July Update 1! Surveys, Samples, and SKUs
11 months ago – Sat, Jul 01, 2023 at 04:09:03 PM

Hey folks,

This update will show some samples, summarise the surveys, give a short message to late backers, and talk about the SKUs you'll see in your basket. We wrap up with an exciting announcement...

Samples

We've been iterating through samples for the mimic dice and wanted to show you some behind the scenes peeks!

Purple! This first picture shows the purple we settled on for the resin, with the purple mimic eye within. This sample hasn't been painted.

Our initial design left the numbers unpainted and painted the raised area. However, this was harder to paint, looked worse, and ran the risk of chipping the paint when the dice were rolled. Painting the inset area—as is normally done with dice—is what we're going with.

This next video shows a transparent resin sample with the eye rotating to face upwards! The face with the maximum value of each die is totally blank, meaning the mimic eye is all you see on a crit!

Finally, here is another colour combo we trialled: red eyes with a light pink ink. We'll let you know if we do more mimic dice in a future campaign, but please let us know your thoughts in the comments. We also thought a light orange ink might look nice. 

We also received a finished sample of the mimic mug, fully painted:

We're pleased with how the eyes look, blending from green to a brown, but we spotted a small mistake: the bottom should be silver, not gold!

We also have a sample of the gold and silver mug. In this picture it's still awaiting the pupils to be painted and is pictured without the aluminium vessel.

Which leads me to an important point...

Surveys!

They're out! But I made a small mistake: I forgot to give the all-in and deluxe backers and folks who added the mimic mug a choice between the full colour and gold & silver variants!

I have set up the surveys to be correct now, but I have one request and a little bit of guidance.

Request for All-in and Deluxe Physical Backers. If you were in the all-in or deluxe box tier, please re-open your survey and answer the question about whether you'd like to receive a full-colour mug, or a gold & silver one. If you don't, we'll pester you with emails.

Guidance for Mug Add-on Backers. If you added the mimic mug as an add-on then this has been converted to the full-colour variant. If this is the one you want, good news: no action is necessary! If you want the gold & silver variant, here's what you need to do:

• Access your survey (either through Backerkit or your email link).
• Skip through to the add-on section.
•  Remove the full-colour variant and add the gold and silver variant.

The price is exactly the same.

LOCKING SURVEYS

We will begin locking surveys and charging cards on Wednesday 5th in order to give you access to digital content. Currently, this will be the already-released version of the PDF. We're going to release version 0.99, which includes your feedback, in the next couple of weeks through Backerkit. Version 1.00 will likely be a week after that as we need to do a bit of extra linking & proofing. See the end of this message for why...

With respect to other digital products, here are some estimates:

• Unsupported Mug STL - Early July
• PDF version 0.99 - Mid July
• Presupported Mug STL - Mid July
• PDF Version 1.00 - Late July
• Digital Cards & Handouts - Early August
• Digital Asset Bundle - Tokenless version in mid-August. Full version in late September
• Tokens - Late September
• VTTs - Late October

LATE BACKERS

If you backed the project on Backerkit, you are what's known as a 'late backer'. You will have seen on the pre-order store that the prices did not include shipping or VAT (for reasons described in previous updates). We have all those values now. Late Backers: please check your Backerkit to make sure you are happy with the shipping and VAT charges. You have until Wednesday 5th July!

Everyone: If something looks wrong with your shipping or VAT, let us know on the Loot Tavern Discord server or by a message here on Kickstarter.

SKUs

A 'SKU' is a 'stock keeping unit'. It's what the fulfilment centres use to know what to pack. For example, one of our SKUs is the 'Motes of the Divine Core Box'. This box contains:

• MotD Hardcover book
• MotD Handouts
• Astral Expanse Dice
• The Magic Item Card Bumper Box

The fulfilment company doesn't need to know what this box contains just that they need to pick it and pack it. For that reason, we don't list these items in the SKU list.  The same is true of the deluxe box - it contains a lot of smaller products that you won't see in the SKU list. We've had a few backers concerned about why some products listed on the Kickstarter aren't listed as rewards on Backerkit; this is the reason: we don't want to confuse our fulfilment centres!

If you do think something is missing, please contact us on the Loot Tavern Discord server or by a message here on Kickstarter.

A Surprise...

Well, actually, two. After the plethora of stretch goals in Heliana's doubled the number of pages we had estimated (from 300 to a whopping 600) we were very conservative with both our stretch goals and page count estimation for this campaign. We estimated that, with stretch goals and such, LLTT and MotD would run at around 400 and 200 pages, respectively.  Well, we're below that page count!

