Good day! I hope everyone is doing well today. We've got an updated RPG timeline for you, as well as some more Gloomhaven art to share now that almost all of it is finished. But first, I want to get in the habit of addressing some of the most prominent concerns from last update's comments.

First, there are a number of concerns from people who did not get charged for wave 3. We consulted with Backerkit, and found there were multiple orders that didn’t get charged because they were already in “fulfillment” status, which caused them to not get automatically processed when we closed the PM. Backerkit will be processing all these orders tomorrow morning.

We are also seeing some frustrations over the response time to support emails. Like I mentioned last time, due to the end of fulfillment and charging for wave 3, we have an increased volume in support tickets and the response time does go down. We were also hindered by the storm in the Midwest that knocked out power to our support team for several days.

We’re currently at just over 400 support tickets and are about 2 weeks behind in response, however we’ve assigned an additional team member to assist, and yesterday alone they were able to get through over 200 tickets. They’ll all be working diligently over the next couple days to get as caught up as possible before the end of the week. We appreciate your patience!

EU: We expected all EU orders to have been shipped last week, but Fulfillment Europe had a few slowdowns. They have been working to get the remaining orders that contained Envelope X out. There are about 70 orders left, and they’ve committed to having these all shipped by the end of the week.

Brazil: We’ve received replies back from most of you with your CPF#, and these orders have been added to Fulfillment Europe’s queue, these will be shipping after the rest of the Envelope X orders have been processed. We still have 5 Brazil orders that we’ve tried contacting multiple times, so if you haven’t sent us your CPF# yet please check your email!

Asia: Fulfillment continues here with no changes from last time. You can track the progress of your region here: https://vfi.asia/hubs/ (The project is listed under Frosthaven.)

Israel: We’ve had multiple people emailing asking about shipping to Israel. These orders have already shipped with VFI, and they have now updated their page to reflect this.

I want to talk about the RPG next, as we've got important timeline updates for you. As we speak, the first chapters are coming out of editing, and we are gearing up to start the layout process and commission all the art we need. So from here, this is the timeline we're looking at:

These are our best estimations up to this point, but as we hit November, our estimations become unfortunately even more unclear. The issue is that manufacturing in November and December (especially for books) can get a little chaotic. I'd like to tell you that we'll have everything on boats by the end of the year for fulfillment in the beginning of next year, but it is just unclear at this time, and we'll very like see some production delays because of the timing - delays that could even cause production to bump up against the Lunar New Year, causing further delays.

We're going to have to play it by ear and update you as we go, but I want to set your expectations now that we may be looking at production into February and not be able to fulfill until the second quarter of next year. We'll do our best to keep things moving when we get to production, but I want to make sure you're aware of the realistic possibilities.

Also, I want to note that these are timelines for the book. We also obviously have the cards and the deluxe box to produce as well. We'll be working on these in tandem, of course, and they shouldn't cause any delays leading up to submitting all the files to the factory, though confirming the assembly of the deluxe box is one of the reasons we're anticipating a month for the proofing process.

With all that said, we also have a new designer diary for you from Danielle. It's kinda long, so I'm going to post it below the discussion of...

June was a big month for the creative team! Outside of map tiles, we have only two outstanding art pieces that will be in by the end of the week, plus a handful of very minor art revisions that should also be done by the end of the week. Map tile art, however, has been a bit more of a struggle, as we still have several outstanding pieces, but we're confident that the delay here won't cause further delays in efforts down the line.

Here is a creative update from Arch, the art director:

Creatures, Bosses, and Summons! Pictured above is a sampling of new art pieces that you’ll see throughout the new edition of Gloomhaven. I’ve had the honor of working with a number of incredibly skilled artists on this project, and I can’t wait to fully reveal what they’ve been working on. In addition to a reimagined set of map tiles, there will be more than 50 all-new illustrations to enjoy in this updated classic. These efforts have not only helped to further illuminate this updated game, they’re also helping us build a properly lived-in world for the upcoming RPG.

In addition to these efforts, our graphic designers have continued to work hard to bring all these pieces together. Their expertise allows us to make a game that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but easy to follow as well. They’ve been working with the game design team with a sharp focus on all the details. About 70% of the game’s overall layout is complete at this point, with cards and other general components now in a phase of active review and revision. The rulebook and scenario books are well underway.

The creative team is starting July off strong! We expect to be finished with layout and related revisions for Gloomhaven by the end of this month, at which time we will begin the thorough and discerning process of proofing everything from copy to color combinations to ensure a smooth production run.

Greetings Mercenaries!

Time for another design diary. I feel like I literally just wrote May’s diary, and I think that’s because June flew by so fast. I just got back from running games at Origins Game Fair, and it was once again great fun and a great success. If you had a chance to play games with the Lurking Fears team, I hope you had a great time. Please let them know how much you appreciate them, because they worked extremely hard to bring you our game in its playtest state.

If you missed Origins, Lurking Fears is also running Gloomhaven at Gencon, though the events are already sold out. If you’re really just looking to see the rules differences, I’ll be at the booth showing it off. You won’t get the full experience of playing a session, so if you’re looking for that, keep an eye out for open slots with the Lurking Fears team. If you just want to say hi, I’d love to meet you and chat, so come on by.

Last month, I told you I’d have a preview to show you, so let me preface it with a little back story. When Isaac was originally working on the RPG, the goal was to let folks use their board game components to play the RPG. As we worked on the mechanical aspects of the RPG, the need for some major differences became apparent. I know I’ve already talked about how we’ve changed up the powers and cards, but that posed a new problem. You can’t just pull your character cards from your Gloomhaven box and play the RPG. I originally thought I’d figure out how to do a conversion guide, but the mechanical conversion is so drastic that I’m not sure translation is truly possible for the casual player.

