MU an official Kickstarter "Project We Love"; two new Stretch Goals
almost 8 years ago – Sun, May 06, 2018 at 09:09:34 PM

Dear MU Scholars,

We're now in Finals Week of the Semester, and things are progressing well: two more Stretch Goals down in the last couple of days - Box Upgrade and the "Teaching Assistant" Library Card expansion. 

That makes EIGHT Game-related Stretch Goals attained so far, to be included in the base $25 pledge at no extra cost to you:
French, German, Italian, Spanish, Card Upgrade, Player Mat Upgrade, New Library Card, Box Upgrade.

And FOUR "Fun" Stretch Goals so far: 
Bachelor degree (all backers inc $1), Masters, MU short fiction, MU short fiction cover art.

There are three more Stretch Goals approaching rapidly: the Hide Defense Card expansion ($74K), and two new ones: 

$76K - A New Crest and Seal for MU

We will commission a new crest and seal for Miskatonic University and feature it in the game. 

[Did you know Miskatonic University's motto is Ex Ignorantia Ad Sapientiam; Ex Luce Ad Tenebras, which means "Out Of Ignorance Into Wisdom; Out Of Light Into Darkness". Because the crest has a lighted candle on it, uninformed people say the motto translates as "Better to light the candle of knowledge than curse in the darkness". Wags reply, "Is it though?"]

$78K - Stationery Upgrade IV: Box Interior

We will add a box insert to keep the game cards in place.

Kickstarter Project We Love

We were happy to see that Kickstarter recently made MU an official "Project We Love" - they clearly want everyone to pass with flying colors!

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As always thank you for supporting our Kickstarter

New Stretch Goal: Grad Student Forms; plus Faculty - tell us your Staff Activity Number (SAN)!
almost 8 years ago – Sun, May 06, 2018 at 06:31:15 PM

Dear MU Scholars,

Here's a new "Fun" Stretch Goal, to follow the swiftly-approaching "Game" Stretch Goal - Box Interior Upgrade ($78K):

Graduate Students are expected to sacrifice years of study (and at MU, maybe more) to learn from their esteemed academic mentors, the Professors. Fortunately, at Miskatonic University they're an endlessly renewal resource... 

$81K - Grad Student Admission Forms

We'll provide full-size PDFs of the MU Admission Form (used on the Graduate Student cards in the game), and BLANK versions you can print and fill out yourself. 

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Faculty - tell us your Staff Activity Number (SAN)!

FROM THE MU FACULTY HANDBOOK: It is a long-standing practice that professors and instructors at Miskatonic University are given a Staff Activity Number, or SAN rating. This number is not intended to rank or rate their relative expertise or caliber as a teacher, but only to serve as an extra guide to students choosing advisors.

All backers whose pledge levels includes their name appearing in the Rule Book (Deans, Associate Deans, Professorial Chairs, Valedictorians etc) will also be invited to nominate their Staff Activity Number (SAN).

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Higher Education - the Upper Division Backer Levels

We think Miskatonic University: the Restricted Collection is great value - backing as a Professor for $25 you get Reiner Knizia's complete game with all stretch goals and expansions. 

But if you're looking for some special academic distinction, we do have higher backer levels offering such things as MU plaques with your name and title, personalised framed MU degrees, and your name and faculty role recorded for posterity in the Rule Book.

With a just few days to go, Miskatonic University is still recruiting for some of these important and prestigious academic posts. Each is for one backer only:

• Vice Chancellor of the University
• Dean—School of Parasitology
• Assoc. Deans—Spanish & Hispanic Studies; Accademia di lingua italiana (Italian); Dept of Germanic Studies and Sprachwissenschaften (German).
  
• Professorial Chairs—Devolutionary Anthropology; Aklo, Enochian and Lingua Ignota; Hermeneutics (assistant dean)

In addition, these backer levels have limited places:

• Valedictorians (1929 - 1938)
• Mu Pi Psi Fraternity Members, Mu Chi Mu Sorority Members
  
• Board of Trustees

We appreciate that all of these exclusive backer levels cost a lot more than the base pledge for the board game. If they're not for you due to price or inclination, no worries - we greatly appreciate your support of our Kickstarter at whatever level you choose!

As always thank you for supporting our Kickstarter

Stretch Goal Update: a New Defense Card for the Game!
almost 8 years ago – Wed, May 02, 2018 at 04:35:07 PM

Dear MU Scholars,

Thanks to your support we passed $67K earlier today, and another Stretch Goal has fallen! Here's a new one to aim for, direct from Reiner Knizia's home base and design studio in Germany. It's a new, eighth Defense Card:

Stretch Goal $74K - New Defense Card "Hide"

HIDE: When you use your Hide defense card, you get to skip your turn. You do not draw from the Library deck, and play passes to the next player. This safely keeps you in the game until it is your turn again. In the meantime, calamity may befall your academic opponents!

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Like all other Defense Cards, you may choose to bring the Hide card back into use if you collect four Graduate Student cards, or are expelled from the Library.

