Update 4 - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
3 months ago
– Thu, Dec 19, 2024 at 01:17:36 PM
Hello Tunnelers! The Fool here with a much needed update, of which I will dub “the good the bad and the ugly” update.
What does a lil under 300 pages of handmade book look like? A cube shelf of binders, more time scannin' then I foresaw, and one mad flagellants crazy resistance to a digital book
The Bad - The Delay
The ugly truth of the past couple of months was my book progress slowed (but not to a halt) thanks to a mix of losing my day job, and revamping nearly all of the included dungeons/modules. The job angle meant I had to pick up a lot more commissions than normal, and sit through dozens of interviews to keep things moving so it really gummed up my progress on book art. The writing revamp, though a delay I hope you’ll find was well worth it. The old modules were fun but after testing some out at NOVA Open I went in and fluffed them all up, which basically means everything almost doubled their page count for beefier romps through the tunnels. I do apologize for going this long without a proper update but I figured if I focused on the work I could still get it done in time but the reality was that wasn’t the case!
The Good - Book Progress & Guest Writer
Although commissions took a big chunk out of my art time I have still been chugging away on the book - here is where we are at.
Chapter 0 - 11/16 Pages complete (5 awaiting Art)
Chapter 1 - 16/16 Pages complete
Chapter 2 - 42/44 Pages complete (1 Spread awaiting Art)
Chapter 3 - 21/34 Pages complete (4 Spreads awaiting Art, 3 Spreads with guest writer*)
Chapter 4 - 32/38 Pages complete (3 Spreads awaiting Art)
Chapter 5 - 4/32 Pages Complete (14 Spreads Awaiting Art)
Chapter 6 - 16/68 Pages Complete (26 Spreads Awaiting Art)
For the TLDR: That is
142 Complete Pages, 48 Spreads to go (roughly 23 are WIP/nearly completion), and 3 Spreads with our guest writer.
With more than triple the word count of our last book, although we are not printing this month as I desired I am very happy with what’s to come.
*The Guest Writer, any good Borgian hack has their way with scrolls/magic and The Sky is Falling is no different. Parchment may crumble to dust in time but CAVE PAINTINGS are forever. I’m happy to share that the ever talented magician/zine maker extraordinaire Steven Zych (@bigboygametime) is taking the reins on creating a series of Cave Paintings for your tunneling scum to invoke. If you like freak spells, and art punk sensibilities (if you didn’t you wouldn’t have found me) go check out his stuff! https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/23302/steven-zych
The Ugly - Release Dates / Timeline
So, progress numbers are intangible without a deadline. Given my current progress and amped up speed here’s what the next few months at F&F will look like.
December - Though the month is already at a close, I am expecting to finish those 23 WIP spreads. Most Leaving primarily chapter 6 left.
January - Guest writer pages will be in hand and will get art-ified, as well as completing the final spreads. Once “pencils” (in this case, scissors, paint, and tape) are down the final spreads will be sent to the editor for review and the unedited version of the book will be put in for test printing. If all goes well with the test prints, the final edits will be adjusted and the print run will be placed. This means Final PDFs will hit you all sometime in January.
February - Depending on how January goes, books will arrive either at the end of the month, or early February. Once they are in they will be shipped right out to you! Those who pledged for our last book will remember some of the shipping issues for Smorg, thanks to this being a minis-less campaign things will be a lot smoother this go around!
May - For those who didn’t grab a physical book, your first chance will be in May as we unveil The Sky is Falling, and other F&F products to the world at Under the Dice Fest 2025! Come play some games, listen to live music, and buy some freak shit at our booth and others. ( https://underthedice.com/under-the-dice-fest/ ) I will have most* of the physical pages from The Sky is Falling available for sale and will be adding those that remain after the show to our Big Cartel webstore.
**The Bonus** - Pledge locks, Backerkit, Preview PDF
I’m ending this update with some logistics, so please don’t skip this part!
1- Make sure your Email Address is updated and current on your Backerkit. I will both need that for your final PDF and more importantly I will need it this month for the preview.
2- Given the timeline change, Pledges will remain open until the end of January. If you have not locked in your pledge please do so over the next couple of weeks, and if you are contemplating add ons make sure you add those as well. Once it comes time to print there will be no looking back!
THE PREVIEW PDF
You have waited longer than expected so I will be sending a preview with a big ol’ chunk of our completed pages to everyone so you aren’t left in the dust this month! Expect classes, mutations, and more. If you are like me, you may opt to still wait to reveal the books contents once it arrives in person. For the rest I want you to have the option to get playing NOW even if you have to wait for the rest of the bestiary and dungeons. So check your inboxes for that!
Thank you all for your patience and support, in these darkest days of the year let's keep a torch at hand and remember life only gets darker when you tunnel!
-The Fool
Update 3 - Classes Preview!
6 months ago
– Thu, Sep 19, 2024 at 06:15:47 PM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Update 2 - Surveys Sent!
6 months ago
– Sun, Sep 08, 2024 at 06:48:31 AM
Calling all Tunnelers, check your emails, your backerkit surveys have been sent!
Two key notes on those,
First and foremost you’ll notice that what Kickstarter charged as shipping is in your backerkit as credit.
This is for one key reason, the original shipping was charged based on how much shipping cost me at the time of the campaign using the distribution method I normally do. But I’ve been actively trying to lower those costs - especially for my overseas backers so just incase this makes things cheaper when it comes time to ship I want to make sure those savings come back to you.
