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about 5 years ago – Fri, Apr 12, 2019 at 03:01:34 PM

So yesterday we had yet another version of Snowpocalypse. This happens a lot in Minnesota - last April we got over two feet of snow (61 cm for everyone else) in April alone.

But it afforded me the chance to really sit down and get to it. And I did. The social interaction rules - basically "how do I get an appointment with a noble" and "how much help can I get?" got done, and then much to my surprise, I cleaned up the content and the layout of monsters as well.

When I spooled out the prelim file . . . it was 128 pages. It's on target (my worry was being over).

There aren't nearly as many critters this time around, I'll admit. The new ones are four variants of eðlafólk and a new high end bad guy. We've got some repeats of faeries to keep the low-end opposition represented.

One of the things I'll have to look for in late 2019 or early 2020 is a Nordlond Bestiary. Monsters from front to back. That will be a layout challenge, and a big one . . . but I think it'll be worth it. Maybe not a singular bestiary, either. Maybe a stream of them, so that prelim results can get out there sooner. I'll have to think on that.

Even so: it means that I have rumors and plot seeds to populate, cleaning up said monsters (ensure stats are right, consistent with the latest Fantastic Dungeon Grappling, etc), and then it's time for the finalization.

That's the Table of Contents (updating; a prelim version is already done), the Index (which I must keep to a single page), and hyperlinks for the PDF.

Then it's just waiting for all the final art to come in. 

So I've got a week until Backerkit closes, we lock orders, and I start distributing PDFs shortly thereafter. Woo hoo!

All physical orders now have surveys!
about 5 years ago – Thu, Apr 11, 2019 at 10:05:00 PM

So, all of the physical orders now have a completed survey attached to them. Thank you!

That doesn't mean you can't still add physical add-ons or anything - but it does start to look good for ordering books as soon as the files are ready.

Thanks for your diligence!

We just got a surprise April snowstorm, so I'm at home with the entire family today. Hopefully that'll be cause to get a lot of work done to finish up Citadel! And fire up the snowblower. In April. Sigh.

Backerkit: 88% . . . but actually a lot closer than that!
about 5 years ago – Wed, Apr 10, 2019 at 09:53:10 PM

According to the official stats, so to speak, we're 88% complete on the Backerkit surveys.

And yet, and yet. That's misleading. There are precisely FOUR folks who have selected physical product (and therefore need to give an address and pay for shipping) who've not yet completed their surveys.

I'm open to the idea of locking the surveys early and beginning the process of distributing digital files to those that have completed the surveys. Those that have not I can push off until the final closure date.

This will allow a pre-release of some critical material: Citadel itself, an updated PDF of Hall of Judgment, and Fantastic Dungeon Grappling. That means 600 folks will be looking at the words and telling me where there are errors. Even if (say) the art isn't done and the maps are incomplete and monsters still needs editing . . . there's a LOT of text that needs looking at. And if you've worked with long manuscripts before, you'll know the eyes glaze over and fresh ones are needed.

In any case, I said "Backerkit closes on the 19th" and I meant it. But I might try and push things ahead a bit early if I can, and if you are on board with the idea, just to get things out a bit sooner.

Bundle Up Again!
about 5 years ago – Tue, Apr 09, 2019 at 04:30:57 PM

Just to let you guys know: I had a request for a bundle for That Other Game. So it's been added on to the add-ons in a most recursive fashion. I also tossed in another one.

That Other Game PDF Bundle ($35)

This grouping includes all of my current products for various d20 systems: The Dragon Heresy Introductory Set, Lost Hall of Tyr (2nd Edition), and Dungeon Grappling.

Dragon Heresy contains information about Etera and Torengar and Storean and Tanalor . . . the non-generic versions of "Nordlond," the elf-kingdom, and the Dragongrounds that the Nordlond sagas are written in. You'll find the proper Norse gods and goddess names here as well. It's a self-contained game: 288 pages, full color, hyperlinked. It will let you play level 1-5 characters, has over 100 monsters, etc.

Lost Hall of Tyr (2nd Edition) is Hall of Judgment re-skinned for Dragon Heresy. While it might make a great gift for a 5e player you want to bring over closer to the Dungeon Fantasy RPG or for quick play without conversion, if you already have Hall of Judgment you are effectively buying the same content twice. I don't want to anti-sell it, but I really don't want folks expecting something else than what it is: only the stats and DCs are different.

Dungeon Grappling is not for Dragon Heresy. It was my first Kickstarter, and the genesis of most of the simple presentation currently found in Fantastic Dungeon Grappling. As someone said to me at FNORDCon this weekend: "It's one of the books I will never play D&D again without." It has the same basic concept presented for 5e, the Pathfinder RPG, and S&W with slight tweaks for each system. 

The bundle of PDFs normally costs $41.50. 

