TL;DR: The Tower has toppled, over to you. Details below for how to contact RRD, join the community or follow up on post-campaign pledges/issues.
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Our work here is done
That’s it. The project portion of this is all done, the game is out in the world and we’re very happy to see people playing it. It’s in your hands now: Voidheart Symphony is yours to do with as you will. Obviously we hope that means playing it, telling people about it, and then maybe playing it more, with even more people, but even if it just sits on your shelves, we’re happy if you’re happy. And we hope it makes you and your gaming groups very happy - and we’d love to hear about your experiences.
Everyone here in the RRD swamp is pleased. And relieved. And a bit tired. We’re going to bask in the glow of the holographic foil logo for a bit and admire our handiwork. Well, most of us - Customer Service Jim and Logistics Alex remain on call to deal with any issues, and Mina’s already moved on to writing a whole new game. Speaking of which, if you haven’t seen our Children of Time announcement, have a peek.
Main fulfilment finished
All Backers who have filled in their surveys and paid for their shipping should have their packages already. If you haven’t received your delivery please contact us and we can work out what has occurred ([email protected]).
Feedback & Community
If you’ve already had a chance to check out your delivery (perhaps even read through and share with your tables) why not head over to our website pre-orders page and leave a product review that might encourage more people to try the game? Or join our Discord server and chat to other backers about it?
If you social your media, you can always tag us on Instagram, Bluesky or Facebook to let us know what you’re doing with your games, we’re @rowanrookanddecard most places. Or you can still comment here on the project - we always monitor our old projects.
Consolidating Digital Files
We’ve also made all the previously shared digital rewards from the campaign available on our website, as well as in your BackerKit. If you want to add these resources to your RRD webstore downloads you can send your Backer ID number and your RRD webstore account email to Jim in the Customer Service mines ([email protected]) and he’ll sort out linking those across for you.
Stragglers sift
Our fulfilment project has now ended. In a few days we will go through and collect any Backers who have finalised their surveys, have orders and addresses locked or had Card payments declined since we processed our main fulfilment in each region. We call this our stragglers sift, and it’s our opportunity to pick up any things that may have slipped through the cracks, as well as giving the small number of backers that we haven’t heard from since the campaign ended one last gentle poke [*poke*] Anyone picked up in this process will be fulfilled before the 3rd April 2026.
Closing the Campaign
From 3rd April 2026, the BackerKit project will be closed. This means that you are no longer able to fill out surveys or amend orders without contacting RRD directly.
If you find yourself in this situation please email us ([email protected]) and let us know your Backer email or number.
Once the campaign has closed we cannot guarantee the availability of all the items that may have been attached to your original Pledge. Some items are made uniquely for the crowdfunder, and are often in limited supply to begin with. Post-campaign stocks are time-limited and we’re unable to hold stores of items ‘just in case’; from a core book to a unique pin, it will go out of stock in time. We will always try to fulfil as much of your original pledge as possible.
This update has some details on layout, and art, and other such topics. But more importantly, some dude named Ethan came in outta nowhere and wiped my high score off Bride of Pinbot! Grrr. We'll deal with that at the end. For now, here's the real substance of this update...
Layout For Old-School Adventures #1
OSA #1 is through first-pass layout. We're currently proofreading, fixing text/image overlaps, and so on. Here are a few previews of select page spreads...
Interior Art for Pinball Crawl Classics
The PCC adventures are written and edited. Now they are all in various stages of art commission. In previous updates / livestreams we showed you a number of images and maps from Gorgar. Here are a few images that just came in for Swords of Fury...
...and here are a few recent additions to Cosmic Gunfight...
Dude Named Ethan is Good at Pinball
Now, on to the important part. Joe Goodman here. I hit a couple local pinball places with some frequency. Research, you know. All a tax writeoff, of course, at least as long as this project is current.
Anyway, I had the high score on Bride of Pinbot at one machine for quite some time. Just under 13 million. Of course, if you know the machine, I never made the Billionaire's Club (haven't gotten that shot) but 13 million ain't too shabby. Photograph evidence below... and yes, JEG is me...
