04.08.22 It has arrived - the books
over 1 year ago – Sat, Aug 06, 2022 at 01:33:23 AM

Hello everyone,

It is with great pleasure and pride I share with you these pictures of the two books. They were sent directly to us ahead of the bulk shipment of books. 

I think the pictures speak for themselves.

The binding is robust, the ribbon is strong. The print is clear and the colours vivid. There is nothing more we could want from a book. 

OTHER NEWS

Shipping to the USA has been delayed by two weeks. 

"There are insufficient ships for the amount of cargo. We'll let you know as soon as..." As soon as we know when the books will ship, we will update you. How can shipping be this vague? As a company we get fined or penalized if our books arrive at a warehouse early or late. So our priority is knowing exactly when those books will be where. So trust me when I say: we have a vested interested in knowing this stuff. As in the case of getting the books from Europe to the UK - as an example - there was a 6 hour delay at Dover for all vehicles. That translates into things arriving a day later, or two days later and so on. These have knock-on effects. This are not excuses, these are realities. 

WHEN WILL EU AND UK SHIP?

That remains a good question. The books haven't arrived in the UK yet, but are expected this week or next. The distribution centers then need to process those books. How long those process take vary from one distribution hub to the next but 'within weeks' was what I was last told. 

We will send out a big message when those books start shipping. 

AUDIO BOOKS

I continue to record the books. As we are producing them to the highest standard we can achieve we are trying to get them as close to 100% and audiobook experience as possible. This takes time. So far, chapter 1 - 5 of Epic campaigns, or roughly the first 60 pages runs to around 3 hours of finished audio! There are 300+ pages in Epic campaigns!

I also discovered I can only continuously read aloud for about 3 or 4 hours a day. This doesn't mean 4 hours of finished audio, it probably works out to be about 2 and a half to 3 hours. Then editing needs to happen which takes as long as the audio doubled. 

The long and short of it - you'll getting the best product as fast as we can make it, it just takes time. 

OTHER REWARDS

We'll be releasing the other rewards as soon as we can, we're in final checks for the cards, which all look amazing. 

Until the next update,

Happy gaming,

Guy and the team

23.07.22 Clarifications on delivery times / PDFs and details
over 1 year ago – Fri, Jul 22, 2022 at 03:17:58 AM

Hey folks,

Just some clarification on a few things. If you have questions look in this email first!

SHIPPING OF BOOKS

I may have been a little unclear in my last update. The books are being sent to the USA, to the UK and to Germany for distribution. Based on past experiences the shipping company that we use for the UK and Germany are dealing with high volumes of books and take, on average, 2 - 3 weeks before they begin shipping to individuals. The USA team get the books out, usually, within a few days of getting the stock. This means that all books will ship out at roughly the same time - whether we want them to or not. 

We are still shipping out the books weeks ahead of schedule so kindly hold back comments about dissatisfaction; we are being open and transparent about this entire process. 

OTHER COUNTRIES

I didn't mention other countries because otherwise the update would be too long. Australia, Africa, and South America are handled on a case by case basis and shipped from whichever hub has the best rates at that particular time. 

We have run many kickstarters and have not failed to deliver a book - no matter where in the world. It takes time but they get there. 

CREDIT CARD RUN

Some folks are asking for the exact time that the cards will be processed. This is an automatic process that Backerkit initiates globally. The date it is set to run is the 27th of July. We'll initiate the process in the morning (in the UK). How and when Backerkit then charges cards is their own process. 

CHANGING ADDRESS

If you need to change your address you must do this on Backerkit. DO NOT SEND US NEW ADDRESSES VIA MESSAGE OR EMAIL. You must update your address on Backerkit. If you think you'll be moving house in the next three months please consider an alternative address that isn't likely to change during this time. 

PDFs

No one has received the final PDFs for either books. This process will only begin after the 27th of July. We are a small team and will begin to process those orders in early August. We have to wait for Backerkit to close up and it may take a few days. Then, once we're locked down we'll send out the PDFs. 

I hope this clarifies things a little. 

Regards

Guy

20.07.22 PRINTED! Holy smoke batman...
over 1 year ago – Wed, Jul 20, 2022 at 06:12:21 AM

Hello everyone,

Well, we expected printing to only wrap up around middle August due to paper shortages and all kinds of other things. Today we had a meeting with the printers and they're all done. Printed and complete; ready to ship, ahead of schedule by nearly a month!

