Howdy, pardner!

It's time for another update! I'm pleased to report the Huckleberry train is still rolling steadily down the tracks and the final stop is in sight. Here's what we've been up to:

Files for both the cards and tuckbox have been finalized. Actually, the majority of the art was finalized a long time ago, but the EU and UK have product safety laws requiring certain markings and information to be visible on the packaging. There's also the extra complication that playing cards are often considered to be a gambling item, instead of a game accessory. The regulations are easy enough to comply with, but it is worth the extra bit of research to ensure we do things right and won't be turned away by customs.

After finalizing the files, they were sent to production! Manufacturing is being handled by the good folks over at Shuffled Ink. We have received physical proofs and we're very happy with the quality of both the material and the print. After seeing how the digital colors translate to ink on the cardstock, George has made some tweaks to the colors in our files. This isn't due to any fault or errors in the printing process, but rather that digital colors don't translate one-to-one when printed. That's the benefit of physical proofs - we can fine tune the results before printing the entire batch. A second set of physical proofs have already shipped and should arrive in the next day or two. I fully expect we'll be approving them as-is. After Shuffled Ink gets the greenlight, it's game on and the full print run begins!

Manufacturing continues for each of the accessories. Production of the dice is going full speed now that Chinese New Year is over. The good folks at All Rolled Up told me they started cutting and sewing the dice bags yesterday, with the trays to follow after that giant task is finished. This morning, I received an email that our patches are entirely finished and shipping out today. Overall, everything is going perfectly to plan with no setbacks or delays to report. 

Freight shipping of products might be a different concern, with the current economic conditions. Fortunately, this is a small project in the scheme of things and we won't be needing to rent cargo container space or anything like that. If necessary, we have the more flexible (albeit more expensive) option of air shipping, so we shouldn't encounter any trouble.

As an aside, I'm happy to say that costs for all accessories remained within my estimated budget. These rewards are the most expensive parts of the project, so things are looking especially good for the project in financial terms.

The main attraction! I'm very happy to report that yesterday I sent over the final notes to Nathan for our corebook. The final print update is OFFICIALLY IN LAYOUT! What an amazing adventure this has been. I was looking through my old emails recently, remembering the early days of Huckleberry, and I realized my first contact with Nathan was almost exactly two years ago!

Since then, Nathan has put together four major updates for the core book and over a half dozen scenarios. Now, we're working on the fifth and final update. This update is probably our biggest yet - maybe half of it is the new chapter, about 7600 words long, written by Dylan Grinder and Kienna Shaw. The rest is quite sprawling, impacting several different sections of the book. 17 new Hostiles are being added, 10 new player Traits, a hyperlinked glossary/index, rules clarifications, and a slew of other odds and ends.

As for the bounty book, good things are happening there too! Playtesting is over and scenario editing is in full swing. All scenario art is complete and when the text is finalized, it'll go straight to Nathan for layout. Hopefully this will coincide with layout wrapping up on the core book. After that, both books go to print. We're in the final stretch and the end is in sight!

I have confirmed shipping costs with my distributors and the majority of the shipping survey has been built. I've also done quite a bit of legwork here to ensure we offer fair and competitive shipping worldwide. When I have a firmer grasp on the estimated weight of the books, I'll be finalizing the back end and sending surveys to collect S&H, likely next month.

As always, if you have any questions feel free to email me or join the Discord. Thanks for riding with us!

Much obliged,
Steven

Howdy, pardner! 

All Hucksters have been hard at work behind the scenes. I've thrown myself entirely into the creation of new player traits. It's been a lot of fun to brainstorm both new themes and how those themes could be reflected in the mechanics. I haven't been able to do this kind of design work in a long time and it's been quite refreshing to be back at it. When I've been able to do some more playtesting and polishing, I'll share a google doc with the new traits for your feedback. :)

There's still a couple cards that haven't received their solo spotlights and I'll share those bios in future updates, but seeing this spread is too good to not share! George has created one of the coolest decks of playing cards that I've ever seen, hands down. During the conceptualization of the deck, we went back and forth a few times on what themes each suit should contain. We ended up settling on two themes, both heavily rooted in Huckleberry's mechanics, and the contrasting sides of each theme's spectrum.

For Clubs/Diamonds, we chose to show both the outcasts and leaders of the Fifth World. Huckleberry has strong elements of building a community tied to it's campaign structure and pastime mechanics. The Club cards feature people that have assumed positions of authority (for better or worse) within their communities. The Diamonds are the outcasts and outlaws that, for whatever reason, don't neatly fit into the rigid framework that society often demands.

