Post-Project Update #20 - Lots of awesome news!
5 days ago
– Sat, Sep 23, 2023 at 08:03:00 AM
Hey, captains of future starfarers!
I am super delighted to be writing this update since it is one filled with pure awesome news!
First and foremost...
It's absolutely awesome to see the campaign page coming together since we have been working hard on preparing everything for it for so long!
We have learned a lot from our first-ever Kickstarter project (Starlight Arcana) and we are super happy to be in the position to say that everything is according to plan (even with the unplanned delays!)
Our first and most important goal with future projects is to make sure we keep delivering the same and even better high-quality content while trying to be MUCH quicker with final delivery! For that reason, we are making the promise of delivering the final PDF of each project in 3 months from the day the live campaign is finished.
The cold death of the Reliquary awaits you, adventurers, will you dare explore its dark halls?
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If you would like to read spoilers, discuss stuff, and more about Soulfrost Reliquary and all our other projects, feel free to join our awesome Discord server by clicking the link below!
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FoundryVTT Module is ready!
The Foundry VTT module has passed all the checks by the Foundry team in order to qualify as a "Premium module"! We are now in the process of preparing to generate keys and start sending them out to all qualifying backers.
The process for making the Foundry module was a LOT faster than we thought it would be thanks to the help of our awesome VTT Conversion expert, David, and also because of the amazing help of Matt, a Foundry team member and also an expert on the matters of Premium modules.
I look forward to seeing screenshots and stories from your Starlight Arcana games on Foundry!
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PDF update coming soon!
As it was expected, a lot of you have left feedback for us after finding a few small mistakes here and there inside the book. We have already updated the PDF (and the print files of course) in order to fix all those things and we will be sharing the new version of the PDF with you soon.
We will also post it here on Kickstarter for everyone who missed it on the Pledge Manager, although, we still kindly urge you to check your Backer account on BackerKit to make sure you are following all the potential digital rewards you might have access to.
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Physical Production starting soon!
The goliath of a task that we were the most afraid of when we first started this campaign is about to begin. Instead of fear though, we feel only excitement and anticipation since the companies that we are working with for printing and fulfillment of the project have been absolutely amazing at helping us every step of the way.
This coming week, we will be sending all print files to our printing partners, and in no more than a month, we will have begun full production of the project.
It is only a matter of time before full manufacturing and production are finished so that we can send it all over to GamesQuest and start fulfillment, sending the packages with your chunky books to your homes!
I cannot express how excited I am for this honestly. I cannot wait for all of you to get the book in your hands.
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The new project and timelines
We are very aware that running a new project means a lot of extra work. I wanted to reiterate what I have made clear in multiple updates before this one; we have planned for all of this and have made absolutely sure that project Starlight Arcana is not hindered or delayed in any way whatsoever because of our work on any other projects.
We are super serious about wanting to deliver as fast as possible and I am very annoyed at the fact that I was proven wrong when I said that we would be delivering Starlight Arcana much sooner than this. However, because of that, we have learned a lot and for future projects, we will be focusing on delivering much faster. Our team actually even agreed that we would not be launching a project unless we were 100% sure that we could deliver the final PDF within 3 months and start producing 4 to 5 months, since the end of the project's live campaign.
This is a very serious statement and promise that we make to all of our followers, backers, and supporters of our projects. We care about creating amazing content that stays with you, but we also care about you getting it in a reasonable amount of time from the moment you back it. We know how it feels to back something only to have it delivered more than a year later when your excitement for it has almost dissipated.
We look forward to seeing you on our next project and the ones after that. We have huge plans and we cannot wait to share them all with you!
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Roadmap?!
We are preparing a roadmap that we will be revealing in the coming weeks. The roadmap will showcase all of our plans for projects that we have for the next 6-7 years. There will be the names of the projects that we have planned for the future as well as a bit of information on them (just a snippet).
Keep in mind that the roadmap is a plan and not a set-in-stone promise that we will be able to deliver all those projects at the stated dates. We are, basically, mostly planning for a release during a certain year for most of them.
I know that this is a very bold statement, but we indeed have a lot planned for the future. We cannot possibly know if circumstances will change or if something will happen that will not allow us to be able to continue. We plan towards the worst scenarios and deliver with the best in mind.
We care about creating meaningful and memorable stories for your tabletop games. We will not stop until we have completely run our imagination dry.
So buckle up because this is going to be a long ride.
