August Update - Locking Shipping Addresses Soon - Regional Timelines
over 2 years ago
– Wed, Aug 31, 2022 at 12:59:32 AM
Hey Folks-
Before anything else, I want to give heads up that the Shipping Address will be locked in the next week or so. There will be a final reminder email going out before they lock, but if it's been on your "I've been meaning to do that, but haven't got around to it" list... now'd be the time to get around to it.
It should be noted that until things actually ship, you can still update it by reaching out to Backerkit support, but as that's more complicated, I'd recommend updating it before they lock if possible (as noted, there will be a final reminder).
EDIT: If you need to update your address, you'll need to do so in Backerkit. You can do that by logging, or following the original email sent out for this KS to fill in your details and updating it that way. You can reach out to Backerkit support if you have any issues, or send me a message if you have issues accessing your related email or the like.
Regional Delivery Window Estimates
Does this means books will be arriving soon? It means that some of them will be. I'll give you my best guess, but I must emphasize this is a best guess, not a set in stone promise. Unfortunately there are still a lot of variables. While the boat schedules seem relative accurate, how long it is before they decide to unload them and import steps can vary dramatically.
- Australia and New Zealand should ship first. Probably early-mid next month. I believe the boat has already arrived, but I haven't gotten confirmation that the books are through import or anything.
- UK and EU should ship next. Probably next month.
- US and CA will probably not ship until October. Unfortunately that boat is taking a long time.
Rest of World (anything outside of those regions) I believe will be shipping out when the UK orders do, as I believe they will be shipping primarily from the UK, possibly with some exceptions (that's being handled by the 3rd party helping with international shipping).
Books are (to my knowledge) not yet at any warehouses though, so all timelines are just my estimation of when the boats are schedule to arrive + getting through ports and imports and all that fun stuff (which I'm told can take days to weeks).
I wish I had better specifics to offer, but you largely know what I know here. I wish there was anything I could do to get books to folks faster, but the parts of this process I could optimize with hindsight are long since passed, and I'm just waiting for updates same as you folks.
Signed Copies
This won't effect most people, but I do want to address signed copies, as I don't think I will be able to do what I hoped here. What is probably going to happen is that signature will come on an sticker/book plate that you can add to the book. I previously mentioned this might the case for regions outside the US, but this will probably be the case for all signed copies.
This isn't what I wanted to do here, but is probably the best and most realistic option. When I offered this reward, I'd thought I'd be doing a small run of books I'd be shipping myself from the US (which would make this logistically rather easy). As the KS evolved, one of the reasons I picked Nord Games as a shipping partner was that their warehouse is close by and they said I could go down there to sign books. However, when regional shipping was introduced and as the shipping situation continued to get worse, this become less practical, as books will be mostly shipping out of an east coast location now, and obviously international copies have their own complications. I had thought that I would ship them to me first, sign them, and ship them onto the warehouses. That would obviously be costly, but the problem didn't end up being cost, but time. As we see from the schedule about, US copies are going to be by far the last to arrive, so it's simply impractical in multiple ways.
I hope this seems like a reasonable compromise, after talking to the shipping folks and looking at options over the last few months, this seems like the most reasonable option.
Wrap Up
Other than that, not too much to add. Work on a few outstanding things continues, mostly VTT versions. While they are mostly in place, they will continue to to get some updates and polish, and other digital rewards that are back on my plate are being chewed through, albeit some slower than I would like.
I've noted before that I'd originally hoped to do another KS around this time, but it doesn't feel reasonable to do another one until this one delivers, both in sense of like... trust and just bandwidth of my time. I'll give more updates in the future once the book is in folks hands, but I hope to do one early next year with four more classes and other fun stuff I've been working on. In the meantime, you can always find more of what I'm working on my Website, Patreon, or Discord.
