Over the weekend a number of people who placed POD orders had their orders partially or fully canceled by DriveThruRPG. This stems from an issue with the files for the PODs that was not caught by their printer during our proofing process. It only popped up once multiple orders started flowing through the print queue.
We are currently working with DriveThru and their printer to fix the files. We're also hoping to improve their proofing processes in order to avoid this situation in the future.
Until we get this fix, please do not use the POD coupons we issued. DriveThruRPG will cancel them and then it just becomes more of a customer service tangle.
We're hoping to get this resolved quickly but keep in mind that the standard process is to upload new test files and then actually print a set of proofing copies. The turnaround for that is generally a few weeks.
We're very sorry for this inconvenience. We ordered two sets of proofs and had no issue, but these problems nonetheless should have been caught earlier.
If you are one of the people affected by these cancellations: please be assured that we have your order info from DriveThruRPG. We will make sure you are refunded for the full amount of your cancelled order plus shipping. Keep in mind we have to sort out the details on that on a case-by-case basis with DriveThruRPG so it may take a week or two to issue those refunds.
Thanks for your patience. We'll post another update when the PODs are ready to go again.
In the meantime, if you have a question about this (or any other issue with your rewards) you can email us at [email protected]
Happy to announce that we are about to send out the at-cost POD codes for Designers & Dragons Origins. A few quick reminders:
If you backed for the physical books, you do not need to redeem the codes to get your physical copies. We are shipping out your books right now. These codes are an optional bonus and only come in a softcover finish.
These are at-cost codes, that does not mean "free." These codes allow you to purchase a softcover POD copy for the rock-bottom lowest price it takes to print them via POD. We have stripped off any commission and royalties we normally earn via DriveThruRPG and set the price to the bare minimum. These are big books, each volume costs around $18 to print, and that price does not including shipping.
The codes are single-use. Be sure you are logged in to your DriveThruRPG account and ready to order. If you are idly checking out the price and decide to come back later you may not be able to redeem the code.
We're still prepping the POD files for the original Designers & Dragons series (70s-00s plus Platinum Appendix). If you added those items to your pledge, they will be coming at a later date. Note those items were only available as add-ons, they're not automatically sent to every backer.
SHIPPING UPDATE Packages have been flowing out of the warehouse. We're really grateful to our crack team over there for getting the rewards sent out.
As is always the case, a small number of packages have been damaged in transit. If your books arrive damaged or defective, we will replace them at no cost to you.
Just email [email protected] with your shipping address and a couple photos of the problem and we will replace them for free.
That's the news for today! Thanks again for your support.
Integration with DriveThruRPG Unlike previous projects we are not sending out coupon codes for DriveThruRPG. We're using a new integration between DTRPG and BackerKit.
Basically, here's how it works:
On your Digital Rewards page you will see a section that looks like this:
When you click ANY ONE of the "Go to my DriveThruRPG library" links, the system will automatically add all the rewards you have available into your DTRPG library.
You do not have to click through each individual link, any one of them triggers the process to load up your library. You may have to let the page run for a minute, the process is not instantaneous.
A few backers use a different email address for DTRPG than they do for BackerKit. We're working with both companies to address this gap going forward but in the meantime if you are one of them, email [email protected]and we will work with you to get the titles into your DTRPG account. (You can also just download the PDFs directly from your BackerKit rewards page, there is no need to use DTRPG at all if you don't want to.)
Shipping Underway! Yesterday we sent over the backer shipping file and our warehouse has begun packaging and shipping out rewards. A few notes about this process:
Addresses are now locked, so if you need to update yours please email [email protected] ASAP.
You should get an email notification when your package is scanned by the carrier. Note that this event doesn't provide enough information to predict when your package going to arrive, and that's not in our hands, so the email notification generated by our ShipStation software does not give an arrival timeline. Consider it more of a "heads-up."
