Surveys, Books, & Production News!
7 months ago
– Mon, Apr 15, 2024 at 09:24:52 AM
The Surveys Are Out!
If you didn't see the previous update, the surveys for the Champions of the Hundred Halls game are out. Currently, 82% of the backers have responded, which means we only need 60 more to be complete so we're ready for all the fullfillments!
Update on the Books
Speaking of the fulfillment, our plan is to send out any of the book rewards (eBook, Audiobook, Paperbacks, and Lore Packet) next week starting on Tuesday, April 23rd. So make sure you've filled out the survey so we can correctly send the rewards to you. If you haven't filled out the email address portion of the survey by then, we'll use the one associated with your Kickstarter pledge.
And don't worry if you see this too late, and it's the wrong email address in Kickstarter. We can always send them again if they went to the wrong place, but we want to try to get them all done at once. If something doesn't reach your inbox, just email me ([email protected]) and we'll get it fixed right away. I'll send out another update a few days after we've sent the electronic rewards, so you know if you've gotten them or not (probably the Friday after which is April 26th.)
Exciting Production News!
Today we uploaded the last of our production files to our manufacturer, Hero Time. They still have to do file checks, and then we have another round of electronic verifications, but assuming all goes well, they should be printing the initial prototype by the end of the month.
Once we receive the prototype and verify everything is correct, the game will go in the production schedule. One of the reasons we chose Feb/Mar timing for the campaign was to get ahead of the busy summer schedule for our manufacturer, which we're looking to achieve. This means that we should be able to beat the original October timing for backers receiving the game, but I'm not ready to announce any dates until we're further along in the process.
Once we're placed in the schedule, we'll have one more chance to verify the game, and then it will go to full printing. At that point, we'll let BackerKit know to charge for shipping, and then we should be able to give a pretty detailed schedule on when to expect your copy of Champions of the Hundred Halls.
I don't know about you all, but I'm excited! Knowing that we're getting closer to seeing a final version of the game in our greedy little hands is palpable.
That's it for now. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
Tom & Rachel
The Surveys are Incoming!
8 months ago
– Sun, Mar 31, 2024 at 01:30:15 PM
BackerKit Surveys Incoming
Payments from Kickstarter will be hitting our bank account early this week, so it's time to send out the surveys. They should be arriving in your email inbox by the end of the week. We're sending surveys through BackerKit rather than Kickstarter, so keep an eye out for them.
If you can please return them right away, especially if you have electronic rewards. While we're still a ways from production of the game, we need to confirm what email you want to use for eBooks, and/or the Lore Packet. We use BookFunnel to send out electronic rewards and have been for many years. They have a great system and excellent customer service if you have any issues. We expect to send them out by mid-April.
Champions Production Status
As I mentioned above, the electronic rewards will be the first thing you receive, but what about the game? Right now, the only thing left to send to our manufacturer (Hero Time Games) is the box design. We're still waiting on information from them before we can finalize the box. Then we'll have to order the prototype, which will take a month to receive, then assuming there are no problems we can get into the production schedule this summer with an eye on fall shipping.
And as a reminder on the shipping, we'll be charging for it through BackerKit when it's about time to get them into the mail. That probably won't occur until late summer.
Pre-Order Store
If there's anything you missed during the Kickstarter, or you want to order more games, the pre-order store is live. You can go here to check it out. I also added non-Hundred Halls books at a discounted price if you're interested.
Other Kickstarters to Check Out
Frost & Shadows Hardcover & Audiobook
The Tabletop Math Games Collection: 80+ Ways to Play Math
Champions of the Hundred Halls Campaign Complete!
8 months ago
– Fri, Mar 15, 2024 at 10:11:22 AM
Campaign Complete!
Whew! The Champions campaign is now over. Rachel and I did a shot of fireball when the countdown hit zero last night. The campaign was exciting, but also exhausting. If you've ever ran a Kickstarter campaign, you'll know the feeling of relief when it's over!
I won't go into the "What's next" since I did that yesterday. If you pledged in the last 8 hours, you missed that update, but you can see it in the update section if you want to read about the general schedule for what's going on next.
Game Design
During the campaign, we talked a lot about the layout, but not much about actual game play changes since the prototype that was seen in our videos and the review videos. Some of those showed up on the latest images on the campaign, but I didn't really talk them about except fleetingly. I'll go over them at a high level:
- Changed player cards of Moriganne & Pythia to make the themes of the deck more accessible and also more on flavor for the characters from the books.
