Brace yourself for Mothership Month—a group-collab project led by Tuesday Knight Games featuring some of the brightest stars from the Mothership third-party publishing (3PP) community. Each 👩🚀 creator has launched a brand new adventure filled with criminals, smugglers, and rimspace pirates.
Mothership Month Supply Pods
🚀 Back 5+ projects at the physical level and gain access to the SUPPLY PODS. Every five projects that fund, you get ANOTHER Supply Pod with more free goodies.
🌟 Supply Pod 1 (Unlocked!): 1 pack of Mothership CHARACTER CARDS. Each pack contains 13 pre-made character cards ready for use as pre-gen characters or NPCs. Each pack comes with at least one FOIL card.
🌟 Supply Pod 2 (Unlocked!): +1 pack of Mothership CHARACTER CARDS, 5 foil campaign project stickers.
🌟 Supply Pod 3 (Unlocked!): +1 pack of Mothership CHARACTER CARDS, +5 foil campaign project stickers, and an exclusive Mothership Month 24 pin!
🌟 Supply Pod 4 (Unlocked!): +1 pack of Mothership CHARACTER CARDS,+11 foil campaign project stickers, and Shadow of a Doubt a brand new "reverse murder mystery" pamphlet adventure by Ian Yusem (Hull Breach, The Drain).
All in: if you back 5+ projects you're getting 4 Character Card packs (an entire deck of cards), 21 foil project stickers, an exclusive Mothership Month 24 pin, and a brand new adventure pamphlet.
Are there more Supply Pods to come? We're looking into it now!
Streams, Interviews, and more!
All month long, we're diving into the void with daily streams, unsettling interviews, and exclusive, heart-pounding reveals. Whether you're a veteran spacer or new to the Mothership, join us in celebrating the universe’s bravest survivors…and those who didn’t make it back.
Thanks for joining us on our first ever Mothership Month! 👽
PSA: What about shipping?
While it would be amazing if we could bundle all the shipping together, currently with each project's different location, fulfillment timeline, and process it's not feasible for everything to be shipped together. It's a difficult logistical problem to solve and we've got some ideas for next year to help relieve shipping burdens. A few projects may ship together based on the publisher, see each project's page for details.
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Happy New Year! January has been busy busy busy. All the artists received their art briefs for the week following the New Year, and I've already got some great initial sketches to share with y'all, check it out:
Lur Noise - Scoundrel NPCs
Tim Zygor - Freight Carriage sketch
Carly A-F - Patrol Roundabout sketch (with my crappy version on the side, haha)
Not Enough Scoundrels project progress
It's not only the artists who've been at it! Josh Domanski had extremely helpful notes for the Factions, Spacecrawl Procedures, and ending 1d100 tables (and other pertinent stuff too, but those were the big ones). Throughout the rounds of feedback, they may have convinced me to pump four more pages into this zine.
I'm finishing up revisions this week (between Johnson Squared dev editing!), and then I'll pass the manuscript back to Josh by Friday to receive their feedback on the refined Spacecrawl Procedures. After I implement whatever notes they may have for me there, gdoc goes to Marx Shepherd for copyediting!
Once I have sent this out to Josh, I will then send emails to the ten folk who backed at the Immortalize an NPC Scoundrel level (which honestly, I did NOT expect to sell out), so we can start working on those NPCs for inclusion in the zine! The good news there is that with the slight changes to the page count, we're going to have some more space for those Scoundrel deets, 😁
Layout Examples
Since this is such a cram-packed zine, it's been vital to swap between layout and gdocs, testing out sizing with the ship sketches, and all that. This is all stillvery much a WIP. Most of the actual manuscript lives in a Google Doc right now, which is still undergoing revisions, but this templating has really helped to shape the form of the prose that's being written. In these screenshots, you can see the gutters and spacing I'm using to build the zine for y'all:
WIP opening spread template
Carly A-F's Ship sketch to help plan final art revisions (see: Ship Stats still not updated)
Tables are the biggest PITA to convert from gdocs, haha, so they usually come last in layout.
I hate to be too hopeful and have it bite me in the behind, but this is feeling like it'll be able to go to print much sooner than the initial estimate of July. I won't say anything officially, because as conventional business wisdom goes, it's the last 10% that takes 90% of the time!
Zine Month Upcoming!
For folks who are new to the indie ttrpg scene, there's a yearly explosion of TTRPG Zines called Zine Month. ZiMo is a fantastic time to seek out game designers you might not know of, making small games and zine adventures This year, there is one that has really caught my eye called Universe at Your Door - The Traveller.
