Shipping: Final call for addresses
almost 2 years ago
– Mon, Nov 21, 2022 at 05:04:26 AM
Hey everyone,
First off, if you haven't filled in your address and have backed for physical rewards, go do so now! https://wickedones.backerkit.com/
Second, thank you all for the immense outpouring of support after my last update. Unfortunately, after that update, my mother was re-admitted to the hospital (taken to the ER, then admitted, and a bit of a roller coaster). It was touch and go for a while, so I rushed back to the US and spent 10 days there with her. It was quality time and she made a decent recovery before being discharged home and into hospice. She's comfortable at home now and has my sisters and a strong support network around her. She has some time, her condition is under control, and she's looking forward to the holidays. It's the best we can ask for right now, I suppose. Still, I'm glad I could feel comfortable taking that time away from work again due to all of the understanding I received previously. For real, I appreciate it. (and sorry about the personal post...I just felt like I needed to give an update on what's going on)
That said, things have been chugging away on this project in the background. A lot of it is processing and such, really. I am now back home, finally jet-lag free, and working full-time to wrap things up. Printing and fulfillment are all aligned - but I'm waiting on a few stragglers to fill out their backerkit surveys so I can get their addresses. No addresses means no books sent to you.
So once again, if you haven't filled out your address, you can get your survey to fill in the details here: https://wickedones.backerkit.com/
Also, if you need to make last minute changes on your address and it's already locked, just reach out and I can process it manually. Anyway, sorry for the delay and thanks again for the previous support. Let me know if you have any questions.
- Ben
I apologize about the lack of updates and news about a slight delay.
almost 2 years ago
– Wed, Nov 02, 2022 at 07:27:39 AM
Hey everyone, long story short, sorry for the lack of updates and delivery of the project as a whole will be delayed by roughly a month. I had to deal with some family health issues.
Longer story, and kind of personal...
In early October, I found out my mother was likely (and later confirmed) to have stage 4 lung cancer. As soon as I got the call from my sister, I immediately took my family (me, wife, two little girls) back to the US from Japan and stayed there for a few weeks. Due to covid and a gap in visiting home just prior to it, I hadn't been back to see my family in about 5 years.
Two days after arriving, we got the doctor's prognosis - 3-6 months, a year or so with treatment and luck, but maybe as little as two weeks. My mom is 57 years old... this blindsided me like nothing I've ever been through. I suppose we are lucky enough to have time to spend with her now though while she's still in relatively okay health.
Anyway, just as that was happening, there was some waiting to be done with this project while cover templates were prepared (only done after the print order is made) and files submitted. I kinda kept up with that and a bit of maintanence on things I already had running while I was in the uS, but besides that my focus was 100% on family.
After coming back (we considered relocating there short-term, but made the call to come back), I thought I'd be able to fall into a work rhythm but unfortunately my mother's continuing health issues meant I was on a lot of 3am phone calls this last week waiting on answers (U.S. daytime is my nighttime) and that plus jet lag just wrecked about a week's worth of steady work. I didn't do nothing, but it was hard to fall into any kind of good-progress rhythm. My mother had a surgery to alleviate some issues and things have finally stabilized - it's been weird actually getting good (well, not bad) news for once, but we'll take it.
Anyway, work is progressing nicely this week and we're moving towards the end. All told, I think there will be a one month delay in the promised delivery date. I apologize for not communicating this earlier - honestly, I kind of didn't know what to say or what to tell everyone about how long the delay was likely to be. I've never dealt with anything like this before. So really, I just pushed work to the back of my mind harder than I ever have. Still, I really should have given at least a quick heads up that I was disappearing, but I think I just didn't want to talk about a situation that I was really going into blind.
Anyway, sorry and thanks again for supporting the project. I'm happy to finally be getting back to my usual work routine.
- Ben
Undead Awakening released & Wicked Ones (v1.4, final)! GameMaster's Apprentice bundle, late backing/PM charging cards, and more!
about 2 years ago
– Sun, Oct 02, 2022 at 12:32:30 AM
Hey everyone, I'm very happy to say that Cass Rea has finished up Undead Awakening and it has been released! We can't wait to hear about all of your undead shenanigans. If you checked out the pre-release, please note that the final version is substantially different and definitely worth downloading again. If you didn't back for UA on this Kickstarter, you can grab a copy on DTRPG here!
There will likely be about a week of people looking over UA and spotting errors before I submit files for printing, so if you see anything please send me a message or (even better) hop on our Discord where we have a channel to collect such feedback - https://discord.banditcamp.io
Can I ask a small favor?
🙏The earlier released proofreading version of UA has changed to the official UA version, so those of you who have had the pre-release for a while, we would really appreciate you giving the product a rating or review! It definitely helps boost its appeal.
Wicked Ones, QoL Updates, Distribution
Also, Wicked Ones has been updated to version 1.4 with many small errors fixed. This is the final version and there will be no further updates - if there are any left, they will live on forever. Wicked Ones, UA, and WFTO have all been fully bookmarked, but also the Table of Contents and pg. # references linked to their corresponding pages. If you click the Wicked Ones/Chapter logo at the bottom of each page, it returns you to the ToC. It makes browsing the PDF a little bit easier.
