Portal for ordering copies of Bones Deep. Shipping in August 2022.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
We Did It! + Layout Complete + Digital Rewards + Schedule + Budget
about 2 years ago
– Tue, Apr 26, 2022 at 07:22:20 AM
🎉 We Did It! 🎉
Y'all are absolutely incredible. I never imagined Bones Deep would be this well received. Thank you so much for supporting us and making this project bigger and better than we ever dreamed!
We cannot wait to get this beautiful book in your hands.
Right after this update you'll be able to claim your PDF rewards. Check your messages for the digital download keys. If you haven't received any, reach out to me at [email protected].
In addition to the PDF and HTML files, you will also receive a complete PDF of the hardcover layout because...
📚 Hardcover Layout is Complete 📚
As promised, we finished the layout for the Hardcover! And it looks pretty dang cool, if I do say so myself. We're sending the files off to our printer to double check details and start the complex back and forth that every print job requires.
Here's some quick previews:
Of course, you can see ALL the fancy hardcover pages for yourself once you claim your rewards.
⏱️ Schedule + Budget ⏱️
As promised, we are utterly focused on getting this book printed and shipped as smoothly as possible. There will be a few small updates to the layout as we chat with our printer and make sure all the files line up. Otherwise, here's the current status:
Mid-may - I get paid by Kickstarter and immediately place the book order at Printon.
June - books are printed and shipped to our distributors.
July - We receive the books and start packaging them with dice, bags, and goodies.
August - Books and swag are shipped out to you!
November - Delayed swag packages are sent out.
I will update y'all here if we add any extra bits to the book, but I won't promise anything until the big pieces are complete and we have extra time while waiting around.
Here's another peek at the final budget ($18,217):
We will keep y'all updated about how we plan to spend that extra cash; rest assured it will NOT go to waste. Thank you again for all your generosity and support!
And don't forget to check your emails for digital rewards coming later tonight!
As always, feel free to reach out at [email protected]. Kickstarter messages are really spammy, so email is your best bet.
One Week Left! + Layout 75% Done + Updated Budget
about 2 years ago
– Tue, Apr 19, 2022 at 03:48:31 AM
What a wild ride. And we still have a week left in this campaign! As promised, I have some updates for you:
⏳ Layout 75% Done ⏳
I was really hoping to finish it this weekend, but Easter and family plans got in the way. Most of the artwork and text is added in the book, but we have a ton of small tweaks and improvements to make. Specifically stuff like:
"Where should the headers go?"
"We need to make sure periods aren't bolded everywhere."
"Resist the urge to fill every blank space with cool art."
Here's an example of some ideas for section headers (look in the top right corner of each spread).
It looks good to label the Creatures section, but it looks a little strange when the location is listed on each page...
So we're just working on little touches like that. Again, I plan to have the layout complete before the campaign ends.
💰 Budget + Raises! 💰
Our updated budget: $12,000
Printing Costs: $2,800
Kickstarter Fees: $1,200
Dice: $1,400
Bags: $2,500
Backerkit: $200
Shipping Assistance: $2,000
Writer Raises: $2,000
We're working with our distributors to see how to best spend our shipping assistance. We'll have more info about this when we get closer to shipping and fulfillment time.
Thanks to your incredible generosity we're able to take $2000 and spread that around the writing team! Specifically we can pay a few folks who contributed their work for free. They wouldn't accept any payment before, but now I can pressure them into fair compensation! All of the people listed below received a raise:
Andrew Harrison, the Boat Captain. You can follow him for educational TikToks and peeks beneath the waves. His ideas formed the bedrock of this project.
David Schirduan, the Liar. He handled most of the exaggeration and organization of the book.
Mary Elizabeth McDonald, the local fish friend. She added her own knowledge to several of the locations and creatures.
John Gregory created a Skeleton Generator capable of making thousands of unique skeletons.
Scott Stolarski wrote the Sunken Barge, our multi-room dungeon crawl.
Evey Lockhartwrote all of the creature miens and contributed her whimsy to the book.
