Stretch Goals RELEASED, Campaign Complete! And one more thing...
Great news: The stretch goals for the Codex of Worlds are finished and awaiting you on your BackerKit downloads page right now. There's so much material here, we've given it its...
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Evil Hat Productions
8 months ago
Shipping COMPLETE, Stretch goal(s) update plus: Our next project
Hello Hunters, Keepers, Monsters, and Mystery Lovers!
It's safe to say that shipping for Codex of Worlds is complete. Most packages went out by the end of July. If you orde...
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Evil Hat Productions
10 months ago
Digital Rewards sent! Next up: ADDRESSES LOCKING for physical rewards. Stretch goals to come later.
Hello friends, here's a quick run down of where things are at as we have begun delivering the core rewards for the Codex of Worlds:
PDFs, Roll20, + POD: These items have been f...
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Evil Hat Productions
10 months ago
Printing Complete, PDFs + Roll20 Coming July 10
Hello friends! As you can see, the Codex of Worlds is real! We've received our advance copy from the printer, the rest of the print run is on its way to our warehouse.
In t...
Hi friends, we've got a quick but comprehensive update for you all.
Barring any sort of wildly unpredictable disaster, we will be locking orders on July 10th. Delivery of ...
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Evil Hat Productions
about 1 year ago
BackerKit Surveys Going out Soon
Hi all, pledge management for Codex of Worlds is about to start. We're going to do a Smoke Test (which will send surveys to 5% of backers) and then, if all goes well, 48 hours l...
Great news: The stretch goals for the Codex of Worlds are finished and awaiting you on your BackerKit downloads page right now. There's so much material here, we've given it its own title, Codex of Worlds: Apocrypha!
Cover art by Juan Ochoa. Background illustration by Adrian Stone
This massive collection provides over 200 pages of additional content for The Codex of Worlds! And it's all fully illustrated. Inside you'll find:
Six new Team playbooks (The Army of One, Doomed World Exiles, Back to Square One, Monster Revelations, Storied Hunter Lineage, and the Thrill-Seekers)
A new Hunter playbook, the Curse-Eater
Six additional Mysteries for the setting frameworks found in The Codex of Worlds
Rules for crafting quick (15-30 minute) one-shot Mysteries
A framework for prelude adventures. In this funnel-style system, everyday folk strive to survive their first encounter with the supernatural. Those who make it (and most won't!) have the option to go on and become full-fledged Hunters.
We know it's taken some months to get this one across the finish line but we hope you'll agree it was worth the wait. All told, this crowdfunding campaign has funded over 600 pages of new material for Monster of the Week.
Codex of Worlds: Apocrypha delivers the last of our stretch goals and marks the complete fulfillment of this campaign. Thank you for your support and patience. There's a wealth of material here to take your Monster of the Week game to new genres and new planes. We hope you (and your players) enjoy the ride!
Hello Hunters, Keepers, Monsters, and Mystery Lovers!
It's safe to say that shipping for Codex of Worlds is complete. Most packages went out by the end of July. If you ordered a physical book as part of the campaign and did not get it, contact us at [email protected] and we'll work to get it sorted.
Stretch Goal Update The stretch goal material is written and edited! We're now sourcing art so we can finalize the layout. Reminder that all the stretch goals will be delivered as a PDF - they're not in your book. Good news is that the bonus material will be available as a print-on-demand offering through DriveThruRPG. We'll have a more specific delivery timeline for you once we get closer to the end of the layout process.
Our Next Crowdfunding Effort: Deathmatch Island
Congratulations. You have been selected to participate in Deathmatch Island. Winning will mean fame, freedom, and unlimited wealth. You may be experiencing some confusion and memory loss. This is normal following the Selection and Recruitment Process. It is important that you do not panic.
Deathmatch Island is a fast-paced roleplaying game about a deadly gameshow on a chain of mysterious islands. If you're a fan of Squid Game, Severance, Battle Royale, Control, or messed up Reality TV, you're going to enjoy Deathmatch Island.
