Get your own copy of this one-time printing, incredibly unique deck. The Alleyman's Tarot was the #1 most funded (and by far the most backed) tarot kickstarter ever. Made up of 137-cards from various decks, old and modern, the deck is a small art museum that fits in your hand and that divines smoothly.
With the Booster Packs, you can include additional cards in the deck to replace or support the pre-existing cards. Grab your box, cloth, and bag while you're at it, and a X/O coin and poker chip, and see what the Alleyman has to tell you.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
TOMORROW | ALLEYMAN'S BAGS, BOXES, and MORE! ADD-ONS, etc
almost 3 years ago
– Thu, Apr 29, 2021 at 04:06:19 AM
First-- from backer LoopyCat! A way to do add-ons that has worked for many, but not for some. If you were struggling to include add-ons, try this-- AND PLEASE do try it on a desktop. I think Mobile is half the issue here.
"I've seen people have a bit of trouble with regards to addons or pledges going back to the original etc. so I thought I'd give some info:
1. After you've pledged, you'll see a "Manage your pledge" button on this campaign page. Click on it.
2. You're taken to a page where you can change your payment details. Scroll down, at the bottom, click on "Change Your Pledge" (yes, I know it doesn't sound right, but it's the correct one, I promise).
3. You are taken to a page where you first simply reconfirm your pledge that's already highlighted (click on the "Pledge [whatever $ amount it is]" button).
4. THEN you are finally taken to the page where you can add stuff. Add your items, then click CONFIRM.
5. Another page comes up with your pledge and added items and new total, click to CONFIRM.
6. NOW HERE'S THE TRICKY BIT THAT'S TRIPPED UP MANY PEOPLE (including myself at first). You'll be taken to another confirmation page where sometimes the amount to be confirmed has gone back to your original pledge. THIS IS A KICKSTARTER BUG, it happens with other campaigns too. Do NOT 'confirm' on this 2nd page (the one that shows the incorrect original amount), else it will reset your pledge to your original one without addons!
You can check to make sure you got things right by simply opening a new tab and going to the Alleyman campaign to check your pledge amount at the top of the page (and of course checking for your email confirmation from Kickstarter).
If you DID confirm a second time and your pledge doesn't have addons, just go through the whole "Manage your pledge" process again, making sure to NOT 'confirm' on the 2nd page (the one that showed the incorrect original amount)."
Cen is making us 150 hand-made wood boxes. They will be $225 a piece.
Final version will be close to this design, though slight changes are possible.
It's walnut wood, a sliding top and enough room for all 190~ cards (all 3 boosters and the full deck), where the teal/blue block is. The yellow block is a coin block, which will have an indent to place the coin and/or the pokerchip, still to be determined when I know coin+chip sizes for sure. The red are just small wood pieces that will let you more easily grab the deck with finger space on either side.
There will be 3 add-ons of this, 50 each, set to ship September, October, and November. If you pick a box that ships October or November, it WILL delay your full order, so bear that in mind.
Additionally, Cen is making 5 very limited edition Wenge puzzleboxes. These will be done in Wenge, a dense and very dark wood.
Final design subject to additional change and additional 'puzzle' element additions-- final piece will be in Wenge, a dark wood.
This box will be special and only 5 are planning to be made. I might order a sixth just for me haha-- but that's it for the campaign. Cen will be working around the clock to get these 155 boxes made in all for all of you who want them. This design requires you open the box in a particular sequence to get it fully open. Understand the design is not final, and it may become more complex, depending on the time Cen has to play around with making it more wild. For now though, you'll need to slide the top out enough to draw out the 'coin block'-- it will have a small handle to grab, and only after removing that will you be able to draw the full drawer. This is a very special, very limited edition version you can only get here and now, so worth grabbing if you want it!
So what about those Bags?
There are actually going to be 2 options for hand-made bags. One is very limited, the other much more avialable. Let's start with the limited one.
Alex Kelly-- the artist of our 2 of wands in the deck, made a hand-made bag for their own Alleyman's deck. I paid them to make me a personal one as well because I thought it looked really neat, and they agreed to make 50 more for this project for purchase. Materials, time, etc put these at $250 a bag. They aren't cheap, but they are truly one-of-a-kind. They will fit all 190~ cards of the full deck+boosters.
