Chapter Release + Timeline Update
21 days ago
– Thu, Oct 31, 2024 at 12:03:56 PM
Hi friends,
Any moment, you should receive an email from BackerKit that a new digital download is available. We're excited to release the first full chapter from the book - Chapter 2: The Shambling Dead. This is one of my favorite parts of the project, and it provides excellent background for a DM on worldbuilding and better understanding how to craft everything from a zombie swarm to an apocalypse.
The writing is largely done, and we only have a handful of art pieces left. Outside of some editing, we'll be able to layout the full book soon. I expect sometime in November we'll release the completed chapter for classes and subclasses, as that art is just about complete.
I hope to have the PDF completely ready for release by the end of the year, and our physical rewards are on track as well. I'll follow up soon with more information.
August Update
about 2 months ago
– Thu, Oct 03, 2024 at 01:47:52 PM
Hi friends,
Short update here as we are plugging along on this book and making good progress. As a reminder, it is slated to release next year and we are still on track with our original fulfillment date. We hope to have the digital version available sooner than that, but we still have more work to do before I can give any timelines for that.
so what's left to do? We just put in what will likely be our final big art order! I expect we're going to need one or two more pieces before it's finished but this more or less wraps up the art for the book. I'm dropping illustrations of our monk and sorcerer subclasses below.
We're also finishing up the writing and taking in the playtest feedback we've gotten from the subclasses. I estimate the book is around 90 percent complete, with about a third of it fully edited. My hope is to have a completed chapter laid out in full for the next update. We're making progress! Thanks again for your support.
Treasures From The Astral Forge is Live on Kickstarter
3 months ago
– Tue, Aug 27, 2024 at 09:17:52 AM
Or next project, Treasures From The Astral Forge, is live on Kickstarter! This is our final 5E project of the year, and we're super proud of it. The book is a collection of 160 fully-illustrated magical items. They are well balanced, tested, and ready to be dropped into virtually any campaign.
This is more than just a DMG-style list of items, however. Each entry gets a dedicated page full of mechanics, quirks, lore, and adventure hooks for finding, crafting, or bartering for the item.
What's This Campaign About?
Treasures From the Astral Forge is the ultimate guide to better magic items for 5E. Here are the highlights of what this project is all about:
-
180+ Page Hardcover Tome. The book includes 160 fully illustrated magic items, carefully balanced for your table.
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Boxed Set of Item Cards. A full set of magic item cards, including an easy-to-open custom box to hold them.
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New Forge Boons. Minor boons handed out by the Forgemaster to adventurers who amuse, confound, or assist him.
- New backgrounds, a guide to traveling the Astral Sea, the Astral Forge as a drop-in location, story hooks, and more.
Want a Free Sample?
Try out four of our free items right now.
STL Files Fulfillment + Animist Class Playtest is Here!
3 months ago
– Wed, Aug 21, 2024 at 11:49:02 AM
Apologies for the long wait on this update! I've been trying unsucessfully to upload the .STL files to BackerKit over the last week, and I wanted to hold off until those were ready to distribute. That issue is handled, and I have just pushed the button in the backend of BackerKit to distribute all of the STL files. This includes not only the set of monster .STLs, but also the Zombie Horde .STL as well.
If you backed these add-ons, they are now available among your digital rewards in Backerkit. The rest of the project continues on, as we're close to laying out a few chapters of the book and only have a few art orders left to complete. I'll give a more thorough accounting of what's left to do on that front next time.
Before you go, we've got a few other items of interest:
- The playtest for our custom class (The Animist) is here!
- We've got free .STL files for Scoundrel Game Labs miniatures bases for you.
- Our next kickstarter will go live next week!
The Animist Class Playtest is Here!
I've very excited to announce that the Animist Class playtest is here, and it includes all three subclasses. This has been one of the most fun things I've ever worked on, and I'm very proud of the work that Benjamin Huffman put into this. You can find the playtest PDF in your BackerKit digital files now, but here is a little more information about it.
Animists are alchemists driven to use their esoteric science to create new life. Using rare reagents and arcane ingredients, animists craft elixirs capable of replicating the effects of spells, design dangerously volatile explosives, and even grant sentience to the inanimate. For all the time animists spend in labs conducting alchemical experiments, they can just as often be found searching ancient dungeons for forgotten formulas or treacherous wilds for extraordinary ingredients.
As they grow in power, an animist attunes to a specific occult material that determines the nature of their alchemical companion and expands their magical abilities. An animist’s alchemical companion is their magnum opus, proof that they can transmute inert matter into a living being. An animist might treat their alchemical companion as a trophy that proves their
genius, a servant to be commanded, or a ward they must teach the ways of the world.
Benjamin designed this class to be on the higher end of complexity for 5E. He had this to say about playing the class:
"It's definitely true that the Animist has a lot of options competing for bonus actions. This was intentional since the class would be extremely potent if not limited by its spell slots and the action economy. I designed it with the idea of there being tension between how you would use your bonus action and that there is no "standard turn" for an animist. It's on the higher end of the spectrum of complexity of 5e classes. Essentially the animist gameplay loop is 1.) Attack or cast a spell and throw a volatile or command my agent or 2.) I've got Invigorate Agent up so now it's Attack and throw a volatile or cast a spell."
As always, I love feedback - good or bad. This time, we've created a feedback form to anonymously let us know what you think of the class.
Get The Scoundrel Game Labs Miniature Bases .STL Files for Free
Need some bases for your minis? Print some of ours! We've created a set of four .STL files that are ideal bases for any minis you might print. They come in 25, 50, 75, and 100mm - perfect for any size monster for your D&D campaign.
Treasures From The Astral Forge Launches in a Week!
Our next project, Treasures From the Astral Forge, goes live on Kickstarter on August 27, 2024. It's not your average collection of magical items, with 160 entries of all rarity levels. Each item comes with beautiful art, balanced mechanics, optional quirks, lore, and adventure hooks for finding, crafting, or bartering for the item. We hope you'll check it out!
Zombie Subclass Playtest!
4 months ago
– Thu, Jul 11, 2024 at 08:19:36 AM
Hi friends!
We're plugging along with this project and are currently on schedule. We're also getting pretty close to having a complete manuscript, with most of the chapters already finished. We've got quite a bit of art left, which will be a larger part of our focus over the next two months or so.
Now comes some of the polishing. You should be receiving an email from BackerKit momentarily about a new download. I've dropped a PDF copy of our new subclasses into everyone's BackerKit account. This is no-frills, text only, but the subclasses are ready to try out. We love feedback and would be interested in hearing what you think of them.
This playtest does not include the Animist class or any of the supporting archetypes as we're still doing some internal tests on that. During the rest of the summer I plan on showing off more art, adding more playtests for the Animist class and our graft magic system, and any updates to the timeline we'll need. Thanks again for your support!