All the best,
-Kibbles
July Update - Books are moving... Slowly, but moving.
over 2 years ago
– Mon, Aug 01, 2022 at 12:52:54 AM
Hey Folks-
Status - Shipping (In the literal sense involving ships)
I was hoping I'd have a more detailed delivery range to give you this month, but unfortunately I don't. Everything is printed and out of the printers warehouse. I believe all of it is either in port waiting to put on a boat, or on a boat.
Unfortunately the slow part of all of this is less that boats are slow (which part of it) and more that ports are slow and don't really seem to give clear estimates, which why it is hard for the freight people to give me a good estimate, which makes it hard for me to give a good estimate. My understanding is sometimes the boat pulls up, they unload it, you get your stuff, and everyone is happy, and sometimes the boat decides to spin in circles the harbor for a few weeks (...I reckon it's a bit more complicated than that, but that's what I understood from it).
Budget & Money - Things Remain Fine
I do want to say that that while there are scheduling difficulties (obviously the book is months late and I wish there was more I could do about that), I don't expect there to be any financial difficulties. I mention this because it's been brought up to me that a few Kickstarters recently ran out of money to ship to folks, so some folks were worried.
As I've mentioned before, I haven't drawn down the Kickstarter money for anything besides printing it (and taxes on it) and now the freight shipping. All the art and the like I paid for out of pocket originally, and will recoup from whatever is left over after fulfillment (books in your hands).
This is partially why I'm just as eager to see you folks get your books as you are to get them, as I'd love to have the final number, and hope to use some of that money toward the next Kickstarter (which won't start until well after this one is fulfilled, for obvious reasons).
Wrap Up
As always, if you have any questions, I'm always here to answer them. If you for whatever reason have reached out and not gotten ahold of me, please give me another poke. I try to follow up on all platforms, but Discord is probably the most reliable. I do try to follow everywhere, things occasionally slip through if I don't get back to them quickly other places.
For those that follow my week-to-week releases, I apologize if things have been a hair slow recently. I had a lot I wanted to get done by the end of the month and ended up getting a lot of things partially done instead of anything quite finished. I'll have a pretty good pace of updates once I get a few bigger items finished (the crafting Expansion/Free PDF for Griffon's Book Magic Items 2 should be soonish for those awaiting that).
All the best,
-Kibbles
Kickstarter Shout Out
It's been awhile since I did one of these, and this one of those that scarcely needs me to spread the good word as it's already sailed well past 1 million as I write this, but the good folks behind Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt reached out and asked me to share it, and I'm happy to do just that.
As usual with these things, I'm not associated it with, and this isn't paid promotion, I just think it's cool and pretty sure it's got a theme of dark eldritch soulsborne style stuff many folks would be into - its one of those things where as soon as the good folks behind it told me what they were working on I thought it'd be a smashing success, and it's certainly proven to be so far. Its run by MonkeyDM and the good folks at Loot Tavern (who did another KS I shouted quite some time ago, Heliana's Guide to Monster Hunting).
I'll leave you with their promo image, and good luck on your eldritch hunts!
June Update - Good news! Things are happening and books are printing!
over 2 years ago
– Fri, Jul 01, 2022 at 01:42:49 AM
Hey Folks-
Printer is Up and Running!
I'm relieved to tell you that I can bring you good news this month! The factory is back up and running, and things are moving. I cannot yet sign an estimated time of arrival in blood. Being shut down for several months does not make things run more smoothly. But that are running, so that's a good thing.
I'm currently hammering out the schedule with the printers, freight coordinators, and distributor. There was good progress on all these fronts, but unfortunately many plans have to made anew with the revised timeframe and schedule, and there's always a new hoop.
I expect that books will be on a boat, maybe in a warehouse, by next month. I cannot guarantee when they will get to your door, but I don't think it will take nearly as long to get to your door from a warehouse as to the warehouse.
