Ultimate Treasury: 1001 DnD 5E treasures, monsters, & magic

Layout, VTTs, and Fulfillment!
almost 2 years ago – Sat, Jul 09, 2022 at 01:48:02 AM

Hi all, 

Time for a quick news flash. Let's take these in reverse order. 

1.  Fulfillment: As we noted in our last update, we received a massive book drop from our Boricubos Kickstarter, and between that and fulfilling card games and print-on-demand orders for Mythos Monsters we've sent out somewhere around 500-600 packages over the last week or two to backers all over the world! If you've backed either of those projects, we are excited for your books and games to arrive soon! For Ultimate Treasury, we will not be locking addresses until books arrive, so if you anticipate moving over the next few months, just log into Backerkit and edit your details whenever you need to do so! 

2.  VTTs - Fantasy Grounds and Roll20: On the subject of VTTs, we've submitted requests for 153 Roll20 backers and 58 Fantasy Grounds backers to get their VTT product keys/codes. We are working with them to see if we can get all 8 Treasury of... modules in the "Massive Magic" bundle put together with a single key/code to make it easier to access, but if that doesn't work, we'll simply send each backer 8 key/codes, one for each module. We should have those back to send out probably on Monday. 

2a.  Do we have any Foundry VTT fans? With our Mythos Monsters Quick-Starter, we commissioned Foundry VTT versions of the Pathfinder 2E module, as that VTT is particularly popular with users of PF2, and due to popular demand, we also did one for 5E. We are just getting started on Foundry, but we're curious to know how many folks here are Foundry fans so we can plan whether that is something we should try to include in future projects when possible. 

3.  Layout. We unfortunately had to change layout people on this project. Our original person was doing good quality work, but due to a combination of factors was just not making the progress we needed, responding with timely communication, or hitting necessary milestones. Things that we thought were well in hand based on page samples and assurances simply were not, and after trying to work through it, it was time to wish them well and move on. 

On June 29, we switched the project to a different layout artist (one with a long history with us of fast work and reliable communication) who has spent the last week and a half going through the files we received from the first person. The good news is that after that review and setup work, we have 175 pages of mostly solid work that can be built on, though only the first 2 chapters are basically complete; the remainder of the pages are scattered across 7 other chapters. Our new layout person is leaving tomorrow for a weeklong family trip but will be diving into Ultimate Treasury full bore when he returns. 

Our apologies to each of you for the delay on the project. We expected to have final PDFs ready for you in July but due to this situation it looks like it'll be August instead. Looking forward to getting these into your hands ASAP! 

A Note in Memory...
almost 2 years ago – Mon, Jun 27, 2022 at 03:54:24 PM

Hi all, layout is continuing after what turned into a health-related delay, and things are moving along again. Thinking about health also made me think of two of the contributors to this book who unfortunately did not survive to see it in print. I read Knights of the Dinner Table for a long time and one of their traditions when a member of gaming group passes is sharing the poem called "The Empty Chair." It's fitting to remember that even in games and gaming tomorrow is not promised. A half-dozen or so times, I've received packages returned to me marked "Deceased," and every time it makes me sad. 

On the Ultimate Kingdoms project, we have had two such losses in the time we've been working on this book. Just last week, artist Terry Pavlet passed away. I didn't know Terry well, but he was certainly a pleasure to work with and did a number of fun illustrations for this book like the cavalry baton, strangling straps, tiger's fang, and of course...

The other contributor who has gone to that Great Gaming Table in the Sky was author and developer Jeff Ibach, a longtime freelancer and friend to Legendary Games for most of a decade. He had just turned in one of many contributions in the fall of 2020 and was taking a short break before diving back in... and the next week he was gone. It felt like I had just talked to him when I saw the message online from his wife breaking the news. Jeff was a great designer and a great guy and also a lover of cats, and if you feel so moved charities like Alley Cat Allies are great ways to lend a paw. 

It's important to recognize people that help you along the way. Sometimes it's only in their memory, like with dedicating this book to Jeff and Terry, but whenever you can remember to show the love to everyone in your circles. It's kind of a joke to say, "the real treasure you find is the friends along the way," but as you get older in life especially, you realize how true it really is. We are delighted and so thankful for your support for the Ultimate Treasury and hope you have a blast using it at your table, but we also wanted to take a moment to thank two of the friends we found along the way who helped make this book what it is.

Backerkit Lock and Fulfillment ENGAGED!
almost 2 years ago – Thu, Jun 23, 2022 at 01:05:36 AM

Hi all,

We've hit the lock button on Backerkit and charged cards, so all downloadables are now available through your Backerkit account. Here are our next steps!

