Party like its 1982!!
over 8 years ago – Sat, Jan 23, 2016 at 10:21:18 AM

Hey all!!

They retro module version of Death & Taxes is complete and picked up from the printer. They are very nice. Only problem I can see (which is not much of a problem) is they are huge for the format. I declare Death & Taxes representents the largest example of this old school format possible.

It barely fits in the Mylar sleeve with a backing board, but it fits so that ended most of my stress.

Info on delivery follows the images...

The lovely pictures....

 and finally...

 Delivery-

There are about 29 of you that will be getting your box sets along with the retro module (these were the most common add-on). Seven of you will be getting your modules because they WERE your order. The pre-order customers will be getting theirs after all the invoices to you generous folks go out.

That leaves me with about 3-5 unspoken for copies. I also put a few (like 3) aside to hedge against shipping troubles that I may sell in a few weeks. If you did not get one and want one now is the time to contact me. I will not be reprinting them. They are massive.

See for yourself-

Read only PDF of the retro module straight out of InDesign...

https://indd.adobe.com/view/b54b605b-000b-4d85-bf5a-16ac735c1105

Since it is big it clocks in heavy, I think it is just under the 1st Class Package weight. If not it will be shipped via Media Mail with a tracking number. I will send you the tracking number after I get the paid invoice.

I have big news on 5e (its mostly done except layout), the PDF for the old-school (this is going to be massive). I will save them for the next update (likely saying the PDF is finished.

I ordered the poster maps from Alyssa, so if you are getting one of those that will be coming along soon.

Please continue to tell friends, fellow fans, pod casters, bloggers and most of all gamers who like what we make about us. They more it is reviewed, discussed, noticed the more likely I will do it all over again. Making quality games is low margin, high work and the best thing I have ever done. So thank you.

A couple of other notes...

I rarely recommended other kickstarters in my updates. Even ones I get really excited about. Thus, when I do, I really know they are by creators who will deliver. 

The first one is by a guy I heard does some art...

Lloyd Metcalf's days have been prolific and focused. This project is one result of that effort. Its even for 5e. I also heard it has art.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lmetcalf/curse-of-the-white-mine-a-5e-adventure

The second is by a backer of Death & Taxes, a miniatures aficionado and truly a great guy named Ben Burns (whom I have defeated repeatedly at Circus Maximus). I have seen it played and discussed it with him thoroughly so I am confident it will be great. If it crosses the line like it deserves to.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/darkcultgames/ultimate-dinosaur-fighting

 Thanks again everyone.

Zach

Head Gnome

Retro module preview, call to arms, continuing progress
over 8 years ago – Mon, Dec 21, 2015 at 10:48:39 PM

Hey all,  

Digest Update- over 50 OSR boxes shipped, Retro Module ordering and printing, 5e and PF layout expected to start in January, Great Big Maps.

The  wordy long form update (now with 30% more words)...

Call to action

Over 50 of you (about one third) have received you box sets. The response has been very positive and I am pleased everyone likes them. If you are among these recipients it would be HUGE if you could post, tweet and share anywhere like minded nerds would see. I would like to sell as many of them as possible so I can continue making others like them. The more shares of backers impressions or images of Death & Taxes the more grateful I would be. If you want to link a description this  page is a good one to share.

Where is mine?

Those who yet to receive one have not for one of two reasons. 

• they  selected the Pathfinder or 5e version

OR

• ordered add-ons that are not completed yet (primarily the retro module, see below).

I have sent a few boxes to people who did not want to wait and who were willing to pay a second invoice for the extras in the next few months. If that is something you would like to have me do as well I will get one to you. I certainly have the boxes :)

A classic style, always in fashion

Here is the cover of the soon to be printed retro module...

Reminiscent of the biggest of the classic modules it will have 2 card stock gate folds with 2 booklets (36 and 48 pages). It contains all the game text, some new art, and very blue maps to satisfy your nostalgic needs. 

