Digital Release & Backerkit Charging
1 day ago
– Tue, May 07, 2024 at 06:15:06 AM
Greetings world builders!
I wanted to give a quick update to show where we are (it's good), and how the next few steps will go (usually). As a quick reminder, there are a few surveys still incomplete on Backerkit - ***rewards cannot be distributed to backers with incomplete surveys/details***. Make sure you complete your Backerkit details asap to ensure you get your digital and/or physical rewards :)
Where are we?
Production - Everything is pretty much ready to go. We're awaiting final physical samples of the terrain and assets (and some new editions of dice - previous design samples of a few of them didn't come out as I'd hoped so we made some changes) from our manufacturer, and once those are confirmed they will be locked in and ready for the manufacturing green light (the big green light means all manufacturing will begin). Once we confirm the physical samples we'll receive bundle boxes containing all physical items, exactly as you'll receive them, so we can make sure everything is perfect. With everything quality assured and signed-off, the green light will be lit for manufacturing.
Shipping - It's currently looking like we're on track to have everything manufactured and delivered by February 2025, and hopefully sooner! Those of you taking their first journey into manufacturing, shipping, and general global production and distribution will be unfamiliar with the length of this timeline, but I'll go into more detail with that in future updates :)
Backerkit Next Steps
Locking Orders - To receive your rewards (digital and/or physical) you ***MUST*** complete your Backerkit survey and details. You will need an up to date delivery address (where you want the delivery to be shipped to), and a valid payment method (valid, and with payment complete with no outstanding amounts), for rewards to be unlocked and processed.
***Orders will be locked in the next couple of weeks***
This action will notify you immediately, and you will be given a final opportunity to add items to your order before your order is locked.
Charging Cards - Once the orders are locked, your card will be charged. Once your payment has been received your order will be processed (physical orders logged and allocated ready for shipment, and all digital items made available as soon as they are released).
Digital Items Release - Digital items (terrain, assets, adventures, and extra goodies such as ATLAS battle maps, encounters, monster cards and tokens, etc) are all ready to go and will be made available as soon as the orders are locked and cards have been charged.
If you want to add anything extra to your order before everything is locked down, you can do that here - https://plain-terrain.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
Project We Love - Into The Wilds
Tom is a great friend of mine, and someone who I've shared this TTRPG creator journey with. They have a wonderful selection of battle map books that are a fantastic addition to any adventure!
Into the Wilds is a collection of 9 fully customisable, biome and region themed physical battlemap books for your favourite TTRPG. They are ideal for pre-set or random encounters, so you can be fully prepared no matter which direction your players choose to head in.
Volume 3 Introduces three new Urban themed books to the series, while the returning Volumes 1 & 2 include Overworld and Underworld themed books. The maps are all completely hand-drawn by well known cartographer Tom Cartos, and are customisable with the included re-usable asset stickers, your own 3D terrain, or a dry erase marker.
I've got mine lined up! Find out more here - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/intothewilds-maps/into-the-wilds-battlemap-books-volume-3-urban-edition?ref=cwrh9e
Happy gaming!
Ollie (Moonlight Maps)
Quick Poll - What Would You Prefer?
20 days ago
– Fri, Apr 19, 2024 at 01:39:29 AM
Greetings World Builders!
Just a quick 1-question poll to see if you would rather have variants of physical maps, or purely unique maps, in your physical battle map packs.
Have at it - https://www.patreon.com/posts/physical-map-102586881
Happy Gaming!
Ollie
Where are we - mini update
about 2 months ago
– Wed, Mar 20, 2024 at 09:36:06 AM
Greetings world builders!
"World Builders". That's truly something, isn't it? I think about what our GMs do every now and then and I'm staggered. Make sure you take time to step back once in a while and take that in. You're incredible.
Anyway, into the meat. I thought I'd check in with a little update and let you know where we're at. So here we go.
Where are we?
Assets are all completed, at least to the pre-production level. I'm currently awaiting a test run of all assets from the manufacturers in China so I can review EVERYTHING and see what needs to be adjusted. Adjustments will usually come in the form of making objects brighter if they're to dark, or redesigning an image that isn't perfectly readable when printed. The procedure for printing onto vinyl means that images come out darker than their digital origins, so this is a crucial step.
Terrain is all completed (we'll look at those in the next update)! Getting the detail and variation on these is a microscience. I don't think that's a word, but I'll take it. I want these to be reusable endlessly, for many years to come, so getting them just right is essential. I also really want them to be unique (for instance, the Grass terrain in the Shadow Realm pack is different from the Grass terrain in the Adventurer pack. It isn't just desaturated, we've added fog, vines, and other details to make sure it feels like a unique environment). No cutting corners here. I only make products I want to use myself, and my bar is high :)
Timeline - From experience, and having backed numerous KS projects myself, It's always a bad idea to get too into the timeline details because delays always happen (throw a dart at any global event over the last 4 years...). BUT having said that, I'm planning to be hitting manufacturing somewhere around the summer, which puts us bang on track for delivery :)
What Do You Want Next?
