TLDR: Fill out your survey if you haven't, and you can download the near-final digital Downcrawl now.
It's the darkest time of year in the Northern Hemisphere, but also, potentially, the coziest. As a solstice gift for my Downcrawl backers (which I hope you can enjoy accompanied by a blanket, a warm beverage, and the smells of something good baking), I'm happy to release early a near-final version of the full digital Downcrawl rulebook. (Instructions for accessing can be found at the bottom of this update.)
This version is still missing a few things: acknowledgments and custom names from Patron backers, online play aids (none of which have been posted yet), and the final editing pass. But the art, layout, text etc should all be 99% of the way there, barring any additional typos or tweaks that get caught before production on the book is locked sometime in January. I hope you enjoy!
(And if you do catch any of those typos or have other feedback, please let me know.)
A page spread from the "Session Zero" chapter of the Downcrawl 2E rulebook.
Backer Surveys
If you haven't filled out your backer survey yet, now's the time. You should be getting reminder emails from BackerKit if you still need to do this. If you're not getting those or need to log back in for any reason, you can access your survey at https://downcrawl.backerkit.com .
Late Pledges
...Are still open for a few more weeks! I have already finalized item counts for a few bonus items that needed to be moved into production, so there are a limited number of additional pledges I can accept for certain tiers. If you're still on the fence about backing, or know other folks who might be interested in weird underground adventures, it's not too late to join us.
(Have I used a printout of a pre-order page as a last-minute gift before? Yes. Do I recommend this for small children? No.)
Progress Update
I'll get into more details in a few weeks in my regular January update, but in brief: proofs have been ordered of most items, including the dice and Tack coins. All card decks have been finalized and are in proofing. We're entering the "wait for physical items to be moved around" stage of the project, which is a relief to get to after the last few months of pretty intense work.
More next month as updates come in. Until then, enjoy your end of year festivities, and talk to you in 2025,
