Tales of Argosa

January Update!
19 days ago – Sun, Jan 12, 2025 at 03:57:56 PM

Rewards are Shipping!  

First up rewards have been shipping from Fulfillrite over the last few weeks. A lot of folks have already received their books, dice and cards, which is super nice to see - I get a smile ear to ear when someone posts a pic of their gaming goods hahah. For those still waiting I'm sure they won't be too far away. For my Aussie colleagues I dropped your packages to Australia Post on Sat, so you should get them this week (I received the Australian shipment on Thursday). If you haven't received an email notification please check your junk mail, or reach out to me here or on Backerkit and I'll investigate.    

If you do like what you see please consider leaving a star rating or short review (even just one line) on DTRPG - greatly appreciated!      

Lost Backers

There are a very small number of Backers who I've reached out to via email about shipping fees or address errors who haven't responded. If you are one of these people and reading this update in a month or two, please reach out to me by message or email and I'll see what I can do. I suspect by then your rewards will probably have gone to a reviewer, but maybe not.    

Sky Tower of Belk Xos now in Print

Sky Tower of Belk Xos is now available via DTRPG as a softcover! I've sent all Backers a "print at cost" link via DTRPG as a extra thank you :) Please check your emails, DTRPG account, and junk mail, or else shoot me a message if you haven't received it. 

There are now three softcover adventures available via DTRPG. My plan is to make all future adventures available in PDF & print :D It seems DTRPG are now using Ingram Printers in Australia (as opposed to sending them to me via UK or USA), which is a recent change (in the last 12 months?), which allows me to turn around print proofs quicker :D 

Affinity Publisher Template Document

An Affinity Publisher Template document is now available for making Tales of Argosa material under the Creative Commons licence. I used Word for my prior books, but upgraded to Affinity for ToA. I find it allows us to do more cool things in terms of formatting, shadows, image placement, etc, and I think it shows in ToA. More importantly a program like this is almost required (I think) for offset printing (where there are strict rules about ink coverage, etc, different to PoD). I have also dabbled with Adobe Indesign, but have shied away from its subscription fee (even though it seems Indesign remains the industry standard, from what I can tell, which can make things easier when searching for help online or when dealing with printers).  

If you are a content creator and need any help - especially if you're considering getting into the offset printing area (when all sorts of cool shit becomes possible, like printing inside covers, stitched binding, ribbons, etc) by all means reach out to me, I'm happy to share what I've learnt. In fact, I think I'll do a youtube video about this topic. We'll see how we go. 

Next Steps

My priorities for end of Jan/Feb will be working with GM to the Stars Jason Hobbs on the Second Stretch Goal Adventure, which I think is not too far away...   

In late Jan I hope to have the PoD version of ToA up on DTRPG, and The Bones dice up on Gamecrafter (albeit they will be wooden dice, and somewhat expensive; making custom dice on demand just isn't cheap). The Deck of Signs is already on DTRPG (has been since before the KS). 

Into the Far Flung Future

I have to say I'm excited the books, dice and cards turned out so well :D This was our first offset print run, and although my original completion date was Nov 2024, Jan 2025 isn't too bad! I feel we now have the experience and (more importantly ?) the printer/industry contacts to make all kinds of cool things which we couldn't before... 

My plans for late 2025 are an Argosa Boxed Set, similar to the old 2e boxed sets, for the Argosa setting. Basically a revamp of my Midlands Low Magic Sandbox Setting book (but with a stronger primeval S&S vibe). I'm thinking two softcovers (one for players, one for GM), poster sized hex map to explore, and some surprise goodies... In fact work has already begun! But more on that another day. 

Thanks again to all for your continued support - as always any feedback or play reports I'd love to hear them! 

That's it for now folks, hope you enjoy the books, cards & dice!! :DD 

December Update
about 2 months ago – Wed, Dec 18, 2024 at 12:25:56 AM

Ho ho ho - tis time for the December update!

Fulfilment on Track for Late December  

Alrighty first things first we remain on track for rewards being sent out in late December. We are expecting the books to arrive at Fulfillrite imminently, so they can be bundled with the dice & cards and shipped. Yes unfortunately we have drifted into the xmas shipping period, so there will likely be some delays before packages reach their final destination, but at least they'll depart the warehouse in late Dec :)

VTT Updates 

As indicated in November, the Tales of Argosa Foundry VTT is up and running and has had some updates in the last few weeks care of High Technomancer Dab :) Here's a little video on using Foundry to make a PC, plus a few other points about the Deck of Signs, etc).

