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Harper's Tale: A DnD 5e Adventure Path for heroes 1st thru 10th level

Created by Matt Corley

Harper's Tale is an epic story of sacrifice, perseverance, and redemption. The heroes will investigate, battle, and learn the true origins of the threat to their home. The adventure is based on an outline my daughter, Harper, and I wrote after coming home from the hospital after her first round of chemotherapy treatment for leukemia. All net proceeds from the crowdfunding campaign (including this BackerKit) will be donated to benefit Friends of Kids with Cancer to help others like Harper who are battling cancer. Joining Harper and I are an elite team of creators including: Jeff Stevens, Ben McFarland, Brian Suskind, Hannah Rose, Ashley Warren, Kienna Shaw, Bill Barnett, MT Black, Donathin Frye, Anna Landin, Gwendy B, Anna Meyer, Dyson Logos, Jessica Ross, and others! Kobold Press and Petersen Games also pitched in to us bring this to life. What is Harper's Tale? Harper’s Tale is a forest-based adventure path of 10 connected adventures culminating in the party, now 10th level, confronting the source of the plague within their home land. The adventure is intended for players as young as 10, but I promise players of all ages will find plenty to keep them engaged with the story. The adventure path starts in the village of Grove as the heroes come to a seemingly deserted village. Through exploration and investigation, they learn that a mysterious illness has taken over the town, leaving only two young women, Rose and Grace, to care for the populace. Their investigations take them under the town, and, in learning the source of the illness, they find themselves drawn into a much bigger plot by a mysterious force they know little about. What is clear is that the forest they call home is in danger, and the entity behind the illness of Grove has only just begun its foul machinations as evidenced by a sudden outbreak of madness in a neighboring town. A second outbreak is staved off by the heroes—surely they are best described as such after saving not one but two villages—and they find themselves traveling to see the arch-druid of the forest, Deng. The journey is arduous, but the clever adventurers comport themselves well, and learn much in their audience with the ancient druid, including the ingredients for fashioning a cure for the otherworldly contagion and, more importantly, the appropriate rites for harvesting the key components. Harvesting the cure is a greater challenge than the adventurers anticipated as they must deal with a cold war between the hidden powers of the forest in addition to gathering the ingredients in the dark recesses of the primordial wood. The adventure culminates in a confrontation with the creature whose machinations have been behind the debilitating disease wracking the forest. The heroes have learned much of their enemy, but have they learned all there is to know? How will they react when confronted with the source of so much pain and sorrow? Can it be defeated? Redeemed? Or will it win the day? There’s only one way to find out.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Sat Oct 5 '19 Announcement
over 4 years ago – Sat, Oct 05, 2019 at 08:51:06 AM

Our last update! Can you believe it? So much has gone on since launching on Sept 3rd that I’m not quite sure I can do it justice in recapping. That said this was a very humbling experience. I’ve had so many folks keep out privately, share their story, and give words of encouragement. More than a few of them brought me to tears.

Breaking Down the Numbers:

At the time I’m writing these are our numbers with $21,934 pledged:

  • ~$10,000 cash donation to Friends of Kids with Cancer
  • 189 books for Friends of Kids with Cancer!!!
  • 554 backers
  • Average pledge $39.59
  • 6,980 visitors to our IGG page
  • 8% of visitors pledged (this is outstanding!)
  • Our largest direct link source of backers was this article at DnD Beyond.
    • Over 100 backers went straight from there to IGG to pledge!
  • We have backers from 25 different countries!
  • Our best single day of pledges was $3,297 on Sept 16th
  • Average daily total for pledges $685

Breaking Down the Book:

I’m expecting the book to be ~130-150 pages. In which you will find:

  • 10 adventures
  • 50 pieces of original art
  • 12 maps
  • 8 pre-generated characters
  • Selections from Harper’s original notes
  • “How Rose Got Her Mermaid Hair” by Harper and Matt Corley

We are NOT quite done yet! Please spread the word on this project and the good that it’s doing.

Thank you!

Matt, Harper, and Team

Wed Oct 2 '19 Announcement
over 4 years ago – Wed, Oct 02, 2019 at 12:58:24 PM

These amazing kiddos (and the equally amazing Teri!) are all part of the Living Proof group at Pedal the Cause. They're the reason we're working so hard, raising funds, and donating books.

With just 4 days left to go we're at a bit over $21,000. I have some updates on the book! Two more chapters have been written and sent to final editing, and more concept drawings came in.

That's all I've got for now and I'm very excited about where we are with the book. Please share via whatever outlets you have so that we end on a strong note!

Thanks!

Matt, Harper, and team

Sat Sep 28 '19 Announcement
over 4 years ago – Sat, Sep 28, 2019 at 02:03:15 PM

The last week of our campaign starts tomorrow, and what a wild ride it’s been! We have 500+ backers and $20,000+ in pledges! When we get to $27,000 Harper’s Tale will be Friends of Kids with Cancer's top non-corporate/event fundraiser ever! Can you imagine it? I can ?

Before getting too far ahead of ourselves I’d like to take a moment to write an update that I meant to post weeks ago. I’m going to toot everyone’s horns a little by sharing some of their contact info and creations.I cannot count the words they've produced (literally millions), awards the won (buckets), or games they've created so I have a list below for you to peruse.

Please take a moment to check them out. This is a very diverse and fantastic group. I couldn’t be happier to part of this amazing ensemble, and they've worked very work to make this a success.

Fri Sep 27 '19 Announcement
over 4 years ago – Fri, Sep 27, 2019 at 07:13:42 AM

I can't say much other than I'm humbled, excited, and proud of everything that all of us are doing to help Friends of Kids with Cancer.

The book is coming along great and here are a few early concept drawings for the book from the talented Anna Landin.

I'm Going In!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Thanks and only a week left!

Matt, Harper, and team

Thu Sep 26 '19 Announcement
over 4 years ago – Thu, Sep 26, 2019 at 08:30:07 AM

That's all I've got today!

#HarperStrong