By Lola Johnson
It's a Solo and GMless ttrpg by Lola Johnson, using dice and a deck of cards to send your crew careening through space in search of a New Earth. Obviously because it's sci-fi, it's got me curious. And it's got a Community Stretch Goal featuring our very own Carly A-F! Click here to follow Lola's launch of Universe at Your Door!
Next Update
The next update for Not Enough Scoundrels is coming your way on February 24th. We'll see where we stand in a month's time! I'm going to try to stick to roughly a monthly update schedule, and aim for Mondays as a rule. See ya then!
We did it! We figured out the Pledge Manager! And we've been approved to send out our Smoke Test, this will take a lucky 5% of you to receive the survey at an earlier date, this is to reveal any issues with the surveys, you can contact us through whichever way you want, but you can also contact BackerKit Support, we are all able to help you out and if BK Support can't handle something, they'll send it our way!
Pledge Manager
After the smoke test is done, the rest of the surveys will go through (after ironing out any kinks if needed), so the sooner the smoke test gets replies, the sooner the rest will receive theirs!
Shipping
Shipping fees for this project will be calculated at a later date!
Thorough read, and if it's your first campaign and you don't have a clear image of what's going on, this will help a lot!
Soon, you’ll receive an email from us with a special link to your BackerKit survey. It’s essential to respond to your survey as quickly as possible since we need this information to fulfill your rewards.
You do not need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey. When you receive the survey invite email, click the survey link to respond. Answer the questions about your reward preferences, provide shipping information, and purchase add-on items if you like. You don’t have access to this survey link yet, but it will be available soon via email!
After you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change your responses at any time before we close the surveys and get our final counts.
Due to the volatility of shipping prices globally right now, shipping fees for this project will be calculated at a later date once we have the best estimates for everyone. We plan to enter & charge backers for shipping a month or two before fulfillment when we have better estimates of what it will cost to ship backers rewards. We will alert backers when shipping costs are finalized & before we charge your cards in your BackerKit survey. We will keep you informed all along the way!
If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://the-iron-hive-a-space-station-setting-for-mothership-rpg.backerkit.com/
If you used your Facebook credentials to log in to your crowdfunding account, the BackerKit survey is sent to the email address associated with your Facebook account. If you have another email address that you prefer to use, please contact support at https://the-iron-hive-a-space-station-setting-for-mothership-rpg.backerkit.com/faq
After surveys are sent, if you did not receive the email, and you Signed in with Apple ID, your email address might be a private relay email address. We can help locate your survey and update your email address, please message us or post a comment with your Backer ID or Pledge # found on your confirmation. You can learn more about your email hiding for your Apple ID here.
Hello everyone, just letting you know that we have sent the Smoke Test to a small portion of the backers to make sure the surveys work. Once 48 hours have passed, as long as there are no issues with the functionality, we'll send the rest of the surveys.
We've put our heads together and got the Johnsons onto paper, the first draft is complete! The manuscript has been sent to our dear friend Chris Air for editing and we're excited to be able to share the results with you.
But it's not enough to just read about them, we have to think about the look of our Johnsons too, and layout designer Eryk will be working on that process in the coming weeks.
We're hoping to have Johnson² into print in February and into your hands shortly after.
But that's not all! We raised just over 4 times our Bakcerkit goal, and to say a huge thank you to you all Janus Corp™ has approved the release of a player handout. Wardens, you will now be able to hand over an official and legally binding* Janus Corp™ NDA to crew members at the table. Make sure their commitment to the mission is iron clad, and in writing!
So that's on our to-do list! We'll send out a .pdf to all backers so you can print these at home.
The surveys have been figured out! Everything is set, questions will be asked, and shipping is going to be charged later, so you won't have to worry about that just yet! You'll have a chance to add addons, upgrade your pledge and all of that. HOWEVER, before everyone gets it, 5% of you will get it, and that's what the smoke test is about, to confirm everything's fine and working before sending it to everyone, they'll be going out around Sunday-Monday
Banking update
Sharing this for transparency's sake and to celebrate, I've found a banking solution that wants my money, the money made it from Wise to them, and is making its way to Colombia (international wire takes a bit), it was a small test before doing it with a substantial amount, but it's progress nonetheless!
I'm still a bit confused why I haven't been able to download the PDFs for the products I bought as a part of my pledge that already exist (eg. Core Box Set). The 'next week' referenced in the latest update has come and gone, and I'm also thinking that it would have been better for me at this point to have bought these things separately from DriveThruRPG or even the TKG store instead, and only pledged for products that remain in development.