Listen. You guys steer the ship, you know what you want. The horizon is filled with my plans and dreams, but I'm curious where we're heading first.
What is it YOU want? Let me know - https://forms.gle/1vM3yFFmK75xb7dF6
*You don't need to sign in, it's all anonymous. Your wishes are all that's required :)
Project We Love
SO excited for this to finally be available! These (Ennie nominated) guys are making some of the best worlds in the biz and this is no exception. Get your Littlings ready for adventure!
Adventures in the Household is a 5E supplement about Littlings, little folks living grand-tiny adventures in a big abandoned House. Set in a regency-like era, 100 years after the disappearance of the Master, Adventures in the Household features an immersive lore that takes players into a unique setting.
Adventures in the Household is the 5E conversion by Jacob Rodgers (Ruins of Symbaroum, Lord of the Rings Roleplaying) of the 2023 ENNIE Award nominated RPG Household, originally designed by Riccardo Sirignano and Simone Formicola (Outgunned, Inferno: Dante's Guide to Hell, Apocalisse), and beautifully illustrated by Daniela Giubellini.
If your players want something fresh to get their teeth into, this is it! Find out more here - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2lm/adventures-in-the-household-5e
Happy gaming!
Ollie (Moonlight Maps)
Assets assets assets + shipping
3 months ago
– Wed, Feb 07, 2024 at 07:05:40 AM
Greetings world builders!
Although I won't be doing updates every month (there isn't always news every month and I try to keep Kickstarter updates as genuine updates and away from the pointless spam) there's been some exciting updates I wanted share with you.
Let's dive in -
Backerkit Surveys and Shipping
Surveys went out a month or so ago and the majority have been completed (THANK YOU), there is still a small percentage of incomplete surveys, so make sure you reach out if you haven't found yours or if you want it to a new address etc.
I've been in meetings with the fulfillment team to make sure shipping costs are as low as they possibly can be. Some of you have reached out asking why the shipping is more than the estimated shipping costs - the estimates are estimates, and they will be (and have been) affected by increased shipping weights due to extra unlocked physical items (extra terrain maps, many extra asset sheets, etc). I will be keeping a tab on this over the year and rest assured we will only charging shipping as we get closer to the delivery window so we know the prices are as accurate, and low, as they can be.
Manufacturing
I've been working with the manufacturers to develop the templates for the physical products, as well as working on the packaging and products themselves.
This phase takes a bit of time. We work around 1 template (which takes x amount of time), print physical samples (development time + delivery time of usually a week or 2), review samples, then if needed we redesign the template and start the process again. Lot's of getting things looking nice, and then waiting for deliveries. It takes time, but it's all part of the process of making sure everything is perfect :) (ATLAS users can vouch for the level of quality I want in my products)
FYI to newcomers - I've been through all of this before with my physical battle maps line ATLAS, so I'm very familiar with it all :)
Assets
If you didn't already know, each pack (and separate asset packs) now come with 8 asset sheets instead of the planned 6, so let's take a look at the 2 new asset pages appearing in each of your packs!
Dungeon
A new sheet of smaller walls for even more customisability, and a new sheet of traps and items (including levers, pits, bridges, traps, and more).
Inferno
I went big with this one. Some huge battlefield defining features in the way of huge lava pits and chasms (which you can use to determine a central path if you place them both on the map - as you can see from the white gap between them, placed even further apart and you have a crossing of your design), and a sheet of large broken wall chunks for building your own ruins.
Tundra
A sheet of broken icy objects for you to decorate your frozen battlefields, and a brand new selection of winter trees.
Fey
A mix of new mossy and root covered rocks, and strange wild mushroom collections to bring your magical fey realms to life.
Adventurer
An extra sheet of trees to thicken your forests, and a selection of battle worn and broken objects to add deeper detail to your encounters.
The Dark
Large holes and chasms to add extra treacherous levels to your underdark world, and a sheet of pillars and stone structures to bring those underground caves to life.
Shadow Realm
Broken and corrupt items and a new selection of vine covered trees, to thicken your forests and add further depth to your shadow realm worlds.
Astral
A brand new selection of crystal and strange material trees and formations, and large bone formations. The bones of old gods or strange new growths, the choice is yours!
Desert
New sheets of pits and chasms, and broken desert items to give your deserts that extra level of detail. Decorate your battle grounds and add intrigue to your deserts.
That's all for now. I'll be back in the coming month or so when there's new awesome elements to look at :)
Happy gaming!
Ollie (Moonlight Maps)
Surveys incoming - mini update
4 months ago
– Fri, Jan 05, 2024 at 06:37:30 AM
Greetings world builders!
I hope you had a wonderful holiday!
Just a quick one to let you know that the surveys are about ready to land in your inboxes. I've just pushed the green button on the 'smoke test', and all being well the main batch of surveys will be sent out next week!
Smoke test? The smoke test is a small scale survey test to make sure everything is working correctly. This is sent to 5% of backers from every tier, so some of you will have this in your emails already. If any issues are discovered we will get those fixed asap and then send out the main batch.
As I said, all being well you can expect to receive your surveys next week! :)
Happy gaming!
Ollie
