End of March Update - Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt
over 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
almost 2 years 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
almost 2 years 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

Steinhardt's Update v0.9 & Potential Delays
almost 2 years ago – Tue, Feb 07, 2023 at 12:44:10 PM

Hello fellow hunter,

This update is going to be a bit longer, so let's jump in.

Delays

The book is progressing at a good rate. Unless a major roadblock appears, we should be able to give a complete PDF in March / April , tilting towards April.

The only thing I could see slowing us down is the rate at which the art for the book is made. I've taken steps to minimize this by hiring additional artists on the team.

The issue is with the physical delivery of the book.

Let me explain:

To create a book, you need to send a first draft to the manufacturer, which prints the sample and sends it back to you. 

This dance takes a couple of tries, minimum, because there is always something that will go wrong somewhere (for example problems with: the formatting, the image grading, the structure of the book, etc...), and the shipping takes at least 10 days each time.

I've already sent samples to be made, for almost everything (the dice, GM screen, boxes, canvas, posters, character sheets, tarot moon cards, item cards, field notes, hunter badge, cloth map).

I'm waiting on these items to get back to me, BUT there are 3 things I couldn't send: The book itself, the GM Cheatbook, and the Artbook. As you can imagine these are the most important to get right, but they aren't completed as of yet, so I can't make a sample for them yet.

This means that once the PDF is completed, there will be a period of roughly 1-2 months where we make sure the products are perfect, before we start the shipping.

My goal with 'Steinhardt's Guide to the Eldritch Hunt' is first and foremost to give you the highest quality product possible.

This means that I will delay the shipping a bit to make that we get the product right, rather than deliver an underwhelming experience.

A PDF I can always change later, but a book that is in your hands is not something I can modify, so we have to get it right from the get go, and I'm taking every step possible to ensure that.

I will make sure to keep you updated every step of the way.

Now,

Update Alpha 0.9.

After all the serious talk, let's take about the new content - something far more exciting in my opinion.

This new update is called 'Steinhardt's Alpha Preview 9', and you can find it in Backerkit.

I made sure to create a new name this time around (I didn't realize that the name you see, and the one I have access to are different in Backerkit.)

As you know with the OGL madness that happened a bit ago, I had to rush out some unpolished content, to make sure that the book wouldn't be affected.

This is no longer a worry, so I've removed all the unfinished content. This is is why the number of pages in this update PDF is lower than the previous update.

Notably I removed all the pages with only art and no content, this is to prevent confusion, as many have asked me what were those pages with only art. I also removed the 'Streets of Terrors' adventure. It will be re-releasing next week, as soon as it's been proofread.

And of course all the other content will be coming back as well.

So what does this update contains?

- 7 New Monsters

- 32 New Spells

- Completed 'Echoes of Madness' Adventure

- Proofreading across a large chunk of the book.

- Balance changes for multiple subclasses and the Jaeger. (balance changes to Jaeger Focus and Momentum, buff to the Heretic Subclass, buff to monk, barbarian)

What's Next?

What's coming in the next update I hear you say?

Well, as I mentioned above, the 'Streets of Terror' Adventure is coming along with a massive redesign. 

We have one more adventure to make for the book after that, and it will be a level 20 one, because I can, and because you will need to be at least that level to kill a god.

There are still five subclasses remaining: Bard, Barbarian, Rogue, and 2 for Ranger. Expect to see one of them next update.

The Bard and Barbarian are almost done, with the torturer ranger soon to follow. The last one will be the Lunar Ranger, because it requires all the moons to be designed first. 

Now that most of the player options have been laid out, we are shifting the focus towards writing more lore (I know quite some people are curious about it), and create a badass world for you to explore.

I really appreciate your patience and can't wait for you to experience the guide in its full glory!

Take Care!

Evan | MonkeyDM

PS:

My good friend Kibblestasty, the man I hired to create the Jaeger Class, is currently running his own Kickstarter, it's a massive book: 50+ subclasses, for every single base class, and 4 new epic classes! An absolute ton of well designed spells (250+), 30+ feats, and more!

I know Kibbles to be an incredible designer for 5e, so if you want to add more unique options in your game, I cannot recommend his book enough. This is not a paid sponsorship or anything, just me giving a praise to a deserving person.

Jaeger Class Update and Feedback Form + Upcoming content
almost 2 years ago – Wed, Jan 25, 2023 at 12:40:52 PM

Hello fellow hunters,

Let's jump right in! 

Jaeger Class

The team has been working hard on the Jaeger Class and I'm excited to announce that it has now been edited and re-released.

You simply need to go in Backerkit and download the file called "Steinhardt's Big Update" again to view the changes. 

Along with the release, I'm also including a feedback survey for the class: 

https://forms.gle/sudoQ5Tpe2S8JYhd7

I'd love to hear your feedback on the class to help me balance it going forward.

I have taken into consideration all the suggestions and feedback I have received in the past and have made changes accordingly (although not all changes are visible as of yet, I have a lot of documents to go through haha).

I believe that this class is now in a much better state than it was before, especially when it comes to understanding it, but I am always open to hear from you to make it even better.

What's Next?

I'm happy to report that the book is advancing at a good pace. In the next update, you can expect to see a corrected version of the Echoes of Madness adventure, new monsters to go with said adventure, and - if the editors are done with it by then - 32 new spells! 

The 4 remaining subclasses (2 Ranger, 1 Barbarian, 1 Bard) are also almost done, I'm at a point where a lot of the content is almost ready, but we need to sit down to balance it properly. 

I want to make sure the book is the best it can be for all of you.

aaaand that's it,

Take Care!

P.S: I just want to take a moment to thank you for your unending support, especially in these strange times. You're the best!