This post is going to have a ton of photos. We are at the very end of the proofing process, where we are receiving physical samples of covers. So get ready for a whole bunch of those!
We also have one bit of bad-news-that-we-fixed-so-it's-fine-now. Long story short, the MCC neon cover will use foil instead of fluorescent inks to achieve the desired look. Full details on that below.
Now, let's start with proof photos... so many proof photos...
BTW, these are called F&G's, which stands for "Folded & Gathered." These are printed on the true and final paper stock. They're folded, and gathered together (hence the name), but no binding is applied. That is why in some cases you see the "guts" of the book sitting outside the cover. The guts are printed "as you'll get them", just not bound in yet, so we're showing you what the inside will look like, too.
In some cases you'll see "firm" covers. Those have already been adhered to the board. In other cases they look "floppy." That's the PLC (Printed Laminated Case), which is "exactly what it will be printed on," just not yet glued to a board to make it a hardcover. In those cases, you actually see the bleed, which is an extra 1/2" or so on every edge. If you examine one of your hardcovers at home carefully, you'll see the bleed is wrapped around the board edge, then the endsheets are glued over it, covering off that final 1/2". In these photos you can see the edge bleed that will be obscured by the endsheets when bound. In case anyone is wondering why the cover edges look weird on some of those "floppy hardcover images", that is why!
Now, on to some photos.
Dungeon Denizens 2 5E monster-hide cover, printed on the actual stock with the actual foils with the final deboss.
Dungeon Denizens 2 DCC monster-hide cover, printed on the actual stock with the actual foils with the final deboss.
In case you were wondering - yes, this is the leatherbound!
These are the stretch goal booklets that you'll receive.
This is one of the "floppy" hardcovers, not yet adhered to a board, as explained above. Same for the next couple covers.
Inside the Flumph Book
A couple updates ago, a backer asked to see interior shots of the Flumph book. Here are a few photos for you!
Inside the Dungeon Denizens 2 Books
And while we're at it, here are some photos of the interior of Dungeon Denizens 2. First, the 5E version...
...and now some photos inside the DCC edition.
MCC Core Book, Neon Edition
Now, the tale of this title. MCC has a natural "radioactive" theme, and we want to do a cover that captures that. We were originally inspired by the option of fluorescent inks. This is the printer chip that beguiled us:
Don't those fluorescent inks look awesome? That was the menu of choices. So we designed a cover that would utilize fluorescent inks.
A while back, the printer told us they were having trouble executing the cover. They sent the photo below. This was their first proof for the MCC neon cover. They rejected it internally and told us they were going to re-do it, and not even send it to us. Sometimes inks don't execute properly, for a variety of reasons. Believe it or not, humidity can screw up the printing process. The surface underneath the ink can sometimes affect things, too, and fluorescent inks are persnickety like that.
The "scratchy stuff" around the edges is glow ink. Our vision was a neon green cover, which turned into a glow cover when the lights went out.
Glow ink is very cool, and we've used it before. It leaves behind a residue. When we've used it previously, the residue blended into the cover look. However, when applied to a black case, as you can see above, the residue is way too obvious.
Plus the green wasn't vibrant enough!
After spending some more time reworking it, the printer then sent us this proof, which we just received:
As you can see, this still doesn't work. The green isn't vibrant enough and doesn't fulfill the promise of that original chip of fluorescent inks. And the glow ink is wayyyy too distracting - that white scratchy texture is too obvious. The glow ink was supposed to enhance the cover when in dark environments, but instead it became a distracting application of its own.
It's rare that we reject a proof, especially with the amazing printer we have, but in this case we have done just that.
The printer is now acquiring foil to achieve the same effect using vibrant foils instead of fluorescent inks. We will probably abandon the glow-in-the-dark idea, too, since it's just not executing right. Here is our mockup using our foil choices:
Once the foil inks are acquired, we can confirm the exact final shades, then we'll share a proof photo.
All this is to say... this MCC cover will still look cool. We're achieving the same effect, with a different path.
Warehouse sale + game convention! May 1-3 in Fort Wayne, Indiana!
Dungeon Con 2 Is Coming
If you live near Fort Wayne, Indiana, come visit us! We are opening our warehouse to the general public! Our famous warehouse sale happens Friday May 1 and Saturday May 2.
In addition, Dungeon Con 2 will be held in downtown Fort Wayne, IN on Saturday May 2 and Sunday May 3. Hundreds of games, seminars, and more! Plus your chance to meet the Goodman Gang and pick our warehouse clean!
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!
Reminder that this Friday, March 6 is the deadline to complete surveys. About 15% of surveys are still incomplete. If you haven't already done so, please complete your survey!
If you complete your survey on schedule, your items will deliver faster, especially for international backers!
Meanwhile, in other news...
