Significant Editing Progress!
over 2 years ago – Mon, Jul 10, 2023 at 07:35:22 AM

Hey Folks!

First - my apologies. Updates for our post-campaign Kickstarters typically go out the first Monday of each month. However, between traveling to Origins Game Fair for a week, my kids being off from daycare the following week, and me still recovering from my surgery a month ago, things have gotten backed up. However, lots of progress has still been made.

Editing

Last week, I received edits from Ash Monogue who is our content editor. This week, I will be going through those edits, making changes as needed as well as some final tweaks to the layout and formatting. By the end of the week, I will send it off to Frank Ard for the final round of copy editing! Frank will return the manuscript to me sometime in August and we anticipate sending it to the printers before the start of September. Many of the digital rewards will be uploaded onto BackerKit then as well so digital backers can anticipate receiving the vast majority of rewards before the end of summer.

Work That Must Still be Completed

Aside from the editing, I still have design work to do for the NPC maps. I must also finalize the NPC Cards which will happen as soon as I get the finished manuscript from Frank. I will be pulling text directly from the book and so must wait for the final proof to do that.

 Thank you all and hope you're having a wonderful summer!

Shane

Hireling Contract, Editing Update, and Survey!
almost 3 years ago – Mon, Jun 05, 2023 at 09:35:13 AM

Hey Folks!

It's been a busy last month and I'm excited to share where we're at!

Survey

We're currently conducting a survey with our backers and email subscribers. We really want to hear from you about what you want, what we can do better, and your input on our ideas for the future! The survey will take about 5-7 minutes to complete and at the end, you'll receive a code for a $5 credit you can use on our website for anything you'd like. Your feedback is super important to us and I can wait to hear your thoughts! https://forms.gle/qQEuezNqNooo3fTr8

Bad News

I'll start with the bad news first which, within the context of Villains & Villagers, will have only a minimal impact. Last Friday, I had a common surgery that had some complications. My recovery was supposed to be about 1-2 weeks but now it will take 4-6 weeks and I am in significant pain and am bedridden for the time being. Luckily, as you'll see in the next section, that won't have too big of an impact here. I still have a lot of work to do for Villains & Villagers including designing the NPC cards and the Lair Maps but my role in the actual book is pretty small.

Editing Update

The book has been edited, formatted (still have about 15% formatting to do) and 90% of the art placement is complete! NPC backers have approved of the copy for their characters and now the book is in the capable hands of Ash Monogue for the next stage of editing. He should take another week or two and then the book will go to Frank Ard for copy editing.

Hireling Contract

I also have another Villains & Villagers player handout for you! This is the Hireling Contract to use with any hirelings or camp followers the party employs. Hope it help you stay organized and your players engrossed in your world! https://www.headlesshydrapress.com/hireling-contract

Origins Game Fair

I'm also excited to share that Joe and I will be at the Origins Game Fair in Columbus Ohio later this month. If you'll be there, come say hi!

That's it for now! Next time I should have another update for you on the editing progress. 

Shane

Solid Progress!
almost 3 years ago – Mon, May 08, 2023 at 05:38:41 PM

Hey Folks,

I'd normally wait another week or two before providing an update but there's been so much progress, I wanted to share now!

Wanted Poster

First off, check out this downloadable Wanted Poster! This was one of our stretch goals and I'm so excited to share it with you all! A pro-tip I mention on the page is getting a PortraitWorks for the character artwork, putting it through a grayscale filter, and then putting it on the page! I am SO happy with how this looks and plan to use it in my own games whenever the opportunity arises. Big thanks to our lead illustrator Pawel Parol for designing this!

New Artwork

This is the last piece of original artwork for Villains & Villagers which depicts the Maudlin Minotaur, a rowdy monster-themed tavern where the party may visit and encounter Dell Wildwander, the gnome tavernkeep. 

Formatting, Layout, Art Placement and Editing

This is the area where the most progress has been made. AA huge chunk of the formatting, art placement, and layout is completed. My goal is to finish 95% of this work by Wednesday. Then, I will spend Thursday and Friday coming through the book and doing some light edits, largely for content and consistency. Then it will be off to Ash for Content Editing!

I want to give a big shoutout to Joseph Carro, this project's lead writer, who did such an awesome job taking the lead on this. About 85% of the writing in the book is his and I think you're going to find some real gems in the premade NPC section - just like I did. You can check out a section of the book below but please keep in mind this is BEFORE any of the line edits so be gentle in that regard.

That's all for now! Once I send the book to Ash, it should then take approximately 2-3 months to complete the rest of the editing process - and then it's off the the printers!

Shane

New Art and BackerKit Locking!
almost 3 years ago – Mon, Apr 24, 2023 at 10:54:53 AM

Hey Folks!

It’s been a wild couple of weeks. Between filing taxes, going to MayhemCon, and and a series of medical procedures I’m getting this week, there's been a limited amount of editing and creative work on Villains & Villagers. Next week i should be able to get a bug chunk of formatting, layout, art placement, and early editing done.

This weekend, our team had a great time at MayhemCon in New Hampshire. We ran six events, taking players through several of our Sandbox Adventures! Here's a picture of myself (Shane), Joe (lead writer), and Alec (illustrator). 

New Art

I am excited to share that we have a new half page scene for the book! This one was illustrated by Thuan Pham! We have a second half page scene that should be ready to show off next update.

The artwork depicts tavernkeep Aznar Hardcloak, a retired adventurer who has a complicated past that may catch up with him when the players are enjoying an ale.

BackerKit Lock and Cards to be Charged

he other big news is we are locking BackerKit orders to finalize item counts for the physical rewards and to provide the funds to let us order all of these goodies! We actually sold so many copies of Sandbox Adventures that we will need to order a new print run of that book and the funds will help us do that! You can anticipate that credit cards used for BackerKit will be chqarged tomorrow. Thank you so much for completing your BackerKit pledge manager!

That's all for now! I will have another update in a few weeks to let you know the progress we've made with the book. Thanks everyone and have a great week!

Shane

BackerKit and Creative Work
almost 3 years ago – Tue, Apr 11, 2023 at 08:11:42 AM

Hey Folks!

BackerKit

This is a quick update that BackerKit is live and most of you have already responded! The process took longer than anticipated becuase of the sheer quantity of items included in those "All-In" tiers! We had a small issue with some digital only backers being charged shipping but that has been resolved now. If you do see anything that seems wrong, please reach out and let us know. A whopping 80% of you have already responded! BackerKit is essential as we get closer to ordering the physical goods because it tallies up the total of each item we need. Our plan is to let BackerKit run a couple more weeks. We will lock orders and charge cards by early May. Revenue from this will pay for the material goods which we should be ordering in May and will also pay for some of the contractor fees such as for our Editors and for the person who does our print-ready formatting.

Creative Work

We're starting in on the formatting and editing of Villains & Villagers. This is the earliest stage of editing and I anticipate it will take a few weeks before we can move on to the content editing stage. I am SUPER happy with the content we have though and I think you will be very happy. One new thing I have to show is artwork for another of our premade NPCs - King Oliver. 

That's it for today! I will keep you posted as the editing process progresses. Happy spring!

Shane