Seriously thank you very much for backing Netcrawl RPG. I am honored to have you on the team.

I had a bunch of fun with Joey Royale as we slapped together a little crowdfunding show on Goodman Games Official Twitch. Thanks to Goodman Games for the use of the channel. And thanks to Alana Thompson for engineering the show.

We didn't end up playing through the conclusion of the adventure, but I promise to turn it into a little digital solo zine or something along those lines so you can finish it on your own.

So close to breaking the stretch goal for the GM screen, but I am in no way disappointed. We put it all out there! It has been an amazing campaign and exceeded my expectations. I'll certainly be providing some PDFs of player handouts, reference booklet of important tables, and the screen for you to print at home.

There's been several new people on the Discord and Patreon. Come on over and join us. A new mechanic of Access Control dropped on the Patreon a few days ago. I'm be talking about why and how to use it later this month in the Developer Diary. I'll be posting the Update Patch from the Patreon here every month (usually published on the 20th). 

I'm going to get some rest. Thank you all again. 
<3 
James

The Netcrawl WIP reveal game continues. I'll even rule an upgrade as a new member. That brings us to 16 out of the goal of 50 new members (free or supporting). Maybe the game will be out before we get to the goal? C'est la vie, baby! Join the Patreon (it's free!) and find out before you see it here. 

Spellburn
Did you know I am on a podcast every month? I guess I keep on forgetting to mention it! Every month Julian Bernick, Jen Brinkman and myself host someone(s) from the greater DCC RPG community on Spellburn. It's live-streamed at https://youtube.com/@goodmangames and all the podcast episodes (stretching back to 2013!) are available at https://spellburn.com.

An actual play of Netcrawl has been recorded by The Splatbook! I sat down with a local podcaster and his crew of game enthusiasts and we discussed Netcrawl and played The CoreQueen Slumbers (the adventure in the back of the core rulebook). I had a great time and now you can give it a listen!

Art
Holy man! It has been a wild month. All the artists are firing on all the cylinders turning in spots almost every other day! They are an amazing bunch of creative people. I've been carefully tabulating costs for the main book (as well as all the other books). Accounting is not the fun part of all this, but it's necessary. Looks like the Netcrawl core rulebook will carry ~$6K of commissioned art in it. That is amazing and I'm thrilled to have my fellow creatives featured in this book.

A couple months ago I revealed this concept of lead artists. Here's an updated list of chapter lead artists:

Chapter 1 - Introduction - Jayna Pavlin
Chapter 2 - Avatars (aka classes) - Andrey Garin
Chapter 3 - Daemons (aka equipment) - Del Teigeler
Chapter 4 - Brute-Force (aka combat) - Christian Madsen
Chapter 5 - Repository (aka programs) - Stefan Poag
Chapter 6 - Sys-Raid (aka adventuring) - Lucius Felimus
Chapter 7 - Netizens (aka bestiary) - Colin Richards

Here's a list of all the other fine folks helping breathe visual life into the core rulebook: 
Micah Bauer, Boson Au, Robbi A. Burns, Alexandra Coggon, Darrenn Canton, Josua Clark, Andy Edmonds, David Fisher, Steven Gomez, Nick Heazell, Helm, Symon Heilögu, Doug Kovacs, J. LaBelle, Brad McDevitt, Justin McElroy, KJ O'Brien, Juan Ochoa, Matt Sutton, Daniel Vega

I'd just like to express my deep gratitude to these fine people. To my fellow creators: if you are able to bring them into your projects, hit them up -- in a few months. I'm still busy over here.

How about some selections from this past month's finals:

Layout of the Netcrawl core rulebook is very done. Page count is 184. An official quote from the printer is in my hands. I have 30 days to finish up layout and send them the files. There are currently only 3 spots outstanding for the main book. All systems are go.

Spot art is also coming in for The Ashdawn Incursion. It might be all wrapped and off the printer by mid August. I'll be focusing on the other books shortly.

Rulebook Prototype
I am preparing for GenCon and I will be printing some prototypes of the Netcrawl rulebook. These will be full color, ~180pp, spiral-bound, with a cover and printing some tables on the inside cover. Almost all the art is in the book. They will be very limited in number - like 10 or so. I'll hand number them and sign them and sell the ones I don't need (roughly half are already sold!). If you'd like one (mailed or picked up in person at Gen Con or in Ann Arbor, MI) let me know.

