Hi all,

Just a couple quick updates. Let's go!

Earlier today, we uploaded and pushed out the Five Hundred Year Old Vampire Curriculum Guide by designer Jason Cox (along with its companion Resource Packet). Emails should have gone out from Backerkit to those backers who have this as a reward. However, if you haven't seen that email, you can visit your survey page for FYOC in Backerkit and access digital downloads there. 

On the manufacturing front, there's no specific news to give you all as an update other than to say that manufacturing is proceeding. We expect to see the mass production proofs (i.e., test copies they pull off the line while running production) in a week or two. Assuming those are good, our manufacturer will wrap things up and get FYOV on a boat.

Finally, we're getting fairly close to having shipping rates locked down. We anticipating adding shipping charges to your orders around mid-to-late May and charging those fees in early June. We'll give you plenty of warning when we add the fees, so you can check them out before we charge. 

Stay bloody, everyone!

To my fellow prime vampires:

I hope you enjoyed a brief respite from the hated sun this past Monday and took full advantage to bring more neophytes into the world at that time.

On to the news:
Good news! We have the preproduction prototype! We have gone through it and have a few minimal changes that need to be made with our manufacturer but none that should require any sort of delay. We have pictures of the prototype below though I have kept some things hidden so you have some surprises waiting for you when the game arrives! The journal has also been approved and is entering production so everything should be underway in manufacturing this month.

Hi everyone,

We have initiated the process for charging credit cards for add-ons and preorders. There are a few errored cards, as always, so if you are in that group, be sure to update your credit card when you get a chance.

We also initiated the distribution of digital rewards (such as the print & play pdfs for FYOV, Monumental Consequence, and Rising Waters) through Backerkit. Technically this started last week when orders locked, but anyone who had to first pay for digital rewards should have received an email today. If you didn't receive an email about digital downloads, you can visit our main Backerkit page for FYOV (https://five-hundred-year-old-vampire.backerkit.com/) to get access to your survey and the link to any rewards you have connected to your account. 

On the physical game itself, the manufacturer is trying to iron out some kinks in the production process of the game dice (they are not coming out the way we want), but in the meantime, they sent us a picture of the physical proof they generated. So here's a look at it. We can't wait to get it in our grubby, little hands and make sure everything is how it should be.

Finally, a reminder: we have another crowdfunding campaign starting on Tuesday, March 26 on Kickstarter. This is for an area-control card game called Hydrologic Cycle, which is a great game for a science classroom, but is also pretty fun to play for hobby game folk. We'd love it if you could follow the Kickstarter page or share the game with any educators or science game enthusiasts in your life. You can check out the Kickstarter page here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cmu/hydrologic-cycle

Stay safe, everyone!

Hello everyone,

We're still waiting for an update on the physical samples, so no pictures for you yet. In the meantime, we wanted to talk a little about the next steps that'll be happening over the next few weeks.

Locking Orders and Collecting Add-On Charges

First, we're going to be locking orders and charging credit cards for the add-ons & preorders. You should have a 48-hour notice about locking orders from Backerkit soon (if not already). If you have any changes you want to make to your order (e.g., adding or removing add-ons), that 48 hours will be the window for you. If you haven't filled out your survey yet (about 5% of you have yet to do so), your order won't lock until after you complete the survey.

We'll then charge credit cards for add-ons and preorders next week (Wed, Mar 20). As a reminder, this charge will not include shipping charges; we will be collecting those much closer to fulfillment in order to capture the most accurate shipping rates possible. We expect our shipping rate tables to be set and locked in by the end of April and shipping charges collected by the end of May for our June/July fulfillment window.

Also, as part of the process of locking orders and charging cards, we will be closing the Backerkit Preorder Store (located here: https://five-hundred-year-old-vampire.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders). For those wishing to still get their hands on FYOV after the Preorder Store closes, we have Five Hundred Year Old Vampire available for preorder on our main press website. If you have any friends interested, send them here: https://cmichpress.com/product/five-hundred-year-old-vampire/.

Digital Rewards

Second, once orders have been locked, we will be distributing the FYOV Print & Play pdf files to you. For backers who have it as part of a reward tier, it'll be available once we lock your order. For those who preordered it, it'll become available to you after we have collected your payment.

