Your INITIAL PDF is coming tonight! See inside for details!
almost 4 years ago
– Fri, Feb 12, 2021 at 01:06:59 AM
Hello Grim & Deliberate Beast Backers!
This is Alec from Dubious Merit Games.
February has been another big month for the project, with significant progress in several areas:
- Our Custom Series dice are finished, and are being shipped to us.
- Our boutique Monster A.I. cards are fully designed, and currently at the printers.
- The INITIAL PDF is done! Check your email tonight for your first installment of d100-rollable tools, lore, and narrative combat A.I. See below for details.
The initial PDF is coming tonight...
What follows is the PDF Introduction section, including the Table of Contents, so you can see exactly what's on the way. Your initial PDF is 140 pages (50k words!) of original art, lore, and tools for your campaign. It has been bookmarked so you can easily navigate to any section.
This is not the last PDF you will receive! We'll send you a final PDF that includes 100% of the content we make for The Grim & Deliberate Beast. The final PDF is currently estimated at over 400 pages.
Make your random encounters legendary.
Dusk has fallen. The party moves quietly along the forest path, your bellies still warm from supper at the Headless Orc Inn. More an outpost than an Inn, you’ll admit, but still the finest meal you’ve had in weeks, and likely the last for nights to come.
Up ahead, Alma Greenbottle, the Halfling Ranger, stoops low to collect a pinch of duff from the forest floor. She gives it a sniff and her body stiffens.
“Ogres,” she says, her voice a whisper. “Within the hour. And more than three, for certain.”
“Yar! Ogres!” shouts Grimsbeard, his voice rumbling through the darkness like a Harkenhold welcome horn. “I’ll smash them grub-fingered water-drinkers with me great-grand-uncle’s forge hammer!” A dear friend to be sure, but the Dwarven Barbarian has never been known for his discretion.
Before you can shush him, a shrill note rings out. It is too close for comfort.
Suddenly, the glow of pitch torches bounces between the trunks of trees and the stomp of heavy boots fills the night. A squad of Ogres rushes out from the forest in 2×2 formation, howling as they come.
But these aren’t just any Ogres…
They’re Ogres in The Grim & Deliberate Beast.
Immediately, the DM displays beautiful, original monster art to set the mood, then uses the flipside of the Monster A.I. Card to roll for:
- Monster Aggression Level
- General Intelligence
- Weaponry
- Specialized Units
- Special Abilities
In addition, the DM has at their fingertips:
- The G&DB Narrative A.I. System: Instant, d100-rollable combat blueprints that change with Monster Aggression Level as combat unfolds
- Ogre Culture & Psychology
- Qualities
- Grudges
- Special Tactics
- Combat Insults
- Critical Hit & Death Blow Tables by Body Location and Weapon Type
- A grimoire of original new tricks and traps organized by lethality and environment
- Reinforcements Tables for 7 categories of monsters
Welcome to The Grim & Deliberate Beast!
Narrative A.I. for the 50 most-played monsters in Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Warhammer, and all fantasy RPGs. Plus a trove of new d100-rollable tools, monster profiles, tactics, art, and lore for your campaign.
Whether you’re a brand new party of first-level characters brawling with Goblins and Kobolds, or a group of grizzled, high-level veterans battling Dragons, Liches, and Mind Flayers, The Grim & Deliberate Beast adds danger and depth, transforming your random encounters into full-fledged campaign pieces.
The Grim & Deliberate Beast was designed by DMs in a 33-year playgroup to help decease combat uniformity and reduce decision fatigue. It’s not for use in every encounter. But when the PCs are in no-man’s land, somewhere between town and their ultimate destination, it shines.
Introduce a few of our narratives into combat and watch the room wake up. Players try on fresh tactics. They use creative thinking. And best of all, they experience fear.
Fear drives your players together. It inspires comradery. More hooting, more hollering, more togetherness, and an intense focus on the problem at hand. It’s moments like these that all of us love. It’s why we return, over and over again, to the magic of RPGs.
