September Update - Maps & next wave of Playtesting!
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Sep 24, 2022 at 02:50:49 AM
Heya!
It's been a little bit since my last update, and I wanted to give everyone a progress report of where everything is at this point! I have been super busy creating everything from maps and illustrations to STLs and writing and I am nearing the one-third complete landmark soon!
Maps Preview!
I'm (mostly) finished with all of the maps from the first 5 dungeons - meaning that on the map side I am 1/3 of the way finished! I also have drawn illustrations for a good bit of the Magic items from the first 5 dungeons.
The only part I have left on these maps is the interior of the Helffist Monastery, which will be done by the end of the weekend!
Writing & Playtesting
I'm almost finished writing the Prison of the Plague Palm (Dungeon 3) and have already started part of the writing on Hellfist Monastery and Lost Temple of Lazaar (Dungeon 4 & 5 respectively). Prison of the Plague Palm will be sent out to playtesters within the next week, and Hellfist Monastery will be right behind that as well as Lost Temple of Lazaar! At this point, I have all of the art (at least for playtesting side) I need, so I just have to finish writing, make some stat blocks, and format the PDFs, So I am hoping to get one out each week for the next 3 weeks.
I have received some solid feedback from Playtesting on the first 2 Dungeons (Deathmist Vault and Shattered Chapel) and will be making some minor adjustments for the final book to fit that feedback where applicable!
STL Files
I am excited to say that the STLs are all almost finished! We are completely finished with the first 2/3 of the book, and are already working through the final chapters! I think I am also going to be making a few extra STLs for everyone who picked up the STL Files, and have some fun surprises for those that ordered the physical printed minis!
Here's a preview of all of the 3d models we have made so far!
Note: I am making a change to the Plague Palm Monk to fit the story and description I have been writing this past week, so that model (far left middle row) is going to change.
Magic Items and Other Artwork
I am still making some tweaks to how I want the card decks to look, but the good part is we are a ways out before those go to print. At some point later in the production I will probably put up a poll with a few different demos. That said, I have made illustrations for a lot of the Magic Items and Monsters so far.
Backerkit
I am going to be finalizing everything on the Preorders next month in Backerkit! I am closing the pre-order page at Midnight October 31st! This is mainly for the Seventh Moon Adventure Zines that I ran in Zinequest back in August, that were also offered as Add-Ons in the Tome of Dungeons campaign. I am beginning print production of those (they were already written) already, and will ship all of those out in Novermber for both the Zinequest and for the Seventh Moon Adventures Zine Addons (not the Tome of Dungeons zines - just the SMA Zines). So to combine both of those together I am going to close the Backerkit at the end of October so that I can accurately ship out all of those items to everyone! I'll also be releasing all of the digital rewards for the Seventh Moon Adventures at that time as well!
The Tome of Dungeons book is still estimated to be finished and shipped in Q1-Q2 2023. My goal was to be 1/3 finished with writing and art by October, and I am right about on pace for that! My next landmark goal is to be finished with 2/3 of the writing/art by end of November, and then completely finished by the end of January 2023 so that everything can be passed on to the print production around February, giving ample amount of time for print and shipping to be handled based on my original campaign fulfillment plans of "April 2023". I hope to still be on track for that goal and have everything to you all by then, and I absolutely will keep you all updated if this estimated fulfillment date is changed!
Pay it Forward - Other Creators I Love!
As always, I like to end my updates, newsletters, and posts by paying it forward and sharing a spotlight with other creators and projects I love!
My Friends on the Dungeoncast Team are excited to announce the launch ofStarseekers Guide to Draken Star, a 5e compatible Campaign Setting Book based on their actual-play D&D Podcast “Superquest Saga”!
Starseekers’ Guide is a sprawling D&D 5e expansion filled with new player options, customized skills, and all the tools any GM would need to bring their campaign to life in Draken Star, a setting where Science Fiction meets High Fantasy. Exploration of alien frontiers, starship skirmishes, advanced civilizations vying for galactic dominance, and the fusion of ancient sorceries with biological and technological advancements. All of these and more are elements of adventure in the universe of Draken Star.
- 1 Brand-New Futurist Class - The Machinist
- 10+ New Subclasses for 5e
- 6 New Skills
- 5+ New Galactic Species
- All-New Equipment including Aether, Superkinetic, and Magitek
- New Backgrounds and Feats
- Custom Spaceship Designs with Rules for Travel by Aether Light and Ship-to-Ship Combat
- Over 100 Custom Monsters from all across the galaxy
Starseekers’ Guide to Draken Star will be available as a digital pdf as well as in a gorgeous Hardcover format. Or go all out with our “Premium Draken Star Starter Kit” including a custom “Celestial Dragon” Dice Set, DM Screen and more!
