Hey Everyone,
First off I am over the moon with the response that the game has managed to achieve, hearing your stories has been fantastic and honestly I couldn't be happier.
...
6
0
11
Crossed Paths
26 days ago
Digital Editions are now available!
Hello everyone!
It is finally time to say that we are officially starting fufillment on the Digital Editions of Brambletrek. You will get an email that says your digital downlo...
13
0
26
Crossed Paths
about 1 month ago
April Update - It is almost time!
Hello everyone!
Firstly, thank you for the love and support you gave the playlist! I am so happy with the response to it!!
I am pleased to annouNce that playtests have been on...
12
0
0
Crossed Paths
about 2 months ago
The Music of the Forest is here
Hello Everyone!
We're thrilled to share a special update with you today!
In our quest to enhance your journey through "Brambletrek", Ash has hand curated a beautiful music pla...
9
0
12
Crossed Paths
3 months ago
February Update - We are getting close!
Hello everyone!
I wanted to provide a quick update on our progress. Last time we spoke, I mentioned that things were looking good, and I am pleased to say that remains the case...
11
0
3
Crossed Paths
4 months ago
Happy January! Where are we at?
Hello everyone!
We are finally settled back in after the holidays and things are finally ramping back up.
We wanted to give you guys an idea of where things are at so you know...
First off I am over the moon with the response that the game has managed to achieve, hearing your stories has been fantastic and honestly I couldn't be happier.
I wanted to say that Version 1.1 has now been sent out which includes the following changes:
Improved smoothness in combat with clearer rules.
Supplies are a direct resource you use to heal/make a camp.
Page numbers are larger to make the game easier to flick through.
A single page & PF version have also been made (The PF version removes some art that simply don't work in this format).
Backer names have been updated to include all survey answers after an error caused only certain tiers to show. (If your name is still missing please let us know to make sure it is included in the print version).
Various Quality of Life changes have also been made.
Thank you to everyone who has provided feedback, it has been really appreciated and I can't wait to have a printed copy that is best version of this game.
Dungeons of Dragonkeep Campaign Art by Artcher Artwork
CRIT Awards
On a seperate note, the nominations for the CRIT awards are now open. If you'd like to support us in another way then submitting Brambletrek for consideration for their Solo RPG Award, it would be hugely appreciated!
It's free to do and should only take a few minutes.
For us, it really helps us get new opportunities in partnerships to bring you all new content!
You can nominate us here before May 31st: Click Here
(It says all nominations must have occurred before Feb 2024 but that seems to be a miscommunication on their part)
I wanted to provide a quick update on our progress. Last time we spoke, I mentioned that things were looking good, and I am pleased to say that remains the case.
We are currently waiting on 3 final pieces from Artcher, who has recently returned from their honeymoon. They will be back in their studio shortly to complete the artwork.
The book has been fully edited and proofed, which means we can officially begin playtesting V1 at the end of this month. This includes the core content, expansions, and everything else being finalized, with only the layout work remaining. The artwork just needs to be added in, putting us at 99% completion.
A huge thank you to Kraig who did such an amazing job with the edits!
I am excited to share some example spreads and introduce the Two New Legacies - The Sneaker & The Soother. I can't wait to show you the finished product once it's ready.
Two New Legacies (Art by Ash)
Art by Artcher Artwork & Rossy Draws
Art by Rossy Does Drawing
Art by Artcher Artwork
If you are interested in joining our Discord to participate in playtesting over the next few months, please click here: https://discord.gg/mcckW83P79
Thank you for being a part of this journey. The PDFs will be ready to send over soon!
I just wanted to give everyone a quick update to talk about the surveys and shipping.
I am very excited to say that the surveys will be finalised this week and a smoke test will occur either this weekend or next week depending on if everything is signed off by Backerkit.
As you are all aware you will be charged both Shipping and VAT in the pledge manager which you can access once the surveys go live. I will leave things open for changes until we can begin fulfilment so you have time to confirm addresses and complete your payment details.
Shipping is as follows here depending on your location and pledge level, everything is done by weight so be aware that these may vary depending on the add-ons you have purchased.
Shipping and fulfilment is being handled by Gamesquest, who are a leading partner in the industry, so you can rest assured your game will arrive safely.
