Due to some printing delays (more on that below), we had the chance to fix a few lingering typos and—more importantly—streamline the damage system in the game. Huge thanks to everyone on the Discord who helped hammer it out. I’m really happy with where it landed. You can check the changelog and grab the updated files from your DTRPG download link.
This will be the final update Grimwild receives for the forseeable future.
Print Schedule
Here’s a quick update on where things stand. All files are finalized and with the manufacturer. Printing begins in May, books arrive at our US fulfillment center in June, and shipping starts shortly after. You should have your books in hand by the end of July. That’s a few months behind our original schedule—here’s why:
We received test prints of the supplements and parts of the hardcover (printed in sections due to its complexity). The cards and zines looked great, but the dice had issues: the Pantone red I picked was too dark. It took a few rounds of adjustments to get it right—Pantone can be tricky.
We also ran into some back-and-forth over the hardcover design, especially the foiled and debossed cloth spine. Each change meant waiting a week for a new test print, then repeating the process. It added up.
There are some photos at the bottom of this post to check out. I had more photos of this process, but unfortunately the Dropbox folder got deleted. So no hardcover pics yet. I’ll post those when the physical test prints arrive at my place.
As for tariffs: yes, we’re affected. It’s impossible to say what the US–China import tariffs will be in June. They’re currently 145%, though there are rumors they might drop. My guess is 30–50% by the time our shipment arrives. In any case, I’ll be covering the cost myself—whatever it ends up being.
Expanding the Print Run
As April neared from the delay, I realized that many others were interested in the hardcover as well, people new to the game. I had originally planned to do this first small print run (of 500 copies), then another larger one in about a year. But since the printing was delayed a bit, it actually opened up two opportunities.
First, we got to update the final printing to the *very* well checked v1.4!
Second, we get the chance to allow anyone that wants a copy of the book to order it.
So we’re launching an expanded print run via Backerkit early next week. If you know someone who wants a copy, please send them the link:
I’ve unlocked all orders. If you want to add the hardcover or any of the physical supplements to your pledge, you can do that now. I also reopened address changes in case you'll be at a different location come July 2025. Please get them updated.
I originally locked things down a bit earlier than necessary before. Sorry about the false start there.
If you run into any issues, feel free to reach out!
Pictures
Here are a few photos from the test print process. Most of what I had vanished with that deleted Dropbox folder, but I managed to salvage some from Discord. They’re rough snaps from the production process, but I’ll take proper photos when the final test prints arrive.
I tried unlocking all orders yesterday, but the system didn't correctly process the request.
However, now I've managed to get the orders unlocked. Anyone that backed the original campaign can now change their orders (to upgrade to physical editions) and addresses. Let me know if you have any problems with it!
For late backers that want to grab the physical editions or edit addresses, the orders can't be unlocked. It's a separate system - if you'd like to make changes, please drop me a message at [email protected]
Hey everyone, I am very happy to say that I just released updates to to Grimwild, Grimwild: Exploration Deck, Gaelenvale, and Nevermore to bring them all up to their finished forms. If you haven't, go download them now!
Go to my surveys
Grimwild
Get your digital downloads
Click on the links to download via DTRPG.
If you didn't back at the tiers to get them, you can now pick them all up easily in a bundle (which discounts the parts of it you already have on DTRPG)!
It's been a pleasure working on this. Now that Grimwild is out, I am very much looking forward to community content via our CC-BY license. Our discord has been getting quite active with multiple games running a week and people crafting away at supplements. I can't wait to see more of it.
People have also been busy building some tools for the game. Let me link to a few digital tools here!
Join our Discord to find a game or use our Mox bot made by community member @theia!
We also have some great news about a Moxie SRD website incoming (working on it now), as well as Foundry support, and more that I can't quite spill the beans on yet!
Print News
With the digital stuff all brought up to its final form, I'm now prepping it for print and translations (incoming Spanish and German, and likely French as well soon). We got white samples (basic mockups) already of all of the products and everything looks good, so manufacturing is read on their end. They'll get the files and start the process, which should be finishing around the end of February.
After that, it ships to our fulfillment center, and from there to your houses. This is not a promise, but I said "Q1 - Q2 2025: Game arrives at your house." on the Backerkit page and the books should be arriving right in the middle of that. We'll see how quickly everything goes - fingers crossed and knocking on wood.
From this point, it's pretty hands-off for me in regards to Grimwild. The manufacturing and fulfillment are all very straightforward. We've chosen an award-winning manufacturer in Eastar, and our fulfillment center is very reliable in Fulfillrite. Fulfillrite connects directly to Backerkit, so everything should go very smoothly.
In about a month, I will lock addresses (you'll get notified) and then charge for shipping, so expect to see those updates coming through. You can go ahead and update your shipping information now though if you need to!
How to Help
Now that the game is finished, there's a few ways you can help it grow!
Run games for your friends, duh!
Send out the free version to anyone who might like it!
Sign up to get notified of our next project. Whether we live or die as a tiny indie publisher is up to your support. These Backerkits are everything for us and every little bit helps, whether it's actually pledging, telling a friend, or just signing up for notifications to help create buzz.
Hey everyone, I'll make this quick. You can download Grimwild: Free Edition, Chapters 1-6, right now from DTRPG. The game is free and openly licensed CC-BY, available to everyone! Backers and buyers of the full game on release (January 7th!) will get an entire extra chapter. For what's in that chapter, you can take a look at the preview at the end of the Grimwild PDF.
The digital edition of the game will be released on December 30th. I am finalizing everything this week and want to get it out just at the end of the Q4 estimated timeline I originally posted on the Backerkit page. The game is substantially more in-depth and polished than I even initially intended and I am incredibly happy with how it's turned out!
After the digital release, I will gather feedback for 1 week and make minor changes to the final print edition to ensure that what goes to print is updated with any small errors that might get found as more people look over it. This doesn't change the timeline for the printing at all as the printer will only be finishing these in March, at which time they'll be mailed out. This all fits within the timeline again, though towards the latter half of the estimates.
I mention the December 30th release date because I would like to gather as much feedback as possible, so if you're interested in helping out, please set aside a little time in the first week of January. Thanks!
Shipping costs will be charged once production is finished. You can expect that in March. I apologize that being a few months later than expected (though within the looser deadline I set, I still thought it'd be a bit sooner).
NEW COVER & BOOK SPECS
While laying out Grimwild, I realized it would work better in a larger size and made the shift from 6x9" to B5 (close to 7x10"). The modules as well were changed from digest to A5 (slightly larger). This allows me to set up a two-column approach where needed. We went back and expanded the sizing of all of the art in the book to match this new size, which also helps the flow a lot!
Print specs: The book is B5 size, with a cloth bound spine overlapping onto the cover. The cover is in matte, the internal pages are uncoated, thick (110g) paper for a nice, high-quality feel. You might've seen something similar in Vaesen or Salvage Union. It has a dark green bookmark that matches the cloth binding (not shown above). Along the spine, copper and silver debossed foil are used for the book title and other decorative elements. I've a prototype of this arriving in 2 weeks and I'll be sure to upload photos!
The printing costs went up overall as a result of the larger size, cloth binding, and foiling but I felt like it was worth it so ate the cost. I'd rather have a very attractive book on my (and everyone else's) shelf than stick with the original plan.
MODULES
Luke has also finished work on Nevermore and Gaelenvale. They are both fun sandboxes that make it easy to get a game of Grimwild started up. I wanted to share a quick mockup of how those are going to look. They, as well, will be printed on the 110g uncoated paper, with a thick stock cover - again, a very high-quality feel to them. The digital release will also come on December 30th.