The print & play files consist of eight pdfs consisting of the five core card decks (Rebirth, Neophyte, Elder, Ancient, and Conclusions), the Prime Vampire card deck by Tim Hutchings, the game manual, and the printable pregen character sheets (as well as blank character and cohort sheets).

After that. we hope to have the Curriculum Guide available for distribution as well, but as that is still in layout, we don't exactly know when that will be yet.  

--

Be on the lookout for some emails from Backerkit about locking orders and charging cards. 

Stay safe, everyone!

To Our Fellows in the Shadows,

We hope that your umbral existence continues to be most excellent. We want to take this moment to update you on where we are at with manufacturing. Apologies for the long delay in updates. With the FYOV game all digital files have been approved and a pre-production prototype is underway (with likely a delay for Chinese New Year). The pre-production prototype allows us to see the physical copy before mass production. With the FYOV journal we have received the pre-production prototype. Based on the prototype there are some adjustments we are making to the journal. Our manufacturer on the journal has received those changes and is sending us updates some of which will be physical (pieces of the ephemera that we wanted adjusted) others of which are digital (the golden corners on the book cover had been inset on the cover too far). Overall we are thrilled with the journal and we have been having fun putting it through its paces. We wanted to use it in ways we thought you you all might also decide to use it. Below we have images of it in use. Please note that there are materials that were collaged or created by a user of the journal in these images that are not part of the journal. The ephemera from the journal has a small display (but we are keeping them a bit hidden so you can be surprised. We are happy with where we are at. After Chinese New Year the game and journal should enter production.

As part of the journal we wanted the stitching on the binding to have a little bit of give. This is part of the reason we needed to lose the clasp. We still didn't get as much give as we were hoping for, but there is some give for people who want to collage and create three dimensional objects or press items within the pages of the book. The first image below shows you the full book. Following it are a couple of images designed to show how the book takes ink and pencils. We did more tests on the paper with about a dozen different pen and ink types. Here you just see uniball and a fountain pen. Please note that the smear on the fountain pen was intentional. I wrote the first line quickly and gave it no time to dry. I then wrote the second longer line and by the time I finished writing it the beginning had dried enough that it didn't smear. To test pencils and colors I asked my resident high schooler artist to show you all pencil work. The images after the tea-drinking Kermit show you the collaged items Bold Pocket Press created and put into the book to test it out.

Spoiler ahead: The image after this next one gives you glimpses of the ephemera that comes in the journal. You can't see all of any of it, but you do get glimpses of some of it so if you don't want to see it, skip to the bottom of the update.

That is it for this month's update. You likely won't hear from us again until after the Chinese New Year. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out. On one final note. As this game is entering manufacturing we will be starting our next crowdfunding campaign. As you have a moment please head over to Kickstarter and check out our next game Hydrologic Cycle - after all a well hydrated human's blood goes down better. So vampires in the know have command of the Hydrologic Cycle. You can find the prelaunch link here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cmu/hydrologic-cycle 

May your dice forever be critical successes!
The Central Michigan University Press Team 

Dear Newly Risen,

We just received the digital proofs for the Keepsake Journal so we figured we would focus on the journal for this week's update. We are thrilled with the work Bold Pocket Press has done on the journal and believe you all will be as well. 

We did have to make some adjustments to the journal from what we initially indicated we would create as part of the final stretch goal related to the journal. Our intent had been to have a cool old timey clasp, but it would have added a minimum of three months to our delivery window for the game. If this was part of the game proper we would have chosen the delay, but as this was just a nifty stretch goal that isn't essential to the game we chose to forego the clasp, and (with the freed up funds) instead include a red satin ribbon bookmark, two additional pieces of ephemera. We also added some quality upgrades related to elements of the ephemera. 

As with all of our artists, we asked Bold Pocket Press to share some of their thoughts with us about the project. Here is what they had to say:

Below are some images from the journal. After looking at the images, be sure to check out Bold Pocket's website.

Bold Pocket Press Link: https://www.boldpocketpress.com/

Again, thank you for your support. We are enjoying the process and cannot wait to be able to share the project with you. 