A note on VAT
This is my first large scale project, so to ensure I was doing my due diligence and making all the right legal moves, I consulted an accountant and legal advisor to help me navigate the scary world of Business Tax.
I have been made aware that in the UK, if a business reaches over £85,000 GBP in revenue in within a single year, they must become VAT registered and charge tax on all goods.
In our case, the campaign reached lower than that threshold but we must also factor in the additional revenue paid in for shipping which would take us well over this number.
What does this mean?
This means that to continue as a business and avoid any legal issues all UK backers will be charged VAT during the pledge manager stage. Shipping will also be subject to VAT.
As an example, here in the UK, VAT is charged at a flat 20%.
So if you pledged at £15 and £10 for shipping = £25, you will be charged £5 (20% of £25) to cover the VAT.
The good news is that this will handle importing issues which allows us to import products into the EU, US and all locations far easier and make it less of a headache on your end.
If you are familiar with crowdfunding, this may not be a surprise to you but I though it prudent to ensure the information is readily available.
I am sure you're all sick of these updates but with each update we are getting closer to getting this book in your hands!
I am very happy to say that the smoke test has gone off without a hitch and so I will be sending out all of the surveys now! Please be sure to check your emails!
The end date will remain the same as 13th December @ 7am EST. Should this be extended, I will let you know via another update.
In other news, we something amazing to share....
We are finalists for not just 1 but 2 awards from Dicebreaker this year!!
Brambletrek has not only won the hearts of you but also the judges!
I wanted to say a heartfelt thank you as without the support of you I wouldn't have pushed myself to make this game the best it can be!
I am also going to use this chance to remind everyone that our pre-launch for Midnight is still live so to get a chance at claiming the early rewards for being a Brambletrek backer be sure to follow now!
I wanted to clarify some things on my end after speaking to my advisors again based on community messages.
It seems there was a light miscommunication between HMRC and myself. They had assumed I was asking for VAT advice against sales after I'd hit the threshold.
Good news is, due to the threshold only being valid after I hit it, There is a 30 day grace-period from the day I hit the threshold and VAT is only applicable after that date.
This means that none of you will have to worry about VAT at this moment in time and the first smoke test of backer surveys will be occurring today at 7am EST.
What is a smoke test?
It is when I send out the survey to 5% of backers and if half of those surveys are returned with 0 issues I can send out the rest.
I can't control who gets their surveys so please be sure to check your emails.
Due to their being no VAT/Tax to worry about these surveys will be locked after 2 weeks of them being sent out.
If for any reason you do not fill it out, you will not be able to receive your pledge items so it is very important that you ensure you fill these out as soon as possible.
If you do miss out, please do not hesitate to reach out and we can see if we can get it all sorted out for you.
I am aiming for all the surveys to go out on the 29th November and the lock-in date is 13th December @ 7am EST.
This should be more than enough time to ensure your address is validated and fix any payment issues.
We are getting closer and closer to final fulfilment which makes me very excited and I cannot wait to get this game in your hands!
Just wanted to give you a quick update on how things are going!
Our external artists have started working on their contributions to the book as we have now had the funds clear! I am also excited to say that the content itself will be going to be editing and proofing team at the end of this week!
Sketch by Artcher Art
Many have been asking about timeline for fulfilment, as the remaining tasks on the book are all with various external teams who have different turn around times I want to ensure they all have enough time to deliver a polished final result and so I am still going to be sticking to a rough delivery time on the PDFs of the end of Q1 2024.
During this time I will also start to sample physical editions from printers and manage expectations on physical delivery. To this end so I can confirm numbers I am hoping to have the Surveys live in the next few weeks.
Remember that during the survey period you will all have 30 days from live to claim your rewards and make any changes to your pledge.
But as I say, the core content has now been completed and I am so happy it's all done ahead of time! I will also take this chance to announce that the card deck will also come in a print and play sheet!
This does also mean I can start to focus on other stories and products while I await content from other teams!
So with that I'd like to introduce our next big project:
Midnight - A Tarot Based Journaling RPG
I am beyond excited to finally be able to announce that Midnight is our next crowdfunding project!
The book will take you through your first year at the hallowed halls of the greatest magical school within Akeroth - The Midnight Court.
Those who study here end up being some of the greatest mages and you have been chosen to start your journey into the Arcane but you harbour a secret known to very few....
