Periodically, usually every 1-4 weeks, I post “open kimono” reports at what’s going on at Gaming Ballistic. I try to give insight as to what’s going on inside the company, as a one-person-plus-collaborators shop working hard to make the TTRPG publishing gig work for me full time.

Huh. Three weeks went by. Cool. I try not to spam these during Kickstarters, since I want to keep the focus there. Also, Fridays before a Kickstarter ends are quite busy enough, thank you, so there you go. Let’s see…summary for the week.

• The BSA campaign is 100% wrapped.
• Artifacts of Legend is still accepting late pledges, the print orders have been placed, and it’s looking like they’ll either arrive today (!) or early next week.
• Final copies of all PDFs for Artifacts of Legend have been distributed.
• Isle of Sedra funded late, but did fund, and had a reasonable surge at the end, finishing at just over $29K and 430 backers. Average pledge was a pleasing $68 (I anticipated $42) and the most popular pledge included the cards. It was also picked as a Kickstarter Project We Love the final week of the campaign, too late for any mass-mailing from them to have any effect. I have an idea once late pledges go
• The Sedra Sourcebook will almost certainly swell from a “guaranteed not to be below” 32 pages to a more respectable 44-48 pages. This is not surprising at all for a sourcebook.
• I put Best Supporting Actors, Serpents of Legend, the Bugstiary, and Garden of Evil up for sale on DriveThru RPG
• I did not get the job for which I interviewed. On the one hand, it would have been a really solid entry in the publishing resume; on the other, I’m thus still 100% on Gaming Ballistic for the meantime.
• I had some personal medical stuff go on this last week which dominated my mindshare, but it all ended well and I was given a very clean report for that particular screening test.
• I don’t think we played Alternate Felltower yet this month. Maybe next week? Maybe this Sunday?

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: 63 patrons and $452 per month.
• Special Content in July: Been a busy month.
  • Nordlondr Folk: Detailed power and racial builds for all racial gifts as post and PDF
  • Axe Me Some Questions: Comments about the weight and handiness of weapon vs tool axes in general, and in GURPS in particular.
  • Hand of Asgard: Designer’s notes and power/ability build post and PDF
  • Delvers to Grow: Designer’s notes and power/ability build post and PDF

Currently Manufacturing/Fulfilling/Shipping

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

• Best Supporting Actors is finished.
• Artifacts of Legend has finished digital distribution, and print orders have been placed and should be arriving at distribution hubs in the next few days. Time to consider a Late Pledge?

Media

• Isle of Sedra was featured in the Daily Illuminator and the TFT homepage.
• I never got around to the AMA for Infinite Archipelago, but I suppose it’s not too late. Let me reach out to some of my usual interlocutors…

Crowdfunding and Product Launches

• The Isle of Sedra for The Fantasy Trip launched June 22 with a goal of $21,750. It ran through July 15. Backerkit projected 420 backers, we actually got 430. If my projections on per-pledge average had been accurate at $42, we would not have funded. We actually hit $68 thanks to fully 1/3 of the backers opting for cards, which was responsible for ½ the funding total. We overachieved by about $7K from the goal, which hopefully means I’ll eke out an actual profit on this one.
• The Artifacts of Nordlond project launched, funded, ended at $14,739 of a $13,000 goal. Fulfillment should start any moment, as I expect the books to arrive between today and next week at all centers.

Product Announcements

Now for sale on DriveThruRPG:

• Best Supporting Actors
• Serpents of Legend
• The Bugstiary
• Garden of Evil

In Development

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

Let’s see where we are on other things…

• Infinite Archipelago is happening. Sedra is launched and will  happen, and I need to work on conversions of TFT to other systems. Logical next step would be Elazar, the neighboring island to Sedra, plus of course moving Nordlond into the mix for TFT and other systems.

• Delvers to Grow Companion. Some new professions. A whole bunch of new disad packages. Epic Upgrades. Everyman Adventurer modules. This can’t happen in its planned form with only 425 backers. I just now had an idea of what to do with this, so I’m going to see what I can make of it. I think I’m going to turn this into Patreon-only content. It’s the right level of “get it done over time” and a solid reward for the Patreon community that can come frequently. But it also means it’ll have to push out in terms of any sort of public release; the market just doesn’t seem to be there right now.