Yours in unlife, 

The Central Michigan University Press Team

Dear Backers,

One of the stretch goals for Five Hundred Year Old Vampire was the "Prime Vampire Deck" created by Tim Hutchings. This deck of cards is designed as inspiration to help players create a prime vampire for their cohort. Alternatively it can also be used if your cohort comes across another prime vampire and you want inspiration to help create that vampire. We asked Tim to say a couple of things about the cards in terms of inspiration and here is what he said:
_____
The cards I've provided for this are excerpted art from the upcoming Thousand Year Old Vampire sequel. My game won't use cards and doesn't use pre-generated characters; instead, it is a bajillion pages of collaged visual elements that players can use to help spur their prompt-answering. I'm loving these cards because they tie the image to the text in a way that the pagefuls of prompts specifically avoids.

There's an occultishness to these sorts of cards that sends me back to the incomplete copy of the Dragonmasters game which so fascinated me as a child. D&D had the bizarre dice, Dragonmasters had the bizarre cards, now you have this. I hope it is bizarre enough to fascinate the youthful bits of you.
_____

We do not include all of the cards below as we want you to have the joy of discovery when they arrive. The three below provide a good taste. We hope you all love the cards as much as we do. Many of you are already familiar with Tim's stuff, but if you aren't a link is below. I have also included a link to his most recent release as well.

Here is a link to Tim's most recent release: https://thousandyearoldvampire.com/collections/basic-book-selection/products/a-sargasso-sea-of-space-party-card-game

His main website is https://thousandyearoldvampire.com

Until our next update- 

Central Michigan University Press

Hey all,

We've had a good smoke test, so we've decided to send out the full blast. Please check your emails and complete your surveys. You'll have until January 30, 2024 before we'll need to lock your orders, and we won't be charging credit cards until we get closer to fulfillment. Also please note, as the surveys will inform you, we have not included shipping costs at this time. You'll have a chance to review those details closer to fulfillment (and before we charge your credit card) once we get those locked in.

Happy survey day, everyone! 

Hello everyone! We are reaching out to give the low down on our Backerkit surveys, which will be coming soon. These surveys are important because they allow you to finalize your shipping information, include any add-ons you want as part of your pledge, and collect payment information for add-ons and shipping fees. While production continues to proceed accordingly, we're also getting all our ducks in a row for fulfillment.

When Are Surveys Coming?
First, the timing: surveys will go live a few days after we launch our smoke test (where we send out surveys to a small subset to check for errors or other issues). Right now, the plan is to initiate the smoke test on Wednesday, November 15. Assuming the smoke test goes ok, the remaining surveys will roll out after that in batches starting on Friday, November 17 until all are in the wild!

Where Is the Survey Coming From?
Our backend fulfillment partner is Backerkit (naturally), so your survey email will come from them.

How Do You Complete the Survey?
You don’t need to create a BackerKit account to fill out your survey (although presumably you already have one from when you backed the campaign). When you receive the email with the survey, click the survey link to respond. Answer the questions about your reward preferences, provide shipping information, and purchase add-on items if you like.

Why Aren't Shipping Fees in Backerkit Yet?
Due to the volatility of shipping prices globally right now, shipping fees for this project will be calculated at a later date once we have the best estimates for everyone. We plan to enter & charge backers for shipping a month or two before fulfillment when we have better estimates of what it will cost to ship backers rewards. We will alert backers when shipping costs are finalized & before we charge your cards in your BackerKit survey, so that you can review the charges. For US domestic shipping, we still expect final shipping costs for a single copy of the game to be between $8-$12 total. For international backers in the UK and EU, we anticipate being able to offer customs friendly shipping rates through our new fulfillment partner in the UK.

How Long Do You Have to Complete the Survey?
Surveys will be live until January 31, 2024, after which we will close surveys to begin ramping up to fulfillment in the late winter/early spring, so you will have plenty of time if you don't get to it right away. Also, after you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change your responses at any time before we close the surveys.

How Do You Access Your Survey After Completion?
If you need to review your information or pledge status, you can return to your survey by clicking the link in your survey email or requesting your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on our BackerKit project page at https://five-hundred-year-old-vampire.backerkit.com/.

What If You Don't Receive the Survey Email?
Beyond checking the spam or junk folder in your email, there are two other steps to check if you do not receive a survey email.

First, if you used your Facebook credentials to log in to your crowdfunding account, the BackerKit survey is sent to the email address associated with your Facebook account. If you have another email address that you prefer to use, please contact support at https://five-hundred-year-old-vampire.backerkit.com/faq.

