Awakened Villagers of Cairn Bicycle® Playing Cards (KS)

[Rob Wright]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1561867839/awakened-villagers-of-cairn-bicycle-playing-cards?ref=users

Project by SoulJAR
First created, $12,000 goal, 1 Deck $15, 2 Decks $26

[Don Boyer]

Did a little research.  (Really - a LITTLE.)  Cairn is an RPG created by SoulJAR games - imagine D&D but all the characters are small forest creatures, predominantly rodents or rodent-like animals, with birds in the mix for good measure.  I'm guessing there's some storyline whereby the creatures are exposed to something (be it magic or science) and develop sentience and magic of their own.

Furries on a small scale - rodent power!  (Couldn't resist!) 

Oh, yeah - the cards are way too expensive, and they're idiots for not tying the RPG to the promotion.

[Candace B]

Way too expensive for the quality of the art. Having said that, I am actually kind of interested in the sketchy style that they've drawn in. The queen of hearts image looks especially nice. The other samples look like they were either rushed or drawn by another artist. Either way they aren't quite consistent enough for my liking. Hopefully they will reveal more then just those few cards soon though. At the very least, it would be nice just to see what is being planned for the tuck and back. :]

[Rob Wright]

Furries on a small scale - rodent power!  (Couldn't resist!) 

I think Don has a secret fetish 

[Don Boyer]

Way too expensive for the quality of the art. Having said that, I am actually kind of interested in the sketchy style that they've drawn in. The queen of hearts image looks especially nice. The other samples look like they were either rushed or drawn by another artist. Either way they aren't quite consistent enough for my liking. Hopefully they will reveal more then just those few cards soon though. At the very least, it would be nice just to see what is being planned for the tuck and back. :]

I suspect that the art is simply "ported" from their RPG rulebook.  It's a simple way to "recycle" your art for extra cash.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, if the art is that good.  These, however, do have that "incomplete" feel to them, possibly due to the nature of sketches.  I see so many opportunities for gorgeous full-color images go down the drain because someone didn't put in the time or didn't have the desire to make their sketches into full-color drawings.  When I look at even standard court cards, I like to see color artwork.

Furries on a small scale - rodent power!  (Couldn't resist!) 

I think Don has a secret fetish 

You didn't watch enough enough TMNT as a child...  And I have MANY fetishes, but furries aren't one of them. 

[Alex Willis]

You didn't watch enough enough TMNT as a child...  And I have MANY fetishes, but furries aren't one of them. 

The fetish is called "Plushies", and I got your reference to TMNT instantly...tells how I waisted my childhood.

As for the deck... I like it, it's original and I like it without ever playing the RPG.  That being said, I'd prefer full color finished images.

[Don Boyer]

You didn't watch enough enough TMNT as a child...  And I have MANY fetishes, but furries aren't one of them. 

The fetish is called "Plushies", and I got your reference to TMNT instantly...tells how I waisted my childhood.

As for the deck... I like it, it's original and I like it without ever playing the RPG.  That being said, I'd prefer full color finished images.

"Plushies" are into stuffed animals - "furries" are into people dressed as anthropomorphic animals in furry suits.

Don't ask me how I know... 

[MrMollusk]

You didn't watch enough enough TMNT as a child...  And I have MANY fetishes, but furries aren't one of them. 

The fetish is called "Plushies", and I got your reference to TMNT instantly...tells how I waisted my childhood.

As for the deck... I like it, it's original and I like it without ever playing the RPG.  That being said, I'd prefer full color finished images.

"Plushies" are into stuffed animals - "furries" are into people dressed as anthropomorphic animals in furry suits.

Don't ask me how I know... 

Returning to the cards...

I really think this was done wrong. An animal-sketchy themed deck was tried before with the Royal Wilderness deck. While it was barely successful, and the design wasn't anything to shout about, it was nice.

These... the design is lazy. It's like someone took a bunch of animal sketches and just smacked them on a card template. It doesn't seem like the designer though about how the characters would be situated on the card or how decks are generally laid out. Hell, the queen of hearts's design goes OFF THE CARD. One way court cards have always been a huge turn off for me because anything can be used as a court. There's next to no formatting.

While I haven't seen a number card, the pips on the courts look kind of blobby. Nothing to memorable, and the font for the Q K and J doesn't fit the style at all. it's even a different shade than the pip.

I'll definitely pass on these. It'll require a complete overhaul in terms of design to get me on board.

Oh yeah, and the price... ASDFGHJHGFDKSMAJHBGTRCUGYIHOJ!@#$%^&YUIOYU(G WHY

[Alex Willis]

[These... the design is lazy. It's like someone took a bunch of animal sketches and just smacked them on a card template. It doesn't seem like the designer though about how the characters would be situated on the card or how decks are generally laid out. Hell, the queen of hearts's design goes OFF THE CARD. One way court cards have always been a huge turn off for me because anything can be used as a court. There's next to no formatting.

