Project Update: (a Personal Note) + Finishing Layout, and New Adventures!
9 months ago
– Wed, Jun 11, 2025 at 06:32:53 AM
Hi all,
First, an apology for missing our May update.
Many of you may remember that I mentioned my father’s health declining in earlier updates. At the beginning of May, he passed away. I’ve spent the past several weeks grieving, supporting my family, and managing end-of-life logistics—which is why this update is arriving later than planned. I appreciate your understanding and patience during this time.
That said, there’s meaningful progress to report—and we’re very close to the finish line.
Black God's Gambit: Design Complete
All components that we mentioned we were working on in the previous update for the standalone game, Black God's Gambit, are now fully designed! That includes the game board, tokens, character sheets, and rulebook. It’s a fast and light system that echoes the same strange atmosphere of Black God's Kiss, while offering a tactical, modular experience. Here's a peek at two of the components:
Fiction Files in Layout
The fiction that anchors the narrative spine of this entire setting is mostly layed out and will be complete this month. As a reminder, we’ve gathered three iconic Jirel stories—Black God's Kiss, Black God's Shadow, and Hellsgarde)—nearly 90 pages of cosmic, grotesque, and otherworldly fiction—that give this world its eldritch soul.
What’s Left?
Just two pieces remain: the box and the GM screen. Both are in process now and should be wrapped soon. Once those final files are complete, we’ll move into prepress and manufacturing.
🔥 ICYMI: Visit Flaming Hand
In April we shared that Black God's Kiss—and all future Blazing Worlds projects—will now be published under Flaming Hand, our new joint venture with Max Moon of Max Moon Games. If you haven’t yet, check out our new shop and studio here 👉 https://flaminghand.com
🌊 Coming Soon: Twelve Years at Sea
We’re also excited to announce that our next Kickstarter—Twelve Years at Sea—will launch soon. It’s an epic seafaring TTRPG for one or more players, inspired by classic weird fiction, mythology, and Harryhausen films. It's also an expansion to Twelve Years, the acclaimed hex and dungeon crawl system that Max released under Max Moon Games. This time, all the writing, art, and design will be 100% complete by the end of the campaign, so fulfillment will be swift. More details soon—but if you love phantom archipelagoes, ancient oceanic monsters, and perilous adventure on the high seas, keep your spyglass pointed our way:
Thank you, as always, for continuing to support us. This project has been a long, strange trip—but one now very close to coming into the world.
In darkness & devotion,
Janaka & the Black God’s Kiss Crew
[Publishing under: Flaming Hand]
UPDATE: A New Chapter + What’s Holding the Box Right Now
11 months ago
– Wed, Apr 16, 2025 at 11:32:17 AM
Hi All,
It’s been a minute since our last update, and I want to start by thanking you again for your patience, encouragement, and continued belief in Black God’s Kiss. We’re still here—and still fully committed to delivering this project in all its cosmic, cursed glory.
🔥 Flaming Hand: A New Studio Is Born
First, the big news: Max Moon (BGK collaborator and creator of Max Moon Games) and I have officially joined forces to form a new creative studio — Flaming Hand!
This is a huge move forward for both of us. Blazing Worlds and Max Moon Games have long shared a similar ethos—artist-driven, mold-breaking, beautifully crafted releases that dwell at the edge of the esoteric and the uncanny. Flaming Hand is our new shared home for continuing that vision with even greater strength, support, and focus.
Going forward, all Blazing Worlds releases—including Black God’s Kiss—will be published under the Flaming Hand name. Max Moon Games will operate as an imprint of Flaming Hand, focusing on short-run and handmade releases. We’ve already released our first project under this new banner, Occult Strategies, and are building a slate of upcoming releases including an incredible artist folio by Arik Roper, a MÖRK BORG adaptation of Ekphrastic Beasts, and sundry other projects.
If you want to stay connected and see what else is coming, you can check out our new endeavor here: 👉 https://flaminghand.com
Tariff Shock & Supply Chain Navigation
Now for the not-so-fun news: In the time since our last update, import tariffs on goods manufactured in China have skyrocketed from ~25% to 145%.
This has huge implications for us, since our manufacturing partner (Panda Games) operates out of China. We’ve already paid a large deposit to them, which limits our ability to pivot easily to a different vendor. But please rest assured: we are NOT passing these costs on to you, and we will still be delivering everything we promised in the Kickstarter.
