A big big chapter for backers today! We've talked a lot about the "Monster" part of this game (and will a bit more in just a moment), but today's manuscript download digs into the "Kingdoms" bit of the game.
We've had a bit of the history of the setting and a general overview of the world in our first manuscript section, but now we'll get a definitive deep dive into all of the Monster Kingdoms, along with all of the hard facts and hidden truths!
Well, maybe not quite the objective truths of the setting...
How the world became what it is today and where the world is headed are both debated matters. A scholar from Branduur serves a different master than one from Draoidahaek, and truth is a subject the ruling classes control, pay for, and punish horribly if it’s not what they want to hear. Dyso chroniclers are widely seen as the most reliable, such is their dedication to books, words, names, and history. Therefore, it is from them that this chapter draws its information. Just be wary, because anything written here could result in immediate penalty if proclaimed aloud in another kingdom.
The single biggest question that Onyx Path is getting asked is how easy is it to create a character – followed up by what characters are the coolest – Matthew has made a video of Monster Kingdoms character creation here: hhttps://youtube.com/live/UM5XTVaWAGA
Onyx Path also has two cool interviews. First up, posted yesterday, an interview with Monster Kingdoms writer Ferne Milton at https://youtu.be/RmrWP0BDtnA
Then the interview with Matthew Dawkins mentioned last friday where he answers your Monster Kingdoms questions live on today at 4 PM EDT at https://youtu.be/4nljRS6Wzic
Shipping Costs will be Collected in the Pledge Manager
First up, it's amazingly expensive to ship, especially from Onyx Path's home base in the US. And that's as of today - we're all in the dark about how things will look in 2 years. We get that, but there's not much we can do at this time. Onyx Path is in a difficult space where the company is big enough that they're not saving money by fulfilling out of Rich's garage, but small enough that they haven't been able to set up ongoing international partners to handle portions of the fulfillment. So we are where we are - for now.
The best we can do at this point is to plan carefully, advise everyone up front that shipping will likely be expensive (see our projections on the main page) and only charge what it costs us when the time comes. We’ll be charging for shipping in the Pledge Manager once the books are being printed and we can deal with the actual shipping charges rather than using our best-guesses this far out. If you aren't sure you want one of the hardcover editions, you can pledge to the PDF tier now and upgrade your pledge in the Pledge Manager once we know the final shipping costs.
Draft Manuscript Previews
Over the course of this campaign, backers will receive the entire current draft manuscript for Monster Kingdoms, but it's not going to come to you all in one go. The previews will come out in monster-sized sections throughout the campaign. This helps me seem interesting over the next several weeks, but it's more about guiding the conversation and helping steer feedback for the developers.
Because they want your feedback! These manuscript previews are of the current draft manuscript – the document in its latest, approved form. This may not be the final form after editing and any additional development, but you can consider it about 95% finished, so keep that in mind.
In fact, you can help guide the team through the next stages of development by providing feedback on these manuscript previews! The Onyx Path team has set up a special Feedback Form just for campaign backers for this very purpose: https://forms.gle/TpaaPsUqJ79zD1kE6
You can use this Feedback Form to share your thoughts directly with the Monster Kingdoms creative team to help guide them through the next rounds of development and editing.
DRAFT MANUSCRIPT PREVIEWS - BACKERS ONLY
Remember, thanks to BackerKit magic, these download links are visible to Backers only - you must be logged in and reading this on the website to have access to the manuscript preview links. So, if you're reading this via e-mail, click that "Learn More" link on the bottom and I'll see you below the banner.
