Gaming Ballistic - GURPS Content Posts

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Varyon

Not sure the best place to report this, but I was glancing through Strong Delvers (considering throwing Shigran and a couple hirelings up against a party consisting of Evil versions of the characters there) and noticed the artwork for Pepin is reversed on page 14. I wasn't sure if this was an error or just necessary for the formatting on that page to work right (I notice the other delvers are often different sizes between pages, which I assume was just necessary to get the formatting to work).

Ksenia does such good work I make it as large as the space will take it.

The gaming ballistic errata page is here https://gamingballistic.com/errata/

I ask that ALL potential mistakes be submitted there so I can track them best.

[DouglasCole]

Ballistic’s Report for Week Ending July 9

Owing to the July 4 holiday and attendant travel, this update covers June 26 through July 9. These last two weeks were more and more production, but very productive production. So a lot of “to-dos” have moved “to-done.”

• Character Collections international finally passed through customs, shipped, and are starting to arrive. I got hit with extraordinary storage fees because the paperwork was not 100% what they wanted to see. Overall, the 25 orders cost to produce, certify, and ship meant they actually lost money.
• Delvers to Grow’s core book has been sent to the printer
• Crypt of Krysuvik, Strong Delvers, and Fast Delvers have all been completed and distributed to backers. Crypt and Strong are getting an errata pass and will be re-released in updated format today. Then off to the printer for those two.
• Smart Delvers is next up and should be complete by the middle of next week at the latest.
• The Omnibus edition is going to require some creative edit-fu to shrink to a more-desirable 96 pages instead of the “easy” 100 it wants to come in at.
• All of the More Perilous Journeys reships have gone out! Yay! Some have ever started to arrive.
• Finally: The GURPS 2021 PDF Challenge is up and running. It’s already over $15,000 and has unlocked half of the dozen PDFs that may be available. For $3. One of those is mine! GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Encounters 4: Ring Fort. I had a ton of fun writing it, and the map is freakin’ gorgeous.

[Emerikol]

Thanks Doug, I backed the 2021 pdf challenge and your fort looks like something really cool!

Quick question, if I wanted to buy Delvers pdf, when will I be able to do that?

I wasn't part of the kickstart.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Emerikol

Thanks Doug, I backed the 2021 pdf challenge and your fort looks like something really cool!

Quick question, if I wanted to buy Delvers pdf, when will I be able to do that?

I wasn't part of the kickstart.

If you hit the Backerkit Pre-Order store, you could be reading four of the five books by this evening.

[Emerikol]

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

If you hit the Backerkit Pre-Order store, you could be reading four of the five books by this evening.

So I placed an order, what should I watch for?

Okay so I’ve accidentally ordered twice. Once on Jul 11 was the pdf and this time it’s both pdf and book. I see the email response now though.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Emerikol

So I placed an order, what should I watch for?

Okay so I’ve accidentally ordered twice. Once on Jul 11 was the pdf and this time it’s both pdf and book. I see the email response now though.

I needed to get back to somewhere where I could lock your order and charge your card, which I did this morning.

If you over-ordered, email me at gamingballisticllc at gmail dot com and I'll see to it I refund the order you don't want.

[Emerikol]

Now I cannot even find the download page for the original pdf I purchased when I go to the backerkit link. Grrrr.

CORRECTION: I found the link to the download.

[DouglasCole]

Ballistic's Report for Weeks Ending July 31

Missed the July 23 update, so this one is again two weeks, covering July 17 through 31.

A bunch got done, but it was mostly incremental. They were good increments, though.

• All files from Delvers to Grow were finalized, printed, and distributed on DriveThruRPG. There are still a few stragglers that need a file or two, and nearly all of those were caused by weirdness in how Kickstarter interfaces with Backerkit on addons.
• I got all of the DtG core books from Mixam. They’re currently awaiting the other books, which are on schedule to arrive Aug 4.
• I dug into international shipping and it was more or less a mess, as per usual. Costs are going to run about twice what I collected. I don’t say this to ask for more money (I’m not) or make you feel sad for me (you shouldn’t), but the challenges involved will change the strategy going forward for international books.
• The Omnibus edition was successfully edited down to 96 pages, and is pretty nifty. That’s arriving Aug 4 as well.
• I didn’t exactly announce it, but the next TFT project is going to be David Pulver’s Tower of the Moon, and I’ve already got it in layout, working on art.
• I’ve made substantial progress on a new Dragon Heresy item as well.

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: 50 patrons and $345 per month.
• Special Content: Surveyed Patrons and let them weigh in on what GB will do next in my various market segments. This also revealed several new products by intent. The pre-art layout of Tower of the Moon, along with some cover images. Patreon members got the PDF of the 96-page Delvers to Grow Omnibus as well. I also showed the results of some of my new sword-making process. That’s harder to give away by PDF, tho.

Gained a few patrons since last time!

Currently Manufacturing/Fulfilling/Shipping

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

• Delvers to Grow: Core, Fast, Smart, Strong, Omnibus, and Krusuvik delivered via DriveThrRPG.
• Delvers to Grow: Core Book in the house; all other books schedule to arrive Aug 4. Shipping will commence immediately following.

Crowdfunding

Delvers to Grow (Launched Friday May 7 at 10am Central Time, Ended May 25 at 9pm Central)

DtG is down to two physical orders who still need to fill out surveys. Once I get to the end of fulfillment, I will refund those orders and that’s that.
All five books are in backers’ hands in PDF format.

Product Announcements

The full Product Catalog got revised a bit. I also developed an order form, which is available upon request and was sent to a lot of retailers.