• Mission X: I’ve started to generate some inspirational artwork and will probably see this in a few weeks. Once the art direction and prelim layout for Sedra is in place, I’ll turn my hand to steady daily development of this project. That being said, I expect a LOT of backers are needed to make a full RPG happen, and with backer counts down by 20-25% over the usual, this may be a bigger lift than I can accommodate. We shall see.

• Let Us Rejoice! Looking at my planned releases and the work required, this is either 2024 or “as time permits” in 2023…and I hope it’s a non-crowdfund release in 2023 and time does

• Inns and Taverns; Two Warring Houses, by Douglas Cole. Systemless. 2024 is likely, and I’m probably going to solicit new authors on both.

I actively encourage prospective authors to drop me proposals having to do with any of the above projects, but bear in mind that there are guidelines and strictures that must be followed to make a sale and move from concept to final.

Wish List

I’m looking for contributions for the Infinite Archipelago. Authors must be detail oriented, capable writers who can take on projects and deliver them to specifications while still respecting the constraints of both system and setting. Some “demesnes” have been mentioned in other works before and can be considered pre-approved for the right writer:

• Now that Sedra is likely happening, I would welcome adventures and scenarios set there.
• A realm modeled after a mix of historical and mythological “ancient egypt.” This could be an original homeland to what became The Scorpion Empire on the Isle of Sedra, or something similar. Known to be one of the origin places of the cat-folk mentioned in the Nordlondr Folk book.
• A realm loosely based on Kamakura-era Japan. Hints to this realm, called “Inthriki” in the Nordlond and Dragon Heresy materials exist, but could easily be altered to taste.
• The realm of Morevel, which was based on a mix of Hellenistic and mythical Greece with a focus on an uneasy period after totally-not-Philip-of-Macedon unified disparate states by force of arms. This one should probably be a set of idyllic, Mediterranean-climate island nation-states with lots of rowed galleys, phalanxes, heroes, and monsters.
• The neighboring nations – and we can talk about island or no, but probably yes – of Arnulf and Brionnu. These are “not Carolingian France, really” and “not Celtic Britain, we swear.” Arnulf and Brionnu were more or less created to give the Nordlondr somewhere to go raid and pillage…but that’s up for negotiation too.

Friction

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

• Artifacts struggled more than I’d like. Sedra is running 25% under expectations. RPG spending is discretionary spending, which means I’m very optional in folks’ spending plans. Even so: it means GB is teetering. To date, including money spent from Sedra but not yet recouped by having that funding come in, GB is at a few thousand dollars of loss for the year.
• I was not 100% pleased with myself in my job interview performance from the first one. I did have a second interview, and I think that went better … in that I knew what they’d be asking about, I gave the best answers I could. I didn’t get the job, in the end, but I was satisfied it was for mutually good reasons.
• The Sedra Sourcebook will grow from 32 to 44-48 pages, which will cost more in both words and art. This will require careful management to ensure the project doesn’t overspend.

Fair Winds

Information about things that move GB forward.

• My wife’s new job is very, very busy, but she’s kicking ass.
• I had a medical screening procedure yesterday that went better than expected. I had to do a week of prep and it was facilitated by propfol, so I was fully asleep with the IV (which I hate, but Megan the nurse did a great job with the stick) and everything. By the way: if your veins are good, you can usually ask for a lidocaine topical spray to help with the IV stick. Makes it uncomfortable rather than painful. But…it does cause vein shrinkage, so if your practitioners struggle to find your veins, this will make it worse. It works for me.
• Sedra stalled a bit, funded late, but surged at the end. A typical project with TFT usually has 500-600 people. This one did 430. I’m hopeful that means there are 100 retail sales in its future.
• I’ve started some concept art and actual design work on Mission X. Not a ton, but it’s moving.
• The art for the combined Sedra project is mostly commissioned, but the Sedra Sourcebook isn’t done yet and so the needs for art aren’t entirely defined. I’ve got a big team working on it though, so there’s enough to get going with already. I’d rather be farther along…but I will work as fast as I can.
• I tried out a new method to making my real-weight, real-balance wooden practice swords and it worked beautifully.