 If you did not add one on during the KS you can pre-order one at the KS price here (link). That is a private backer link, the link for non-backers I will share soon on social media and it will be at slightly higher price point. I am not printing many extras and when they are gone, they are gone forever. I have made these limited retro versions for all our releases and now only have my personal copies left (though I found an extra of the one below that I could part with if the bribe was satisfactory). 

 Example pages are at the link for a few days. If you miss it, email me and I will send a PDF preview for you.

Example map in good old fashioned blue...

The scoop on the other versions 

PDFs

The PDF copy for the OSR version was started when I began bookmarking the keyed areas yesterday. I want this to be one of the nicest digital releases this year and plan to spend serious time to accomplish that. If anyone has requests or suggestions for features they want to see let me know. I am hoping to try to include an interactive map as well as other new-to-me features. I will be working on this between the printing of the retro module and the arrival of the PF/5E drafts. 

 Pathfinder/5E- 

These are still in progress but if Whisper & Venom's Pathfinder conversion is any indication then the final manuscript from Jeff will arrive unheralded and completely finished soon. Both that and the 5e versions are total conversions of the text as well as the creatures and magic items. This makes the layout different enough to require a new layout but similarly styled enough that the time invested will make the production time less than on the first layout. This is also true of 5e. 

 Great big maps and other et cetera items 

 I have contacted Alyssa with an order for the 42" maps and expect they will be printed in early January. These will not to invoiced, if you are getting one I will ship it right away. Apparel orders will be done in February and if you already got your box it will be shipped at my expense. 

 Final thoughts 

 Thanks everyone! Please remember to tell other like-minded nerds about Death & Taxes and to the two of you that have been invoiced but have not yet paid I was waiting for after Christmas to remind you personally, if this might be you contact me and I will re-send you the invoice.

Happy Holidays!

Zach

Lesser Gnome

Covered in bubble wrap...
over 8 years ago – Sun, Nov 15, 2015 at 09:20:53 PM

Hey all,

Here is a fairly short update that includes some lovely pictures and let's everyone know that...

• USPS is picking up boxes for backers tomorrow!!
• More invoices are being sent tonight!
• Has a rough timeline.

First, some lovely pictures...

 Yeah, that is a $70 pledge box. I tried everything imaginable to fit the components in perfectly and it overflowed anyway. Years of tetris did not help, but using the shrink-wrap machine furiously created a corset like effect, which worked.

Ok, shipping....

For the few of you those who picked up your box sets at Gamehole Con you can happily disregard the rest of this update.

Shipping and Invoicing

Bullet points because I am bad at brevity.

• Shipping invoices are coming via PayPal.
• Most of them are for a Medium Flat Rate Box. If its cheaper it will reflect that in the invoice.
• They are going to arrive at a manageable pace so I can ensure I do not miss anybody. I have already started tonight with about 5 invoices and if that goes smoothly I will ramp it up a few more in each batch.
• They will be coming to the email I have on file, which, if you are reading this, should be fine.
• If you do NOT have a PayPal account please contact me right away so we can work something out.

Although we are just starting the process, many of you read this weeks later so here is a handy FAQ-
Why haven't I got my shipping notice?
The most likely reason is you ordered additional add-ons that are not finished yet (Pathfinder, retro module or 5e). If you did order a set for one of those systems and would like to change please contact me directly through Kickstarter. I can help but cannot guarantee a set until after Backerkit tells me I am done with the original orders.
Can I pay in X amount of days?
Sure, you can, However, since I will not send a PayPal invoice to you unless your reward is ready to ship, you won't get a tracking number until I get paid.
I paid this morning and I do not have my box yet!
I expect to be able to process most of the planned rewards within three days of payment.

Why are you typing this instead of shipping?

Maybe I am doing both at the same time :)

Any foreseeable delays?

I am running low on, of all things, 28 mm slotted bases. I have 1000 on order. Got the order verification about 2 hours ago and I expect them mid-week. Once I have those I will begin to batch ship orders out En Masse, or, at least more than 5 at a time :).

Zach

The very tired gnome

They are coming
over 8 years ago – Wed, Nov 04, 2015 at 11:03:48 PM

Hey All. 

