Well, this one is on the one-week frequency, so here we go. Even so, a bunch happened in the last week, so a short-period report is probably due. So here’s another week in the business life of Gaming Ballistic.

• Artifacts of Legend is 99.8% fulfilled. There’s one outstanding survey, and one more parcel goes into the mail today. But it went from “pending” to “done” internationally in the span of about 36 hours, which was pretty cool.
• Artifacts of Legend is nonetheless still accepting late pledges, at least for the next week. After that, the PDFs and print copies will be listed on the usual retail channels.
• Isle of Sedra moved into the Backerkit survey phase, and is currently at 65% survey completion. Another 15% of so and I’ll start locking orders and charging cards, which distributes PDFs that are done.
• The Sedra Sourcebook grew again, with an “upper” word limit of 40K words … which will probably have it land at 60-64 pages instead of 32. Late pledges are open for this one too.
• I got a rough color cover for Sedra! It’s going to be pretty when finished.
• Somehow I missed putting Shields Up on DriveThru, and have fixed that error.
• I made a few new wooden swords with a new method to general positive response. I’ve got a longsword started now too.

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: 66 patrons and $470 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

We picked up a few new members in the last weeks (yay!).

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 physical distribution. There’s about a week to go to get in a Late Pledge.

Media

• James Eisert did a fun video on Shamat, the TFT map making program. It showcases how you go from “concept” to “map” to “awesome map by Glynn Seal” using the Isle of Sedra works as a template. His brother Chris is on the art team, so there’s that too.
• I scheduled an AMA for Infinite Archipelago but had some family fun stuff come up that overtook it. I am working with Erik Tenkar – an old actually-played-with-him gaming friend – to host this on the Tavern, probably during a Random Party Generator segment.

Crowdfunding and Product Launches

• The Isle of Sedra is in the Backerkit phase and accepting late pledges. If you missed the Kickstarter, this is a good time to get it, as page count estimates went from “96 pages total” to “128-132 pages total” since the project launched. That’s 28 pages for the GM’d adventure, 40 for Monster Hunter Belladonna, the solo/programmed adventure, and 60-64 pages for the Sedra Sourcebook.
• Ooo! I got a rough color cover for Sedra!
• The Artifacts of Nordlond project launched, funded, ended, and fulfillment is now in the hands of postal services all over the world. Late pledges on this project shall be open for about a week longer.

Product Announcements

Now for sale on DriveThruRPG:

• Shields Up

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 has taken its first steps, and making this one has helped define the next. 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 rounding the corner from “thought” to “product,” 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 (or the region around Japan, Korea, and China which has so much game-adaptable history to it). 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. And “Carolingian France” is darn close to “Vikings, but continental” in their equipment and such, but the cultural differences are enough to make it quite interesting.

Friction

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

• I’m starting to run out of money in the development kitty. The good news is I have an infusion coming in as Kickstarter delivers me the Sedra funding. But I’m deep into the bottom half of my “working capital” allotment.
• The Sedra Sourcebook grew again, to 60-64 pages, which will cost even more in both words and art. It’s also later than I’d like, as I’m usually well into the “only art remains” stage by now.
• I discovered I missed an important administrative element, but I took care of it and all is well.

Fair Winds

Information about things that move GB forward.

• My wife’s new job is very, very busy, but she’s kicking ass.
• I was super pleased with how quickly I went from “pending” to “done” on Artifacts of Legend. I’m getting notes from all over the world that the books are arriving.
• I’ve started some concept art and actual design work on Mission X. Not a ton, but it’s moving.
• Starting to see Sedra art, and the art budget isn’t exploding yet. I’m hopeful it stays that way.
• Paid SJGames their license fees for Q1-Q2. That was a bite in my working capital, but that payment is the reason I can make TFT and GURPS stuff, so it’s part of the win-win that’s licensing.
• We played another session of Felltower. We defeated some mostly minor foes in two rounds of combat (really one big one with a lull). My character wasn’t as effective as I’d like, but every game is fun, and I often learn things that I can and will apply in future game rule design efforts