A perilous adventure unearthing the dark arcana behind Sword & Sorcery’s iconic tabletop roleplaying game
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Progress Report + Updated Timeline
about 1 year ago
– Fri, Sep 08, 2023 at 12:53:46 PM
Hey All,
Sorry to miss the August update; I was on the road all month—visiting family and friends in Minneapolis and then teaching and performing in the Bay Area. But while I was traveling work continued on this project. In fact, Max Moon and I got to sit down *in-person* in Minneapolis and hash out some very meaningful ways to restructure the box contents.
When we launched the project, the inclusion of fiction and RPG material related to the Black God's Shadow story was our $50K stretch goal. As such, we had been envisioning it as a separate book which supplemented the core setting material. This approach meant that the box would include (among other things):
Core book (setting material + 1st module)
Black God's Shadow booklet (setting expansion material + 2nd module)
But over the past several months, as Max and I worked on the setting material and compared notes, it became clear that all the setting material really belongs in one single volume. We came to this conclusion partially because it became increasingly difficult to disaggregate the rules from each other across two setting books, and also—more importantly—because having them all in one volume will make for a better gaming experience and ease of reference for GMs. So we have combined all the setting material into one book and broken out the two modules into their own book. The new structure looks like this:
Core book (all the setting material in one volume)
1st Module
2nd Module
As a reminder: in addition to those two modules, every box also comes with a 3rd module, Hellsgarde—which was our $100K stretch goal—and the Deluxe Set backers will also get a 4th module, Encounter the Architects (available as an add-on to anyone who didn't pledge at the Deluxe or Black God's Bundle tiers).
To reiterate messaging in a previous update: though this restructuring is now resulting in an additional booklet in the box set, there will be no added cost to backers.
And now...
Project Updates
The'Gambit' standaloneis all laidout, proofed, and complete!
All the illustrations for the core book, the first module, and the second module are done—and the final inking for those will be complete by the end of thismonth.
All the writing on the first module and the Hellsgarde module is done, though some additional statsand mechanics to make compatible across 5e, OSE, and DCC are still being added.
The writing on the second module is about 80% complete.
The writing on the newly expanded core book is about 80% complete.
Timeline
So what does all this mean for a delivery timeline? We are currently two months behind schedule delivering you the PDFs, which were originally estimated for a July 2023 completion. There are a few factors in this delay—some of which have been touched on in previous updates. But probably more than anything the delay has been due to underestimated the complexity of making this box set compatible across three different RPG systems, while maintaining a satisfying experience that feels true to each style of play. So there was a lot of heavy-lifting up front to make that work (including conversations with Joseph Goodman for DCC and Gavin Norman of Necrotic Gnome for OSE ... we decided not to consult with WotC lest they sue us 🥸). But we're in a good place with it now and things are chugging along.
We are now planning to deliver PDFs of the core book to you by Halloween, with the PDFs of the 1st and 2nd module a couple of weeks behind that—and PDFs of the final two modules in successive 3-ish week releases after that (as we iteratively proof and layout each one).
This effectively means that the PDFs will be delivered 3-5 months behind our original target date. Depending on manufacturing time, I expect the physical rewards to also be delivered about 5 months behind their original target date (in Feb 2024).
I'm sure this is disappointing to some of you. We hope that all the additional materials that we have added since the campaign wrapped—including the additional system compatibility—will make up for the wait!
Pledge Manager Update
We have all the info we need to open up the pledge manager at this point. To be honest, it has just taken a back-burner to getting the other work completed. That said, now that we have a target release date for the first round of PDFs we will open the pledge manager soon!
What's Next?
Expect another project update next week, with a behind-the-scenes look at writing the Hellsgarde module and a sneak peek at some more of Saprophial's art! Then in the beginning of October we will open the pledge manager and confirm our progress towards a Halloween delivery of the first PDF. In the meantime, we are always eager to hear your thoughts, ideas, and comments. Please feel free to reach out to us here, or via one of the channels below.