 A picture is worth a thousand words…. 

 :) 

That is the OSR $70 Pledge Box Set. I am very pleased, and more than a little relieved, to present to you the Death & Taxes Collector's Box Set (OSR). The set pictured above is identical to the most commonly selected pledge level ($70). All of you at that level or above are eventually getting everything pictured bundled with your chosen ruleset. 

The Breakdown of the Goods

 4 booklets - All books are softcover printed perfect bound using premium color 

• Death & Taxes Adventure Book  76 pp 8.5" x 11" 
• Game Master's Guidebook 58 pp 8.5" x 11" 
• Setting Guide 46 pp 6" x 9" 
• Adventure Map Folio** 6 Maps including all 4 interior maps printed on 11" x 17" glossy paper tucked inside a folio cover with a full-length regional map that includes both the Salise and the Whisper Vale. 

Regional Folded Map 24" x 18" Hi-Quality, printed on 26" x 20" gallery quality white poster paper 

Wax sealed letter** 2

Shrink-wrapped Card Decks

Monster Cards (14) 3" x 5" Color illustration on front, creature description/stats on reverse 

 Magic Items Cards (10)** 3" x 5" Illustrations with color highlights on front, item descriptions and function on rear 

Chessex Premium Dice Set* 7 die polyhedral dice set 2 

Custom Dice (d6, d10)* Chessex Borealis Gnomes always on top (logo is on the six and the "10")

Suedecloth Dice Bag* 4" x 6"

 2 Custom Coins** 1 Golden*, 1 Silver

Gnome Swag Button, tattoo and others

 Miniatures (27 total)

•  Personalities (7) - The Taxman, The Herald (Horn blowing goblin), M. Mange, Nogrod, Thopas, Feuery the Enchantrix* and Draken the Strong* with slotted bases (when appropriate) 
• Empyrean Wards (4) Ladies of the Auctor Archivist, Harpy*, Siren, Sylph (with 4 slotted bases) 
• Gnoll War Band (4) The Taxman's Pack 4 Gnolls (Archer, Axe bearer, Mace wielder, and Spearman) 
• Torlings  (9 with slotted bases)
• Hryggan - Abhorrent Visitor located in bad place that came from a worse one 
• Bone Byrgh - Cave Scavenger Bottom of the food chain that is reinforced with bone armor from less successful visitors 
• Empyrean Guardian - Watchman Watchman waiting for trouble to guard against (with slotted base) 

*Backer item is an exclusive bonus OR an upgraded version of the regular release item

 ** Extra item above and beyond what was promised just to make Death & Taxes better for you. All boxed up the $70 pledge is literally overflowing (the box lid is 1/6" above where it should be) before it is shrink-wrapped. The shipping weight is roughly 4.5 pounds. It only goes up with add-ons and higher pledge tiers. 

 Not pictured but ready for shipping 

 Figurines 

• Half-giant Auditor 
• Hydra 
• Hydra Fountain 

Other USPS 

• FRB Cartons 
• Zach's Anxiety

The overly-detailed specifics and details 

 I will send a shipping invoice to you via email for the EXACT SHIPPING AMOUNT with no charge for packaging or materials. This amount will be printed on the shipping label. The box is heavy so unless you either live in a state which is named or bordering a state named Arizona it will be shipping in a medium flat rate box. I am only invoicing for the actual ship price which, for most domestic shipments, is under $12 after the stamps.com discount. Please!! Complete unfinished surveys on Backerkit now (there are only 5 of you who have not). Verify your address. Backers will be getting invoices beginning next week. But only if they- 

 A) Selected an OSR box set and the only add-ons were figurines. 

 B) You were always only getting figurines 

 Anticipated Questions and Precognitive Answers

 How soon? 

 Next week the invoices will begin arriving to those of you that are getting them. I only create invoices for in the box, ready to ship packages. When you get the invoice you will know it will ship the next business day. 

 I demand mine now, can I have it? 

 Yes, absolutely! 

:) 

So long as your reward includes ONLY an OSR Box Set and/or Minis. 

 I cannot remember my exact order, what was it? 