Designer Tim Denee puts a striking spin on the PARAGON game engine in this fast, flexible RPG that explores corporate dystopia, paranoia as a tool of control, and competitive survival as entertainment.
Hello friends, here's a quick run down of where things are at as we have begun delivering the core rewards for the Codex of Worlds:
PDFs, Roll20, + POD: These items have been fulfilled and are awaiting download or redemption. Log in to your BackerKit account and check out the Digital Downloads page for your rewards. These are the FINAL versions of the book as it will be printed so if you're in Europe and want to place an order for your POD copy (or you just want a softcover for your shelf) feel free to fire that off at any time.
Hardcover books: These are at the warehouse. Our next steps are to get the warehouse people a final list of orders and addresses. That means you have less than 12 hours to UPDATE YOUR ADDRESS. Early Wednesday morning we will extract the backer file and send it to the warehouse so they can start tooling up their fulfillment process. Again, log into BackerKit and make any necessary address changes NOW.
We anticipate that, barring emergencies or postal interruptions, most books will arrive the 2nd or 3rd week of August. We won't be able to pin that down until the warehouse gets the pallets of books unloaded and organized and they actually start shipping orders. We'll send an update once that happens. Right now our spot in the fulfillment queue is scheduled for the end of July.
If you have a concern about receiving your book, reach out to us ASAP at [email protected] and we will do our best to accommodate your situation.
Stretch goals: As we noted during the campaign, stretch goals will be delivered separately as PDFs. They will not be in the book. (The only way we can fund the campaign, finish the layout files, print 6000 copies, and start shipping physical books a few months later is because the text was already locked.) The stretch goals are underway and we will release them incrementally, as they are finished. Like all the other digital rewards, you'll get them on the Digital Downloads page. We'll send you an update when we hit one of those milestones so you know to look for them.
In the meantime, we hope you're enjoying the final, fully-illustrated version of the Codex. If you've never used one of our Roll20 modules and you pledged for that reward, we think you will be truly impressed with the lavish and convenient tools we provide for Roll20.
Physical books will be going out within weeks. Stay tuned, we'll be sure to post an update when shipping starts!
Hello friends! As you can see, the Codex of Worlds is real! We've received our advance copy from the printer, the rest of the print run is on its way to our warehouse.
In terms of delivery timeline, here are the latest details:
The books are currently on a truck, trundling their way to our warehouse.
After they arrive, our fulfillment partner will put them in queue and prepare the pick & pack process. They have one crowdfunding project from a different client in fulfillment now and another one on deck after that.
We expect your physical rewards (whether that's for the Codex or both the Codex plus the new hardcover edition of Monster of the Week) to start shipping in the second half of July.
When everything is teed up, you will get a notification 48 hours in advance warning everyone that we will be locking shipping addresses. If you've moved in the past few months, please update your shipping address.
Last week we locked orders and charged cards. That means we're now ready to move on to fulfillment of your electronic rewards. On July 10th we'll be dropping you PDF, POD, and Roll20 codes for Codex of Worlds and any other digital rewards you pledged for. (Reminder that stretch goals are still in process and will be fulfilled as they are completed.)
That's the update! We want to thank you for your patience. We're still ahead of schedule but we understand the eagerness and anticipation of getting this big BIG expansion on your table and into your game.
As a final tease, here are a few other images of the finished book:
Codex of Worlds as compared to the hardcover edition of Monster of the Week and two of our other titles with beefy page counts: Apocalypse Keys (386 pages) and Band of Blades (466 pages).
Preview of the endpapers inside the Codex
A sneak peek of pages 110-11, showcasing the Suburban Watch Group team playbook.
Hi friends, we've got a quick but comprehensive update for you all.
Barring any sort of wildly unpredictable disaster, we will be locking orders on July 10th. Delivery of all rewards (PDFs, Roll20 modules, physical books, etc) will begin shortly thereafter.
Creation of the Roll20 Compendium Bundle is in process.
Art, editing, and layout are final.
The books are at the printer and they estimate that our warehouse will receive them near the end of June.
