Second batch is away!
about 3 years ago
– Fri, Feb 12, 2021 at 08:00:57 AM
I have packed up the next batch. These are all of the "oddball" orders. A few large retail orders (and y'all got the updated bar codes for Dark Lord's Doom), some who added Dragon Heresy or some Nordlond stuff, etc.
The next mission - and I need to tackle this on the weekend - is to pack up the 50 or so orders for people who ordered all 10 of the Perilous books, and then the 200 domestic orders for the More Perilous Journeys alone.
But I will get all 250 boxed up this weekend. It's frigid here in Minneapolis, so there's nothing else to do.
In terms of Rest-of-World orders, I heard from Kixto and the reprints all survived the trip in sound condition. So as soon as we come up in the queue, they go out. I can't imagine that will be past next week; it may be sooner.
Follow the Character Collections Kickstarter page!
about 3 years ago
– Thu, Feb 11, 2021 at 01:58:28 AM
My next TFT Project: Character Collections for TFT, has just been approved.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gamingballistic/character-collections-for-the-fantasy-trip
Please check out and follow my pre-launch page if you're interested. Stretch goals for the project are based solely on backer count - the number of folks who pledge - so please reshare widely to get the most out of the project!
Delivery/Fulfillment Update
about 3 years ago
– Wed, Feb 10, 2021 at 12:35:15 PM
Supplies!
I got three updates and a delivery in rapid succession over the last 24 hours
- My order of packing tape was delayed until today or tomorrow. Ironic.
- The order for the reprints from MixamUK went from "no information at all" to "they'll be delivered today between 4-5pm London Time. That's very, very good news.
- I'm expecting The Sunken Library to show up on my doorstep today before 9pm Central
- The "retail" reprints of Dark Lord's Doom for those who need the barcode to actually be accurate arrived yesterday, early afternoon.
This is excellent progress.
My intent is to start with the smaller orders - the special cases - and handle those myself. That will leave roughly 50 boxes of "I want all 10 books" and 200 boxes of "I want the five new books" for this weekend. I shall invoke Child Labor and Wifely Duty and bribe/cajole my family into helping out by making a bucket brigade for pick, pack, tape, label. But we've done things this size before and it worked out just fine. So I really do expect to have all the packages in the USA on the way by Monday, and I will do my darnedest to make partial mailings as I can.
Character Collections: Counting Down to Launch
Sometimes you do what you have to. I was frustrated with my being distracted while writing up the characters for CC2: Rookies...so I did something that by all rights should not have worked. I set a timer for 10 minutes, and the "pressure" of that totally arbitrary deadline helped me finish the entire book yesterday. I also poured it into layout. And got some corrections from my squad of reliable playtester/reviewers.
So I am now sitting at a place where the first three books - the ones that will be guaranteed available when the campaign launches - are pretty much ready to go except for the art.
Of course, the art is in progress too. I've got sketches approved for pretty much all of CC3, and am pinging the same capable crew for CC2 and retroactively doing some art for cards and counters for CC1 (that's the first stretch goal).
After (a) Kickstarter approves my project, and (b) I mail out all of the books from MPJ, I'll post a pre-announcement link.
One thing about this one: While the funding level of $5,000 is obviously based on cash, all of the stretch goals are based on the number of backers.
I expect the campaign to run from Feb 19 through March 16.
Fulfillment Plans: Domestic
about 3 years ago
– Sun, Feb 07, 2021 at 06:54:18 PM
Monday Morning (Feb 8)
Having received dates for the arrival of The Sunken Library and the retail copies of Dark Lord's Doom for the middle of the coming week, I have started the pick-and-pack process.
The orders that do not include The Sunken Library have all been boxed up and labeled. They go into the mail tomorrow morning. This is maybe 18 packages.
Thursday Morning (Feb 11)
The retail order (order?) can and will be packed and sent the day after I get the boxes.
The Weekend (Feb 12, 13, 15)
There are a few hundred orders to pack after that. 200 or so for just the give books; and another 50 with all 10. I have the inventory in hand for that (though I'mma gonna need more tape).
Those will be packed and shipped starting Thursday as well. I'll do some each day, and then ensure ALL books go out by Monday Feb 15.
