These last two weeks saw the end of the OSE Kickstarter (last Saturday) and movement on multiple other projects, including the next one for the Dungeon Fantasy RPG.

• The Old-School Solos campaign ended with 803 backers a new record for me. Had a decent uptick at the end, and there are both good and “needs improvement” findings in the initial data.
• Four different DFRPG projects are in the works, with Shields Up playtesting coming to a close with good feedback, while fight-tests with some of the new bestiary volumes are proving useful
• Dark Lord’s Doom is fully laid out, and fight simulation with Rob Conley led to tweaks. Vampire Hunter Belladonna is also laid out, including art, but as much as DLD was a challenge, VHB is worse. So that’s going to need some actual at-the-table testing.
• I have created the new landing page for the DFRPG Bestiary Kickstarter: Nightmare Fuel.
  • I’ll be doing the campaign on Backerkit Crowdfunding this time. I’m working with them on a comprehensive marketing/promotion plan
  • You can see the landing page or browse upcoming products already; I’d appreciate folks signing up to be notified once the campaign launches. It’s probably the earliest I’ve started marketing a product, so hopefully we can see what a bit of preparatory bombardment does
  • If you missed the original Nordlondr Bestiary kickstarter, there are roughly 130 copies of it left unsold in hardcopy, so there will be a limited number of pledges available that include the three new volumes and the nearly 200-page hardcover.

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: 61 patrons and $451 per month.
• Special Content in September: The initial preview of Vampire Hunter Belladonna was uploaded Aug 31, but it’s real close to September. I expect that by the end of the month, we’ll see preliminary versions of Shields Up and Serpents of Legend, some cover art, and other things.

Steady in August saw a slight reduction in members and funds. I still know what I need to do next year, and I think that the OSE Kickstarter will help with that. A lot..

Gaming Ballistic in Media

• I was on Talking Crit with Tenkar and Bad Mike, and we chatted for two hours. Robert Douglas, one of my playtesters and frequent backers, said “…those two hours flew by,” so apparently it was at least entertaining.
• I recorded Old-School Essentials with Che Webster, and it’s up and live.
• The interview I did “A Sonata in GURPS with Gaming Ballistic” with one of the Steves at Me and Steve Talk RPGs went live.
• Rob Conley of Bat in the Attic posted a short review of the version of Till Death Do Us Part that I sent him, the first of the four to be “basically complete.” Though since then, I’ve also got Dark Lord’s Doom and Vampire Hunter Belladonna into a good place.

Currently Manufacturing/Fulfilling/Shipping

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

• I still need to go through comp copies for ALL products via DriveThruRPG from TDDUP. That got back-burnered as I ramped up other things. Next week once the kids are back in school I’ll have more time for this sort of tedious-but-necessary to-do item.

Crowdfunding and Product Launches

Old-School Solo Adventures

• Launched Aug 4 at 10am. Funded by 11am. Closed with 803 backers and $38,813; that will likely go down to $38,200 or so once folks who are having trouble navigating KS’s payment system drop out.
• The reach of this project was my best ever, with good news…
  • A final tally of 790-800 backers is likely, and that’s a new record by at least 100 people
  • A very healthy funding status
  • Followers peaked at something like 1,425. If you combine followers with those who just came in and pledged, the campaign touched something like 2,000 people, which is a record for reach.
• There are also areas for concern
  • The “real” number of backers who contributed at all was 885, only 15 shy of the 900-backer stretch goal for a bonus PDF for everyone. Over 80 people cancelled their pledge during the campaign’s run, about 10%. That’s huge.
  • While the number of followers peaked at 1,420 or so, it ended at 1,372 and only 289 of those pledged, a pretty low 21% conversion rate. While it’s possible some of those folks will jump on board during the Backerkit phase…that’s a pretty low conversion rate for my projects
• Backerkit is prepared, and the smoke test should go live early next week. I’m taking this Labor Day weekend to go play with my kids before school starts.

Nightmare Fuel

This will be my first ever formal use of Backerkit Crowdfunding, though I did a semi-successful attempt at this with Tower of the Moon. It’s staged out in October (follow the link to see a countdown clock) and will run into early November.

Product Announcements

The full Product Catalog has been updated for Spring 2022 and probably needs an update for Fall 2022. That goes on the to-do for next week as well.

Let Us Rejoice! is a systemless exploration of festivals and gatherings as great ways to make a world come alive. Uses and collects the Nordlond material that is scattered over several books as examples, but also goes further than that. This will be GB’s first systemless release. This one is definitely moving into 2023. That’s not a problem as such; having a robust “what’s coming next” is good.

Serpents of Legend. Formerly “Bestiary Project 1,” this is partially just a book of cool snake-themed monsters written by Marko Vujnovic (the Chaotic GM). But it also contains some serious serpent-related cosmology for Nordlond, and a really nifty section on snake cults. More work, this time on the rules and prose section. When fighting critters the size of hills, you might need guidance for fighting a monster while standing on top of the monster. This one is on schedule, and part of the Nightmare Fuel campaign. This book is likely 36 pages at this point; growth to 40–48 would not be crazy-talk.

