Alphinius Goo is over the top nice! He sends me in-character emails that are a delight even as they demonstrate his enthusiasm for what his company, Gooey Cube, does: Make big 5e projects. Alphinius agreed to share his thoughts on their latest Kickstarter campaign, what’s stand out about their 5e rules mods, and what’s in one of their chapter boxed sets.
EGG EMBRY (EGG): Thank you for talking with me about this project. What can you share about your latest Kickstarter?
ALPHINIUS GOO (ALPHINIUS): Hi Egg! Thanks for having me. As to the Kickstarter, we are most assuredly excited about how it is going thus far. People are really liking what we are producing and there are quite a few new folks who are backing us. We funded in just two minutes and we’ve nearly hit $100k in backing with 15 days to go. The reason, I think, is that most of us Game Masters really hunger for just one thing… to hear our players say at the end of the session that they loved the adventure. And I truly believe that’s what we do. We truly do help GMs take their game to another level – even experienced GMs that have been doing this for a long time. I must also give a big shout out to our Gooey Community… they are very much behind us in this which I think is a testament to the quality of our adventures.
EGG: For the current campaign, $55 plus S/H will get you a “chapter” of the Red Star Rising campaign. In the Gooey Cube world, what is a chapter?
ALPHINIUS: Typically in our adventures a “chapter” will be one level of advancement for the party. But we level quite differently than others might. Objective based rather than experience point based… and much slower than in the standard game. But for most who have experienced our structure, they do find they like it a lot. Our adventures make first and second level much more special and fun… and scary and mysterious too… and the players experiencing it really seem to enjoy the difference. The opening chapter is called The Darkest Dream and unlike the other boxes in the campaign it will also help with session zero with 24 really interesting, beautifully illustrated pregenerated characters. It will provide around 30 or so hours of play time… perhaps another four or five if you are like most GMs who like to add to the tale a bit.
EGG: What’s the community reaction to the Red Star Rising campaign been like?
ALPHINIUS: So we truly believe that we make materials that make the Game Master’s life dramatically easier while making the adventure far more immersive and enthralling for the players. And the emails and communications we’re getting from GMs and players would indicated that we are succeeding in that regard. We’ve had more than a few tell us that these are some of the best games they’ve ever played – even with players who have been playing 10, 20, even 30 years.
EGG: You sent me a review copy with one chapter (boxed set) and a book and it was nearly heavy enough to topple over the postal officer’s Jeep. What do you pack into these sets?
ALPHINIUS: So our materials are quite different from most that are out there today. A chapter will typically have 50 to 80 full color location handouts, 20 to 50 (or more) NPC portraits, a stack of magic item cards, full-color maps, cheat sheets, plus the Adventure Book and the Game Master’s book. There’s more than that as well… typically more than five pounds of materials. And much of the materials can be reused in home-brew so it’s not just a use it once and put it on the shelf kind of thing.
EGG: The average backer is spending over $300 with you. The most popular tier is the “Pretty Darn Gooey” level at nearly $400 plus shipping. For many, that’s going to be a sticker shock sort of number. What kind of bang can backers expect for their dollar?
ALPHINIUS: So new folks should actually look at the “Gooey Commitment” pledge. That will give them the first three chapters of the campaign and our Cyclopaedia Zyathica Volume 1 which is a beautiful 250 page overview of the World of Zyathé. That pledge is $210 and with it they’ll get around 100 to perhaps 120 hours of game play using materials that are of incredible quality – props, maps, handouts, item cards, and more. And they’ll get the background on an amazing world. But for me… the thing they will get above all that is an incredible story that their players will love. In my opinion, that is the most important thing. Bringing a tale that you tell with your players that just astounds them… engages them… makes the giddy and afraid and confounded and triumphant and all those other emotions is what makes a game wonderfully memorable. And yes… that pledge is like 18 pounds or so.
EGG: Wow, 18 pounds? Good night! Many publishers talk about having a community, but in the small amount of time I’ve followed Gooey Cube, you truly have a community. How did you grow you fanbase? Was it “overnight” or have you been working on this for a long time?
ALPHINIUS: So it began at Gen Con in 2019 where we debuted our first two chapters and the World of Zyathé Cyclopaedia volume. Folks just really liked what we were offering and we began a FB group after that. We also made a Discord. But I think the thing that really is different about us is that we are making a world that is “collaborative”… which means our friends and fans can submit their creations and have them published in the world. Beyond that… they can even create a character based on their own portrait and have that character a part of Zyathé as well. We have like 500 people in the Contributor’s Guild now and we’ve gotten many wonderful additions to the world because of it. I do think that is something that really excites our community.
EGG: It’s good to connect with fans. This next one is a broad question, but you’re using 5e as the rules system, what are some of the neatest alterations you’ve made to make it Gooey?
ALPHINIUS: Well I’ve got a number of house rules that are all available for download for free from the Kickstarter page. There are some other freebies there as well. But my favorites are managed leveling which is not some massive innovation but I do think that making first and second levels special so players enjoy them a lot more is pretty cool. How we do money I think a lot of GMs will like and more than a few might like the “skill modifier roll” that I’ve done for years at my table. But perhaps the thing they’ll like the most are the Gooey Rewards cards that come in every box. In my opinion they are far more fun and intriguing than inspiration.
EGG: How did you get into big, detailed projects like this? Who helps you with them?
ALPHINIUS: We have a little group at our day job which is a small advertising agency in Colorado Springs who work on this and then there are some amazing folks in our community who are also working on projects for Gooey Cube. As to how I got into it… well that is a longer tale. But I’m truly glad we did as I really do think we’re helping a lot of GMs and players to have better games.
EGG: Where does your community gather on the web?
ALPHINIUS: So here is the link to our FB group. And here is the link to the Kickstarter. For folks that want to check out the website.
EGG: Alphinius, thank you for taking to the time to share this. Beyond this campaign, what else is in the works for Gooey Cube?
ALPHINIUS: We have more projects coming… The Cyclopaedia Magicka… the Cyclopaedia Monstrica… The Sundestian Continent… so much more. We’re very excited to see how the next few years goes. And thank you Egg.
Enthralling Adventures and Incredible World for 5th Edition! from Gooey Cube
End Date: Sun, December 13 2020 10:00 PM EST.
“Gooey Cube makes immersive adventures for 5e that enthrall players & make a GM’s life WAY easier. Plus, our world will blow you away!”
Egg Embry participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG and Amazon.
Latest posts by Egg Embry (see all)
- New Gamemaster Month 2023 - January 20, 2023
