Progress Report: Chugging along
almost 6 years ago – Sat, Jul 28, 2018 at 09:19:00 PM

Proofing: Many Thanks

First things' first: Thank you so much for your attention to detail for those sending me errata and fixes. Some of these (like the Faerie Noble) were well known to me and just got put on the back burner (she's more a plot device than a foe. "Glorious, not lengthy" applies to fights with her). Others like "there are no periods at the end of the first four paragraphs of this monster" are things that, frankly, I have a hard time seeing due to staring at the screen on this for a month.

So please keep 'em coming, right up until you see an announcement on these pages that I've submitted the final files to the printer, which will likely be Aug 2 or Aug 3.

Art, Art Baby

I simply cannot resist adding art to my books. It's the bane of my financial existence. 

So here's what I sent to one of my favorite artists, who was fortunately available for a fast-turn commission:

• p. 29 could use an image of folks camping out in terrible weather  
• p. 37 has two of your dragon heresy spot art in it, but would be better as a holy warrior and a priestess of tyr in a barrow. They're good-guys, and married. So they should look patient, non-aggressive, and glowy  
• p. 61 could use something  
• p. 67 Aurochs  
• p. 68 Bandit (more than one, make 'em look pretty desperate)  
• p. 71 Wild boar  
• p. 72 Fallow Deer (they look pretty distinctive; look 'em up if you can)  
• p. 73 Drunk warrior could be a drunk viking-looking guy leaning utterly hung over against a tree.  
• p. 77 The hrogn is a small, nasty, invisible demon that flies. They're very tiny, so a swarm of them would be good. They can all look somewhat different  
• p. 81 The krabbari is the same creature that appears on p. 53 that you drew for me before. A different image would be sweet  
• p. 82 Mountain cat should maybe be a white/grey looking mountain lion or group of lions. I can move "mosnter notes" under "Traits" for better drawing room  
• p. 83 If you wanted to have fun, make the mountain cat(s) on p. 82 stalking and about to pounce on the Mountain Goats on p. 83  
• p. 84 Mountain Sheep can use big-horned ram  
• p. 87 Norðalfs are goblins. Small and malicious  
• p. 88-89 Storalfs and Elder Storalfs are just like goblins, but man-sized for storalfs, and magical/shamanistic for elder storalfs.  
• p. 90 A hob is a nasty, man-sized goblinoid that is a bugbear or warrior type. Think uruk hai  
• p. 91 Skeleton or even better, many skeletons  
• p. 92 Skeleton warhorse charging the party!  
• p. 93 Ranger or hunter type. If you can, flies should be swarming around him, 'cause he stinky  
• p. 95 Dire wolves. I'm going to probably remove the Dire Wolf stuff and make them simply Giant Wolves. They should be as big as horses, and I could shift the Monster Notes and ditch the wolfy image, or move it to 
• p. 98 p. 99 Zombie/Vaettrhrogn - this is the unwilling risen slave warrior killed by a vaettr. If you can put a vaettr and several corpse-warriors on one image, perfect  
• p. 103 This is a big space and could use some custom illustration of several of the characters in the sample characters mix. Perhaps we could do one with a few of them around a campfire?  
• p. 109 Ragnar Ragnarsonsson is an unusual dwarf of the "not dragon heresy" more standard type. Lots of room on p. 109
  

Over 20 images to be inserted into the book. Well, the KS did well, so there we go.

Where Did the Money Go?

Not quite ready for this, but as repeat backers of mine know, I usually publish a complete accounting of the funding for a project. It helps ensure that both you (as the backers) and I (as a responsible business owner) know where things went.

I CAN say that I expect the revenue from this project to be on the order of $17,000 when all is said and done, between the KS and Backerkit. Costs look to be around $8,500 on a "just this project" basis to make the book, print, and ship. Lost Hall of Tyr was a net loser by about $1,000-2,000, so on a combined basis, the two will have brought in a profit (not accounting for other business expenses such as Adobe Suite fees, web hosting, etc) of about $7,000 over the last year (Lost Hall started at GenCon last year; hard to believe it).

More details to come!

Lockdown Begins!
almost 6 years ago – Fri, Jul 27, 2018 at 12:50:00 AM

Pre-Final File!

Today I finished what I like to call the "pre-final" PDF.

What does that mean?

• It's got a front and back cover
• My proofreaders and testers comments, as well as my own "print it out and go over it with pen in hardcopy" edits, are in
• It passes muster at 300dpi for printing
• It's the right page count
• It should be fully playable (a word on maps in a moment)

What's not done?

• I will be updating the backer list in the PDF until y'all stop telling me to change your names. I will be downloading and comparing your KS names and Backerkit survey responses to help me with this
• I will be compiling an index. If this fits on one page, we're REALLY done and I don't have to delete any monsters or change layout. If it needs two, I will consolidate ulfjarl and wolf to one page and give it two
• If y'all catch anything truly wrong (and not just "I'd have done it differently") I will be able to make changes for the next week
• Hyperlinks for internal references
• Final ToC update

Lockdown and Cards Charged

I've done the first round of "lockdown" and charged cards for those backers that finished their survey. That means that if you ordered PDFs of my other game products, they're awaiting your download!

I am going to send out the preview file for HoJ tomorrow, for folks to read over the weekend and tell me where I done them wrong (say that like Scarlett Johansson from Ultron). Then I'll fix that, get final blessings from SJG, and if that's all good, the final file will be pushed to you guys on August 1.

Then also on August 1, I will send the file to the printer, beginning the cycle for physical product delivery. As I've noted before, I expect that to take 5-7 weeks.

Maps

The maps in the PDF and book are, frankly, too small to use. 