Dragon Heresy Print+PDF Starter Set ($85)

The other bundle I added was a Print+PDF bundle for both Dragon Heresy and Lost Hall of Tyr, so one could start out playing Dragon Heresy and have the adventure ready to go. The packages together are normally $60 for DH and $35 for LHoT2e, so the bundle is a $10 discount.

Other Bundles

Just a general reminder: if you bought the Print and PDF copies of nearly everything as individual add-ons, there is almost certainly a bundle that will save you a few bucks. This was particularly noticeable on the Fantastic Dungeon Grappling product because there was a delay in my posting the bundle, but it applies to just about everything. Before the Backerkit phase closes on April 19, ensure you're not wasting any money!

Kickstarter funds: on the way
about 5 years ago – Mon, Apr 08, 2019 at 03:26:57 PM

Funds on the Way and Backerkit

I received the expected notice that the Kickstarter funds were on their way. Some highlights:

• Of the $26,030 pledged, only one pledge for $35 was dropped
• The final take from KS was a 5% normal fee and credit card charges averaging 3.5%

I should be getting the deposit later this week. I borrowed from myself a bit to keep the funds flowing to the artists, but this will put me in a great place to take care of all remaining expenses - including about $9,000 in printing costs - to get all of the books needed.

We are currently 499/600 folks completed the survey in Backerkit. If you're one of the 101 people that haven't finished it up, I'd appreciate it if you'd do that by this weekend. The sooner we're done, the sooner I can lock it and finalize 

File Status

In terms of files I have to prepare:

• I need to prepare the bookmark files. One page for 'sheets of five' and another single bookmark for individuals. That's mostly done: I have the single bookmark file pretty much ready to go, and am test-proofing the five-page sheets now.
• I need to edit Hall of Judgment and get a printable file ready. This is mostly ready. I need to go over the book for errata (if you want to help with this, get out your copies of Hall of Judgment and let me know if you see typos or stat errors - I know there's at least one issue with a grappling ST) and then ensure all of the new battle maps are in place. I believe they are, but check-check-check makes for fewer regrets
• I need to finish up Citadel, of course. That's a bit on social interaction, the relationship map, monsters, rumors and odd jobs, and then going through and finalizing the Table of Contents, Index, and all of the hyperlinks. I recently learned how to properly do "text anchors" rather than page references in InDesign, so the links should be even more useful this go around.
• Fantastic Dungeon Grappling . . . is done. I  have a final PDF and printable cover and interior files already delivered to SJG and ready to go.

I've gotten a flurry of art updates from the team. One artist is completely done. Two more (three, perhaps) are showing me "I'm ready to finalize the colors on this," one should be sending me a batch of advanced work tomorrow, and Glynn is making steady progress on the maps. These are the most detailed maps I've done, and he's being properly cautious about getting them right, so there's much back-and-forth.

I still have four pieces of art that are "unassigned" and waiting for an artist to finish the primary commission and volunteer to pick them up. One artist already declined - he does environments, not characters - so that's a to-do that needs to get to-done, but there's still time.

The biggest two slog-work headaches will be the Index, ToC, and Links (that all happens in one pass), and then editing/laying out the relative paucity of monsters in the book. Sorry about that; it just got full.

I feel like I'm still on schedule to have it all done in 14 days. That's my goal: to have a mostly-finished PDF for you guys to read and provide comment and fresh sets of eyes on Monday, April 22. All "not Citadel" PDFs will distribute then as well. It's possible there will be a piece of art or four missing or not-final in that first Nordvorn PDF, but at that point, we're checking words not images. My goal is to have the file submitted to the printer by the last day of the month, and when the final print file gets submitted, the final PDF will go out as well. I suspect it'll take about a month to actually print, maybe a week or so to get over to the UK, and then maybe a few days to get into the mail for the international packages. Then it'll go by sea freight to my distributor in TN (about a month), and then USPS media mail from there (two weeks).

That means International packages should go into Royal Mail about May 31; US packages by June 30. That should put most books in hand by mid to end of July...so on schedule. Any issues with printing will push that out. So might issues with VAT number acceptance (the UK/EU recently cracked down on moving things about without a VAT number, even though my VAT rate on books is zero). 

FNORDCon!

I attended SJGames' first FNORDCon in Austin these last two days. I ran two games: the first was Hall of Judgment, the second a first-time-ever run-through of Citadel at Nordvorn.

I have a policy at conventions: If you come to play my game, you play my game. So I had 13 people at each session. 

We ran it theater of the mind for the most part, with a lot of roll-and-shout. I'm told it went well. We got in a few fights each, and I was - even though I wrote it - amazed at the variety of options present in Nordvorn. I mean, seriously: You can have MONTHS of fun with this setting and still not be done.

Kyle Norton also ran two playtest sessions of the forthcoming The Dragons of Rosgarth, and we learned a bloody ton about for what we need to be prepared, what players might do, and for what the GM needs assistance in being ready.

I'll try and do a better job of summarizing the play sessions later. I met over a dozen great folks, gave away a few copies of HoJ, and had a great time. I look forward to going next year!