I got responses from 73% of the smoke test, and there was nothing too crazy going on, so I released all the surveys into the wild.  Please check out the survey questions... I am very interested to hear about people's opinion on the future of Wasteland Degenerates!

In addition, I've opened the pre-order store, so folks who missed the campaign can now buy the zine and add-ons individually.

Note to EU purchasers: The shipping rules for shipping from the US to the EU are hideously complex, so if you happen to notice a drastic discrepancy with your costs, let me know and we can look into it.

Right now we're looking at shipping for late October, since the campaign did so well and funded so many extra pages.  Even now, Matthew is working on new pages and fixing stuff I forgot to add in the first place.  For my part, I've taken into account playtest data (thanks, Flintwyrm!) and made some major overhauls to the highway combat system to make it flow better and be more true to Mörk Borg's essence.

I'm excited and a little terrified to be moving into this new phase of self-publishing.  I want to thank you all for your great support and kind words along the way.

Sincerely,

Scott

PS - if you haven't already, go click on the "Notify me on launch" button for CHAINSAW by Matthew Myslinski, the very artist for Wasteland Degenerates!  He's worked super hard on this project and it's going to be the definitive horror movie Mörk Borg, in my humble opinion!

Sorry it's been a while since I rapped at ya, but it's taken me a bit to wrap my head around the surveys, and it's given Matthew a chance to get rolling on the new pages.   After discussing layout and remaining pages, Matthew has advised me that we can likely go to print in late October.  I know this is later than we initially expected, but we also funded 16 pages of extra content.  While this was originally going to be a separate 16 page booklet, we decided that it didn't make sense to release a separate zine, so now it's going to be a 76 page zine instead of a 64 page zine, and you're also getting a handy-dandy quick reference rule card.

Anyway, I've sent the smoke test to a selection of backers and we'll work through any tricky issues or errors with the survey before it gets sent to the rest of you.  Already identified one weird interaction that I'm going to fix, tonight hopefully.

Speaking of new pages, here's part of the Job Board, just for fun:
 
In other news, I emailed copies of Blood on the Bleak Road to those that ordered the physical edition.  Look for an email from [email protected] and let me know if there's a problem with your files.  You'll also get the files after you complete your surveys.

That's all I have for now.  Thank you for your patience, and please know that we're working to get your goodies to you as soon as possible!

May I see you on the road eternal!

Cards have been charged and most of the transactions went through. 

After taking some much-needed downtime after the campaign, I have been working on the surveys.  We just have a couple more things to sort out.  Specifically, I realized that it didn't make much sense to have a 16 page add-on zine when I could just add the extra pages to the Jumper Cable Edition.  80 pages is a little awkward for a saddle stitch zine, so I just need to confirm that it's good quality with the printer before entering the weights and postage prices.  I expect to have the surveys out by this time next week.  Around that time I'll open the pre-order store for those that missed the campaign.

Meanwhile, Matthew is hard at work on the back-side of the incentive poster for those who got the Gamma Marauder tier or were early bird backers:

We're still thinking September for completion of the Jumper Cable Edition, but in the meantime sign up for updates for Matthew's solo project, CHAINSAW!  It's going to kick so much butt!

As for the next Wasteland Degenerates drop, the 160+ page hardcover core book, I don't have a solid date for that yet, but I expect sometime this fall.  And that definitely won't be the end!  I have plans within plans; like any good wasteland warlord, I have some surprises up my sleeve.

One thing I will tell you now, the Blood on the Bleak Road solo game will be released on my Itch page very soon! If you bought the physical edition, please hold off on buying the digital version, because I'll be sending a digital copy out for no extra charge with the rest of your digital assets.

Alright, that's all for now.  You'll be hearing from me about the surveys soon!

When we started the campaign, it was speculated that I might not make the $750 necessary to print the zines, much less pay for the remaining spreads' art, and I even delayed the launch a month to get more ground work in before going live.  Thanks to you, we proved the metrics wrong and my first project as a real game designer pulled in $10,547!

Oh, sorry for the delay in getting this update to you; I needed a couple days just to re-tool my brain to no longer be checking the funding level every half hour, and enjoy not having to be "on" in self-promotion mode at all times.  It's hard on the street for an introvert.

I have started to look at the surveys, and will be getting those out to you when I am able.  I also see that I have given incorrect information and we WILL be able to do late pledges OR a preorder store.  

As mentioned, you'll be getting surveys soonish. I need to get with the printer to get some revised estimates on add-ons like Blood on the Bleak Road that popped up later in the campaign, as well as some updated quantities, volumes, shipping data, and other boring stuff.

Most of the .pdfs will come out just prior to shipping, but I'm going to see about getting Blood on the Bleak Road to physical buyers through my Itch page (by the way: cheers to the person who paid $6.66 for Enter the Dismal Armory last night; you have been witnessed, sir!).  This is all pretty new to me, so give me a bit to get it sorted.