I admit that I really don't know anything about . . . well . . . much to do with any of how this stuff works, but why have I had to wait over a month for things that already exist in digital form and should be a mouse click away?
Please forgive my impatience.
Welcome to the first monthly update for Awaiting the Burning Gods. There's lots to share today so let's dive in. First off, I hope you all enjoyed the holidays, however you celebrate. I enjoyed a little time off myself after the rollercoaster of Mothership Month and am happy to be back at the keyboard working away on getting this thing ready for you all.
State of the Zine
Before the holidays I made significant headway on The Smuggler's Guide to 1365, including writing unique alternate start, smuggling scenarios for Awaiting the Burning Gods, Dying Hard on Hardlight Station, The Cleaning of Prison Station Echo, and Nirvana on Fire. Each scenario offers tweaks to the original set up to reframe it to be perfect for your outer rim outlaws and lead them to explore scenarios they otherwise may have missed in a standard run of the adventure.
Meanwhile, Daniel has been working through more of the art for the zine and only has a few pieces remaining. Here's his take on the mysterious Smoking Darkness Reclamations. Watch out for them stalking the shadows between the ruined towers of Ma'at!
Smoking Darkness Reclamation Team on the hunt.
On the layout side of things, Dai has blocked out the book and it's looking like the final page count, with all the art and maps is going to come in around 44! Should be nice and substantial while fitting perfectly into the A5 saddle-stitched format. Here’s a draft of one of Dai’s maps for the upper tomb, showcasing a “1980s cassette futurism” aesthetic inspired by low-res orbital 3D scans. The text boxes on the sides will hold notes from the Landis survey techs, prepping your explorers for their descent.
Draft map of the upper vault
Building theBackerkit
A couple house keeping notes here regarding completing your orders, add-ons, and grabbing your digital copies.
The Late Pledge Store Is Live: If you are reading this but missed the campaign or want to share it with a friend, the Late Pledge Store is open!
Backer Surveys On the Way: I'm on round two of setup working with the Backerkit team to make sure all the stars are correctly aligned for the Survey. Should have those ready to go for you to confirm your order and finalize your add-ons in the next few weeks, so keep an eye on your inbox - especially your junk mail folder! I'll send a quick note when I'm sending them so you'll get a heads up before as well.
Digital Downloads in the works: For those who ordered existing Magnum Galaxy Games titles, I’m setting up your downloads. Initially, these will be available through BackerKit, with final copies delivered through DriveThruRPG during campaign fulfillment to complete your collections.
That's it for this month. Until next time I wish you all warmth, happiness, and a critical success on your next stat check.
Thanks so much for supporting Interloper and making this the most funded Silverarm project so far! We're on track for getting it to your doorstep Q3 2025. Will be quiet here until next update in February.
Here's the next steps: Surveys are already out and digital PDFS of already created products will go out by end of the month. I'll be sending out monthly updates to keep everyone in the loop and will be checking in to answer any questions you might have. I'm really excited to get this all wrapped up.
Also the preorder store is live for folks who missed the campaign or if you want any add-ons!
PS: Had a couple people ask, the Bastion of the Barren Five brochure adventure is the same as its' former working title Bastion of the Barren Six which was offered with our last Kickstarter. If you already backed that one, it's the same thing.
I can't believe it's been a month since the conclusion of Mothership Month. I took a much needed break throughout the rest of December a little bit into the new year. Burnout hit hard this time as I realized I never once rested since I started early campaigning for ARKYVR back in December of 2023. But IIIII'mmmmm back!!
Artwork
The NPC portraits are coming along nicely by Alex Cheng! They're giving off a "dreamy, unhinged mug shots from 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark'" vibe and it's working really well with the zine's investigative paper trail aesthetic.
Unfortunately, the artist I had originally booked for the OMENDROME spaceship illustration had recently chosen to take his skills elsewhere so I'm currently in talks with another artist. Fingers crossed! I'll update with name and example pieces as soon as we lock things in.
Some of Alex's newest OMENDROME illustrations!
Stretch Goal NPCs and the State of the Zine
Our 2 completed stretch goals gave way to 4 additional bounties. I'm currently working with one of our writers, Adrian Anguiano, to finalize the new entries about a war correspondent on the run, an underground cybernetic fight club, a sinister black market auctioneer, and a junkyard thrill seeker.