Dragon Rider's Primer is live! This crunchy 5E sourcebook is suitable for both low-level and high-level campaigns. It elevates your adventure to new heights! Featuring 30+ flying mounts, 12 new subclasses, and new feats, spells, and options - for both characters and their adversaries. Check out the project for more info and see the stretch goals we've cleared!
The pledge manager is now live for all backers! Plus we have more proof photos!
Pledge Manager Is Live! Last Call for Campaign Exclusives!
Please provide us with your address and other details so we can prepare for shipping!
We're extending the special campaign pricing for pledge items and add-ons, so browse add-on options as well.
If you wanted the leatherbound DCC core rulebook, or exclusive foil editions of Dungeon Denizens 2, this is the time to get them! Also remember that the "floppy adventures" in this campaign include foil treatments for backers, which isn't on the retail edition.
Pledge Manager Deadline: March 6!
Please complete your pledge manager by Friday, March 6. This deadline is especially important for international backers. After this date, we will instruct the factory on how to split inbound deliveries.
International surveys completed by Friday March 6 will arrive months earlier to backers than those completed afterwards. This is because they will ship direct to your market from China, instead of stopping off in the USA first and then being forwarded. So, please please please finish those surveys on time!
More Proof Photos
We're actively going back and forth with the printer, so there's a steady stream of proofing. Here are a few more photos from the last week or so.
Proof copy of Dungeon Denizens 2 hardcover, 5E edition. You backers will get the version shown at right, with the bonus 16 pages. Retail edition is slightly different, shown at left, and doesn't have the 16 bonus pages.
25 years in business! The logo on hardcovers is treated with a reflective silver foil.
Proof copy of Dungeon Denizens 2 hardcover, DCC edition. As with the 5E edition, backers get the version shown at right, with the bonus 16 pages. Retail edition is slightly different, shown at left, and doesn't have the 16 bonus pages.
Case samples of the reptile-hide foil edition. These actually aren't quite right, as the deboss wasn't properly captured. We've approved the inks and materials, and are working with the printer to get the deboss correct.
Here is a series of photos related to the DCC core book, leatherbound edition. It is packaged inside a cardboard mailer for protection. That's what you see here. The final cardstock mailer will be printed with a bit of art and title.
When you open the mailer, you'll find the slipcase. This is just the dummy with no ink applied, showing construction and materials.
Inside the slipcase is, of course, the leatherbound core rulebook. This sample has the correct leather binding but isn't printed. The white square is a removable sticker that is applied atop the shrink wrap. There are three stickers on front, spine, back, saying things like, "Signed Edition," "Real Leather", etc.
These are the signature pages that will be tipped into the leatherbound edition (in addition to the 16 bonus pages not in the regular core book). This is the untrimmed version; final version will be trimmed to spec. This particular page was rejected due to a slight wrinkle in the paper (which you can see if you look very closely right below the phrase "including you"). We have to sign about 50% more than are actually used, because the printer is very picky about using the best possible copies. Ouch, just looking at this is making my hand cramp again...
We just initiated the pledge manager smoke test, so about 5% of backers will receive a pledge manager survey via email any minute now. The goal of the smoke test is to find any bugs in the pledge manager setup so we can fix them early. ("Smoke test" as in, "where there's smoke, there's fire!") If you find anything weird in your survey, please speak up!
If all goes as planned, the survey will roll out to all backers soon!
More Printer Proof Photo
We continue to go back-and-forth with the printer on finalizing items. More proofs have trickled in since the recent video we posted for backers. Here are some photos of the latest items.
Cover for How to Write Even Better Adventures. This is an uncut cover; it's the "actual cover", printed on a board with lamination applied, but without being glued or bound to the text block.
Angled shot of the same cover, shot so the light catches on the spot gloss atop the cartoons. The way the light reflects, they look almost like stickers on a composition notebook!
Cover for The Monster Alphabet.
Cover proof for The Monster Alphabet, with the cover for The Flumph's Catalogue of Magical Curiosities placed in front to give a sense of scale. Yes, the Monster Alphabet is BIG!
Cover proof for Flumph's Catalogue of Magical Curiosities.
Unbound cover proof for the DCC Dying Earth Tome of Adventure.
Uncut cover proof for the DCC Bonus Monster Booklet.
This is perhaps not the most interesting photo, but it shows progress on the DCC and MCC print jobs. These are the printer dummies for those core book reprints, showing softcover and hardcover mockups to verify paper stock and binding decisions. Everything looks good, so next up will be proofs with ink applied.
We anticipate the pledge manager going to all backers soon - we will post here when it does.
Last chance for exclusives!
Our current crowdfunding includes an amazing clamshell box for Pinball Crawl Classics. Plus two different cover options for Old-School Adventures #1! This is your last chance to get the exclusives and stretch goals so check it out quick if you're interested!
The 5E adventure has two cover options: a weathered "TSR look" or a B/W "zine look".
The amazing Pinball Crawl Classics clamshell box featuring Gorgar art!