Once we get the final shipping prices nailed down, we'll lock BackerKit orders and initiate the delivery process.
We originally projected we'd deliver Codex in September 2023, but if all goes according to plan you'll have books in your hands (or hard drives) 4-6 weeks early.
So you have about a month and some change to add to your order or update your mailing address. (We'll send another update out before we lock orders down so don't panic if you have plans to move soon.)
Our next big crowdfunding project launched this morning. Magical Girls grapple with their daily struggles and defy the world as they transcend into their true selves!
Inspired by Sailor Moon, Steven Universe, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, The Vision of Escaflowne, and more, designer Andrew Gillis delivers an innovative take on the Magical Girl genre using the rules engine that hums beneath Blades in the Dark.
Girl By Moonlight funded in less than hour and we're currently on the brink of 1500 backers. With final delivery of Codex in sight, we're excited to bring this next TTRPG project to BackerKit.
Hi all, pledge management for Codex of Worlds is about to start. We're going to do a Smoke Test (which will send surveys to 5% of backers) and then, if all goes well, 48 hours later we'll send out surveys to everyone.
Please note that we'll be charging for shipping closer to when the books go out (and we know just how much it costs) so while BackerKit may ask for your credit card information, cards won't be charged till we're ready to close the surveys and ship books out.
Thanks again for all your support, we look forward to sharing new worlds with you!
Thank you for a truly amazing conclusion to this crowdfunding campaign. We smashed the final Double Feature stretch goal which means y'all are getting two cool new ways to play Monster of the Week.
What Happens Next
Most of the next steps happen behind the scenes. BackerKit will process pledges and transfer the initial funds to us. (If you missed out on an add-on or want to upgrade your pledge, don't worry - that will be possible when we shift into Pledge Manager mode.)
If you've never backed an Evil Hat crowdfunding campaign, we do our best to deliver on time or ahead of time. Our most recent crowdfunding effort, Apocalypse Keys, funded in October 2022, was scheduled to deliver in July 2023, and began fulfillment this week. That's 4 months ahead of schedule. So while delivery of the Codex is set for September, we're hopeful that (barring supply chain disruptions, weird natural disasters, or extradimensional invaders) we get your books out before then.
We'll keep you updated here along the way.
Although design of the book is finished, the work on the stretch goals is just beginning. This week we'll be sending out final contracts and setting up the tools to create the many Mysteries, Team playbooks, and more that were funded with your support. A quick reminder that the stretch goals will be delivered separately from the physical book. We don't have definitive dates for them, but each one will be released as an individual PDF as they are completed.
Thank You
This was our first project to fund exclusively on BackerKit and you all blew away our expectations. To see over $200k raised for a supplement to a game is a testament to the ardent love out there for Monster of the Week. We're grateful for all your support. From the whole team, thank you.
We're in the home stretch and our backers keep crushing stretch goals as quickly as we can post them!
Over the weekend, y'all unlocked a new Mystery for the Gothic Century by Banana Chan. That makes six additional Monster of the Week Mysteries you'll all be getting free.
Our final stretch goal is a big one: at 200k coauthors Michael Sands and Marek Golonka will both be adding new ways to play Monster of the Week!
In Case Closed, Marek will pen a simplified ruleset to enable your party to solve Mysteries in under an hour. Each hunter describes their contribution to the effort and makes a roll, which in turn gives them and the Keeper points to spend on narrative developments. Cases which are closed with these rules can and should influence later full-scale mysteries.
Michael brings us a funnel-style adventure with "Wait, Monsters are Real?" Instead of experienced monster hunters, here you play regular folks try to survive their first encounter with a monster. Those that do become your hunters for the series. Includes basic moves for scared normal people, quick character generation for replacements, and improvements for the smart or lucky.
We're super excited to see what Marek and Michael are cooking up and as of this writing we're just over $7k away from unlocking our delightful Double Feature. You've shown this campaign enormous support, if you help get the word out in these final hours we're sure we can achieve it!
Hello fellow monster hunting freaks! As we head into the final four days of the campaign, we've unlocked a new Mystery penned by Liam Stevens and a new Actual Play podcast from our friends at the Critshow set in the Bone Spear series framework!