• Incomplete Surveys and Declined Cards: We have 172 surveys left incomplete and 38 credit cards that were declined. Please check your inbox, as Backerkit should notify you with a reminder about your survey and with an alert if your card was declined. It could be as simple as your card's fraud protection kicking in - I've got one card that locks up if someone sneezes. Better safe than sorry, but sometimes I've gotta call or text to get it approved. 
• Retailer Pledges: We've talked with some of your directly, but still have not heard from the remainder. Reach out and get in touch and we will set up your retailer order with a separate Paypal invoice (just easier doing it that way rather than through Backerkit, due to the specialized nature of each order).
• VTT Modules: Now that we've locked and processed cards, we can start ordering our product keys for the VTT bundles and can start sending them out over the next week. 
• Addresses: I won't lock addresses until we receive the physical books and are ready to start shipping. If you are going to be moving, you can go into Backerkit and update your information. We'll do a notification when we are close to shipping to remind everyone to check their information and then lock addresses and download them for shipping labels, but that won't likely be until around December.
• 5E Magic Item PDFs: The Ultimate Treasury itself is still in layout and we will have some news on that coming shortly, but we've sent out through Backerkit the 9 themed magic item PDFs that formed a lot of the original impetus for doing this project. It's not the full collection by a long shot, but it's a heaping helping of treasury to tide you over while the big book gets done.

Last but not least, our Mythos Monsters QUICK-starter ends tomorrow, June 23rd! If you missed our Mythos Monsters 5E Quick-starter last year, you can get the D&D version of the book as part of this project, as well as the new Pathfinder 1E and 2E versions, plus some great add-ons. The PDFs for this project are ready for immediate fulfillment when the project ends, and the books are ready to start printing and shipping (the 5E books are already printed, so we can start shipping them out next week)! If Lovecraftian tentacular terrors and Things from Beyond are your bag, we hope you'll check it out with pledge levels starting at just $10! THE STARS ARE RIGHT!!

Backerkit going well! Preview pages!
almost 2 years ago – Tue, Jun 14, 2022 at 09:59:32 PM

Hi all,

Thanks to everyone who has responded to their Backerkit survey! Out of 1619 backers, 1293 (nearly 80%) of you have already responded! We appreciate the quick response in under a week and if you haven't had a chance to answer your survey yet, by all means please do at your earliest convenience! We'd like to start locking orders next week so people can start getting their downloads and we can start ordering VTT modules based on the final list of people ordering them! 

In addition to the final art pieces coming in for the final chapter of the book, we wanted to show off more page samples! This is not a book where it's simply an alphabetical encyclopedia of all things magical. Each chapter is thematic, from chapters on Treasure Hoards and Treasure Monsters to Rods, Staves, and Wands, and a comprehensive chapter on not just potions per se, but all manner of Potions and Alchemical Items! Your inboxes might rebel if I sent through too many images, but here's a 10-page sample that just scratches the surface of the amazing things within this book! 

Backerkit Survey is up!
almost 2 years ago – Fri, Jun 10, 2022 at 07:18:13 PM

Hi all,

After tweaking some of the shipping and weight parameters from the Smoke Test (thanks for feedback; things were a little off), we sent the survey out live to everyone last night! Please take a minute to review and respond at your earliest convenience so we can get things buttoned up. It's a great chance to add some extra items you were pondering earlier but hadn't decided on for sure, but please do reply even if it's just to say "yes, my info is correct" and nothing more. A couple of quick notes:

• 1.  Ultimate Kingdoms PDF Add-On Price Issue: This add-on had a typo in the price on Kickstarter ($29 instead of $19), but once a KS starts and someone has pledged you can't edit it. If you're one of the fans who ordered that add-on in Kickstarter, you got charged $29 in Kickstarter but in specifying your add-ons in Backerkit the correct charge of $19 was applied, which leaves you with a $10 credit. 
• What can I do with this credit? If you have a physical pledge or any other add-ons you want to include in Backerkit, you can simply apply your credit there. Alternatively, you can email us at [email protected] (or through the "Backer support" in Backerkit) and we can refund $10 to you via Paypal. As a third option, you could select one or more LG PDFs from our website up to $15 and we'll send it to you instead. Let us know your preference and we'll get it sorted.
• 2.  When Will PDF Add-Ons Be Available? For the base pledges, we sent the PDFs for already-completed items out through DrivethruRPG the day after the Kickstarter. If you order a digital add-on through Backerkit or Kickstarter, you'll be able to download those directly from Backerkit once we lock orders and charge cards, which will be in 10 days. For VTT add-ons, we need to get download codes/keys from the vendors, and we'll send those out manually. 

If you have any questions, by all means let us know and we'll get right back to you as soon as we can! Thanks again for your amazing support!