We're very close to being done with fulfillment! A truck is coming this morning to pick up 13 pallets of international orders (one for each house ... plus a secret Diedne pallet lurking among them!). That's 1,800 packages and a total of 13,894 "mythic" pounds.
About two dozen Founders/Durenmar orders to the US are also going out today and tomorrow, and retailer orders have been shipping as we hear back from those backers. Over 98% of physical backer rewards will be out the door by the end of today!
It's been a crazy few weeks, though. We even had our teenage kids assembling dice and pulling together the FORTY sourcebooks for the huge Library of Durenmar orders, despite their natural tendency to want to sit around doing nothing during summer break. ;P
If you haven't received yours yet, don't worry, it's coming VERY soon! UNLESS you're one of those folks who still need to respond to our e-mails about address corrections or tax ID numbers? Or maybe you haven't filled in your survey, or your shipping charge had a problem? Please check your email!
We're also beginning to see damage reports coming in, which are pretty low for a project this size. We put a lot of thought into packing orders, so there's a word (or several) about that below …
DAMAGES VS OVER-PACKING
For a premium item like the Definitive Edition Set, each damage can be expensive. In packing the orders, I tried to get the right balance between cost, environmental impact, and shipping efficiency. Because, you know, the cost of bubble wrap for EVERYTHING would have been huge, and the time cost would have been enormous too, as well as being a LOT of disposable plastic. And there still will be damages and lost packages. So we chose not to go that route.
The preparation that let us pull off such a huge launch of immediate shipping was having the Definitive sets pre-packaged at the factory in individual double-walled cardboard boxes. That meant we could slap labels directly on when they arrived at our warehouse (after opening the master cartons that each protected four individually boxed Definitive sets for the sea voyage). If we'd had to repackage each book, we would have barely started fulfillment by this point in time.
Double-walled cardboard with the extra cardboard sheets inserted on each end should be good -- but if someone drops a box on its corner from six feet up, it's gonna dent. And it would if we had an outer box and/or a layer of bubble wrap, honestly. I can tell because I've seen damage reports from boxes sent with that extra packaging.
I suppose we could have custom-extruded styrofoam inserts like you see with televisions and computers. But those still don't protect against some of the piercing damage I've seen in at least one damage report. And of course they would cost a bunch to make, increase shipping costs (which are based on dimensions as well as size), be an environmental horror, and would no doubt run all afoul of new or pending packaging regulations in California, the EU, etc.
The sad truth is that it's a tradeoff between increasing packaging cost and just being prepared to eat the cost of replacements when necessary, with diminishing returns on the packaging investment -- you could easily spend more on packaging material and labor than we paid per copy for manufacturing Definitive, after all.
It turns out that sometimes it's both less costly and more environmentally friendly to replace the damaged books than to over-pack them in a futile attempt to avoid any possible damage. Thanks for understanding!
I should note, we're replacing damages as promptly as possible, and keeping track of how many are damaged and in what ways (including lost packages and manufacturing defects). In at least some cases, shipping insurance will cover the replacement costs. I intend to gather and analyze the data to inform future projects, and see how well our packaging choices ultimately did in balancing cost and benefit on this one.
-John Nephew Atlas Games Co-Owner
NEW OPEN LICENSE RELEASES
Hand Signs for Techniques & Forms: By request, the ArM3 Technique & Form hand signs from p171 are newly designated as open license. Those images are in the sidebar on the Ars Magica Open License page.
Then, check out this new fan content for Ars Magica Open License …
Kickstarter LIVE for The Shining Dragon: Launching Sept 1 is Jason P. Crawford's first novel in a series of seven, following the life of Roland of Flambeau. Here we see him as a young boy, first inducted into the magical society of the Order of Hermes, and watch him grow into a capable magus in his own right. A classic fantasy with intrigue, combat, magic, and dragons.
Le guide de Luxovia: Moines, curistes, lutins et vouivres, nombreux sont les habitants de la vallée de Luxeuil-lès-Bains... Découvrez ce supplément de contexte riche en histoire et en trésors, pour le jeu de rôle Ars Magica V5 (Edition définitive). Amazon Canada & Amazon France
Covenantum on Steam: The pre-launch page is live for this seasonal covenant-management RPG on STEAM, inspired by Ars Magica, where you guide a growing magical covenant through decades of political intrigue, supernatural events, magical research, and strategic seasonal planning in Mythic Europe. Planned release is early 2027.
