Hi all! I'm stoked to say that the PDFs of Blackthorn are shared via Backerkit! I'm incredibly happy with the final game, both in how it plays and presentation. I hope you find it fits your table too.
I do want to apologize again for taking a few additional weeks than expected. The final 10% went through much more rewrites, and fairly large adjustments in layout and illustrations than I originally intended. Blackthorn is far better for it though.
So far only the core book is shared with you. I will be delivering the PDFs of the adventures next week. They are awaiting final proofreading and I wanted to make sure they were in the final form before sending them to you.
Note about the PDF I sent of the core rules is the final version. The ISBN on the back cover is just a hold in while the ISBN is approved for print, but is unnecessary for the digital version.
UPDATED SCHEDULE
LOCKING ORDERS: JUNE 26th CHARGING CARDS: JUNE 30th FULFILMENT: ?? Most likely 6 weeks from now to give time for zines to be received by SPI and for them to fulfill it all. I will communicate as I receive information from SPI on this so I can be as accurate as possible.
Thank you again! Blackthorn in Backerkit Digital Downloads now. Would love to hear from you about what you think.
I'm sorry for another delay in updates. The entire Blackthorn suite is nearly finished! I'm tidying up a few of the adventures and have received further development on the core rule book which is finished and ready for final layout and illustrations. I'm pressing print in a few weeks!
[UPDATED] TIMELINE
SURVEYS - Sending out by May 12th LOCKING ORDERS - May 26th DIGITAL FULFILMENT - May 30th FULFILMENT BEGINS - Undetermined, but aiming for first half of June.
I'm stoked to finally get this out to you all! Thank you again for the initial support and continued patience with me as I waded through self-made mistakes and personal delays. I hope you love the final product! I'm really ecstatic about the amount of feedback I was able to receive on this game from a good number of fellow designers and players and feel like we're delivering the horrifying pulpy one shot experience we aimed out to do. I can't really thank you all enough. I know I have failed with expectation setting and communication and I'm happy for the chance to make good on delivery despite the delays.
The introductory adventure, Pablo's General Store, and the third pamphlet Murder Birds are in progress! I've done a review of the rules as written and I added a few ideas that came to mind when rereading that I think makes for better narrative character development, but it is largely done and just needs some refining.
Timeline Update
Unfortunately, I'm not full time back to Blackthorn yet. I am still tidying up a few things on previous projects, but I plan on sending the core book and the first two pamphlets into editing within the next three weeks. Father Fly and the one pagers should be about a week or two behind that for editing.
There is a small chance that I need another personal delay. The cause for this one is shortly after Christmas my father-in-law was given a serious diagnosis. Luckily, my wife was able to spend substantial time with him in Omaha before his initial surgery, and additional time after he suffered a serious complication during recovery. We were finally able to bring our kids up to see him last weekend which we're very grateful for. Unfortunately it will be a worsening and ongoing health issue, but we are optimistic that at least my wife can visit about once a month so we can be as present as possible.
That said, I lost several weeks to navigating this and prioritizing time with my wife and children. I acknowledge another delay is not great news, but I hope the new progression is welcome news alongside it.
Thank you for your patience on the update. I'm really happy to be back on this game and I can't wait to get it to you all soon.
I apologize for missing the November update. The last couple of months have been busy for our family.
That said, I'm excited to relay that we are past our biggest hurdle! The Hands That Feed is designed and going through the printing process now. I've jumped into Cryo Drakus and everything is sailing compared to working on the giant hardcover. Which means even though THTF continued to take longer than expected I'm feeling great about timeline and getting to get back to Blackthorn by the end of the year. I'm stoked to be designing these games again!
I apologize for the delay in the update. The lead up and time spent at Gamehole Con proved to take me away from sending one until now.
Blackthorn and where we are
Along with Gamehole Con taking more time away from me as a first time vendor than I expected, the Hands That Feed continued to take more time as well. I'm resetting a new date for delivery that I feel is conservative enough for me not to miss at all. Something that is achievable based on where I'm at with projects now.
New delivery date is Feb. 2026.
What that looks like on my end is really diving deep into Blackthorn in the second half of November. I have the playtested ruleset that has been going really well (it's near complete, but missing some sections and others needing finishing touches) and my main focus will be on adventures.
Send me a message here or send me a dm on Bluesky if you are interested in playtesting Blackthorn! I'll be printing a couple of exclusive bookmarks for anyone willing to playtest and provide feedback on it! I'll have a playtest version ready by end of November for this and the bookmarks will be added to your order automatically.
Addressing our current campaign As many of you may know we launched a campaign with Mothership Month 2025. I want to ensure everyone here that my time dedication remains on current projects.
I was lucky enough to work with D G Chapman on our Mothership Month project after he wrote Carved Like a Covenant so I could finish The Hands That Feed campaign more quickly. Reusing Backerkit assets to set up the page and making the few illustrations for the project have only taken me a few days to complete.