What’s in the Blog?
- Monster Profiles. Over 200 pages of original, new material: Monster art, culture and psychology, tactics, special abilities, weaponry, special units, and grudges.
- Original Monster Art. Over a dozen talented artists created gorgeous, full-color monster art for each monster.
- Reinforcements Tables. Your monsters have friends!
- Combat Insults. Hurl these insults at your players to spice up combat.
- Extremely Brutal Critical Hit & Death Blow Tables. By Weapon Type and Body Location.
- Tricks & Traps. Original, new traps organized by Lethality and Environment.
- Fear and a New Philosophy of Combat. FAQ + think-pieces for your campaign.
What’s in the Set?
- Boutique Monster A.I. Cards. 50 full-color, oversized 4×6 Monster A.I. Cards printed on premium heavyweight cardstock.
- Bloodlust Custom Dice. Wake up the room! Cursed Dice, High-Variance Dice, and Doubles Dice from our custom molds.
- The Tome of Lore. All our original content in one place. Over 300 pages. The full A.I. system: Instant combat narratives, and much more.
Who’s it for?
DMs of all skill levels who want:
- Danger and depth in their random encounters.
- A tactical plan and a narrative structure for their monsters before combat starts.
- Narrative threads for monster behavioral change that add excitement, fresh thinking, and surprise.
Players who enjoy:
- Fear, and the comradery it brings.
- Deadlier, more diverse combat.
- Learning monster tactics and adding new tricks to their own combat playbooks.
- Reading unique content about monster psychology, culture, and special abilities.
Welcome, Kickstarter backers!
Thank you so much for your support of The Grim & Deliberate Beast. Your pledges have funded:
- The Grim & Deliberate Beast Blog.Monster Profiles, d100-rollable tools, beautiful art, and much more.
- Boutique Monster A.I. Cards. 50 full-color, oversized 4×6 Monster A.I. Cards printed on premium heavyweight cardstock. Set the mood for your encounters.
- Bloodlust Custom Dice. Wake up the room! Cursed Dice, High-Variance Dice, and Doubles Dice from our custom molds.
- The Tome of Lore. Coming Soon. All our original content in one place. The full A.I. system, and much more. A major new RPG supplement for your campaigns.
And we’re not stopping there.
Our friends at Black Flail and OneMillionNerds have something massive in the works. We can’t reveal their new project yet, but we’ll give you a hint. It involves:
Lavish Dwarven Violence.
We’re extremely excited to be a part of it. We’ll share more info in the coming months.
This initial PDF for The Grim & Deliberate Beast includes 140 pages (over 50k words!) of material for your RPG campaigns:
- The G&DB Narrative A.I. system. Instant narrative threads for your monsters.
- Full-color Monster A.I. Cards for the 50 most-played RPG monsters.
- Reinforcements Tables. Your Monsters have friends!
- An Introduction to the Tome of Lore.
- Fear and a New Philosophy of Combat.
- Full Combat Example: The Ryn-Kar Orcs of Harkenhold Mountain.
This initial PDF does not include:
- Combat Insults.
- Tricks & Traps.
- Monster Profiles.
- Critical Hit & Death Blow Tables.
- Combat Actions for Gargantuan and Heroic Beasts.
These elements will be included in the final PDF.
Note: We’ll jam absolutely everything we can into the upcoming print Tome of Lore. The total page count for this project is now estimated at more than 400.
Table of Contents
*Jump to any section using the Booksmarks tab in the PDF!