That big snake design on the back in the final picture? That is one of five options for the applique-- you can do a snake like that or:
Watching Eyes
Jackalope Face
Rat Skull
Moth
You will decide on the survey, and there will be pictures of what they look like to choose. Additionally, the bags have a little coin pocket for the poker chip and coin, and some hand-drawn sigil-like designs. This is probably the most accurate to what I'd imagine the Alleyman using himself.
and last, but certainly not least, Rachel of Lady Latham's Cosplay Closet is putting together simpler patchwork drawstring bags. These bags are 7.5"x7.5", will have anywhere from 2-5 different patterns on them, and they all have an inner-pouch that fits the coin and poker chip. They are large enough for the full deck (plus the boosters) and a cloth if you wanted to put one in there, with a little room to grow. There will be 1,000 of these!
Three of the bags plus a showcase of the variety of patterns being used.
Rachel had reached out to me, and I think the bags look great! There will be 1,000 slots available for this much-more-affordable bag, and I hope anyone who wants one gets one. If not... Reach out to her after the campaign!
I understand there are 11,000+ backers now and I'm about to give you 155 boxes and 1,050 bags to fight over. These are just independent artists I wanted to support and had reached out to. These are like, super specialty items, they are not necessary for your enjoyment of the deck, and the deck is already coming in a two-piece rigid box that will work just fine. That being said, I am in talks to get mass-produced, CHEAPER options for a weird box (thinking a cigar box) and a simple black satin bag with drawstrings. As soon as I have those lined up, I will make them available to all of you, and they will not be limited slots, first-come-first-served nonsense. Most of all, they will be very affordable!
I am working on a cloth design now that I am making live tomorrow. I've gone back and forth a lot, but I've made some decisions and will unveil it with the post tomorrow that reminds you of these items above as they go live to grab as addons.
Finally, all three artists above have noted to me that if they think they can do more before the campaign is up, or before the shipping date, they'd all CONSIDER additional sales. You can also reach out to them personally and see about commissioning them directly! I'm not promising more on their behalf, just hopeful! : )
See you at Noon MST sharp tomorrow for the add-ons launch!
7
CREDITS #4! Coins now available! NEW ADD ONS TOMORROW!
almost 3 years ago
– Thu, Apr 29, 2021 at 12:07:49 AM
First off, the coins are not QUITE done yet, but this is the overall design. There will just be some touchups still happening yet and a slight color change with the antique Brass plating I'm going with.
ALMOST-FINISHED COIN DESIGN
You are ALL getting a free coin with your orders/pledges. If you want a second, or third or fourth, or however many you want, you can add those to your orders now, they are an add-on for just $3.
Additionally, after this update I am putting out another update with information on the bags and boxes that are going to go live tomorrow at 12 PM Mountain Standard time. They will be limited quantity so be sure to get what you want asap, and see the update after this one for info on the items!
CREDITS #4 TIME!
When last we stopped, we just finished the Cups, so today we move on to Wands and we'll dip a little into the Swords as well! 40 artists left from the main deck after this, so I'll do 4 more credits posts with 10 a piece on any days without updates! :)
The Alleyman
about 3 years ago
– Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 09:41:18 PM
Hello backers, just a lore post today.
There has been some VERY intense interest in the Alleyman himself, his lore, his world. People are already coming up with their own ideas of who he is, what he does, and where he lives. I don't want to dismiss any of it. I think the mystique of people sharing what they think, or what they know, is as canon to the truth of who he is as are my facts. I explicitly have no interest in telling you who is wrong or right, but I can at least help paint... around him.
If you go hunting on there, I've shared much, much more, but I'd like to up that a little more. As many of you know, I am Seven, the one who made this project happen. I've done many things, written fiction, poetry, tabletop roleplaying games, small video games, music, etc. What you probably don't know is that all of these things tend to overlap. I have been telling tales through various media across a slew of 40 worlds that I have been crafting for a great story I am going to tell.
Canonically, I can tell you that these 40 worlds exist in bubbles around one another, but quite separate from our world. We live in the 1st world, the one before the bubbles ever came to exist. The Performer, as a matter of fact, kind of does as well. The Performer is an entity, not a specific person or thing, but a concept of performance, and those who do it. And the Performer decides who is the Alleyman, or who the Alleyman is, or both. There is a distinction, I promise. I think there's definitely an importance to the knowledge of who or what the Performer is, but even as we begin to know them, they slip away to those 40 worlds.
