The campaign is over and it somehow feels like it only launched a couple weeks ago. We didn't make it to the final stretch goal, but as I mentioned in the last update announcing it, if we get enough pre-orders and/or pledge upgrades during the next few months I'll commit to fulfilling that goal anyway! So if you know anyone who was on the fence during the campaign, or just waiting to see what happened with it, it's not too late for their support to influence what makes it into the book.
So What's Next?
Anyone who's backed my campaigns before (and in most cases any crowdfunding campaign) will be familiar with the rest of this update, but it bears repeating anyway.
Firstly: Any backers whose pledges didn't go through right away will have two weeks to correct their payment information or follow up with their banks to make sure that the payment goes through if it was flagged as unusual. Once these two weeks are over, BackerKit will release the funds collected to me (minus their 5% platform fee and the payment processing fees, which generally come out to about 10%).
Once that's done, I'll be able to start commissioning writers, editors, and illustrators to help me finish work on the book! If possible, chapter preview PDFs may be released ahead of the full release, but I think the nature of this book's organizational structure (chapters containing categories of monsters and their boons/charms) may make that unlikely. We'll see!
Injuries and Vile Deeds and Tome of Intangible Treasures (Vol. 1) PDFs will also be sent out via BackerKit's pledge manager as downloads for backers once the funding comes through. Later on, I'll also send out links so you can download it on DriveThruRPG if that's your preference or if you'd like to help me out by giving them 5-star reviews once you've had a chance to use the books.
Surveys for the pledge manager will be sent out sometime in the next few weeks, at which point you'll be able to upgrade your pledges or add more add-ons if you'd like. As the book nears completion, I'll lock orders so that the final production counts stop changing and then once physical production begins I'll charge cards for shipping, VAT, and any new add-ons so that shipping rates will get locked in as close to the shipping date as possible. For those living in countries with 0-rate or reduced-rate VAT on books, I'll either be updating tax rules later on to account for this (a tedious and manual process that I may not have time for in the near future) OR I will be simply crediting your account before charging cards so that you don't pay that balance.
Communication
I'll be sending out monthly updates (at a minimum) to share progress updates. If you need help with your pledge, first contact BackerKit support as they'll be able to help you faster. For questions, you can always contact me at [email protected], or in my Discord server, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
An Awesome Campaign With More Hunts
A fellow game designer and friend of mine is running a fantastic Kickstarter campaign for a book I've been fortunate enough to see a lot of early previews for as they've been developing it these last several months. Exoecology for Monster Hunters brings heroic ecohorror to D&D 5E with epic bosses wielding world-altering regional effects, new character options, monster-themed items, and a level 2–8 campaign that pits your party against invasive species from other planes! I'm really excited to see it doing well, and I hope you'll check it out and show them some support!
Thanks again for your incredible support during this campaign! It's truly wonderful to be able to create another amazing book with your help, and I look forward to sharing some previews of new artwork and other content as they become available over the coming months!
