Greetings crew, this month I took a few days of PTO and focused on getting layout *almost* to completion, plus I a few more illustrations finished up. Something I hadn't planned on at all was 3 of the 4 factions having not only a main ship, but also a secondary Class 0 vessel at their command. One I'll keep as a surprise, but here's a sneak peek at Wulco's prototype racing ship:

Wulco are evil scum and don't deserve to own a ship this nice, it sure would be a shame if the player crew had to steal it...

For this coming month Jettila is finishing up spot art, and we'll be hammering out a concept for her short supplemental zine. In the next weeks I'll be ordering test patches/stickers before putting in the full order, and plan on having layout finalized before the end of the month.

Until next time,
Ben King

Hello crew, I'm long overdue to send out another production update on Knowledge Asymmetry. If you've backed other Mothership Month projects you've probably seen other folks grappling with production delays. I've fallen behind schedule as well, and I'm looking at fulfilling in Q3 rather than June. Jettila Lewis continues to work on art for the module between her other commissions and I'm still plugging away at layout. Page layout is satisfying work and involves moving the final text from my google doc into Affinity Publisher 2 alongside illustrations, logos, and the foundations of the page- headers, footers, page numbers.

Although Knowledge Asymmetry is in it's "Final" writing stage seeing how text changes visually from a text editor to columns, insets, and illustrations in layout has a way of making it even clearer what needs to be added and taken away. Text doesn't fit neatly onto this spread: what can be cut to save wardens from unnecessary page turns? Extra space on the page: do I commission or design additional illustrations or do I add more helpful level or faction description? In some ways layout is like a final FINAL editing pass on a module.

In the screen capture above you can see large red blocks on some pages. These are placeholders for art in-progress. The blocks give Jettila Lewis the exact dimensions of the available page space for illustration. For the character art which  goes here she has free reign to use part or all of this space as she draws. Alternatively, on the page above the text has been formatted to to fit around the pre-existing art, with minor edits to keep figures from being placed on the "spine" of the booklet, obscuring the art.

I'll send another update as we get closer to completing layout and move to the initial test prints. We can't wait to hold this in our hands:-)

Hello Crew! Please pardon the delay in this update, I took a production detour to nail down some outstanding business: signing with a small publisher to manage and promote my next Mothership module. Creating a pitch and signing a contract took up some time that could have been devoted to advancing work on Knowledge Asymmetry, but I'm back into the swing of things now. Making Knowledge Asymmetry as good as it can be is our first priority over future projects... but expect more space horrors in the future!

Status Report:
Jettila Lewis continues her great work on the module's character art and is hammering out a solid concept for the supplemental zine. I'm focused on editing the module text down and adapting a simple formatting style guide to ensure the faction bounty descriptions and missions are tight, focused and readable. Meanwhile Space Penguin Ink is preparing for shipping. Expect additional emails from Backerkit requesting additional information for physical fulfillment in the future.

Still no art to share! Jettila and I are still discussing how best to balance what we reveal and what we keep as a surprise for the finished module. It's hard sitting on great art, but we don't want to spoil too much!

Wish us luck!

Welcome to the second Knowledge Asymmetry Status report!

January was unexpectedly a business month for Knowledge Asymmetry. I’ve never had a proper “business” before and discovering all the little steps that needed to be taken with local government in Chicago, the state, and at the federal level has been an entirely new process for me. I registered the business name, got an EIN so I can provide 1099-NEC’s to folks I commission, and have a few more steps yet to go before everything is above board. The highlight of this process was taking the elevated line downtown to the City Clerk’s office of Vital Records in order to register an “Assumed Business Name.” The last time I visited 50 W. Washington in Chicago was to drop off my marriage license a few years ago. It’s an oddly up-beat place to stand quietly in line with 50 strangers waiting to navigate a maze of bureaucratic red tape... 

In the meantime Jettila Lewis continues work on illustrations for the faction’s criminal dossiers, and logos are final for 4 of the 5 factions. The ship maps are nearly completed! Art for the Salvage Freighter's Utility Pods is complete, but I'd like to try something different for the my next illustration. In February I'm setting a goal of making one full booklet illustration in the 3d software program Blender. I've been playing it safe with how I make my share of the art, but have always been interested in trying 3d rendering, and if not now, when?

Delving fully into layout is the next step after this and I can’t wait to have more spreads and start hammering out placement of ships, factions, and quests. Jettila and I continue to meet regularly and talk shop about dying in space and getting production sorted. If you don't already, follow Jettila Lewis on instagram!

No art tease this month, but I plan on having something to share with the next update. This is a shorter update but in this case no news is good news:-) That's the status report for this month- we'll prepare another Backer transmission at the end of February!

ColumbaryTTRPG
Ben King

Welcome to the first monthly Knowledge Asymmetry status report! 

Due to banking regulations both Backerkit and their payment processer Stripe have short waiting periods before transferring funds to creator's accounts. After the campaign ended it took a couple of weeks for the fundraising money to arrive in my bank account- money arrived on Christmas eve 12/24. First thing I made one of three payments to Knowledge Asymmetry's artist, Jettila Lewis so that she can continue working on art for the module.

While Jettila Lewis works on art on her end I've been drawing the ship lairs and maps- without spoiling too much, here's some screencaps of early maps for several of the ships... and what's that? A Utility Pod? A Fighter Bay?

Meanwhile layout is kicking into gear which means transferring text from my writing document into my layout software, Affinity Publisher 2 and giving it another editing pass. If I had a dollar for every word I cut while fitting my text into layout I could pretty much fund another booklet...

By the end of January we hope to have almost all of our maps and illustrations complete and to be neck deep in layout. We'll also be looking to get sample sticker prints and patches made in preparation for a full run in early spring.

If you're interested in how the creative process works for TTRPG creators I have a number of interviews on my Substack, columbaryttrpg.substack.com with folks who have worked on the Mothership Month anthology Devil's Due, and others like Violet Ballard of RV Games. In the coming month keep your eyes out for an interview with the crack team behind both Goblin Mail and the upcoming A Feast for a Sphinx; Sofia Ramos, Luna P., and Evelyn Moreau.

Zine Month is coming in February!
I'm looking for projects to share in my January backer update next month. Brace yourselves, there are going to be a ton of great projects funding in February. If you've ever been interested in making a zine yourself it's a great time to join the community and try it out.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you have a lovely new year!

ColumbaryTTRPG
Ben King