While I haven't seen a number card, the pips on the courts look kind of blobby. Nothing to memorable, and the font for the Q K and J doesn't fit the style at all. it's even a different shade than the pip.

It's a fan deck, if you're a fan of the game the deck appeals to you.  Or if you are a fan of Dark Crystal, Labrynth or similar Jim Henson fantasy movies these would be appealing.  But yes, there are some obvious issues.  The designer is trying to decide on full color over sketches.  Either way, I'm still down for 1 deck.  If they want to sell more, they'll need to lower the price a bit.

[Candace B]

These look much better with full color! I didn't really care for that sketch but now that's it's colored it makes the whole card look a lot better. :] I think it would be wise of them to color them all. $15 is still too high for me but I think more people will be ok with the price if the cards look more finished. :3

[Collector]

From what I heard these guys are "Asylum playing cards" in the world of RPG games funded on Kickstarter. They just try to rip off money to cover their initial project.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2063410154/cairn/comments

@Don, this is an answer on your "...and they're idiots for not tying the RPG to the promotion."

You are warned

[tornworld_jack]

Hello everyone! I'm Jack from the SoulJAR team who is running the Cairn Cards Kickstarter!  Thank you for your comments and feedback on the project, we have been wanting to hear what people think.

As far as the costs and funding and RPG tie-in, Ross Isaacs explains in his SoulJAR Games blog about that when the project was launched:
http://souljar-games.blogspot.com/2013/08/souljar-grows.html

It's true we haven't revealed the number cards yet, but we plan on showing more and more cards with future updates.
As of currently only the face cards will be full color, but if we can fund well, we hope to color the whole deck

We have tons of artwork by Jeff Laubenstein that are being used, and we are making sure the suits are thematic within the deck, as well as keeping the soul of the Cairn RPG as well

In addition to the Kickstarter page and blog page, we the team also updates on Facebook and Google+ if anyone wants to ask any questions of give feedback directly to us!

[Alex Willis]

I just read through some of the comments in his last two game projects that have not been delivered 8 mos to a year after funding and promised delivery.  I am retracting my funding from this card project as I have no faith of delivery.

[Don Boyer]

I just read through some of the comments in his last two game projects that have not been delivered 8 mos to a year after funding and promised delivery.  I am retracting my funding from this card project as I have no faith of delivery.

Some links to this information would be good.  I'm sorry to hear it.

[Alex Willis]

I just read through some of the comments in his last two game projects that have not been delivered 8 mos to a year after funding and promised delivery.  I am retracting my funding from this card project as I have no faith of delivery.

Some links to this information would be good.  I'm sorry to hear it.

it was from the link previously identified:  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2063410154/cairn/comments
and then I looked at his other projects, the one prior had updates until 8/19/13   http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2063410154/axes-and-anvils/comments

[Don Boyer]

The more I'm reading, the more I'd say don't touch this with a forty-foot pole...

[tornworld_jack]

To clarify:

The Axis and Anvils, Infinite Dungeon, and the Cairn RPG were all run by a man name Mike Nystul.  Ross was a independent writer that was hired to come in and write for the Cairn RPG, which he immediately fell in love with (who wouldn't?). When Nystul started having some issues, Ross bought the Cairn IP off of him in order to move the project forward.

Ross outlines all of this in his SoulJAR blog (which is posts to frequently) here http://souljar-games.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-message-to-all-backers-of-cairn-rpg.html

I certainly hope that you don't associate Ross with Nystul, the man behind those other projects. If you have any questions, feel free to send him a message (or me a message here). We are very open about our process and about Cairn.

[Alex Willis]

To clarify:

The Axis and Anvils, Infinite Dungeon, and the Cairn RPG were all run by a man name Mike Nystul.  Ross was a independent writer that was hired to come in and write for the Cairn RPG, which he immediately fell in love with (who wouldn't?). When Nystul started having some issues, Ross bought the Cairn IP off of him in order to move the project forward.

Ross outlines all of this in his SoulJAR blog (which is posts to frequently) here http://souljar-games.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-message-to-all-backers-of-cairn-rpg.html

I certainly hope that you don't associate Ross with Nystul, the man behind those other projects. If you have any questions, feel free to send him a message (or me a message here). We are very open about our process and about Cairn.

It's all a bit dodgy to me.  I can see selling off design and artwork or giving rights to use  to someone else, but people will always draw lines connecting the projects even if they are distantly related.  In this case the artwork on the deck is the artwork on the RPG and if the game were complete and delivered you'd probably get an audience of buyers from that group, instead you have them saying - "Don't buy anything Cairn". 

It might have been a mistake the buy the rights as you guys are talented and could simply just create some new artwork and a whole new decks, perhaps something just inspired by the RPG.