VoxStoria is LIVE! + Updates on delivery schedule and a lot more. (this is a long one)
over 1 year ago – Thu, Apr 27, 2023 at 02:05:38 PM

First, I apologize that it's been a bit over a month since our last update in March. We've been wrangling artists, developers, and writers and it's been a lot of work. But I'm going to try to do better about ensuring we're on top of updates.

VoxStoria Update

Down the page I'll provide more directions for creating your account, but know that VoxStoria is live and you can start using it to create and share NPCs! You'll even be able to sell your content! We haven't uploaded the Anansi NPCs yet. We're still missing art for many and several voices. Our goal is to get the pack of 20+ Town & Village NPCs released first. We're targeting May 12 for that.

Digital and Print Publication Update

We have had difficulty wrangling some contributors. We have two main bottlenecks - side quest writing and art. We've brought on some new writer to help, but the art bottleneck is a tougher challenge. We're doing our best to produce, but we also have to be sensitive to the work-life balance of our illustrators and there are only so many hours a day they can draw. The art delay has put us behind by quite a lot.

Our original estimated delivery was May. Unfortunately, with the amount of outstanding content, it's not going to be possible for us to hit that date. Our new target date for the digital release is mid/late June. We're targeting mid/late July for the physical products. We've discussed as a team, and we agree those are achievable!

I will 100% let everyone know if there are any other delays and why, and what we're doing to solve for it.

Early Release Content

If you pledged at the $68 or above level for Early Release Access, we'll get you the first sets of tokens and sample of the microsettings May 19 (assuming those are part of your pledge!). If you didn't pledge at that level and you want early release content, you can go to Backerkit and update your pledge - as long as you do it BEFORE May 19.

Backer Content

Some of our backers pledged to have their own NPC brought to life in Anansi's pages. Here's a look at three of these fantastic fellows you could encounter in your campaign. Just... watch your step around that thirst-trap!

If you want to see more of the art that's been created recently, check out our TikTok! There are already 10 NPC speed draws you can check out, with more on the way.

Pledges

There are still 109 people who have not completed their pledge. We are looking to lock pledges May 19, so we can ensure we have accurate print numbers. We don't plan on doing a print overrun, so if retailers are interested - pledge on Backerkit now, because there likely won't be another opportunity to get this content. Same for anyone you know who is on the fence.

As a reminder, people who didn't back can pre-order here - https://anansi-lives.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

For those who haven't completed your pledges - Please complete them!

Creating Your VoxStoria Account

All backers will have access to VoxStoria. But only backers who pledged for the app will get all of the NPC info and voice overs FREE. Other people will have to buy the NPCs.

If you are a backer, simply go to https://voxstoria.beneverending.app/ 

You'll see a little sentence asking you to click if you're a Kickstarter backer. Click it.

You'll get a screen asking you to submit your email address, so we can send you a verification code. PLEASE USE THE SAME EMAIL ADRRESSS AS YOUR KICKSTARTER EMAIL ADDRESSS.

Go to your email and get the code. NOTE: If you don't receive a code it could be for one of three reasons:

1) you didn't use your Kickstarter email address, so we couldn't verify you.

2) you did get it, but it was intercepted by your overzealous spam filter - so check your spam.

3) the imps - in which case email us at [email protected] and let us know what email address you entered so we can get it figured out.

Enter your verification code and the other handy-dandy details, agree to the TOS, and hit submit.

We have to collect B-Day info, because we'll be selling on the app and we're not selling to kids AND if there's mature content NPCs, we need to filter those out for anyone under 18.

When you create your account you'll also have access to our Character Builder/Comic Maker and the Beta version of animated avatars (soon with facial recognition and custom avatars). If you backed at a level that includes a subscription to the Character Builder and other digital storytelling tools, that subscription will be applied.

Here's a quick video overview of our main app.

And a quick explainer for the animated avatar app, Vstreamer. 

REMINDER: When You Create Your Account in VoxStoria, you will automatically have an  account using the same, email, user name, password for these other apps. No need to create multiple accounts!

You'll likely see that there are no NPCs in the VoxStoria yet. We'll have some free ones in next week! You can also create and share your own. 

Our future goals for the app are to allow you to collaborate with other writers, editors, artists and VO actors to create and share (or sell) NPCs, Locations, Spell descriptions, Magic Items, or anything that could be enhanced with a little bit of colorful language, art, and sound - or animation! You won't HAVE to include art or sound or animation, but those are pretty cool.

Note for NPCs, you will be able to use art you create in our Character Builder app for your NPC art. 

