Please fill out your Backerkit Survey!
6 months ago
– Thu, Sep 05, 2024 at 08:15:14 AM
Hey everyone!
Backerkit surveys have been out for about a week now and we have another week left for you to complete them. Please check your email for your backer kit survey and fill it out asap. Only 66% of you all have done so so far and I want to make sure everything goes out the way it needs to for reward fufillment.
This is also your last chance to get a physical copy of the Encounter Deck, as of right now there aren't plans to continue printing that product and most distributors will primarily be carrying the book alone so that is likely to be a Kickstarter-only product.
That goes for the deluxe edition as well, if you're interested in picking it up I do not plan on carrying the alternate cover in the future, that was special just for this run.
If you have a friend who missed out on the Kickstarter, please share this pre-order link with them for late pledging to the project. They've got about a week to get in on backer rewards.
Thank you all for making this project happen,
I cannot wait to get you your books.
I'll see you amongst the stars.
-Andrew
Backer Kit Surveys are out!
6 months ago
– Fri, Aug 30, 2024 at 10:44:17 AM
Hey everyone,
Just wanted to drop an update to say that surveys for Backerkit are live. This is where you can update your address, upgrade your pledge further or just give me the thumbs up that your good to go.
If you have a friend who didn't initially back and would like to place an order you can do so here in the pre-order store.
I'm so excited to be ready to place the order so in a few weeks after getting the surveys back it's time to pull the trigger and then books will be on the way.
In the meantime, I launched a Youtube channel for general Game Design video-diary content and more. Please check it out, drop a like, subscribe, and leave a comment if you're able. I'm excited to grow it as my main communication hub for future projects.
Fill out those surveys and...
I'll see you amongst the stars.
-Andrew Beauman
Gen Con!
7 months ago
– Wed, Jul 31, 2024 at 07:47:06 AM
Hey everyone!
Things are going incredibly well. The pdf has been out for a few weeks now over on Itch and hundreds of people have downloaded it. I'm eager to collect any community feedback, make my final edits in the next week or so, and place my official order for your books! So please let me know through this Google form if you have taken the time to go through the book and you caught something and would like to see it changed.
In other news, I'll be attending Gen Con in Indianapolis tomorrow! Please if you see me out on the show floor stop me and say, "Hi!" I genuinely would love to meet backers. I will say I'll likely be masked up so if you see someone wearing the only Battle School tee shirt, that's me! Otherwise, I'll be posting on my TikTok throughout the con regarding any open pickup games that I'll be running for Battle School. Feel free to comment or message me there if you want to connect!
I also had a small test run of the books so I had a few copies to Demo with at the convention. So please enjoy a few quick pics of the physical copy. (The final quality is still getting dialed in)
Hope to see you at Gen Con!
Early Access PDF is OUT
8 months ago
– Mon, Jul 15, 2024 at 04:00:03 PM
I am ecstatic to inform you that the early access version of the PDF of Battle School is now available. You can go right now over to my Itch page and "pay what you want" for it. You backers already have contributed to help bring it into existence so please just download it for $0 unless you're feeling overly generous.
Listing it as a "pay what you want" was the simplest and fastest way for me to get it into your hands and out into the world. I'm still working on getting my Backerkit pledge manager set up but waiting for that to be done means possibly another week or so of waiting to get the PDF to you. No way. I'm excited and want you to see what I've been working so hard on for the last five months.
The next steps are collecting feedback from you and others who pick up the PDF and make those changes before I send it to print. If you catch any typos or errors please fill out this Google form.
Hopefully, by the end of the week, you'll receive a Backerkit survey very soon where you can manage your pledge and if you'd like, upgrade your pledge for more rewards.
Thank you for helping me bring this into reality.
I'll see you amongst the stars.
-Andrew Beauman
This Week in Battle School
8 months ago
– Fri, Jul 05, 2024 at 02:43:57 PM
So before I get into what's gone on this week, I'd like to start putting out at minimum an update every other week. I'm hoping to do more than that but I need to lower the bar for myself of what's a "worthy update." I want to include you all, the people who made this project possible more regular insight into what I'm working on, no matter how minute.
That said... WOW, this last week has equated to a ton of progress. I started the week out by meeting with a friend I've met through launching this project and my podcast, Jeff Baker of When Suddenly! Games. Jeff successfully launched a Kickstarter for a game called Wyrd Dungeon back in February and has been working on his next game The Crypt Has Opened for a while now. I also have had the pleasure of playing The Crypt Has Opened and by proxy the system underneath it, The Imposition System, and have had a blast. Getting to know Jeff over the last few months and learning about his growth in the space led me to have a friendly chat about the steps I still have to take with Battle School, and in becoming a self-publisher in the TTRPG space. I cannot thank him enough for his time and wisdom. Please do me a favor and go check out Jeff on Tiktok or pick up a copy of his game over on his site to show support of another amazing creator. He's hosting a game jam for the Imposition system soon here you might want to check out as well.
I gathered my checklist of to-do's from the call with Jeff and got hard at work. My big task was figuring out how to handle the Table of Contents and linking throughout the document. It has been a huge priority for me to make the PDF experience as good as it can be. I've purchased countless TTRPG PDFs for them to contain no clickable table of contents and no internal linking to game verbs and terms. That said, I think I've done a heck of a good job getting this PDF to feel good. Almost any game term is clickable and will take you to the page with the definition and it has a fully interactable table of contents and pdf bookmarks section. Was no small task but it was super worth it.
Tomorrow my wife Emily, a skilled designer who has spent time working in a publishing house, will jump into my project file and start a layout-edit pass for me. Once she's made her tweaks and I've made the needed edits she flags, the PDF will be ready for Zack's pass (Bammax Games.)
After throwing in family activities around the 4th of July holiday, I ended the week today by allowing myself to dabble in a space I've desperately wanted to play in since I committed to the pixel art style for this book. Animation. I have a good amount of experience in making sprite sheets for pixel art video games but haven't done a more cinematic piece. I see myself using these in marketing content and even potentially some lore-centric YouTube videos soon.
(this piece is still in progress and will be a much longer animation with room to breathe)
Also in talking to peers, I've been mulling over what it means to support Battle School after it's launched. I'd like to start work on a longer adventure supplement but also find smaller ways to contribute content for free through a blog. I've got no commitment just yet but I'm hoping to provide regular things you can add to your games, from encounters, threats, and even whole-cloth sub-systems to drop into your game. If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them.
That said, I'm going to hop back into some more animation and then get this PDF ready for Emily.
Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you amongst the stars.
-Andrew Beauman