BackerKit never forgets which allows us the luxury to do so. To find out your specifics login to BackerKit and select your pledge details. If you can't be bothered I will happily do so for you just contact me in a private message. 

THE MOST IMPORTANT DETAIL

 Module versions, Pathfinder and 5e are all being slaved over right now. If your reward includes one or more of those options it will ship when all of it rewards are ready This means that pledge levels over $150 are not complete yet, as well as anyone who added a module version or have a non-OSR ruleset as part your pledge. As stated in the updates (and just like Whisper & Venom fulfillment) the unlocked extra rule-sets would be produced in waves after the OSR set was completed. These are moving forward and the entire process will be much faster. Mostly because I have 95% of the art, all the manufactured items and other, to boring to list, bits and things that bottlenecked the OSR one. These small but important details are no longer bottlenecks instead they have become well-oiled cogs in the Lesser Gnome commercial manufacturing process. 

It was easy to envision my calm and noble patience back when I pledged for non-OSR rulesets back in January. Now that the OSR boxes are released my patience is lacking the strength it exuded confidently in January. Can I get a finished box now even though my pledge level includes more awesome stuff in a few months? 

Why yes you can. Doing this is a logistical folly that creates a great deal of work for me but yep. That said, if you want me to do this because I will do it with a spring in my stride because I want you, the backer, to see the final result as quickly as possible. We are incredibly proud of it and getting your reward to you is a reward to us. The early support and trust by you is why Death & Taxes got published in the box-busting form you see above. 

 Thus, I will make time, stop time or buy time in order to accommodate requests from backers to change/upgrade/split shipments in their reward tiers. The major caveat being that no pledge can be decreased and a slight delay should be expected. I will process and invoice the override requests only after I am caught up with the original unaltered pledge invoicing. I expect the delay to be no more than 3-7 business days but that is only a guess. 

 What if I want to upgrade a book/module reward to a box set? 

 The project rules established during the pledge management phase say no. But I say yes (see above). This becomes a bit complicated for record keeping so please PM me in KS and so we can figure out specifics. 

 My holiday gift planning became obsolete the moment I saw that picture. Can I order the many extra boxes I now know I cannot live without right now? 

 Yes. I will have them for sale to the public on the web after November 15th. These are collector sets (which are awesome but still not as awesome as the backer ones). For the time being these are the only type of sets I am selling. They will be more expensive on the web site than the KS price to better reflect the actual costs of the physical manufacturing. It behooves you to contact me and use that backer VIP status if you want extras. 

 Summary about timeline and changes/adjustments to shipping 

The invoices will come via email. 

They will be through BackerKit or PayPal and after 48-72 hours I will send a reminder on Kickstarter. 

I am willing and able to make almost any change to your pledge except refunds. Please understand it increases the workload at our one person worldwide fulfillment HQ thus taking a little extra time to process but no extra time to ship as everything is at said worldwide HQ. 

Basically, I don't mind the work if you don’t mind any extra shipping invoices involved. 

If you have questions let me know. 

GameHole Con 

If YOU are going to be at GAMEHOLE CON and want your pledge reward I want to give it to you. 

I will have a limited number (5-ish) of the backer reward boxes (rewards plus exclusives) with me. If you are going to be there (and I did not contact you directly already) please message me. If I cannot accommodate you at GameHole Con but you come by the booth I have a way to reward you generously that involves you saving money, getting younger and feeling heroic all at the same time. 

So please drop by. 

Thank you all so very much, you will not be disappointed. 

Zach Glazar, Head Gnome 

 PS- If you have not done so please show the world that you love children and support the hospitals that need them by donating to Lesser Gnome's Extra Life pledge drive. 

Even if your charitable contributions are limited to giving good vibes you should check it out as we will be streaming 24 hours of Edwin running Death & Taxes on Twitch.TV. Prizes by me will be available for participating audience members. 

 Giving to Extra-Life is like buying a medieval indulgence. Those are awesome! 

Not enough? 