If your rewards are damaged or defective, we will replace them at no cost to you. In any fulfillment operation like this, there are always a few difficult-to-spot defective copies or shipping mishaps. We're doing our best to make sure you get a pristine set of books but if you end up with a damaged or defective copy, just contact customer service at [email protected] with your shipping address information and one or two photos of the defects you’ve spotted in your copy, and we’ll figure out how to fix it. That’s on us, not you.
POD & Audiobook Status We've received an initial set of hardcopies produced by DTRPG for the POD offerings. We're waiting for everyone on the team to review and sign off of them. Once that happens we will distribute those codes as well. We'll post another update when that happens.
The audiobook versions are also still in production, we'll let you know when we hit a milestone there.
Thank you! We're excited to begin delivering this magnus opus of TSR history. We hope you enjoy the expansive work author Shannon Appelcline has put in. There are over 1500 pages of research and commentary across the four volumes of Designers & Dragons Origins!
Thank you for your support and patience as we approach the last few turns in the minotaur's maze of production.
We're happy to announce everything has been kitted up and we expect to take delivery of the books today. Our warehouse should spin up the fulfillment process in the next couple of weeks.
With that goal in mind, a few important things to bring to your attention:
1) We're kicking off the process to lock orders. The next couple of days are your FINAL chance to adjust your order. On SUNDAY we're locking down pledges and preorders so we can transmit data to the warehouse.
2) Once we lock orders, we will assess shipping costs for your order and on MONDAY we will CHARGE CARDS.
If you need to update your payment method, please log in to your survey and enter your current info.
The majority of you ordered a single set of books. We're estimating shipping to be about $15. Obviously if you ordered more than one set or your address is in Puerto Rico your mileage may vary.
3) Next week (probably Tuesday or Wednesday) we will lock addresses.
If you're struggling with BackerKit for whatever reason, you can reach out to us at [email protected]
We're approaching the home stretch!
Once we kick off the physical fulfillment we'll also drop the final PDFs to everyone. We'll be using a new integration between BackerKit and DriveThruRPG to send your PDFs to your DTRPG account.
Note that in order for that to work, your BackerKit email address has to be the same as your DriveThruRPG email. (You can update your DTRPG email address here.) If they're not the same, don't worry. We'll still be making the PDFs available to everyone as a direct download through your BackerKit rewards page.
As for the rest of the rewards -- the PODs, epub files, and the audio book version -- those are still in production but we'll get those out to you as they are completed.
As a final treat, here's a couple photos our printer took of the assembled set, prior to shrinkwrapping: Thanks for your patience, we're glad to be slightly ahead of our revised schedule here. We can't wait for you to get this hefty, gorgeous set into your hands and onto your shelves.
Hey friends, here's the latest timeline update for Designers & Dragons: Origins.
1) Volumes 1-3 are printed. Vol. 4 is in progress. 2) Now that we have the final finished dimensions of all four books, we can proceed with production of the slipcase.
In our last update we mentioned that we had been hoping to produce the slipcases at the same time as the books were being printed - our vendor nixed that plan. That's thrown a significant wrinkle in our production schedule, but we are moving forward getting that piece spec'd out and manufactured.
Once the slipcase finishes, we'll have all four books assembled into the slipcase and then get the set shrinkwrapped and sent to our warehouse.
Short version: Our updated timeline is to begin fulfillment in September. We apologize for the delay. The scope of this project is very ambitious and frankly we did not anticipate that the creation of the slipcase would be contingent on the books being fully finished.
Note that we distribute the PDFs the same time the physical books start shipping so that will also happen in September.
You will certainly hear from us before then but that is our current project plan, We have high confidence in it.
On the brighter side, this update gives us a chance to share some photos of the advance copies of Volumes 1-3 we've gotten from our printer and the books are looking gorgeous:
Still life with lich dice tower.
A look at the endpapers in Vol. 1
A peek inside Vol. 1 with the ribbon bookmark.
PROTOTYPE slipcase WITHOUT ART for sizing purposes.
That's the latest information we have for you today. We will drop you another update once we're closer to fulfillment and we begin spinning up the various lockdown steps here in BackerKit.