Introduction to Narrative A.I. for RPG Monsters
Images: Monster A.I. Cards
- The Horde
- Undead
- Aberrations & Odd Beasts
- Giant-Kin
- Winged & Flying Beasts
- Cerebral Beasts
- Heroic Beasts
- Gargantuan Beasts
Narrative A.I. Combat Actions for Your Monsters
- Combat Actions for the Horde
- Combat Actions for Undead
- Combat Actions for Aberrations & Odd Beasts
- Combat Actions for Giants & Giant-Kin
- Combat Actions for Winged & Flying Beasts
- Combat Actions for Cerebral Beasts
Reinforcements Tables
- Reinforcements for the Horde
- Reinforcements for Undead
- Reinforcements for Aberrations & Odd Beasts
- Reinforcements for Giants & Giant-Kin
- Reinforcements for Winged & Flying Beasts
- Riddles for Cerebral Beasts
- Answers to Riddles
Philosophy
- Introduction to the Tome of Lore
- Fear and a New Philosophy of Combat
- Full Combat Example: The Ryn-Kar Orcs of Harkenhold Mountain
- General Intelligence
- FAQ
Check the email you provided to Kickstarter tonight!
Your initial PDF is on the way.
In the meantime, if you need to update your address or add anything to your pledge, you can do so in our Pledge Manager, here:
The Pledge Manager
Take care of all your campaign details here, whether you need to change your address, update your email, or check out the custom variance dice options we'll be adding soon.
We'll be updating our Pledge Manager soon!
We'll let you know the moment we do.
Any questions, comments, feedback, or suggestions?
Please get in touch, we love hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Alec Wilson
[email protected]
A BIG January Update on your Beasts! Art is Done! Dice are Done! Cards done this week! (Pics inside.)
almost 4 years ago
– Thu, Jan 28, 2021 at 08:04:16 AM
Hello Grim & Deliberate Beast Backers!
This is Alec from Dubious Merit Games. January has been a busy month for the project, here's the full update!
In a nutshell:
- The Dice have been manufactured, and are en route to us now.
- The Art for the project is now completely in the can.
- The Blog has seen a recent update, you should check it out.
- We finalized the design for the Monster A.I. Cards and will hand those off to the printer by the end of this week (end of January). See the finalized card design below, it looks sharp!
- We're taking our time with the writing to maintain high quality, but are adding new elements on a consistent basis. Check the blog to see our progress.
The Dice
The Dice have been manufactured, and are now en route to us! Here are some pics of the actual dice, fresh from the plant. We have three color schemes:
High-Variance Dice: Smoke, Blood, & Gold
Cursed Dice: Midnight, Ash, & Silver
Doubles Dice: Crimson, Platinum, & Gold
High Variance Dice
Monsters in bloodlust? Barbarian in a rage? Chaos magic in play?
- 2x the Crits.
- 2x the Risk.
- Extreme results, on fair dice.
Doubles Dice
Ready for a savage attack? Reward heroism and outstanding play with our Doubles Dice.
- 2x the Crits.
- Savage Damage.
- No Downside.
Cursed Dice
Players or monsters cursed?
- In a particularly grim environment? A flooding cave, icy tomb, or pit of Hell?
- Using damaged or improvised weapons?
- Critically wounded, or afflicted by a nasty spell, disease, or condition?
- Have they entered a place of concentrated evil, or incurred the wrath of a dark god?
You can read much more about our custom series dice here.
The Art
All art for the G&DB is in the can! You can now check out all 50 pieces of original monster art on the blog.
Working with over a dozen talented artists on this project has been a total blast!
The monster art will grace the front of your 50 Monster A.I. Cards.
The Pledge Manager
Take care of all your campaign details here, whether you need to change your address, update your email, or check out the custom variance dice options we'll be adding soon.
The Blog
Have you checked out the blog lately? It's the best way to keep tabs on our progress, and you can use it to add danger and depth to your campaign.
Here's a current screenshot of the head of the front page:
And here's the link!
The Monster A.I. Cards
Check out the finalized card design!
The card front is now full-art. No text. Just art, to set the mood for your players.
The card back has been cleaned up substantially. In addition, there are now 10 Pre-Combat Mods, and 10 Linchpin Combat Events for each monster.
Delivery Times
We're putting our full attention and effort into each facet of The Grim & Deliberate Beast to make sure we create something that stands the test of time. From the colors of the dice, to the layout of the cards, to the quality of the writing, we're taking our time and doing it right.
