March Update
11 months ago
– Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 04:57:24 AM
Greeting Witches,
I hope everyone is doing well and hayfever isn't kicking your butt too much (if you have it that is). Work on finishing up Witch 2E has been going well. I had a minor health set-back at the end of this month, but I am mostly recovered and I had some good TV time.
TV time meant bagging Witch dice and finishing up the pendants for the spirit boards. The dice were time consuming, but I did it while watching wrestling so I can't really complain :P. (Is anyone enjoying Cena's heel turn as much as me?!?!?) Here is a pretty pic of the dice and the book together.
I am really pleased with how the spirit boards turned out all together. I wanted something more bespoke than a cardboard board. With Witch 1E we did these wooden laser engraved boards, which were really pretty, so it felt like a difficult act to follow up. But I think we did well here!
Again, more photos! Sorry they are so off-centre I was trying not to get Leia (my dog) and also not my own reflection in the photo. The colours are also less faded than they are here. You can see the difference in the colour of my floor. All three pictures in this post were taken on the same floor, but in different lighting. I could've colour corrected them together, but I'll save that for the final pic of the entire package once it is done :).
Everything together is definetly giving Fall witch vibes. I'm guessing I am going to start shipping in summer, if not earlier (please take this as an estimate not a promise), and I figured if you're anything like me at that point you'll be sweating in your black clothes wishing it was the Fall... so the mood fits :P
Next I am going to affix the last insert for The Distant Way and everything I needed to craft is done! I am so excited. There was a moment this month where I debated adding a few extra bells and whistles on The Distant Way book itself, but luckily I stopped myself. There was definetly a "omg Liz, just get people their pledges" moment.
Finalllllly, if you love cats, you love rpgs, and you have a moment to spare... You should check out the Kickstart from my friends over at Wet Ink Games. Steffie and I wrote a cat game for them and it is being Kickstarted now --> LINK :D
Till next month witches!
Greetings,
Liz
February Update & Pictures!
about 1 year ago
– Wed, Feb 12, 2025 at 02:23:55 AM
Greetings witches,
I’ve been owing everyone a longer update for a while and that is what this will be. For people who aren’t interested the tl;dr is: I’m slowly working on getting Witch out alone. It’s going to take some time, but there is progress. I am going to start posting an update every month.
The longer update
In 2023 my life blew up in a pretty significant way. Doing Kickstarters is always difficult, because you basically ask a large group of people to support an idea you have, to support you, and then you owe them something in return. I know nowadays a lot of people treat Kickstarter like a store, but I’ve always been under the impression that we kind of do this together—or at least as a creator I get the most amazing group of cheerleaders for a short time. That said, I don’t think I’ve ever faced a year like 2023 before and then the social aspect of running a Kickstarter that I used to love so much definitely became something I dreaded. Things were so heavy they weren’t something I was going share to a big group of strangers (even if they are imo the best group of rpg strangers a person could have).
2024 was me trying to pick up my life after 2023 and doing it somewhat okay-ishly. If I’m honest, I looked at Witch at the last two quarters of 2024 with a lot of unhappiness. If there was a way to cancel the project and refund everyone’s money I probably would have, but books were already produced with the factory and I needed to deliver. Feeling that level of pressure is pretty terrible for the creative process. And having Witch, a project I so deeply care about, turn into something I just wanted to get rid of was really, really heartbreaking. And the level of anxiety I felt every time someone (understandably) asked for an update really sky rocketed.
However, I am happy to report towards the end of last year and currently in this one, I’ve really started to hit my stride in recovering from the Year From Hell That I Didn't Even Get Magical Powers From For Surviving. I’ve decided to myself to claim back my love for this project and to work solo on finishing it for all of you. The idea behind me doing the end stretch of this project alone is to really sink the time and care into it that it deserves. It’s a way for me to work back my love into it and so far it has been working really well for me.