Ars Magica 5th Edition Character Generator: Norbert Langermann published an Ars Magica character generator on Github. It's a native desktop application for building Ars Magica 5th Edition characters — grogs, companions, mythic companions, and magi — as well as covenants, with everything running locally.
A Game of Grogs - Medieval Sports for Ars Magica: This a compilation of rules and mechanics to play medieval sports within the Ars magica frame It isn't an adventure but a mix of rules, examples and story seeds. So whether you are still cruising on world cup fever or not, the grogs and companions have an opportunity to take to the field.
The Magical Renaissance – Conversion Guide for Ars Magica: The year is 1500. The Middle Ages are ending – but magic is not. This 144-page sourcebook contains everything you need to bring the settings, characters, creatures, and mysteries of The Straight Way Lost and Serenissima Obscura into your Ars Magica saga – and carry Mythic Europe into the dangerous brilliance of the Renaissance.
Last weekend John was busy as all heck, giving a finishing polish to his Ordo Hermae and Bonisagus medallions. I remembered I'd taken photos of him pouring the molten metal months earlier, so I shot another photo of the finishing so I could show you the entire process that goes into these handcrafted treasures.
It all started with carving the mold. Here's the mold in progress for the Order of Hermes medallion. John created this design digitally and then engraved it in aluminum with a CNC machine, and used that as a mold for recycled plastic. In this image, he was testing the mold with play-doh.
Next up he took that plastic medallion, and pressed it into special petrobond casting sand to make temporary molds for the molten metal. Yep, that's a plain old cupcake pan.
Here's his backyard setup. On the left is his furnace, with the crucible full of molten metal sitting next to it. The crucible looks like a cup made of graphite, and is thoughtfully up on cinder blocks along with the furnace, so as not to melt our asphalt driveway. At center is the cupcake pan with sand molds, and at right is a bucket of water in case of emergency. Also notice John's industrial-thickness gloves, because the newly poured medallions are actually ON FIRE!
Let's take a closer look at how the medallions are actually ON FIRE! OK, actually it's the casting sand on fire. (This happens with the copper alloys, which have a higher melting point than the zinc used for most of the medallions.)
Exactly HOW HOT is the molten metal? EXTREMELY hot. This is Fahrenheit temperature, melting copper for bronze.
Don't be fooled by the lack of flames on these recently poured zinc medallions. They might still be liquid in this picture, and have a temperature in the hundreds of degrees.
The Bonisagus medallions were made by a slightly different technique: John made a disc from plaster of Paris, and then carved it by hand into a master form that he used to press the shape in the casting sand.
Left to right in this photo are the original scrap zinc, then an ingot he made by melting scrap, then the Ordo Hermae medallions molded in plastic, and finally zinc medallions cast in petrobond sand impressions made with the plastic medallions.
Finally, we arrive at last weekend's polishing frenzy. John used a rotary wire brush and sanding disc to take off misshapen bits, any casting sand, and bring out the luster of the metal.
Zinc will develop a layer of oxidation over time that gives it an antique look. You can accelerate the process by putting it in a pan of vinegar overnight; or you can reverse it with polishing/buffing/wire brushing, or going at it with very fine grit sandpaper. If you carry it around with your keys, you'll find that handling and friction in your pocket/purse will naturally develop a contrast between the low points that are gray with oxidation and the high points that are kept shiny.
Now the medallions are ready to send out to you, along with Ars Magica Definitive Edition!
After all the years leading to this moment... IT'S HERE!!!
Here are a bunch of photos of our big day in the warehouse.
The truck carrying our 20' shipping container
Woody and Brian deal with some boxes that shifted in transit. Good thing that net is there!
"Floor Loaded" means we have to stack all these heavy boxes on our own pallets so we can get them into our warehouse and move them around with the forklift. Each master carton weighs about 30 lbs and contains 4 copies of the game.
Each individual copy comes in its own sturdy cardboard box, ready to be sent with just a label applied for a majority of our backers
Ta-da!
Deluxe dice!
You get a Storyguide Screen inside each Deluxe slipcase set, but we made it available as a standalone product for folks with the regular 5th Edition or digital editions
A second container will arrive early next week with the remainder of the print run. Soon people will start receiving ship notifications and tracking... I even managed to get a few dozen packages into the hands of UPS before the end of the day, but please be patient! It will take us a while to get everything done, especially given that the warehouse is currently in the midst of a couple of other fulfillment projects.
Excalibur Con
Despite feeling a compulsion to spend the entire weekend packing and labeling boxes, I will be spending Saturday and Sunday at Excalibur Con, a pleasant little gaming/SF/fandom convention here in Duluth. We don't go to a lot of conventions these days, but this one is just down the hill, our whole family enjoys it, and Atlas Games is delighted to be there.
