This two week update sees the beginning of what is going to be an extended fulfillment process for the Bestiary, and a lot of below-the-waterline stuff. The biggest thing upcoming is I’ll be at FnordCon 5 next weekend (Apr 29 to May 1), hanging out, doing panels, selling books, and running a few games.

• If you’re in the market for Gaming Ballistic stuff, my new Shopify site is live and functional. Thanks to some great help from customers, we resolved a few discounting issues.
• All items on my store are 13% off from now until the Day After FnordCon on May 2! Including gift cards!
• Fulfillment has truly begun on the physical part of the Nordlond Bestiary, with most UK books and card expected to be in-hand by the end of Friday. Those that aren’t are probably delivered before Monday.
• An important update to USA shipping: Books-in-hand expected by end of May, but shipping sucks and delays of a month or more past that are not crazy-talk. Will keep backers updated as I can.
• I printed out a special card with the reverse side holding the “Freight Check Table,” totally stealing the cadence and tone of the DFRPG Fright Check Table. These cards will be given out with purchases of the book at FnordCon 5.
• I’ve got a new project in the works that actually inspired me. I should be able to bang this out quickly, and then transition to crowdfunding ASAP. Finally some revenue this year.

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: 64 patrons and $521 per month.
• Special Content: Preview of new short book, Freight Check PDF. A preview full-function test of the Foundry VTT pack for the Bestiary.

Lost another Patron, but gained two more when I mentioned I had a Patreon on the GURPS Discord. One even went in a bit big. Hoefully things go up even more if I can execute on my more long-term strategy.

Gaming Ballistic in Media

• Nothing this period, but the first week in June, after I’m

Currently Manufacturing/Fulfilling/Shipping

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

Nordlondr Ovinabokin: Bestiary

• ShipQuest has completed international fulfillment from their end. Books have started arriving in the UK, and will continue to arrive in the Rest of World categories for weeks. Some of those are untracked, so I may never know.
• Anticipate arrival of US books in Baltimore May 9, which suggests 4th week of May for fulfillment. That’s totally subject to random change.
• Prelim full-function release of Foundry VTT to testers who are my Patreon subscribers. Once we’re confident it’s good, I’ll work with Foundry to get license keys set up.
• Oh, the DFRPG Boxed Sets (11) and Monsters 2 (11) books went out direct from Warehouse 23 yesterday to 10 backers. Made no sense to ship them twice.

Crowdfunding and Product Launches

The Bestiary Kickstarter is in the fulfillment stage

The new store is live, which means the Spring Sale is on!

Get 13% off all purchases in the New GB Web Store until May 2, the Day after FnordCon!

Product Announcements

The full Product Catalog has been updated for Spring 2022. It now includes Delvers to Grow, Tower of the Moon, and the Nordlond Bestiary. Any pre-orders for the Bestiary will be filled roughly April 2022, once the shipment comes in. I will be changing my retail discount structure to be much simpler, with only two discount levels: 30% and 50%.

I have embarked on a project to convert the Nordlond Bestiary to Brazilian Portuguese. I’m getting amazing volunteer help from several people and I’m excited to see what happens here, if anything. First step will be a PDF-only book to see the best way to reach the audience. A print book will follow, after a suitable time to allow backers to comment on my poor Portuguese.

I’ve really dug in to a project that will hopefully see the light of day Real Soon Now, as well as being my first systemless experiment.

In Development

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

• Inns and Taverns, by Marshall LaPira. Systemless. Revised tavern submitted on Nov 11, returned with comments in early November. This one may not ever be completed; I’ve asked the author if he intends to move forward or if Real Life has killed it.
• Two Warring Houses, by Douglas Cole. Systemless. Actually saw some writing over Valentine’s Day.
• Nordlondr Bestiary, by Douglas Cole. Dungeon Fantasy RPG. See above, workin’ hard.
• Portuguese Nordlond Bestiary, by Douglas Cole. Workin’ hard.
• Secret Stuff: David Pulver and I signed a contract for a new thing, and I’ve contacted a new artist for work on that thing; A new author is working with me on another thing; I’m writing yet a third thing (systemless but with strong Nordlond/Torengar instant utility) that should come to rapid conclusion.

Friction

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

• Shipping is becoming more clear, still annoying, but at least we’re nailing it down
• Still had some writer’s block, but some of that cleared as I got down to work on the new short project. That came together fast.
• Need to get a contract to new artist. But we agree on what’s to be done, so that’s a good start.
• There are a few issues with the store that my vendor is basically ghosting me on to date. Not happy with that, but in the grand scheme of things it’s not fatal. It’s not good, though.
• My back has been really bothering me these last two weeks, which has sapped my sleep and made it harder for me to sit my computer. It’s starting to feel better and I woke this morning with a lot more energy. Need to exercise more. A lot more.

Fair Winds

Information about things that move GB forward.

• Still super-pleased with the new web store overall.
• Made some shields at Viking. Took a while and we’re still finishing them up, but they’re working GREAT.
• Still working plans on Skogurenda Meatgrinder for FnordCon. Need to think more on maps, seating, etc. Also want to promote the thing on Daily Illuminator an my blog. Gotta get on that.