July Update
almost 3 years ago – Sun, Jul 04, 2021 at 08:18:35 AM

Hello Lock and Key backers,

Happy early Independence Day to my America readers and belated Independence day to my Canadian ones.

The biggest milestone this month is that I finished the first draft of Rope and Chain. (Behind the Scenes Patreon backers can get a sneak peek). It still has to go through a couple more rounds of edits, plus the conversions to Pathfinder and Savage Worlds, but I still think all the versions should be out by the end of the month.

Art is also underway, and I've gotten sketches back from one artist already. The other artist has let me know she probably won't have the full illustrations until the end of July, so that may well be the last piece that we end up waiting on.

I'll leave you with one my favorite sketches for Rope and Chain: everybody's favorite half-snake/half-mimic, the snimic.

June Update
almost 3 years ago – Sat, Jun 05, 2021 at 11:09:31 PM

Hello Lock and Key backers,

Lock and Key is now out on DriveThruRPG for 5e, Pathfinder, and Savage Worlds. You should have gotten an email from DriveThruRPG with a coupon code for whichever of these your pledges included. If not, let me know either through Kickstarter or by emailing [email protected]. 

Ratings and Reviews

One of you marvelous backers has already left a five-star rating and review on DriveThruRPG. Thank you! 

I'd always love to hear more of people's thought, and leaving customer reviews of DriveThru is a great way to let other people know about the book. It takes only seconds to leave a rating, and reviews can be short and sweet or as detailed as you want. 

Future Books

Meanwhile work continues on Rope and Chain. I'm about two thirds of the way done and with Lock and Key out I have more time to focus on this. I should be able to finish the writing by the end of the month and have it out as a PDF in July. Here is the updated outline, starred items are already written. There's also still room for a little more if you have other things you'd like to see.

• *A Brief History of Rope
• *A Brief History of Chain
• Rope in Fantasy Settings
• Variant Ropes: *Dwarven Steel Rope, *Mithral Chain, *Adamatine Chain, Maybe more?
• *Optional Rules: Tying knots/tying up prisoners
• How much weight can a rope hold?
• *New Weapons: Lasso, harpoon, rope dart, and meteor hammer 
• Random Rope Generator (Partially done)
• New Spells: *Animate Rope, *Raska's Restrictive Ribbons
• New Magic Items: *Lasso of Honesty, *Ghost Chain, (One or two others.)
• New Monsters: *Snimic – Half snake, half mimic, *Rope Golem, *Chain Golem, (One more?)

I've also stared to do a little work on Code and Cypher. The most concrete thing I've done is write up a single magic item, inspired by the Voynich manuscript. It's a crazy magic book that your character can slowly decode, with each page revealing something new based on a random table. I think that soon I'll be posting a preview of it on the Patreon Page.

Speak of Patreon

Now that you've got a chance to look at Lock and Key, if you enjoyed it and want to see more like it, please support our Patreon. I won't start charging these until book four is released, but pretty soon I'm going to start posting some of the behind the scenes information and we'll be voting on the book four topic before too long). 

For Code and Cypher I will continue to give the normal updates and share the outlines just like I've been doing so far on this Kickstarter, but I also plan to posting more specific details on the Patreon page.

I'll plan to update you again in July if not sooner,

Thanks,

Matthew

Lock and Key 5e is Here!
almost 3 years ago – Thu, May 20, 2021 at 12:05:23 AM

Hello Lock and Key Backers,

Lock and Key for 5e has been released! If pledge included a copy of the 5e version, you should have recently gotten an email from DriveThruRPG with a link for a free copy. If you don't see anything, message me through Kickstarter or email [email protected] and we'll get it sorted out.

If your got PDF add-ons on Backer Kit, those will be coming in separate emails later today.

Everything else is pretty much the same as the last update. Pathfinder 2e should be out next week, and Savage Worlds the week after that.

Thanks for making this possible!

-Matthew J. Hanson

P.S. Remember that we've not got a This and That Patreon! You can sign up now and won't be charged until book four comes out. 

Locking Orders & Patreon Launch!
almost 3 years ago – Mon, May 17, 2021 at 01:56:49 AM

Hello Lock and Key Kickstarter Backers,

I just got the last of the art in for Lock and Key, and it looks good. That means that the 5e version is nearly complete. The only thing that I haven't finalized for the book: the list of backer credits. 

As I write this, there are still 46 people who have not filled out their Backer Kit surveys. If you want to be listed in the backer credits, please make sure to fill this out. I'm going to give people a few days, then I plan to release the 5e version of the book this week, probably Wednesday or Thursday.

This is also the last call before locking orders of add-ons. I'm going to send out PDFs for add-ons of existing books around the same time.

Meanwhile the Pathfinder 2 version has come back from edits, and I'm going to start layout this week. I hope to have that out to backers next week. There are still a couple of things I need to convert in the Savage Worlds version and then have that edited. It looks like that should be out in early June.

After that I'll shift to Rope and Chain in earnest. My goal is to get that out sometime in July.

Patreon has Launched!

After much talk about it, I just launched the This and That Patreon. This Patreon will fund future books in the This and That series, like books about games, books, and more! I'm running this Patreon on a per creation model, meaning you'll only get charged when I release a book. And because the first three books were funded by the Kickstarter campaign, I won't start charging until we release the fourth book. You can still sign up now to make sure that you don't miss out and to participate in the discussion planning book four.

Magical Kitties Level Up!

Because I know you are always looking for more crowdfunding opportunities, I want to give a plug for Magical Kitties Level Up! I'm not running this one, but I am involved as a writer/game designer.

Magical Kitties is an all-ages RPG, where the players take on the roll of kitties with magical powers that must defend their humans from witches, aliens, and the school bully. This is a great way to introduce your kids to RPGs or play a light-hearted game with adults.

The Level Up Kickstarter campaign expands the original games with new books and accessories, and also includes pledge levels with the base game.

Thanks,

Matthew

Watch for Backer Kit Surveys
almost 3 years ago – Wed, May 05, 2021 at 03:11:05 AM

Hello Lock and Key Backers,

I hope you are doing well. Progress on Lock and Key continues on pace. We've got the 5e version edited and in layout. The color cover illustration is in, and we're just waiting for a few more a few more black and white images.

Meanwhile the Pathfinder 2 conversion is out for edits, and I'm working on the Savage Worlds conversion. All of these should be out to backers sometimes in May.

Watch for Backer Kit Emails

Later this week, I should send out reward surveys through Backer Kit. This is how I'll collect addresses for print backers, so make sure to fill it out if you are getting a print book. For PDF only backers, you'll still get your reward if you don't fill it out, but I'm also using Backer Kit to gather your preferred name for Backer Credits. If you care about getting your name in these credits, you also need to make sure to fill out the survey.

That's all for now. I'll send you another update when the book ships, and pretty soon after that I'll start to share some previews of Rope and Chain.

I'll leave you with a glimpse of the cover art.

Thanks,

Matthew