We're reaching the end of February and we've been busy!
The 5e Playtest Doc has been sent out! The link is also available in the backer's section in this update. This is to compensate for some technical issues where an incorrect download was sent out, so we've decided to make it available to all backers for review.
And the overdue Arc 3 of UC's PF2e version has also been sent out earlier this week! We're excited that we're making good progress there in time to send everything to print.
To share with you a bit of what's inside the playtest PDF, here's our Sangun Spiritborn representing BMG's Fighter subclass!
Sangun/Spiritborn by Ishton
Work in Progress:
BMG PF2e Playtest: Edits are underway. We're hoping to release it by the end of March.
Undying Corruption PF2e: Arc 4 is being committed to layout. Arcs 1-3 are being edited based on comments received.
Commissions/STLs: Progress is underway despite some life issues popping up. We have progress for some of the minis coming out:
By Wyrmworks
By Wyrmworks
One-Shot Adventure: Edits are underway. Map is WIP. We project a release sometime early Q2.
Overall Print Progress: We still project finishing BMG by around mid to late Q3 to be sent to the printers immediately after the digital version is out. Things are going apace so far.
Once again, the proper download is being fixed and people can access the BMG 5e's Playtest Doc in the Backer Only content area, just to avoid significant delays. Thank you for your patience!
If you have any questions or concerns, or would like to offer suggestions or present issues that you find in the doc, please comment here or contact us at [email protected]. Consider also joining our growing Discord community! Click the link below:
Hello and we wish you an early Happy Lunar New Year!
Now that we're through January, in spite of flu season rolling around, we're getting back into our normal speed of work. Regardless, January has been busy and we're excited to let you in on where we're at. Late pledges are still open for anyone interested in getting in on that!
Here's where we are in terms of progress:
BMG 5e Playtest: Still set for late-Q1. Editing finished, together with the PF2e playtest. BMG PF2e Playtest: Editing is underway. Set for late Q1.
Overall BMG Progress: Editing is underway. Art is largely finished minus a couple stretch goal-unlocked monster art anything new we'd like to add.
We had a big sale over January, so we've cleared another 5K preorder milestone! That means that in addition to our yaoqi, we will select another subclass, species, monster, or NPC to throw in.
NPC Guide: Stats and illustrations are underway! We'll be able to put out a version with a handful of national rulers and various faction heads estimating sometime mid-Q2. The BMG playtests are of course of a higher priority.
Legacy of the Wailing Souls one-shot: Writing is almost complete at 6K words! Map illustration is underway. Depending on when the latter is finished and how long layout might take us, we can hopefully get this out sometime Q2.
VTT Foundry 5e/PF2e: Work has begun in earnest. A first draft of all monsters have been imported into Foundry. I just need to go back in and make proper edits, make sure that all features are functioning. I reckon we'll be continuously updating the modules in case someone points out an issue. Regardless, we're thinking about releasing Undying Corruption in individual arcs to test things out.
Undying Corruption 5e Korean translation and PF2e: We've begun work committing PF2e's arc 3 into layout. I received a number of very positive responses after asking folks working for Paizo some questions, so we can speed up progress. Shao Han and I are also working on retooling the Tactician class. We thought the Commander class generally did a lot of what I wanted the Tactician to do, so it might be easier to start with the Commander class as a foundation.
As for the Korean translation, arc 3 is fully translated with arc 4 in the works. You can expect us to release arc 3 w/ proper layout within the month.
Higher tier commissions: Progress underway. The illustrator has fully returned from his vacation, so we're catching up to a normal pace.
3D Models: Work is underway with the first set featuring minis for playable Spiritborn and Huodou PCs! Will preview a full model once we can.
Soundtrack: The composer is just about to return from abroad and has been working on the tracks. Will update as soon as we receive something deliverable.
We're also excited to share a number of previews:
Yu Yuhae by Ishton
For our NPC Guide, Yu Yuhae serves as the Danguk government's Councilor of the Left and heads the reformist Polaris's Beacon faction. She works to wrest influence from the small collection of clans that aided in forming the dynasty. Her ruthless maneuvering of the court has seen the reformist faction grow in power over the years.