No worries. I will be preparing PDFs and other digital files that will have GM-only and player-eyes-OK versions for import into VTTs (the digital maps come in 32x40" files with grid files with 1-yd hexes OR 5-ft squares, your choice). Those will go out over the next few days as well. I understand how important maps are to play, and will do my best to make that as convenient as possible given my source material.

This is not the end . . . actually it IS the beginning of the end.

With mad props to Winston, this begins the process of giving you what I promised. It's on time rather than ahead of schedule, and the upgrade in print quality does mean physical product will hit in September rather than August.

But the first third-party release for the DFRPG is about to be in your hands. I'm thrilled, and I hope you are too.

Now: play it. Write about it. And tell me what you want to do next. 

I'm all ears.

Douglas Cole
Gaming Ballistic, LLC
July 26, 2018

Updated Backer List and Cover r2
almost 6 years ago – Wed, Jul 25, 2018 at 11:18:19 PM

I just pushed out, via Backerkit, a bit of a preview file. Well, not much of one, but it's the cover, the title page, backer list, ToC, and glossary.

I have been updating the names as requested, but if yours is still wrong, please email me at [email protected]

Email is by far the best way to ensure I can make the changes you want, since I can note it, mark it unread until I actually do it, then send you a note saying 'done.'

If things continue to go fairly well, I may lock down those backers that have filled out their survey a bit early, and distribute a preview PDF for folks to find all the little errors I missed. Oh, one tries to make it perfect, but the eyes, they glaze over the screen after a while.

Consider that incentive to get the survey filled out, if you like.

Can't wait to get this into your hands.

Douglas Cole
Gaming Ballistic, LLC

Backerkit Updates and Shields
almost 6 years ago – Tue, Jul 24, 2018 at 03:11:30 PM

As of today, we're more than halfway done with the Backerkit surveys, so thank you for being prompt!

Pledge and Add-On Update

I'd forgotten to add a few items to the pledge levels that were promised, and also forgot an add-on.

• I added PDFs of all my books to both the $100 Styðja and $150 Thegn of your Own levels. If you are in those pledge tiers AND have added these as add-ons, go adjust your survey because you're paying twice.
• I added the promised GB Ultimate which gets you a physical and PDF copy of Dragon Heresy ($60), Dungeon Grappling ($20), Lost Hall of Tyr ($25), and an extra Print/PDF copy of Hall of Judgment ($30) at $100. 

I apologize for any confusion that this may have caused. This does mean that the $100 level got better, especially for PDF lovers.

I also opened up the pledge levels for shifting if you want to, though not for the Thegn of Your Own tier . . . that's locked because the manuscript is being finalized.

War Shields

There was a question on the war shields. They're odd for this Kickstarter, and expensive, so they bear unpacking.

These are viking-style shields - Norðlond Battle Shields to be precise! They are each custom made by me, as a result of my learning about how they were made during my viking martial arts practice.

They are made of poplar, with boards butted together and affixed with one of the two historical glues used: hide glue (the other was casein glue, made of milk). This is mildly reworkable, with care and patience. 

In any case, once the blank is made, I cut the shield to size: half the user's height with a limit of 35.5", which is set by the shipping size and expense (it's $70 shipping within the continental USA; they're very expensive no matter what). The boards are tapered and planed as well: 8-9mm thick at the boss, and the final 7" taper down to a thin 2.5-5mm.

The shields are edged in 1oz goat hide, and then stitched with 1mm linen thread. I then paint them more or less to spec; I'm not a great artist, but I have a few patterns I can work with, and I'll work with you to turn your desired into reality within limits.

The handle is hand-carved oak, with a wasp-taper at the grip and a D-shaped cross section (flat will rest in the palm of your hand). The handle and boss are affixed with a combination of copper nails and roves. The boss is steel, can can be left nekkid or painted.

Here are some examples.

 These are not living-history capable, so to speak. I use power tools and flat-sawn planks (I actually have better wood coming; I got actual trees and am having them cut quarter-sawn for future work). But the dimensions and basic construction are solid, and while they're not suitable for re-enactment (where they tend to get hit hard by blunt steel and wood with direct blows to the shield), they are suitable for martial arts use and training in the way taught by Arthur von Eschen (of Asfolk) and Roland Warzecha (of Dimicator). 

In any case, they're fun to make, fun to use, and might just change your mind about GURPS and DnD stats for such things. I know my mind was changed.

Begin Backerkit Phase
almost 6 years ago – Mon, Jul 23, 2018 at 09:21:40 PM

If you heard that in your mind with the voice of the automated system from Austin Powers, you heard it right.

Some of you, about 27 backers, have just received a note with a "smoke test" to ensure that the surveys work right. If those go well, I should push out the rest in 4-6 hours from now.

I'd ask that you get to these as promptly as possible. The sooner I have info for those getting a physical copy, the sooner I can work with my fulfillment partner and Backerkit to get the books to you as quickly as possible.

Also: if you intend to order a copy of Dragon Heresy, the books are still being printed and will arrive in September or early October, so you'll be on the first wave of shipments, but they're coming from different places and different projects. No worries, but that's why there's no bundling to be had.

Finally: if you're in the USA and want me to build you a Norðlond War Shield, I will. If you're NOT in the USA, shipping is VERY expensive so it's been listed as a ridiculous amount. If you're willing to pay very expensive shipping, or if you can scrape together enough like-minded friends to plunk a dozen shields in a FedEx flat-rate box or something, email me and we'll work it out separately. Don't do it through Backerkit unless  you're in the USA.

Oh: and The Fantasy Trip Kickstarter is going absolutely bonkers. Check it out. Over 265% funding in HOURS.