Second, after surveys are sent, if you did not receive the email, and you Signed in with Apple ID, your email address might be a private relay email address. We can help locate your survey and update your email address, please message us or post a comment with your Backer ID or Pledge # found on your confirmation. You can learn more about your email hiding for your Apple ID here.

We'll be in touch again soon to let you know when the smoke test is starting. Take care, everyone!

Hi all, 

Just a quick note: we have initiated the smoke test. That means some of you (around 5%) will receive your survey links in your email. If all goes well with that subset, we'll turn on the flood some time on Friday. 

If anyone has any issues, please reach out to Backerkit Support or hit us up directly ([email protected]). 

Stay safe, everyone!

Hey Backers,

A couple of quick notes for you all and then we are going to show case Jabari's art this week. First, our timeline is shifting. We had hoped to have all of our files in at this point but a series of illnesses amongst the artists as well as our staff created delays that we initially thought we could get through. While we are most of the way through them at this point it has bumped our production scheduled into the Chinese New Year's holiday. Once our files are into the manufacturers we will update you with our updated delivery timeline. Again, apologies that we are missing it. 

A few notes related to Jabari before getting to their art. When Jason Cox and Tim Hutchings initially spoke to us about Five Hundred Year Old Vampire we were as excited as a vampire during a total eclipse. As we started discussing artists, Jabari Weathers was immediately at the top of the list. When Jabari said yes to taking on the project we may have started dancing in our offices (though we will deny it should anyone ask). As the project further developed and we looked to creating the pre-generated characters Jabari took on the role of pulling together the incredibly talented list of artists that we have been lucky enough to work with on this project. While we contracted with Jabari for their work they really have been a deep and integral part of our team for about a year now. This is a public acknowledgement of that appreciation. 

When asked specifically about the project Jabari had this to say, "I really loved being able to delve into vampires, as they're among my favorite monsters. There is a romance and psychology behind them that I find endlessly compelling, and seeing how they are represented and reflected across many different cultures and histories was a joy. I hope that enthusiasm shows in the work I've made for 500 Year Old Vampire!" On to the art. And as always, if you like what you see a link to their portfolio is provided below.

The Yangzhou cohort: Wang Hou and Zhao Lien

The Wirangu Cohort: Tidam and Kirra

The Holland Cohort: The Prime Vampire "The Deceiver" and Luna Smits

The Iqaluit Cohort: Tiriganninannig and Urujak

The Mexico Cohort: Fernando and Mercedes

Here is the link to Jabari's portfolio. Be sure to go check it out! https://goblinprincete.com/

Happy gaming!

Central Michigan University Press

Dear Backers,

A lot has been happening here at Central Michigan University Press. First, paper for the journal has been selected. We went through a lot of samples before landing on a paper that not only works well for journaling but can also support the various forms of media you all might decide to apply to the book. Ultimately we are going with a 140gsm paper. Under testing from a litany of pen, marker, and blood (wait I am being told despite this being a vampire game I am still not allowed to write in blood) the 140gsm held up the best. It takes ballpoint, fountain, and felt tip well. This is not to say there aren't things we would like it to do better, but we also wanted the paper to hold up to various forms of crafting that may involve stapling, taping, and whatever other creative ideas you all come up with. I will say, for you all to be aware, if you want to do watercolor we recommend doing that outside of the journal and then adding the finished piece to the journal. We had hoped that watercolor would also be possible as a medium directly in the book but that desire was not achievable alongside all of the other goals. A draft of the journal is being approved in the next week and we will have images of it for you all soon.

This week and next week we are going to continue to finish showing you all of the amazing pregen art (which is complete). This week we are highlighting the work of Allen Panakal and next week we will finish off the pregen art with Jabari's pieces.

We are thrilled to share Allen's art with you. After looking at the art below we encourage you to check out his site (link below). While you are there you should check out information on his Ancient Ones series and if you are interested you should sign up for his mailing list as book two in the series and an RPG for it are launching in Spring of 2024.

From the Yangzhou cohort: Wu Huizhong

From the Holland cohort: Owen de Bruin

From the Iqaluit cohort: Ahnah Serkoak

From the Central Mexico cohort: Juan Ernesto Delgado

And the elder for the Wirangu cohort: The Storm

That is it for this week be sure to check out Allen's site at the link below. We will be back with another update and more art next week!

Allen Panakal's Site: https://www.ancientones.net/
Ancient One's Mailing List: https://www.ancientones.net/signup