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Lock and Key - A Mini-Book for 5e, PF2, and Savage Worlds

Created by Matthew J. Hanson

A 5e, PF2, SW mini-supplement about stopping people from stealing your stuff. History, variant locks, monsters, magic items, and more!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Poll Results and Patreon Preparations
almost 3 years ago – Sun, Apr 25, 2021 at 12:53:47 AM

Hello Lock and Key Backers,

The results of the book-three poll are in. With an average rating of 4.06, the winner is ...

Code and Cypher!

I've already started doing some research on medieval encryption and found some fun ideas to include. Or course I'm always happy to hear backer suggestions.

Other popular ideas were traps, forgeries, games, and—a personal favorite of mine—books. If these were some of your favorites too, hope is not lost. I am putting together a Patreon for books in the This and That series, and those ideas will likely be among the first we do. 

Speaking of Patreon

I'm putting together the Patreon page for This and That now, and I'm curious what sorts of pledge levels people are interested in beyond just getting the book. I back a few different Patreons myself, but I have to admit I normally back at just the basic level. 

I'm curious, for those of you who do support Patreon creators at higher levels, what sort of perks are you interested in? Behind the scenes access? Previews of drafts? Extra voting power to decide topics? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks all,

Matthew

Vote Now!
almost 3 years ago – Mon, Apr 19, 2021 at 02:00:15 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Last Call for Third-Book Theme Nominations
almost 3 years ago – Sat, Apr 10, 2021 at 06:08:04 AM

Hello Again Lock and Key Backers,

The status of Lock and Key is pretty similar to the previous update. I'm still waiting for editing and art. 

I'm continuing to work on the rope book little by little. I'll start showing some previews soon. I'm also pretty sure that I'm going to change the title on that. As much as I like How about a Nice Piece of Rope, I think that as these books turn into a longer line of books, I'm going to go with a “Noun and Noun” format for each of them. I think it's most likely that the rope book will become Rope and Chain (with added content about chains!) I'm also considering Rope and Knot. 

Last Call for Third Book Nominations

Speaking of “Noun and Noun” titles, I've put together a revised list of possible titles for the third book in this series. I think I've gotten all the ideas that people have mentioned in one form or another (sometimes split up or merged with other ideas). If I missed anything or if you have any last minute ideas let me know. I hope to send out a formal survey next week.

  • Touch and Lantern – Light cources
  • Pack and Bag – Soft containers
  • Chest and Barrel – Hard containers
  • Pen and Parchment – Writing Materials
  • Door and Window – Openings in buildings
  • Table and Chair – Furniture
  • Marble and Paint – Art 
  • Fiddle and Lute – Musical instruments
  • Wig and Rouge – Makeup and disguises
  • Cloak and Tunic – Clothing
  • Sandal and Boot – Footwear
  • Book and Shelf – Books and what we store them on
  • Hammer and Saw – Woodworking tools
  • Fire and Forge – Smithing tools
  • Forger and Fake – Forgeries
  • Code and Cipher – Passing covert messages
  • Pit and Snare – Traps
  • Card and Dice – Games

There are so many fun ideas on this list, that I really want to continue the series beyond the three currently planned. In addition to all the book names, I'm also trying to think of a good name for the series. If you have ideas, let me know!

On A Personal Note

This has nothing to do with the project, but I'm just excited so I wanted to share. Yesterday I got my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine against Covid-19. I'm super excited that the prospect that I might be able to return to in person gaming in the not too distant future. 

Thanks,

Matthew

What Comes Next
almost 3 years ago – Mon, Apr 05, 2021 at 09:16:15 PM

Hello Lock and Key backers,

Now that the thrill of the Kickstarter campaign is over, I'm sure many of you are wondering now what?

For Backers

Kickstarter has already charged most of your credit cards, but there are just a few of you whose cards did not go through. Usually this is something small and easy to fix like a card expiring. Keep an eye out for an email from Kickstarter in case that applies to you.

In the coming weeks I'll also be sending out a survey on Backer Kit for reward info, and separate survey asking about the theme of the third book in the series.

For Us

Right now I'm doing a couple of final revision to the 5e version of Lock and Key, and I expect to send it out to external editing next week. After the final edit we'll start working on the Pathfinder 2e and Savage Worlds conversion.

I've also put together an art order for the new pieces of art that we funded with this Kickstarter campaign, and hope to get those back before the end of April.

At the same time I've started working on the rope book. This is far from final, but here is a rough outline of what I've got so far. *I've written a draft of items marked with an asterisks.


A Brief History of Rope – Fun Fact: Medieval ropes were made in super long buildings called ropewalks.

Rope in Fantasy Settings

Variant Ropes

*New Weapons – Lasso, harpoon, rope dart, and meteor hammer

Random Rope Generator

New Spells 

   *Animate Rope – Cantrip that can move rope, plus trip or grapple for a turn.

   *Raska's Restrictive Ribbons

New Magic Items

   Lasso of Truth 

   (Two or three other items to be determined.)

New Monsters

   *Snimic – Half snake, half mimic. It shape changes into ropes and other similar objects.

   Rope Golem

   (One or two more monsters)


I'll keep you posted on our progress.

Thanks,

Matthew 

Book Three Funded!
almost 3 years ago – Mon, Apr 05, 2021 at 08:44:54 PM

Hello Backers,

We've done it! We just hit the funding goal for book three! For this third book, we'll let the backer decide what the theme to be. We've had some great suggestions already, but there's still time to give more ideas.

Whatever the book ends up being, we'll do a D&D 5e, Pathfinder 2e, and Savage Worlds version of the book, and everybody at the $5 level or higher levels will get a PDF copy of the book.

Print Pledge Level

Several backers asked about a print option for Lock and Key. Because the book is short, it made sense when it was just one book. Now that we've funded three books, however, a single print volume collecting all three is more viable.

To that end I've added a new pledge level to get this print collection of the books. If you are already backing and want to upgrade to print, just go to the Kickstarter page and click Manage Your Pledge.

Can We Hit One More?

We've still get over a day left on the Lock and Key Kickstarter campaign. Can we add one more book? Let's give it a shot! If we reach $5,000 before the end of the campaign, we'll print a fourth book in the series, again chosen by the backers.

This is a major jump over our previous goals, because with the new print option I have to factor in printing and shipping costs when setting the new goal. On the bright side I think there will be a big spike in the total funding total based on people upgrading their pledges.