Marco Serrano
CREATOR
7 months ago
Project Update: August Update
Hi all!
I want to apologize for the awful start to communication on this project. I intend to do much better with it going forward, but I know how much of a sour taste it can leave and how much worry it can cause.
I also want to start by saying the project is unfortunately delayed despite being extremely close to the finish line. The rules are all but set in stone, including character creation. Some tightening of the guidance for the narrative tools is the most needed part, but the ideas are formed and present. Aside from the ruleset I need to finish my adventures.
I'm extremely happy with the game so far. Joshua Justice even ran the first playtest in order to playtest the Vampire Massacre adventure! It went extremely well and the group had a blast with the adventure and mechanics. I'm excited to get more playtests in soon!
But, on to the delay. I'm expecting a few months delay on this project. It might be optimistic to expect the package by Halloween, but I will keep you updated if it's looking like November. If I'm being honest, the major mistake I made was following through with launching this project during Pocketopia (which I committed to at the end of 2024, and had an awesome collab partner for early 2025). I was too optimistic about the other project(s) I had ahead of Blackthorn, mainly The Hands That Feed which has turned into a 176-page hardcover. A lesson I should have really learned before, giant projects take a lot longer for me to mold and finalize. I love making them but struggle with momentum and overwhelm, and the result of that is that I'm still finishing that project (which was funded in October 2024 and also delayed). I also stupidly ran another campaign for Cryo Drakus for Zine Month out of both excitement and because that project progressed extremely fast and is also nearly done. I doubt I have more than a few weeks to finish it including final playtesting. I just wanted to get it out and done with and was in an extreme need of a healthy break from THTF. The delay is 100% on my decisions, it's kind of crazy in retrospect, but I should have been able to knock out this hardcover by now. I am close though! Real close! I think I have a few weeks of my work left before final editing and layout adjustments and printing. As said above, Cryo Drakus is also extremely close to being done and should be a few weeks before being sent to editing after the THTF is. Blackthorn is also real damn close to being finished and I imagine I mostly have playtesting and adventure writing to finish it up before sending to editing and sending to print. The layout template is also ready to rock and roll so everything is lined up for me to focus on making the best Blackthorn I can.
Again, I'm sorry for the lack of communication before and for the mess that caused the delay. I should have shared this earlier in the summer. I will be updating the project more regularly even if it's more of an update on getting closer to jumping back in.
Thank you so much for the support here! I can't wait to get back into this game, get playtesting going, and get it delivered. I love what it's become so much I have a long list of future releases planned next year and beyond. I'm stoked that you all will be the first to receive it!
Till next time,
Marco
I want to apologize for the awful start to communication on this project. I intend to do much better with it going forward, but I know how much of a sour taste it can leave and how much worry it can cause.
I also want to start by saying the project is unfortunately delayed despite being extremely close to the finish line. The rules are all but set in stone, including character creation. Some tightening of the guidance for the narrative tools is the most needed part, but the ideas are formed and present. Aside from the ruleset I need to finish my adventures.
I'm extremely happy with the game so far. Joshua Justice even ran the first playtest in order to playtest the Vampire Massacre adventure! It went extremely well and the group had a blast with the adventure and mechanics. I'm excited to get more playtests in soon!
But, on to the delay. I'm expecting a few months delay on this project. It might be optimistic to expect the package by Halloween, but I will keep you updated if it's looking like November. If I'm being honest, the major mistake I made was following through with launching this project during Pocketopia (which I committed to at the end of 2024, and had an awesome collab partner for early 2025). I was too optimistic about the other project(s) I had ahead of Blackthorn, mainly The Hands That Feed which has turned into a 176-page hardcover. A lesson I should have really learned before, giant projects take a lot longer for me to mold and finalize. I love making them but struggle with momentum and overwhelm, and the result of that is that I'm still finishing that project (which was funded in October 2024 and also delayed). I also stupidly ran another campaign for Cryo Drakus for Zine Month out of both excitement and because that project progressed extremely fast and is also nearly done. I doubt I have more than a few weeks to finish it including final playtesting. I just wanted to get it out and done with and was in an extreme need of a healthy break from THTF. The delay is 100% on my decisions, it's kind of crazy in retrospect, but I should have been able to knock out this hardcover by now. I am close though! Real close! I think I have a few weeks of my work left before final editing and layout adjustments and printing. As said above, Cryo Drakus is also extremely close to being done and should be a few weeks before being sent to editing after the THTF is. Blackthorn is also real damn close to being finished and I imagine I mostly have playtesting and adventure writing to finish it up before sending to editing and sending to print. The layout template is also ready to rock and roll so everything is lined up for me to focus on making the best Blackthorn I can.
Again, I'm sorry for the lack of communication before and for the mess that caused the delay. I should have shared this earlier in the summer. I will be updating the project more regularly even if it's more of an update on getting closer to jumping back in.
Thank you so much for the support here! I can't wait to get back into this game, get playtesting going, and get it delivered. I love what it's become so much I have a long list of future releases planned next year and beyond. I'm stoked that you all will be the first to receive it!
Till next time,
Marco
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