We know you want your rewards ASAP, and we can't wait to ship them to you. But we'd rather do it well than do it quick, so please continue to have patience with us.
- PDFs for Monster A.I. Cards and Narrative Monster A.I. results. After a week concentrating on dice and cards, we're returning to the A.I. results. We'll wrap writing for these sections during the first week of February, then deliver the PDFs during the second week of February.
- Print Cards. We expect to receive the printed cards in early March, and will ship them as soon as we have them.
- Custom Dice. We expect to receive the dice in early March, and will ship them as soon as we have them.
- Tome of Lore (PDF and Print). We'll focus full-time on completing all elements of the Tome as soon as we've completed the three goals above. We're not giving an estimate for this yet, as good writing takes time. We're slowly adding new writers to our team, each time we receive a truly excellent submission. For example, read Rett Weissenfels new piece on Merfolk here.
Thank you backers!
Your support on this project has been tremendous.
If you have any questions about The Grim & Deliberate Beast, please contact me personally:
[email protected]
Thanks,
Alec Wilson
An unabridged Holiday Update on your Grim & Deliberate Beasts!
about 4 years ago
– Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 12:39:44 AM
Hello everyone!
This is Alec from Dubious Merit Games. Here's the full update on The Grim & Deliberate Beast so you can see what we've been up to for the past month! I'll jump right in.
Sea Titan by Devin Maupin
The Pledge Manager
Take care of all your campaign details here, whether you need to change your address, update your email, or check out the custom variance dice options we'll be adding soon.
Purple Worm by Jeff Reitz
The Blog
The Grim & Deliberate Beast Blog is currently in the works and already hosts over 100 pages of RPG content. Check it out! It's the best way to keep tabs on our progress, and you can use it to make your next campaign (or random encounter) legendary.
Troll by Devin Maupin
The Art
The art is nearly done! We're waiting on only two more pieces of art for The Grim & Deliberate Beast and then the art will be in the can. We have absolutely loved working with so many talented artists, it has been one of the highlights of the project thus far.
Water Elemental by Jeff Reitz
The Dice
All the dice will be done by the very end of December! We'll add new dice options to our Pledge Manager as soon as we have them in hand. We're planning to send out the dice and the printed A.I. card rewards together (if we send it all separately, shipping becomes cost prohibitive.)
We do have some pictures to share of the two-color crystal variant of our High-Variance 10s and 20s--these are crystal resin dice infused with blood and smoke. The final configuration we have in mind for your HV 10s and 20s is slightly different--we'd like to include one d10 and one d20 in two-color crystal and the other pair in opaque blood and smoke so you have some variety.
We're working right now to make that happen. This will be a Kickstarter-only product that we'll send out as long as our supplies last.
The Narrative A.I.
Ryn-Kar Orc by Devin Maupin
We've been working full-time on the Narrative A.I. for the past month. We've tweaked the structure of the A.I. a bit as we've begun to flesh it out. Here's how we've set it up:
- We've trimmed the Aggression Levels from 5 to 4: Fearful, Measured, Aggressive, and Fanatical. In practice, the Cautious Aggression Level felt to similar to Fearful and Measured. Removing it gives you four distinct narrative arcs to work with. This keeps the energy high and repetition low.
- We've added more Monster categories. We now have: Horde, Undead, Giant-Kin, Aberrations & Odd Beasts, Winged & Flying Beasts, Heroic, Cerebral, and Gargantuan. These Monster categories are more intuitive than the initial 5 we started with. Some monsters, like Sphinx and Efreeti, can fit into more than one category (Flying and Cerebral for these two), giving you even more options for the narratives you choose.
And here's our specific progress:
- The narrative A.I. is now over 80 pages long (12 pt. font, 300 words per page), and will likely break 100 pages by the time we're done writing, tweaking, and polishing.
- Horde A.I.: Done.
- Horde Reinforcements Table: Done.
- Aberrations & Odd Beasts A.I.: Done.
- Aberrations & Odd Beasts Reinforcements Table: Done.
