Land of Vampires: A Full-Length Duet 5e Campaign

At long last: Print copies update!
3 months ago – Fri, Jun 07, 2024 at 01:22:41 PM

Greetings, wonderful duet-ing friends,

Happy Friday, one and all! 

In today's lovely update, we're covering maps downloads and an update on print copies!!! Also an update on Land of Vampires Part Two! 

Digital Updates

A little over a week ago, I sent out the PDFs for Land of Vampires: Slipping into Shadow, so for those with digital copies in your order, make sure to download yours! 

Since then, I have completed and uploaded the maps download for all digital and physical orders of Land of Vampires part one. The first version of this file was missing a couple maps, the second had a bonus zip file of the first version, but the file that's there now should have everything you need! 

Print Updates

I am super excited to have a print copies update for you! As you all know, we needed the digital copies to be set before we could tackle the print editions, but as of this afternoon, I have ordered the print proofs for the Adventuring Companions supplement and an updated copy of Witches, Fae, and Foes! 

I have also submitted the cover and interior to the printer for Land of Vampires (aaahhhh!!!) and, as soon as I get the digital proofs back from them and can approve them, I'll be ordering those print proofs! 

In other words, we have entered the very exciting "Beth sends digital files out into the world and they return to her in physical form" phase of print production! (A very important precursor to the much-anticipated "Beth receives things in physical form and then gets to send them to you in physical form!" which I'm very much looking forward to!)

I do not want to comment yet on the for-certain fulfillment timeline on the prints because I need to make sure the proofs are right first. If they look good, then we can go ahead and order prints for fulfillment! 

On a quick personal note, I can tell you that I have been looking forward to getting a copy of this campaign in the mail for years now, and I can hardly wait to see Jonathan's face when he opens it and sees it for the first time! I still so vividly remember opening the box that held my first printed copy of my first novel, Buried Heroes, and just this overwhelming feeling of a lifelong dream coming true—"I'm a real author!" It was unspeakably special, and I want him to get to experience that same feeling. We love that so many people have gotten to tell so many stories together because of our digital products, but there's nothing like holding them in your hands to make them feel real! 

Land of Vampires Part Two: Risen Retribution

That's right, the adventure is not over! The journey is just beginning! (Or at least a new phase of your journey begins!) 

There also aren't definitive dates attached to this particular update, but I have the arc for LoV Part Two set up and sketched out for development over the rest of the summer. The Rasonov chapter is nearly finished and will be released as a reward on our Patreon later this month! (Our patrons are super helpful with giving us playtesting feedback as we go, and LoV Part One wouldn't exist without them!)

Right now, the plan is for six-ish chapters, though these are longer than the LoV Slipping into Shadow chapters as they're more location-based and include several different story arcs within each location. What I am hoping for is that GMs could use parts of chapters alongside the chapters in Part One if, say, your PC really wanted to go to Barasov, and you'd still have plenty left to do in Part Two to make the next stage of your adventure fun and meaningful. 

Where I would love feedback from those who are planning to play/have already pre-ordered Part Two is your degree of interest between higher-level challenges within the chapters verses mid-level arcs/challenges. As a player, I really like lower- and mid-tier play, while Jonathan likes to see his character advancing. I enjoy the creative problem solving of the lower tiers a lot (level 1 through somewhere between 7 and 9). Obviously each duet-ing table is going to be different, and we all need to scale our duets for our specific PCs anyway, but if you do have preferences you'd like to voice, I would like to take them into consideration while I'm designing. 

In summary:

• We hope you're enjoying the PDFs of Land of Vampires!!! 
• You can download your maps zip drive when you're ready :) 
• And in the next couple weeks, look forward to more print updates and pictures/videos of the reveals! We want them to be really spectacular for you! 
• Finally, LoV Part Two: Risen Retribution is in the early stages of coming into being! (It's also available for preorder if you've been meaning to add it!)

Wishing you all the best! Thank you for going on this adventure with us! 

💚 Beth 

Here it comes!!! Digital download for full Land of Vampires campaign ready now!
3 months ago – Thu, May 30, 2024 at 11:24:38 AM

Dearest backers,

There are so many times in my life where I'm grateful that I'm a writer rather than an actor or musician or any number of performance-based art forms that, at the pinnacle moment of achievement, entail that you, the artist, are in front of others instead of, hypothetically, happy-sobbing in front of your computer. (Yes, you read that right—we have moved beyond happy crying and also yes, the dogs have come to check on me!)

To put it even more plainly, this is one of those happy-sobbing moments, and it's one that we've been building toward for literal years. 

But I won't keep you in suspense any longer:

The digital edition of Land of Vampires: Slipping into Shadow is READY!!! 

In fact, as you're reading this, BackerKit is working on distribution, so if your order is complete, payment confirmed, and you ordered the digital edition of LoV, you should have received or soon be receiving a notification about your download being ready! 

Before we get carried away, I haven't finished the maps download yet—I wanted to focus my energy and stamina on getting the campaign all the way finished first, but I will have the maps around to you next week at the latest! 

Genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, I don't know that I'll ever find the words to thank you for your support of me and Jonathan, of D&D Duet, and of the dream this campaign started as. I honestly can't believe how many lives have been touched—none more so than my own—by the simple act of Jonathan designing a campaign for me so we could play together. A whole world, just for two.

For those waiting on print editions, I am hoping to have some proofs in over the next couple weeks and then we'll start shipping! You will also receive the maps download file when it's ready. 

And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go happy-sob some more and marvel at the power of stories and storytelling and the blessing of having an amazing audience of gamers and storytellers who believe in you and are willing to put their support behind a project. 