I know everyone wants more regular updates so I am going to commit to updating you guys every month again just explaining, like this, how things are going and talking on a more human (less business-y) level. This feels more authentic for me and what I think is most useful at this point. I’d like to ask that you please trust me to post once a month from now onwards and if you can – don’t ask for an update unless the last day of the month has passed and I’ve been a slacker XD. Obviously, it’s up to you whether you do this and I won’t hold it against you if you don’t, it would just really help me if you did :).
The Creative Process
So part of regaining my love for the project has been working on the two additional supplements alone. At first I conceptualised them as traditional RPG supplements that would work really well in retail. Then I felt kind of strangled by the idea...so when I went to write them I kind of went off the rails and just did what I wanted (and what I thought would make you all most excited). I am really excited to show you the result and I hope you’re as excited as I am.
The Devil’s Zine is turned into a book, but also just a kind of present? Aside from the book I created these blank DIY tarot cards for each zine which are packaged together so that you can create your own deck for your table! I sealed the packages with this amazing holographic witch-y sticker so it kind of feels like a present when you open it up! [See video here]
Tarot decks are something close to my heart and an important part is how you keep and treat your deck. I loved the idea of the Devil’s Zine mimicking this in its format. I’ve been creating all these packages personally so it’s kind of felt like me wrapping a present for each of you who ordered one, which I feel you deserve after the poor communication haha!
The Distant Way is still a more traditional book. But I really ran head first into how to create these adventures. Steffie had worked with Sam on the prototype adventure, which had a great structure for me to work with. Then I teased it apart and wanted to add a few more aids into it for the GM. So now each book has a prop envelop in the back. There are three scenarios in the book and each has three props you can use at your table. There are stickers, recipes for a tea party, and even a QR to a creepy song! It was really fun to do some digital art again for these. I often hire artists to create the art for the books, but I thought it would be okay if I did it for the props (together with using some copyright free stuff too). I found it very relaxing and I am pretty proud of the results.
Yes, I did censor the QR to the song so you have to wait to hear it :P
I still need to glue all the prop envelopes into The Distant Way books, which is my next goal. Then I am going to finish up bagging the dice and creating the Spirit Board pendants. I’ll try to share more pictures in my next update!
As Bob Ross would say, this was a happy little accident while I was creating the prop envelopes. Some of you will open them and be greeted with a glaring creepy clown!
Till next time!
~Liz
Shipping Soon :)
about 1 year ago
– Mon, Dec 16, 2024 at 02:30:20 AM
Hey Witches,
Just popping on as there were a few requests for an update to say that my current plan is to start shipping out this month when I have a break from my day job.
My plan is to post once I start shipping :).
If you're unhappy with the progress of this project, please contact me via DM for a refund!
Greetings,
Liz
Backerkit Closing & Pics
over 1 year ago
– Sun, Oct 13, 2024 at 03:39:02 AM
Happy spoopy season witches!
Good news! I got the mass production proof of the core book in and I've approved it! That means the corebooks will soon be on their way to me and I can start packing orders! This also means that I will be closing BackerKit on Wednesday 16 October to finalise orders and order packing material.
My plan is to post another update when the books are in-house and I start the shipping process. I am not going to give a deadline for shipping yet, because I don't want to disapoint anyone if I miss it. Once all the stock is in-house I can give a correct estimation.
Pic time!
The core book turned out better than I expected, I am so happy with it and I can't wait to get it in your hands. For the final part of this update here is some pic spam of the final book!
Greetings,
Liz
Backerkit Smoke Test sent!
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Jul 09, 2024 at 06:54:34 AM
Dear Backers,
After long wait I have finally been able to send out the smoke test for Backerkit, which means a small group of backers will receive their surveys and I will be able to check them to ensure everything in Backerkit is working well.
Then, I'll open up Backerkit by 15 June. This means you'll be getting an email within this time frame to pay for shipping and where you can add on any aditional books/accesories to your order. If you don't get the Backerkit email by the 15th, please check your Spam folder and if it isn't there, then email me at: [email protected] and I will get it sorted for you.
We're almost there!
Greetings,
Liz
