created by Howard Tayler and Alan Bahr, and set in the universe of SCHLOCK MERCENARY
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
We went from this fairly empty space:
To a space that looks like this:
There are actually three more pallets of books that will arrive tomorrow. (It was economically advantageous to split the shipment.) And inside the boxes:
So here is the schedule:
Today through Friday: Sandra scrambles and finalizes the errata document so it can be included in all the boxes.
Saturday: Howard, Sandra, and Alan gather to sign books for the folks at Commodore level who get signed books.
Monday: The first packages will go out.
Going forward, Sandra will be giving you a once-per-week shipping update. That update will take place on Fridays starting with Friday June 30. (This update counts for this week.)
Other communications you may get:
You may get an email from BackerKit which offers you 48 hours to update your address. That means your package is among the ones that will be shipped in the next batch. If your address is correct, you don't need to do anything. If it isn't, please follow the link and update your address. We don't want to have your package bounce back to us.
We're really excited to start delivering packages to all of you.
Sandra, Howard, & Alan
Greetings Backers,
This beautiful thing arrived at Chez Tayler this morning:
Those are actual copies of the finished book. We only have three of them right now. (One for Howard, one for Alan, one for Sandra.) The remaining 6100 of them are in Wisconsin, but will soon be getting on a truck to travel to Utah. My contact at the printer says I can expect them to arrive sometime between June 22-29. We'll know more when the trucking company gives us a tracking number.
Shipping is done in batches according to backer level and package contents. I'm likely to start at the higher pledge levels and work my way downward. So the High Admirals, Rear Admirals, Gencon field Marshals, and Retailers will get shipped first. Those can all go out on the same day. Once I hit the Commodore Level, I'll have some sorting to do. There are over 700 of you and 300 packages in a day is about the limit. Doing more than that adds strain on people, the post office, and physical space.
Shipping days will be interspersed with days where we need to do other things. This is both because other things matter, but also because we'll have to order additional shipping supplies for each batch. The warehouse is packed tight with Planet Mercenary stuff and there isn't physically space to also order all of the shipping supplies at once. Also, it takes at least half day to process and create 300 shipping labels so that we can spend a day shipping 300 packages. If those labels are international with customs forms, printing postage takes even longer.
I'll organize which packages go out on which day based on package contents. One day might be Commodore packages with Pristine Seventy Maxims books. Another might be Commodore with Defaced Seventy Maxims books. Yet another might be Commodore with add on items. I don't know yet what the groupings will be. Fortunately the BackerKit system makes this sorting simple to do.
I will do my best to keep you all updated on shipping status, so that you have an idea of when your package is going out. But those status updates are likely to be in list format because I'll be focusing on getting the shipping done instead of writing about it in detail. I'm so excited for you all to get to hold the books. They're beautiful and you made them possible.
--Sandra, Howard, Alan
PS: Now is a good time to make sure your address is correct in BackerKit if you haven't already. The address in BackerKit is the one I will use when printing postage: https://planet-mercenary-rpg.backerkit.com/
PPS: There is a glowing review of the game over on DriveThru RPG. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product_reviews_info.php?&reviews_id=172785&products_id=209884
Or if you want to see Alan really excited about his copy, you can go here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10103538990107429&set=a.749370388749.2336066.17825257&type=3&theater
Greetings backers,
It is time for your bi-weekly update.
First: now is a good time to update your address. Log in to Backerkit to do this. If you don’t remember how to get into Backerkit, use this link. https://planet-mercenary-rpg.backerkit.com/ If you are having trouble with the system, email [email protected]
Status reports:
We got the next set of page proofs this morning. These are the actual pages that will be bound into your books. Once I approve them, the binding will begin. Binding is expected to be complete by June 16. Then the bulk shipment of thousands of books has to be sent to Hypernode Headquarters so that Sandra can mail them to you.
The files for the Planet Mercenary PDF are finalized. You can acquire your copy through DriveThrurpg.com or via BackerKit. The PDF should be available for sale at DriveThru later this week.
This will ship with the book, so we’re already beginning to organize information and put it together. If you have found something that you think should be noted in the document, you can submit it at this link: Planet Mercenary Errata
We have all the components. As soon as we have the book we can begin shipping orders.
Work has begun on this. Things that we know we will include are: an expanded index for the Planet Mercenary book, a detailed example of combat in a Planet Mercenary game, and specific advice for creating NPCs. There will be other things as well. We’re still gathering and organizing material. We’ve scheduled the last week of June to make a concerted push to get the writing done. Editing will happen after that.
Design work has begun on a test site, we'll take it live when it is ready for viewing. We plan for the site to have downloads from us and a mechanism by which players can share resources.
This addendum Kickstarter has closed funding. This week Sandra will be processing surveys and working to combine orders for those who have requested it.
Thanks again for being one of our backers. We're really excited that we'll soon be able to deliver things to you.
--Howard, Sandra, & Alan
Greetings Backers,
We just clicked the button to update the Planet Mercenary PDF files. The PDF now has clickable hyperlinks in the Table of Contents, Indexes, and cross references. We also added a form-fillable version of the Character Sheet PDF. This is the final version of the PDF. Some time in the next week, we'll be making Planet Mercenary purchasable through DriveThru RPG.
We've found the following forums where people are discussing Planet Mercenary and sharing resources. The Planet Mercenary team doesn't have admin rights on these forums, they're places that fans have set up because they love the game. We're delighted to see fans making places to connect and welcome new people.
Over on Reddit, there is a subreddit specifically for Planet Mercenary: https://www.reddit.com/r/PlanetMercenaryRPG/
Giant in the Playground forums: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?525411-The-Planet-Mercenary-RPG-quot-Schlock-Mercenary-The-Roleplaying-Game-quot
In other news: the cardboard GC screen arrived yesterday. The only piece we're waiting for is the book then all the orders begin to ship. We've begun work re-designing Planetmercenary.com. Errata collection is coming along nicely. And the Deluxe Handbrain screen has hit its first stretch goal.
Thank you for all your support.
Howard, Sandra, & Alan