I especially want to mention Evey Lockhart. Not only was she instrumental in the Creatures section of Bones Deep, she also wrote a brilliant adventure that's Kickstarting right now! She's currently hosting a sale of all her games to raise money so her family can improve their situation.
Since 2019, Evey, her partner, and their three young kids have been living in motels, sleeping on couches, and when they have to, in her van. Being a fierce, loving mom is incredibly stressful when you have to choose between food for your kids, medication, and a place to sleep.
You've all proven yourselves to be generous folks; please consider supporting Evey in this difficult time.
🌊 Need More Underwater Adventure? 🌊
Check out The Ocean Are Endless On Meridian, a sci-fi zine module for the Mothership roleplaying game. The module is a softcover saddle-stitched zine, US half letter size (5.5×8.5 inches). Within its pages, you will find:
A grand multi-act campaign, threaded together from 4 lethal scenarios.
A comprehensive toolkit to help the Warden maintain narrative pressure throughout the adventure: easy to use mapping tools, timers, and narrative event countdowns.
12 NPCs, ranging from a grieving teamster to a desperate xenobiologist, each with their own goals and priorities.
15 otherworldly alien organisms haunting Meridian’s bottomless oceans. The lifeforms of Meridian aren't just monsters: each is a dangerous ecological puzzle tying into the central mystery of Meridian.
Simple and intuitive rules for deep-sea diving. With the interplay of lethal pressure, utter darkness, and lurking lifeforms, even the simplest task becomes a daunting environmental challenge.
Ferocious weather events designed by an experienced meteorologist, ensuring that not even the surface is safe.
Compared to Bones Deep, Meridian is a more grounded, gritty sci-fi world. The authors put a ton of thought into how ecosystems would emerge on a nautical planet, how evolution would change, and what this kind of experience would really be like. Definitely check it out!
Until Next Time...
I will keep working on layout and figuring out how to best allocate your generous contributions! Thank you all so much for making Bones Deep a roaring success. See you at the end of the campaign! And, as always, you can reach me at [email protected]with any questions or ideas you have.
Farewell, Skeletons!
Swag is Gone! + Layout: 50% + Budget Updates + Metegorgos
about 2 years ago
– Tue, Apr 12, 2022 at 05:51:07 AM
😞 No More Swag 😞
All of our Dice and Bag rewards have been claimed (for the most part). It's possible that folks might cancel their pledges and more slots will open up, but I can't promise anything. I'm sorry we couldn't provide dice and bags to everyone who wants them. But fear not! Both will be available for purchase on their respective storefronts after the campaign has ended.
Dice are from Mythscapades, storefront coming soon!
Bags are from GriffinandGhoul, get them here! (She has a wide variety of bag styles to choose from)
As promised I spent the majority of my game time over the weekend focused on layout (aside from a wonderful session of Bones Deep with PlusOneEXP you can watch below).
⏳ Layout 50% Complete ⏳
While Google Drive was a great choice for the Bones Deep PDF, It's not very flexible for printing spreads. It's been so much fun to re-imagine some of these elements for the print book. And, honestly, since the text and artwork are all complete, I can experiment with some funky ideas.
Here are some of my favorite comparisons between PDF pages and Print layout. Notice how the print looks much less cramped now that we don't need the fancy navigation menus. And we can let the text flow a lot smoother over the page. I'm also able to do some fun stuff with images across spreads!
This still needs a lot of work, but the bones are set and we can start fleshing things out more.
Even on spreads that don't have much art, we have a lot more room for text to shine. Thank you again for showing so much support and love for Bones Deep. Thanks to you we can spend more time and money on this beautiful book. Speaking of...
💰 Budget Updates 💰
It's easy to look at the way Kickstarter displays funding goals and think "Wow! David has an extra $5,000 to spend on Elden Ring posters!" But it's never that simple. Here's our updated budget for Week 1:
Current Funding: $9000
Printing Costs: $2,749.61 (up from $2300)
Kickstarter Fees: $900+ (up from $350)
Dice: $1400 (up from $250)
Bags: $2500 (up from $250)
Backerkit: $180 (up from $100)
That leaves us with about $1000 to throw around (plus $750 from the Bones Deep itch.io page). Now that the dice and bags are all claimed, further funding will be "extra" as that number grows, which is great! As stated in my previous update, I won't do anything to slow down production of the book.