We just barely squeaked in with exactly 460 backers in the final minutes of the campaign!  I don't know what your parents, friends, children, and strangers you met on the street and forced to pledge at gunpoint are going to do with my zines, but I'm happy to give it to them, anyway! I don't want to Bust a Deal and Face the Wheel, so it looks like you're getting an epilogue to Janet From Marketing's story in the Backer section of this update.

It's the final day of the campaign, and your last chance to buy in on the Wasteland Degenerates Jumper Cable Edition if you haven't yet!  We'll be having our campaign's final livestream tonight at 5 PM Central, lasting through the end of the campaign.  I figured out the problem with the last stream... it was set to Twitch, not YouTube on the BackerKit page, so it wasn't reading properly.  I'm capable of learning, so it should work this time, but if not, find me on YouTube instead.

The campaign's end doesn't mean that you're done hearing from me, though.  I'll be working on the BackerKIt surveys and sending them out as soon as I am able, and I should be sending out status updates at least once a month just to keep you all in the loop. I'm hoping to get the zines out by October or November, but you know how life gets, especially for a first campaign.

Before you know it, it will be time for another campaign to fund the full core book with all the cataclysms, lore, terrifying monsters, dingy sidekicks, and, best of all, Reaver's Rhapsody, the first full length Wasteland Degenerates adventure!

We cracked $10,000 yesterday, unlocking an additional crossover monster to the UNDONE bonus booklet from Alex HItchen and the MAD Collective, authors of CVRSED FLESH and other MÅD Borg post-apocalyptic content!  Check out their Patreon; I know for sure that I'm going to be using their stuff in my Wasteland Degenerates home game.  They also have their own crowdfunding project, the very innovative Fold-Å-Freak endless monster generators that still have a day to go.

In addition to the CVRSED bonus creature, we also have Brian Colin of Vast Grimm contributing a horror from beyond the stars to UNDONE, as well as the Job Board of the Apocalypse mission generator for all you GMs and solo players looking for endless adventure.  The UNDONE booklet looks to be about 14 pages plus the front and back covers and should tide you over for monsters until we can get the core book out.

In addition, I'll be making a donation to Stuart Gorman's favorite dog shelter, which will unleash a random character generator, which will be added to the Wasteland Degenerates website.  He's also expressed interest in other generators... potentially even doing a digital version of the Job Board of the Apocalypse and a straight-up random vehicle generator, separate from the cars you can start with.  We'll see how it shakes out, and I'm grateful for a friend like Stuart.

If we get to $11,000, I'll reach out to a local T-shirt printer and get Wasteland Degenerates merch for the discerning wasteland fashionista. Here's the image:

If you missed, it, we added a bonus add-on to the campaign last week.  My 16 page sequel to Enter the Dismal Armory is bigger, badder, and more gas-guzzling than the first game, detailing your intrepid scavenger's cross-country flight from the Armory to safety.  It expertly builds on the rules basis of EtDA and gives even more intriguing complexity and horrible ways to die.  It's $5 for a physical copy ONLY through the campaign; backers who buy the physical version will get the .pdf for free as soon as I figure out how to send codes for Itch.

The 'Borg community is amazingly supportive, and I just wanted to give a shout-out to some other projects that I think you'll like.  Yes, I know, Señor Moneybags over here with the money to pledge for every project.  Honestly, no.  I hurt in my bank account, but the community has been supportive of me, so I will return the favor.

Smörk Borg - This is close to my heart because the Squid Ink guys are paying for my first non-self-funded writing job, writing a solo-friendly adventure for their core book!  They're currently working on their final stretch goal with one day to go!

Leviathan - Christian Eichhorn is a purveyor of fantastic 'Borg content and I have yet to be disappointed with his work.  This one is even better, an update of his superbly lethal Temple of the Kraken God with Pirate Borg-compatible content!

Guns for Sale - Just a ton of cool crunch and new classes for Cy_Borg

The 55 - 28 pages packed with random tables to create a Cy_Borg megadungeon.  You could sink many sessions into this urban chaos.

HELLPOWER - Paweł Kicman's take on regular folks vs. evil superheroes.  No Amazons, prime or otherwise, were hurt in the making of this RPG.

Berserkr - Norse adventure from the makers of Ronin.  I do wonder where the extra "e" went at the end there, but who cares? I'm gonna be rune-magicking my way through Ragnarok.

I'm incredibly grateful for you all who have come with me on this journey, which has been a lot of fun and far more successful than I was led to believe it would be by smart math types.  It's my first crowdfunding project, and quite frankly being an outgoing marketing rep is not really my thing, something poor Janet From Marketing and I have that in common.  Speaking of Janet, we're only 22 backers away from getting an Epilogue to her story.  If that gets achieved I'll write up the final results in a post-campaign update.