So the other day I walk in, and some guy is playing the machine and he's absolutely killing it. After watching him for a while, I realize he's good. REALLY good.
We get talking. Turns out he used to manage the location, and he's good at virtually every machine there. He teaches me a specific move on Bride of Pinbot: backhand flip off the left flipper gets it up the left ramp almost every time, and even catches it easy on a miss. Amazing move.
My game immediately improves... but it doesn't matter. Cuz dude's name is Ethan and he literally wiped my #1 score off the top 10, and proceeded to fill the ranks with his own name.
A day or two later I got 10 million and didn't even make the top 10.
I think I met a real-life Pinball Wizard. Now the challenge is on to get my name back on the top 10! Practice, practice, practice!
Here is your latest update. Three main topics for everyone today:
UK/EU and AUS fulfillment updates
Updated PDF with map fix
Backstage look at fulfillment
As mentioned previously, US+CAN wave 1 fulfillment is virtually complete, so the focus of this update is international backers.
UK/EU Fulfillment Has Begun!
Our local partner tells us they've made great progress on shipping, and we've seen a lot of comments from backers across Europe indicating their parcels have arrived. Which is great news!
We'll post tracking numbers and provide a shipping summary once we receive the final confirmation from our local market partner. From what we have seen so far, though, they appear to be roughly 90%+ complete on shipping.
AUS Fulfillment Update
The freight is still on track to arrive in late March. Customs clearance and local transportation are always a variable but we are optimistic that fulfillment will begin by early to mid April.
Updated PDF
We've fixed a map issue in one of the PDFs. All backers should see a new file in the pledge manager called "TFTU CS Book 2 Attack on Giants Part 1 (Updated)." On page 108, the map is now corrected.
A Backstage Look at Fulfillment
While our US warehouse was fulfilling Terror from the UnderDeep, we recorded a few moments so we could show backers what fulfillment really looks like. Check out the video below to see crowdfunding fulfillment in action! You might even see the moment that your order was packed!!
Here's the latest update as we progress through the final part of the proofing process. In previous updates we showed you a wide variety of printer proofs. This update has the latest batch received since... well, since whenever we posted the last batch!
Most of these proofs are related to the DCC core rulebook and its iterations. The MCC rulebook is one of the last proofing items we are awaiting. More on that below.
This is the cover art to the DCC RPG core rulebook, William McAusland cover edition. Wow, it turned out great! Will even hand-painted the logo that you see here.
This is the custom-fitted slipcase, front side.
Same slipcase, back side.
This is the printed corrugated carton that the leatherbound edition will ship in.
The stickers that will be applied to the leatherbound edition.
Leatherbound foil + deboss, file of 1 of 3. This series of images shows alignment of deboss and foil on the leatherbound cover. This is where the foil will be printed....
Leatherbound foil + deboss, file of 2 of 3. ...and this is where the deboss will be applied....
Leatherbound foil + deboss, file of 3 of 3. ...yielding this final image showing how the deboss and foil will appear atop each other. If you're not used to looking at printer proofs this might not make any sense, but trust me, it's a good thing... this shows that the leather cover foil + deboss will come out correctly.
I think we mentioned that the leatherbound edition has an extra 16 page signature sewn in at the end. This is the start of that section.
Random page from that bonus gallery. Does anyone recognize these spine designs? Some of them date wayyyy back to 2012-2013 printings of the core book, and haven't been seen since.
As we are reprinting the core book, we are also adding another print run of the "regular blue edition." In almost all respects this is like prior printings, save one fun change. Note the 25th anniversary logo in silver, which will be applied on the 14th printing of the core rulebook "blue cover" edition!
So that's the latest round of proofs, everyone. Off the top of my head, we are currently awaiting only one significant remaining item, which is the fluorescent neon edition of the MCC RPG core rulebook. The printer sent a photo of their first proof run, but it wasn't bright enough. They're re-applying the neon ink for another proof sample soon. Once we have that approved, I believe it will be all proofs approved. We'll keep providing updates as we progress!
