This is an exciting day! With the main boxed set and supporting book files off to the printer, we are happy to share the pdf of the Advanced Advantage Playtest Packet #1 with you amazing backers. If you are here for the goods, scroll down to get your PDF.
But if you need a refresher on what Advanced Advantage is, continue reading below or check out this link:
Advanced Advantage is Goodman Games own set of "house rules" for 5E D&D. It doesn't replace the beloved game, it enhances and reimagines several of the core concepts. I'm sure you can guess from the title that Advantage is one of those rules.
We are still in the development stage of this rules system, but we've been tinkering with it for years. And now we are ready to share the first part with you, the backers of Terror from the UnderDeep. We are hoping the backers get a chance to check out a few of the rules in Packet #1, and tell us what you think. The packet includes instructions on how to provide feedback.
Wait, did you say Packet #1? That's correct! This is the first of 4 planned playtest packets. Packet #2 was available during our Dungeon Denizens 2 crowdfunding a few months ago. And Packet #3 is coming later this year, while Packet #4 will be released during our first crowdfunding campaign in 2026.
Are You Going to Be at GenCon?
In a few weeks, Goodman Games entire team will be at Indy for GenCon, the Four Best Days of Gaming! We will be all over. In the main exhibit hall, we will have two booths: Booth #109 is our "prime" booth, while booth #2519 is a satellite booth. Part of our main booth (#109) will be dedicated to our expansive 5E product lines. Feel free to swing by our 5E booth, meet the team and let us know what you think about Advanced Advantage and Terror from the UnderDeep. And of course, track us down near the Wizard Van in Lucas Oil Stadium where we host all of our tournaments and games.
Just a very brief update to let you know that we have uploaded the files for this project to the printer!
Whew... it was a lot of pages.
In the coming months we will have photos of proofs as we work through the process.
The question we usually get right now is, "Well if the files are at the printer, why don't I have the e-book PDF yet?" Two reasons. First, through the print proofing process, we always catch mistakes. Better to burn the PDFs after all those are fixed. Second, the e-book PDF is a different workflow than the printer files. The screen-res PDFs have crops, different output specs, hyperlinks, bookmarks, etc. So, once we get through the proofing process, we'll start on the digital PDFs for you all.
That's all for now. More to come once we have some proofs to show off!
So let's get the bad-news-that's-not-bad-news-anymore out of the way first. One word: "Tariffs." To be completely honest, we had to pause on this project for several weeks while we tried to navigate our way out of the tariff maze. We contacted domestic box printers here in the USA, looked into publishing this as a hardcover or another format that was more feasible to print domestically, and generally spent a lot of time on the phone trying to understand what our options were. It was a long couple weeks.
Then the tariff situation evolved and... poof... the original plan looks feasible again. So, a month later, we're back to Plan A and revving along. There are a few maps to finish up in order to complete layout, and then we're looking forward to getting this boxed set to the printer. I think in the next update we will likely have some layout preview pages to show you.
For this update, the big progress is the first miniature sculpt is complete and in our warehouse. This is what hundreds of unassembled cloud giants look like!
Next update we should have a lot more progress on the "main books" to share. Moe to come!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday! This project just keeps moving along. We are knee deep in layout files. Several of the smaller books are already done. And the main books are nearing completion even as I type this update! And so much artwork and maps are finally getting dropped into the layout, which really makes the pages pop!
Before we get to another Terror from the UnderDeep art preview, please take a moment to check out our current crowdfunding project: Dungeon Denizens 2. There is so much excellent 5E content in that project, such as the Flumph's Catalogue of Magical Curiosities (a collection of 300+ magic items for your 5E game), plus the system neutral How toWrite Even Better Adventures, (the follow up to our popular How to Write Adventures that Don't Suck!). And of course, a few softcover 5E adventures, FEF #35 Frozen Lair of the White Wyvern and FEF #36 Revenge of the Rat King (the sequel to FEF# 31 Idylls of the Rat King, offered in this campaign). Plus, you can grab a DCC core book featuring amazing wrap-around art by William McAusland!
The Flumph's Catalogue of Magical Curiosities (300+ magic items for your 5E game)
How to Write Even Better Adventures (System Neutral Design Advice)
FEF #35 Frozen Lair of the White Wyvern
FEF #36 Revenge of the Rat King
DCC RPG Core Book featuring William McAusland Wrap-around Cover Art
TERROR FROM THE UNDERDEEP ART PREVIEW
Feast your eyes on some of these original art pieces coming to Terror from the UnderDeep:
Keep Your Head Up!
Dragon Guarding an Electrum-clad Obelisk
The Mushroom King
Jambo-Gorgon: A Wereshark Ettin Guard Argues with Itself
Tell us in the comments which artwork piece you are most excited to see.
So much amazing art is rolling in for Terror from the UnderDeep, we just had to share it!. Here is a preview of 6 more curated pieces...
But first, did you know our Dungeon Denizens II campaign is live right now on BackerKit? And you still have one day left to get earlybird extras such as a bonus monster and a d16! Click on the banner below to check it out!
For the 5E fan, there are so many amazing books being offered during this campaign. Plus backers get a chance to contribute monsters to the book!
Dungeon Denizens 2 (350+ new monsters in both standard and LE reptile-hide foil cover formats)
How to Write Even Better Adventures (the sequel to our popular How to Write Adventures That Don't Suck with all new essays from industry luminaries such as Luke Gygax, Ed Greenwood and Kelsey Dionne)
Monster Alphabet (Oversized Reprint of the popular system neutral sourcebook)
The Flumph's Catalogue of Magical Curiosities (featuring 300+ new magic items for your 5E game)
2-Page Dungeon Delves 2 (22 new Delves featuring monsters from Dungeon Denizens 2)
FEF #35: Frozen Lair of the White Wyvern (an all new adventure featuring 10+ monsters culled from Dungeon Denizens 2)
FEF #36: Revenge of the Rat King (the sequel to FEF 31: Idylls of the Rat Kingoffered in this campaign)
Advanced Advantage Playtest Packet #2 (if you picked up Playtest Packet #1 in this campaign, don't miss the second playtest packet-featuring rules for monsters!)
Plus VTT Tokens for all the monsters and a cool T-shirt!
And don't forget, all physical books come with free PDFs!
Ok how about that Terror from the UnderDeep Artwork Preview?
Keeping the Troops Happy by Matthew Sutton
Leafcatcher and Canopy by Jason Sholtis
Fossilized Purple Worm by Charles Ferguson-Avery
Scuttling Slackjaws by Joe Abboreno
Travel Across the Darksea by Tom Bumgardner
Confronting the Kraken by Stefan Poag
And don't forget to check out Dungeon Denizens 2! Now Live!
