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!)
To all of you who backed this project a HUGE THANK YOU!!!
In the coming weeks, more information will become available. Please don't forget... if you haven't already, go download the BETA rules and provide any feedback you might have. This will be helpful as we complete the project and prepare all of this wonderful content for your enjoyment!!!
Right now, the book is sold out — but with so many new backers discovering Dungeon Damsel through Druskara, we’re considering bringing it back for another print run. Unnatural Selection is woven into the four books that make the Druskara Core Set. Despite this, you're still hungry for our original creation. Unnatural Selection birthed the roots from which Dungeon Damsel Publishing grew from.
What if we re-print? If we did, the book would be updated to the new format/design internals as Druskara, so that they can exist seamlessly alongside one another. See some of the campaign imagery to find out what that may look like. We would also open up a few new pledge tiers to accommodate the book.
Before we make that decision, we want to hear from you...
Would you like to see a reprint of Unnatural Selection: The Untamed and the Underworld? Vote in the poll below and let us know! Your feedback will help guide what we do next.
Today we had the pleasure of watching SimzArt working, live, on this wonderful illustration that he is doing for Pumpkin Spice! We hope you enjoy it <3 This version is not final - but it's pretty close!
We also unlocked a couple new stretch goals - we know, we said in our latest update they were the last ones; but you asked for more, and we obliged, because our authors always have a good new idea in their sleeve - and we are getting closer and closer to discovering the Final Spell... we've seen some speculation in the comments, and we can't wait to share!
It's incredible to think we are entering the Last 48 (Rush) Hours. If you are reading this and are still in doubt if backing or not... Take a look at all the stretch goals unlocked, ask us questions here and on Discord, pour yourself a good cup of coffee or tea, and feel the cozy vibes: we know you'll want to join the Coven.
Lastly, we have a new Community goal for which we ask your help. Let's spread the world of Pumpkin Spice and gift a sweet cozy tune to all the backers of the project!
We wanted to thank you for your amazing support: that's why if you reach this achievement, we will gift every backer one of the tracks we are going to prepare for the vinyl!
Goal: 300 reached! — We did it! This project reached this goal!
Every shared creation begins with a single thought in the hive. This first question shapes the foundation of your exclusive adventure scenario, setting the tone for all choices that follow. Before our collective mind can raise dungeons, conjure monsters, or weave new magic, we must decide what kind of journey we will imagine together. Your vote will decide the style of the adventure scenario that project followers will receive after launch.