Here are a few quick spoilers as to what you will see on the roadmap. Starting with the main categories of projects:
- Core Books (the grand campaign narrative and main books that outline the setting)
Starlight Arcana (2022) 🡆 Souls Arcana (2025) 🡆 ??? Arcana (2028) 🡆 ???? Arcana (20??)
🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄
- Grand✦Tales (shorter adventures dedicated to exploring specific regions of the setting)
Soulfrost Reliquary (2023) 🡆 Sirensong (2024) 🡆 ??????fall (2025) 🡆 Daughter of the ???? (2026)
🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄
- Supplements (supplements for the core books, expanding on mechanics and other things)
Sailing the Stars (2024) 🡆 Grand ???????????'s ???????? (2026)
🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄
- Lorebook (extra lore for everything along with regional maps with information for every single location, faction, and more)
Monthly lore updates on the new feature of the Starlight Archives website.
🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄🟄
That's enough spoilers to keep you guessing for now I guess. More to be revealed once the visual roadmap is ready to go public!
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Thank you, as always, for your support and your amazing messages. I will say once again that seeing how much everyone is enjoying the book is an absolute blessing and it makes our day, every single time we read a message from you.
We look forward to reading any more feedback you have for any of our content and also anything else you would like to share with us!
As always, if you have any issues with your Pledge Manager order, do not hesitate to contact me (Kelfecil) and we will get everything sorted as soon as possible.
Until next time...
May Starlight guide your way my friends!
~Kelf
Quick Update: Pledge Manager closing soon!
14 days ago
– Thu, Sep 14, 2023 at 05:42:50 AM
Hey star dwellers!
I just wanted to make a super quick update to let you all know that the Pledge Manager is closing in less than 10 hours so if you haven't completed your survey yet, you have to do it as soon as possible.
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Change of Address after PM closes?
Are you planning to move or are unsure you will have the same address when we start fulfillment in a couple of months? No problem!
We will make another update closer to the start of fulfillment and we will also mention it there that you will be able to message us with your new address so that we can correct it in your order's information details.
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Cannot access your Survey?
We mentioned it a couple of times before, but just in case you missed it; if you cannot access your survey then you have to message us directly on Kickstarter so that we can get you an invite link.
If you are using Apple ID then your invitation is lost in the void and you HAVE to message us here so that we can send you an invitation link to your survey.
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Digital rewards through BackerKit!
Once all orders are closed and cards have been charged, then backers will be able to access their digital rewards (that are currently available) through BackerKit. Make sure you check for e-mails that might come through but you can of course always check your BackerKit Backer account as well to see what digital rewards you are eligible to access.
The only two digital rewards that are not available right now are the Exclusive Adventure PDF (from the 3€ pledge upwards) and the Designer's Commentary. Those two will be available at a later date because a) we want to tease a bit of a future story through the adventure and b) because the commentary is in the making and we just hired an awesome video editor to help us make it even cooler!
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Thank you for your patience as we slowly make our way towards the finish line with this project! Next up is production (printing) and then fulfillment!
Until next time, may Starlight guide your way my friends!
~Kelf
Post-Project Update #19 - Pledge Manager Closing, PDF is ready, Canceled Alchemy Module
18 days ago
– Sun, Sep 10, 2023 at 06:23:33 AM
Hey star people!
It is officially the 10th of September and that means that today is the day we planned to close the pledge manager. Until...
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Postponing the Closing of the Pledge Manager
We want to give everyone one last chance to get their pledge in order so we will be extending the period of the pledge manager staying open for another 2 days.
The Pledge Manager will close on the 12th of September at 23:30 (GMT +2:00).
Please make sure you have finalized your order by then because, after that, the only thing we will be able to do is basically change the address of people who might need a last-minute address change.
Having mentioned that, should you need help with changing your address after the closing of the Pledge Manager, please make sure you e-mail our team at [email protected].
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PDF is ready!
We are in an absolutely awesome position to tell you that the PDF is finished and it is ready to be delivered to backers! We will be sending it out via BackerKit to everyone once the Pledge Manager closes 2 days from now.
Should you find anything big that needs fixing or if you have any feedback in general, please do not hesitate to post it on our discord server.
(I kindly ask that you do not privately message me (Kelfecil) or other members of the team with feedback. We prefer to receive feedback through the channels on our Discord server.)
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Alchemy module: Canceled
We have to, unfortunately, cancel the making and publishing of the Starlight Arcana Alchemy module.
For anyone who has added the Alchemy module to their order through the Pledge Manager, you will now find that it has been removed and so has its cost. Do not worry as nothing changes with your order since there were no other extra costs that came with the Alchemy module being in your order.
