Pledge Manager Live!
over 2 years ago – Wed, Jul 13, 2022 at 05:23:08 PM

Hey Folks!

Before we get into the thick of it, here is a brand new art commission representing the Monk: Way of the Streets Subclass. Art by Alec Adams.

We managed to get the Pledge Manager up early and sent it out Friday.

First, I want to apologize for the issues around the prices of Add-Ons. Our intention was to offer the lowest possible price for some of our add-ons to you all through Kickstarter and to then offer those add-ons for more (but still at a reduced price) to people who pre-order customers through the Pledge Manager. Unfortunately, this translated to BackerKit making backers pay the difference in price. This issue SHOULD be resolved now but PLEASE let me know if you are still being asked to pay for an add-on you already paid for in Kickstarter. Thank you very much for your patience and understanding as we resolved this issue over the weekend. 

BackerKit Status

A whopping 70% of you have already responded! Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to complete the pledge manager. This lets us plan shipping logistics as well as to get a final count on the items we will need to order. As a reminder, cards will not be processed until early September. Once cards are processed, digital rewards that are ready will begin distributing.

Book Status

I am also excited to share that the core book (not including all of the stretch goals) has gone through the first round of revisions and is back with lead author, Alex. There will be three total revisions with this first one taking the longest. My best estimate is the second round of revisions will take place in August. 

Next Update

The next update will go out in three weeks on August 1st, with the latest details on the book, the pledge manager, and the final piece of commissioned art! Stay tuned and have a great couple of weeks!

~Shane

BackerKit Issue
over 2 years ago – Sat, Jul 09, 2022 at 01:47:58 PM

Hey Folks,

This is just a quick message to say that the BackerKit Pledge Manager is live! One issue has come up though that I wanted to address.

We wanted to offer some items at a special price for Kickstarter Backers compared to Pre-Order Backers. Those items are:

Sandbox Adventures PDF ($15 on KS/$20 on BackerKit)

Sandbox Adventures Softcover ($33 on KS/$35 on BackerKit)

Passage Stone STL ($3 on KS/$5 on BackerKit)

Hexplorer Digital Map Tiles ($5 on KS/$6 on BackerKit)

However, BackerKit is instead asking Backers to pay the difference which is not what we wanted. I will go through the rewards to fix this but it will take sometime. I may not fix everyone's pledge before the end of the day. In the Monday update, I will provide an update but rest assured you will not be asked to pay extra for add-ons you already purchased via Kickstarter.

Hope you have a great weekend all!

~Shane

So, What's Next?
over 2 years ago – Mon, Jul 04, 2022 at 11:50:29 PM

Hey Folks,

I hope you all had a great weekend! As promised, here is an outline for what you can expect over the next few months. But first, check out these latest illustrations by Pawel Parol!

Payment

Between now and Thursday, Kickstarter will be collecting payment from backers. If your card gets denied - no worries! You'll have some time (and you'll receive some reminders) to update your payment and try again. I've kept an eye on pledges with card issues and already, 50% of them have been resolved.

Updates

As a superbacker myself, one of the thing that annoys me is when a project I'm excited about goes months without an update. You won't worry about that here. We will provide 1-2 updates per month with the latest progress, hurdles, and projections. I will ALWAYS post updates on Mondays and I will ALWAYS let you know at the end of the latest update when you can expect the next one to come.

Pledge Manager

One of the first major developments will be the release of the pledge manager. The BackerKit Pledge Manager has been completed and it's now in the review process. It should be all set to go live one week from today. For those who aren't sure what a Pledge Manager is (we use BackerKit), it's a system that allows us to get your shipping address, to collect shipping fees, and for you to upgrade your pledge level and to get extra add-ons if you'd like. Once it does go out, and this is a point I want to stress, we will not be charging cards right away. We will be be using the pledge manager to help finalize production counts for things like the GM Screen and the Deck of Fate. Cards will be charged in late August/early September. I will make sure to give you all ample notice before the charge goes through. Even after we charge your card, you will have right up until we begin shipping to change your shipping address.

***Also, super important. When you first login to BackerKit, it will essentially tell you what the most expensive shipping fee is that you could be charged. Once you enter your shipping info, it will tell you the accurate shipping fee but until you do, BackerKit basically assumes you live in Antarctica. 

Book Status

Adventurer's Agency will go through three rounds of editing. The first draft is 95% complete - just waiting on Alex to wrap up a few monster stat blocks and the stretch goals we unlocked. I am anticipating that the first round of editing will wrap up by the end of this month, the second round will finish in August, and the third will finish in September. It is possible that the PDF of the book could go out as soon as October. International shipping logistics are still a nightmare so we made June 2023 the fulfillment deadline but I am actually hopeful we will get the physical rewards to people in the first quarter of 2023. 

Artwork

Most of the artwork has already been commissioned. Check out some of our earlier updates if you want a sneak peek! I am waiting on a couple of remaining pieces and I will share them once they are finished.

That's all for now! For our American backers, I hope you have a nice July 4th.

I will be back next week on July 11th to give you an update on the Pledge Manager. Have a wonderful week!

Shane

You Did It!!!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 11:48:28 PM

Woohooo!

Thank you so much to everyone who backed this project and made Adventurer’s Agency a reality! Alex and I are so thrilled that we will be able to not just publish this book but also create the adventure booklet, GM screen, dice, and cards to make this campaign setting as valuable as possible.

For that, we say THANK YOU!!!

So, what happens now?

I will be posting regular updates on Mondays every 2-4 weeks based on how much news there is to report. The first update will come on Monday when I will lay out the timeline and what you can expect over the coming months.

But right now, it’s time to celebrate! I’m looking forward to checking out a new brewery in town and then I’ll be playing in my weekly D&D game.

Thanks again everyone. We are very excited to share the world of Prataea with you shortly and all of the valuable new content and mechanics it has to offer.

Have a wonderful weekend and I’ll be back with the first post-Kickstarter update on Monday.

-Shane

Stretch Goal Unlocked, Final Goals Revealed, and Tier Clarification
over 2 years ago – Tue, Jun 28, 2022 at 01:56:39 PM

Hey Folks,

We are getting so close to the finish line here! Just a few more days to go. It's been a wild ride and I am humbled by your support and enthusiasm. As we approach the last few days, we are revealing the final few stretch goals here! But first, check out the latest new art we've commissioned!

Stretch Goal Unlocked

We've just unlocked three new monsters!

• Rexenant Queensguard
• Mutant Knight
• Rebirth Cleric

All of these new monsters will now be added to the core book. Thank you so much for supporting this project and helping us make it as comprehensive as possible!

New Stretch Goals

As we approach the finish line, here are the final goals that we will try to unlock:

*Unlocking the Bluemont City Map will allow us to do a print run of the megacity's map in poster format which will be available on the BackerKit pledge manager. A complimentary digital version of the map will be made available to ALL backers.

Captain Pledge Tier (Physical)

There is a discrepancy on the Captain Pledge Tier where in one area it states the tier includes the standard hardcover and in another spot, it says the tier includes the Limited Edition Hardcover. For clarification, this tier WILL include the Limited Edition Hardcover in its rewards and NOT the Standard Hardcover.

Thank you so much to everyone who has helped share this project on Reddit and social media. Together, we can unlock all of these final stretch goals!

Thank you everyone and happy Monday!

~Shane