Project Updates + a promise not to blow up your cost
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Jul 19, 2023 at 09:58:26 AM
Hey All,
I had planned on writing an update around July 4th but that weekend I got hit with a terrible (I mean really TERRIBLE) chest cold. It wasn't COVID, but I was laid-out for almost two weeks. I've finally started feeling better over the last few days and am getting caught up. Before we get into the project updates, I just wanted to address a concern one backer expressed—which is worth clarifying for all: despite all the upgrades and additions we have been announcing post-campaign, this will not change the price we charge you during pledge management for your rewards.
When I first read that question it seemed a little absurd to me because of course we would never do that ... but then I remembered a very high profile board game creator on Kickstarter who has done almost exactly that: asking backers for a lot more money post-campaign (after they already raised a tremendous amount) just to make good on the promise to create and deliver rewards. Well rest-assured: you will be getting what you pledged for, at the price you pledged, and anything more (hardcover upgrades, DCC compatibility, free minis, etc.) is our gift to you!
And now...
Project Updates
We are almost done with layout on the 'Gambit' book and will have it wrapped this week.
Gameplay music and ambiences are now being mastered.
The writing team is working on mapping all the monsters and NPCs in the core book and Hellsgarde module across the three systems: 5e, OSE, and DCC. I say "mapping" because converting isn't really accurate. Each system has a different style of gameplay so we are working to make these creations feel true to each.
Also, here's another one of Saprophial's finished illustrations from the core book: what we're calling the Larval Queen, which—much like a rat king—is a tangled mass of the Black Larvae (referenced in the last updated), acting as a single hive mind / body for a little interstitial boss fight.
The Larval Queen in her lair
Pledge Manager Update
We still don't have an updated box weight from the manufacturer based on the upgrades we have announced, which impacts shipping cost. Rather than overestimate and charge you too much, we are trying to be as exact as possible. I am bugging them for that again this week, and we will make a dedicated update about the Pledge Manager when it is ready and opened up.
What's Next?
In a couple of weeks I'm going to Minneapolis for the entire month of August, which means Max Moon and I will be co-located in the same city! We'll try to use that time to accelerate some of the development on this project (if we can fit it in between the excessive amount of gaming). Expect another project update in 2-3 weeks from now. In the meantime, we are always eager to hear your thoughts, ideas, and comments. Please feel free to reach out to us here, or via one of the channels below.
Progress Report + Hardcover Upgrade + ... Dungeon Crawl Classics!?
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Jun 16, 2023 at 02:15:18 PM
Hey All,
First, apologies for being a couple weeks slow in providing a project update. As some of you know, I was touring behind my new album for the month of May and fell behind on pretty much everything else in life... And now for the good news:
Project Updates
The standalone game, Black God's Gambit, ended up going through *another* round of playtesting but is now in a really solid state. Two rounds of copyediting and proofing wrapped this week—and allthe art is done—so now it is now going to layout.
Speaking of copyediting, we have brought in a new member of the project team: RPG copyeditor extraordinaire, Walton Wood! Walt has worked on over 30 TTRPG projects across a variety of systems. He also has two degrees in English and a Doctorate in Philosophy—which feels especially suited for this project. We're excited to have him on board!
Preliminary writing on the Hellsgarde adventure module wrapped this week, and all of the concept art for it is now complete. Moving into polishing both elements next week.
The Core Book writing is almost done, and the Black God's Shadow supplement book writing is also in progress. Saprophial has also begun concept art on the Black God's Shadow supplement (reminder that all the art on the Core Book is already complete).
Here's another one of Saprophial's finished illustrations from the core book; one of the "ravening ... small, slavering, blind things ... with clashing teeth," that we have dubbed the Black Larvae—which are ubiquitous throughout the setting and modules.
Two New Exciting Developments!