Given that we advertised and budgeted for books of that size, it only seems fair that we make an effort to deliver. This means that, in version 1.00 of both books, you will be receiving extras!

LLTT. Hare Raising, a bonus hunt unlocked digitally in the Heliana's Guide to Monster Hunting campaign, will be added as an appendix to L'Arsene's Ledger. This means this tongue-in-cheek adventure inspired by Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail will be in print for the first time! Yay! Hunt the bonemonger, a.k.a. the dire bunny!

MotD. We're giving you another hunt—Garden of Dark Delights—.in the appendix of Motes of the Divine. This is the first part of a trilogy— Blood of Sun and Shadow—that takes you to the Plane of Fey. It's also a shameless plug of our other (digital-only) content that we release monthly on our Patreon. You'll even be able to buy the individual PDFs on our webshop (though we're still working on populating it with our products! It's not there yet).

Timeline. Both of these hunts are totally complete; from writing to art to layout. Integrating them into the PDFs takes a little longer (there's lots of linking that needs to be redone amongst other things). This means we're anticipating v1.00 of the PDF being released in late July, about a week after v0.99 which will contain the content you've already received, updated with your feedback.

Feedback. Version 1.00 is the one we'll be sending for a test print. This is where the manufacture prints a few copies and we can  go through them for pixelated images and desaturated colours. That means that there will still be time for you to give us feedback on balance, typos, and hyperlinking.

Project We Love: Caliya's Chronicle of Runes 

The Arena Guy, also known by his boring civilian name, Tony, has been making 5e content even longer than I have. His latest project is about runes; modular addons to magic items, which works perfectly with the socketing mechanic in Heliana's. It couldn't be a more perfect cross-promotion for this book, L'Arsene's Ledger.  Check it out:

In addition to 400 items, he's made a script (available as font files) for every language in the game. Imagine all the puzzles you can make to challenge players to translate stuff! There's also monsters, races, subclasses... it's a dang sweet offering from a very experienced creator, surely worth a look!

Check out this sylvan font!

Okay folks,

This was a long one—thanks for taking the time to read it! We'll hit you up again in 2 weeks.

Thanks,

Max (and Mo and the team)

June Update 1 - Beta test period ending!
11 months ago – Fri, Jun 16, 2023 at 04:47:02 PM

Hey folks,

This update goes over the beta feedback process and the timeline going forwards (gamma testing).

Beta Feedback

Thank you all so much for your feedback on both L'Arsene's Ledger and Motes of the Divine! We've started collating and categorising it (yes, Cloak of the Cnidaran and Crosstacean were indeed mislabeled, thanks to the 31 of you who reported that haha!). If you have feedback for us but haven't managed to fill out the form, please do so right here:

L'Arsene's Ledger: https://forms.gle/Vffi7sjcbfGjiMoK9

Motes of the Divine: https://forms.gle/EZs46L3rds74tD489

We're spending the next week implementing the beta feedback submitted so far. On Thursday of next week (Jun 22nd) we'll check the feedback forms one final time before making v1.00, which we aim to release mid-July.

We will be sending v1.00 to our manufacturers to be test printed. This is where the manufacturer prints a version of the book which we comb over for pixelated images, desaturated colours, and other things that we can't catch using a digital image of the book. We hope to receive those by October.

Gamma Testing

While we're awaiting the test prints we can still make changes to the book! We will have a secondary feedback form to which you can continue submitting your eagle-eye insights. There are a hundred tiny typos that only thousands of pairs of eyes can catch and we want to make the best product we can. This is also an ideal time to help us refine the functionality of the PDF. Are there hyperlinks that would make it easier for you to navigate? Is there something missing from the index?

Backerkit. The Beta VAT system for Backerkit doesn't work quite right. The result is that you might end up paying lower taxes on your shipping fees than you should. Fixing this is too difficult for Backerkit right now so we're just going to eat the cost. If you spot anything awry, drop us a message on here or on the Loot Tavern Discord server and we'll sort it right out. We'll be sending out the surveys next week!

Just a reminder - the issue with Backerkit hasn't resulted in any delays to production (other than driving me a little bit insane).  We're still on track for the timeline set out on the KS page:

Thanks! If you've any questions, you can leave a comment on this update which we'll check a couple of times over the next two weeks, or, even better, you can join the Discord server where we have a team of mods ready to handle your queries!

Thanks,

Max (Mo and the team!)

Week 7 Update - PDFs are out! and Smoke Test: We Can't Light the Fire!
12 months ago – Mon, May 22, 2023 at 11:01:20 PM

Hey folks,

This update covers the smoke test and Beta PDF situation.

