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Gaming Ballistic LLC Backerkit Store and Preorders

Created by Douglas H. Cole

Add shipping, or choose from Gaming Ballistic's Product Line!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Backerkit Phase: almost ready
about 5 years ago – Wed, Jan 02, 2019 at 09:06:28 PM

I believe I've got the Backerkit surveys all sorted. I have just hit "go" on their Smoke Test, which sends out random surveys to 5% of backers (6-8 people) and allows folks to test out the surveys.

As noted before: international shipping of orders that include the Dragon Heresy core hardback is quite expensive. There are few enough of you all that if there's a way to work out better shipping - for example, you already use a freight forwarding service that allows me to ship your book to a US address - we can work it out together, and we can make required changes, including crediting back shipping if we find a cheaper way.

But there might not be a cheaper way, and for that I'm sorry.

Even so! We're almost ready for the next phase, which will run for about three weeks. I will be keeping close tabs on the not-shipping add-ons and pre-orders and if we pass the $6,000 goal in the post-game/overtime phase, as it were, then we all win and the hardcopy book will be upgraded (which will cause a two-month pushout in physical product, from April to June).

From a progress perspective, Glynn has my first round of art notes, and I owe him some sketches on the maps that aren't already explicit in the older books.

Stay tuned! I expect to formally start Backerkit somewhere between Friday and the weekend.

And that's all she wrote!
over 5 years ago – Wed, Dec 26, 2018 at 03:06:52 PM

The bell has tolled, and the Kickstarter has been brought to a successfully-funded conclusion at over 300% funding.

Thanks to all who backed this project.

Now it's time to get to work. First sketching out the maps, then finishing up the details of the conversion.

Merry Christmas, y'all!

The Golden Hour
over 5 years ago – Sun, Dec 23, 2018 at 07:45:51 PM

This is it! The last hour of the campaign.

We're shockingly close in some ways to the big 6,000 print run. In other ways, it's quite a sprint.

In any case: thanks for bringing us this far. If you want to follow the campaign through the Backerkit phase and you're one of the 133 folks following the campaign who have not yet pledged, throw in a buck. That puts you on the list to see everything happen in the Backerkit phase, have access to the book and add-ons at no change in price, and ensures continuity of interest.

Regardless: it's been quite a ride. See you on the flip side!

FIRST STRETCH GOAL DOWN! Also: Add-ons!
over 5 years ago – Sun, Dec 23, 2018 at 03:29:24 PM

Last night was brilliant, and we passed the first key stretch goal. 

Digital Print Run: $3,500

The printing will shift from POD to a digital print run. This will still be a softcover, perfect-bound book, but the paper and print quality is upgraded to the same 140gsm/93# Arrow Silk paper used in Hall of Judgment.

The bottom is maybe 1mm thicker than the LHoT2e will be unless the book grows a bit, which I don't think it will.

Next Goal: $6,000 for Offset Print

It's true, it's a reach. We need $2400 more . . . and yet that is only 78 more people. It's a challenge, but it's not crazy. Sure, there's a bit of irrational exuberance in my projections, but we still have 138 following the campaign who haven't jumped in. 

So the potential is there. 

That version will be amazing. 105# paper will bulk up the spine a bit. Heavy softcover with a lay-flat binding.

And the book will be able to go into distribution and sit on retail shelves next to the core book. 

That last one is probably more important for me than for you. But there it is: it's the sort of thing that makes the game more accessible, more popular, and allows me to keep developing content in advance of any crowdfunding.

So: please share our victory with your social network, and invite them on board. It really does help!

Add-Ons

As a further enticement, a reminder of the add-ons available:

Dragon Heresy Introductory Set

($38 Print; $15 PDF; $46 HC+PDF)

The core rules supporting Lost Hall of Tyr (2nd Edition), the Dragon Heresy Introductory Set is a substantially modified variant on the Fifth Edition ruleset (SRD5.1 under the OGL). It includes more details on Torengar and Etera, the background world for Lost Hall, as well as a complete, self-contained game for Level 1-5 play. The game introduces rules for wounds vs vigor to distinguish between blood and grit, great mechanics for shields and grappling, rules for flyting, social standing, and more. If you don't have it, this is a great time to pick it up.  