Dungeon Map Update!
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Aug 19, 2022 at 06:11:17 AM
I got a small update on the progress of Tome of Dungeons! Today I finished the maps for the 3rd Dungeon, Prison of the Plague Palm! This will be a sewer themed dungeon crawl and the writing has already begun on this one! Hopefully I will have it into Playtesters hands in the next few weeks!
Here's a sneak peak at the two part Dungeon for this chapter:
We also printed the 1st map out and here's a preview of that
Zinequest 4 has 4 days to go!
Last but not least, my Zinequest campaign for the Seventh Moon Adventures zine series has four days to go! Once this is finished up, I will be grabbing the print counts up and will be starting production on those immediately!
That's all the news for today! I'll keep you all posted with the progress of the Tome of Dungeons as it keeps coming along!
August Update! Playtest Material, Zinequest, and more!
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Aug 05, 2022 at 10:26:33 AM
Greetings Humans!
It's been a minute since I posted an update on here, so I wanted to let you all know the progress on the Tome of Dungeons and share other news about some Zinequest projects!
So far 94% of Backerkit Surveys are complete! So if you are in that 6% who have not completed your survey, let me know if you have any problems! You can find the survey here https://tome-of-dungeons.backerkit.com/
Playtests
We sent out our first round of Playtest from the first Dungeon "Deathmist Vault" to all 226 people who signed up to be Playtesters! So far we have only had a small handful of responses but they have all been super helpful so far!
For the most part it seems the traps inside are well-hidden, hehehe! I think every single response has said "All traps were triggered" or close to it. Also, it seems the opening scene may need some editing since it pushes a narrative early that seems to subconsciously push the characters away from a Roleplay scenario I was hoping to see in some games. The difficulty seems to be clear across the board - the majority of the dungeon is easy but the end boss is very difficult! I am going to see what I can do to make some parts a little bit less cake walk and take a little heat off of the party in the final fight scene.
Playtest for the 2nd Dungeon "Shattered Chapel" will go out later today!
Cards
I have made an early template for my Item Cards! I have been sharing a few ideas on Discord and have made a few changes from feedback but I am always open to more feedback! Here is a card example from the next Dungeon:
Keep in mind that a large portion of the black border will be trimmed in the print process - this preview includes the bleeds! The thin gold trim will be roughly the same size as the final black border after the cards are cut!
Since my last preview, I posted I changed my font on the item type (Potion | Uncommon) and the font on the card rules. I also made some other minor cosmetic edits to the card itself! Let me know what you think!
STL Files
I have gotten several STL Files in from my 3d Sculptors so far and they look fantastic!
So far we have the STL Files for the first 5 dungeons complete! Which is 1/3 of the way there! So far we have the following models ready and test printed:
- Xavia - Drow Assassin
- The Butcher
- Runestone Golem
- Plaguepalm Monk
- Dwarven Skeleton King
- Demodorf
- Lazaar - Death Shaman
I have a meeting with my sculptors to go over the next 5 chapters and their details!
What's Next?
This month I am focusing on finishing up the Dungeons for the next couple of Dungeons! I have story boards finished and am making the maps for the Prison of the Plaguepalm, Hellfist Monetary, and Lost Temple of Lazaar and then I will be pushing through on the writing for each! I am hoping to be finished with all three of those by the end of August, which keeps me right on track for my timeline!
Zines
I have started doing my own test printing on my Seventh Moon Adventure Zines and they are coming out even better than I expected!
I am printing these myself! They are slightly smaller than A4 size and are my own custom size! They are sized at approximately 7.5x9.5 inches, and they are all printed on Matte coated paper and I can't state enough how great the quality is on them!
ALSO - I got permission by Kickstarter to run another campaign for Zinequest which is going on right now! So I'm launching a 2-week Zinequest campaign for the Seventh Moon Adventures zines next week. I have everything I need to produce these in a very fast manner, so if you decide to sign up to that one, they will ship out in about a month or so after the Zinequest ends! They are already written, and ready to print and assemble! The only thing that may delay anything is if I get a crazy amount of orders and need to order more paper, but I would need to have a lot of orders for them for that to happen (and I have a good supplier on the paper I need to produce them so unless the orders are in the multi 1000s I will be able to get another paper shipment for them in about a week)!