Are they in the Archives? What a place to thrive, but also so dangeorus. Lawless.
Surely not in that hideous world where I didn't know yet what I was doing and had to draw much of the art myself (aka, my first Kickstarter campaign)??
The Performer might pause here, but it's a godless place, now. A good place to hide, maybe.
The remaining place with no direction has nothing but machines, hoping for hope. Barely room for performance, there.
Now, in Confluence, where all the 40 worlds collide... that is possible. And yet, the Performer is not there atthis time. Though if you hunt in the updates there, you could find more about where we're going.
We need Earth. Or rather, Earth-2.
Enter, Moth Children.(This link is not a Kickstarter, curiously, but instead afree, full version of the game's PDF. Hmmm, wonder if there's any setting info in there?)
This game was set to be a spin-off of Secret Halls, my full Earth-2 setting, but it was at this point when I stepped away from making roleplaying games for a bit. I'll return to it-- Confluence after all is poised for a massive comeback sometime quite soon...
But you want more than just some facts, you want bodies, living, breathing. In the Secret Halls tag on my patreon, you'll find 3 short stories. (It's only $1/month to gain access, come now, did you think I didn't exact a toll like the Alleyman himself?)
Two stories follow mages of this world, in their efforts to uphold a Pact to keep humans safe. But the other story isn't about a mage. It's about a shitty little con artist named The Rat. Okay, so he isn't THAT shitty. He's actually fairly good, but he's been caught once and he'll be caught again. He goes around and lies and steals and sets people up to go against one another and a mysterious newcomer, The Rat (or the Rat gang, or the Red Rats, or whatever fits at the time). It's his whole MO, and when he's finally burned all the big cities in the US worth hitting, he'll move to a new country. If he survives, that is.
And yet he does just keepsurviving. He doesn't realize it just yet, but he keeps surviving on more than just his skill at disguises and acting. He's survived, from time to time, on the will of the Performer.
For you see, The Rat is the Alleyman.
Not that he knows it, as he's certainly never met the Alleyman, and never will be aware of his presence. Sometimes he just loses a few hours. A day here, a week there. He's done so many drugs at this point, losing time could be anything. But The Performer takes this time for itself, using all the skills of deceit, of nearly-shape-shifting levels of character acting and disguise, and uses this space to craft The Alleyman. Never the same. From city to city, the Alleyman is a strange and formless myth.
The Rat is not the only vessel that has been the Alleyman, but he has been the most oftenused vessel. He's kind of a piece of shit, maybe the Performer enjoys giving back to people with those same talents. Telling them stories that help them confront their own traumas. Directing them with a nudge in the right direction. Maybe it's because no other vessel can seem to shift their voice so easily with all those voice lessons, or take a new form every single moment with the help of a disguise from an old van? The Rat is explicitly not supernatural. But the level to which he can seem to become anyone at any time is the height of performance, and to the Performer, maybe that is a supernatural talent.
Even when I name the very body who holds the deck you are pledging for, I acknowledge that even I, the story-teller, do not know what the Rat looks like. I don't know his real name, and as a result, I don't think the Performer does, either. They are a perfect pair of formless, identity-less creatures. And as such, I would love nothing more than for you to decide, for you, in the moment, what he looked like when he touched your life, and gave you this deck.
Thanks for the incredible support. We break $600,000 today, I'm pretty sure. Be on the lookout, I'll be sharing more stories about the worlds over time, more games, stories, music maybe, and certainly the novel series that will tie all the worlds together with some final answers. Just be watching. This isn't a tale I can tell alone.
Nothing but my thanks,
7DA,
the Publishing Goblin
CREDITS #3 | Also... THE MOST BACKED TAROT PROJECT EVER!!!!
about 3 years ago
– Sat, Apr 24, 2021 at 04:32:13 AM
... it's us. We're the most backed tarot project, ever. Wild, right?
The highest tarot backer number before now was 9,871 on the Deck of Many Animated Spells, Tarot & More! But they weren't a strictly tarot kickstarter-- the BOTANICA deck was the highest strictly tarot project that had 9,627 backers.
