with that term! It's really widely used.

And I agree Trodax, that toad is what I'm after . But I had totally missed the sculpt of it, looks great!



Also, I'm guessing the $10 pledge is covering the written material, but it would be nice to see a minis-only pledge for sure!

Ive backed it, i really like the look of the Mutant Monsters, good luck with it

Definitely interested in Funguslugs, just waiting to see how they come out.

RiTides wrote:Love the art for the monster group, I've backed for that . Will we see WIP sculpts as the campaign progresses? Also was a little unclear on shipping info (it's not included so will it be a PayPal request later, or...?)

Best of luck, looking forward to seeing these concepts become reality!

Thanks!!

We intend to continue to add WIP to this. These sculptors are amazing! If you have backed please get involved with the discussions of future Minis as we are at 45% funded in a Day and a half and can get our team working on new stuff quickly should stretch goals go down like Chaos Cultists without a Hellcult!!

Regarding shipping, we intend to use BackerKit service for the Survey portion at end of Campaign. There will be an option to purchase additional Add-Ons at that time and then shipping charges will be collected through them as I understand their service.

Trodax wrote:Ooh, I love that toad sculpt! I don't quite understand the lowest pledge level at $10 though; could I use that money to get one mini, or would I have to pledge $10+$7 for a single mini? Also, how big is that toad?

Best of luck with the campaign!

I can discuss getting a Minis only funding level that gives access to the Minis with my partner. I am not certain how to structure that yet, but I will think on it!

I do not recall the scale of the Toad at the moment, but it is supposed to be a large man eating thing and last I heard he was getting maggots.

Orlanth wrote:

 Mr Effin wrote:


We have a sighting of another droid on the Warden.

Friendly tip: Dont call robots 'droids', LucasArts/Disney whoever's rabid lawyers will have you.

Good Advise! I will keep that in mind in the future! Thanks!

Original Timmy wrote:Ive backed it, i really like the look of the Mutant Monsters, good luck with it

Thanks Timmy! I hope we can get more unlocked soon!

Trodax wrote:Ooh, I love that toad sculpt! I don't quite understand the lowest pledge level at $10 though; could I use that money to get one mini, or would I have to pledge $10+$7 for a single mini? ...

RiTides wrote:...Also, I'm guessing the $10 pledge is covering the written material, but it would be nice to see a minis-only pledge for sure!

There was much discussion on the "minis only" option and others that were looking for "print material only". The basic answer to both of those was a risk we would over complicate our Kickstarter on the fulfillment side and undermine our funding goals. Hence, the option to pledge $10 and gain access to picking and choosing.

While we appreciate all interest, this particular Kickstarter's main goal is to acquire a $4,000 IP license from Jame M. Ward at which point we will be releasing something for Metamorphosis Alpha each Qtr. The size of future releases will be scaled according to what interest we find in this Kickstarter and future website sales for minis for that genre.

If you are hesitant to pledge towards this kickstarter we totally understand, and hope that you will look for the product on our website following a potentially successful Kickstarter when anyone will be able to select the specific miniatures they might be interested in at that time. :-)

Halfway through the campaign and 90% funded, they are getting there!

First stretch goal has been unveiled

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/497254986/metamorphosis-alphatm-28mm-miniatures/posts/1429300

Social stretch goal #1 the Female Spear Warrior add-on is unlocked and added free to certain pledge levels

Social stretch goal update:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/497254986/metamorphosis-alphatm-28mm-miniatures/posts/1439978#comments


Pictures of the completed Gorilloid sculpt have been added

Gorilloid update:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/497254986/metamorphosis-alphatm-28mm-miniatures/posts/1440112#comments

Social stretch goal #2 announced 250 Facebook likes unlocks the Clutch Vine Pods

As it stands now its 232/250 likes

Facebook link:

https://www.facebook.com/effincoolmini/timeline


Social goal update:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/497254986/metamorphosis-alphatm-28mm-miniatures/posts/1442981

Metamorphosis Alpha has been funded

Only 6 more Facebook likes needed to unlock Facebook social goal #2

244/250 likes

https://www.facebook.com/effincoolmini/?fref=ts


31 more Twitter followers needed to unlock Twitter social goal #1

269/300 followers

https://twitter.com/EffinCoolMinis

Is that an integrated base on the gorilla model? I had been thinking these would come with separate bases.

 RiTides wrote:
Is that an integrated base on the gorilla model? I had been thinking these would come with separate bases.

The plan is that all of these models will come with integrated bases. If that is a concern, we could have a discussion in the Kickstarter comments about it?

That's useful to know, since all the previous WIPs were on separate bases I assumed the final product would be! I think you might limit the market a bit with integrated bases since if people want to borrow the minis for other games they might not be the right size. Will put in a comment, too (although I understand it might be late to change, it would definitely broaden the appeal of the minis!).

I agree with RiTides integrated bases are so limiting, it will also cause confusion with ranges/model size which can easily be overcome with defined sized bases.