On to Backerkit!
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Aug 18, 2022 at 04:39:06 PM
We're one week out from the end of the campaign, and the machinery continues to hum. Maybe I've been through the process enough times so that it has become routine and I don't have to dwell on it. But I stopped to take stock of where we are this morning and I was surprised to realize that things are actually coming along pretty well. Into the Royal Tombs went off to layout yesterday, and in exchange I got a layout proof of Tomb Raiders of Orek for review. So it looks like we're very much on schedule. And yet I did a bit of a double-take on that — are we really still on schedule? Guess so. All right, then.
Also, the Backerkit post-campaign store is open. All of you will get the links soon, with your backer surveys. But in case you want an advance look, this link should work. Feel free to share it with anyone who missed the campaign; all are welcome. We're offering everything from the Ramen Sandwich Press catalogue at a discount, as well as some extras. We still have some leftover hardcover copies of The Book of Chance Meetings, our popular book on random wilderness encounters in 5E. These are not available anywhere other than Backerkit/Kickstarter; as a stretch goal for that Kickstarter campaign, we offered to make the reward print copies hardcover. We overprinted to give ourselves a margin of error, and now we're selling the remaining extra copies. We have also added tees and tote bags from Ramen Sandwich Tees' new Gamer Philosophy line. I'm particularly pleased with the tote bags — we found a printer that does good work and offers a nice, heavy-duty canvas tote.
The Backerkit smoke test survey will go out shortly, so a few of you will get your backer surveys later today. Everyone else, soon. Thanks again for your support!
Ding! Ding! Ding!
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Aug 11, 2022 at 05:24:22 PM
I'm starting to write this when there are still 3 minutes left, but the message will remain the same no matter what happens in that time: Thank you to all of you who came out and backed this campaign! I'm looking forward to getting Tomb Raiders of Orek and Into the Royal Tombs into your hands. I'm still tidying up Into the Royal Tombs but I expect to hand it off to layout no later than this weekend. I still think it's shaping up well. The manuscript will probably top out at 12,000 words or so. This includes duplicating entries for new items that appear in both modules, but Into the Royal Tombs will also have a unique new creature — if you ever wondered how an undead mastiff would stat out, you'll find out soon.
Now, once the confetti settles, Kickstarter will collect your pledges, so please make sure that your credit card information on file is up to date. Makes things easier on everyone involved.
For my part, I will get the Backerkit store ready and I plan to have it open late next week. I'm always a little confused about when it's best to open the store — Backerkit says we should wait until Kickstarter is finished with pledge collection, which means waiting two weeks. But I've never seen that there's any practical point to that. So I kind of compromise and shoot for opening one week after the campaign is over. At that point, we'll make the entire Ramen Sandwich Press backlist available to you at a discount, and you can add on to your pledge or up your pledge level, as you like.
Thanks again, and you'll hear from me again as developments warrant.
72-hour warning
over 1 year ago
– Mon, Aug 08, 2022 at 05:42:36 PM
We are now down to that point in a campaign where Kickstarter starts counting down in hours, so I thought I'd post an update just to let you know that we're still on track, everything is under control. I haven't been sleeping terribly well over the last couple of weeks, probably on account of the humid summer weather, but fortunately, caffeine exists and I've stayed pretty well focused on writing Into the Royal Tombs. I expect to finish writing it about when the campaign ends — by the end of this week. Tomb Raiders of Orek is still in layout, but right now everything is very much on track.
I'm pleased with how Into the Royal Tombs is shaping up. The biggest challenge was always going to be varying the experience of each tomb, so that it's not just: "Force the door, kill mummy, scoop up loot; rinse, lather repeat." Between the traps, monsters, treasures and the kobolds, I think it will turn out all right.
Once the campaign ends, I'll set up the Backerkit store and I expect to open it up by the end of next week. I'll be back in touch once the campaign ends. Until then, I'm going back to work, and I look forward to getting a lot more backers before the end!
For the win!
almost 2 years ago
– Wed, Jul 27, 2022 at 01:30:07 AM
Well, yesterday I groused about how it's always better to fund early, so I can stop worry about it and focus on the actual product. It must have gone from my mouth to someone else's ears, because we just hit our funding target this evening!
Thank you, everyone, and it really is a splendid feeling to know that I can focus on writing and otherwise getting the actual product ready for delivery for the next couple of weeks. More backers are welcome and much wanted, and I expect we will get more. But the relief that kicks in when the funding level hits 100% hasn't gotten old, even after 16 campaigns.
Into the Royal Tombs is outlined, and I started committing coherent sentences to paper on Tuesday. It will be more like a straight dungeon crawl than Tomb Raiders of Orek, with a little something to discover in each room after you force the door open. But your party will be there to rescue two wayward grave robbers from their folly, so there will be some narrative drive to it as well.
Red Pencil Weekend
almost 2 years ago
– Mon, Jul 25, 2022 at 09:01:37 PM
At last, some real news: Places by the Way #11: Tomb Raiders of Orek is written up and I sent the manuscript off to layout last night. Late last night, but it still qualifies as last night. I prefer not to think of it as this morning. I still have to sketch out the maps (there will be one for the village and a tactical-scale map for one of the locations), but the manuscript should be enough to snap our art staff to attention when they return from Comic Con.
The manuscript tops out at 11,000 words, which makes it somewhat shorter than most of the modules in the series. Even so, Tomb Raiders of Orek includes some new mechanics — two new non-magical items and a stat block for swarm of bees — to pep things up.
Also, I reminded myself as I polished up the manuscript that when I originally conceived of Places by the Way, I imagined them as comparable to the booklet-sized d20 mini-adventures that AEG published back at the beginning of the D&D 3E open license boom. I wrote a few of those, and our target word count for them was 5,000 words. So as it is, you're getting modules that are over twice as long as I'd originally intended. Granted, this is probably because I just can't shut up once I start describing something. But even so, I consider this fact and I don't feel terribly guilty about writing 11,000 words instead of 13,000 or 15,000.
Now, it is on to Into the Royal Tombs, which will feature mummies, kobolds, a liquored-up sphinx and two frightened tomb raiders who are lucky to be alive when your party finds them.
Pledge activity has plateaued over the last week or so, which is disappointing but not particularly concerning. There's still over two weeks left, and we're stalled just short of the summit at 90-91% funded. I'll be stunned if the usual rush to get in the doors over the last 2 days doesn't put us over the top with something to spare. But it's always nice to fund as early in the campaign as possible, because I can stop worrying about whether the campaign will fund and focus on the actual work of getting the modules ready. And of course, it's always good to pile on the backers as a morale boost. So, thank you again to everyone who has already put down their marker for this campaign, and thank you, too, if you help us spread the word and bring in more pledges!