That's not entirely true... the shipping part. They have nearly 8 tons of books sitting in the printers. Those books now need to get split into three: One for the USA, one for the UK and one for Germany. 

Why?

Well Nord Games (our besties who've done shipment and delivery on most of our KS projects) are based in the USA. So we send them a couple thousand books. From their depot they then distribute the books across the USA and Canada. 

ShipQuest (our British besties who've done shipment and delivery on most of our KS projects) is based in the UK and Germany, so they get the rest of the books for distribution across the UK and Europe. 

Does this mean we're going to ship the books tomorrow? 

Nope. Not by a long shot. The German ShipQuest depot will get their share of the books first, in the next week or two. The UK depot for ShipQuest will get their books in about three weeks. 

Nord in the USA will get their books in about four to six to eight to... well, as soon as a ship is available to get the books to the USA. Our last shipment to the USA took eight weeks (less than a week to cross the Atlantic but three weeks in New York just waiting to be cleared), so we're expecting the same. 

So when will you get your books?

Basically, we want to try to coordinate it so that everyone gets their books at roughly the same time. We're expecting the books to be delivered to you starting from the first week of September, or possibly a little later if the USA ship takes longer. 

DIGITAL MATERIALS

We're finalizing the last of the NPC cards, the Location Cards and the GM Screen. These will go out over the next month once Backerkit closes down. 

All that remains is the Audio books. I am in the process of recording the books.

CREDIT CARD RUN!

Remember, we're closing Backerkit on the 27th of July! This means we'll bill your credit card. Please make sure your credit card is ready!

I'll keep you posted on the progress of the books across the globe and I'm hoping my next update will be information about the books shipping out!

Happy gaming,

Guy, Derrick and the team

05.07.22 Ribbons are chosen
almost 2 years ago – Thu, Jul 07, 2022 at 06:49:27 AM

Hey all,

Ribbons are set!

The printers have now locked in the ribbons - Yellow for Practical Guide and Blue for Epic Campaigns. We always wanted ribbons in the book - I find it makes finding your place faster and personally I think it just looks nicer. 

Now we wait to see how long it will take for the printers to get printing. We should know within a week as they have to do a final check on all the plates before they will put ink onto paper. 

What is next?

A reminder that we will run the Credit Cards on the 27th of July. Please make sure you have sufficient funds. 

The NPC cards are ready for layout which will take some time. 

The Audio book for Practical Guide is nearly complete.

The GM Screen is done.

The Event cards are ready and just need layout. 

Once the Credit Cards have run we will begin distribution of the digital rewards. 

I'll keep you posted as we get any news from the printers,

Until then,

Happy Gaming!

Regards

Guy and the team

16.06.22 Credit Cards being charged and updates
almost 2 years ago – Sat, Jun 18, 2022 at 02:24:55 PM

Hello everyone!

Off to Print

The two books are off to print tomorrow. The ISBN numbers have been assigned and all looks good. The covers have evolved a little from what you last saw but I think you'll be very pleased with them. I'll share them with you on the next update!

Digital Content

The 100 NPC cards are ready for layout. The 68 Event cards are also ready for layout! 68 Events, 136 Adventure hooks and 68 scenarios... I think that's pretty awesome. Your worldspace will certainly feel alive and well when you use these! 

The Audio Books begin recording next week with the hopes of being done by mid-July or late July. Although I am the one doing the reading, it isn't as quick as it sounds. These two audio books will be done to the Audible standards! 

Credit card charging

This is very VERY important! We will charge all credit cards on the 27 July 2022. 

Please make sure you have sufficient credit on your card so this can proceed smoothly. We've giving you a month's notice! Once the credit cards are charged and all are processed then we will release all the digital content to those who've paid for it. 

You can still update your shipping addresses AFTER the cards have been charged. We will only lock down the shipping address once the books are heading to the distribution centers which will in September/October. 

If you have not completed your survey on Backerkit you will not receive anything. 

We must have your details regardless of what was entered into Kickstarter unless you ONLY PURCHASED A DIGITAL PDF then you do not need to worry. But if you want your books complete the survey on backerkit BEFORE the 27th of July. Backerkit won't charge you for phyiscal books if you don't have an address to ship to. 

If you have any questions leave them in the comments below and we'll answer as soon as we can. Things are moving forward folks! Super excited to be this close to the end. 

Happy gaming,

Guy and the team