Given the vast geographic dispersion of our backers (as I was preparing for shipping I realized that nearly half our rewards are going outside the USA!), YOU, dear reader, are probably not going to be at the convention. But if you are (we do have quite a few backers within driving distance!), stop by the booth (booths 82-83 in South Pioneer Hall) and say hi!
I just want to dash off an update before I head to the warehouse today.
Tariffs have been delaying our first container. Since the total estimated tariffs were over $2000, we had to pay before the broker cleared customs, and for some reason it has taken Freightos more than a week to acknowledge receipt of our bank transfer and green light the broker to clear customs. That has finally happened, so we have a reasonable belief that our first shipping container will be delivered to our warehouse today or tomorrow.
Unfortunately, the new tariff that was just set in place does NOT have an exemption for books, as was the case with previous iterations. But once again it is being challenged in court so maybe someday we'll get a refund.
The second container is crossing Canada right now, and is expected to be in Minneapolis tomorrow, and should be delivered to us early next week.
This is a crazy busy month in our warehouse; besides more than 4,000 packages with Ars Magica Definitive, we have several large client fulfillment projects already underway and due to arrive soon. We're going to be all hands on deck for the rest of the summer working to get boxes out the door as fast as we can.
Shipping costs (and fuel surcharges in particular) have increased since we set our shipping rates. I'm looking at some new alternatives to minimize the increased expense, so we'll wind up using some different carriers than we'd originally expected in some cases. We're also going to be spending a little bit more in some cases simply to increase the volume we can send out with carriers each day. We knew that fulfillment was going to
Most backers don't need to do anything - you're paid up, your order is already set up in shipstation, ready for a label to print.
BUT...some backers still need to help us out! This include people who had unsuccessful charges, and people who backed at the $1 level and might want to upgrade their pledge now (or confirm that you don't want to), and people who warned us of an imminent move and we're awaiting an updated ship-to address. Also, we're going to reach out to retailer backers to check on final order adjustments and additions, now that shipping is imminent.
For any communication about your pledge, it is best to contact us by e-mail at [email protected]. This is an account monitored by multiple people so it's the fastest way to make sure we see and take care of your issue. In particular, if your address has changed and you didn't already warn us, do not delay!
Finally, a reminder about international shipping, duties, taxes, fees. If you are in the UK, Canada, USA or EU, you should not be receiving any additional charges on delivery. If you do, something went wrong! Tell us so we can fix it ASAP.
In other countries, you MIGHT get a bill that you need to pay to receive your goods. You'll need to look into your local policies and regulations, which may have changed since this campaign ran almost two years ago. We're trying to minimize any fees and expenses for our international backers, but ultimately we don't control what happens at your border and honestly can't predict it.
We're so proud and excited about Ars Magica Definitive Edition, and can't wait to hear about copies arriving in the hands of our sodales all over the world.
Our original ship for our Ars Magica container was overbooked, it turns out. But that only delayed it a week, and it's on the water now with a new port ETA of Aug 1. It's then estimated to reach Minneapolis by rail on August 10. It still needs to clear customs at that point, before driving the last leg to Duluth via truck. If things go well, that could be just a couple days, or it could be a week or more depending.
Here's a nifty map to watch the ship cross the Pacific: https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9312767
NEW OPEN LICENSE RELEASES
Open License Images Downloads: Now that my co-producer Ben Hartfield has some space to breathe, he's put together a package of high resolution downloads (at least, as hi-rez as actually exist), for all the images we released under our open license for Ars Magica. You can download those in the sidebar on the Ars Magica Open License page (at the bottom under Released Images).
Then, check out this new fan content for Ars Magica Open License …
Wisdom of the Deserts: Ars Magica content centered on the Levant tribunal. There are 42 separate products available on the Patreon!
A Tale of Two Free Cities on DriveThruRPG & RPGTrader: A mystery adventure for the Curse of the Rhine Gorge saga (from Guardians of the Forests). When an Infernal tractatus is found in the possession of an NPC that turned on the Covenant, the troupe has one lead: something is rotten in the city of Köln. The first thread of this corruption leads to a nunnery in the city of Köln, where the characters can find clues leading to Wetzlar, which is being corrupted by Infernal forces. This is a multi-location sandbox, where the characters have the opportunity to make supernatural allies to battle the forces of the Infernal. Incorporating real events and historical personalities, it slots into a high-research saga; includes a foreword by local historian Felix A. Masak.