This is the second card expansion for Miskatonic University; we also have the New Library Card Teaching Assistant Stretch Goal at $72K. We're currently nearing $68K, so both of these are drawing close and we still have six days to go!

As always thank you for supporting our Kickstarter.

MU scholars - finals are approaching!
almost 8 years ago – Wed, May 02, 2018 at 01:31:27 AM

Dear MU scholars,

There's a bit over a week to go in the Semester - finals are approaching. Academic progress has been excellent so far, and we think everyone's on track to graduate from Miskatonic University with honors!

We're very happy that you're getting a great new game by a famous designer at a very reasonable price ($25), and that we are well set up to deliver it to you by the promised date (just as we did with our previous board game Kickstarter Khan of Khans).

Stretch Goals so far...

At the start of the campaign, we noted that Miskatonic University: The Restricted Collection is ready to go to the printers, and we are only waiting to see if we can eek out some more fun from a few simple stretch goals. Here's a recap of the Stretch Goals we've attained so far:

• Library Cards upgraded to 320gsm with linen finish 
• Player Mats upgraded to 1.2 mm board with glossy dispersion varnish.
• German rules printed in rulebook
• French rules printed in rulebook
  
• Italian rules printed in rulebook
  
• Spanish Rules printed in rulebook
• Diploma Mill I: MU Bachelor Degrees for everyone (even $1 backers)
• Diploma Mill II: Masters degrees for all backers at $25 and above
• Miskatonic University Short Story by Molly Tanzer

And here's what's coming up: if you help us keep spreading the word we think all of these are all attainable with more than a week to go (and we have more Stretch Goals up our sleeves if they are!) 

• $67K: Commission cover art for Molly Tanzer's MU story
• $70K: Box Upgrade: double thickness card, white lining, beviled edge
• $72K: New Card: the Teaching Assistant

< more stretch goals to come... >

Rules in Spanish!

The $64K Spanish Stretch Goal has fallen -  ¡estupendo! The printed rulebook will now include the full rules of the game in Spanish.

This means MU is announcing a new academic department in the School of Languages: the Department of Spanish and Hispanic Studies. The printed rulebook will include the full rules of the game in Spanish.

Associate Dean - Spanish and Hispanic Studies 

MU is also recruiting a scholar to lead this new division: the Associate Dean of Spanish and Hispanic Studies ($350). This is limited to one backer only.

Buenas noches and as always, thank you for supporting our Kickstarter!

Eldritch Art and Endowed Chairs
almost 8 years ago – Wed, May 02, 2018 at 01:31:17 AM

Dear MU scholars,

Our next Stretch Goal coming up soon at $67K is commissioning Spanish artist Victor Leza to paint cover art for Molly Tanzer's Miskatonic University short story, which we unlocked at $58K*.

Fans of the Call of Cthulhu RPG and Chaosium fiction will recognise Victor's work in recent releases including Petersen's Abominations, Reign of Terror, Nameless Horrors, Goat Mother, and many others.

Victor Leza is also one of the artists involved in Chaosium's forthcoming updated edition of Masks of Nyarlathatop, widely considered "one of the best RPG adventures ever made" (Gizmodo). 

The new edition of Masks of Nyarlathotep is due out in PDF soon—with the print version following later in the year—but we thought we'd give MU backers a first sneak peek at some of Victor's superb artwork from the book:

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You'll be pleased to know Victor has already created all of the art for Miskatonic University: The Restricted Collection, including the "Teaching Assistant" for our $72K New Library Card Stretch Goal. That's all part of our plan to ensure we can send the game off to print as soon as possible after the Kickstarter campaign ends. 

We'll commission Victor to do the cover art for the MU Short Story, once we crack $67K. We know he's going to come up with something memorable and evocative of our favourite university!

*All backers at Professor level ($25) and above will receive the story in multiple electronic formats (PDF, EPUB, MOBI, PRC). Once we achieve the $67K Stretch Goal the story will have Victor Leza's art added to the electronic files.

New Backer Levels - Endowed Professorial Chairs

We added some more unique backer levels. An endowed professorial chair is a prestigious academic appointment, sponsored by a donor. Professors appointed to endowed chairs are considered leaders in their field, and you have the opportunity to be named as one! 

At MU, these professorial chairs all have connections back to the Mythos - we're sure many of you will be able to pick the references!

• The Arthur Jermyn Endowed Professorial Chair of Devoluntionary Anthropology
  
• The Lake - Atwood Memorial Professorial Chair of Chthonic Geology
  
• The Machen Professor of Aklo, Enochian and Lingua Ignota 

These all are limited to one backer only, who gets named in the Rule Book and receives an MU plaque. We may add more as the campaign progresses. Message us your suggestions for a new chair (especially if you want to endow a chair yourself and then back it).  

After the Cover Art for the MU story ($67K), the next Stretch Goals are a Box Upgrade ($70K), and the new Teaching Assistant Library Card ($72K). And with a week still to go in the campaign, Miskatonic University still has more secrets and surprises to reveal...

As always thanks for supporting our Kickstarter.