We are currently working through multiple contingency plans—creative, strategic solutions that allow us to navigate this without compromising the quality of what we’re making or breaking the project’s financial backbone. That’s taken some time to research and negotiate, which is one reason for the delay in posting this update.
To be clear: we are not at a standstill. We are building, we are revising specs, and we are moving forward—just a bit more slowly than anticipated.
Where We’re At
Across the books, we’re doing a final pass for design consistency, tone, and visual style. We’re also updating all spec files with Panda to reflect changes in page count—which has increased dramatically thanks to all the extra content we’ve added during development.
Meanwhile, we’re deep in design for the standalone components: tokens, game board, character sheets, and more. These all need to not only look great, but work smoothly as a system across multiple game types and modules. It’s a lot of little pieces—and every tweak to one part affects everything else.
Project Management Boost
Under the Flaming Hand banner, we’ve been able to bring on a part-time Project Manager to help streamline communications, organize timelines, and make sure nothing falls through the cracks. While this may not significantly impact Black God’s Kiss at this late stage, it will help us finish strong—and will have a big impact on upcoming releases.
We know this has been a long wait. Longer than anyone—including us—ever expected. But the project is alive and actively being worked on, every single week. We remain fully committed to shipping Black God’s Kiss with all the strange beauty and depth it deserves.
Expect another update next month!
As always, thank you, deeply, for sticking with us through this odyssey.
With respect,
Janaka & The Black God’s Kiss Crew
[Now publishing under: Flaming Hand]
Finalizing Design & Absorbing Tariff Costs + ⚔️New Previews⚔️
about 1 year ago
– Fri, Feb 28, 2025 at 11:52:24 AM
Hi All,
First, I want to thank everyone for your continued support and patience, as well as for the kind messages about my father after last month's update. Since the last update, he has entered home hospice care. While this has been a difficult transition, it has also brought a measure of peace and clarity amidst the sadness. Your messages of support have meant a great deal, and I truly appreciate them.
Now, onto the project update!
Encounter the Architects & New Previews
We have completed the layout for Encounter the Architects, but there are still some final polish passes we want to make before distributing the PDF. We’re taking the time to ensure everything meets our high standards before putting it in your hands. In the meantime, we wanted to share some new visuals from the module:
Point-Crawl Map by Joe Keinberger
A network of islets connected by marsh bridges, floating in an alien cosmic expanse.
"The Bone Carver" illustration by Saprophial
For more details on the module, see our previous update from December.
The Exponential Complexity of a Boxed Set
One thing we didn’t fully realize at the start of this process was that every component added to the box isn’t just a multiplier of effort—it’s an exponent of complexity. With so many interdependent pieces spread out among five different books (style guides, page references, tables, etc.), final proofing for style across all components is taking longer than expected. Because of this, it’s difficult to give an exact timeline on when this final design phase will be complete.
That said, all the content is done. We’re now in the home stretch, focused on wrapping up the design phase as quickly as possible. We will continue to provide monthly updates and, as soon as we’ve filed in with the printer, we’ll be able to share a more concrete delivery timeline.
Addressing New Tariffs
We’ve been in ongoing discussions with our manufacturer regarding the new import tariffs imposed by the current administration. These will impact production costs, but we are absorbing this cost as much as possible and also looking at adjusting the retail version of the box set. This means backers will not be affected—you won’t see any unexpected charges or increases. We’re committed to ensuring this does not impact your pledge!
Looking Ahead
We know it’s been a long road, and now each day brings us closer to delivery. We remain focused on making this boxed set everything we envisioned. Your support and enthusiasm have been incredible throughout this process, and we’re more excited than ever to bring Black God’s Kiss into your hands. Thank you for sticking with us through the final stages.
As always, stay connected with us:
Expect more updates next month, and we’ll be back with a clearer timeline as soon as we file in with the printer.
With gratitude,
Janaka & The Black God's Kiss Crew
Progress Update: Architects Draft Incoming + Path to Completion ⚔️
about 1 year ago
– Sat, Jan 25, 2025 at 10:04:26 AM
Hi All,
First, let me start with an apology for the delay in getting this update to you. The past month has been incredibly challenging—my father was hospitalized in critical care with COVID and pneumonia, and my mother also contracted the virus. They were considering a ventilator for my dad—which made for a harrowing time—but he made is CON save and pulled through without it. As their primary caregiver, I was almost entirely offline for a few weeks to focus on their care. (For those following along at home: yes, this is after I made three other trips to the ER in December). Thankfully, they are now both slowly recovering, and I’m beginning to catch up on everything.