International
I know the books are in the queue, but I haven't heard back as to when. Things are fast in the UK, and there aren't many books. They'll be printed and delivered to Kixto over the course of about three days, so it's still possible that things could happen this coming week. But that's probably not the way to bet. I've pinged MixamUK about timing. Hopefully I'll hear back soon.
Ballistic's Report for Week Ending Feb 5
about 3 years ago
– Fri, Feb 05, 2021 at 04:43:33 PM
Each week on Friday, I publish the "Ballistic's Report," which is sort of my weekly newsletter to let people interested in my company's progress know what's going on. I'm not going to copy each week's report to Kickstarter (gah, no)...but in case you're not in my orbit yet, but are interested, what follows is what you see each week.
Where to see it?
Finding Gaming Ballistic
As seems to be required these days, you can find me all over the place:
With that in mind...here's the Ballistic's Report for Feb 5.
To help with ongoing funding of art and speed eventual time to delivery, Gaming Ballistic started a Patreon in January 2021. Here’s the weekly update on Patreon status.
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Membership status: 38 patrons and $262 per month
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Special Content: Patrons received a preview of the complete Character Collection 3 volume; so have proofreaders, who have made significant contributions to getting it perfect out of the gate. They also saw the preliminary campaign structure for the Campaign Collection Kickstarter.
- The funds from the Patreon are 100% going to be reinvested in the business for advance work. Pre-visualization and early-stage art for projects prior to launch is going to be the most likely sink for the funds. Some of these can turn directly into products; others have a longer lead time.
- Art Direction and solicitation for the images has begun. I’ve already got four folks definitely interested in participating. Three confirmed and working!
New Releases
New projects available for retail sale.
Product Announcements
- No announcements this week
Currently Fulfilling/Shipping
Project where hardcopies and PDFs are going out, or scheduled to do so.
- Looks like next week is the mail-out date for More Perilous Journeys hardcopy, both international and domestic. Fingers crossed.
- Pledges and pre-orders for More Perilous Journeys are currently closed.
At the Printer
The last stage of production. Following PDF finalization print orders get placed, then take anywhere from 10 days to several months to print and arrive at the shipping center, which is basically my house.
- The four volumes of the More Perilous Journeys Kickstarter campaign’s USA-bound physical copies that were ordered are in hand, ready to go. Boxes and mailers are also in hand.
- The Sunken Library was submitted for printing on Sunday January 24. Mixam ran out of cover stock, but printing should commence Feb 3, books expected next week. A re-order of 100 copies of Dark Lord’s Doom for retail sales has shipped, but the 350 copies of Sunken Library that I need to start domestic fulfillment are still pending. Still expecting them next week.
- Roc of Sages arrived at Kixto safe and sound, but the other four books looked like they’d been attacked by wild animals. They’re being reprinted now.
Crowdfunding
Announced or active campaigns.
TFT Character Collection
Aiming for February 19. Each book shall feature
- Bespoke art for each character (over 300 characters if all goals are met)
- Deck of Destiny style cards; a deck for each book
- Chipboard counters for each book; some books require two sheets
- Hardcopy and PDF available for the books
I am also working up card decks and counters for More Perilous Journeys. The key bit of this particular project is that most of the hardcopy materials are going to be made available as add-ons, as (much like the GURPS 2020 PDF Challenge and the Pyramid Scheme) stretch goals increase the number of PDF books you get for your pledge, but it is unwise to do physical goods this way.
In Development
Writing and content creation for announced projects. Some of this may be cryptic.
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Character Collection 3: Bandits and Outlaws is complete except for the art; art has started with 3/4 of the images contracted out
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Character Collection 2: Rookies has character seeds and is making slow progress. Things kept coming up this week.
- Signed a contract with Kevin Smyth for a new Dungeon Fantasy RPG book. No title for a bit . . . but I think folks will like this one.
Friction
Bits of news and items that put a monkey in the wrench.
- Still need to move some of my titles to DriveThruRPG
- The shipment of books to MixamUK got totally thrashed; running out of cover stock at MixamUSA just proves 2020 is still here.
- I’m still looking at ways to get books over the UK/EU to make international shipping suck less…but it’s really still awful no matter what.
Fair Winds
Information about things that move GB forward.
- Got the product kit from my local card vendor. These guys do big work for Fantasy Flight/Asmodee…so the product options are even better than I suspected.
