Hi all!

The introductory adventure, Pablo's General Store, and the third pamphlet Murder Birds are in progress! I've done a review of the rules as written and I added a few ideas that came to mind when rereading that I think makes for better narrative character development, but it is largely done and just needs some refining.

Unfortunately, I'm not full time back to Blackthorn yet. I am still tidying up a few things on previous projects, but I plan on sending the core book and the first two pamphlets into editing within the next three weeks. Father Fly and the one pagers should be about a week or two behind that for editing. 

There is a small chance that I need another personal delay. The cause for this one is shortly after Christmas my father-in-law was given a serious diagnosis. Luckily, my wife was able to spend substantial time with him in Omaha before his initial surgery, and additional time after he suffered a serious complication during recovery. We were finally able to bring our kids up to see him last weekend which we're very grateful for. Unfortunately it will be a worsening and ongoing health issue, but we are optimistic that at least my wife can visit about once a month so we can be as present as possible.

That said, I lost several weeks to navigating this and prioritizing time with my wife and children. I acknowledge another delay is not great news, but I hope the new progression is welcome news alongside it.

Thank you for your patience on the update. I'm really happy to be back on this game and I can't wait to get it to you all soon.

-Marco

Hey all!

I apologize for missing the November update. The last couple of months have been busy for our family.

That said, I'm excited to relay that we are past our biggest hurdle! The Hands That Feed is designed and going through the printing process now. I've jumped into Cryo Drakus and everything is sailing compared to working on the giant hardcover. Which means even though THTF continued to take longer than expected I'm feeling great about timeline and getting to get back to Blackthorn by the end of the year. I'm stoked to be designing these games again!

Thank you again for the support!
Until next time!

Marco

Hey all!

I apologize for the delay in the update. The lead up and time spent at Gamehole Con proved to take me away from sending one until now.

Along with Gamehole Con taking more time away from me as a first time vendor than I expected, the Hands That Feed continued to take more time as well. I'm resetting a new date for delivery that I feel is conservative enough for me not to miss at all. Something that is achievable based on where I'm at with projects now.

New delivery date is Feb. 2026.

What that looks like on my end is really diving deep into Blackthorn in the second half of November. I have the playtested ruleset that has been going really well (it's near complete, but missing some sections and others needing finishing touches) and my main focus will be on adventures.

Send me a message here or send me a dm on Bluesky if you are interested in playtesting Blackthorn! I'll be printing a couple of exclusive bookmarks for anyone willing to playtest and provide feedback on it! I'll have a playtest version ready by end of November for this and the bookmarks will be added to your order automatically.

Addressing our current campaign
As many of you may know we launched a campaign with Mothership Month 2025. I want to ensure everyone here that my time dedication remains on current projects.

I was lucky enough to work with D G Chapman on our Mothership Month project after he wrote Carved Like a Covenant so I could finish The Hands That Feed campaign more quickly. Reusing Backerkit assets to set up the page and making the few illustrations for the project have only taken me a few days to complete. 

I have a lot of mixed emotions about launching this project. I acknowledge that, especially for Blackthorn backers, it's awful to see. But these style of community launches bring me so much energy, and the Mothership publishing community specifically is where I've received and given the most mentorship and knowledge-share over the past few years. It was too good of a thing to pass up when it only comes around once a year. I knew working with a writer and the extended timeline to get the physical books to TKG for fulfillment meant I didn't need to sacrifice more than a couple of days from current projects so I put my hat in the ring.

I wanted to make sure to address it here and am happy to remain transparent with any concerns or questions here. Let me know if you have any!

Last note. Gamehole Con was fantastic and invigorating. It really amplified my excitement to get back to the games I'm making and I really can't wait to play more Blackthorn as I tidy up the adventures and system. Thank you again for bringing this to life with me.

Till next time,

Marco