Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt - Timeline Update
11 months ago – Sun, Jun 18, 2023 at 07:32:38 AM

Hello good hunter!

It's been a minute since I wrote on here, I hope you received the content updates through Backerkit in the past few weeks.

As I mentioned in the last update, the content was updated 2 weeks after, and received another update after that.

If you haven't seen it, make sure to check your Backerkit account, there is plenty to download there!

Reading the comments here, I noticed that some people don't seem to get the updates from Backerkit. So from now on, I'll make a Kickstarter Update each time something major happens behind the scenes, to avoid confusion. 

Also let me know in the comments below If I should make a player option of the book? A PDF with only the player options (e.g. subclasses, races, etc..) are included—to avoid spoiling the lore and the monsters.

Now let me jump on the timeline of things.

Digital Content Timeline

I was waiting on the signature of multiple contracts, which is why I couldn't write this update sooner. Now that everything is signed, let me share the timelines I have. 

VTTs

In regards to the 3 promised VTTs, here are the timelines, effective starting from today (18th June):

- Roll20: 11 weeks (+/- 1 week)

- FoundryVTT: 8 weeks (+/- 1 week)

- Fantasy Grounds: 12-16 weeks (+/- 1 week)

If you want to see the exact legal language that was used, I'm inserting an extract of the contacts signed below (I am the customer, they are the providers):

As you can see the contract does give the teams that handles the conversions an additionnal 4 weeks if needed. 

In our communication they assured me this extra time it wouldn't be necessary, but I'd rather share all the information I have with you.

PDFs

In regards to the PDFs, here are the timelines, effective starting from today (18th June):

Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt:

- Final Content Update: 10 days (+/- 2 days)

- Final Proof-reading + Design Update: 2 weeks  (+/- 1 week) (keep in mind that the book is already being printed right now to make sure everything is in order, so it won't affect the physical goods)

GMCheatbook:

- Final PDF: 3 weeks  (+/- 1 week)

- Final Proof-reading + Design Update: 4 weeks  (+/- 1 week)

Artbook:

- Final PDF: 3 weeks  (+/- 1 week)

- Final Proof-reading + Design Update: 4 weeks  (+/- 1 week)

Eldritch Moon Deck:

- Final PDF: 1 week  (+/- 1 week) (You can already find it in Backerkit)

- Final Proof-reading + Design Update: 4 weeks  (+/- 1 week)

Trick Weapons Lenticular Deck:

- Final PDF: 2 weeks  (+/- 1 week)

- Final Proof-reading + Design Update: 4 weeks  (+/- 1 week)

Tokens:

4 weeks till completion (+/- 1 week)

Trick Weapon Workshop:

This will be only a PDF/ website and not part of the book. I hope to include tables to automate the math behind it. 6 weeks (+/- 1 week)

Heliana Content:

This will also be a PDF only. This content is the exclusive tamer class from Heliana + a subclass unique to Steinhardt's. 8 weeks (+/- 1 week)

Character Sheets: 

Completed

Prints: 

Completed

Map: 

Completed

Physical Content

The physical content is something I had to discuss at length with the manufacturer, to get a timeline out of them that I could share with you, and contracts I could share with the tax authorities.

Tomorrow, Monday, they will be sending me a sample of almost everything included in the All-in Tier. Once I get my hand on them, I will be able to tell them what corrections to make, and direction to take.

Here is a rough timetable: unlike before, here each step is consecutive.

• Shipping of First Sample: 1-2 weeks
• Revisions: 2 weeks
• Shipping of New Sample: 2 Weeks
• Mass Production: 2-3 months
• Shipping to fulfilment centers: 2 weeks
• Shipping to individual homes: 1-2 months

So at the fastest will be 4 months, at the slowest 7 months. 

Unfortunately, shipping isn't something I can hurry. 

I have paid to get the fastest shipping for the samples, but from there is nothing I can do to accelerate the process.

There is some content I did receive last time:

Conclusion

When the PDF is completed within the next 2 weeks I will be posting an update relating to it, and will hopefully have gotten the samples by then as well.

Take Care!

Evan | MonkeyDM

Steinhardt's Guide PDF Update
about 1 year ago – Sun, Apr 23, 2023 at 02:11:08 PM

Hello fellow hunter!

We've reached a total of 323 pages of content so far for Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt, so here's what's new in the update (which you can download on Backerkit by redownloading Preview 10):

 - Eldritch Beckoning Mechanic

- Indefinite Madness (Some of these are really messed up so I had to include a couple of disclaimers)

- Torturer Ranger

- Lunar Warden Ranger

- Revamped Madness Rules + How to Cure it

- Added lore to some monsters

- A Few New Items and Eldritch Carvings

- Few Balance Changes, New Art

- And of course, the level 20 adventure, Deicide.

A quick note about the adventure: it is incredibly deadly. 

So don't be afraid when it comes to giving magic items to your players, they will need them. Where they're going, there is very little rest to be had, and a lot of fighting to be done. 

Digital Content

Next update in about 10-15 days which will contain the remaining lore and monsters. Most of it is written, it just needs to be proofread of formatted. 

The Artbook and GM Cheatbook will follow after and be posted online.

In parallel, as soon as the book itself will be 100% done and corrected, I'll get the right people started on uploading them to the various Virtual Tabletops

Physical Content

I received the first batch of dice, and they were not quite the right color and look.

I sent my feedback alongside guidance on what needed to be corrected to the manufacturer. They are currently remaking the molds, as well as making a new mold for the hunter medals.

That's about it for the physical side of things

Backlog of Emails and Messages

Since the last update I haven't checked my emails and messages when it comes to customer support. My attention was fully devoted to the book, and as such these activities moved to the background of the business.

