A few roadblocks hit this project these past 5 weeks, but most of fulfilment is on schedule to start in about 2 weeks. Most as in all of the US packages. The short of it is timing with our fulfilment partner's schedule with fulfilling other larger projects + travel, and delays in getting this to print due to switching printers and fixing mystery issues with the new overseas printer caused for a delay until September for fulfilment. I have experience fulfilling my own projects in the past, but do not want to mess up any international packages so I am saving those for our professional partners.
US FULFILMENT: Begins in 2 Weeks. REST OF WORLD FULFILMENT: Begins early September.
DIGITAL DOWNLOADS At this point you should have all digital downloads here in Backerkit!! Stoked to hear what you all think.
I need to note that digital distribution via Backerkit was a little weird because of the way I added SKUs to different pledge levels. Many of you will receive double the digital downloads. They are the same so no need to download the copy. It has to do with which pledge levels received Blackthorn Zine and PDF Blackthorn. So I apologize for any confusion. I just sent the final email blast for digital downloads just to make sure no one missed these!
Have a great one! I can't wait to get these to you!
Hi all! I'm stoked to say that the PDFs of Blackthorn are shared via Backerkit! I'm incredibly happy with the final game, both in how it plays and presentation. I hope you find it fits your table too.
I do want to apologize again for taking a few additional weeks than expected. The final 10% went through much more rewrites, and fairly large adjustments in layout and illustrations than I originally intended. Blackthorn is far better for it though.
So far only the core book is shared with you. I will be delivering the PDFs of the adventures next week. They are awaiting final proofreading and I wanted to make sure they were in the final form before sending them to you.
Note about the PDF I sent of the core rules is the final version. The ISBN on the back cover is just a hold in while the ISBN is approved for print, but is unnecessary for the digital version.
UPDATED SCHEDULE
LOCKING ORDERS: JUNE 26th CHARGING CARDS: JUNE 30th FULFILMENT: ?? Most likely 6 weeks from now to give time for zines to be received by SPI and for them to fulfill it all. I will communicate as I receive information from SPI on this so I can be as accurate as possible.
Thank you again! Blackthorn in Backerkit Digital Downloads now. Would love to hear from you about what you think.
I'm sorry for another delay in updates. The entire Blackthorn suite is nearly finished! I'm tidying up a few of the adventures and have received further development on the core rule book which is finished and ready for final layout and illustrations. I'm pressing print in a few weeks!
[UPDATED] TIMELINE
SURVEYS - Sending out by May 12th LOCKING ORDERS - May 26th DIGITAL FULFILMENT - May 30th FULFILMENT BEGINS - Undetermined, but aiming for first half of June.
I'm stoked to finally get this out to you all! Thank you again for the initial support and continued patience with me as I waded through self-made mistakes and personal delays. I hope you love the final product! I'm really ecstatic about the amount of feedback I was able to receive on this game from a good number of fellow designers and players and feel like we're delivering the horrifying pulpy one shot experience we aimed out to do. I can't really thank you all enough. I know I have failed with expectation setting and communication and I'm happy for the chance to make good on delivery despite the delays.
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.
Timeline Update
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.
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!