We have been honest and transparent with you every step of the way and we would like to keep it this way moving forward, so we decided to tell you exactly why the Alchemy module is being canceled.
The reasons why we are doing this:
- Not enough interest in it.
Alchemy is a rather new platform and we completely understand there might not have been as much interest in a Starlight Arcana module on there. There were far too few orders on the Pledge Manager for the Alchemy module.
- Conversion tools are very unintuitive and inefficient.
We have to make a disclaimer here that the folks over at Alchemy made it very clear to us that Kelfecil's Tales is the only creator that is on the 2nd creator tier agreement. The 2nd tier is basically a higher percentage cut for sales on the platform (less for Alchemy, more for us), no promotion bonuses, and we would have to ingest all of the content completely on our own.
For the reason mentioned above, we were given some links with information and guidelines on how we can ingest content on the platform (convert our content into modules on Alchemy) and that was pretty much it.
We asked a lot of questions but most of the answers we received were (as expected, for very reasonable reasons) not very helpful since the Alchemy staff does all of the ingestions for other modules in-house. We were a bit disappointed to find that the processes are extremely inefficient and cumbersome and it would basically take us triple the amount of time to make Starlight Arcana into an Alchemy module.
Despite the complicated nature of other VTT platforms (like Foundry), there are enough processes in place for us to be able to make modules in a very efficient manner that also results in high-quality content. For Alchemy, we would be going in mostly blind with tons of time invested for something that is much simpler in nature.
We understand that Alchemy is new as a company and a platform, but this is also the reason why we opted against making modules for a lot of other VTT platforms in the past as well. What I mean is that we avoided VTT platforms that did not have good tools in place for creators to be able to make and publish content on the platform.
- The marketing is not very appealing to us.
We asked the people from Alchemy if it would be possible to publish more smaller-form content in the future and we were told that everything goes through a greenlight process. This is totally understood and generally, Alchemy seems like a platform that is trying to appear as very "high-end" with releases from high-profile publishers and some from more known creators. While this may seem like a great opportunity for Kelfecil's Tales (considering we have only one big publication under our name), it is actually not since the support we have received for moving forward with the platform has been very minimal so far.
We discussed it internally and it was a unanimous "no" on the decision to go forward with Alchemy even if just for this reason because the general feeling we got was that we would not be looked after all that much and the effort we would put into it would not be worth it in the end.
Please make no mistake here as I do not mean to say that the staff at Alchemy was not kind or nice to us. They were very professional and kind. What I mentioned in the paragraphs above is totally understandable as this is the way that Alchemy wishes to run its business and we absolutely respect that. It just does not appeal to us and we would like to see how it goes in the future before continuing with it.
- We were able to change to the other creator tier and have Alchemy ingest the content for us (at no cost too) but we were asked for something that we simply cannot agree to deliver.
I was very clear from the very beginning with the folks at Alchemy that I found it weird that they do all of the ingestion for other creators, but as mentioned in the previous paragraphs, this is how they run their business and I have nothing else to say about it. If it works for them, then power to them and we respect that. This is one of the main reasons why we decided to be on the other creator tier, where we would be ingesting the content ourselves.
However, after seeing how inefficient the processes are, we thought about exploring the option of changing tiers and having the Alchemy staff ingest Starlight Arcana for us. We were informed that this is totally doable and that they would actually ingest it at 0 cost as well since that is what the agreement entails.
We were very happy to hear that since that really sounded like they were doing us a favor but then we were asked to deliver the Adobe InDesign files for the book.
It is extremely important to note here that I read through the agreement we have with Alchemy and it was made very clear in it that they make sure they do not misuse any of the sensitive files and content they receive from the creators they work with.
Despite what the agreement says though, we, Kelfecil's Tales, will never agree to deliver such sensitive design files and documents to any outside partners. We, for example, had a horrible experience in the past with high-profile creators laughing in our faces when we asked for an NDA. Because of that experience and because of many other more professional reasons, we never share design files (InDesign, Affinity, Photoshop, or anything else) with outside partners, collaborators, or anyone else.
We were actually asked for a Photoshop file for an image before as well and we said no to that as well. We have plenty of experience and expertise to deliver images with the specifications required, meaning that asking for a Photoshop file is not just about "saving time" in this case but rather about protecting our processes and creative works.
Once again, we do not think that people from Alchemy would ever misuse the content we would send them, but we would rather avoid having to send files like that.