- Giant-Kin A.I.: Done.
- Giant-Kin Reinforcements Table: Done.
- Winged & Flying Beasts A.I.: Done.
- Winged & Flying Beasts Reinforcements Table: Done.
- Undead A.I.: Done.
- Undead Reinforcements Table: In process.
- Cerebral Beasts: In process.
- Heroic: In process.
- Gargantuan: In process.
The Tome of Lore
Monster Profiles comprise the main work remaining to complete the Tome of Lore. We'll update these on the blog each time a new one is finished. We're taking our time with the profiles to ensure that quality stays high.
Mummy by Devin Maupin
Delivery timelines
Four phases of delivery:
1. PDFs for the narrative Monster A.I. & the Monster A.I. cards: We don't want to make a prediction that we again have to adjust. To keep quality high, we're now aiming at January as our delivery window for the first set of PDFs.
2. Physical delivery of the dice and print cards: These need to be delivered together to keep shipping costs within budget. The custom dice will be completed at the very end of December. The cards will likely be done in January, and we'll provide an update on both as soon as we have concrete information for you. We're hoping for a late Jan to mid-Feb delivery for cards and dice, mainly dependent on when the physical cards can be printed.
3. PDF for the full Tome of Lore. The Tome will be complete once all the additional writing is done. We're not going to rush this process, as we want the Tome to be a high-quality book that you enjoy, and that has a life in the future in the RPG community beyond our awesome Kickstarter audience. You can check the blog to see all progress on the Tome. Here's the link: The Grim & Deliberate Beast Blog.
4. Physical delivery of the print Tome of Lore. See #3.
Thank you Grim & Deliberate Beast Backers!
We appreciate your patience while we make this set the best it can be. We're building something that we hope becomes a new and lasting part of the RPG community, and we're giving it our best and full-time effort.
Thank you so much for your support, we hope the holidays are a good time for you and yours.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, ideas, or feedback, please feel free to get in touch with me personally.
Alec
[email protected]
Thanksgiving Progress Report! Full Breakdown: Art, Writing, Dice, & Cards for your Grim & Deliberate Beast. Lots of images!
about 4 years ago
– Sun, Nov 29, 2020 at 07:33:26 AM
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays to all!
Hello everyone, this is Alec from DMG. I wanted to check in today to give you the full update on The Grim & Deliberate Beast. We've been working full-time throughout November, and have made significant progress.
We're on-schedule in some areas, and behind schedule in others. There's a full breakdown ahead.
Gelatinous Cube by Jeff Reitz
Where are we on-schedule?
In two areas: The art and the dice.
The Art
The art for the project is nearly complete! You can check it out for yourself on the blog. Here's the link: The Grim & Deliberate Beast Blog
Our artists have been outstanding, and there are many new pieces to check out.
Kraken by Daniel Lopez-Melville
The Dice
As we mentioned in the last update, we've decided to offer Cursed and Doubles dice with the project, in addition to the High Variance dice. The pics below are of non-custom samples, but we just finalized the actual dice, and they look even better than the pictures.
Our Doubles dice are Scarlet and Platinum, with Gold numbers.
Our Cursed dice are Midnight and Ash, with Silver numbers.
*We'll add all the dice options to our Pledge Manager soon.
Note for sharp eyes: Our Doubles dice don't have any 1s. The 1s you see on the six-sided die and the 4-sided die are there because these are sample dice, not the actual custom-molded dice. Same goes for the 4 you might have noticed on our 4-sided Cursed die. Our Cursed dice don't have any of the maximum number for any of the dice. We'll post pics of the actual, custom-molded dice as soon as they're complete!
Here's more info on our custom dice, featuring the Mind Flayer by Nate Marcel.
Where are we behind schedule?
