Mage Hand Press
patreon
Extinction 2 | Aurochs, Dodos, and Fairy Shrimp
🕑 Added 2021-11-01 08:29:51 +0000 UTCWe're chugging ahead with the Book of Extinction! More monsters, more encounters, and even a Nazi super cow.
But while you're reading that, let's have a powwow and talk about the Patreon, the content we're putting out, and how we can improve.
Patreon Schedules
The last year or so has been terrifically positive for Mage Hand Press, but it has increasingly put the Patreon in an awkward squeeze. The books we like the most, like Fantastical Felines and the Mimic Book of Mimics, simply cost too much for Patreon to cover their cost in art, to say nothing of the time they take to design, write, and layout. Thankfully, Kickstarter has essentially covered that cost, by giving us a second place to distribute our content. Much of 2021 was bolstered by the fact that the Complete Classes acted as stepping stones to a larger release in Valda's Spire of Secrets.
As we approach 2022, I'd like to look at the overall shape of the Patreon together, and come up with solutions that keep this valuable for you, but also help us progress toward other exciting projects at the same time. Basically, I'd like to make some proposals, and see how you feel about them.
Proposal 1: Kickstarter Books Get Patreon Releases
I'll freely admit, this could be a silly idea, since I wouldn't want people avoiding Kickstarters just because Patreon offers the PDFs as well. However, I believe there's a workable system here: we'll do one-time releases to active patrons via mass-emails a month or two after the Kickstarter goes live. The only patrons who will get these books are those with a lifetime pledge amount greater than the PDF cost -- nobody should be able to pledge $3 and get a $30 PDF.
If this arrangement is acceptable, we can send out Valda's in a month's time. Furthermore, we can promise to offer other books, like the Book of Extinction and Cakewalk, to patrons when those Kickstarters arrive.
Proposal 2: Fey Folio
The release schedule in 2022 is divisive to say the least. Extinction is educational and occasionally depressing; Cakewalk is a lighthearted romp that doesn't fit with a lot of people's D&D games. I firmly believe that these will be exceptional products when they're done, but I also understand that they're not targeted at the core Patreon audience.
My proposal is to bolster this release schedule out with the occasional chapter from Fey Folio, which we're reworking and expending for an eventual Kickstarter. Originally, I didn't want to show that book off while it was in progress (since you already have seen the older version), but Fey Folio is undoubtedly a more classic D&D book than our other contenders. If this seems interesting, I can take some of the Extinction releases off the queue and show off more Fey Folio instead.
Proposal 3: Foundry Modules
If enough of you use Foundry VTT, we can bolster the release schedule in 2022 with Foundry integration for some of our most popular books. My Foundry person is currently working on the other big books at the moment, but we could do releases for the rest of this content sooner than expected.
If this is something you're interested in, let me know and I can run a poll to see how many people actually use Foundry.
Proposal 4: Experimental Stuff
It's hard to find space on the schedule for big art-heavy books, but smaller, more experimental projects? Those we might be able to do more of. There are a handful of things I've had floating around in my mind for a while that just don't have a good space in more polished books: classes that might not work out at all, spellcrafting rules, minigames you can play within D&D, etc. But releasing these usually comes with the implicit promise that we'll be finishing them and ironing out the kinks, where realistically, half of them ought to hit the cutting room floor instead.
If these are things you're interested in, I'll start drafting some stuff this month!
Stuff We'll Be Doing Regardless
I'm still very much getting my legs under me after this recent Kickstarter. When I wasn't underwater with work this month, I was quite sick, so I'm definitely not happy with my output. But when I'm back on top of everything, there's a few things we're for sure doing:
- New subclasses in many of the Complete Classes
- Updated PDFs for books which are released as softcovers
- More Dark Matter content, both for worldbuilding and adventures
So let me know what you're interested in seeing on this Patreon!
Comments
Lee Hardy
Foundry Modules? Yes please
Anthony Qualkinbush
Personally, I'd be most interested in option 1 and speaking for myself, and I'd hope I'm not alone in this, even if I do get the Kickstarter releases in pdf form I will likely seek out the physical books. At the very least the physical addons will usually draw additional support from me as they did with Valda's.
Joseph Blanc
Here here
Evan Prickett
I'd be most excited for option 4 on the patreon. I've loved yinz's work since I found out about you and I'd be very excited to see what kind of experimental content you all could come up with. If I had to pick a second choice, option 2 beats out 1 and 3 by a long shot for me.
George Tolley
I'm here for the long haul, I've been here for forever. While the patreon's been a little disappointing in terms of releases over the past year or so, there's been enough original content and previews that I've been happy with it. The content's amazing, well written, and all around excellent. That being said, options 2 and 4 speak to me more than 1 or 3, purely from what and how I play. I do in-person games, and by the time that a month's passed for any given kickstarter I've backed it and already gotten a pdf, since its (essentially) one of the cheapest add-ons to any support tier, and is in every tier but the build-your-own. Foundry is tempting, but also not really how I play, so not super useful for me.
Ben Fowler
I'm excited for more subclasses and Dark Matter stuff! Of the proposals on the table, I'm most interested in 2 and 4. I'm not sure how I feel about option 1... That would mean we wouldn't get the books concurrent with release, right? I want to be able to get them when they come out. I do not use Foundry, so I'm absolutely not interested in that.
Julien Lugo
All these proposals sound great but would greatly appreciate 3 because I use foundry all the time, and 1 would be greatly beneficial for everyone
DJ
of those listed above I think is probably option 4 or 5. I find the experimental stuff intriguing and it usually get me thinking in a different way than usual. Honestly the main thing I've loved about Mage Hand Press over the years are the classes/sub-classes. When my players make new characters any class options from Mage Hand Press are allowed (and Valda's is now part of my world canon of acceptable books!) So I'm all for new subclasses for your complete classes, I'm just not sure I'd want to see those as a kickstarter.
Dathan
My preference is definitely for 4, with 1 being a second choice
Jenny Rohrer
I'm very interested in the experimental stuff. What's made MHP a must-back for me across the years is your boundless creativity and your commitment to quality. I know I can go on your website, pull anything I find, and have it reasonably balanced for use in my campaign. Giving you guys more creative license rather than chaining you to a few large products seems like the way to go (the seigeball and tavern books proved that for me). Plus, I'm really interested in seeing what you guys can come up with.
oway13
I neeeeeeed Foundry modules.
Alli Miller
1 and 2 hit it for me. I didn't support Dark Matter and was upset when that's all I got for a few months.
The Red Priest
1 and 4 hit the money for me. I understand your fear but the try and buy method holds true every time, which is the same reason piracy boosts profits despite it seeming counter-intuitive. Even if you gave the pdfs for free on release I am sure most of us wold end up paying for a physical copy. When you enjoy something you gladly invest in it. As for 4, even if you use those for the blog it will be worth it. Bring back some of that early days Middle Finger of Vecna magic.
Jacob Buckland-Seward
I am very interested in proposal 3 and 4. You guys are doing great but if I could put your stuff into foundry, that would be a huge boon for us.
Tony C.
I'm really interested in proposal 1 and 4. I really hope I can still get access to all the drafts you guys make, I absolutely love the warmage, but some of the drafts are more useful to me then the final product and I regret nothing paying to have access to them. You are absolutely my favorite d&d creator(s).
