I took a vacation over Labor Day, and also was very head-down launching the new Tower of the Moon product. Here’s what’s happened since then.

• Delvers to Grow books are all out the door; international orders finally cleared customs in the UK with no small amount of headache and pain.
• The inns and taverns systemless book is progressing, hopefully on its way to being handed in at the end of September
• A set of systemless companion volumes, settlements worked up like Ring Fort, but without page count restrictions, is also taking shape. The first is tentatively called Two Warring Houses. I’ve got an outline worked up.
• Tower of the Moon launched on Backerkit on September 3. We’ve gotten 244 orders so far a week into the campaign. I’m hoping to add another 250 by the time September ends and the launch closes. Shipments have already begun.
• Placed a large retail restock order for 10 of my Dungeon Fantasy RPG books. The size and quantity really emphasize the importance of retail outreach.
• I recorded an interview with GMShadow over in the UK; he’s starting an Actual Play using the Nordlond Setting. Look for that interview and those sessions in upcoming weeks.

Gaming Ballistic Patreon

To help with ongoing funding of art and speed eventual time to delivery, Gaming Ballistic started a Patreon in January 2021. Here’s the weekly update on Patreon status.

• Membership status: 53 patrons and $358 per month.
• Special Content: Full version of Tower of the Moon.

Patron ranks got a plus-up by one. The Patreon will get more active as more work is done on the Bestiary, both as sanity/stats checking as well as actual fights and playtest to see how these monsters fight and what challenge they pose.

Currently Manufacturing/Fulfilling/Shipping

Project where hardcopies and PDFs are going out or scheduled to do so.

• Tower of the Moon: Even though the campaign is still on, at least 70 books have already gone out. No international shipping yet, but see Friction.
• Delvers to Grow: All PDFs delivered. All domestic packages mailed. All international mailed (Canada, Australia, New Zealand); shipment for the UK/EU has begun now that the materials have finally cleared customs.

Crowdfunding and Product Launches

Tower of the Moon (Launched on Backerkit on September 3 at 9am Central Time, ends Sept 30, 6pm Central)

• This landing page on my blog replaces the normal Kickstarter page. Check it out.
• This is an experiment to see if a book that is 100% done does as well on Backerkit (or better) as a “crowdfunding” campaign (for a book that’s finished) on Kickstarter.
• The idea was to have everything done, with rolling shipments as orders come in. As such, a preliminary order of 100 physical books was ordered in advance. That has already sold through, and 100 more are on the way. One backer whose shipping notice came through yesterday noted how thrilled he was to have his stuff so fast.
• On the other hand, the community tools (Updates and Comments) are not as robust, nor can someone outside my already-established contact list discover the campaign easily.
• Looking to do a bit of promotion on various podcasts and interview shows in the coming weeks.
• Tower of the Moon is also available in an OSR version for Swords and Wizardry. That required 20 or more orders to “unlock,” and it was unlocked yesterday. Working with David and Thomas to get files to print now!

Delvers to Grow (Launched Friday May 7 at 10am Central Time, Ended May 25 at 9pm Central)

• Pre-orders are now closed
• Campaign is now complete.
• Surveys that were not filled out were cancelled. All backers with filled-out surveys have been fulfilled (though they may not have packages in hand yet).
• The final piece of the puzzle – the international shipping bill – is in hand. That allows me to do the post-mortem when I have the time.

Product Announcements

The full Product Catalog got revised to account for the ready availability of Delvers to Grow.

The Delvers to Grow books are available for sale on the Gaming Ballistic web store.

• Delvers to Grow: Core Book in Printand PDF
• Delvers to Grow: Strong Delvers in Printand PDF
• Delvers to Grow: Fast Delvers in Printand PDF
• Delvers to Grow: Smart Delvers in Printand PDF
• The Crypt of Krysuvik in Printand PDF
• Delvers to Grow: Omnibus Edition in Printonly, with only five copies left unsold.

In Development

Writing and content creation for announced projects. Some of this may be cryptic.

• Inns and Taverns, by Marshall LaPira. Systemless. Writing in progress.
• Two Warring Houses, by Douglas Cole. Systemless. Outline stage and writing.
• Nordlondr Bestiary, Books 1 and 2, by Douglas Cole. Dungeon Fantasy RPG. Outline stage and writing.

Friction

Bits of news and items that put a monkey in the wrench.

• Getting the books through to the UK required paying nearly $400 in VAT on VAT-free goods. I’ll eventually get that back, I think, but it’s still annoying. UPS seems to look at the international shipping process as an opportunity to milk bureaucracy for cash by holding product hostage. DHL for the future.
• The retail order and Backerkit campaign has restored my bank balance to a more happy place, but I still have about $2,000 in shipping fees to pay for Character Collections and Delvers. That will bring me current with the bills, though.
• Getting ready to start the school year for my girls has put a dent in progress, as the kids were underfoot all the time for the last few weeks. They’re in school now, and should see some ability to have an actual schedule return.
• The pros and cons of the Backerkit launch may wind up being a net break-even. Getting the fees on a rolling basis is nice; fulfilling early (before the campaign starts) is nice. Lack of buzz and community-building features isn’t so good. We’ll see. Not over until it’s over, but I don’t think there’s going to be quite so much “last 48 hours” as there is on Kickstarter.
• I decided not to do international shipping on Tower of the Moon. That was a disappointment to me, but things continue to be unpredictable. I have an idea of how to handle this in the future, though, and Backerkit Launch will be a key part of that, as will short-run printing that starts, fulfills, and ends all within the country and region in question.

Fair Winds

Information about things that move GB forward.

• Got some nice marketing help from SJGames on the Backerkit front, which led to a nice uptick in sales.
• Tower of the Moon has already paid for itself and made a bit of money.
• That retail order was just what I needed to feel a bit better about prospects, and clarify that YES, I need to get on the phone and make personal contact with book buyers. Getting in with Amazon and Barnes and Noble is super important too.
• Starting to write on multiple projects, the Bestiary and new settlements books, means that my Patreon Subscribers will start seeing more new content soon. Yay for that.