Hello everybody and welcome to your February update. It’s a juicy one! Let’s dive right in, shall we? 

Now that Daniel has submitted all but two of the art pieces Dai is working on the final layout, and it looks fantastic. Honestly, I could yammer on about it but have a look at these samples as I think they speak for themselves. 

Is done! The manuscript that is. Plus, in a stroke of good luck, the illustrious Jarret Crader had an opening in his schedule and has stepped in for editing. Long time Mothership fans may recognize Jarret’s name from a whole slew of projects including a bunch of work on his own publishing imprint Space Penguin Inc., the majority of first party Mothership adventures, and, of course, Magnum Galaxy's very own Dying Hard on Hardlight Station. Jarret has already completed the developmental edit on The Smuggler’s Guide, and will be doing line and copy this week which means I’ll be turning it over for layout very soon. Can’t wait to see what Dai does with this outer rim outlaw’s guide to the galaxy (or at least one particularly lawless chunk of it).  

Speaking of the Smuggler’s Guide I kind of got a little carried away with it. I figured, you know what would make all those cool fence and contraband tables sing? A complete mini-setting to anchor them in! So, surprise surprise, along with the alternate start scenarios, the bonus adventure, and all the promised tables, there is also a whole new location to explore: The Barge Bazaar, an itinerant black market that roams Nakatomi Sector 1365 peddling elicit wares to all with the cash to pay. Can’t wait to share more about it in the coming months but I’ll leave this as a fun teaser of what’s to come. 

I took a quick break from writing The Smuggler’s Guide last week to switch gears and create some weird, wacky, and occasionally horrifying androids for my cross collab with Joel Hines’ Interloper.  I had a lot of fun cranking out 20 different visions of the android copy of the park’s founder. The challenge was to see how many strange, weird, and fresh directions I could come up with. Inspired by Arnold K’s “Dungeon Checklist” from Goblin punch I imagined not only a unique character for each but also how they might function in play to drive action, unlock mysteries, or create some horrific scenes. I love these weird little fellas and can’t wait to try them out when I finally get my hands on the final copy of Joel’s game. Here’s a sneak peak at a couple of my faves: 

The pledge manager opened at the beginning of the month and already 91% of you have completed your surveys. That’s awesome! If you have yet to do it, lost or never received your survey you can head to the survey recovery page, enter your email, and you will receive another survey link.

Speaking of the Pledge Manager, I received a couple of questions about how the promotional patches appear in your cart. Those of you who are first 48 hours backers should all have 1x complimentary Smoking Darkness Reclamations patches in your carts. The other promo patch is the Landis University patch. That one, as you may remember, is the reward to celebrate all 20 Mothership Month projects funding and it is going out to every physical backer of Awaiting the Burning Gods. If you are a backer at the zine only level you will see 1x of the Landis patch in your cart. However, if you are getting a box set you won’t see the patch in your cart because the patch will be packed inside the box set. So, if you are getting a boxed set, you will be getting the Landis patch. Hope that clarifies that one. If you have any other questions about your cart or survey don’t hesitate to reach out to Backerkit through the Pledge Manager and they will either answer or pass it on to me to respond. 

That’s a wrap for this month. This was a big one and I am excited to share even more next month! Until then, all the best and happy adventuring, 

Dave