Creature Codex: 5th Edition Monsters Including Commissions

August Progress Report: Logistics
over 7 years ago – Tue, Aug 28, 2018 at 10:36:51 PM

Frederick the Great (or Napoleon, depending on who you ask) once said that an army marches on its stomach. The Kobold Corollary says that Kickstarters march on the strength of their shipping and logistics, and we’ve been pushing toward this important final leg for some time. 

Good news abounds as we prepare to release the Creature Codex and Creature Codex Pawns to backers—and then the world!—in September. Here’s the short-and-sweet:  

For the United States  

Card Kingdom is our shipping partner company, and they are currently working through printing shipping labels, building boxes, and doing other prep work. You may get a notification that they have generated a shipping label for you, and that’s accurate. However, creating a label is not quite the same as sending a package! You should receive a tracking number from them when it ships. Packages should start to arrive in early September, though the East Coast backers should not expect anything until after Labor Day.  

For Canada  

We’ve paid customs and duties and a truck is picking up books tomorrow to take to the border at Blaine, and then on into British Columbia. Packages will go out from Starlit Citadel, so you may see a notice from them and then receive the package via Canada Post. Given the extra time required to go from Seattle to Vancouver, these will be about a week behind the US shipments. In a similar vein, Toronto, Quebec, Montreal and the Maritimes should not expect packages to arrive at the same time backers in B.C. or Alberta get them.  

For Europe  

We are paying customs and duties, and the Kobolds are currently organizing additional documentation (not much, but tariffs and import fees take documentation). Our shipping partner is Ulisses Spiel, who we have worked with before and expect good things. 

The books and pawns will arrive in the warehouse in mid-to-late-September. Shipments should arrive throughout Europe in early October.  

For Australia  

We expect this shipment to go by sea to Melbourne, arriving by early October. Our partner there will then pull together packages and get them out by mid-October.  

The PDF Launch  

As soon as we have all US shipments out the door, we will release the Creature Codex PDF to backers and the public.  

Thank you all for your support—this is the fastest delivery of a hardcover we’ve ever done (just 8 months from Kickstarter end to book birthday), and we’re extremely proud and excited to share this rampaging, deadly, creature-laden tome with you!  

Happy gaming,  

The Entire Kobold Press Crew

Progress Report for July: NOW ON PRESS
over 7 years ago – Tue, Jul 31, 2018 at 12:09:43 AM

The kobolds are very tired, and very happy to announce that the CREATURE CODEX is on press! That means bindery and trucking are about a month away, and we anticipate delivery to the Kobold warehouse in very late August or early September. Packing and shipment to US backers will happen in early-to-mid September, and the book will be shipped to international backers in late September to late October.

 In addition, we checked these items off our list for July:

• 1. Final files generated and proofed for press.
• 2. Final printer’s proofs signed off for both regular edition and limited edition.
• 3. Beastaloo sticker file sent to press. 
• 4. Discussion underway with bookbinder for the handbound edition. The vellum will be relatively easy to acquire (though a bit harder to work with than calfskin). Debating a few options for endpapers and special elements.
• 5. PDF files sent out for linking and optimization. Should be done and ready for testing by late August.
• 6. Preview Pack #4 is just about ready to go out to backers, for high-level monsters around CR 11 to 14, so expect to see that by Sunday. We’ll have one more Preview Pack for the very high-level (CR 15+) monsters in August.
• 7. Locked down the BackerKit; you can still make a change of address. Anyone who has not yet filled out the BackerKit, we can no longer guarantee your books or pawns will go out in the first wave. Credit cards will be charged in the next few days
• 8. The Codex Lairs encounters and maps PDF is running somewhat late. Designer Shawn Merwin has two more sections to complete right after his return from Gen Con. We expect this item will go to the backers who pledged at $30 digital level or the $55 print level and up in October.

In late August, we expect to start seeing pawns, books, and stickers arriving from various printers, and then going out to our fulfillment teams in the US, Canada, Germany, and Australia. We will absolutely let you know how that is going in our next report.

Happy gaming from

Wolfgang, Meagan, Marc, Blaine, Ben, and the whole Kobold crew 

June Progress Report: A Dozen Big Wins
over 7 years ago – Mon, Jul 02, 2018 at 01:21:04 AM

We’re cruising now! The layout and editing and copyfit work in June was hammer and tongs all the way through, smashing through section after section. This means we’re into the proofing rounds, and on to the appendices, front matter, and more.

Here’s a quick summary of the highlights and next steps:

• 1. Incorporated last-round playtest notes
• 2. Completed first pass layout of all monsters; proofing and fine-tuning layout continues in early July
• 3. Added one late-breaking monster, and cut and added text for copyfit as needed 
• 4. Completed compilation and first pass layout of all tables and appendixes
• 5. More than 95% of all BackerKit surveys are now completed: thank you! 
• 6. Credit cards will be charged and addresses locked down by end of July.
• 7. Did *not* get preview pack #4 out as expected in June; pushed into mid-July 
• 8. On track with Canadian and EU logistics teams; still talking to Australian team
• 9. US shipping bids have come in; final call should be ready in a week to 10 days
• 10. Codex Pawns have printed, and are expected at the Seattle dock in August
• 11. Files will go to press by mid-July, then printer’s proofs, running the press, and bindery
• 12. On track for a September release date  

That’s all for this time! We can sense that big handoff to press is coming soon, and we'll announce it when it happens. 

Thank you all for your support, and happy gaming from

Wolfgang, Marc, Meagan, Blaine, Ben, Wade, and the whole Kobold team

May Progress Report
over 7 years ago – Fri, Jun 01, 2018 at 12:57:11 AM

We’re in crunch time now! Keeping it short, here are the highlights for the Creature Codex in May:  

1. Released the BackerKit survey—and 90% of all backers have completed it. Thank you all for that! Credit cards will not be charged until July.  

2. Layout completed to the end of letter A (50 pages). This is not the pace we need, but invariably the first chunk of text always hits a lot of formatting questions, and we had some serious copyfit issues. We will improve on this in the coming weeks.  

3. Final editing turnovers to layout complete through letter K (about 2/3 of the book). It’s important to have a large lead because layout will catch up fast.  

4. Late-breaking changes due to playtest feedback incorporated. Also, we have compiled the list of all the playtesters to add to the credits.  

5. Creature Codex Pawns proofs are approved and on press. Expecting delivery of those in late August.  

6. Working with logistics groups in EU and Canada to ship from Germany and British Columbia, respectively, in an attempt to mitigate the shipping fee mess. This is pretty much the US government and our own foolish optimism coming back to bite our scaly butts, because we undercharged overseas shipping by a large margin (and we were also sideswiped by the changes in US Postal rates on January 1). As a result we’re dealing with a lot of logistical work to salvage what we can.  

7. Australian and NZ shipping is even worse, from the financial side. It looks as though we won’t be able to offer shipping at anything like a reasonable fee to the antipodal nations in future Kickstarters. (Think: a $75 shipping fee to Australia for a $50 book.)  

8. Next preview pack pushed out of May and into June, to allow time for some traction on layout.  

Whew. We’re in that time when it looks like everything is behind—and maybe it is! But there’s a lot of kobolds working hard to keep the ball rolling along.

Happy gaming!

Wolfgang, Marc, Meagan, Blaine, and the Kobold Crew

BackerKit Surveys are Coming!
almost 8 years ago – Wed, May 16, 2018 at 01:02:44 AM

Dear Backers,

Later this week, you’ll receive an email from us with a special link to your BackerKit survey. It’s important to respond to your survey as quickly as you can since we need this information to fulfill your rewards.