More BackerKit Goodies, and Some Great Community Projects
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Aug 24, 2022 at 06:54:38 AM
Greetings retainers,
We know some folks have been hoping to get the Companion and Community zines through POD, but we've had to change course after running into a ton of problems setting them up for digital printing. Instead, all backers will now find the Court of Blades Companion Zines set up for Home Printing in their digital downloads through BackerKit. They've been designed specifically to print in zine format from any printer so you can get a physical copy in your hands.
We've also added a high resolution copy of the map of Ilrien for printing at home, or for use with your VTT of choice, to your BackerKits. It might also help you find the "easter eggs" hidden in the map! Has anyone out there found or solved the hidden puzzle yet? We'd love to know!
In the meantime, we're still waiting on the pallets of offset printed books to arrive, and anxious to get them out to everyone, but there is some great Court of Blades community content coming out that has helped us pass the time without exploding from all the excitement, and we'd love to share with you all:
We'll be back with another update when we have more news!
All our best,
A Couple of Drakes
The August Updatening!
almost 2 years ago
– Tue, Aug 02, 2022 at 08:38:19 AM
Greetings Retainers,
This is a quick update to let you know everything we touched on last month is still in motion. If we have anything noteworthy to remark on this afternoon, it's that we just finished unloading pallets of packing material in preparation for the big distribution party! Our customs agent is standing by to clear the shipment of Court of Blades hardcovers that should arrive on our shores any day this month. We have printed copies of maps, stickers, Companion and Community zines, and bookmarks stacked to our eyeballs, and we're just holding our breath.
If everything goes smoothly and the books arrive this month, or if we get a solid set of the POD zine proofs back (the proofs we've received so far have been unacceptable) to approve them going live for the POD backers waiting on zines, another update (or possibly two) will be in the offing.
All of our best wishes,
Shawn and Navi Drake
Court of Blades: The July Update-ening
almost 2 years ago
– Sun, Jul 03, 2022 at 02:55:14 PM
Dearest Retainers,
Just a quick update to let you know what is happening in the world of Court of Blades. We are officially over halfway finished with Kickstarter fulfillment! All that remains is getting the offset printed copies of Court of Blades into the hands of those who backed for it.
On that front, we have news! Despite paper shortages, skyrocketing print costs, and everything else the year has thrown at us all, Court of Blades is officially finished printing and off the press. It will be roughly six weeks, give or take a couple, in shipping from the EU before they arrive in two glorious pallets for final distribution.
We also have some quality-of-life extras coming down the pipes:
We’re waiting for proofs of the POD versions for the Community and Companion stretch-goal zines to arrive, presently. Once they’re finalized, we will be sending out at-cost coupons to everyone who backed for the POD version of Court of Blades. If they come back looking great it could be in as little as a couple weeks! Fingers crossed. You know what? Cross the toes, too. We’ve all earned it.
We’re working on a Quickstart guide for those who want to get their head around the basic mechanics of Court of Blades and play a daring or romantic one shot. We know this will be a boon to folks who are not familiar with Forged in the Dark game mechanics, in particular. While it was not part of the original Kickstarter scope, we will be making it available to all of you wonderful folks who believed in this project via Backerkit, once it’s completed. Figure, early Fall.
Finally, we have an amazing fan of the game who has been working on Roll20 game sheets and keeping us in the loop. They’re coming along so beautifully. We have had an adventure (more, tale of woe) trying to get these sheets made over the last year, and we had just about given up and started looking into how to code them ourselves (wish I was kidding), when a super fan appeared to save the day. We’re so excited about this.
We’re not entirely out of the woods yet, but every post on Twitter and every message to our inbox showing books in hands and tales of intrigue and romance told with friends is another “yes” to counterbalance all of the “no’s” we’ve had since we started this journey together. That makes the long nights and the hard days worthwhile. Thank you again for your continued support, Retainers. We couldn’t do it without you.
Kindest regards,
Shawn & Navi Drake
A Couple of Drakes
POD Copies of Court of Blades!
almost 2 years ago
– Mon, Jun 06, 2022 at 10:57:07 PM
Dearest Retainers,
As of today, the Court of Blades POD option on DriveThruRPG has been approved and our proof copy has arrived looking mighty stylish. All POD backers should be receiving their links for their at-cost POD copies of Court of Blades presently. Check your email, and be certain to scan the Junk folder.
If the internet goblins eat your key or you find yourself having trouble claiming your copy, send us a message and we'll see how we can be of service in getting you the rewards you so richly deserve.
Thanks so much for seeing this project through to the end, Retainers.
Shawn & Navi Drake
A Couple of Drakes
PS: For those of you awaiting the main body of our print run, you will also be pleased to know that our files were accepted (after much frustration and gnashing of teeth) by our offset printer. They are being printed presently, so now we await the interminable wait that comes of shipping overseas. More updates on that as it comes to us!
Court of Blades: The Final (PDF) Update-ning
almost 2 years ago
– Tue, May 24, 2022 at 04:37:54 PM
Dearest Retainers,
As we speak, the final PDF version of Court of Blades is running through the hamster tubes of the internet directly toward your BackerKit portal. Seriously, you can go download it right now. You can play it right now, if you haven't already started. Marvel at the art, nod sagely at the typos you helped us find, feast your eyes upon the mighty index.
It's also coming bundled with your printable bookmark, final updates to the Community and Companion Zines, and as a special bonus for being patient while the art came rolling in, an "Art of Court of Blades" zine. We had to cut and crop and make tough decisions with all of that glorious art, so...y'know, have a book full of amazing, uncut, uncropped art, too. Why not?
But it's not all peaches and cream as our social season draws to a close. As is typical of the luck of House Drake, we've been made aware of a security issue that occurred on DriveThruRPG which has necessitated the wholesale disabling of title creation or editing site-wide. This presents us something of a problem for getting our POD backers their coupons and copies. We'll be checking back three times daily (let's be honest, I've been mashing F5 for the past three days) until we get the issue resolved. We'll post another update for our POD backers the moment we get it sorted, and get those coupons distributed as soon as is humanly possible.
We're very close, Retainers. You've gotten us to within striking distance of the finish line. I don't want to talk about the apparent slope of the hill, but I can feel the momentum behind us. Thank you as ever for being the wind at our backs.
-Shawn & Navi Drake
A Couple of Drakes