The writing. Good writing takes time. The writing for the project can be broken down into 3 areas:
1. The narrative monster A.I. (About 120 pages, in total.)
2. The monster profiles. (About 200 pages, in total.)
3. The extras. (About 50 pages, in total.)
The narrative monster A.I.: This is where we're currently focused. The narrative A.I. for Horde Monsters and for Aberrations & Odd Beasts is complete. Jason Hine, one of our writers (and a published fantasy author!) is writing our A.I. for Undead right now, and I (Alec) am currently writing the A.I.s for Giant-Kin and Flying Beasts.
The monster profiles: 25 of 50 are done. I edit each one personally to make sure it fits with the project and the quality is high. The monster profiles will likely be the last element of the project to complete, and we'll post each new one on the blog as they're finished.
The extras: Combat Insults, Critical Hit & Deathblow Tables, and Tricks & Traps. These extras will come along quickly when they become our focus. We want to get the PDFs for the A.I. system to you as soon as possible, so you can use it in your campaigns. So the monster A.I. will be our focus until that section is complete.
Mummy by Devin Maupin
What about the cards?
The monster A.I. cards will be quick to complete, as soon as the art is 100% done. The basic layout for the cards is done, so finishing each card is just a matter of plugging in the unique art and the stats for each monster.
And the overall timelines?
Four phases of delivery:
1. PDFs for the narrative Monster A.I. & the Monster A.I. cards: We don't want to make a prediction that we again have to adjust. To keep quality high, we're now aiming at January as our delivery window for the first set of PDFs.
2. Physical delivery of the dice and print cards: These need to be delivered together to keep shipping costs within budget. The custom dice will be completed in December. The cards will likely be done in January, and we'll provide an update on both as soon as we have concrete information for you.
3. PDF for the full Tome of Lore. The Tome will be complete once all the additional writing is done. We're not going to rush this process, as we want the Tome to be a high-quality book that you enjoy, and that has a life in the future in the RPG community beyond our awesome Kickstarter audience. You can check the blog to see all progress on the Tome. Here's the link: The Grim & Deliberate Beast Blog.
4. Physical delivery of the print Tome of Lore. See #3.
Hydra by Jeff Reitz
Thank you Grim & Deliberate Beast Backers!
We appreciate your patience while we make this set the best it can be. We're building something that we hope becomes a new and lasting part of the RPG community, and we're giving it our best and full-time effort.
Thank you so much for your support.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, ideas, or feedback, please feel free to get in touch with me personally.
Alec
[email protected]
Major Update: Introducing the Grim & Deliberate Beast Blog + Full Project Report!
about 4 years ago
– Thu, Oct 22, 2020 at 12:57:25 AM
Hello Grim & Deliberate Beast Backers!
This is Alec from Dubious Merit Games.
I hope all are well as we move into fall! In Oregon, where I live at least, the rain has returned, the smoke has cleared, and the fires have been mostly contained. I won't give a detailed fire report here, but I do want to say: Everyone on our team is fine. If you've been affected by wildfires or smoke wherever you live, our hearts go out to you. It's been a scary time, and we hope you and yours are OK.
We've been hard at work on The Grim & Deliberate Beast since the last time I checked in and I want to bring you up to date on all aspects of the project.
Introducing The Grim & Deliberate Beast Blog!
As we build The Grim & Deliberate Beast, we'll be hosting some of the content for the project online. We want you to have access to your content as we complete it, and we needed a way to visually organize everything for ourselves. So we decided to make a blog!
Kickstarter backers, artists, and writers for the project are the only people with access to this link. You can use it to check in on your project right now, and see exactly where we're at. We update the blog daily, and it accurately reflects what we've done, and what we have left to do.
Here's the link: The Grim & Deliberate Beast Blog
Invite-only. We're not making this link public, for now. On our end, we're sharing it out only to hire artists and writers for the project. YOU can invite your friends to the project by sharing the link, just give them a heads up that it's a project-in-process.
Our big-picture goal is to build the blog into a destination for the RPG community. We'll host artwork, lore, tactics, and anything else we're excited about. Eventually, we'll accept community submissions. We envision a living, breathing destination for those looking to deepen their monster encounters and RPG campaigns.
What's in the Blog?