We're finalizing some details for our last Achievements and hope to have more info on those for you after the weekend. Keep spreading the word, the outpouring of support has truly exceeded our expectations.
Speaking of exceeding our expectations, we're happy to announce that our talented team of artists have finished the works we've commissioned for the Codex. The art still has to be placed, and a final editing pass has to be done, but we're going to be able to dive into production shortly after the campaign wraps.
In the meantime, we can't keep all these delicious pieces to ourselves, so as you head into the weekend, please enjoy this preview:
The Hook: Betrayal by Lorne Colt
The Wronged: Monster Marches by Kurt Komoda
IMPS: Assets by Juan Ochoa
Caricatures of Dorian Gray by Adrian Stone
This Strange Old House: What did we just inherit? by Jabari Weathers
At the time of this writing, we're just eighteen dollars away from unlocking Sweet Revenge, a new Mystery for the Gothic Century series framework and written by Liam Stevens. Anyone out there need to upgrade their pledge or care to throw a new Monster of the Week hardcover book in with their rewards? ;-)
After that, our next funding target is more Actual Play from the fine folks at The Critshow!
Tune in to their first Codex-based arc created in the run-up to this campaign and featuring designer Michael Sands as the keeper!Rev and the Critshow folks have been playing Monster of the Week for a long time and their podcast provides terrific (and entertaining) insight into the game. We're excited to have a chance to work with them some more.
The campaign ebbed a bit this week but that's 100% expected. Summon your strength for next week as we roll into the final ten days!
It's a short update today - we've all got the weekend ahead of us - but before we go: here's a sneak peek as some new art that Lorne Colt just turned to illustrate the Brutal Alchemist minions in Dreaming With The Gods. Absolutely brilliant stuff.
We're ten days into the campaign and y'all continue to absolutely burn through the stretch goals!
Since our last update, you've unlocked:
A new Mystery for Dreaming with the Gods penned by S. M. Harrison. Can your team stop the sleepwalkers before the slumbering horde reaches the Soaring City?
Ravenous Fire! Michael Sands adds another Mystery to the Bone Spear series framework
A new Team Playbook by Marek Golonka: In Back to Square One your team had to sacrifice almost all their powers and experience for some higher good. How will they cope with their obligations and enemies now?
James Mendez Hodes writes a new Mystery for the Monster Marches wherein the hunters work to place someone in a position of influence within the Iron Principality.
Another Team playbook by Michael Sands! As part of the Monster Revelations Show, your hunters don't just hunt monsters, they report the Truth about them.
That makes six additional Team playbooks and four more Mysteries all backers will receive as part of their pledge. (Remember, these stretch goals will be delivered digitally so this new material will not slow down delivery of your physical books and Codex PDFs.)
Next up. it's a big one. At $155,000 Michael Sands will craft a whole new Hunter Playbook: The Curse-Eater, a hunter who can consume evil magic and use it. But beware: too much evil will corrupt you!
We're less than $2k away from this goal, so this is very achievable. After that we have a new Mystery by Liam Stevens for the Gothic Century at $165k and when we reach $175,000 our talented friends at The Critshow will record a dedicated Let's Play episode that delves into the Codex!
Finally, for a behind-the-scenes look into the Codex, tune into the Tabletopped podcast as Nick interviews creator Michael Sands to talk about the new mechanics, new options and more.
You've created tremendous momentum here in our first effort on BackerKit. Typically this next two weeks will be a slower climb in pledges but this campaign is anything but typical.Share the project on socials and with your friends and we'll have another set of achievements knocked down in no time!
We're less than 60 hours into the campaign and nearly 2,000 backers have lifted us well up and over the $100k mark!
Since our last update, you've funded four more Team playbooks and a whole new Mystery!
Marek Golonka will pen the Army of One Team playbook
Rae Nedjadi will introduce us to the wild and raucous Thrill Seekers
Michael Sands weaves a thread through history and destiny with the Storied Lineage Team playbook
Marek Golonka summons the last survivors in the Doomed World Exiles Team playbook
And finally, S.M. Harrison will develop a whole new Mystery for the Dreaming of the Gods series framework: The Dreaming Army.
