September Fulfillment Update
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Sep 26, 2024 at 03:13:46 PM
Hi friends!
We've got news about fulfillment, and all of it is exciting. We'll get into the updates about the print copies as well as our VTT module! At the end, we've also got a nugget of news about the sequel. (Spoiler: it's happening. ) Let's dive in.
Physical Book Fulfillment
Everything continues to move towards our fulfillment centers, so I'll break down where we are based on region.
Australia / New Zealand Backers
Fulfilling these orders has been a bit of an adventure for me. As opposed to our printer arranging freight to the fulfillment partner, I've had to do this on my own. We took this approach because it would mean substantial shipping savings compared to our prior projects, which was one of my major concerns this time around. I learned many lessons (most the hard way) about arranging for freight from Lithuania to Australia, but happily things are not only moving, they're coming along faster than expected.
Because of the relatively small number of backers, we were able to air freight the books, which should arrive sometime next week. The dice have already arrived, which means we're just waiting on the player journals and tracking cards which are currently being printed. If everything goes smoothly, we may have all of the physical rewards in place by the end of next week. I have not worked with this fulfillment partner before, but I don't expect much of a delay between receiving the material and shipping it out.
North America
North American backers are being handled by our partners in Maryland, but the shipment from Lithuania is still on the ocean. Unfortunately, I don't have more information than that although I hope to have a timeline for its arrival soon. The good news is that the dice have arrived, and the softcover journal and tracking cards will be there at the start of this coming week. Once the shipment arrives and is sorted, we'll start fulfilling!
Rest of the World
Everyone else is being serviced by our partners in the UK. Early this week, they confirmed receipt of the shipment from our printers, meaning the Hardcover books and map books are in place. Like Australia, we're just waiting on the tracking cards and journals, which I expect to be ready to fulfill within the next two weeks. I'll have another update once these start to ship.
VTT Updates
work continues on the Foundry VTT module, which I had honestly hoped to have finished by now. We're working with a third party on this who is excellent at these conversions, but we've learned that there is a lot that goes into these choose-your-own-path stories that are not an issue with traditional books. I hope to have this finalized soon, and expect we'll probably have this ready to go by the time the books start shipping in North America.
Here are a few screenshots to show what we're working on:
What About a Sequel?
We're still in the early stages, but I did want to confirm that Randall Right is on board for the sequel and has already started working on the manuscript. It will be playable as a follow-up to the Festival of Tombs while also working as a free-standing adventure.
We have a lot of interesting stuff planned for this one, including a boxed set that includes everything you need to dive in. We're talking dice, map books, item and monster cards, and monster standees for combat. I plan on sharing more information - including the cover art - in a few months.
August Fulfillment Update
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Aug 14, 2024 at 09:31:07 PM
The books are on the move! Our printing partner in Lithuania has completed the printing for both the hardcover book and the ringbound map book. We are using three different fulfillment hubs, so here is an update for each:
- UK Hub: UK should get the books first. With the rest of the rewards either waiting there already or wrapping up shortly, I expect UK fulfillment to start first. This hub serves all backers outside of North America, Australia, and New Zealand.
- US Hub: The books are boarding a ship in the next day or two and heading to the U.S., but this process will take several weeks. US fulfillment will start at least a few weeks after the UK.
- Australia Hub: We're having to arrange for freight through a third party as our printer does not ship there, and that process has just begun. I expect to have more information for Australian backers within a week or two, given that it is a smaller shipment I expect fulfillment to start not much later than in the U.S.
Other Updates
Here is a rundown for our other rewards as we wrap things up.
- Dice. The dice sets have been manufactured and have already arrived at all three fulfillment hubs. They are ready to ship once the books arrive.
- Journals. Softcover journals are currently being printed in the US and the UK, they should ship to our fulfillment partners within a few days.
- Tracking Cards. The tracking cards are being printed by a separate partner, these should also ship to the hubs in a few days.
Treasures From The Astral Forge
If you haven't had a chance to look it over yet, our next project is coming to Kickstarter in two weeks! Designing magic items has always been my favorite part of 5E design, and Treasures From The Astral Forge has given me the chance to do a lot of that!
