July Update
8 months ago
– Mon, Jul 28, 2025 at 10:05:34 AM
As I mentioned last time, we have polished up Chapter 1 by finishing the rest of the writing and editing, while also taking your feedback into account. You should have already received a notification from BackerKit that the final version of Chapter 1 is ready, and boy is it a beauty. Here are a few spreads, including the new map of the Forge itself.
We've also got a few of the new illustrations recently completed by Matt! This will be by far the most visually stunning book we've put together.
Release Schedule
To be up front, we are behind on this project and won't be able to release it by our target of August. This is due to a few factors, some in our control and some not. We are directly impacted by the tariff issues, as there are not any feasible options for printing the card decks outside of China based on the volume we need.
The bigger issue however is that as a two person project, it's taken us longer than anticipated to both illustrate the items and write the mechanics. That's on us, but we're working at a breakneck pace to get this out to you. We'll have an updated tameline in the August update. Thanks for your patience!
June Update
9 months ago
– Fri, Jun 27, 2025 at 02:43:49 PM
Hi friends,
You should be receiving e-mails from BackerKit as we speak with a link to the next beta test document. We've finished the text and mechanics for the Astral Forge itself, which is an important part of the first chapter of the book. It is worth noting what this draft doesn't include are the guides to navigating the Astral Sea, finding the forge, as well as tables for adventure ideas.
In addition to polishing up the text, we've also commissioned the forge map from our friend Saga Mackenzie, who has done many maps across several of our projects. I expect to share the map with you and the completed chapter in our July update.
The update includes the layout of the forge itself, background on the Forgemaster, and stat blocks for all of the denizens of the forge. We love feedback, so look it over and less know if anything jumps out at you - good or bad!
Timeline
We are still hard at work on the book and have made good progress so far. The reality of making this man illustrations has us a little farther behind than we would like, but I'm excited to keep showing off what we have as we move towards the finish line.
Tariffs are still an issue for us, especially given the challenges of printing boxed sets of cards outside of China. We'll in "wait and see" mode on what those taxes will mean, but we've explored several options when it comes to printing the books themselves in other countries. None of this will effect delivery of digital rewards, of course!
May Update
11 months ago
– Mon, May 19, 2025 at 11:54:02 AM
Hi friends,
My apologies for the wait between updates. A lot of my effort of the last few months has been exploring different options for this and other projects due to the tariff situation. While printing books is generally possible outside of China, finding realistic options for the card decks has been more of an issue.
Thankfully, there has been some headway on tariff negotiations, and I'm hopeful they will drop further by the time we're ready to print.
The other positive news is that we're mostly in "no news is good news" territory on this project. Writing and illustration is still ongoing, and we believe we're on track to deliver on time. That said, we're going to provide more new art and sample items in future updates, just to show off our progress.
Item Sets
One of the fun things we're doing with Treasures From the Astral Forge is borrowing from some of our favorite video games by including item sets. These are sets of three magical items that are fleshed out and useful on their, but also come with additional bonuses when a character attunes to all three at once.
For example, the Pompeja Set includes a dagger, short sword, and armor that each have powers of their own. When the three are combined, each item gains an additional bonus that fits with the overall theme.
February Update
about 1 year ago
– Fri, Feb 28, 2025 at 01:16:13 PM
Hi friends,
Apologies for the extended silence, but we're just quietly plugging away here. Matt and I are working on the writing and the art and we're still on schedule to have this out on time.
Over the last few weeks, my focus has unfortunately shifted a bit due to the changing scope of the tariffs on Chinese imports. We've printed books in Europe in the past but were planning to move to China for this and subsequent projects. However, the current state of things is making it necessary to consider all of our options. This won't impact your pledge in any way, but I want to have some choices in place in case things keep changing without much notice.
As for upcoming updates, we're going to aim for some themes each month as we reveal more art and details about the book. We'll look over some of our concepts like item sets with stackable bonuses, potion making, and details about the forge itself.
Surveys are Out!
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Dec 20, 2024 at 01:48:49 PM
We ran into no issues during the smoke test, so we've just sent out the remaining surveys. This is your chance to pay for shipping and pickup add-ons. Keep in mind we won't be locking addresses for some time, so you have plenty of change to update that in the future.
Have a wonderful holiday season and reach out with any issues you might have! In January we'll start back with a steady flow of fresh art and items to keep you updated.
