Shipments delivered, some mistakes, strep throat and foggy brains
over 4 years ago – Wed, Dec 04, 2019 at 08:50:05 PM

Mostly, I'm hearing back that folks in the USA are receiving their books, card decks, and counter packs and are satisfied.

Thus far, though, there have been a few "categorical" types of errors and queries.

• Books assembled incorrectly at the printer. Pages out of order, the wrong cover on a book, etc. 
• The wrong quantities of books delivered. Too many of X, not enough of Y.

The first issues is the printer's problem, the second, the fulfillment company. In both cases, just email me (and please do use email) and I'll get Jim at Studio2 to dispatch a replacement immediately. If you got too many of something, gift it to someone or keep it. If it's a misprint, you can leave it open on your game table to give the cat somewhere to sit.

In any case, I will throw down one caveat: over the last week I've been quite sick. If you sent me a request - especially by Kickstarter or Backerkit instead of emailing me directly - and I replied that I would send you new books, and you haven't received an actual tracking number from me yet, please ping me again at [email protected]. I've been trying to take care of these as I go, but the biggest issue with my getting sick has been an inability to sleep (I wake up every hour), so I KNOW I have at least one order that's been neglected, but because the requests can come in via several communication pathways, they can be tricksy to track down. 

Sorry about this. Getting sick over the holidays is miserable anyway, and getting sick over the holidays while dealing with customer service is a giant no-no.

But my requests:

Because of the book assembly issue, I'd ask that folks page through each of the five books and ensure that you don't find, a year later, than they're messed up. And if your order was wrong, and you don't have a tracking number from me, gently ping me over the next few days and I'll ensure you're taken care of.

Thus far, folks seem fairly pleased with the material. If anyone reads and reviews it, on a podcast, blog post, or by ELF transmission from the Midwest (I can't read those, and the facility was shut down in 2004, but it'd be cool) . . . please link it somewhere I can see it.

As soon as I address the remaining backer issues, I'll probably place the remaining physical copies for sale though retail, my website, and Warehouse 23.

Starting to arrive in the USA!
over 4 years ago – Sat, Nov 30, 2019 at 10:28:59 PM

Books Arriving!

I'm starting to get reports that the books are arriving in the USA. Excellent; that sounds about right. Some Media Mail is super fast, others can take up to 10 business days. So stay alert.

Errors? Can fix.

Also, make sure you get what you paid for; with a big delivery, fulfillment errors can take place. This includes everything from "oops, you're missing X" to "the USPS crushed my books into something unrecognizable."

I've got LOTS of spare copies of books. If your card decks or counter sheets are damaged . . . that's going to be more of an issue. But let's hope that the really high price I pay for each box (I mean, really?) means they're quality stuff and protect the goods well. That being said, I've sent out two replacement sets of adventures to our "not the USA" friends due to mis-handling, and I've got lots and lots of copies in the USA that can be used for that purpose...so if your stuff is broke, email me directly with a photo of the damage and we'll sort it out.

Feedback Wanted

As always: the thing that creators probably get the least of is post-campaign feedback. "I liked it," or even better, "I played it" and "here's what I liked and what I didn't" is super-valuable. Especially since I'm going to be turning my efforts to "More Perilous Journeys" in 2020.

More Perilous Journeys?

Yep. That's going to be the new title of the Kickstarter. I may try and take a page from the Car Wars concept and rack up as many pre-orders as possible...but I'm going to be trying a few different things in 2020 with my crowdfunding direction, so we'll have to see. Kickstarter is popular but a bit confusing; Backerkit is nice, but really labor intensive. Both lack tools that I'd like to see and make things harder than they should. I may try something else, but I want to test it first with a smaller project.

First: let's take care of "when." I expect/hope to have all five manuscripts in my hands by Feb 14, 2020. Three are already done, though not edited or laid out. The TFT layout is very clean, so I don't anticipate any issues there. I'm going to do my best to have all of the text layout ready to go on these by the time crowdfunding launches; I also need a bit of a break after the Nordlond Sagas campaign due to behind-the-scenes stuff. So figure late Feb/early March for a launch date on these.

You'll be seeing three more adventures that are sequels to Crown of Eternity and Curse of the Pirate King; these are GM'd adventures written by the same team of Christopher R. Rice and J. Edward Tremlett.

You'll also be getting two 32-page solos from David Pulver; he's writing those now. They will be very, very different than Vampire Hunter Belladonna in subject matter.

I'll see if folks want more counters and card decks. As before, these will only be offered as one-time specials for the Kickstarter, but I will certainly have the older counter sheets and card decks from "Four/Five Perilous Journeys" as an add-on, a dedicated print run for those.

Smaller and Bigger 2020

That's what I've got on tap for you for TFT in 2020 thus far. I've got other things in mind that year, of course. One is a giant Dungeon Fantasy RPG book, the Norðlondr Ovinabokin, the "Nordlond Enemies Book," which is planned as a huge bestiary, in hardcover, full color. We'll see if "A full-length monster manual for the Dungeon Fantasy RPG" has the legs folks say it will! Also, maybe-possibly a brand new RPG from a name you know well (not mine) that is neither TFT nor GURPSy, but I'm very excited about. That one would come late in the year.

So "smaller" number of major releases; each one will be "bigger" though, in terms of how much content will come with the project. I've also got a number of projects in mind that will pop up when they're ready to go, and if my alternate vector for crowdfunding works out, can pop up at any time. I'm already working a really neat DFRPG concept for a 16 or 32-page book with the author of Nordlondr Folk and Hand of Asgard...and more besides. Anything like this will show up as shorter works, though.

By Special Request

A comment in the TFT Discord channel boiled down to "I'd really like a set of cards for the Nordlond monsters."

I'll tell you what I told him: after the Nordlondr Ovinabokin is done, I'll have prose and art for likely over 200 creatures. Turning those into the much-simpler TFT critters should be straight-forward. 

So consider it under consideration. Obviously something like this requires permission and discussion with SJG . . . but if they say yes, I'll see what I can do to slot something like it in for 2020.

US Shipping Completed
over 4 years ago – Wed, Nov 27, 2019 at 03:24:15 PM

All books have left the warehouse. Have a good Thanksgiving, and I hope the books arrive quickly and whole.

US Books Update: hopefully all by Tuesday
over 4 years ago – Fri, Nov 22, 2019 at 11:37:36 PM

I heard back from Jim at Studio2. The labels are being printed today, and pick, pack, and ship should be complete by Tuesday, so he tells me.

I'm guessing a lucky few will get their books next week, but most will arrive the first week in December.

Between this project and the Nordlond Sagas, let's just say I've learned a lot.

Frustrating Holding Pattern
over 4 years ago – Thu, Nov 21, 2019 at 02:29:39 PM

Some of you guys are - justifiably - poking at me about when the US books are shipping. 

They arrived at Studio 2 and were supposed to begin fulfillment mid to late last week . . . and here we are seven days later and neither you nor I have heard about any movement.

I've got a firm note in to Studio 2 asking for an update and a schedule. When they tell me, I will tell you.

Not what you want to hear nor what I want to say. But it's what it is. More as I learn more.