This isn't your ordinary collection of magical items for 5E D&D. We're going beyond your standard mundane lists of loot to provide well-balanced, whimsical offerings that include game mechanics, lore, adventure hooks, secrets, and more. The project includes 160 new, fully illustrated items.
The book also provides the Astral Forge as a drop-in location for your campaigns. Found in the depths of the Astral Sea, it is operated by a curious archfey forgemaster who is renowned for his craftmanship. The book includes a map of the forge, guidance on traveling through the Astral Sea, and a number of adventure hooks that will lead your party to this forgemaster and his unusually underlings.
Printing Has Begun
almost 2 years ago
– Fri, Jul 12, 2024 at 03:02:47 PM
After what has become the standard amount of back and forth with the printer, we've been given the green light to print the physical books. I should have an estimate on the due date on Monday, but I thought having some information today would be welcome. What's more, manufacturing of the dice is also slated to start within the next day or two, meaning we're very close to having all physical rewards in your hands. So what's that process going to look like?
- North American Backers. You will have your packages delivered by Flying Cloud Logistics, our usual partner. Freighting the books from Europe adds a few weeks, but I'll have a better estimate for an arrival date when I know the books are printed and ready to go.
- AU / NZ Backers. We had to make a last minute change with our fulfillment partner on this project, but I'm hopeful it will barely impact your delivery, if at all. The only hickup is that our new partner cannot arrange freight from Lithuania where the books are printed, and our printer won't do freight to Australia. I'm contracting a third party freight company to pick up and deliver the books, but as its my first time working with them I can't say with confidence if using a third party will slow things down or not.
- Everyone Else. All other backers will have their orders fulfilled by GamesQuest in the UK. Freighting the books from Lithuania to the UK only takes a few days, so you will likely be the first to have your packages arrive.
With physical rewards wrapping up, that leaves the Foundry VTT module which is already well underway. I don't have an estimate on its completion date but will address that hopefully in the next update. Given the progress, it may be available not long after the physical books arrive.
Thanks for your support on this project, and for your patience after we took additional time for playtesting and quality control. I'm confident the book is much better for it!
June Update + Poll
almost 2 years ago
– Wed, Jun 12, 2024 at 11:16:10 AM
Hi friends,
We're moving along with wrapping things up on our end. All of our fulfillment partners are lined up after fulfilling physical distribution of Grizelda's Cursed Curiosities, and the printer is currently reviewing our files for printing. We're waiting on the go ahead from the publishers to get started with the dice, as they generally take the same amount of time to make as the books. Once we know the books are being printed, things will start moving quickly.
Our partners have also started work on the Foundry VTT module. I don't have a timetable for that yet, but I should have an estimate on when that will be finished by the next update. I'll drop another line once we know the books are printing. Thanks for your patience!
We're also curious about the paths you've taken, so we're going to drop some polls now and then. First, which of the plot hooks did you choose for your reason to aventure to Chesteral?
The PDF is here + other digital files!
almost 2 years ago
– Wed, May 08, 2024 at 09:33:35 AM
The wait has been long, but v1.0 of the PDF version of the Festival of Tombs is here! As we speak, emails are being sent out from BackerKit notifying backers of new downloads. If you still have the link to your survey, you can find your PDF there as well.
In addition to the PDF itself, we've also distributed the last of the digital rewards including the VTT tokens and printable standees. If you picked up those add-ons, you will find them in your downloads along with the PDF.
the final digital reward is the Foundry conversion, which we'll be getting started on within a week or two.
So What's Next?
Digital fulfilment of this campaign is finished, and now we move on to the physical rewards. The files are all but ready, but I'll give you all a few days to dig into the book in case any last minute errors are caught. Submitting the files to the publisher takes some back and forth as their requirements are precise, but once they are accepted printing usually takes around two weeks, if not less.
The next step is to get those files approved, and we'll also be ordering the dice sets shortly. Once the files are approved I'll have another update with a final fulfillment schedule. Thanks again for your patience!