Your magic does not come from the pages of a Tome or learning but rather you are a Pactbearer, a student who has been granted awesome power through a patron known as a Paragon!
The game follows a very simple ruleset and only requires a Deck of Tarot Cards and, as always, a journal to be played.
Cover Art by Malvva
We are also introducing a whole 78 Card Tarot Deck to go alongside the game with beautiful artwork by Malvva, a hugely talented individual who has brought an amazing design and theme to the book!
We are currently aiming to launch the project only after the PDFs for Brambletrek have been fulfilled so if you are interested in journeying through your first year at this famed institution be sure to follow the project now! You will gain early bird rewards and previous backers of Brambletrek will also receive exclusive access to rewards unavailable to the public!
I hope you all have a spooky halloween and I can't wait to shoot over more updates as time goes on! You will all have the book ready to play in some form!
Just wanted to give you all an update on how things are going post-campaign.
Pledge Payments
You should have all been charged for your pledges now so if you haven't please ensure that your card details are correct by heading to the Pledge Page on your user account and updating your card details if needed!
Remember that ensuring you are charged and details are correct allows me to get things moving faster and get your rewards to you as soon as possible!
State of the book
I am so pleased to be able to say that I have finally finished writing the content for the Brambletrek expansions and get the core book updated with feedback! This means I am well ahead of schedule and all that remains is proofing of the content, artwork and final layouts before we can start sending the PDF copies out!
I still don't want to promise a date until I can get a solid timeline from artists and external team members!
Community Support
We are now accepting applications for the first Akeroth Creators Fund Program.
The programs aims to support marginalised creators in the TTRPG space with on-going support and $500 financial aid.
If you’re interested in applying and taking a chance on your future in the TTRPG space please use the link below and let us know more about you!
This year we can only pick 1 applicant but we hope to open those doors further next year and beyond!
All of you made this possible so thank you! You are allowing new creators to get their voice out there!
New Projects
Now that Brambletrek is in it's final stages and I am able to focus on other projects I am very excited to announce the next projects that are going to be launched on Backerkit!
I am very very pleased to also say that both Ashes & Midnight are both in playtesting phase with the core content completed!
Playtesting is starting now!
If you'd like to take part in the Midnight Playtest, do join our discord below!
Also, if you'd like to know when these projects go live be sure to follow the Backerkit account!
I also wanted to showcase another project that is ending soon!
Cryptid Creeks is a tabletop roleplaying game using the popular Powered by the Apocalypse engine and is 'Carved from Brindlewood', a term for content based on Jason Cordova’s award-winning Brindlewood Bay. In this supernatural mystery, you'll play river scouts, a crew of young adults setting out to stop a rapidly spreading curse with the help of ancient cryptids of your own invention. Creeks has many inspirations including Gravity Falls, Hilda, The Goonies, Lumberjanes and Night in the Woods, representing a genre we feel is surprisingly lacking in RPGs. Through this game, we hope to see themes such as friendship, discovery and community explored by gaming groups and summer campers of all ages and backgrounds. Be sure to check it out before it ends!
One more thing....
As a last note, I just wanted to say that without you I couldn't even dream of being able to create games and experiences so from the bottom of my heart...
Because of your support, along with that of over 2,100 other backers, this campaign has soared to an amazing result. Clearly you love Brambletrek as much as I do—and I am really thrilled that you’ve unlocked so much to make this game, and the fun stuff I am looking forward to making alongside it, as awesome as it can possibly be. We really appreciate your support and your faith in me.
IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ the next couple of sections. We have some other info to share after that, but what follows here is critical.
The Immediate Future
Running a big crowdfunding campaign is hard work. We’re going to take a little time off. You may not hear from us for a little while, but don’t worry. We’ll be working diligently on your rewards in the weeks and months to come.
The Next Few Weeks
BackerKit began collecting pledges the moment the campaign closed. But it takes them a full two weeks to release those funds, along with the data on our backers.
In the meantime, we will get the pledge manager fully set up. The pledge manager gives us information we need to fulfill your pledge and lets you manage your add-ons and make any pledge upgrades you want. We’ll notify you when we open the pledge manager, which should be in two or three weeks.
HERE’S SOME SUPER IMPORTANT STUFF:
The pledge manager is vital to getting your rewards. We CANNOT FULFILL your rewards if you don’t respond to the pledge manager!