The codes for all of the downloads will be sent out via Backerkit as soon as I send this update.
Toolkit Deck: I am also sending this out to backers at the Toolkit Deck tier, but it does not include the added 30 imp cards yet. I want to wait on some test prints for the very dark backgrounds on them before finalizing and distributing them. I'll update the download when I get those.
WO+UA+WFTO Maps: I sent out the 10 stretch goal maps earlier, but I'm also sending out the additional maps Victor drew now to all backers (even if you didn't grab the specific book they were in). Please enjoy!
Charging Cards: Before, I mentioned I would charge cards for any late backing / pledge manager add-ons today but I'm actually going to wait until Monday. I never keep in mind the fact that banks are closed and stuff. If there are any failed charges or whatever, it'd be better for people to be able to talk to their banks immediately. So I will charge cards in the morning (US time) on Monday. If you haven't already, PLEASE FINISH YOUR BACKERKIT SURVEY!
The Wicked One's Apprentice Bundle
As part of this flurry of activity while we have people actively engaging with the game, I've also partnered with GameMaster's Apprentice, who make awesome GM tools - card decks that give a ton of random prompts. With WO being so GM-imagination intensive and even moreso now that the new Big Bad Wicked One solo mode has been released, a useful tool like this seems a perfect match. We're gonna run this big discount bundle (WO + the base deck + the fantasy deck) for 2 weeks, so if you're interested, please check it out! It's an awesome deal and they are great tools. It removes the cost of anything you've already purchased. Nathan Redwood helped us out a ton during this Kickstarter by promo'ing it to his audience, so this is one beneficial-for-everyone way of paying back that favor as well. :)
With this, my time developing for Wicked Ones has basically come to an end. The current Discord server (https://discord.banditcamp.io) will transition from a general Bandit Camp server into a Wicked Ones-only community. I'll be moving my new game, Relic, onto its own server soon. I really look forward to it thriving - and I've included encouragement for people to develop community content. Already, there's an active channel on the Discord where people have begun tinkering away. Please get involved if you have any ideas! Make new dungeons, primal monsters, primal abilities! Tinker with the new dungeonless, heroic, and solo modes. Mix and match stuff, add new stuff, whatever! It's a huge toolbox of stuff interconnected that's fun as hell to tinker with. Things won't be changing now, so get in there!
Anyway, thanks a lot for the patience! Codes will be going out via Backerkit shortly after I send this. If you don't get yours, drop me a line on Kickstarter. You've all been really awesome. Looking forward to all the dungeons you continue to make and the hordes of zombies rampaging across the land.
- Ben
TWO DAYS to finish your survey!
about 2 years ago
– Mon, Sep 26, 2022 at 03:21:54 AM
Hey everyone,
We have about 500 people who have yet to finish the survey. While address changes and such can be done up until the shipping date, the pledge manager itself will close in two days. PLEASE get your surveys done by then!
For anyone else that wishes to change their order, this is the last chance to do so. I would like to remind everyone again that these books, dice, and so on will not be for sale once this Kickstarter ends.
If you've lost the link to your survey, enter your Kickstarter e-mail here to get a new one:
https://wickedones.backerkit.com/
Obviously, if you've filled out everything, thanks for getting it done!
The same is true of late backing on Relic: https://relic.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders - it closes in two days, so if you were considering that, it's time to get it locked in.
Thanks,
- Ben
Pledge manager and late backing store open!
about 2 years ago
– Tue, Sep 20, 2022 at 11:53:48 PM
Hey everyone, this is just a quick note that the Backerkit pledge manager is now open. You should all be receiving your surveys.
⚠️ The pledge manager will be locked one week (9/27) from today so any add-ons to your pledge must be submitted before then! After that, we will immediately place the print order. Please keep in mind that we have decided not to offer any of the books for sale longterm, via retail or online sales. Once this Kickstarter is fulfilled, we are moving on to new projects so this will be your only chance to get these rewards!
Also, it's a huge help to hit that Twitter share button after you complete your pledge survey - it lets others know that the late backing store is open. I'd really appreciate it! And if you have any friends interested in getting the books, please share the late backing store here: https://wickedones.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
I will be distributing Wicked Ones v1.3 via Backerkit/DTRPG about 6 hours from now. This will give us a week or so to do some proofreading and editing on it. Undead Awakening should follow in a day or two (we are doing final adjustments on the layout - sorry about the delay!). If you already have WO: Deluxe Edition from a previous purchase, the files have already been updated to v1.3 so go to your DTRPG page and download them now!
Relic Late Backing
Our other project which is currently in-development, Relic, is also closing its late backing store in one week (9/27). Relic is also illustrated by Victor Costa and we recently switched back to the signature style Victor developed for Wicked Ones for that book as well. Relic is built on all the lessons we learned making Wicked Ones and its fiction-first gameplay that supports player-driven stories. If you're interested, please check it out!
https://relic.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
Sorry for the short message! Actually a bit short on time today as I try to rush to fit a bunch of stuff in. I'll be back around in a few hours to kinda deal with any questions that have arisen and start distributing WO digital and a few other digital rewards (WFTO, sandbox maps, etc.) out to everyone!
Thanks,
- Ben