Well all this art has been paid for and there's still more dollars to go before I sleep. USPS just announced their rate hikes, so I'll make sure things haven't changed too much and then it is time to process payments for shipping and those of you who made additional add-ons or had cards that errored during the close of the crowdfunding campaign.

This also means that we are getting closer to fulfillment. Two adventures and the core rulebook are nearly ready to go to print! On the heels of those three: are my 3rd level adventure, the Arcologies world building book, and Brian Shutter's 1st level adventure. Token Collect is on the radar too. So things are looking good! No change to timeline at this point. I hope to start fulfillment in October.

I will be at Gen Con where I am running two sessions of Netcrawl (sold out, but if you want to play there might be an opening). I am also running some of the X-Crawl Classics tournament for Goodman Games. If you're going to be there, hit me up. We can hang and I'll have some Netcrawl swag to hand out.

If you all recall last month's update, I threatened everyone with a good time if 50 new members joined the Patreon. The June scorecard is 11/50. Which is AWESOME! If you joined, thanks for joining! When we hit 50 new members (free or supporting), I will release the WIP PDFs of the Netcrawl core rulebook to all the Patreon members. Join the Patreon here.

Holy smokes there is a lot to talk about.

There is so much going on, this is only a sliver of the art received over the past month:

Remember last month when I announced that Doug Kovacs was taking on a full page commission for the Avatars chapter? It's done! I figured it might take a few months, but he nailed it in 3 weeks. Absolutely stunning, right?

Davin Kluttz approached me about doing a color map as he wanted to develop his portfolio with some color examples. I said yes and the rest is history. He produced the color map for the introductory adventure in the back of the Netcrawl core rulebook and has also contributed maps to In Space No One Can Hear the Robopocalypse and now The Ashdawn Incursion. Don't look if you don't want spoilers about the adventure.

I'm honored to have Peter Mullen on the cover of "Battle at the End of Time"! I just sent an email from his webpage and he responded. Very nice guy and awesome artist.

I told you this month was nuts.

Layout of the Netcrawl core rulebook is pretty much finished. I think the page count will be 182 or 178. I haven't gone back through all the chapters to assess the final count. There are still some small page level tweaks to make, but things are going great.

More importantly, almost all the art for the largest chapter (Chapter 5 - Repository, 80 pages) is back. I am waiting on 2 spots. I might need a third depending on the final layout. The commissioned art has been manipulated with effects and photoshop tricks to present a cohesive artistic vision. I am excited. I assure you, it is looking very nice.

The Ashdawn Incursion is in layout. All the text is in the layout doc. A rough pass at sectioning is finished. It's looking like 20 pages. I need to finalize where images will go and write up the art orders to give to the artists. Which is good because, I need to get any idle artists on to their next commissions.

I am finalizing the 3rd level adventure, Generative Plot. The play test at TTRPG Pick-up Con #55 went really well so I am formalizing my notes and thoughts for the final draft.

Donn Stroud is working on the drugs section of Netcrawl: Arcologies. I hope to have it in my hands for editing very soon.

As soon as I can I'll be turning my attention to developing more of Arcologies. This will include reaching out to Create-A-Virus contributors about finalizing their contributions.

At this point I think this October is my goal for getting this project to the point of starting shipping.

I'll probably charge cards in July, but I might hold off until August if I can continue to float on money in the bank and monthly sales.

It was noted on the Backerkit that there are outstanding charges on your pledges. That outstanding charge is for shipping and any add-ons ordered during the pledge manager portion of the campaign.

My application for trademark has been approved by the federal government! Which is a little unreal to me, even now. This means Netcrawl will now have a little (R) after the logo. It's really a real thing like all that and a bag of chips. Was it necessary? Maybe not, but should anything go badly (and things do go badly, even in the TTRPG industry <cough> Dark Trails - IYKYK <cough>), the thing I've been working on for 4 years has a lot of additional rights that it didn't have before.

Lastly, if you haven't seen Netcrawl's Appendix CY check it out. Lots of new additions. I don't just work a day job and develop a new TTRPG, I also read books and watch a few films here and there. Yes, I still have time for my wife, family, and cats.