Well, if you live in Maine I am pretty sure Edwin will shovel freshly fallen snow* for generous child-loving donors in the area. In fact, I will buy him an extra shovel with a gnome logo to remind him of your generosity. 

 Z

The Crunch
over 8 years ago – Wed, Aug 19, 2015 at 11:03:24 PM

Greetings!

SHORT VERSION- Layout is progressing very well. The last order of figurines for the first boxed sets was shipped this morning. New art. Color maps. New products.

I am shoulder deep in the end stages of getting Death & Taxes to you. As you will see the layout already has a more polished look than Whisper & Venom. It is certainly larger in every measure than matters except the one that matters most- the budget. I have one expense for physical components remaining; the cost of the books. This puts  Death & Taxes comfortably within my expectations logistically.

The only aspect of the project which exceeded projections is … well, let us loosely refer to it as 'labor'. A significant number of people worked hard hours to shape Death & Taxes into something all of you will be proud to own.

Two quick things I want to mention before I go into the project details. There are two new Lesser Gnome product releases today. Yay! Both are the direct result of Zach studying and trying new InDesign tricks to use in Death & Taxes. The first new releaseis totally awesome and the second is totally free (and awesome at any price)!

Earlier tonight The First Sentinel PDF went on sale- both at the Gnome Store and at RPGNow.com. Released last year as a retro module, The First Sentinel is now formatted in the least retro format available; a 28-page PDF.

It is a solid PDF that contains everything from Sentinel's release last year plus more. It sports all the features which define PDFs as a format. 

Our second release is……

A PDF download!

Lesser Gnome's Creature Catalog is a collection of monsters from all of our earlier releases- Whisper & Venom, Bird of a Feather and the First Sentinel. The PDF includes interactive elements plus other PDF snazziness. It also has the right price- Free!

Available at our website as well as http://www.rpgnow.com/.

Death & Taxes Layout Spreads

Images above are example spreads from the Death & Taxes InDesign file.

The adventure book file is now over 60% placed and the actual time involved in putting it together is less than I expected. I have a workflow plan actually which includes the various versions of Death & Taxes in a timeline. I even got an early start on the old-school module and hardcover versions earlier this week. The bottom line is I expect this to be finished with the things I can actually accomplished soon.

What is left?

The GM Guide and Setting Guides are having their last consistency changes, once done the rest will be a quick process. Layout is easier on both and when I am done I can start packing miniatures :

Conversions

Pathfinder

I sent payment to Jeff Tadlock for the Pathfinder conversion, I hope  to send him the adventure file tonight.

5e

Edwin has been working for months with me now on Death & Taxes. During that entire time the 5e conversion has been discussed by both of us and planned by Edwin. Once the OSR version is at the printer I expect that the 5e will quickly become his focus.

The expected release order is still -

• OSR Boxed Set
• OSR Retro Module
• Pathfinder Boxed Set
• 5E Boxed Set
• OSR Hardcover
• Dedicated full feature PDF of the three versions.

Maps

I do not need to say very much as these speak for themselves.

Alyssa promised me she would out do the Whisper Vale map and she did.

The maps actually share a common border and therefore  make a really big map :)

A really big map.

Dungeon maps

Here is the final dungeon level maps without the keyed locations. The style is exactly what I hoping for and suspect all of you will feel the same. There will be three other maps styled like the one below, based on the maps I posted in a previous update.

Miniatures

They are either in a mold, on a USPS truck or in my garage. These have gone smoothly since day one. So much so that the two extras are included…

Speaking of extras, the top picture is the final of the well-muscled elf fighter figurine, based on an appropriately strong character played for many years by one of our uber-backers The lower picture is of Feuery, the gnome enchantress, sporting a fresh coat of paint thanks to Allan Williams (Allan, incidently, is the reason that the Feuery mini will be in everyone's fulfillment packages he deserves great praise).

Art, Art, Art

and finally a real villain, its obvious because of the monocle :)

What else?

I could keep going but I do not think anyone except me will read this far. Especially since the project is shaping up well .

Of course, if you have any specific questions, please feel free to contact me.

Respectfully,

Zach Glazar

Head Gnome