That takes the total number of Team playbooks to 19 and two more Mysteries we'll be producing as extra rewards. (Just a reminder that all stretch goals will be delivered digitally as they are completed, so this additional material will not appear in the Codex.)
When we reach $115k, Michael will design a new Mystery for the Bone Spear series framework and at $125k Marek will add another Team playbook incorporating that classic trope of forgotten identity titled Back to Square One.
As we've mentioned on the main campaign page, Monster of the Week recently sold out of its latest print run. We took this opportunity to give the book an upgrade. The new hardcover edition of Monster of the Week will be available on February 27th.
This hardcover version of the game does not change the rules in any way - it's got the same text and interior art from your softcover edition. But it has new cover art and adds 24 pages of relevant material from the Tome of Mysteries plus some other goodies that were previously downloads only.
If you want a copy right away, you can pre-order from us and we'll do our best to get you the book by Feb. 27th. If you're willing to wait, and maybe save a little on shipping, you can pledge at the New Book Bundle level or just drop a hardcover copy of Monster of the Week onto your pledge as an Add-On. We'll send it out at the same time as we ship the physical copies of the Codex.
We've gotten a couple of requests for softcover copies of the Codex of Worlds to match the softcover copies of Monster of the Week and Tome of Mysteries. For those of you in this boat, keep in mind that each pledge comes with a coupon for a discounted POD copy printed through DriveThruRPG. This affordable softcover version should print very well through their system and will come in the same digest format as our own books.
Thank you so much for the generous support! We're truly grateful at the amazing progress we've made in just over 56 hours and we couldn't do it without you. Keep spreading the word!
Thank you to all the backers of Codex of Worlds! We’re making the preview PDF available through to all backers (link below). You can also find a printer-friendly version, playbooks, mystery maps, and other reference handouts there!
The preview PDF contains the full text and rules of the game, complete with an index and PDF bookmarks. The most significant work remaining on Codex of Worlds is to commission the final pieces of art. With that in mind, you will see blank placeholder spaces and pages in the preview PDF where that art will get fitted when it comes in.
If we have additional content to share during the campaign, we’ll provide it in the same folder linked below.
Your second instant backer reward is the Codex of Worlds Roll20 Quick Start module.
It contains instructions on how to use the module’s features, the complete intro Mystery Nature's Wrath, three pregen characters, a team playbook, handouts, tokens, and more. Paired with the preview PDF and the free Codex of Worlds character sheets already available on Roll20, it’s everything you need to start playing online with your friends tonight!
Thank you so much for your amazing outpouring of support. In just five hours we've raised over $60,000 and absolutely smashed our funding goal and first three stretches!
This huge book was already set to be one gorgeous hardcover, but thanks to your backing we're upgrading the interior endpapers with artwork and reformatting the book into mobi and epub editions so the text is at maximum compatibility with screen readers!
We're also bringing you a whole new Mystery for the This Strange Old House series framework, penned by the designer of the game himself, Michael Sands.
A note about how we implement stretch goals: All stretch goals for this project will be delivered digitally as PDFs, as they are completed. That's so we don't introduce any new contingencies into the production timeline that we haven't already accounted for. The text of the book is complete and the main steps we have before sending it to print are some light editing, layout tweaks, and commissioning the last of the art,
Cued up next in our list of stretches we have a trio of Team playbooks:
Co-author Marek Golonka will pen the fractal Army of One at $65k.
Designer Rae Nedjadi (Apocalypse Keys) creates the big bad Thrill Seekers at $75k.
When we reach $85k Michael Sands will reveal your legacy (and your destiny!) with The Storied Hunter Lineage Team playbook.
That's all we have for today. We know you get a ton of emails so we're not going to send up-to-the-minute updates for every single milestone in the campaign. We have great momentum and you can help keep the progress rolling by sharing the project with your friends and fellow fans.