For Spades/Hearts, we wanted to showcase the full corruption of the Wyrd, both on the living (Hearts) and the dead (Spades). The Wyrd takes a heavy toll on both the body and soul, occasionally with dramatic effects. Our Hearts characters are those that have Wyrd tainted blood, similar to Mavericks, but choose to embrace the corruption rather than fight it. The Spade characters found that the Wyrd took it's toll after their deaths, rather than before. They have do not rest in peace, but in discord and spite.

You should have received an email by now from BackerKit informing you if your payment was processed or declined. If your payment was declined, you have another week to update your payment details. When you do, BackerKit will reprocess the payment and you'll be all set!

We're currently in a holding pattern on digital delivery until the funds transfer from BackerKit, which is scheduled to happen on November 18th. Until then, I cannot access the information of who's charges have gone through or been declined. As we mentioned in the previous update, most of the PDFs are finished and ready for delivery. We have 4 of the 10 scenarios still to be completed, along with all of the Stretch Goals to be added to the corebook. I have everything ready for delivery on my end and I'm very eager to click the button once I get the green light from BackerKit!

All PDFs will be delivered via discount codes through DriveThruRPG. You'll be able to add the PDFs to your library, where you can freely redownload each time we update the PDF with new content. We do NOT need your DriveThruRPG information for delivery. You'll be sent a link that will allow you to log into the platform on your browser and check out like normal.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the process, please feel free to email me here: [email protected]

Much obliged,
Steven

Wow. It's hard to describe how I'm feeling, but the two words that first come to mind are "humbled" and "grateful". Thank you so much for believing in this game. I'm incredibly excited to get this delivered and into your hands.

We unlocked the 10th Bounty in our final hours! That means Jeff is bringing us back to the swamps of Veils & Vengeance for a new standalone scenario, included in A Season of Avarice. The pre-order store is now open on our BackerKit page. The campaign is over, along with the steep discounts that it provided, but people can continue to pre-order Huckleberry's books up until we go to fulfilment. Also, credit cards will be charged by BackerKit over the next few days. You'll receive an email from them telling you that either the funds went through or they didn't, along with details on how to fix the issue if the latter. 

When funds transfer, I'll deliver PDFs via DriveThruRPG. Be aware that the digital content for Huckleberry: A Season of Avarice will be delivered as individual scenarios, not one large PDF. Here's what's currently finished and ready to be delivered:

I am hitting the ground running and putting this excited energy to good use. As always, I'm happy to answer questions both here and on the Adventures in Lollygagging discord. I'll be posting weekly updates through November to keep you apprised of all the foundational steps, but we'll settle into a bi-weekly, then monthly rhythm in the time to come. I'm looking to have a quick turnaround on this game so you can start playing ASAP.

Much obliged,
Steven

P.S. Let's keep spreading the love. We've got two Huckster spotlights today!

Paul Ligorski, author of Huckleberry: Whealing Wallow, just launched his own BackerKit campaign to publish his Draw Steel adventure "The Cave of Amber Tears". I was a playtester for this scenario and it does an excellent job at showcasing all of Draw Steel's most interesting mechanics. If you like Draw Steel with a bit of Skyrim vibes, this is for you.

Published by a workers' cooperative, A Night Out in Baldur's Gate is a collection of 5E encounters created by a variety of authors, including Huckleberry's own Morgan Eilish. I love a good "Night on the Town" scenario and this supplement looks to deliver in spades. Morgan created one of our most interesting showdowns with Huckleberry: Wranglin' Cattle and I'm excited to see what else her creativity has conjured up.

Howdy Pardner!

It's been just about a month since I last posted and, oh my goodness, so much has happened.

All written content for Huckleberry is complete and in the editing phase! My collaborators really knocked it out of the park with their scenarios and hostiles. I'm very proud of how Huckleberry + Avarice are shaping up. After editing, text combines with each section's art in the layout phase. Speaking of which, George continues to create incredible pieces of art for this game (Check out "The Ugly", below).

This month, accessories are going to manufacturing. The dice manufacturer is already making the molds. These molds will allow them to make our custom six-die sets with the Huckleberry logo replacing the "1" on each die. The All Rolled Up and Dice Trays are officially on the manufacturing schedule with the good folks over at All Rolled Up. Patches are currently being manufactured by a third party, then sent to All Rolled Up, where they'll be affixed to the bags. They should be able to begin production by the end of the month.