Roll20 now has a character sheet and a useful "Add On" which incorporates the Deck of Signs, as well as macros and roll tables (including Consult The Bones). I am waiting for some assistance from DTRPG to make the Add On free to Backers (it is currently listed on the Roll20 Marketplace at the minimum price of $4.95). 

Addresses have been Locked 

Addresses have been locked!! If you change your address before Monday send me a personal message here or my email [email protected] or we will ship to your old address! If you let me know I'll update Fulfillrite with the new address. 

In fact, for abundant caution, if you have changed addresses in the last three months it would be worth sending me a message or email, so I can double check your new address against our final shipping addresses list. 

Outstanding Shipping Fees

To the very small number of folks who haven't yet paid their shipping, you are in danger of your rewards being treated as donations to the campaign. Such copies will likely go out to reviewers in Jan/Feb. If you need more time, please do reach out to me by message or email and we'll work something out!    

Caverns of Shennog now in Print

Caverns of Shennog is now available via DTRPG as a softcover! As a thank you for patiently waiting for your ToA rewards, all Backers have been sent a "print at cost" link via DTRPG :) Please check your emails, DTRPG account, and junk mail, or else shoot me a message if you haven't received it. 

Next Steps

My priorities for end of Dec/Jan will be (i) Liaising closely with my Fulfillment partners to get those rewards out before the end of Dec! (ii) Obtaining the softcover proof of AF #67 Sky Tower of Belk Xos, (iii) working with GM to the Stars Jason Hobbs on the Second Stretch Goal Adventure.  

Thanks again to all for your support and patience - as always any feedback or play reports I'd love to hear them! 

That's all for now, have a great xmas folks!

November Update
3 months ago – Sat, Nov 16, 2024 at 10:32:54 PM

Gday Backers - tis time for the November update! 

OK ok I have good news and some bad news. Let's do the bad news first: 

Hardcover Fulfillment delayed until Late December  

My sincere apologies everyone but the hardcovers have been delayed about two weeks into late December. I know that's xmas time so that may also complicate things, but at present Fulfillrite (our fulfilment partner) should be shipping orders out in late December. The reason for the delay is I had some last minute changes to the final hardcover screen proofs, which pushed production times back. Fulfillrite assures me however that once the stock comes in, they will ship it as soon as they can :D

And now for the good news!

Hardcover Upgrades

Number one, the book is going to be even more awesome than I first thought. Along with being offset print and smyth sewn, it's going to have two ribbons instead of one (black and maroon), and there will be inside cover printing. I don't want to spoil the details, but I've made great use of that extra real estate; I think you're gonna like it :D

Foundry VTT is Available

Number two, the Foundry VTT module is officially available! High Technomancer Dab has done an outstanding job with it - check out the below video for an overview. It's all free to use, and in fact there's been numerous updates since that video, adding more functionality like compendiums for class abilities, gear, races, and more!  

Roll20 Character Sheet is Available, and Addon coming next week 

Number three, the Roll20 character sheet is now available! It's basically an update to the LFG sheet, so if you know how to use the LFG sheet you know 90% of this one. 

More importantly perhaps I've made a "Tales of Argosa Addon" module which consists of Macros, Roll Tables, the Deck of Signs, and Consult the Bones dice (albeit as part of the Roll Tables/Macros, not actual 3D dice). As I understand it Roll20 sets a minimum $5 price tag on all modules - assuming that's correct that will be the price, otherwise I'll make it free. You don't need the Addon to play on Roll20 of course - you can absolutely go to town with just the character sheet - which was how Roll20 LFG worked :) I'll do a video soon to better explain how things work - but frankly if you've used Roll20 before it's all going to be very familiar. 

Outstanding Shipping Fees

To the very small number of folks who haven't yet paid their shipping, please do so by the end of this month. If your shipping fees are unpaid by the end of November, you may be at risk of not receiving your physical rewards. Ultimately I may have to treat your rewards as a donation to the campaign (such copies will likely go out to reviewers).    

Lock Addresses end of November

We will be locking addresses at the end of November! If your address has changed since the Kickstarter please be sure to update it via your Backerkit Survey! If your address changes in December please send me a direct message so that I can manually change your order with Fulfillrite - otherwise your rewards will be shipped to the wrong place! 

Next Steps

My priorities for end of Nov /early Dec will be (i) working with GM to the Stars Jason Hobbs on the Second Stretch Goal Adventure, (ii) Tweaks to the Roll20 sheet and Addon pack, (iii) Liaising closely with my production and distribution partners, and (v) locking down addresses at the end of November.    