I will be presenting a play test of my 3rd level adventure at TTRPG Pickup Con #55 on Friday, May 23rd, 2025 @ 2:00 PM EDT. Generative Plot: The WorldNet has become clogged with new users who only seem to make everything more difficult or dangerous. Your investigation leads to someone or something wanting you dead. Get to the bottom of the mystery or get derezzed. (3rd level pre gens provided). Sign up to play: https://www.indecisionist.com/ttrpg-pickup-con-schedule/generative-plot

I met Doug many years back at a pre-Covid U-Con in Ypsilanti, MI. I helped Doug GM his 3 table insane party RPG, Inferno Road, with (alas now gone) Weird Realms owner Beckett Warren (Weird Realms, not Beckett -- he's still alive). Everyone had a blast. We also forged a good relationship. At my request, he contributed a full page piece to Angels, Daemons & Beings Between, vol. 2: Elfland Edition published by Shinobi 27 Games. Did the wrap-around cover for Cats of Rahtlü. Re-visited the Purple Planet with an early interior piece for River of Lies.

During the layout of the Avatars chapter of the Netcrawl core rulebook, I ended up with an empty full page. Andrey Garin(Banished Vault, Cloud Empress) did some beautiful drawings for the classes. The pixel artist, Helm, also contributed a full page piece to the chapter. Overall the chapter is 16 pages of some really great art. Who should I call on for that empty page? You are a clever lot! Of course it's Doug Kovacs! I'll be sure to tease the image when there's something to see.

I am about 90% through layout of the core rulebook. It's looking to be 172 pages. I even added a couple programs that I edited from Enchiridion of the Computarchs into Netcrawl format. I also roughed in Brendan LaSalle's adventure so I could get an idea of page count (another 20 page adventure). At this point, I am polishing the layout, looking for typos, making sure all the headers and whitespace is consistent, etc.

I have reached out to the CPU level supporting Patreon members to give them 1st access to the rulebook. If you are dying to see the work-in-progress (WIP), sign up to support at the CPU tier.

Commissions are continuing. Chapters 5 & 7 (Programs & Bestiary) are fully commissioned and pieces and sketches roll in from time to time. Each of the chapters will have a primary artist who does most the art or handles the spots for the introductory/rules text.

Here's a list of chapters and commissioned lead artists:

Chapter 1 - Introduction - TBD
Chapter 2 - Avatars (aka classes) - Andrey Garin
Chapter 3 - Daemons (aka equipment) - Del Teigeler
Chapter 4 - Brute Force (aka combat) - Christian Madsen
Chapter 5 - Repository (aka programs) - Stefan Poag
Chapter 6 - Sys Raid (aka adventuring) - Lucius Felimus
Chapter 7 - Netizens (aka bestiary) - Matt Sutton

Oazyzz, the patron AI of ciphomorphs by Colin Richards

Spread from the Daemons section of the Netcrawl RPG rulebook. Del whipped up some simple b/w line art images of the weapons. I manipulated them into glowing green cyber weapons on a grid point field.

Weapon Daemons by  Del Tiegeler

The 1st completed book of the project, In Space No One Can Hear the Robopocalypse is en route to Horse Shark Central (my house)! Each adventure is going to have a 500 copy run. After backers get their copies there will be a few hundred left to snap up. Once they are gone, I probably will not reprint them in the skinny adventure format. Retailers like hardback books, so several adventures, aligned in some sort of theme, will eventually happen.

Orders on the Backerkit have been locked. It feels like a formality, but a few backers realized that things were progressing and filled out their surveys.

I'm not exactly sure when I'll charge cards, but it will probably be in early July sometime. 

This is my public facing update to the WorldNet (and the backers on Backerkit), so I'd like to remind anyone who is not a free or supporting member, to consider signing up to see the May post which is a WIP download of the 4th level Netcrawl adventure, Battle at the End of Time, by Julian Bernick. Available to all free and supporting members. Also if you missed it, there is a free WIP version of In Space No One Can Hear the Robopocalypse back in the February post.

Fulfillment Goal: Join the Patreon!
Oh, hey how about a little fulfillment stretch goal? If 50 people join the Patreon (either as free or supporting members) between now and fulfillment, I will release the current WIP of the Netcrawl RPG rulebook on Patreon as a free post for all members. Step right this way: https://www.patreon.com/lectrotext.