Shipping and VAT - My Problems, Not Yours (Hopefully)
I'm going to be honest that there are still difficulties. The import rules have changed in almost every international region since I ran the Kickstarter, but I currently don't think that will impact any of you. Unfortunately a lot of countries have gotten much more difficult to import to, and it will very expensive (for me) in some cases to get you your book, but at this current juncture I believe I can absorb those costs (as noted, I have not drawn out of the KS funds for anything besides printing and shipping so far, so I have the funds to cover unexpected costs like this). Future Kickstarters will certainly have more expensive shipping for some folks outside the US unfortunately, but I'm going to do my best to honor the estimated shipping cost and regional friendly shipping the KS set out with.
Many folks I'm working with on this think I'm a bit crazy with this, but I know that for some of you the book was expensive, and I really don't want any additional unexpected costs for those folks.
There is a small chance I may not be able to get signed copies to all regions. I currently think I will be able to, but if I cannot, I'll talk with the affected people. US/CA copies there are no issue, but other ones are going to be a bit challenging to be honest, but I think we have a plan.
I just want you all to know the international shipping is, in fact, complicated :D
Production Copies In Hand
I have the actual production copies (offset printed) in hand, fresh from the printer. The books are real! I won't include a picture just now because to be honest they look exactly like the print proof copies (which is good, lol). I'm particularly impressed with the softcover books, and I am going to use the hell out of the softcover crafting reference manual. I'll try not to talk about how awesome it is too much until ya'll get your copies.
I'm not here to pretend editing and things are going to be flawless. I wish that these extra months had been additional editing time, but the proofs themselves were locked down all those months ago. Still, so far things have looked very good to me, and I think folks will be happy from what I'm seeing with them.
Quick VTT Update & Digital Crafting Site
Just want to quickly update the VTT versions and crating site. I realize I haven't talked about the digital crafting tool much, and that's because there's not been much to talk about. I'd originally planned to hire it out to a 3rd party, but that sort of fell through (twice). So it's something I'll do, but I have a lot on my plate. While I've been a UI, front end, and web developer in my career at various points, there's plenty to relearn on that front.
VTT fronts are both mostly there, but with some big elements outstanding... mostly crafting, in both cases.
FoundryVTT module should get the long anticipated roll tables update in about... tomorrow? Don't want to say 100%, but I think it'll update tomorrow with more crafting items and roll tables (the roll tables are pretty cool, I've been trying them out!).
The Fantasy Grounds developer is tackling crafting on his side, and I'll be upfront that I don't know 100% what we'll end up having. I've given him a pretty decent budget to make as many useful things for crafting as he can on that module, based on what he thinks will be useful for FG folks - he knows FG better than me, about what it can do, so I'm trusting him as the expert for how to spend his time there. It'll at least have the materials, and I believe an accessible version of crafting, hopefully with some tools to support using it. If you have any particularly requests or suggestions on that front, feel free to tag him on the Fantasy Grounds channel on the discord (FG is far less represented then FoundryVTT on the Discord!)
What's Next
Overall I'm really happy this update isn't another month of circling, even if we are still waiting there's progress at last and things are moving. I am pretty confident that next month I will be able to tell you roughly where you books are (even if there's a chance that answer will still be "on a boat somewhere"). For reference... I did price air freight (on a lark). It would cost roughly more than the KS raised, so... a boat it will be! Still, at least once it's moving I'll keep you updated.
I deeply appreciate the patience. I know things are way overdue, and folks have been very understanding. I'm doing my best to get books going, even as wading through all this stuff with international freight is hurting my brain occasionally.
Books... they come!
All the best,
-Kibbles
Keeping Folks Posted - Basically, the same as last month, unfortunately.
over 2 years ago
– Fri, Jun 03, 2022 at 07:26:28 PM
Hey Folks-
Book Status
I said I'd update once a month till things go moving again, but that I hoped I didn't have to... unfortunately here we are. There's been no real movement on the printing front, and they are still completely shut down.
There is no real danger not ever getting the books. In the absolute worst case, I will print the books again somewhere else. The problem is that the reason I went with the location in the first place is that "somewhere else" has at least a 6 month delay (even if we leave aside cost of printing the books again). I'd also not be thrilled about the waste of books that would entail, as they are already technically printed.