I'm still assembling the layout as I want to use a unique set and arrangement of scrap paper for every page and give each NPC a unique feel to their notes. I'm manually shaping and photographing each piece of scrap paper and jigsaw puzzling them all together on the computer - it's been a really fun but time consuming process so far.
Besides the few setbacks, it still feels good and likely that I'll deliver on time during Q2 of this year. Surveys will be sent out when we are close to fulfillment to ensure we have the most up-to-date shipping prices from Flying Cloud Fulfillment. It is also then where you'll have the opportunity to upgrade/change your pledge items and amounts.
I'm rearranging everything and it is a complete mess at the moment but trust the process! I see it clearly in my head!
Pre-Order Store
The BackerKit pre-order store will be up shortly. Keep in mind that people who late pledge here will not get access to the Mothership Month exclusive patches you all earned so diligently when backing OMENDROME during the first 48 hours and during the actual campaign weeks.
Local News
I've locked in a few events this year. If you end up in the area, please stop by and say hi, I've love to meet you all in person! I'll be vending at GameFace Con 2025 in Baltimore, MD on March 8-9, running ARKYVR games at GenCon in Indianapolis, IN in July 31-August 3, vending at PAX Unplugged again in Philadelphia, PA from November 21-23, and most likely doing another Holiday Market with Severed Books in Baltimore at the end of the year. There will probably be other events that pop up, so follow me on social media if you'd like to stay updated on those.
If you have any questions or concerns about development, the zine itself, or any of the Mothership Month exclusives don't hesitate to reach out to me through here or through my main website: https://www.alewoodgames.com/. Stay warm, stay safe, and happy gaming everyone!
Hope you all had an amazing holiday, the TKG team took a good break for the end of the year and we’re all getting back in from being out of office, so let’s dive in!
First off, thank you all so much for making Mothership Month and Wages of Sin such huge successes. It’s been humbling to see all our third party creators thrive and flourish, and really encouraging to see the response to Wages and Megadamage.
What’s the status?
There are a lot of moving pieces to this campaign. Let’s go through each of them:
Wages of Sin
Manuscript is complete.
Editing should be done by the end of January.
Final art should be turned in by the end of January.
Layout template is built, final layout to commence in early February.
Once layout is complete, the draft will be turned over to backers for preview and proofreading.
Final proofreading will commence after backers have turned in any errors they’ve caught.
Final files will then be sent to the manufacturer.
Megadamage
Final articles due by the end of January.
Editing happens article by article as they are turned in. Proofreading for this is handled in house.
Layout, graphic design, and illustration happen as the articles are turned in.
We will send out a preview to backers once the pre-press draft is assembled.
Pledge Manager The basic pledge manager is up and running. You can add Add-Ons to your order now. Shipping will be charged later, closer to when the books are finished printing, as will applicable VAT and Taxes. As this is a book, VAT shouldn’t affect too many of you. We’ll be adding more products to the pledge manager over the next week or two (like PDFs of our back catalog).
We will start working on downloads for those of you who have purchased add ons in the next week.
Character Cards The character cards have been designed and written and are waiting for final art, which should be here by the end of January. Take a look! The fronts have a full sized portrait and the backs have all the details you need to run the character. These can be used either as an NPC, or as a pre-generated PC. Finally, we have included an import code for each card, so any of these cards can be imported into the Mothership Companion App as a full fledged PC. We’re pretty excited about that.
Card back
Card front
Stretch Goals
The ODC prison complex has been written. It’s an amazing addition to the book. It includes the complete plans for the prison complex, tons of new NPCs, and it makes a great location to throw your players into (or start them out at) to see if they can escape.
Printable Warden Posters: We’ll work on these once the books are at the printer’s.
New Ships: These are being designed now and should be done within the next month.
Audio Briefings: The scripts for these have been written, and once they make it through editing they’l be assigned to our VO team. These should release around when we fulfill the physical copies.
Poster Map: These will be designed once the book finishes editing.
Patches: The patches have been designed and should be sent off to print in the next month.
Companion App
If you haven’t heard, the Mothership Companion App recently added an amazing new VTT upgrade: you can run online sessions of Mothership from the app itself, including tokens, dice, characters, map making, and more. Here are two video tutorials about some of the recent additions.
We’ll release an update once each month (we’ve been bad about this in the past, but our New Year’s Resolution is to correct that.). When shipping and fulfillment commence you’ll start getting bi-weekly updates, and then after fulfillment we’ll do bi-monthly updates.
Until then, stay warm those of you with inclement weather incoming in the US (or in the midst of it). We’ll be back in February with another update. As always, if you have any issues, please e-mail Tyler at [email protected]
