Castles & Crusades Adventurers Backpack

Product History

When the idea of this title began to circulate is lost now in the dusty vestiges of time. It was the brainchild of Stephen Chenault. A huge fan of the original AD&D Unearthed Arcana, he wished to create a second book for players to use, that would be filled with information as germ to players as the content of the CKG was to Castle Keepers. He envisioned new classes, equipment, weapons (specifically polearms, as the polearm section from the original AD&D book had left such a mark), and all the various and sundry player rules that had piled up in the previous decade. But along with that he wanted to speed up the character creation process by making a series of backpacks filled with all the adventuring equipment necessary to plunge into the unknown. Work started on the classes in 2013 or 2014, mostly outlined by Mac Golden and Davis Chenault. Todd Gray stepped into create the backpacks as character equipage was his specialty. The project sputtered out very quickly as other more pressing concerns drove the design teams. Despite its early abandonment, the title continued to circulate around the dens and internet. It was continually brought up in questions at panels, on message boards, Facebook, and other social media. There was clearly some demand for it. As the years ticked by it became obvious that the book needed some air. Work began again in 2016, this time in earnest. Steve began rewriting and overhauling the classes and enlisted his oldest brother and his brother’s son (Zane and Neal Chenault) to manufacture the backpacks that Todd had begun. As work unfolded, a Kickstarter campaign was launched in November of 2016 and quickly funded. The project was now officially in the lineup. Work continued it throughout 2017, with many delays as Mac stepped back to become overall editor and Davis continued work on another project (NPC Almanac). Steve Chenault took over as head writer, creating the most of the classes and writing the bulk of the content. Zane and Neal wrote the backpacks with Todd giving them the final pass over. Mac edited and supervised all, though he penned the thief class so near and dear to his heart. Davis stepped in and wrote a few classes, the polearm section, and the new unarmed combat rules. The bulk of the classes, war mounts, plane material, healing rules and other were penned by Steve Chenault. The book went into production in 2018. The cover was drawn and colored by Peter Bradley. Following a request by Stephen Chenault he made it a panel that interconnected with the Players Handbook (6^th-8^th printing) cover, making a longer canvas where the two would be part of the same scene. The Adventurers Backpack 1^st printing released in September of 2018 and quickly proved one of the strongest titles in the lineup. A set of cards joined the books. The 56 backpacks became player cards and a deck of cards with the backpacks being released with the book. The Adventurers Backpack Equipment Cards, sold separately, remain in the shop and serve the dual purpose of character equipment (just grab your card) and actual playing cards. With the release of the 8^th printing of the Players Handbook a general reorganization of the line began and the Adventurers Backpack moved to the front of the line. A second printing is planned but it will have some significant alterations. The spells in the book are removed, the planes material as well, and more art is intended for the backpacks (one for each of the backpacks) and other alterations.