Good news everyone (especially international backers):
This crowdfunding campaign has hit End of Life (EOL)!
All international physical pledges have been placed in the mail! If you have any problems with your country's customs agency please let us know here: [email protected].
Big thanks to Ratti Incantati for handling the international fulfillment! If you are in Canada and have not bought the physical products, they are selling Netcrawl in their online store and at Breakout Con this weekend!
Patreon
Happy Birthday, Netcrawl Patreon!
This month marks the 4th year of the Patreon. Since it's humble beginnings, we've grown a lot! There are ~30 supporting members and 150 free members. There are almost as many Netcrawl posts as there are members (173)! Most of the time Update Patch posts get around 300 views. Paid posts around 30-100 views. Quips really out perform everything else and get 2K+ views. Why am I telling you this? No idea.
What's next as we plod towards 5 years? Maybe there should be a lot more quips? It seems like I absolutely need to start doing more video content. Especially to highlight the game and give people that quick and easy video format. Maybe I'll get comfortable doing it if I just do more. Maybe I'll continue to rue the day I ever pressed record on my video phone.
After the production and fulfillment of Netcrawl, I've slowed down a bit creatively. It does take a lot out of a person doing all the things. But I see new ideas on the horizon and the Patreon will continue to be the place you'll see stuff from me first. To that point, next month is a change from program result table conversions and something new. You only have to wait a few more days to see it.
Media
Check out my appearance on the Analytic Dice Studio podcast. I was put to the nine questions by Kevin Borrup and it was hard to go back in time and remember my gaming as a middle schooler.
Events
It has been a very busy month for me and Horse Shark Games. I made two trips to the east coast visiting Boston and New York City/Long Island.
The end of the NYC trip was spent in Brooklyn and visiting Twenty Sided Store in the Williamsburg neighborhood (two metro stops or so from Manhattan). The proprietor, Lauren Bilanko, has a very nice FLGS with lots of OSR books, card game tables on the 1st floor, and a workshop/TTRPG tables in the basement. She is writing her own sci-fantasy setting and game system named Mystic Aether and does a ton of creative stuff. She and I did a workshop on adventure writing using the Sys Raid hexcrawl/pointcrawl adventure generator in Netcrawl:Arcologies. All the participants walked away with the bones of an adventure, which means I have something new to work on for the next few months!
Calendar
On the horizon is Dungeon Con 2! Come visit Ft. Wayne, IN May 1-3. Check out Goodman Games warehouse sale and play with tons of Goodman Games authors and 3rd party DCC RPG publishers. There is a convention hall this time around and I will have a vendor table at the event. Come visit Horse Shark Games!
Netcrawl Nights
Also coming soon is Netcrawl Nights, a live demo game of Netcrawl that will take place on various discord servers. Stay tuned on the Netcrawl Discord as I roll this out. I can reasonably announce that there will be one in May in the Twenty Sided Store discord.
Upcoming Art from Huckleberry: Magnum Opus
Howdy, pardner!
It's time for another update! I'm pleased to report the Huckleberry train is still rolling steadily down the tracks and the final stop is in sight. Here's what we've been up to:
Playing Cards
Files for both the cards and tuckbox have been finalized. Actually, the majority of the art was finalized a long time ago, but the EU and UK have product safety laws requiring certain markings and information to be visible on the packaging. There's also the extra complication that playing cards are often considered to be a gambling item, instead of a game accessory. The regulations are easy enough to comply with, but it is worth the extra bit of research to ensure we do things right and won't be turned away by customs.