In Development

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

• Tower of the Moon, by David Pulver with maps by Thomas Denmark, is in an advanced state of production. Layout is done. Art is underway. Maps are underway. Not sure what vector will be used to deliver this one ... I have some alternative to Kickstarter in mind here.
• I made significant progress on laying out a new Dragon Heresy book, this one containing 20 backgrounds for the setting. I don’t think that is going to come out on its own. I have other things I want to pull together for more Dragon Heresy support.
• This isn’t precisely RPGs...but I did some work on developing my sword-making skills in terms of hickory training swords for HEMA. They consist of two types
• All-wood trainers that usually weigh about a pound, and
• Weighted trainers that have metal in their core to reproduce the balance and weight real swords.
• The results of both development efforts have been very successful. My latest all-wood training sword can be seen in the image to the right, and It’s a joy to handle. And look at. Even if I say so myself. You can see how far I’ve come. A sword like that will sell for $100, with shipping anywhere in the USA running about $20.
• The weighted trainers bring a different feel to the weapon, one more akin to steel. You can’t duplicate the resonance and feel of steel, really ... but these are getting close. I’ve made two for paying clients, and thus far they love them. One was 27.5” blade, 1.65 lbs, balance at 6” from the crossguard. The other was 31” blade, 1.85 lbs, balance at 6.5” from the crossguard. I’ve also made one with a 29.25” blade, 6.5” balance, 2.45 lbs based off of the Anglo-Saxon sword from Arms and Armor (they’re such a good resource!).

Friction

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

• The international order pricing was a mess. While I covered the details in this Kickstarter Update, the short version is that things were more expensive than I thought, and while I might print some books in the UK for shipment within those borders (and maybe the EU), the mix for Canada and Australia was such that it was not feasible to try that process there. No price breaks either, as shipping is currently estimated to be as much as 2× what was charged.
• This tweet by Nolan Nasser on July 28 is indicative of what’s going on. Over the last year, prices for 40-foot containers from China have risen from $2,000 or $3,000 for a full container to $21,000. Not only is it expensive, but the actual containers are hard to find (this impacted my wife’s work, and she’s involved in biogas remediation from cow poop ... they can’t find containers to ship purchased equipment) Granted, Gaming Ballistic isn’t in that boat (so to speak) because my scale is smaller than that, and I print in Europe if I ever get orders that large (I have, twice, in the past). But there are paper shortages, supply chain faults, etc. All of this has driven up costs “below the waterline” in ways that are impossible to predict. As Korg said, “the only thing that makes sense ... is that nothing makes sense.” Words of wisdom from perishable rock.
• The something from fair winds last time didn’t pan out. This is why one doesn’t mention these things.

Fair Winds

Information about things that move GB forward.

• There’s something else in the works that seems more likely. Can’t say.
• I spoke with at least two authors about products in the future. One of them is likely something we can do this year, while the next is probably 2022.

[DouglasCole]

The Delvers to Grow Kickstarter produced six fantastic books. A Core book that helps you make Dungeon Fantasy RPG characters in mere minutes, three example books filled with inspiration, some new content, quirks to steal, and advice on playing your archetype, and a fantastic adventure geared to 125-point characters for the Dungeon Fantasy RPG.

Delvers brings support for 62, 125, and 187-point player characters, and does so with a very, very newcomer-friendly modular build system. A competent character can be created in moments, even with someone who has never RPG’d before.

But the campaign is coming to a close now. As noted in another thread, the final books are arriving on my doorstep around lunchtime, at about noon. Tonight and tomorrow I will start physical fulfillment … which means it’s time to print labels and start shipping books.

THAT means it’s time to lock pre-orders … but I want to give folks this day to sneak in any last-minute book-grabs.

This is possibly the best on-ramp to introducing folks to GURPS that has been formally produced. It makes character generation TFT or “First level D&D” fast, using mostly natural language concepts that are evocative enough to not need a lot of mechanical explanation. Even if you’re a GURPS expert … this is the tool to get your friends in on the system with minimal fuss. I have a Patreon subscriber and playtester who is now more than a month into running pick-up games at his Favorite Game Store, where folks with no RPG or GURPS experience walk up to his table, create a character right there, and start playing. Most return. Some leave with boxed sets.

Again: this is the easiest, fastest, most understandable on-ramp to Powered by GURPS and the Dungeon Fantasy RPG that is available.

Kickstarter Page (for info)

Pre-order page (to go get it)

Gaming Ballistic’s Discord server (for questions; this link will expire in one week on Aug 11)

…and if you feel so inspired, my Patreon to help me produce more stuff outside the bounds of crowdfunding.

(note: there are maybe 35 copies of the omnibus left; the omnibus is physical only at this time!)

[DouglasCole]

I set a weekly alarm for last night this time, so hopefully I’ll be ready to go each morning with an update these days.

The most important thing that happened is all the books from Delvers to Grow arrived, and physical fulfillment has begun. This means I closed the pre-order store ... but I was very, very pleased with the last-day response. The orders received really help offset the shipping costs, which are much higher than planned.

• All 2,000 books arrived at my house for the three example books and Crypt of Krysuvik.
• I spoke to Marshall LaPira about a new book; we’re going to try it systemless
• There are 78 packages shipped already; 42 more are packed and printed. This is my big task today and I hope to get a LOT packed up.
• I didn’t exactly announce it, but the next TFT project is going to be David Pulver’s*Tower of the Moon,*and I’ve already got it in layout, working on art.
• I’ve made substantial progress on a new Dragon Heresy item as well.
• I have organized the monsters (about 200 of them) for the volumes of the Dungeon Fantasy RPG Nordlondr Ovinabokin ... the Nordlond Enemies Book. More below.
• Phil Reed and I met for lunch last Tuesday at Brit’s Pub in Minneapolis. Food was good, conversation was good, and I’m well pleased with the plans we made.

Ballistic's Report for Aug 6