Last 48 Hours

The Dungeon Grappling Kickstarter is in its final 48 hours through the weekend.

We’ve done very well, passing the basic goal, funding an eBook that will come with any pledge that includes a PDF copy, and full color interior art (the $4,000 goal turned out to be $3,906 once the mix of pledge types were factored in).

If you have a preview copy of Dungeon Grappling and were going to write a review, in the immortal words of Walter Koenig: “Scotty, now would be a good time.”

Layout Tweaks

I have made another revision and received the revised layout. The next revision will be the last one, which will include the aforementioned full-color art inserted into the text.

As I noted, the tweaks punched up the visibility of the calculations, re-organized them for easier assimilation. So the stuff you need for instant gratification leaps out at you, and is delivered first, as an expert. If you’re not an expert, or are looking for a special case, that is provided next, with more use of titles and headers to pull out the important bits.

We also reorganized the Quick Reference sheets (now three pages), and added five pages of combat examples – one per system.

Is it perfect? Not yet. But I can see concrete things to do for all the things I’ve got issues that need fixing, and so I know that when I get the art, Nathan and I can work together to finish the book in a timely fashion.

Then it’s eBook, cover compositing, and making sure that the game for which I’m claiming compatibility (the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and Swords and Wizardry) both have executed all of the right things that are called out. Plus a double-scrutiny pass on the OGL statements, to ensure I’m giving credit where credit is due.

Add-ons for Great Justice

In case you missed the other updates, don’t forget to consider the add-ons.

The Manor Collection is 8 short volumes of highly usable eZine, which can be pillaged like there’s no tomorrow for NPCs, locations, and other flavor, including several ready-to-use adventures.

The Guardians RPG applies Old-School sensibility to the superhero genre, and is both a great playable game as well as a fascinating design study on system tweakage that shows why those venerated basic rules have such staying power.

The Final Countdown

So, we’re in the last hours, and I’ll be here in Thailand as my project ends. I guess I’ll be staying up on Monday night or so, since I’m 13 hours ahead. What’s Thai for “Hit the F5 key again?”

In any case, this is the time to get the word out. Tomorrow I’ll show some art sketch samples that I’ve received from Christian and Rick thus far, and that will serve as the final during-the-campaign message from me to you.

After it’s over, I’ll get hard to work on Backerkit and working to close out the Kickstarter end of things – my preference is to get this done quickly, but Kickstarter apparently wants me to cool my jets for 14 days. Ah, alas . . . I can do this. Helps y’all get stuff figured out. That will mean that Backerkit surveys probably go out on Dec 19 or Dec 20 (coincidentally almost immediately after I come back from Thailand). Those, too, require 10-14 days of hang time so folks can carefully consider what they’re doing, etc, but faster is better for both of us.

During the next four weeks, then, I’ll be working with the artists to get sketches and finals done, and working with Nathan to finalize layout. Once that’s done, we’ll assemble the PDF, eBook, and POD versions of the files, upload the uploadable to Backerkit, and those will go out to everyone who’s pledged and whose funds have settled. I will likely order a proof of the POD on an expedited basis, give any feedback if required, and then place those orders for the customers that want them.

The communicated due dates are February for electronic files, and April for print. We are definitely still on schedule for those dates. The most likely things that could upset the applecart are probably delays in receiving artwork, really ugly proofs from DTRPG, or some sort of funding SNAFU with Kickstarter or Backerkit. I don’t anticipate that, but if I plan ahead aggressively, all my surprises (and yours) will be pleasant ones.

I look forward to getting the book(s) in your hands.