After finalizing the files, they were sent to production! Manufacturing is being handled by the good folks over at Shuffled Ink. We have received physical proofs and we're very happy with the quality of both the material and the print. After seeing how the digital colors translate to ink on the cardstock, George has made some tweaks to the colors in our files. This isn't due to any fault or errors in the printing process, but rather that digital colors don't translate one-to-one when printed. That's the benefit of physical proofs - we can fine tune the results before printing the entire batch. A second set of physical proofs have already shipped and should arrive in the next day or two. I fully expect we'll be approving them as-is. After Shuffled Ink gets the greenlight, it's game on and the full print run begins!
Physical proofs of all 72 cards.
We couldn't resist and self-assembled one of the proofs for the tuckbox!
Dice, ARUS, and Trays
Manufacturing continues for each of the accessories. Production of the dice is going full speed now that Chinese New Year is over. The good folks at All Rolled Up told me they started cutting and sewing the dice bags yesterday, with the trays to follow after that giant task is finished. This morning, I received an email that our patches are entirely finished and shipping out today. Overall, everything is going perfectly to plan with no setbacks or delays to report.
Freight shipping of products might be a different concern, with the current economic conditions. Fortunately, this is a small project in the scheme of things and we won't be needing to rent cargo container space or anything like that. If necessary, we have the more flexible (albeit more expensive) option of air shipping, so we shouldn't encounter any trouble.
As an aside, I'm happy to say that costs for all accessories remained within my estimated budget. These rewards are the most expensive parts of the project, so things are looking especially good for the project in financial terms.
What About the Books??
The main attraction! I'm very happy to report that yesterday I sent over the final notes to Nathan for our corebook. The final print update is OFFICIALLY IN LAYOUT! What an amazing adventure this has been. I was looking through my old emails recently, remembering the early days of Huckleberry, and I realized my first contact with Nathan was almost exactly two years ago!
Since then, Nathan has put together four major updates for the core book and over a half dozen scenarios. Now, we're working on the fifth and final update. This update is probably our biggest yet - maybe half of it is the new chapter, about 7600 words long, written by Dylan Grinder and Kienna Shaw. The rest is quite sprawling, impacting several different sections of the book. 17 new Hostiles are being added, 10 new player Traits, a hyperlinked glossary/index, rules clarifications, and a slew of other odds and ends.
As for the bounty book, good things are happening there too! Playtesting is over and scenario editing is in full swing. All scenario art is complete and when the text is finalized, it'll go straight to Nathan for layout. Hopefully this will coincide with layout wrapping up on the core book. After that, both books go to print. We're in the final stretch and the end is in sight!
Shipping
I have confirmed shipping costs with my distributors and the majority of the shipping survey has been built. I've also done quite a bit of legwork here to ensure we offer fair and competitive shipping worldwide. When I have a firmer grasp on the estimated weight of the books, I'll be finalizing the back end and sending surveys to collect S&H, likely next month.
As always, if you have any questions feel free to email me or join the Discord. Thanks for riding with us!
Since we just smashed through the $135K stretch goal (thank you!!), we wanted to start a discussion here instead of sending another update and flooding everyone’s inbox.
For this stretch goal, the community will get to vote on a new Class and Ancestry to be added to Druskara. We have some really cool ideas ourselves, but we want to hear what you have been wanting to see at the table.
Classes:
What do you feel is missing from the classes already released in Unnatural Selection, Shadowdark, or other 3rd-party supplements?
Is there a class fantasy you’ve always wanted to play but haven’t really seen done yet? Something that would make you excited to roll up a character and jump into a campaign?
Ancestries:
Same deal here... what ancestries do you feel are missing from Shadowdark right now?
While we’d prefer not to create a full animal-folk zoo, we do have an idea for how something like that could be implemented if it’s something people really want.
What ancestries would be fun for you to roleplay? What would bring something new to your group’s table?
Drop your ideas in the comments!
When we post our next update, we’ll gather the most interesting suggestions and turn them into a community poll so everyone can vote.
We also have a major stretch goal announcement coming up that’s absolutely killing us to keep under wraps… but you’ll just have to build a little anticipation.
(Also, we’re honestly not sure how many people hang out in the discussion tab… so if you’re here, hello!)