We're already over 10,000. And we have almost 20 days left. Utterly. Wild! Even if we don't beat all the others in finances, we are now the most backed tarot project on this platform ever, and that's so awesome. Congrats us! I'll definitely have to do another version of this deck-- especially considering that there is more than one Alleyman, and their decks typically come from their respective worlds.
I wanted to have something really cool to show for the announcement, but a lot has been happening haha. An Italian Magician is requesting to take on the Alleyman as a character for his stage shows, a D&D 5e Warlock Patron version of the Alleyman is being made by another backer, people are writing fan fic, people are hunting for lore-- and I'm over here trying to design a coin. Y'all are wild and very cool, thanks for just being those things. It's a gift to me every day.
If you want to know more about the things I do, check out my linktr.ee/7DA, or if you just want to support me and read some old short stories from my various worlds, you can become a patron my patreon. I have 13 short stories on there, excerpts of novels, and old looks into what I used to do, all yours to peep at for just $1 a month. If it becomes active at all, I'll happily return there and share more lore, stories, new work, etc. Thanks!
Back to the campaign credits for the core deck! We start with the very unique blue phoenix of Whitney Lhen Meltz's Judgement card!
Second, I had lined up the Desert Illuminations tarot's Judgement, thought we had everything in place, but I hadn't yet received the signed contract before I made that post. Either because of that or because they decided not to license already and then saw my post, they asked me to take the card down. I've apologized and we're in fine standing, but that card is no longer in the Booster Pack #1. I've already got 10 or so cards on Booster 2, and will wait until I finalize that pack to determine what to fill that empty spot in pack 1 with.
I have 20 additional people I've reached out to already to fill the slots and am waiting to hear back from, so I'm still looking at all the decks and artists y'all suggest, but I don't need them that much at this time.
Working with the coin manufacturer to spiffy up the design, but this is the VERY ROUGH DESIGN SKETCH I did. Again, this is NOT how the coins will look, but the general idea. A townscape on one side with a 'carved in' circle around it. 17c on the other with a 'carved in' X on it.
It won't be green, either, I just started in that color and kept going haha.
RE: ADD-ONS issues. I know it's annoying, and it appears to be a wide-spread issue that people update their pledges and then it just... resets? But please stop messaging me about it, I have no ability on Kickstarter to fix those things or edit your carts or anything. Please reach out to Kickstarter support. That's something they need to know about and me relaying what you guys are saying versus you explaining what happened to you and what went wrong is worlds of difference in how easily they will be able to use the info. We don't want to run a game of telephone with tech support when I don't even need to be the middle-man. : P
If you can't find an easy fix or it just won't work, note that in Backerkit you will more easily be able to include additional add-ons! And on there I have a LOT more freedom to edit your carts and help you out with issues.
As for new thing? I'm still debating what I want to do about a cloth or a bag or what. The craftsman whom I'm talking to about doing boxes is figuring out how to work my sketch into it and giving me an idea of what that will cost. If there are fancy wooden boxes and hand-stitched bags, they will be VERY limited and FAIRLY expensive. I will also be looking at less-fancy bags that will be cheaper for people who want that, but I'm mostly focused on finishing what all we have so far. I'm still writing the guide as we go and sourcing these extra cards for the boosters, so if anything new comes up for add-ons, it'll probably be in a week or so when I'm all caught up to what we already have. : )
My sketch of the wooden box
Here's the sketch of what I want for the wooden box. This isn't necessarily how it will look, as the craftsman is working up a few alternatives, but this is my general idea. Thinking a dark wood, and not planning any logos or anything at this time.
Thanks for being awesome everyone,
7
P.S.
Someone (or a few someones?) has been harrassing a few artists and asking them if they're making a fair cut. I'm 100% transparent on the process and where the money goes. I let each artist set their own licensing fee (for real, I let them decide how much they wanted), and that was all I owed any of them by contract. The bonus pay from the stretch goals was something I put in on my own because I hadn't expected this project to do anywhere near this well, but I want to support them further. If you have concerns about what I'm paying people, you are free to bring it up to me publically, I'm happy to put down any concerns! I have no secrets here and will be sharing where EVERY cent goes at the end of the Kickstarter, because I just think that's the right way to do it. No one wants the artists to all make $$ on this more than me, but also don't forget I'm one of those artists lol.