- Monster art.
- Monster Profiles: Culture & Psychology, Special Abilities, Special Units, Tactics, Weaponry, Movement, and Grudges.
- Combat Insults. Insults your saucy monsters can hurl at unsuspecting PCs. Watch your table erupt.
- Tricks & Traps. Original, new traps organized by lethality and environment.
- Extremely brutal Critical Hit & Deathblow Tables. Did a PC just land a crushing blow? You'll have 480 savage narrative results to choose from, organized by Weapon Type and Body Location.
- Info on Bloodlust Custom Dice.
- Info on the Monster A.I. cards and the A.I. system.
What's NOT in the Blog?
- The full A.I. system and the Monster A.I. cards. We're saving the full versions of these elements for the paid physical or PDF products, that folks can purchase to support the blog.
YOUR SUPPORT has allowed these projects to happen.
You've allowed us to:
- Make the Grim & Deliberate Beast Kickstarter project.
- Start the blog.
- Support D&D artists and writers.
- Launch Bloodlust Custom Dice. (That's right, those high-variance dice we promised you required custom molds. So we decided to make our other dice dreams come true as well! Check them out on the blog.)
You're the first with access to the blog, and you'll be the first to receive the A.I. system, the dice, and Tome of Lore.
Thank you so much.
Keep reading for a full project update.
Full Project Update
Art: The art for the project is coming along nicely. We anticipate that all the art will be completed by early November.
Writing: The writing is the most time-consuming piece of the project, because we accept only high-end writing. I (Alec) am acting as editor for the entire project, to ensure that all the writing meets our standard. We have 5 writers on the team, all of whom are extremely talented. We're currently in the process of hiring more writers, because we want to get the finished product out to you as quickly as we can. Good writing takes time, and hiring good writers also takes time. For this reason, we'll be releasing the project in stages, see below.
A.I. Design: I'm handling the A.I. portion of the project personally, with a small team. We'll be focused on fleshing out our narrative A.I. full-time starting next week. (Everyone has been focused on art, Monster Profile writing, getting the blog online, and dice manufacturing thus far.)
Monster A.I. Cards: As soon as the art is complete, we'll lay out all our Monster A.I. cards. This will happen quickly, as the basic card design is already complete.
Extras: Our Critical Hit & Deathblow Tables + our Tricks & Traps sections will come together quickly as soon as we turn a couple team members loose on them for a few weeks.
Bloodlust Custom Dice: The dice are designed. The custom molds have been made. We're expecting to complete our dice in late November!
Project Release Timeline
PDF Initial Release: Our first goal is to release the PDFs for the Monster A.I Cards, along with the Narrative A.I. System, so you can begin using them in your campaigns. We're still on track to deliver this portion of the project by late November.
Bloodlust Custom Dice: Our custom dice should be complete by the end of November!
Print A.I. Cards: Delivery of this portion of the project depends on manufacturing turn-around times. The cards will be designed by late November, at which point we'll send them off for printing. Because Oct/Nov/Dec are by far the busiest times of year for printers (and for all businesses, really) we're looking into our options here. We'll update you as soon as we have a clear delivery date. It's very likely that we'll ship the print A.I. cards out to you with the High-Variance Dice.
Print Tome of Lore: This piece of the project will take the longest, because we don't want to sacrifice quality just to get it to you fast. The print Tome will be a hardbound book, with a gloss cover, and normal (non-glossy) pages. It will include all the text content for the project in one place, including the Monster Profiles, Narrative A.I. results, Combat Insults, Critical Hit & Deathblow Tables, Tricks & Traps, and combat/campaign philosophy essays. We're looking into manufacturing and shipping for the Tome right now, and will update you when we have a concrete date.
Thank you for your support of The Grim & Deliberate Beast.
We'll get in touch will another substantive update in November, when we have more info to share.
In the meantime, we're working on the project full-time to get it turned around as quickly as we can, without sacrificing quality.
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please get in touch:
[email protected]
Thanks everyone.
-Alec