- Small tweaks to individual player cards based on how often we saw them used during playtesting. One of my design criteria was that all cards should see use in certain situations. Also, that play patterns were varied based on what was happening in the game, rather than just following the optimal strategy for that deck. At least one card from every player deck changed slightly with this idea in mind.
- Increased the difficulty of the Aepep, Black Council, and Citadel decks slightly. Not big changes, but I wanted more tension in game play. The higher level decks (Invasion, Circle of Scale, and Diamond Court) were tuned exactly where I wanted them to be during playtesting, so they were left as-is.
I cannot wait for to ship the game to you in the fall. Playtesting was a ton of fun and I can't wait to get the final version in everyone's greedy hands!
Multiplayer Campaign Mode
I really thought we were going to hit the third stretch reward. We were only $257 away, which is heartbreakingly close.
Since I know how much people wanted to see this included, I'm thinking about adding it as a free bonus later on using links for the rules and any Print & Play materials. Right now, I'm not doing anything with it since we're getting all our files ready for the manufacturer, but I should have the summer to work on it. I have a version ready right now, but I have some ideas on how to make it better and that should give me the time to really test those changes. Of course, since it wasn't included in the rewards, it won't come with the tokens or other materials required, but if I do a free Print & Play then you can access them on your own.
I'll keep you updated as things progress.
Next Steps
For the next two weeks, you probably won't hear from us unless something changes. The next update and communication will be around the surveys that you'll receive to help us with the shipments, but that won't come until after we've been paid by Kickstarter. So until then--happy gaming!
Tom & Rachel
Last 8 Hours!!
8 months ago
– Thu, Mar 14, 2024 at 10:57:53 AM
Thank You for Your Support!
While we're not quite done with the campaign, we have around 8 hours left by the time we send this out, we wanted to take the time to thank you all for your support. We've had five successful publishing campaigns, but this was our first table top game campaign and it's been quite a different (positive!) experience.
We've loved the engagement from the Kickstarter community. Champions of the Hundred Halls will be a better product for it and we will definitely incorporate everything we've learned into future table top gaming campaigns.
What's Next?
A real quick primer on the next steps. This is subject to change, but we plan on keeping everyone up to date with regular status updates on the campaign.
- Campaign Ends Tonight!
- Kickstarter will charge cards or whatever form of payment you put it once it's over.
- In two weeks, we'll receive our payment and the final list of backers.
- We'll send out a survey for shipping information and other details.
- In early April, we'll send out any book related rewards (physical, eBooks, or audiobooks) since we already have all of those.
- Sometime in April, we'll receive our final prototype for approval.
- Champions will be printed sometime this summer, depending on where we end in the manufacturing schedule.
- Once the game is close to getting shipped out, we'll confirm addresses and payments.
- If all goes as planned, everyone should be receiving their games by October 2024.
This is a real rough schedule, but it hits the major points. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Other Campaigns to Back
Sands of Time: A 5E Desert Adventure
Listen to Your Heart Tarot Challenge Signed Limited Edition!
Galactic Pirates Collection: New Space Opera Romance Ebooks
We Hit Stretch Reward #2!
8 months ago
– Tue, Mar 12, 2024 at 06:28:58 AM
Stretch Reward #2: Lore Packet!!
The campaign is moving along at a good pace now. After the slow start, we've been picking up momentum in the final few days due to your help in spreading the word.
The second stretch reward is the Lore Packet which includes background information, a map of the City of Sorcery, and a short story set in the Hundred Halls.
Final Two Days!
The last two days of the campaign are upon us! Right now I think we still have a good shot at hitting the 3rd stretch reward (Multiplayer Campaign) and an outside chance at the 4th one (Tuck Boxes). If you're not familiar with Kickstarter campaigns, they typically have a big jump at the end as people who were following it decide to join the fun before it ends. So if you want to make sure we hit those last two, please share the campaign with your friends.
Thank you everyone who has backed so far. We couldn't do this without you.
Tom & Rachel
Other Campaigns to Back
Tales of the Outlaw Mages: Quirky Western Fantasy Adventure
Sea Crown: an Urban Fantasy Book Series with a Salty Kick
Too Much Tinsel: Book 1 of the Fame and Flames Series
