Dark Matter is a rip-roaring futuristic campaign setting, which lets you play DnD in Space without learning a new system.
Short update: The parade of delays is finally over and your Roll20 code is live in BackerKit! If you ordered the Roll20 module, go to https://dark-matter.backerkit.com/ to get your code and redeem it at https://marketplace.roll20.net/coupon/
Sorry for the long gap between updates everyone! We’ve had a lot of random delays in the last month or so. Here’s a status update:
tl;dr
May came and went without the Roll20 release, while every few days we got closer to implementing it. Right now, every little issue has been resolved with it -- it’s completely finished -- and we’re just waiting on Roll20 to press the button on a few technical permissions so we can do a few proper tests. (Waiting on Roll20 for things has been a leitmotif of this whole process for a very long time, so believe me when I say I understand your frustrations here.) We should have this ready extremely soon.
We’ve gotten some unexpected delays in manufacturing, owing to two things: Firstly, we had to ask for color corrections on the hardcover books, which were very off in the final print prototypes we were offered. This bumped us off the manufacturing queue, and set us back a few weeks. The second reason is that manufacturing is taking longer than usual. Tons of items this year are seeing delays in manufacturing and distribution due to downstream shortages, and it seems our book is no exception.
I anticipate more delays as books ship into the states, since many products are seeing delays in shipping recently. I’ll look into faster shipping options to avoid the cargo ship bottleneck, but it might be inevitable.
Manufacturing should be finished within a couple of days, and we’ve got our manufacturing advance copies on hand: everything is looking incredible!
I’ve got the first draft of the first half of One Hundred to Oni and I’m editing it now. I should have that ready for everyone by the end of the month! This adventure is really something special -- way longer and more involved than we expected. I think you’ll love it.
We’ve got all our campaign diaries from Rook and Raven in, and they look awesome! Take a look!
We’re making a Dark Matter module for Foundry VTT! I can’t give you an ETA on that yet, but I can tell you it’s on the way.
Some helpful bits it doesn’t hurt to hear twice:
Good news: we’re finished and onto manufacturing!
There was a small delay in a couple of details -- getting the card boxes the right size and aligning the foil patterns on the deluxe boxes (again), but everything’s lined up and we’re well on our way. Here’s what happens next:
We’re locking all BackerKit orders and charging cards in one week. Get your orders in and make sure your cards are up to date!
Here’s where it looks like everything is, to the best of our knowledge:
All of these steps have random chances of delay; just imagine we’re rolling d20s and bracing for 1s to show up. Barring that, US packages should be in your hands sometime in July, with everyone else in August.
The Roll20 module for Conspiracy in the Stars! (which includes a basic version of the Dark Matter compendium) will be ready in May. We ran into more delays than expected on this, and we expected quite a few! That being said, we learned a lot and know exactly where the limitations of the software are.
However, we ran into one insurmountable road bump: we can’t make a custom Dark Matter character sheet on Roll20 yet. Because we want the adventure and Dark Matter content to be compatible with other 5e content, we need to use the core 5e compendium, and Roll20 has an internal limit of one character sheet per compendium!
This limitation is really technical and really silly, and Roll20 has told us that making it possible to integrate more than one character sheet into a compendium is on their development queue for the end of the year. When that is implemented, we’ll be updating our Roll20 content to take advantage of this improvement and get you that promised character sheet.
Some helpful bits it doesn’t hurt to hear twice:
The full print and play campaign, all six Grax's Club adventures, are out now for backers! You can still add it to your BackerKit if you're interested in picking it up.
The eagle-eyed among you might have noticed: six adventures? I thought Grax's Club was only four! Well, you're right! We added a 1st and 2nd level adventure, Bipinbop's Factory of Fun, which takes gratuitous inspiration from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Then, we run that directly into a slightly-modified version of Conspiracy in the Stars!, the adventure included in the Starter Kit, for 3rd and 4th levels. After that comes 5th, 6th, and 7th -- The Even Most Dangerous-er Game, The Curse of the Astromo, and The Pink Star Scandal -- and finally we have a brand new adventure, 'Dex Education, a Grax's Guys field trip for 8th level characters. It's a wild campaign ride!
If you're at all interested in a light-hearted (and occasionally horrific) Dark Matter adventure, or if you just want to have some fun one shots on hand, pick up Grax's Club today!
We are so close to pulling the trigger on printing! The last few weeks have been spent trying to get the GM Screens and Deluxe Slipcase to look just right, which for some reason have taken a few iterations for things to line up properly. Once we get proofs demonstrating that those are ready to print (scheduled for later this week), we'll give everyone a one-week heads up, lock BackerKit orders, then charge cards one week later. We're only a couple days behind where I expected to be, but we'll keep everyone posted as this progresses.
With Grax's Club wrapped up, we have started work on our big campaign book One Hundred to Oni with an all-star team of writers and developers! One Hundred to Oni is an action-packed adventure of galactic intrigue that will vastly expand the Warzone and Lakshay setting with TONS of new lore, original mechanics, explorable worlds, and unforgettable set pieces. One of our goals is to provide enough depth that GMs can use the setting to tell all different kinds of stories in Dark Matter.
The campaign itself will take characters from 1st level pilot academy students to 9th level intergalactic legends, emphasizing challenging moral decisions and the relationships they build with their companions, friends, and rivals! One Hundred to Oni is a love letter to amazing sci-fi stories like Mass Effect and The Expanse. If that sounds like fun to you, or if you want to run a game about ace pilots in giant mech suits on an adrenaline-pumping race to stop an intergalactic war, this book will be for you.
So as you can tell, One Hundred to Oni is a big, ambitious campaign book with a lot of new ideas that have come a long way since we first started working on it. Right now, we're hoping to have the first half of it ready for editing by the end of April.
Just like Grax's Club, it'll be releasing in print and play chunks until it's completely wrapped up. Stay tuned for more info!
It’s update time! I’ve got proofs on hand!
Almost everything went perfectly with our first set of printed proofs, which is extremely exciting. We’ll have to do one more set to iron out some weird glitches, but it’s 90% perfect.
Time to show some stuff off: The Starter Kit feels like it's got a mountain of stuff. Getting this in your hands is a great experience.
The Dark Matter Hardcover looks just as good as before, and from this proof, seems to have sharper colors, a better contrast range, and fewer (read: none in this copy) printing glitches. And it has a bookmark ribbon! The cover is a bit brighter, which I actually like since it's a lot less grim.
And LOOK AT THIS BOX.
The GM Screen kicks ass too.
Monster cards and reference cards are fantastic.
The Space Battle Bundle and Alien Worlds Bundle are really cool in practice. Massively useful!
If you want any other pictures, let me know!
Let's talk about timelines. We need to do one more set of proofs to work out those printing glitches. Since it's Chinese New Year, however, we can't get them started on the next set for another week, then we might expect a few weeks for another pass of proofs. We're getting close to printing and shipping!
Assuming we don't need another pass on proofs, I expect to be locking in orders on March 15th. We'd charge cards a week after. At that time, I should have a clear idea of how long it'll take to manufacture, ship, and get the products in your hands.
Roll20 is also nearly done! We've got our Compendium link on hand and we're working on the character sheet. It's been a long, frustrating process getting it all working, but it'll be out before we ship.
The next installment of Grax's Club is finished! In this adventure, The Pink Star Scandal, written by Lili Sparx, your Grax's Guys are on the job of proving a client's innocence and arguing their case in court. (Yes, it's a Phoenix Wright game in space D&D. Yes, it's incredible.) We're onto playtesting the final adventure already, which should be done in no time.