Note: this is a 3.1-lb book and they're all in the USA; international shipping of a hardcover is likely to be expensive. You can see the print quality I'm shooting for below: my 288-page Dragon Heresy book is rather thicker and better put together than the 320-page comparison volume. 

 Dungeon Grappling

($12 Print; $6 PDF; $15 Print+PDF)

Gaming Ballistic's very first product, and still the best grappling rules on the market (in fairness, it's a low bar). Finally bring grappling rules that don't suck to the table for Fifth Edition, the Pathfinder RPG, and Swords & Wizardry.

Dungeon Grappling makes grappling fun again, especially for the GM and their monsters, by introducing the "control" damage type and working throw how to apply it for both armed and unarmed grapples. And tentacles. And nets.

Seamlessly move between armed combat and grappling . . . just like they did in the old days of Fiori, Talhoffer, and other historical fighting manuals.

The Battle Shield of Torengar ($650)

Just for fun, I will hand-build for you a mostly-authentic viking-style center-gripped shield. Made of quarter-sawn poplar wood, with a hand-carved oak handle, mild steel boss, and faced, backed, and edged with goat rawhide, it's put together with hide glue, and tapered at the edges. Who doesn't want their own Viking-style shield, made to historical dimensions? Make an impression at your next staff meeting.

You'll also receive print and PDF copies of all four of my printed books.

If you pledge at this level (or buy one as an add-on), I'll contact you and we can work out the details of size and how you want it painted. The shield will likely weigh about 4.5-7 lbs, depending on our mutually-agreed-upon specs.  

This is only available in the USA, because even inside the USA, this is horrifically expensive to ship!  

A few prior samples below. They are (and the plain black one, which is the hide-covered shield painted with authentic milk-based paint with charcoal pigment) my Asfolk training shields. Each weighs 6 lbs. 

 Last Words

I'm so excited to see the first important stretch goal fall. The print run is huge for Gaming Ballistic, and I hope that some of the few hundred folks either following or who've bought my products in the past will come on board in this last half-day of the campaign.

Until then: you've made me happy and proud. You guys are going to get a great book.

6 Hours Left: so what's next?
over 5 years ago – Sun, Dec 23, 2018 at 03:23:34 PM

In six hours, one way or another, we'll be done.

OR WILL WE?

More seriously, here's what to expect:

The Kickstarter will finish tonight. We have funded and will complete at least one stretch goal.

There will then be a two-week down period where Kickstarter processes the funds. During that time, I will be completing all of the remaining work in putting the PDF together, including getting started immediately on the upgraded maps with Glynn.

That means funds will settle and arrive in my account around January 4; sometime between then and the end of January, the PDF will be sent out with the majority of the content and perhaps the new maps in place. This will serve as a time for backers to help do a final proofing, as inevitably errors creep in to the writing when you're not looking.

During that time, we'll enter the "Backerkit" phase, where I figure out the best way to deal with printing and shipping the orders that have been placed. This is also a period where folks can jump in an pre-order the book and jump in for add-ons, up to and including the Viking-style shields. I'll also be able to tell you whether print-and-ship will be weeks (digital print runs are fairly fast) or months (offset print runs are not). Right now I'm looking at about 100 books having been ordered, so the most likely pathway is short-run printing in the UK. That'll make a fine book.

The Backerkit Revenue absolutely counts for how good the final print run will be. If we hit the stretch goal of $6,000 or more during the Backerkit phase, I write the check for the offset print run.

So you can expect the final PDF to be distributed at the end of February, possibly sooner. That's when you'll see the PDFs go out, and the 2nd Edition will replace the 1st edition PDF on DriveThruRPG and my website.

I'd expect printing to take about four or five weeks, and then shipping about three more. So we're probably looking at books-in-hand in April. If a Christmas Miracle happens and we hit the offset run, that's when "June" becomes operative.

Stay tuned. As those who have backed my stuff before can tell you, when I know something, you'll know soon after.