Our priorities remain:
1. The Book (printing).
2-99. The Book (shipping).
100. Better Shipping Prices.
101. Pay Bonus for our Writers (including myself).
102. Small extras (poster, stickers, or something else).
Evey Lockhart wrote all the adorable and evocative creature Miens for Bones Deep. Her creativity and talent cannot be understated.
She has written another Troika adventure: The Ruinous Palace of the Metegorgos. In this adventure, you will encounter a densely packed adventure location, easily insertable into ongoing campaigns or used for one-shot sessions. It's an adventure with mature—not adolescent—themes (motherhood, birth, mild body horror) offering a fresh tone to your ongoing TROIKA! campaigns. If you like Bones Deep you will probably LOVE this adventure as well.
My Promise to You + Timelines
about 2 years ago
– Wed, Apr 06, 2022 at 02:01:21 PM
You know, I had weeks of marketing planned to build hype, raise money, recruit supporters, etc etc. I'm used to funding projects in the last day or two, JUST under the wire. I never imagined we would fund in the very first day!
Luckily, we scheduled a game on PlusOneExp anyway! I'll be running a game of Bones Deep this Sunday, 2pm EST. Subscribe to their channel to get notified when we go live.
It's tempting to start adding stuff to the campaign: Stretch Goals, posters, more dice, stickers, T-shirts, expanded book content, extra artwork, etc etc. But I won't.
The Hardcover is My Priority
This might be an unpopular choice, but I will not add anything to this campaign that might slow down the book production. In more concrete terms:
There will not be any other swag tiers available. Our talented crafters need time to make the dice and bags. I'm not willing to delay the book for their sake. There is a limited tier for delayed swag if you are willing to wait, but that will not be the norm. Dice and Bags will be available on their respective stores after the campaign is over, if you need to get your fix :)
If anything is added to the campaign, it will be while we wait for other things. For example, while we wait for the book to print and ship to us, I might be able to sneak in a small reward or two. But I won't make any plans or promises until then.
My attention is on the book, not on marketing. I won't be posting tons of updates here, and I'm abandoning a lot of my marketing plans to focus on the book. I am ALWAYS available for any questions, ideas, or concerns at [email protected].
Current Status and Timelines
This is the 3rd time I've done layout for Bones Deep (after the PDF and HTML versions). I'm getting pretty good at it by now! The text will be identical to the current PDF and HTML versions, so it really is JUST layout that I'm working on.
I'm about 30% done with the print layout. Progress will get faster the closer I get to the end, especially since I won't be focusing on anything else.
Here's a hopeful timeline (that is subject to change):
April 24th - Project ends. I hope to have the layout done by then.
Mid-may - I get paid by Kickstarter and immediately place the book order at Printon.
June - books are printed and shipped to our distributors.
July - We receive the books and start packaging them with dice, bags, and goodies.
August - Books and swag are shipped out to you!
November - Delayed swag packages are sent out.
What about the extra money?
You'll notice that Bones Deep received some extra funding! Here's how we plan to use any extra cash:
1. Supplement shipping costs where we can.
2. Small extras (poster, stickers, etc) if we have the time.
3. Invest in future Technical Grimoire projects, probably ABIDE.
If things REALLY take off, we'll re-evaluate.
Thanks so much for your support, and I cannot WAIT to get these books in your hands.
I am ALWAYS available for any questions, ideas, or concerns at [email protected].
We did it!
about 2 years ago
– Tue, Apr 05, 2022 at 02:19:04 PM
I don't want to be repetitive but...
Dang y'all!
We are fully funded in the very first day of the campaign! That is incredible. Thank you! Your excitement and passion is making all of this possible.
