Perils & Princesses Digital Version is DONE!
about 1 year ago – Fri, Sep 22, 2023 at 11:28:35 AM

Digital version coming to your inbox

After a few weeks of editing, tweaking, polishing, re-wording, re-styling, re-linking, re-organizing and fine-tuning the little details to the absolute best of my ability, it was time to send out the .pdfs! Many  thanks to Sean for his expertise and editor's eye. Perils & Princesses wouldn't be the same without his input and feedback. 

If you backed at any tier with a reward, you should have an email from backerkit in your inbox with a link to download Perils & Princesses.  

What's all in the zip file?

I really wanted to make sure the digital files were as complete and user-friendly as possible.  It took a bit of extra time, but I think it's definitely worth it. You will be getting:

• PDF of the whole book in spreads and pages form. Spreads looks best on a monitor or horizontally, while pages reads best on a phone. The document is fully linked. All the table of contents and and "see page XX" references should hyperlink to the appropriate page.
• Character sheets for print and online. Includes a color, a black and white, and a fillable PDF for use on a screen. 
• Rules reference sheet designed to be printed out if you need it in-game. It's kind of like a GM screen, but flat. It has all the basics on there. 
• Eight pregenerated character sheets pulled from the art prints. You have one character for each one of the Gifts. You can hand these out and get playing right away with a level 2 Princess. 

What about the Backerkit Surveys?

The smoke test for these has begun and folks are filling it out. If over the next 24 hours, these keep going without a hitch I'll send the rest of them out. While you won't need these surveys to get your files, the surveys will be one last chance to add on any physical copies, stickers or prints.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. 

I can't wait to hear all about your games! 

Production Update - Backerkit Surveys and Digital Files coming soon.
about 1 year ago – Mon, Sep 18, 2023 at 10:59:02 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Updated Timing: Game PDFs Coming soon
about 1 year ago – Tue, Sep 12, 2023 at 10:51:29 AM

 Final Edits Nearing Completion

A few of you noticed that my initial estimate for digital delivery yesterday has come and gone. It turns out this thing needed a lot more editing than I initially thought! Editor Sean Foer gave me a ton of amazing feedback on how to improve the clarity, style and polish of the game book. This included some tweaking on how a few Gift abilities are worded, and a bit of re-writing on certain sections to make sure everything is crystal clear. As of right now, I have page 96 of 112 open on my screen. Home stretch of making changes and correcting inconsistencies.

After this pass, I'll take one more final proofread before uploading the pdf files and sending them along to all tiers of backers!

 So when is it coming?

My hope is to have digital game files to all of you before Monday the 18th of September. This puts us a week behind on these initial steps and digital delivery but still gives us plenty of time for an October shipping date for the printed elements. 

Thank you all for your support! Stay tuned for more updates. 

Ryan

WOW. Thank you all.
about 1 year ago – Thu, Aug 24, 2023 at 08:15:00 AM

Seriously. I can't stress enough how grateful I am for everyone's support and enthusaism. If you would have told me a month ago that Perils & Princesses would have 1800 backers, it would have seemed like a far-off dream! I'm still a bit in shock. You all deserve a shining glittering crown and a ball in your honor! 

Thank you for supporting independent artists authors and creators. Your comments and shares and enthusaistic support really make a huge difference. It not only helps us spread the word and get our creations to more people but more importantly it keeps exhausted creators who are trying to do it all, energized, motivated and inspired to keep creating and sharing! 

What's Next?

As of this week, I've handed off the Perils and Princesses book to be edited. With the amount of support you all have given me, I'm able to hire some additional help to make sure the product you're getting is as polished as possible. I've brought in fellow Chicagoan, Professional GM,  Game Designer and Consultant Sean Foer (@scene_four on TikTok) to edit the text and examine the details for clarity, consistency and to lend his overall expertise in this area. 

Once it's edited, I'll be able to assemble the digital rewards and get them to all of you, and then send a printed version to get one final proof before production as well as the prints and stickers. Then we wait for all the physical products to show up at my house, and then I ship everything out to all of you. 

Timeline

Here's the plan so far for how the next two months will shake out as I finalize everything. Keep in mind these are approximate dates. Again, it's just me doing all of this and sometimes life happens and these might shift by a few days depending on how the next few weeks go! 

September 5 -Get P&P back from editor and start making final changes.

September 8 - Send print version to printer for one last proof. 

September 11 - Send .pdf versions to backers. Send out backer surveys via backerkit. 

September 22 - Finalize Item counts, Lock backer addresses and prepare for production. 

October 16 - Receive product and start fulfilling orders.

For now I'm gonna take a breath over the next few days as Kickstarter gathers funds and the book is in editing. I'll reach back out here with updates as they happen! Thank you all again! -Ryan

Last Call! Less than 24 hours to go!
about 1 year ago – Wed, Aug 23, 2023 at 08:47:27 AM

Almost there! 

Thank you to all the backers who have pledged to make this dream come true! It's been a wild month and every day has been just so energizing. There's only a few more hours to go until the campaign ends, so if you want to get in on the fairy tale magic, now is the time! 

Mundane and Magic

A backer sent in a question about one of the game themes outlined in the Core Principles section at the start of the book and in the Quick Start Version. They were wondering about what "Mundane is Magic" means and how that applies to the game. Capturing humble Fairy Tale magic is such a big part of the essence of Perils & Princesses so I wanted to talk about that here! 

From the book:

This game is built on a special kind of humble magic. A couple herbs, a bit of honey or a length of rope could help you on your adventure. Players should be creative with the toolbox at their disposal and GMs should reward their creativity. Place importance on the trinkets you find along the way and keep track of food, torches and other essentials. It's about the little things that make a big difference. 

Now everyone will play a bit of a different game with a different kind of magic, but what Perils & Princesses does is empower players to find magic in small details. I've had players be disappointed they only have a parasol as a weapon but then use it to shield themselves from a poison spray. I've rolled a rusty corkscrew as a random trinket thinking it was useless, but then the player used it to get leverage and a handle on a treasure chest stuck in the mud. 

For instance, let's say the party is lost in the dark and needs to find something to help them see. In some fantasy settings you would perhaps find some Goggles of Night or other Intricate magic creations that would help you magically see in the dark. In the fairy tales and storybooks that inspired Perils and Princesses, rather than a magic item like those goggles, a pristine packet of beeswax candles wrapped in paper, tied with ribbon with a scent of lavender would be just as magical given the circumstances.

This humble magic is reflected in the available spell list with simple level-less effects that need a bit of creativity to make work. It's present in the random items your character starts with and the other tables for creating relics and discovering strange perils in the enchanted world. 

I can't wait to hear what kind of games you all play! I'll be in touch tomorrow with the plan for fulfillment after the campaign ends!