I think that's it for now.  If I missed something, please hit me in the comments or a direct message. I know it sucks that we're behind schedule.  I can promise you that all of us are working our @sse$ off to get you super-high quality TTRPG content as fast as humanly possible. Send us well-wishes and positive vibes (and prayers if you're inclined). There's a heck of a lot of content and pieces and contributors to manage. BUT we're incredibly excited to get this book into your hands (along with the other book, the tokens, the NPC cards, the voiced monologues, the dice, and all the digital art).

Thank you for your support. And thank you for your kindness and patience. I appreciate you!

Best,

Jamie

PSA: Posting NPC Speed Draws
almost 2 years ago – Wed, Mar 22, 2023 at 03:40:43 PM

Super quick PSA. We'll be posting more speed draws of some of the NPCs on our TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@neverendinginc. It's a great way to enjoy sneak peeks of some of the art you'll see in the book! Expect 2 - 3 speed draw posts per week on our TikTok going forward. Enjoy!!!

- Jamie 

UPDATE: Player Options and Early Preview Draft of Anansi's Tapestry of Lives Sent!
almost 2 years ago – Sat, Mar 11, 2023 at 01:35:24 PM

All backers who are set to receive the PDF of Anansi's Tapestry of Lives should have received an email from Backerkit with a link to download a PDF of the draft player options.

All backers who have pledged at least $68 on Kickstarter or through Backerkit should also receive an email with a link to download a PDF of the early 218 page draft of Anansi's Tapestry of Lives.

IF YOU DON'T SEE THE EMAIL, PLEE CHECK YOUR SPAM.

Both PDFs contain a link to a Google Form where you can provide feedback on the content.

Please email us at [email protected] if you think you should have received one or both files, but did not. We really appreciate your support and look forward to hearing what you think!

THANK YOU!

- Jamie

UPDATE: Anansi's Early Release Saturday, March 11
almost 2 years ago – Wed, Mar 08, 2023 at 12:54:04 PM

Early Release Draft

Phew! What a couple of months! I'm happy to share that all backers at the $68 level and above (who filled out the Backerkit survey :P) will be getting an early release PDF of Anansi's Tapestry of Lives Saturday, March 11. The PDF does not have all of the content, but it's still a big draft coming in at over 200 pages. And we wanted you to begin enjoying these awesome NPCs and other content asap!

We've experienced some delays in hearing from all our writers to make sure we have their names correct for crediting and our team also wanted a bit more time to get some additional art completed. Check out some of the new sketches!

After you receive the early release draft, you'll also receive a link to a Google Form where you can provide feedback, if you like. This is optional, but it's an opportunity for us to hear what NPCs are resonating, and how/if you like the initial side quests. We can use the feedback to add some polish, and guide the outstanding content. There is still some more writing to do, but it's coming along at a good clip! We want to be able to ensure we're taking into account your feedback, so you get the BEST book possible. :)

Player Options

One of our stretch goals was for five subclasses and five feats inspired by some of our NPCs. We have drafts for all of these, and will be sharing this early draft with everyone who backed for the book or PDF of Anansi's Tapestry of Lives. If you've completed the Backerkit survey, you'll get a PDF of the early release for player options. We'll also send a feedback form, so you can let us know what you like or what could use improvement.

Pre-order Page

You can also check out the landing page we're using to promote pre-orders. 

https://anansilives.com/

Please share it around! (also happy for any feedback or ideas).

Thank you for supporting us on this journey. I'm really grateful to you! And I can't wait to start hearing feedback on the NPCs and everything else.

Best,

Jamie

Sneak Peek: Table of Contents (in progress)
almost 2 years ago – Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 04:27:39 PM

We're working through layout of edited content, so wanted to quickly share an in progress image of the

Table of Contents

The above includes 82 of the 110 NPCs that have gone through editing. It doesn't (yet) include player options and other content like:

• Box Text
• Items
• Stat Blocks
• Side Quests

If you're one of the lucky ones who backed at the $68 tier or above, this is a pretty good representation of what will be in the early release that we'll send you through Backerkit in a couple of weeks.  We'll have the player options in that early release too, as well as some other content we're polishing up. I'm really excited to start hearing your feedback.

If you haven't completed your survey on Backerkit, please do! Email me at [email protected] if you need me to resend the link.

The Black Ballad (coming to Backerkit)

Rick Heinz is one of the creative minds behind "The Red Opera" which was a successful Kickstarter. Essentially a hard rock inspired D&D 5E setting book. It's cool!

He and some others are launching the Black Ballad over on Backerkit, which is an adventure that starts after your players experience a TPK (total party kill). It's a beautiful book with first class content.

Go check it out, and sign up to get notified on launch.