That leaves just the official playing cards to be accounted for. These are surprisingly the most complicated to finalize. Playing Cards are recognized by many countries as a gambling accessory, even when made for a tabletop roleplaying game. As such, it's important to make sure we label and package the cards exactly correct, to avoid customs issues and increased tariffs. With that said, I've been working with an EU Agent and other knowledgeable people with experience in international fulfilment. I've finalized all the necessary requirements and should be able to move forward with printing the decks before the end of the month. As I'm learning all of the bureaucracy involved, I find that it's important to remind myself that other people do these things every single day. Just because it's daunting, doesn't mean it's impossible, or even difficult!

For the majority of my life, I've been fortunate to never have any major health concerns. However, in late January, I began to notice a significant drop-off in my energy levels and, consequently, productivity. I chalked it up to burnout as I've been working on Huckleberry for years now. Unfortunately, last week I began feeling so exhausted that I could hardly drag myself out of bed. I wasn't able to sleep, I wasn't hungry, and I didn't have the energy to respond to the even simplest of emails. After four days of suffering, I wasn't getting better and I went to the urgent care for help. They immediately sent me to the ER, who told me that my body was in sepsis. I had an internal infection without ever realizing it and that infection spread to my blood stream. I was rushed into an emergency surgery and admitted to the hospital overnight. Fortunately the doctors knew what they were doing and I was given a clean(ish) bill of health and checked out the next day, after 23 hours in the hospital. I spent the weekend resting up, and today I've hit the ground running to try and make up the lost time.

What's this mean for Huckleberry? Honestly, not a lot. I've fallen behind on developmental editing, and consequently those pieces of text are pushed back a couple weeks. But I'm back to work on Huckleberry full-time and I feel better than ever. Fortunately, the vast majority of Huckleberry's work was completed before the BackerKit even went live. Additionally, Huckleberry has a lot of facets. While I might have fallen behind on a few tasks, there are far more items on the list that continue to rumble down the tracks without impact. I don't foresee any major complications for Huckleberry arising from this particular speedbump.

George has been cranking out fantastic pieces for our upcoming scenarios lately. Want to know what happens to cattle that catch Mad Cow disease in the Wyrd West?? Take a look:

This is a piece from the upcoming Huckleberry: Slaughterhouse by Jaime Reyes Mondragón, where a cattle baron looks to cut costs by feeding his cattle with other cattle. Turns out, it doesn't take much for them to develop a taste for flesh!

As always, if you have any questions feel free to email me or join the Discord. We're getting so close to the end of this campaign and I can't wait to get Huckleberry to print and into your hands. Thanks for riding with us!

Much obliged,
Steven

Howdy, pardner!

The holidays are over and work on Huckleberry is back in full swing. If you missed our Christmas update, we've started releasing some of the stretch goal content as playtest material. Today I've added a second full scenario to that document, along with a handful of new Hostiles. The Slaughterhouse by Jaime Reyes Mondragon shows us what happens when Mad Cow Disease crosses with the Wyrd!

As a reminder, these are early drafts of the scenarios and they will have revisions before publishing. They also have not undergone developmental editing, meaning that some mechanics and wording may be inconsistent with the corebook. Of course, they're still fully playable and promise to deliver quite a bit of fun. If you do test the scenarios, please leave feedback through the linked surveys!

Work progresses well on other bits of Huckleberry. I'll be putting in manufacturing orders for our accessories like dice, ARUs, and other pieces soon enough. I am working with experienced fulfillment partners and EU agents now to ensure all product compliance is met before manufacturing so that we won't have any hiccups with customs or shipping later in the process. This being my first major project, I'm learning a lot about international manufacturing and shipping, but this is well-trodden ground for my partners. We're in good hands!

The bulk of new text content has been created, from scenarios to hostiles to the new chapter. Only a few odds and ends remain to be completed. Everything else is undergoing internal playtesting and polish! Now that the scenarios are all completed, I'm able to put in art orders so that George can bring them to life. That's always my favorite stage of production. Seeing the characters, monsters, and world of Huckleberry take real form is such a treat. I'll be sharing some sneak peaks as they come in, of course. ;)

As always, if you have any questions feel free to email me or join the Discord. Huckleberry is coming along nicely and I'm incredibly eager to get this book to print and into your hands. Thanks for riding with us!

Much obliged,
Steven

I've not been able to connect with one of you! If you're a backer at this tier, please check the email associated with your BackerKit account or send me an email at [email protected] so that we can get started on making your character. :)