That said, even while I was offline, progress was made! I’m happy to report that all the content for the Black God’s Kiss box set is complete and copy edited. Even more exciting, Encounter the Architects - Adventure Module #4 has been through its first round of layout, and we’ll be distributing a draft PDF of this final module later this week. (Saprophial's artwork is so insane for this one; I can't wait to share it with you!)
What’s Left to Do?
With all the content now written and edited, the only remaining tasks before filing in are design-related:
- Final proofing of all the PDFs that have already been delivered.
- Design on a few additional box components for the mini game.
- Finalizing the layout for the short stories.
We’re aiming to have all the box set components filed in by the end of February. Since the box has the longest manufacturing lead time, this will allow us to tackle the remaining add-ons (t-shirts, posters, cassette, GM screen, etc.) while the box set is in the manufacturing queue. Our goal is to ensure that everything ships to the warehouse at the same time for fulfillment.
Once we’ve filed in the assets for the box set, I’ll be able to provide an estimated delivery timeline to share with you all.
Jirel Mini STL Update
We’ve received feedback about issues with printing the Jirel mini STL file. The model was originally designed for injection-molding, but it seems to be failing about 50% of the time for home printing. While we’re focusing on getting the box set into production first, we want to assure you that we’ll be providing a new STL file for Jirel once the box set assets are filed in. Thank you for your patience as we address this issue!
Looking Ahead
I know it’s been a long road, but the end is finally in sight. Your patience, enthusiasm, and support have been incredible throughout this process, and I’m more excited than ever to bring Black God’s Kiss into your hands. I’ll have more updates for you soon, including the timeline for delivery, but for now, please keep an eye out for the draft of Encounter the Architects coming later this week.
As always, stay connected with us:
Thank you again for everything. I can’t wait for you to see the finished product.
xo,
Janaka & The Black God's Kiss Crew
Unveiling the Architects: A Glimpse into Module #4
over 1 year ago
– Sun, Dec 01, 2024 at 01:06:29 PM
Hi All,
This update is coming to you a day later than planned because the past few weeks have been a whirlwind for me. I've been to the ER three times in the last three weeks—once for me, once for my dad, and once for my son. Thankfully, we’re all managing, but it’s been a lot.
As a result, we weren’t able to complete editing and layout on Encounter the Architects - Adventure Module #4 just yet. That said, I’d like to take this opportunity to tell you more about it, as it holds a special place in the mythos of this project.
The inspiration for Encounter the Architects comes from a single line in C.L. Moore’s original story:
"It had not been built for human feet to travel. It had not been built for feet at all. It was a narrow, polished shaft that cork-screwed round and round. A snake might have slipped in and gone shooting down, round and round in dizzy circles—but no snake on earth was big enough to fill that shaft. No human travelers had worn the sides of the spiral so smooth, and she did not care to speculate on what creatures had polished it so, through what ages of passage."
Reading this sent my imagination spiraling. What had built the passage into the Black God’s realm? That question became the foundational mythos for the entire box set.
From there, the Architects emerged: an eldritch cabal of otherworldly beings responsible not only for the portal but the realm itself. Adventuring into the Black God’s realm became, in my conceptualization, a stand-in for the mytheme of katabasis—the archetypal descent into the underworld, a story we repeat every time we embark on a dungeon crawl.
While the Architects are only hinted at in Modules 1 and 2 (and not at all in Module 3: Hellsgarde), I felt it was essential to give players a chance to confront these beings face-to-alien-face in Encounter the Architects - Adventure Module #4.
This module features some of Saprophial’s most fantastical and mind-bending illustrations, paired with a new interdimensional point crawl that pushes the boundaries of exploration. Additionally, it introduces a new class option: the Architect’s Apprentice. This option is designed to integrate seamlessly into multiple systems, with specific rules for 5e, DCC, and OSE.
I'm super excited to share the results with you soon!
Thank you all for your patience as we continue to bring this ambitious project to life. Your enthusiasm and understanding keep me inspired to push forward, even during the challenging weeks. I’ll be back soon with more updates as we progress.
On another note, we’ve received feedback about issues with the Jirel STL file. We’re actively working to fix the model and will have an updated version ready for you as soon as possible. Thank you for bringing it to our attention!
In the meantime, stay connected with us:
xo,
Janaka & The Black God's Kiss Crew