First, we have decided to upgrade the Core Book from a paperback, stapled booklet to a smyth sewn hardcover! The material in the Core Book has become more expansive than we anticipated and as the page count has grown it became clear that a sadlle stitch binding no longer served the purpose well. Rather than move to a glue-based perfect bind we decided to go all-out on a hardcover sewn binding. This of course adds to the production cost but we feel like it's worth it in the final product.
Second ... *drum roll* ... we are adding compatibility with the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG system (DCC)across all the books! After some wonderful encouragement from Joseph Goodman at Goodman Games, and discussion with Max Moon (our in-house DCC expert), we decided to layer in the necessary elements to make all these materials eminently playable with DCC. We're all really excited about this development.
This means that you will be able to run Black God's Kiss in 5e, OSE, *and* DCC.! Each system having different flavors of gameplay native to their individual spirit.
Pledge Manager Update
We still haven't opened up the pledge manager because the two new developments above have impacted on overall box weight, which impacts shipping cost. Rather than overestimate and charge you too much, we are trying to be as exact as possible. That said, these new developments have been locked in and gone through estimation—and the adjustments have been made in Backerkit. Max and I are going to do a final sanity check next week. We will make a dedicated update about the Pledge Manager when it is ready and opened up.
What's Next?
Moving forward we will err on the side of more frequent, but smaller, updates—so you can expect to see the next one before July 4th. In the meantime, we are always eager to hear your thoughts, ideas, and comments. Please feel free to reach out to us here, or via one of the channels below.
APRIL UPDATE: Black God's Gambit standalone game
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Apr 18, 2023 at 08:08:11 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Progress Report + a very exciting development!
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Mar 15, 2023 at 02:09:54 PM
Hey All,
The health hits just keep on coming for the Black God's Kiss Crew. Since the last update, across the team we had: another case of COVID, a hernia operation, and a pretty debilitating non-COVID respiratory infection. Not to beat around the bush, but we've got some good news and bad news... The bad news is that we're now probably running about 6-8 weeks behind schedule. We had planned to be done by the end of March, but realistically I don't see us being complete until mid-to-late May at this point. That said, I am pushing to have everything wrapped up by the start of May because I'm touring behind my forthcoming album starting in May, and don't want to be juggling two things at once. So, we'll see...
We won't know what the impact on shipping out the box sets is until we actually file everything in, so that 6-8 weekcontent delay might not translate to 6-8 weeks delayfor rewards delivery, but I want to be transparent as early in this process as possible.
Now for the good news:
Project Updates
The standalone game, Black God's Gambit, is now complete! Max has done additional rounds of playtesting and we are just tweaking the language, going into copyediting, etc.
All of the illustrations for the core book are now complete!
Saprophial has moved onto illustrations for the standalone game, and its punchboard tokens, which should wrap this week.
90% of the maps, across the entire box set are complete.
The album composition is underway.
Here's another one of Saprophial's finished illustrations from the core book to keep you sated...
A 'howling cyclone,' mindless with rage and grief, wanders the starlit realm...
Very Exciting Development!
And now for the really good news: this has been in the works for a while, but I didn't want to mention it until I was 100% sure... After going back and forth with our manufacturer for the past couple of months we were able to optimize the molds so that now everyone who backed for either the Core Set or the Deluxe Set will get a free *physical*Jirel miniature included inside the box!
If you recall, the Jirel mini was our $110K stretch goal, and the plan was to offer it only as an STL file, with a physical mini available as an add-on. While it does cost us more to include a physical Jirelmini for free to all our box set backers, we felt like it was worth doing—as another thank you to everyone who has made this project happen.
The physical Black God mini is still only included in the Deluxe Set, and will be available as an add-on if you didn't back the Deluxe Set,and don't want to upgrade to it.
Pledge Manager Update
Given the above development, we had to delay pledge management so that we could adjust add-ons, shipping weights, etc. We plan to open the pledge manager (and the pre-order store) sometime this month though.
What's Next?
We should have another project update when we open up the pledge manager—which will also include more content progress. In the meantime, we are always eager to hear your thoughts, ideas, and comments. Please feel free to reach out to us here, or via one of the channels below.