I have a lot of mixed emotions about launching this project. I acknowledge that, especially for Blackthorn backers, it's awful to see. But these style of community launches bring me so much energy, and the Mothership publishing community specifically is where I've received and given the most mentorship and knowledge-share over the past few years. It was too good of a thing to pass up when it only comes around once a year. I knew working with a writer and the extended timeline to get the physical books to TKG for fulfillment meant I didn't need to sacrifice more than a couple of days from current projects so I put my hat in the ring.
I wanted to make sure to address it here and am happy to remain transparent with any concerns or questions here. Let me know if you have any!
Last note. Gamehole Con was fantastic and invigorating. It really amplified my excitement to get back to the games I'm making and I really can't wait to play more Blackthorn as I tidy up the adventures and system. Thank you again for bringing this to life with me.
Quick September update to let you know I'm still here and working through the projects I owe out before Blackthorn. I'm on track right now to finishing Blackthorn in mid-late October which means a November delivery most likely. I'm sorry to have missed Halloween. I will try to get PDFs out by then, but am uncertain because we're boothing at Gamehole Con in Madison in October and I won't be able to work on the games...minus hopefully some playtesting!
Thank you again for backing! I'm excited to make good on this and to be closer than I was last month.
Hi all! I'm stoked to say that the PDFs of Blackthorn are shared via Backerkit! I'm incredibly happy with the final game, both in how it plays and presentation. I hope you find it fits your table too.
I do want to apologize again for taking a few additional weeks than expected. The final 10% went through much more rewrites, and fairly large adjustments in layout and illustrations than I originally intended. Blackthorn is far better for it though.
So far only the core book is shared with you. I will be delivering the PDFs of the adventures next week. They are awaiting final proofreading and I wanted to make sure they were in the final form before sending them to you.
Note about the PDF I sent of the core rules is the final version. The ISBN on the back cover is just a hold in while the ISBN is approved for print, but is unnecessary for the digital version.
UPDATED SCHEDULE
LOCKING ORDERS: JUNE 26th CHARGING CARDS: JUNE 30th FULFILMENT: ?? Most likely 6 weeks from now to give time for zines to be received by SPI and for them to fulfill it all. I will communicate as I receive information from SPI on this so I can be as accurate as possible.
Thank you again! Blackthorn in Backerkit Digital Downloads now. Would love to hear from you about what you think.
I'm sorry for another delay in updates. The entire Blackthorn suite is nearly finished! I'm tidying up a few of the adventures and have received further development on the core rule book which is finished and ready for final layout and illustrations. I'm pressing print in a few weeks!
[UPDATED] TIMELINE
SURVEYS - Sending out by May 12th LOCKING ORDERS - May 26th DIGITAL FULFILMENT - May 30th FULFILMENT BEGINS - Undetermined, but aiming for first half of June.
I'm stoked to finally get this out to you all! Thank you again for the initial support and continued patience with me as I waded through self-made mistakes and personal delays. I hope you love the final product! I'm really ecstatic about the amount of feedback I was able to receive on this game from a good number of fellow designers and players and feel like we're delivering the horrifying pulpy one shot experience we aimed out to do. I can't really thank you all enough. I know I have failed with expectation setting and communication and I'm happy for the chance to make good on delivery despite the delays.
The introductory adventure, Pablo's General Store, and the third pamphlet Murder Birds are in progress! I've done a review of the rules as written and I added a few ideas that came to mind when rereading that I think makes for better narrative character development, but it is largely done and just needs some refining.
Timeline Update
Unfortunately, I'm not full time back to Blackthorn yet. I am still tidying up a few things on previous projects, but I plan on sending the core book and the first two pamphlets into editing within the next three weeks. Father Fly and the one pagers should be about a week or two behind that for editing.
There is a small chance that I need another personal delay. The cause for this one is shortly after Christmas my father-in-law was given a serious diagnosis. Luckily, my wife was able to spend substantial time with him in Omaha before his initial surgery, and additional time after he suffered a serious complication during recovery. We were finally able to bring our kids up to see him last weekend which we're very grateful for. Unfortunately it will be a worsening and ongoing health issue, but we are optimistic that at least my wife can visit about once a month so we can be as present as possible.
That said, I lost several weeks to navigating this and prioritizing time with my wife and children. I acknowledge another delay is not great news, but I hope the new progression is welcome news alongside it.
Thank you for your patience on the update. I'm really happy to be back on this game and I can't wait to get it to you all soon.
I apologize for missing the November update. The last couple of months have been busy for our family.
That said, I'm excited to relay that we are past our biggest hurdle! The Hands That Feed is designed and going through the printing process now. I've jumped into Cryo Drakus and everything is sailing compared to working on the giant hardcover. Which means even though THTF continued to take longer than expected I'm feeling great about timeline and getting to get back to Blackthorn by the end of the year. I'm stoked to be designing these games again!