Paradise Leshy by ZONE_MAN
The Paradise Leshy is born from the flowers representing life or destruction formed by souls in the underworld like in the Flower Fields of Seocheon. Their bodies are shared by both a leshy spirit and the soul that was reborn as the physical body the leshy spirit entered. One can suppress the other and pursue more mortal ends. On occasion, the primordial nine-headed titans, the jihaguk daejeok, take the forms of leshies to sneak back into the material world and find a way to restore their bodies.
That's it for now! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reply here or contact us at [email protected]. If you'd like, we also encourage you to join our Discord channel by clicking the banner below:
We at Nine Heavens Press hope all of you have a wonderful start to 2026. To help kick things off, we've got some previews we'd love to show you.
Post-Crowdfunding Stretch Goal: New Ancestry, the Yaoqi
Yaoqi by ZONE_MAN
Thanks to your continuing generosity funding our project, we're pleased to reveal the Yaoqi, a new ancestry/species based on the mythological qilin. They've hidden away from the world in floating islands, but handfuls of them have migrated back to ground-level. The Yaoqi are the children of Golden IMA, the Primordial Qilin, upon whose corpse the entirety of the Iseung region lies. They consider themselves children of the earth as opposed to the children of the gods. Believing their time has passed, they've sequestered themselves to chronicle the history of the world, promising to return only when they feel peace between them and the children of the gods are possible.
They're a sagacious people with innate mastery over light and air said to possess the secrets to immortality. In bleaker, more superstitious times, rulers have attempted to use them as trophies to justify the virtue of their rule. They have a monastic civilization where they serve as scholars or cultivators to divine the will of the earth, but others that drifted apart from such quiet lifestyles have left deep scars in history.
Stretch Goal Preview: the Gu Huo Niao
Gu Huo Niao by MAETERS
A preview from our bestiary: the gu huo niao is a variant harpy we were able to design thanks to your generosity! A Chinese monster that has also inspired the Japanese yokai, ubume, the gu huo niao are said to originally be human women whose grief over losing their children transformed them into this monstrous shape. They're infamous for snatching children they find to raise as their own. It's said that children they raise also become gu huo niao.
Their voice, like the harpy's, is capable of enchanting and luring people, but those affected by their song are also compelled to protect them at any costs.
Project Update
So going over where we're currently at, we've received our shipment of enamel pins finally. All that's left really are the books, miniatures, and soundtrack.
I went back and revised the Fighter subclass since I wasn't terribly satisfied with it. I felt it could've tied a bit better into the book's overarching themes of immortality. That's why I'm pleased to present the Saint of the Arsenal archetype, based on a number of inspirations (largely from Japan, most prominently the story of Benkei). A master of many weapons, you're encouraged to stow away and draw from multiple weapons that deal different damage types, gaining different benefits for switching them out.
Your path to divinity lies in advancing your fighting technique to the point of being able to cleave the heavens. Overall, I feel very confident with this one.
Arc 3 of the Korean translation of Undying Corruption is also finished. Once it's committed to layout, we're eager to send that over to everyone that backed it.
The closest deadline we've got up coming up is for the playtest documents for late-Q1. Now that the holidays are over, we can resume editing in earnest. The 5e material is further along than the PF2e material in terms of editing, but we'd prefer to release them both at the same time.
The higher tier commissions are also underway. Work will resume in earnest now that the holidays have concluded.
Future Plans
Now that the production phase is largely winding down on Black Market Guide, we've been toying with a couple plans. Our highest priority is, of course, delivering on Black Market Guide, but we do have some wiggle room to act on small projects in the meantime.
The first, I'm thinking about reopening the Patreon as a means of sharing progress with the NPC Guide and creating new subclasses and ancestries. It's unlikely we'll act on that immediately as I'd prefer to at least have a draft of the NPC Guide ready. This is just me sharing my thoughts aloud as a way to continue our creative output.
The second, I've been talking with my friends at Mithral Canvas and we're discussing another crowdfunding campaign that focuses on physical merchandise. Ways to facilitate online and offline play that's a bit more hands-on, interactive. Dice, for example, we have a better grasp on how to make.
As plans become concrete, we'll make further announcements, but I wanted to tease them first, stressing once again that completing this project is my highest priority.
