Steven Alexander
CREATOR
about 21 hours ago
Project Update: Surveys & Huckleberry Digital Assets
Howdy Pardner!
I know I sent you an update last week, but things are starting to move very fast and I've got more great news!
I know I sent you an update last week, but things are starting to move very fast and I've got more great news!
Huckleberry: Faro Board
If you reserved your pledge pre-launch or you added the VTT Asset add-on, you're getting a link today from DriveThruRPG with your digital asset pack! I'm very proud of how this pack has shaped up. It includes:
- The entire deck of playing cards, modified for digital use with borders and shadow for a 3D feel.
- Border templates for tokens and art handouts.
- Grid, tacker, and rules reference overlays.
- Digital doodads to decorate your table with Big Irons, Wyrd Chips, and more.
Additionally, I've bundled in the Bounty Board asset pack that used to be a reward for joining our mailing list. The Bounty Board has been repackaged and optimized for compatibility with the Faro Board, offering the ultimate VTT experience. Combine these asset packs with our form-fillable character sheets to easily play Huckleberry online with your friends. If you did not pledge for the VTT pack, you can get it now at DriveThruRPG.
Surveys
In the next few days, I'll send a survey smoke test to about 5% of backers. The smoke test gives me the chance to detect problems with how the survey is set up. If there is, I'll iron out the wrinkles before sending the main survey. ALL backers will receive their survey a few days after the smoke test is completed. I cannot fulfill your pledge until you complete the survey, so please do so as soon as you can.
The survey is needed to collect your shipping address and it is also your last chance to grab add-ons. Add-ons at this stage are now limited to the two books and the playing card decks. If there are any dice, war bags, or trays left over after fulfilment, they'll be very limited and likely sold in-person at conventions or on the Huckleberry webstore (coming soon!). After the survey is finalized, shipping is calculated and charged.
The survey is needed to collect your shipping address and it is also your last chance to grab add-ons. Add-ons at this stage are now limited to the two books and the playing card decks. If there are any dice, war bags, or trays left over after fulfilment, they'll be very limited and likely sold in-person at conventions or on the Huckleberry webstore (coming soon!). After the survey is finalized, shipping is calculated and charged.
Tariffs & Shipping
Time to talk about the elephant(s) in the room. Let's start with tariffs. U.S. tariffs have eased a bit since last year, with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that some of them are unconstitutional. However, other tariffs still apply and the administration is signaling a renewed desire to impose new tariffs in the coming weeks. In other words, things are better now, but it's hard to say by how much.
Huckleberry's campaign has manufacturing in the EU (Corebook and Bounty Book), US (Playing Cards), UK (War Bags, Dice Trays, Patches), and China (Dice Sets). This diversity was intentional. Most projects at our scale use a single manufacturer to save costs, but with last year's tariff volatility, a single manufacturer became a potential risk. If manufactured in the wrong region, costs could double or triple. To that end, Huckleberry is partially protected from the current tariff talk. For the international backers not affected by VAT or tariffs (which were built into the pledge price), your shipping rate has been subsidized by a similar cost.
Unfortunately as soon as one logistics and shipping crisis slowly resolves, another crops up to take its place. The rapidly rising price of fuel directly leads to an increase in shipping costs. This affects freight shipping pallets to our fulfilment partners, as well as shipping pledges directly to you. Domestic shipping in the US alone has increased by 8% since just 2 months ago. For the foreseeable future, shipping costs will continue to rise for all crowdfunding projects, especially small ones like ours.
Despite the gloom and doom, I am working with excellent fulfilment partners to quickly adapt to these new developments. As I've said before, we've done our very best to keep your costs as low as possible. I appreciate your patience and understanding, as my goal has always been to create a great game at a great value for backers.
Huckleberry's campaign has manufacturing in the EU (Corebook and Bounty Book), US (Playing Cards), UK (War Bags, Dice Trays, Patches), and China (Dice Sets). This diversity was intentional. Most projects at our scale use a single manufacturer to save costs, but with last year's tariff volatility, a single manufacturer became a potential risk. If manufactured in the wrong region, costs could double or triple. To that end, Huckleberry is partially protected from the current tariff talk. For the international backers not affected by VAT or tariffs (which were built into the pledge price), your shipping rate has been subsidized by a similar cost.
Unfortunately as soon as one logistics and shipping crisis slowly resolves, another crops up to take its place. The rapidly rising price of fuel directly leads to an increase in shipping costs. This affects freight shipping pallets to our fulfilment partners, as well as shipping pledges directly to you. Domestic shipping in the US alone has increased by 8% since just 2 months ago. For the foreseeable future, shipping costs will continue to rise for all crowdfunding projects, especially small ones like ours.
Despite the gloom and doom, I am working with excellent fulfilment partners to quickly adapt to these new developments. As I've said before, we've done our very best to keep your costs as low as possible. I appreciate your patience and understanding, as my goal has always been to create a great game at a great value for backers.
A Season of Avarice
The bounty book is in the final stages of layout. Nathan has delivered the files to me, it's going to get a thorough proof-read, then I'll be releasing the PDF to you. Expect to get a link next week!
Printing
PDFs are scheduled to be delivered to our Printer on June 1st. After that, it'll be 4-8 weeks for printing and delivery to my fulfilment partners. Once stock hits the warehouses, fulfilment begins. We're in the final stretch and you should have your books in a few short months!
With that in mind, please go download Huckleberry v1.5 and give it a read! If you see any typos, please report them on the discord so I can clean them up before sending the books to print. I've already cleaned up a handful and re-uploaded the PDF, so it's worth downloading the book again if you already grabbed it.
That's about all the news I have today. Expect another email next week as I continue to deliver more digital rewards. As always, if you have any comments or questions, you can email me at [email protected]. Or come hang out with your fellow Mavericks on the discord!
Much obliged,
Steven
With that in mind, please go download Huckleberry v1.5 and give it a read! If you see any typos, please report them on the discord so I can clean them up before sending the books to print. I've already cleaned up a handful and re-uploaded the PDF, so it's worth downloading the book again if you already grabbed it.
That's about all the news I have today. Expect another email next week as I continue to deliver more digital rewards. As always, if you have any comments or questions, you can email me at [email protected]. Or come hang out with your fellow Mavericks on the discord!
Much obliged,
Steven
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