So... for the time being, we wait and hope things pick back up soon, and once that happens, I'll let you guys know where things are at, and when we can expect them to get where. I realize, quite clearly, that things are not ideal and the book is way overdue. It's pushing out any plans I'd have to do the next KS at this point, not to mention is financially not great (as I'm holding the KS money until the book is delivered and everything is paid for obvious reasons).
Hopefully I'm not back here next month saying the same thing, but if I'll keep you folks in the loop if that's the case.
VTT Updates
The VTT versions are coming along quite a bit better.
- The Fantasy Grounds version has all the subclasses, feats, backgrounds, etc, but the developer wants to cover the monsters and NPCs before getting the next the next update. I think that will be relatively soon, but don't have a firm ETA.
- The FoundryVTT version has all the player options, monsters, etc, and is just missing more support for crafting. The items you can craft that aren't in the SRD are being loaded in weekly updates, and small updates to fix errors, improve formatting, and give more pre-populated effects and so forth are being worked on.
Other Content
I have the a playtest for the Warden live on my website, and welcome feedback on that for anyone eager for a new class. I feel a little awkward talking about new content as we wait for the book to done, but I also expect there's lots of folks that want more content regardless, so figured I'd mention it as the shiny new class (and it's free, of course).
Summary
I appreciate the patience, and apologize that it's been necessary. There's unfortunately very little I can do right now about it... even if I went over there, they wouldn't let me in anyway, the whole problem is that everything is locked down. There's not really anyone to prod or poke, it's just sort of... stuck.
Given how long things have been locked down, at this point even when it opens back up I'm going to guess there's going to be a major backlog in shipping, so... hard to say. Neither more money or effort can fix the current delay, so, we wait.
All the best,
-Kibbles
Keeping Folks Posted - Printing, Modules, and More
over 2 years ago
– Sun, May 01, 2022 at 01:56:34 AM
Hey Folks-
Just wanted to send out a quick update as we close out the month.
Printing
Printing is mostly complete, unfortunately the folks doing book binding were shut down by COVID restrictions in their region before things were finished. I wish I had a better update, but at this point we are just waiting to see when things can get started back up.
From what I've been told, the cards are printed, the books are mostly printed, but binding (the process of turning the sheets into books) is not yet complete. I was not aware things were as bad as that over there, but it seems like it's just a matter of waiting to see now.
I'll let you folks know when I know more, and really wish I could say when they will get there, but right now, that's really all I know. Once they are at warehouses, I'll be able to give a pretty good estimate, but until then... All I can offer is what I hear from the printer.
My plan is to keep you folks updated on a monthly cadence, but I'm really hoping that doesn't become "a thing" as by this time next month I really expect to have a firm ETA and books in transit (...if not already arriving, hopefully), but... I thought they'd be in your hands by this time this month, so I cannot sign anything in blood there.
Modules
The progress on the modules is fortunately going a good bit better. The FoundryVTT module updates roughly once a week and is almost data complete (meaning that it has all the stuff set up for drag and drop). As some of may have noticed, the newest update to Foundry has finally brought the automated progression options for custom classes/subclasses, so that will be implemented in the future for the content there, I'll give folks a few weeks to update (as folks with a lot modules are usually better off waiting for update) and finish the content pass before I start implementing that.
On the Fantasy Grounds side, I hear progress is going along and they are crunching through it. I don't have a firm ETA on the next update, but the developer is on the Discord, and folks are free to tag them if they have any questions or issues (@Alexander Red).
I appreciate the patience on the printed stuff and really wish I didn't have to ask for it, but not too much I can do, besides assure folks I'll do what I can to make sure it's at your door as soon as I can.
I don't like talking about future stuff too much while we are waiting for the Kickstarter stuff, but for folks that want new stuff, feel free to hop on the Discord any of the other places, as I'm working on plenty of things in parallel with anything I can on the book and KS fronts.
As always, please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns, either in the messages here, or on Discord.
All the best,
-Kibbles