Beta PDFs

Short Story

We are still encountering bugs with Backerkit's beta VAT feature and are sending you a link to download your beta PDFs directly to your email addresses. Check your junk!

UPDATE EDIT: Backerkit isn't pulling through addons from Kickstarter. SO if you added LLTT or MotD as an addon, it won't be in your inbox (yet). Only folks for whom it was part of your core pledge level will have received them. I've emailed BK and will work on this first thing tomorrow.

Longer Story

After calculating how much tax we need to pay to your governments for each addon, shipping fee, and each pledge level, and entering those values into Backerkit, I started testing the reward surveys to make sure it all worked correctly.

It did not.

Rather than delay the release of the beta PDFs any longer, we're going to send links to the PDFs directly to your inbox. This isn't ideal, as links can be very easily shared, so please don't do that! Sharing with your table is fine, but sharing to a 30-person West Marches Discord server is not.

What to Expect...

...when you're expecting (a PDF).

Feedback! The first page of each PDF asks for feedback! If you give it to us (and give us your name), we'll put your name in the thank you section of the book. We have two feedback forms, one for L'Arsene's Ledger (LLTT) and one for Motes of the Divine (MotD).

LLTT: heliana.lt/LLTTFeedback

MotD: heliana.lt/MotDFeedback

Please share your thoughts and help us make this awesome!

Images. This extra week gave us time to re-format the entire PDF. We reduced font size a little (the font in Heliana's is quite large in print), which allowed us to condense the item sections. We also spaced out the crafting workshop and equipment chapters to make room for more images.

We've commissioned about a dozen new images for the earlier chapters; in this beta PDF you'll see line-art images and spaces for images - those will be filled in the final version!

Page Count. Condensing the item chapters has opened up page count for us to add more content! As we alluded to earlier, we will be writing a whole heap more swarm statblocks for the swarmslinger tamer, and for you GMs that like to overwhelm your players with ants in their pants.

Linking. Page numbers you find throughout the document all link to the correct pages (...I hope! If they don't -> Feedback Form!). In addition, clicking the page number in the bottom corner of any page will take you back to the contents page, to allow for speedier navigation!

I don't have a PDF! Fear not, there are many possible reasons for this! Maybe your payment failed, or perhaps you have unsubscribed from us in the past. You can reach out to Smood Jadd on the Discord server or send us a message directly on Kickstarter.

Smoke Test

I'm talking to Backerkit every day to figure out if we can iron out the kinks. Luckily, sending you the PDFs directly means there's no longer a rush to get the smoke test out to you all until the beta period ends. Hopefully, this will give their tech team enough time to work out how to correctly charge VAT for shipping.

I'll keep you updated!

Project We Love: Alchemy RPG 

I know I know... I linked this one before. But Chris, the guy who runs it, has been showing me all sorts of features, and even talked about getting an interactive tech tree to upgrade your bespoke familiars for the Tamer class. That's pretty neato! Anyway, they're in their last 55 hours and have some killer deals on for games you might've always wanted to play, like Call of Cthulhu, the Fallout RPG, and Kids on Bikes.

Okay, that's all for now!

If you've questions, you can leave a comment here (which we periodically answer over the week following the update). Otherwise, head to the Loot Tavern Discord. If quick answers are your thing, that's the place to be!

Thanks,

Max

Week 6 Update! Surveys Incoming + Tavern Brawler
about 1 year ago – Fri, May 12, 2023 at 03:24:07 PM

Hey folks,

Next week you'll start receiving surveys from Backerkit! These will be sent to the email address you registered with Kickstarter and will contain a link to access your backer portal for the L'Arsene's Ledger campaign.

Smoke Test. To begin with, we'll release surveys to a random 10% of backers in what is known as a 'smoke test'. If there's anything wrong with our surveys, we'll be alerted by these backers and be able to make fixes. Once we get the okay from Backerkit, we'll release the surveys to everyone.

Surveys & Upgrades. Those of you who backed at a tier that comes with the core book will have the option to upgrade to the deluxe cover during your survey.

Tax & Shipping. After you fill out your survey, you'll have the option to add any addons. Backerkit will then calculate tax for your country, and shipping based on the weight of the order. You'll be able to add your card details and pay for the extra, plus tax (if applicable) and shipping. 

Tax Example. Tax is set by your country and goes to your government. Some countries have different tax rates for different types of items. We have used a beta functionality of Backerkit that allows us to set a different tax amount for each pledge level and a different rate for every item. For example:

• In the UK, books and e-books are charged at 0% VAT, while accessories (stuff like dice) is charged at 20%.
• Someone in the UK who backed for the game-ready tier ($120) has to pay tax. 
• In the game-ready tier, 29% of the tier is books (0% = $0.00 tax),
• 26% is e-books (0% = $0.00 tax)
• and 44% is accessories (20% of 44% of $120 = $10.56 in tax).