In the pledge manager, we’re going to ask for your email address. YOU MUST provide an address you can use later. DO NOT use an email proxy (like Apple Hide My Email), or an address you won’t have access to (like a school-issued address)—or you won’t be able to claim your rewards!
Later, when your rewards are available, we’ll give you instructions on how to claim them. This process ensures, among other benefits, that we collect your accurate shipping address at the time of fulfillment. DON’T IGNORE OUR COMMUNICATIONS, or you won’t get your rewards!
You will also be charged for shipping during the Pledge Manager & survey part of this post-campaign!
The Next Few Months
Once you’ve completed the pledge manager survey, we won’t need anything else from you until it’s time to start fulfilling rewards. We’ll be busy crafting your products and rewards in the months to come. We’ll post regular updates, but if you don’t hear anything for a few weeks, don’t fret.
At the same time, please pay attention when you do get communications from us. Our emails and updates include critical information about your rewards.
When Your Rewards Ship
Every time a reward is ready for you, we’ll contact you by email to begin the fulfilment process. You will be able to tweak addresses and other things at this time.
This is an important part of the process because it ensures we have accurate delivery information for every item we send out. (With thousands of backers getting rewards, it's amazing how many people will change their address over the fulfilment period.)
Make sure to pay attention to communications from us—don't let our updates or emails go to your spam folder, or otherwise ignore them, because if you do you could miss out on some of your rewards.
If you missed out
Due to some issues with the website not loading in time, we are opening a pre-order store for a very limited time. You can make your late pledges here and ensure you still receive all the benefits of the campaign including the backer-exclusive pricing!
All of us at Crossed Paths want to extend our thanks to all of you who made this an incredibly successful—and fun—campaign. Your support brings our imagination to life and to thousands of game tables.
We have also unlocked a special 6th Legacy - The Summoner. Brought to us by our twitch viewers we will be adding this into the book as a special thank you!
Thanks again for such a fantastic campaign! —Crossed Paths Team
'Secrets of the World Tree' Expansion Progress - Now 80% completed
Deck Upgrade details - What you can expect
Win a plush during our live-stream
Let's get into the details!
Join our livestream wrap party!
I'm preparing for a LIVESTREAM WRAP PARTY that kicks off at 3pm PST tomorrow! Click the link to follow my Twitch channel and sign up for notifications for the live.
We'll count down the last hour of the campaign together, and I've got a full evening of festivities planned to make it an evening to remember!
A giveaway of Brambletrek's Collector's Edition
Playthrough of the game, including the expansions!
General talking about the future of Crossed Paths including a reveal of our next project
Tune in live on the campaign page to have some fun, and to celebrate the end of a successful BackerKit campaign!
Deck Upgrade News!
As most of you are aware, I have put out a poll to get some feedback on what the upgrade to the deck of cards should look like when we hit 2,000 backers (We are only 46 backers away so be sure to share this with everyone!).
I am very pleased to say that the coloured variations will be what are now created! So you can expect some very beautiful coloured pieces now added to the deck!
Expansion Progress
I am making very good head way on getting the expansions wrapped up, at this stage I have the 'Secrets of the World Tree' Expansion at 80% completion with a few things like playtesting and art to be done.
This means I am well ahead of schedule as this is the longest of the expansions with over 14 new tables with prompts, creatures, items and more! I have also designed a whole new opponent creation system to make things more unique!
If you want to learn more about this expansion then check out the live stream as we will be playing in a group of 5! This will also showcase exactly how you can adapt the rules on the fly!
That's all for now!
If you wanted to hear more ramblings and see progress updates then head over to my Twitter account! Once the campaign ends I will be doing a progress log to show off exactly where things are at! You can find me on @CrossedPathsPod.
Thank you so much for everything you've done to keep the momentum on the campaign going! Excited to celebrate the closing hours with you!
Hello, backers. Wow, what an exciting final week we've had so far! This campaign is on fire—we just blew past 1,500 backers and already so close to 2,000.
Believe it or not, there’s still time to unlock at least one more stretch goal—I know all of you are jumping in and I am very confident we can get more music added to the campaign along with an STL of the Seer! But to get you guys more excited I want to announce a new achievement I am confident we can get to!
At 2,000 backers, I will upgrade the deck of cards!
To make it fair, we have 2 designs to choose from and will be running a community poll to decide what it becomes!