That's it for now! Once again, a happy new year to everyone and if you have any comments or questions, feel free to post them here, send us an email at [email protected], or join our Discord server by clicking the banner below:
Just wanted to let you know that everything is proceeding apace. I've ordered all merchandise and most of them minus the enamel pins have arrived at my doorstep. I accidentally made the stickers a bit larger than expected, so that'll be a fun bonus for you guys!
Progress Report
The holidays have officially begun, meaning that folks' times are divided between personal and family matters plus BMG. Regardless, I'm pleased to report that we're putting the final touches on draft 1 and edits have begun on the player-focused side (ancestries/species, subclasses). I expect the pace to pick up January. Given that, I think we'll just try to get everything out Q1 2026 instead of separating them into two as originally intended. So as to not rush the editors.
On a note for the PF2e side of BMG, I received confirmation from folks at Paizo that I won't be able to use both the OGL and ORC licenses simultaneously, meaning some legacy subclasses like the Summoner can't be added. BUT have no fear. All this means is that you'll get variations of the Corruption Warlock conversion that's both a summoner and a witch. We'll just post summoner up for free online.
Apostle Elf by Ishton
As elf was one of our most in-demand legacy ancestries/species to build a lineage for, we're proud to present to you the Apostle Elf! Descended from fey created by the Primordial Beasts to serve as intermediaries between them and mankind, the "children of the gods", Apostle Elves bear features of whichever entity their ancestors served. Their culture still reveres the Primordial Beasts to this day on the level of earthly deities, the world's first caretakers.
We've still got a number of backer-voted material that we're working on especially as we knock out those post-campaign stretch goals! So keep an eye on updates where we preview new ancestries/species even. Currently, We're at 130K including post-campaign gains, so expect two new big playable material that hasn't been teased during the campaign yet. People have been interested in a kamaitachi ancestry, so maybe we'll get to work on that!!
Work is underway. I'm keen on knocking out the PF2e conversion of Undying Corruption just so next year doesn't completely overwhelm me, but everything's apace. I've updated Undying Corruption PF2e with a number of new material that's been published. Speaking of, I'm so glad to be able to use all the new, original dragons, especially since there's a big dragon heavy chapter in the book. Previous backers know what I'm talking about.
Anyway, happy holidays from the Nine Heavens Press family to yours! May the coming new year be... not as stressful lol.
If you have any questions or comments, please reply here or contact us at [email protected]. Otherwise, feel free to join our growing Discord community:
We're one month past the crowdfunding campaign and the dust has just begun setting. You'll be pleased to know that we've been busy making more progress with the book, so allow me to address some questions we've received and what the rest of this year looks like.
Late Stretch Goals
Combined with early pledges, we're currently at $129,787!! Late pledge stretch goals (every 5K after 120K) are still active until early next year. Meaning, we've unlocked one and are about to unlock another!!
We've already begun work on the first, a new species/ancestry: the Yaoqi. They're based on the mythical qilin, offsprings of the Golden IMA, the Primordial Beast upon whose corpse the entirety of the Iseung region sits upon. Just as qilins are harbingers of peace, the Yaoqi were once upon a time heavily sought and exploited by various kingdoms wanting to justify their rule.
They've since raised sky islands and retreated from the earth, taking it upon themselves to observe and determine whether they, the children of the earthly beast gods, could coexist with the children of the gods. Some have begun to take more proactive roles in building a peaceful world, returning to the world below to shape history.
Once we reach 130K, we'll either go down the list in terms of ancestry/subclass poll winners or pick out something new and special!
Current Progress
Black Market Guide progress: Now that we have the funds to compensate our editors, we've begun work in earnest on fine-tuning material before the playtest doc launch. We appreciate your patience as we take the time to put out material that's largely free of grammatical and syntax errors so that we can focus on tightening the mechanics.
Playtest Doc Multiple Releases (ETA: Doc 1, Q4 2025/Doc 2, Q1 2026): We're planning on releasing multiple documents in waves. The first will be released sometime December, early January at the latest. Our editors are wrapping up some prior engagements and will soon be able to focus their attention on this project. Doc 1 will contain species/ancestries/heritages and subclasses. Doc 2 will include revisions to Doc 1 + a large selection of creatures and our custom immortality mechanics. Doc 2 will likely be sent out around mid to lateQ1 2026, early Q2 at the latest.