To add to this matter, we closely inspected the process for ingesting content on the Alchemy platform and found that although it takes a lot of time (lots of copy-pasting honestly), no design files are necessary. A design file would save a bit of time, but it is not necessary so when we were told that they could not ingest Starlight Arcana if they did not receive the InDesign file, we saw that as a red flag and categorically declined to provide any such documents.
We therefore canceled the project of converting Starlight Arcana as a module on Alchemy's VTT platform).
We convert content for Roll20 and Foundry VTT very often and the person in our team responsible for making VTT conversions has never asked us for design files. He, himself, told us that such a file is not necessary and that was well after he had finished converting the entirety of Starlight Arcana for both the Roll20 and Foundry VTT platforms.
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All that being said though, we really liked how the platform looks like and how it works. Starlight Arcana may not have been absolutely perfect for it due to the fact that there are a lot of tactical encounters too in the book and Alchemy does not support that kind of stuff, at least yet, but we thought it would be awesome to have it on the platform.
Even with the lack of interest (low amount of orders for the module) and the big money and time loss, on our side, we were still very determined to make the module. Due to the reasons mentioned above though, we decided that the best path forward would be to not put any time into making a module for the Alchemy VTT platform right now.
We will be looking forward to seeing how the Alchemy platform grows as well as if and how it will support creators like Kelfecil's Tales in the future.
We would like to thank the Alchemy VTT team for the support and the answers they provided us throughout this whole process. We hope to be able to work with them in the future once their ingestion processes have improved and become more intuitive for creators.
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Moving forward! Printing + Next KS Campaign!
We are ready to give all printing files to our printing partner and start production in no more than a week (right after the Pledge Manager closes) so we will of course keep you updated on that, every step of the way.
The project may be off our hands once we deliver the files, but I personally know really well how important it is and how good it feels to stay informed as a backer in regard to what is going on with the project you have backed. For that reason, I will make sure I make an update at least every 2 weeks informing you of anything new we might have on the printing and fulfillment process. Even if nothing new has happened, we will still make an update to let you know things are moving forward.
Also, starting end of this week, we will start our promotion for our next Kickstarter campaign; Grand✦Tales: Soulfrost Reliquary!
We are super excited to finally start sharing more information about Soulfrost Reliquary and we got all sorts of awesome things to share with you, starting with a free preview adventure next week (to be distributed through our newsletter).
I will also be making lots of videos detailing things about the next KS project and also about all the things we are doing better this time around (after having learned a lot from Starlight Arcana).
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As always; thank you all so much for your support and I am so thrilled to soon deliver this chunky Astral book to your hands!
Until next time, may Starlight guide your way my friends!
~Kelf
Bonus Backer Reward - Free Adventure - Dance of Seasons
about 1 month ago
– Wed, Aug 23, 2023 at 04:45:25 AM
Hey everyone!
I hope the end of summer is treating you well! Here in Poland, the weather has been hotter than ever before, and we have fans hitting us non-stop so that we can survive the intense heat wave. I cannot complain though, considering that my home country is in a horrible state with so many forests burning.
Our hearts go out to the people fighting for their lives right now, not just in Greece, but in every place where there are fires. We hope that the heatwave will pass soon and so will the danger.
In the meantime, I figured I would share this awesome little thing that we released a week ago. A huge adventure that takes place in central Latakar.
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Dance of Seasons
Dance of Seasons is a 5th edition adventure for 4-5 characters at level 5. Side with Eira or the Autumn Death Spirit and fight for control of the land in this huge tale!
Download the adventure FOR FREE by visiting this Patreon link.
This project has been in development for a very long time but we never really had the time to focus on it. Now that we had a bit more time (in between all the shenanigans with our Kickstarter project development) we could finally bring it to life and release it for everyone, for free!
The adventure is inspired by the amazing artworks of Sean Budanio (seansketches) who you can find and follow on Instagram!
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I hope you enjoy this little treat and I will see you all at the next update when we talk about:
- Closing of the pledge manager
- Beginning of printing
- Preparations for the next project; Soulfrost Reliquary
Until next time...
May Starlight guide your way my friends!
~Kelf
Post-Project Update #18 - Commission WIPs Showcase
about 1 month ago
– Wed, Aug 16, 2023 at 03:21:40 PM
Hey, starseekers!
Today we have an awesome showcase for you by the incredible and highly talented Dusky Cat!
She has been working hard on finishing all of the special pledge commissions for backers and we have some of them to share with you today. Enjoy!
(Don't forget to check out the rest of her work work on Patreon!)
Please keep in mind that these are Works-In-Progress.
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I hope you enjoyed this small preview! See you all at the next update and till next time...
May starlight guide your way my friends!
~Kelf