This meant that I needed to ensure that players did not need the RPG cards to play the game if they didn’t have them or didn’t want to buy even more Gloomhaven components. The cards are still present, and they are still extremely useful to streamline your turn, keep check on what you plan to do, and are great play aids. Ultimately, I wanted people to be able to write their card powers down on their character sheet and know exactly what they were capable of doing if they didn’t have access to the cards.

So, after making all the adjustments to the class and ancestry mechanics, we’ve been hard at work converting symbols and shorthand into long-form RPG text to make what each power does extremely clear. We changed up some language to accommodate this, so the RPG talks about “primary actions” which are the actions you find at the top of a card, and “secondary actions” from the bottom. We did this not to be confusing, but to ensure that if someone isn’t playing with the cards, they aren’t wondering why we called the actions top and bottom. We also wanted to ensure that players could use their “ability cards” to do non-combat things, and knew they were accessible for that. So we renamed “ability card” to Skills specifically so we could reference them outside of combat and outside of needing a card. 

All that said, here are a few Skills from the Mindthief.

The mindthief puts abilities called Augments into play. Augments last until the scene ends or until a new Augment ability is used, which replaces the existing effect. 

While their Special Skills in battle allow them to seize control of an enemy, in noncombat scenes they get a sense for what others might think or feel. A mindthief gains a bonus on Attribute checks when Expending their Special Skills for reading another’s intentions, detecting lies, understanding another’s motives, or establishing a rapport with another. In an exploration scene, the mindthief may use an appropriate Special Skills to establish a connection with a thinking character or object capable of humanlike emotions or empathy, granting a bonus to Attribute checks when appropriate. 

Basic Skills: These are the Skills that the Mindthief learns that do not need to be Expended on use.

Debilitating Strike
Level: 1
Initiative: 48
Primary: Make a melee attack 2. Add +1 attack for each negative Condition the target has.
Secondary: Control one enemy within 20 feet to move 5 feet. If Ice is present, force the controlled enemy to suffer 1 damage. 

Frigid Knife
Level: 1
Initiative: 27
Primary: Make a melee attack 3. If Ice is present, inflict the Wound Condition on the target.
Secondary: Control one enemy within 20 feet to move 5 feet. If Ice is present, force the controlled enemy to suffer 1 damage. 

Special Skills: These Skills must be Expended on use.

Into the Night
Level: 1
Initiative: 14
Primary: Make a melee attack 4 with Advantage. If the attack kills an enemy, gain the Invisible Condition. Infuse Dark!
Secondary: If you have not moved this round, gain the Invisible Condition. You may not perform Move abilities this turn! Infuse Dark!
Bonus: Advantage, +1
You wrap yourself in dark, disappearing from sight in an instant.

The Mind’s Weakness
Level: 1
Initiative: 75
Primary: Augment: Add +1 attack to all your melee attacks. Then, make a melee attack 2. You may control the target of the attack ability to make a melee attack 3.
Secondary: Control one enemy within 20 feet to make an attack 2. If Ice is present, force the controlled enemy to suffer 2 damage.
Bonus: Advantage, +1
With a little psionic twist, the mindthief pulls their target’s greatest weakness to the forefront, driving them to act in desperation.

Paralyzing Edge
Level: 1
Initiative: 8
Primary: Make a melee attack 2 that inflicts the Stun Condition. Infuse Ice!
Secondary: Move up to 15 feet. If Ice is present, inflict the Stun Condition on an enemy within 5 feet.
Bonus: Advantage, +1
The mindthief draws down the cold of ice to freeze their target’s mind, putting them into a stupor.

Possession
Level: 1
Initiative: 12
Primary: Control one enemy within 20 feet to make an attack 4 that inflicts the Muddle Condition.
Secondary: Move up to 15 feet. Then, Heal yourself 3. Infuse Ice!
Bonus: Advantage, +1
The mindthief takes control over their target’s mind, making them act in ways that are against their very nature.

Psychic Assault
Level: 1
Initiative: 77
Primary: Augment: Your single-target melee attacks may target enemies up to 10 feet away from you. Then, make a melee attack 3 that inflicts the Curse Condition. Then, control the target of the attack to Move up to 5 feet.
Secondary: Move up to 20 feet. Inflict the Curse Condition with all attacks you and enemies you control perform this round.
Bonus: Advantage, +1
With a blast of psychic energy, the mindthief overwhelms their target’s senses.

Withering Touch
Level: 1
Initiative: 18
Primary: Augment: Add the Poison and Muddle Conditions to all your melee attacks. Then, make a melee attack 3 that inflicts the Immobilized Condition.
Secondary: Jump up to 25 feet. Then, make a melee attack 2 that inflicts the Poison and Pacify Conditions. Infuse Ice! Lose this Skill.
Bonus: Advantage, +1
The mindthief infuses themselves with the staying power of ice, and with a touch, petrifies their target with a creeping cold.

Origins was a great success! We debuted our life-sized first scenario of Buttons & Bugs, and people couldn't get enough of playing a real life mercenary in the game. Plus, all tables were full of players for the Gloomhaven RPG sessions.

We also brough in a promo scenario for Buttons & Bugs. for Origins, and we'll be releasing another one at Gen Con. Any promos that you miss, you can always find on our website to print and play. Here is the link for the Origins promo.

Our next convention will be San Diego Comic Con, July 25 to July 28. And then, of course, the biggest gaming convention in North America: Gen Con in Indianapolis, from August 1 to 4.

                                   

And that's all there is to share this time! I look forward to continuing to get your concerns addressed and update you on the progress being made. Until next time!