What this actually means is once it comes time to ship, I will either be using that credit on your account (and refunding the remaining balance) OR charging you shipping (if you spent that credit on add-ons). Note that shipping prices laid out during the Kickstarter campaign are still the max, you WILL NOT be charged more than that, only less if I am able to secure a cheaper distribution method.
Now, a little peek at the add-ons!
Besides the final hardcover copy of “The Sky is Falling”, you can get your gauntleted mitts on…
“Smörgasbörg - The all you can eat CANNIBAL rpg.”
Smörgasbörg is an RPG supplement of gruesome proportions. packed inside 120 pages of art splattered goodness is all you need to add cannibals to your RPGs, and all the consequences that come with. MUNCH AND CRUNCH AND I LIKE LUNCH ESPECIALLY WHEN IT’S PEOPLE! Grab your bibs and bone saws you’re in for a treat…. - 17 pages of cannibal classes. From the humble Humanitarian to the devoutly devouring TEMPLE TO WURM! - 46 pages of Dungeons, Drive-ins, and… dies? Crawl your way out of the gullet of the colossal Critic, or enjoy dinner and a show at Hell’s Kitchen. - 7 Restaurants fit for all, from the ghoul to the gourmand. - “THE HUNGER” addiction-style cannibalism rules fit for any game. - Arm to Table rules for harvesting fresh corpses! - And aaaaaaaall the recipes, items, and treats your primordial hunger could hope for. Designed for Mörk Borg, but rules light enough to fit any system with minimal effort.
120 pages, hard cover.
“To Worm.”
Eat dirt, and burrow in this choose-your-own-adventure story. Staring you, as a worm.
80pg, softcover.
“HEADS!”
Wish your 1v1's had the high intensity, high lethality, nail biting drama of their cinematic counterparts? HEADS is designed to be used in any and every game where you want your duel to be solved in 1-3 dramatic rolls instead of comparing initiatives and spending 10 turns bonking back and forth to tension simmering eternity. So whether you take one swift swing of your katana, a corpse-splitting power strike with your axe, or trick them with a dagger to the heart... grab your dice and let the HEADS roll!
And debuting to the Flagellant & The Fool store during this campaign - my first two comic books!
“Trickle Down”
What goes up, must come down. Join the mud-caked peasants of Podwater in a revolt against the Goldenboys. Prep the guillotine.
44 page, comic book.
“Today's Torture”
Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. At least that’s what our titular torturer claims! Step into the battered hood in this day-in-the-life story of workplace torture.
36 page, comic book.
And on a related note, F&F made their first appearance at NOVA OPEN!
We were running all sorts of horror in THE ROOM OF DOOM! Which nearly sold out all seats at during our 10 games. It was a whirlwind and a blast, F&F will definitely be running more con games in the future.
Shout out to those who made deals with the darkness during our TSIF runs, and the guy who ordered room service because Smorgasborg was making him hungry!
Wish THE ROOM OF DOOM would run horror by you? Let me know some of your favorite cons so I can add em to the wish list!
-THE FOOL
Update 1 - Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
7 months ago
– Sun, Aug 18, 2024 at 04:53:53 PM
Hello Tunnelers! The Fool here with our first little update. Although we've been hiding in the dark since our campaign ended, we've been busy cutting, gluing, and scribbling away at our madness.
Below you'll find a mix of pages you've seen, and pages you haven't to remind you of the tunnels to come. And while for this first update I want to let them do most of the talking lets hit a couple of key development point.
Backerkit / Late Pledges
Our Backerkit will be live soon* I am sending out the smoke tests this week and then a full late backer store will be open shortly after. You'll notice our full range of zines from the campaign, plus a few new ones never before seen.
Book Progress
I split my progress into 3 phases,
1 - Brainstorm and writing.
2 - Art & Layout (with writing tweaks)
3 - Edits / Test prints.
We are making steady progress and are deep into phase 2. The only sections of the book I don't consider "fully" written are Chapter 2 and 6, these being the character classes and adventures. Those are constantly tweaked and sharpened until finally put to paper. But I am happy with the progress.
TLDR on Book Progress
Stage: Phase 2
Chapter 0 - 55%, Chapter 1 - 100%, Chapter 2 - 60%, Chapter 3 - 70%, Chapter 4 - 88%, Chapter 5 - 64%, Chapter 6 - 43%
Delivery Date
Campaign estimates got this book in your hands in November, currently, we're looking late November early December. So a slight shift but nothing troublesome yet. There was debate and interest over whether our Smorgasborg minis & teeth dice would be added to the backerkit store but I have officially decided to keep this as a zines-only campaign to keep us on track.
Chapter 4: Surviving the Dark is a favorite. Encounters and hazards are not the worst of what you can bump into deep underground. Pure, absolute Darkness is. Light your fires in fear or heed their whispers and make deal.
48 pages of all you need to play as, or against the Dark. What you find within could easily be a mini zine used to attach this primordial entity your pre-apocalyptic games so those looking to add a little Darkness to their games will be flipping through these pages often!
-The Fool
Update 0 - The Darkness is coming...
8 months ago
– Thu, Jul 18, 2024 at 07:47:26 PM
In the deepest pits of the darkest tunnels, something stirs....
The Sky is Falling - DARKNESS UPDATE - coming this August...
Pencils have been scribbled bare, papers have been cut and torn, and under cover of darkness the book has been in progress but soon it is time for our first post-Kickstarter reveals.
-The Fool