The “Bugstiary.” Work targeted at a draft mid-Sept. This one is looking at 36 pages, and much more of a strict bestiary book of cool bug-and-insect themed monsters. Part of Nightmare Fuel. Cole Jenkins is the author.

Garden of Evil. A last-minute addition to the Nightmare Fuel lineup, this is probably 20 pages. Contract signed (as I type this, actually) and Chares Seager is the author here.

Shields Up! Testable draft in the final stages of fight-testing. I expect the finished, final manuscript this coming week, at which point I’ll start making art holes and setting up the book to completion. I’m not sure how this one will go live still; physical books really “like” some sort of campaign. Hmmm. I bet that’s how to do it…

In Development

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

I currently have eight books in active development, to be released in two waves. Four are part of OSE, another four are DFRPG. I suspect that will run me right up to the end of the year, though I could also see another project slipping in for December…but that’s not a great crowdfunding time. I suspect what I’m looking at here is that the DFRPG Nightmare Fuel project will be my focus for fulfillment through the end of the year, and “spare” time will be head-down in content creation, including several long-delayed projects!

• Delvers to Grow Companion. Some new professions. A whole bunch of new disad packages. Epic Upgrades. Who knows what else will strike me? I know what I want to do with this one, and shall get writing as soon as this OSE project is finished.
• Gear Catalog 1? There’s a good start at what is probably a nice 32-page book, maybe a bit more. Also DFRPG. I’ve talked with a potential author on this one and we need to work out a few things, but not in a bad way.
• Inns and Taverns, by Marshall LaPira. Systemless. Still postponed indefinitely. A good time for this would either be along with Let Us Rejoice (in a few months) or real close to the end of the year.

• Two Warring Houses, by Douglas Cole. Systemless. On hold.
• Infinite Archipelago is going to be my new framework for settings that should cross over systems. I have plans for TFT/OSE version of Nordlond, plus more, that GMs will be able to pick and choose and place what’s there. It implies sea travel in many ways, so there are ideas around that. Looking forward to this as a building block for 2023.
• Secret TFT Setting by David Pulver. Chatted with David about plans for this, and there’s a hole in his schedule at the end of the year. Chatted more, and liking how it works.
• Secret Nordlond-ish Setting by [CENSORED].
• OSE Conversions of Character Collections. I don’t see why not. Monsters, ready-to-go PCs/NPCs with just enough background to make ‘em interesting. Some art for visualization. I may work on this together with two other CC volumes I’d like to make, so they hit as a six-book bundle.
• Mission X: It’s time to get working on this. I’d anticipate late 2023 or early 2024 as it’s a big project.

The two settings are part of a grand plan you’ll be seeing more of next year.

I note that for new authors, Delvers to Grow and Bestiary entries are fantastic ways to get into the game, as such projects lend themselves very well to focused writing and fast turn-around. The new concept that I’m shopping around to my circle of authors and contributors will be another entry…but the nature of the concepts requires a firm hand on the wheel for gamer utility. Some of my early discussions with authors are fluctuating between “oh, I get it, that’s cool” and “…but surely those restrictions don’t apply to my cool idea!” Yes, they do.

Friction

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

• As mentioned, the pretty low conversion rate in the OSE space is something to watch. Could be that the product (solo adventures) is niche for this particular segment. Could be general economy stuff.
• The list of what I need to do in front of me is daunting. I’m particularly concerned by my low pool of potential playtesters for my OSE material, as my instincts are still developing for what works and doesn’t here.
• My Patreon is stagnant to declining; again with the economy (and understandable), but I need to have a goal of boosting interest in this so that it’s at least double what it is now for the end of next year.
• Still trying to navigate the best way to use reddit for outreach and promotion. Given that my last campaign had all of two backers from that vector…maybe the right answer is “don’t.”
• My “tedious but necessary” to-do list is piling up a bit. I have something like four or five things that all need doing, and none of them create new content. Being the Chief Everything Officer for a concern like mine can be stressful.

Fair Winds

Information about things that move GB forward.

• The OSE project, despite my kvetching about conversion, was still a new backer record
• I’m quite excited that with the right product, the elusive 1,000-backer project might be within reach come next year
• Some solid ideas on “next project” have materialized in the OSE space that hopefully will make things interesting. This will be a rare example of a project that screams for stretch goals that make sense, and where Backerkit Crowdfunding will pull it off particularly well.
• Shields Up got very quiet, so it’s time to finalize.
• Again with Old-School Solos: with a lot of the “development” costs being “Doug’s time” rather than payment to artists and writers, this project sets me up for a baseline level that should allow a lot more “head down” development of larger projects, starting sometime in Q4.
• I spent some time yesterday taking an inexpensive training sword and modifying it to my tastes. I don’t often work with metal, but this was fun. I took the product to class yesterday and it performed adequately. For the money (and the time), it’s not bad.