Thanks again to all for your support and patience - as always any feedback or play reports I'd love to hear them! 

That's it for now, have a great rest of your weekend :D 

October Update 1
4 months ago – Thu, Oct 17, 2024 at 01:23:46 AM

Gday All! A quick Tales of Argosa update for mid October.

Surveys & Shipping 

First up if you are receiving physical rewards and haven't already filled out your Backerkit survey, please do so ASAP as we'll be charging cards for shipping at the end of October. Final addresses won't be locked until mid November.

Shipping rates have been confirmed with our distributor. They are largely in line with our Kickstarter estimates, or cheaper for Australia. For the Book, Cards & Dice combo the charge will be USD 14-18 in the USA (KS est 12-18), USD 29 to Canada (same as KS quote), USD 23 to the UK (same as KS est), USD 25-43 to EU (same as KS est), USD 35 to NZ (same as KS est), and USD 25 to Australia (KS est USD 35). If your order is for only dice/cards (ie no book) it will be significantly less than the above. If your order has multiple books the cost will be higher.

Crypt of Kursaba "Print at Cost" links

Crypt of Kursaba "Print at Cost" links for DTRPG have gone out to Backers via email :D The cost to print the adventure is approx  USD 3.20 (plus shipping). If you haven't received your email please check your junk mail or let me know and I'll sort it out ASAP. 

Foundry Update

High Technomancer Dab has re-emerged from the electron wastes with more Foundry updates; the character sheet is coming along very nicely and I hope to be personally playtesting the module later this month :DD 

Fulfilment First Week of December

My apologies but we've had a slight delay with our book printing and the dice. I expect they will be shipping out to Backers in the first week of December rather than November. It could still be last week of November, but more likely first week Dec. I'm liaising closely with my production partners to keep things moving. I hope this doesn't spoil anyone's gaming plans for Nov!

Next Steps

My priorities for end of Oct /early Nov will be (i) working with GM to the Stars Jason Hobbs on the Second Stretch Goal Adventure, (ii) Playtesting the Foundry ToA module, (iii) Liaising closely with my production and distribution partners, and (v) charging shipping fees through Backerkit at the end of October.    

As always, if you have any feedback or play reports I'd love to hear them!  

Thanks again for your support and patience folks, have a great end of week! 

September Update :D
4 months ago – Wed, Sep 25, 2024 at 05:26:04 AM

It's September update time!

Crypt of Kursaba Adventure (Stretch Goal Adv 1) has gone out to Backers :DD

During the KS I used the working title "House of Crows", but it's morphed into Crypt of Kursaba. If you didn't get an email notification please check your junk folder, or if your files are not in your DTRPG library send me a message and I'll sort it out ASAP. 

Note this is only the PDF of the adventure. I've ordered the DTRPG PoD softcover, and once the proof is all good, will make the "print at cost" codes available to Backers in due course. 

Physical Books, Dice & Cards

The latest ToA proof looks great. I actually sent it off to a reviewer before taking a video of it lol - but the below flick through is very close. Note this is not the offset print smyth sewn version. The hardcovers are on track for Nov fulfillment, along with the dice and cards. 

And for those who may not have seen it yet, here's an example of how the Dungeon Generator works:

ToA Foundry Module

High Technomancer Dab continues to beseech the Machine God as the ToA Foundry module progresses :) The elder code is difficult to decipher, but as I understand it the character sheet will allow for much dragging and dropping of things to it, and GMs will be able to make their own items, abilities, monsters, etc. Some WIP examples below. May the electron winds hold in our favour! More on this next month :D

Shipping

If you're receiving physical rewards and you haven't filled out your Backerkit survey, please do so by mid October, as we will charge shipping through the survey process. I'll confirm and post about shipping prices (which I expect will be in line with the KS estimates) probably first week of October, and will charge cards towards the end of October. For my fellow Aussies I can say your shipping will be much lower than the KS estimate. All Australian orders will be shipped to me directly, then I'll use Australia post to send out the orders locally, which is going to be much more economical. More on that in early October :)   

Next Steps

My priorities for end of Sept/early Oct will be (i) finalising the PoD proof for Crypt of Kursaba, (ii) working with GM to the Stars Jason Hobbs on the Second Stretch Goal Adventure, (iii) Progressing the Foundry ToA module with High Technomancer Dab, (iv) ensuring Backer's orders for the hardcover, cards, and dice continue to move along smoothly, and (v) finalising shipping fee estimates for Backers receiving physical rewards.    

As always, if you have any feedback or play reports I'd love to hear them!  

Thanks again for your support everyone and have a great week!