NOTE: These Zines are available in the Tome of Dungeons add-ons and on Backerkit - so if you already grabbed them there, you do not need to support this Zinequest campaign unless you absolutely want to support me as a creator! I simply want to launch this to bring more attention to it!
All US orders for the Seventh Moon Adventure Zines - both from the Zinequest AND from the Tome of Dungeons - are all going to be fulfilled together in the coming months!
International orders for the zines from the Tome of Dungeons will ship later with the physical book from ToD due to international shipping costs (sorry, I can't control the cost of shipping these, so I can only ship them all together to save the cost of shipping on my end so I don't go bankrupt trying to ship everything separately). I am not offering International shipping on the Seventh Moon Adventures Zinequest campaign - international shipping is simply out of control right now, and I cannot in good faith ask the prices it will cost to ship over seas for a product this size. This does not affect anything from the Tome of Dungeons international orders.
All of the digital editions of the Seventh Moon Adventures for everyone will be shared next month as well!
Other Zinequests I want to highlight
I have several friends running Zinequest campaigns and Kickstarter campaigns right now! I want to take a moment to highlight those, as each one of these are dear friends of mine! If you can support them, I absolutely encourage you to!
In the Court of the Frozen Queen
In the Court of the Frozen Queen - Venture into the Coldstorm Valley, where you will have a chance to uncover the ancient secret of the Village Fairhaven and stop Valkura, the Ice Queen, from bringing everlasting cold to the valley!
Designed for characters with an average party level (APL) of 1 to 4 (with an optional scaling for characters at levels 5 to 7), In the Court of the Frozen Queen will bring your players on a four-act epic adventure where they will solve puzzles, fight their way through minions of the evil queen, all while trying not to freeze in the cold nights that fell on Coldstorm Valley.
Inside In the Court of the Frozen Queen you will find:
- An epic story spanning 4 acts, worth 4 to 8 sessions of gameplay, where adventurers have a chance to save Coldstorm Valley from a terrible fate.
- Over 60 pages of adventure, full of beautiful art, maps, and more!
- Multiple new monsters and magical items!
- Custom token art and over 20 maps designed for VTT use!
The adventure will be available in print, as a PDF document, interactive book (think D&D Beyond-like website!) and in the form of premium modules for Foundry VTT and Shard Tabletop! A deluxe version is also available, with a Game Master Screen and other bonus GM supplements!
Will you uncover the secret of Fairhaven, or will you freeze to death… In the Court of the Frozen Queen?
Tomb
TOMB - My Close friends at Brave New Worlds have just launched their first Kickstarter for their Zinequest project, TOMB.They have poured themselves into this project to create a dungeon and adventure inspired by their passions and fears, and any pledges or eyes on the project are more than appreciated.
TOMB is a sprawling dungeon delve zine inspired by the adventures of our past and the ideas of the present. Compatible with 5e, TOMB is being created as a streamlined and modern take on the concept of the mega-dungeon with a strong focus on providing an easy-to-run and tactically engaging experience for both sides of the GM screen.
TOMB is an idea sparked from real-world fear, anger, and frustration. As adventurers plunge further into the ruins beneath the once gleaming city of Fenbury, the true horror of its history is slowly uncovered. TOMB is the story of a community suffering at the hands of the vile REVEREND MAGISTRATUS KREXILLIUS KORNATH, a man of great evil who abused his power and authority to deceive those he was trusted to protect…
What’s In Store
- A massive, multi-level dungeon
- Elaborate, tactically engaging new enemies
-
Artifacts and weapons of terrifying origin
- Ancient and forbidden skeletal spells
- A bone-crushing Dungeon Doom soundtrack
Adventures Awaits: Arcane Armaments
Adventures Awaits: Arcane Armaments - My dear friend Ben created a collection of 200+ fifth edition compatible magic items that are ready to be inserted into your home games at a moment's notice. With an easy-to-read layout, quick reference guide at the front, and incredible art to showcase to your players, you can easily pluck out an item whenever you need it and deliver to your party a magical reward worthy of a hero or heroine.
Designed by Benjamin Palmer, head writer at Adventures Await Studios, and illustrated by Direquest, this book contains over 100 pages of magical treasures each hand drawn and colored with unique mechanics to intrigue your players and make raiding the dragon's hoard even more fun than before!
I GOT MY LARGE FORMAT POSTER PRINTER!
almost 2 years ago
– Mon, Jul 04, 2022 at 11:44:22 PM
Greetings Human,
This month I’ll be working full steam on creating content for the Tome of Dungeons!