Tomorrow I'll make sure to catch up with everything, so my apologies if I haven't replied to your messages until now, I will do so tomorrow.

That's all for me,

Take Care, 

Evan | MonkeyDM

End of March Update - Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt
about 1 year ago – Tue, Mar 28, 2023 at 09:46:24 AM

Hello fellow hunter,

Hope you are doing well!

I haven't written on here in a minute, but the updates kept rolling out on the back end. 

If you're not aware on a weekly to fornightly basis I do an update on Backerkit. It doesn't always send a notification, but if you redownload the latest document (update 10 at the moment) you gain access to all the latest content.

For example today I just released one ;)

Good News

So I just want to share some incredible news that happened last week.

We had a massive bump in sales recently, as you can see here:

This put us at another million in sales since the end of the Kickstarter!

Now, let's keep in mind that this money also includes the shipping costs, but it's still an incredible benchmark, especially when you consider that there was no advertising done at all since the campaign ended. 

This means that it was all word of mouth, so you telling your friends because you thought the project was worth it.

Thank you all so much for this absolutely unreal support!

Content Update

For those of you who didn't download the document, I've updated quite a few things, notably in the monsters and lore department.

I know the book currently doesn't have a table of content, but as soon as the last adventure is completed, which should be next update, I'll be sure to include it. 

In the meantime, you can find a table of content on Discord made by one of my amazing moderators.

As I mentioned previously I'm mostly focusing on the lore now, since most of the mechanics are down. This is proving to be a bit more of a challenge than I thought, because the lore needs to be both compelling and incomplete.

I want to give GMs as many adventure hooks as possible, without telling them everything either, so that each can make their own story and version of Luyarnha. This is something that I learned from one of Keith Baker's talks (the creator of Eberron).

Take the Scourge as an example, it's an incredibly important element of the story of Luyarnha, it ravages the streets and tears the city asunder, but what caused it exactly? Well, each GM decides for themselves. 

My job is to give you a ton of possible leads – maybe it's an experiment of the Obitus Scholare gone wrong, maybe it's tied to the moon, perhaps it comes from an outside force jealous of the prosperity of Luyarnha, perhaps even a divine punishment – whatever the cause may be it is an very potent storytelling hook, so I want to leave it as open-ended as possible to give GMs the opportunity to add their own story to it.

But as I mentioned above, this gives me a unique challenge, where I have to be very purposeful in deciding what content of the book is set in stone, and what is open to interpretation. 

If everything is set is stone, there is only one story to tell, and that would be boring, and we're not here for boring.

As always, I await your feedback on this in the comments here, or on the play-test channel of our Discord, so that I can make the best possible book.

Shipping Update

In regards to the delivery time of the content.

The PDF should be done by the end of next month, though this public update is big, my  poorly formatted personal document is over 300 pages already, not including the level 20 adventure. This means that our 350+ pages book should be done soon. 

The Physical Stuff. Our Manufacturer has sent the first sample of the physical items (other than the books) my way, though I still have not received them. 

As soon as I get them, and triple check to make sure that the quality is what we expect, I'll give them feedback to begin production.

When I complete the book it will receive the same treatment. 

Timeline wise it's hard to say, but let's say at least another 2 months just to be on the safe side of things. 

When I first made the shipping estimates, I underestimated the time necessary to make a quality product, and since I want both you and me to be happy with the book, I would rather take all the extra steps necessary.

P.S:

For those of you who feel that you need more weapons and items in games, I wrote an additional weapon the ‘Monkey’s Paw’ (very on brand I know).

It is included in the freshly released L'Arsene's Ledger of Treasure and Trinkets, which aims to fill your world with hundreds of gorgeously illustrated, fully-craftable magic items that level up with your players (including my above mentioned trick weapon), bar-themed subclasses and adorable familiars!

When my good friends at Loot Tavern asked me to collaborate on the project I was more than happy to help. Though my role was fairly minor, the project itself certainly isn’t!

Since this one is going to be shipping out real soon, and funded in less than 10 minutes, I figured I should let you know!

Take Care!

Evan | MonkeyDM

Steinhardt's Alpha 0.92
about 1 year ago – Mon, Feb 20, 2023 at 02:23:13 PM

Hello fellow hunter,

Just a quick mail to let you know that, as promised, the update for Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt is live on Backerkit.

You can get them by re-downloading the document Steinhardt's Alpha Preview 9. 

Beyond that I hope you're doing well.

See you soon for the next update!

P.S:  Since the Kickstarter ended, we had another 3000 pre-orders for Steinhardt's, which is absolutely crazy, thank you for the support in letting people know about the book, it's incredibly helpful!

Quick Update About Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt
over 1 year ago – Wed, Feb 15, 2023 at 12:37:18 PM

Hello fellow hunter,

I’m making this a very short update to let you know that’s going on behind the scenes.

An update to the book was supposed to go live today.

Due to a technical error on my end the file was corrupted and I couldn’t upload it.

I am now away from my office, until Monday —I’m spending time with my family.

This means that I won’t be able to release the update until then, as I didn’t notice my mistake sooner.

To make up for this, on Monday I’ll be releasing an update with more content.

You can expect to see a bard and rogue subclass, new monsters and new weapons.

When it comes to the ‘Streets of Terror’ adventure, you can download it now by re-downloading “Steinhardt’s Guide Alpha 0.9” on Backerkit, although the final map was somehow cut. 

I can't edit the PDF, but I can upload the missing map here, so you can grab it.

The adventure was mentionned on Discord a few days ago, but I know a few of you aren’t there, so I’d rather keep everyone informed :)

Some of the art for the monsters are WIP, but the adventure itself is fully playable.

Take Care!

Evan | MonkeyDM