Vote on which design you would like to see!
Be sure to vote! Voting ends 24th September at 4pm PST
You already unlocked a stretch goal, earlier in this campaign, to increase the number of artists in the book, so this new goal builds upon improvements you’ve already unlocked.
This would normally be individual stretch goals, but this is such an incredible milestone that we want to really celebrate!
Remember that this would upgrade the current 16 pieces to a new redesign.
We’re Down to the Final Week…
It’s been an amazing journey—and it’s not over yet. Help keep the buzz going, and share this campaign. There are still thousands of gamers out there who don’t even know about it! Help us reach them, and take this campaign to amazing places in this final day!
To celebrate that I am also very pleased to announce that there will be a Live Stream right here at 3pm PST.
Some players and I will be talking all things Brambletrek and take you on a journey through one of the new expansions you have already unlocked—'Secrets of the World Tree'.
Join us to not only learn more about how the game will run in a multiplayer setting but celebrate the final hours of this momentous journey.
We’ve unlocked yet another stretch goal, backers, adding new art to Brambletrek. This grows the entire book—making everyone’s rewards better!
To also celebrate this goal we are very very pleased to welcome Artcher of Artcher Artwork to the team!
Known for their whimsical art style, Artcher's creations are a symphony of detail and wonder. Their adept hands bring forth a blend of tradition and innovation that's just... spellbinding. We've always been admirers from afar, and having them onboard feels like catching a star from the skies of Hyhill.
They will be joining us as the main artist for our 'Secrets of the World Tree'expansion! Prepare yourselves for an even deeper immersion into the world of Brambletrek. With Artcher illuminating our paths, the journey grows more mesmerizing by the day. Let's send our most vibrant cheers to welcome them!
Now that we have hit £50k I am very pleased to talk about our next £70k Stretch Goal!
As a collaboration with the creators of Zoontalis, we have created a 3D-Printable STL file for our Seer Mousefolk which will be a part of our £70k stretch goal! Grab this then paint it on those rainy days to sit back and relax!
But that's not all, we will also be commissioning our amazing composer, Elise in the Clouds to create another track to use when you're playing Brambletrek. This time around however it will be a combat focused track!
This has been a really exciting campaign, but there are still thousands of players out there who haven’t even heard of this campaign yet, or who don’t grok how exciting of an RPG Brambletrek will be. Won’t you help spread the word a bit? The more we help them find this campaign, the faster we’ll hit stretch goals, and the more we’ll unlock!
Thanks for your support! — Crossed Paths Press Team
By the Gods of Old, that was quick! We’ve unlocked the 40k milestone, A Map of Hyhill included! Soon it will be placed in the physical editions of the book and await your grand adventures across the Grandest Forests in the Realm.
The Grand Forests of Hyhill
This map has been hand-drawn by myself but later this week there will be a community poll to decide if it should be redrawn by another artist. I hope the above sketch helps you understand the sheer vastness your Gnawborn will be coming against however!
Next up, we have another milestone to unlock. We are going to be expanding on the amazing art already included in the book by inviting new artists to give their take on the book. As time goes on we will show off the artists we will be collaborating with but for now this Stretch Goal will be the 50k milestone.
I wonder how the next few weeks will go but until then I want to thank all our backers and welcome the new ones!
Wow, everyone! Thank you so much for your amazing support for Brambletrek!
You’ve funded this project with breath-taking speed, 8 minutes! Not only will the game now become a reality, but you’ve also given life to the first Stretch Goal - The Depths of Aldwund. This expansion will explore the deep underbelly of Hyhill and introduce you to creatures and beings that have long been forgotten by the surface world!
Sketch of what your Gnawborn will get to doing!
The speed at which things are moving is spinning our heads a little bit. We have some cool stretch goals planned, and we’ll start rolling them out later today as things settle down a bit.
In the meantime, thanks so much for the support, and please help spread the word—the stronger our launch day, the better the campaign will do, and the more of those stretch goals we can unlock.
Hi. Just finished first adventure and loved it! But as I was creating another character I wondered if I played the resources wrong. Is this like D&D where the health is static. My gnawborn is created with 18 health and that's the max. Or is the max for everything 20, so if he's created with 15 morale, events can bump him up to 20? Look forward to the response. My friends are interested in playing now.
