Shipping surveys are live
about 2 months ago
– Thu, Apr 23, 2026 at 10:28:20 AM
The smoke test looked good, so I just pressed the button and sent out the rest of the surveys to you all.
You'll get to add your preferred email for DTRPG for the pdfs (don't worry, you can also get it on BackerKit if you don't use DTRPG) and purchase any of the add-ons we unlocked throughout the campaign, as well as pay for shipping.
Please let me know if you have any problems or questions about it.
Get Ready for the Surveys
about 2 months ago
– Sun, Apr 19, 2026 at 05:44:55 PM
Well, Ahimsa signed off on the PDF version of the book, which was the last thing we had to do before sending out the surveys. So it looks like the time has come to start sending them out. (I'll wait until Monday morning so that the folks at BK will be around in case I need them for anything.)
We'll start with the usual "smoke test" to make sure that we didn't mess anything up in our initial setup. Please let me know if you think there are any problems with your surveys--we can fix them, but it's always best if we get it early.
We're also just 16 days away from the launch of Emporium of the Damned for Old-School Essentials Month on BackerKit. It's going to be our first project over there, so come on over and help us get it started the right way.
Major Status Update!
about 2 months ago
– Wed, Apr 15, 2026 at 05:47:56 PM
Hey there, fellow dungeon delvers! We’ve got some fantastic news to share with you. 😀
The Physical Goods are Here!
I just received the proof copy of Vanilla Adventure from the printer—and it looks absolutely incredible. Seriously, this exceeded my expectations: full-color, heavyweight matte printing throughout, a high-quality cover, and beautiful red end-papers and headbands. I wish you could feel the paper quality in person, but for now, these images will have to do:
I also picked up the 12x18 fold-out maps and the Character Creation zines. Both turned out awesome and will be available as add-ons via the BackerKit fulfillment page. Just look at these!
Production & Digital Delivery
Because the proof looked so good, I’ve already given the green light for the full production run. In fact, the books are already printed and en route to Knight Owl HQ as I type this! Woop! Woop!
On the digital front, we are officially on the cusp of fulfillment:
- The Vanilla Adventure PDF is fully linked and bookmarked.
- The Digital Character Creation Zine is ready.
- VTT Maps are finished.
- 22 Digital Pre-gen Characters (for early backers) are done!
The only thing left is to send out the BackerKit surveys. We need these to confirm your shipping details and ensure we have your preferred email address for DriveThruRPG (though we will also provide BackerKit download links for those who don’t use DTRPG). Keep an eye on your inbox—surveys are coming very soon!
Coming Soon: Emporium of the Damned
We are also gearing up to participate in BackerKit’s upcoming Old-School Essentials Month! The event is themed around demons and devils, centered on the new Demonic Grimoire by Necrotic Gnome and Exalted Funeral. We’ve read it, and it is freaking awesome.
Our contribution to the event is Emporium of the Damned, a ~50-page, full-color zine featuring a hellish marketplace where desperate adventurers can trade anything for infernal power. You’re going to love it!
Sign up here to be notified when it launches!
Vanilla Adventure March Update
3 months ago
– Mon, Mar 23, 2026 at 03:30:13 PM
Hey all--
We have been super busy at the Knight Owl HQ and it's about time that I shared our status with you:
- I shipped the files off to the printer for the main book last week. They have it queued up now and I should be able to get a look at the proof sometime in early April.
- I also finalized the (free to everyone) Character Creation digital zine and shipped the files for the printed version, which we will be offering at an insane discount on the BackerKit fulfillment page.
- I just (like 5 minutes ago) finalized the artwork for the 12x18 double-sided full-color fold-up map, which will also be on the BackerKit fulfillment page.
- Ahimsa is putting the finishing touches on the pregen characters. They are free to early-birds who backed in the first 48 hours, but we will also be offering a digital download for purchase through the BackerKit fulfillment page.
- I completed the initial version of the digital PDF of Vanilla Adventure. There are a ton of bookmarks and links in there! I want to give it a few more passes to make sure that everything is 100% good, but it's really close to being ready to go out.
- I have just started on the digital VTT maps. There are a lot of maps in this book (like 25, I think!), so this one is taking a while. I hope to have them done by the end of the week, though. We'll see.
We are definitely ahead of schedule and things are going great. Once I get a shipping date from the printer, we'll make the BackerKit fulfillment page live and we can move into the next phase.
Meanwhile...we are hard at work on our next TWO projects, both of which are launching in early May on BackerKit:
The Emporium of the Damnedis a Hell-themed marketplace packed with demonic deals, corrupted artifacts, twisted NPCs, and sinister stories and plot hooks—designed to entice any gaming group. It's part of the upcoming Old-School-Essentials Month and is meant to tie in directly with Necrotic Gnome's Demonic Grimoire and the other awesome projects surrounding it. You can follow along now here and get in the moment it launches!
At the exact same time, we are launching a micro-RPG using the Portland Pocket system that we developed last year for the Portland Pocket RPG with Dark Future Dungeon. Wytch Mountain is a folk-horror coven-crawl that includes everything you need to get you started playing immediately! It's part of BackerKit's Pocketopea and you can follow along with it here.
And...we're done! Thank you :)
4 months ago
– Fri, Feb 20, 2026 at 05:36:39 PM
THANK YOU!
The Kickstarter campaign is over and now we can move on to the next phase of this project: getting everything finalized and sent out to you!
We are actually ahead of schedule right now, with all of the maps and artwork finished, book laid out, and editing 99.9% complete! Mostly all we need to do is make one final pass through the book with our super-fine-toothed comb before shipping the files off to the printer.
PDF production will take a little longer, as I need to go through and bookmark everything, add links to relevant pages, and optimize the whole thing so that it's not 150 mb. Plus we have to produce the VTT maps, making sure that they are optimized for play, and make the Appendix B digital zine that we are shipping to all of you. Still, we are hoping to get all of that to you ahead of schedule as well. All that should come to you through DTRPG.
In the next couple of weeks, Kickstarter will do its thing and then, when it gets closer to fulfillment time, we'll send you all the link to the BackerKit Pledge Manager where you can pay for shipping and add any add-ons you like (such as the 12 x 18 fold-up map).
You should be able to expect everything to come your way by the summer, but I'll be in touch plenty until then.
Also, stay tuned for our next project, which is just around the corner: we are super excited to have been invited to be part of the Old-School-Essentials Month launching on BackerKit in May and will be offering the Emporium of the Damned: a jam-packed zine about a Demonic Market on the Edge of the Hells.
Thanks again--and we'll be in touch soon!