With love and gratitude,

💚 Beth 

Getting close on the digital edition!
3 months ago – Tue, May 28, 2024 at 09:50:52 AM

Hello lovely backers!

I am following up on my update from earlier in the month to let you know that we are getting very close to having the compiled digital edition of Land of Vampires: Slipping into Shadow in your (digital) hands! Yay!!! 

More details on the digital edition completion timeline are below alongside a quick update for those placing preorders. 

Digital Edition update

I am in the final stages of editing and proofing, and then we'll just need one final formatting look-over, and we should be set! So unless something unforeseen occurs, this time next week (or maybe even late this week!), you'll be receiving a notification of the digital download being available if it's part of your order! 

I am also working on the downloadable map pack and figuring out the best way to get those files to you. I am hoping that I can upload a zip folder into Backerkit with each of the map files named in such a way that they match the name in the campaign. For those of you planning on using the campaign for VTT, if you have any special requests or needs, please let me know, and I will do my best to meet them! Depending on how straightforward the map folder compiling is, I may upload a test folder with a sample of the maps so we can make sure all is well in map-dom before doing the full compilation. I don't want to overburden your inboxes with digital content updates, but I also want to make sure everything is working as intended. 

Preorders Update

For those placing preorders: First, thank you! We really appreciate it! 

Secondly, I am going through about twice a week and processing preorder charges so you don't have to wait on digital file fulfillment. There is a lull between placing your order and the digital content of that order being available because the payment doesn't process right away (and thus the reason I go in manually a couple times a week to process said payments). If you need a more immediate order processing, please send me a message and I will move your order forward as quickly as I can. I'm trying to batch locking and processing preorders just in case someone is feeling a bit indecisive, but I also want you to receive your content as quickly as possible. 

I will be back with an official release of the digital edition message soon! 

💚 Beth 

Production Update for Land of Vampires—everything's going well!
4 months ago – Thu, May 09, 2024 at 01:03:50 PM

Hello wonderful backers and pre-order friends,

I have an absolutely delightful update for you today—we are on track for our production timeline for having PDFs of Land of Vampires part one ready in June! 

(This good news also means that we're on schedule for the print copies being ready and going out in July, but physical copies add an element of unknowns beyond our control, so stay tuned for more specific updates there.)

We're at the alternately glamorous and tedious stage of final polishing chapter by chapter, which sometimes looks like finding the perfect placement for art or when the formatting working out just so but seems just as likely to involve wording tweaks to trick sections into fitting within a prescribed space so as not to mess up pagination. But even in the moments of frustration or uncooperative documents, it is still so gratifying to see this campaign come together and super inspiring to know that so many amazing people are waiting on me to complete it!

Know that we are so excited to get this campaign into your hands and that we are exceedingly grateful for your support! 

Part Two update:

I have also been working on fleshing out Rasonov and all of the adventures to be had therein! (The pun in this sentence will take on additional creepy resonance once you start adventuring in Rasonov!) Part Two takes place in more urban centers than we had in Part One, which will make for a really nice change of pace! 

Blog & Gaming update:

As a quick side update from our home table, we just started a new campaign (*sigh* yes, I got stuck again!) that Jonathan is GMing and it is SOOOO cool! We had our first session last weekend, set in a world he's been working on, Ilios. It's a low-magic world, so my half-caster ranger is going to be very fancy (and suspicious) for possessing the ability to cast spells at all! 

After our session, I was buzzing with ideas about my character and the world, so I dove into creating a character diary for her (Draeza is my PC's name). I liked it so much I put together a post about character diaries and some things to consider if you're interested in keeping one, which you can read here!

Past Updates:

Just in case you missed a previous update, PDFs for Witches, Fae, and Foes; Adventuring Companions supplement; and Friends in Need have been distributed to all backers who have completed their survey. (If you placed a pre-order with us, those files will come through as soon as BackerKit finishes processing charges.)

I'll plan to have another update for you in a couple weeks! Between now and then, happy gaming!

💚 Beth 

Digital downloads distributed
4 months ago – Sun, Apr 28, 2024 at 09:11:11 AM

Hello wonderful backers,

I hope you're having a fabulous weekend! I am writing with an update regarding digital downloads for Witches, Fae, and Foes and the Adventuring Companions supplement. If either of these items were part of your pledge or add-ons in digital format, you should have just received download links from BackerKit for the files. 

I apologize for the delay in distribution—I was missing a fulfillment step in BackerKit, but that should be taken care of now. 

I hope you enjoy the Witches, Fae, and Foes adventures, and I am so excited to hear what you think about the different companion classes and subclasses! Thank you for your patience as we learn this new fulfillment system! 

Land of Vampires campaign update

Progress on the LoV campaign is going well! I'm hoping to have some fun and exciting announcements in that regard over the next few weeks. Right now I'm working on the information balance and organization between the campaign and the player's guide to Azuria (the latter of which all backers will be receiving for free!). 

I'm also working on a supplement for the city of Rasonov that will be part of the campaign Part Two! (We may at some point create a Steymhorod world book if there's interest on behalf of GMs, so drop me a comment or reply if that's something you'd like to see!)

Grove Guardian Press/me and Jonathan update

Outside the specific LoV updates, Jonathan and I have started lining up our summer projects, which I'm really excited about! My semester wraps up mid-May, which means extra writing and game design time for me (yay!). This means vampires and werewolves for you, of course, but some other cool projects as well. 

We're also on the verge of announcing an awesome collaboration that's been in the works for a while now and is finally coming to fruition—stay tuned for that announcement! 

More soon!

-Beth