Nine Heavens Press
CREATOR
5 months ago
Project Update: Nov 2025 Update
Hello again!
We're one month past the crowdfunding campaign and the dust has just begun setting. You'll be pleased to know that we've been busy making more progress with the book, so allow me to address some questions we've received and what the rest of this year looks like.
Late Stretch Goals
Combined with early pledges, we're currently at $129,787!! Late pledge stretch goals (every 5K after 120K) are still active until early next year. Meaning, we've unlocked one and are about to unlock another!!
We've already begun work on the first, a new species/ancestry: the Yaoqi. They're based on the mythical qilin, offsprings of the Golden IMA, the Primordial Beast upon whose corpse the entirety of the Iseung region sits upon. Just as qilins are harbingers of peace, the Yaoqi were once upon a time heavily sought and exploited by various kingdoms wanting to justify their rule.
They've since raised sky islands and retreated from the earth, taking it upon themselves to observe and determine whether they, the children of the earthly beast gods, could coexist with the children of the gods. Some have begun to take more proactive roles in building a peaceful world, returning to the world below to shape history.
Once we reach 130K, we'll either go down the list in terms of ancestry/subclass poll winners or pick out something new and special!
Current Progress
We're one month past the crowdfunding campaign and the dust has just begun setting. You'll be pleased to know that we've been busy making more progress with the book, so allow me to address some questions we've received and what the rest of this year looks like.
Late Stretch Goals
Combined with early pledges, we're currently at $129,787!! Late pledge stretch goals (every 5K after 120K) are still active until early next year. Meaning, we've unlocked one and are about to unlock another!!
We've already begun work on the first, a new species/ancestry: the Yaoqi. They're based on the mythical qilin, offsprings of the Golden IMA, the Primordial Beast upon whose corpse the entirety of the Iseung region sits upon. Just as qilins are harbingers of peace, the Yaoqi were once upon a time heavily sought and exploited by various kingdoms wanting to justify their rule.
They've since raised sky islands and retreated from the earth, taking it upon themselves to observe and determine whether they, the children of the earthly beast gods, could coexist with the children of the gods. Some have begun to take more proactive roles in building a peaceful world, returning to the world below to shape history.
Once we reach 130K, we'll either go down the list in terms of ancestry/subclass poll winners or pick out something new and special!
Current Progress
- Black Market Guide progress: Now that we have the funds to compensate our editors, we've begun work in earnest on fine-tuning material before the playtest doc launch. We appreciate your patience as we take the time to put out material that's largely free of grammatical and syntax errors so that we can focus on tightening the mechanics.
- Playtest Doc Multiple Releases (ETA: Doc 1, Q4 2025/Doc 2, Q1 2026): We're planning on releasing multiple documents in waves. The first will be released sometime December, early January at the latest. Our editors are wrapping up some prior engagements and will soon be able to focus their attention on this project. Doc 1 will contain species/ancestries/heritages and subclasses. Doc 2 will include revisions to Doc 1 + a large selection of creatures and our custom immortality mechanics. Doc 2 will likely be sent out around mid to late Q1 2026, early Q2 at the latest.
- NPC Guide (ETA: TBA dependent on playtest docs): The main book will be our highest priority, but we'll put out an alpha version of the NPC Guide to test waters on what folks generally think of progress. Beta version will include more characters and setting lore. We'll have an ETA on the alpha dependent on how things go with the playtest document since, again, we want to focus our time and resources on the main book first.
- VTT modules (ETA: TBA dependent on playtest docs): We can integrate our playtest document into Roll20 and Foundry and release them at around the same time, if not simultaneously. We're new to this, so this lets us test the waters on production towards the final products.
Speaking of progress, we've been busy during this month! I'm happy to share a bit of what we're working on, particularly with our wide selection of new gods:
One of the three children of Izanagi and Izanami, Susanoo-no-Mikoto, god of storms. Of the three siblings, Susanoo is far more capricious, preferring to test his swordsmanship over wasting his time with court intrigue. After Izanami's death, when the houses of the divine realm of Takamagahara prepared to war with one another, Susanoo happily broke the tension with a light... rampage.
Accepting self-banishment, his tenure in the world below was exciting to say the least. He slew the fell earthly deity, Yamata-no-Orochi, took a mortal wife, and left behind arms revered as sacred artifacts. For every warrior scaling the heights of their art, Susanoo is said to wait at the peaks to test their mettle.
Finally, we have an illustration for the patron deity of all Dangukese Mudang. Princess Bari is a demigod that has taken a governing role in Jeoseung, the Dangukese underworld. Once an ordinary girl, abandoned by her parents, she didn't hesitate to bravely sneak into the underworld to look for a cure to help those who threw her away. She endeavors to guide lost souls, ensuring that there is a gentle rest after death at the end of all beings' lives.
She has a somewhat contentious relationship with the Ten Narakwang, the stern judges that ensure there is punishment awaiting the sinful. They scare the kids too much.
Community Concerns
To address some community comments and questions we've received over the month:
- 5e FoundryVTT: Many people messaged me over the month asking if we could integrate 5e BMG to FoundryVTT. While at first I was hesitant at how much I would have to code myself given some lack of official support, I've talked with many people saying that situation has improved a lot more. So I'm willing to give it a shot. We'll try integrating our 5e material to FoundryVTT and launch it on both Roll20 and FoundryVTT.
- Why haven't I received my survey yet?: We've run into two scenarios:
- People who are paying in increments will receive their surveys after they've finished paying. You have a bit of time there. If you know what you want for your character commission, you can just email us at [email protected] and contact us with all your references. We can discuss matters there.
- If the above doesn't match your situation, I suggest contacting BackerKit support. It's possible that when you tried accessing your survey, you weren't logged into the proper email that you backed us with. Regardless, I'm more than happy to see what the issue is on our end as well.
- Can I back BMG with PayPal?: So it seems like PayPal's payment structure conflicts with how BackerKit runs their pledges, hence why we've had to keep PayPal payments deactivated for early pledges. However, there is a workaround: please email us at [email protected] and I can send you a BackerKit link that will facilitate a one-time transaction. We appreciate your patience. If folks prefer paying with PayPal, we would have to cancel early backing and move to the preorder storefront model. Which we're happy to do if that's what people prefer.
- Caution: On this note, someone was scammed on Bluesky by an account pretending to be us as we were trying to help them back us through PayPal. We would never ask you for sensitive information publicly and send you links to sites where we don't already have a storefront set up. I was happy to set this person up with their pledge tier just because it was an unfortunate situation all around.
- Where can I download our 5e Undying Corruption files?: So we can send out DriveThruRPG links to download them, but with the way digital downloads are set up, we can either do it when orders are locked and people have paid OR just, send them out prior to that. This has made me hesitate somewhat. I can lock orders now to facilitate sending these links out, but if someone changes their address or want to update their survey, they'd basically have to contact me. Which I'm happy to do! I just want to make sure if people are comfortable with that first. Please let me know if you'd be okay with that or if you'd prefer to wait. I'm largely uncomfortable sending out links until orders are confirmed and finalized, personally.
I believe that's everything, but I'm happy to answer questions and respond to comments if there's anything that I missed. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at [email protected], comment here, or join our Discord server!
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