If you backed the Tome of Dungeons on Kickstarter, don’t forget to fill out the Backerkit Survey! Most of my Backers already finished it up, but if you are one of the ones that didn't, please be sure to finish that up when you can! If you are a backer and have any issues, make sure to reach out to me so I can get you squared away!
If you missed the Kickstarter, don’t worry! You can still Pre-Order the book over on Backerkit!
STL Files
I brought on two 3d Artists to work on STL Files for the Tome of Dungeons! I met with them both this past week for our first super top secret official meeting to get the BBEG Models started! We will be working on the bosses and sub-bosses for the first five Dungeons in July! Hopefully, we get all of them finished up so I can start test printing them!
Everyone who signed up for the Physical Book will get the STL Files automatically! Also if you grabbed the STL Add-Ons from Backerkit for $25, you will get them all once they are finished up!
After all the BBEGs are finished I am probably going to keep on creating STL Files. We unlocked 20 (possibly more if I decide to add a few because I want to) STLs through Kickstarter, but I want MORE! I want to include every original creature I create! So once we are finished with the BBEGs for the Kickstarter, we will continue producing STL Files for the foreseeable future over on my Patreon!
If you don’t have a 3d Printer and need me to 3d Print things for you, I got you! You can Pre-Order them on Backerkit right now, and later down the line, I will have them on my website as well!
I'll be posting previews as we get these files ready! Both the Render previews and once I test print them on my 8k Elegoo Saturn 2!
Poster Maps
Speaking of Printing and stuff, I am pretty hyped to announce I got my Large Format Poster Printer in this past week! Aaaaaaaaand holy crap it is HUGE! 44 Inches of pure happiness and unfiltered joy!
I ordered the Canon imagePROGRAF GP-4000 and I also got a big 54” Rotary Trimmer, and some 175g Satin Coated Production Paper! So it is on! I ran a few test prints this past week, and I have it working like a charm! Honestly, it is even better than I anticipated!
I’ll be printing all of the maps for the Tome of Dungeons in this way and sending them out to backers who ordered them in the Backerkit Add-on section once the book is finished with production!
So. That said, I have maps. I have printer. I have website. I will be building a webstore so that anyone can order select maps on demand! Since it will be coming directly from me, and not from a 3rd party printer or from office depot, these will be cheaper than you would expect to pay from one of those places! Plus you’ll be supporting an indi artist and getting amazing highly detailed maps! Put them on your table, hang them on your wall, roll them up in the tube they were shipped in and hit your friends in the head with them! Whatever you want to do, I got you!
Of course I will announce it in my Newsletter once I start to list these up on my website so you can find them! I will also be making Promo Codes for all of my Kickstarter Backers for $5 off of any Poster Maps from my website, in case you can't get them now during the Backerkit Pre-Order!
Look at his face! He was so excited!!!
Now it is time for my obligatory post for fellow creators I love!
Adventure Awaits
My friend Ben from Adventures Awaits has an upcoming Kickstarter coming soon! A collection of 200+ fifth edition compatible magic items. It launches on August 2nd with early bird specials for the first 48 hours!
Sign up to be notified when it goes live!
Zine Quest
Speaking of upcoming Kickstarters, Zine Quest is coming soon in August! Kickstarter kind of snuck that one up on the creators, and I was hoping to participate in the next ZQ. Though I am not sure if I can run one for that considering I have a Kickstarter here waiting to be fulfilled (plus I don't want anyone to get upset even if I am allowed to, so I probably won't be). I thought it was going to be in February and I had things planned to be wrapped up (or close to) here on this KS by then. I don't know if I will get to hop on this one, but if not, I have several friends running one, and worse comes to worst, I'll get my ZineQuest in on the next round in February 2023! Plus if any of you are interested in one of my Zines, I have several available in Backerkit already!
Backerkit Surveys | Smoke Test!!!
almost 2 years ago
– Tue, Jun 21, 2022 at 10:17:44 PM
We Just sent out Backerkit Survey Smoke Test!!!
Heya! We just sent out the Backerkit Survey smoke test! This went out to 5% of backers at every pledge level. If those go out smoothly (which I think they will, I went back and forth with my BK Rep making sure everything was set up correctly) then the rest of the surveys will go out tomorrow!
That's all for now! I'll get with people signing up for playtesting soon and get you all set up with the first Dungeon PDF in the next week or two (maybe even the first two).
Hop on my Discord if you want to as well! The link is in the Backerkit survey AND RIGHT HERE