In total, a UK backer pays ~$10.50 for tax.

If that backer then added dice ($20) to their basket, this would be charged at 20% VAT ($4), and the total tax would be $14.50.

PDFs. Then it's onto digital downloads! Once your payments clear, you'll be able to go to the digital downloads section of your Backerkit page for L'Arsene's Ledger and download the PDFs. We need to manually charge cards, which we endeavour to do every couple of hours throughout this first week, and every day thereafter.

Next Week

Next week we'll do an update when the smoke test is finished and the full survey release starts. I'll make a step-by-step guide of how to access downloads with visuals, along with links to the feedback forms so you can help us make this the best content possible!

For now, here's early access to the tavern brawler fighter! This one is on the more complex side as it has a whole new set of techniques and the features interact with one another in a multitude of ways.

Thanks,

Max (and Mo and the team)

Week 5 Update - Tankard Painting & Progress
about 1 year ago – Fri, May 05, 2023 at 02:10:19 PM

Hey folks,

Just a quick update today as we've plenty to be getting on with.

Tankards!

We got some more painting examples for our mugs. We're pursuing two different options for the painting, a 'weathered' version and a 'full colour' version. Let me show you what that looks like.

Here's how the mugs start, white resin:

The manufacturer came back to us with this 'distressed' possibility, which we really enjoy some elements of.

We think the painting on the wood is excellent, and we also enjoy the 'distressed' elements on the tongue, teeth, and eyes. We don't love that the bottom is gold and not silver, to match the removable steel cup. Obviously, the gold on the eyes and teeth was not part of our brief but it also doesn't look bad. 

Our initial idea was a fully painted mimic, and that will remain the default option. Here's a work in progress of that paint job:

We prefer the darker purple-red of the tongue and will be using that colour on the tongue and gums. The brown part of the eye will be changed to this purple but the eyes will stay red. The wood on this isn't as good as the distressed version and the base is still gold instead of silver. Also, this was a quick colour concept so the painting isn't as neat as it will be in the final version.

Choices. We like the wood and distressed painting style on the distressed gold version and will be applying this across the board. However, because these are hand-painted, there is potential scope to do two different paint jobs; one full colour and one using the distressed gold. If we do this, you will be able to select which colour scheme in Backerkit. If you backed for a mimic tankard, feel free to say which design you'd prefer in this form.

Progress

Here's the chart:

Subclasses. The festival domain cleric ( a stretch goal) hasn't been started yet, and the tavern brawler and artisan monk are through to editing. Here's a brief "how they play":

Tavern Brawler. The tavern brawler combines two styles of fighting: grapples (inspired by jiu jitsu and wrestling) and improvised weapons. They have special dice called 'brawler dice' which let them do things like chokeholds and piledrivers in a manner similar to battle master maneuvers. They deal a little damage when they grapple someone, and have a reliable talent for grapple checks (like how the Rogue can't roll lower than a 10).

They also deal bonus damage with improvised weapons, can pick up an improvised weapon as part of the attack they make with it, and have an increased critical range with the first attack they make with an improvised weapon on the turn they pick it up. This plays into the surprise of a combatant suddenly grabbing a bottle and smashing it into your face.

Artisan Monk. This monk gains proficiency with some Artisan's Tools which it can use as a kind of improved monk weapon. These monks can craft items and store ki points in those items (effectively increasing their ki point pool), drawing the ki at a later date. At higher levels, the ki they draw from these creations inspires them, and enhances their abilities. For example, if you use a ki point from a creation to use the Patient Defense feature:

While you are dodging, if a creature misses you with an attack, you can use your reaction to make an attack against it using your artisan’s tools.

They can also channel ki to gain a bonus to Crafting checks introduced in Heliana's Guide.

Crafting Workshop Text. Still churning through this! This will likely be the last thing we arrange in LLTT.

Stretch Goal Familiars. These are written and the art is done. We need to do the pretty arrangement stuff!

Magical Meals. These are done and have been incorporated into each of the hunts.

Rollable Loot Tables. Maru finished the google sheet work for these, so now it's just arrangement work. Tables are a pain, guys.

Okay that's all for this week folks. We're still confident we'll have the beta test of LLTT and MotD to you when the payments clear (either late next week or early the week after).

Any questions, hit the comments below this update (which we check once or twice a week) or—even better—join the Loot Tavern Discord cos we check that multiple times a day.

Thanks,

Max (and Mo and the team!)