July Update
almost 2 years ago – Wed, Jul 06, 2022 at 06:26:09 AM

Hello!

Right, let's get down to it. It's been a few weeks since the KS ended and we have some news for you in regards to the project's development.

MANUSCRIPT COMPLETE

We've received, and edited, all of the the stretch goal writers' Bestiary entries. (They're great!) We've also finished off all the extra fiddly bits that belong in the appendices and integrated Kienna and Lauren's safety guidelines into the book.  Grant's scenario is complete, too - it's called VIDEO NASTY and it deals with the fallout of an independent horror movie gone wrong. (And then gone really wrong, in that the players get trapped in it.

ART IS NEARLY DONE

Stephanie has been polishing off the reams of art she's doing for the book, and has nearly got everything up to print standard - please enjoy these work-in-progress previews:

She's just now starting to sketch out the comic book after Kieron sent over the script earlier this week; it details the start of the game that traps all our iconic Paragons in DIE. All very exciting.

LAYOUT PROGRESSES

Lone is hard at work on the layout of the book itself, and receiving some expert instruction from Rian Hughes. We're doing everything we can to strike a balance between the crisp, minimalist design of the comic and the more information-heavy demands put upon us thanks to the medium of roleplaying games, with a lot of back-and-forth and oversight. Which means...

IT'S GOING TO BE SLIGHTLY LATE

About four to six weeks late. Which is a shame! But: we want to make sure that it's incredible. We want all the words to be in the right order and to be all spelled correctly. We want the layout to look beautiful, we want the art to be top-notch, and we want the rules to be smooth as silk.

In short: this really matters to us. This is the biggest thing we've ever been a part of and we want to treat it with due respect. Because of that, we're not going to rush it. Unfortunately, that means that we've had to commit additional time to getting it right, which is going to slow the process down. 

At present, we're not going to get the PDF ready by the end of the month and have it in a state that we're happy with; we've allocated an additional four to six weeks to give Lone time to get everything right and us time to properly access and sign off on the work. Hopefully this delay won't impact our printing schedule and we'll be able to hit our original deadline with regards to physical copies, or at least something close to it. 

One of our core principles at Rowan, Rook and Decard is clear and timely communication with backers and customers, and we strive to be as honest and transparent as possible with you. We'll let you know more info as and when we have it, and provide an updated estimate of timelines when we have better data to work with.  

Yours,

- Grant (and everyone at RRD)

Finished!
almost 2 years ago – Fri, Jun 10, 2022 at 11:19:40 PM

Thank you, everyone! That's a frankly ridiculous amount of support.

We've cleared all our stretch goals and, behind the scenes, we've been getting the first layout of the book handled. It's been an exciting few days. 

In two weeks or so, we'll receive the funds from Kickstarter, which means we can open the Backerkit and get our pre-order store set up. From there, you'll be able to add postage to your pledge, and take a look at our wide and delicious variety of add-ons.

We'll be in touch with more info as and when we know it. Until then, I think I'm going to drink a beer in the garden.

Yours,

- Grant (and Kieron, and Stephanie, and all of us at RRD)

Final stretch!
almost 2 years ago – Wed, Jun 08, 2022 at 10:48:10 PM

RIGHT OKAY

we've got two (2) stretch goals left as we rocket headlong into the last stage of this frankly unbelievable campaign. Here we go:

450k - SIX! PAGE! INTRO! COMIC! Written by Kieron, illustrated by Stephanie, acting as a big drumroll right at the start of the book to get everyone up to speed with what DIE is and who our new Paragons are.

500k - Everyone gets more money! We'll do another pay rise for all the contractors on this project.

501k+ - That's it! No more stretch goals. Instead we'll invest the money back into the long-term management of the project and get ourselves set up for more DIE books in the future.

We might do some extra stuff but we're not promising anything past what we've already done. (Like: VTT integration! That'd be nice, wouldn't it? Hopefully we can work something out.)

Thank you, all, for your support and enthusiasm though this. DIE RPG is going to be beautiful and brilliant and it's thanks in part to you.

- Grant (and everyone else)

hey, we've run out of stretch goals again
almost 2 years ago – Tue, Jun 07, 2022 at 04:32:31 AM

Jings, but you lot really like this stuff, huh?

Thank you ALL for your overwhelming support. 

Our primary goal now is to get this book a) beautiful and b) finished and c) out of the door, which means that adding in further stretch goals at this late date is a little fraught. We really don't want to add anything in that could disrupt the production schedule if it went awry, and instead would rather invest the money into the long-term success of DIE and put the machinations in place to bring you more material in years to come.

THAT SAID.

Stretch goals are cool, aren't they?

So we're talking over some stuff, and seeing if we can work it out, and if we can we'll let you know as soon as possible. At this point it isn't really an issue of money but an issue of time, and unless you're Justin Timberlake from that strange late noughties sci-fi film where they all had implanted clocks, time isn't literally money.

Four days left and we've outstripped our every estimation. Let's see what the final stretch brings.

- Grant

Actual Play with Kieron and Grant
almost 2 years ago – Mon, May 30, 2022 at 07:56:30 PM

DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'D BREAK SOMEONE'S DICE, SEEMS RUDE TO ME

Dicebreaker were kind enough to invite Kieron and I down to sunny old Brighton to take part in an Actual Play video of DIE RPG. If you'd like to watch us come to terms with our deadbeat dads, our failed careers, our regrets about having children and the crushing realities of adulthood through the medium of OVERBLOWN FANTASY WIZARD VIOLENCE then you can check it out here. (Or below! You can embed videos in these things, you know. What a time to be alive.)

STRETCH GOALS

Jess Nevins, nerd researcher extraordinaire,  is on board to write another section of the bestiary, and we're tantalisingly close to getting Tini Howard in to write some goth monsters for us as well. Things have obviously slowed down a little (as they always do in the middle period of a Kickstarter) but should we break the 400k mark in the final days we'll, uh, we'll have a think about it.

---

That's all for now.

- Grant