NPC Guide (ETA: TBA dependent on playtest docs): The main book will be our highest priority, but we'll put out an alpha version of the NPC Guide to test waters on what folks generally think of progress. Beta version will include more characters and setting lore. We'll have an ETA on the alpha dependent on how things go with the playtest document since, again, we want to focus our time and resources on the main book first.
VTT modules (ETA: TBA dependent on playtest docs): We can integrate our playtest document into Roll20 and Foundry and release them at around the same time, if not simultaneously. We're new to this, so this lets us test the waters on production towards the final products.
Speaking of progress, we've been busy during this month! I'm happy to share a bit of what we're working on, particularly with our wide selection of new gods:
Susanoo by Absolum
One of the three children of Izanagi and Izanami, Susanoo-no-Mikoto, god of storms. Of the three siblings, Susanoo is far more capricious, preferring to test his swordsmanship over wasting his time with court intrigue. After Izanami's death, when the houses of the divine realm of Takamagahara prepared to war with one another, Susanoo happily broke the tension with a light... rampage.
Accepting self-banishment, his tenure in the world below was exciting to say the least. He slew the fell earthly deity, Yamata-no-Orochi, took a mortal wife, and left behind arms revered as sacred artifacts. For every warrior scaling the heights of their art, Susanoo is said to wait at the peaks to test their mettle.
Princess Bari by ZONE_MAN
Finally, we have an illustration for the patron deity of all Dangukese Mudang. Princess Bari is a demigod that has taken a governing role in Jeoseung, the Dangukese underworld. Once an ordinary girl, abandoned by her parents, she didn't hesitate to bravely sneak into the underworld to look for a cure to help those who threw her away. She endeavors to guide lost souls, ensuring that there is a gentle rest after death at the end of all beings' lives.
She has a somewhat contentious relationship with the Ten Narakwang, the stern judges that ensure there is punishment awaiting the sinful. They scare the kids too much.
Community Concerns
To address some community comments and questions we've received over the month:
5e FoundryVTT: Many people messaged me over the month asking if we could integrate 5e BMG to FoundryVTT. While at first I was hesitant at how much I would have to code myself given some lack of official support, I've talked with many people saying that situation has improved a lot more. So I'm willing to give it a shot. We'll try integrating our 5e material to FoundryVTT and launch it on both Roll20 and FoundryVTT.
Why haven't I received my survey yet?: We've run into two scenarios:
People who are paying in increments will receive their surveys after they've finished paying. You have a bit of time there. If you know what you want for your character commission, you can just email us at [email protected] and contact us with all your references. We can discuss matters there.
If the above doesn't match your situation, I suggest contacting BackerKit support. It's possible that when you tried accessing your survey, you weren't logged into the proper email that you backed us with. Regardless, I'm more than happy to see what the issue is on our end as well.
Can I back BMG with PayPal?: So it seems like PayPal's payment structure conflicts with how BackerKit runs their pledges, hence why we've had to keep PayPal payments deactivated for early pledges. However, there is a workaround: please email us at [email protected] and I can send you a BackerKit link that will facilitate a one-time transaction. We appreciate your patience. If folks prefer paying with PayPal, we would have to cancel early backing and move to the preorder storefront model. Which we're happy to do if that's what people prefer.
Caution: On this note, someone was scammed on Bluesky by an account pretending to be us as we were trying to help them back us through PayPal. We would never ask you for sensitive information publicly and send you links to sites where we don't already have a storefront set up. I was happy to set this person up with their pledge tier just because it was an unfortunate situation all around.
Where can I download our 5e Undying Corruption files?: So we can send out DriveThruRPG links to download them, but with the way digital downloads are set up, we can either do it when orders are locked and people have paid OR just, send them out prior to that. This has made me hesitate somewhat. I can lock orders now to facilitate sending these links out, but if someone changes their address or want to update their survey, they'd basically have to contact me. Which I'm happy to do! I just want to make sure if people are comfortable with that first. Please let me know if you'd be okay with that or if you'd prefer to wait. I'm largely uncomfortable sending out links until orders are confirmed and finalized, personally.
I believe that's everything, but I'm happy to answer questions and respond to comments if there's anything that I missed. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at [email protected], comment here, or join our Discord server!
