Stargazer's Guide to Aroria

April Update: A Change in Plans
12 months ago – Sun, Apr 30, 2023 at 03:59:48 PM

Hello all! We’re sorry that this month’s update is at the 11th hour, but we’ve experienced some changes this month and we have some important news we need to share with you all. Long story short, we are parting ways with Gamerarti for fulfillment on Stargazer’s Guide to Aroria.

What Happened

This decision is not ours. Due to scheduling conflicts and changes in demand, Gamerarti has requested that we find a new fulfillment partner for all of you. We’re very thankful for the help Gamerarti has provided to us at this point and we’re going to honor their wishes as we continue on our fulfillment journey. They offered to help us find a new distributor, but we have opted to pack and ship your orders internally.

We’ve made this decision for two reasons. First, this is the quickest way to get books in your hands. The time it would take to find, research, and successfully establish another distributor relationship could be extensive. By bringing the product home and harnessing the power of the Ink and Lyre team, we will get the books in your hands quicker. Second, we based all of our shipping financials around Gamerarti quotes and we suspect that emergency shipping from a new company would be significantly more expensive. Ultimately, paying more money to get the product shipped later than expected is counterintuitive.

What’s Next

This obviously throws a wrench in our entire process, but we have more control over the shipping now. In the next several weeks, we will ship the product from their warehouse to our headquarters. Once it arrives, we will begin packing and shipping orders immediately. With this in mind, we’re locking addresses in Backerkit on May 19th. If your address has changed, please make sure it’s updated.

We’ll make our next update when the product is in our hands. From there on out, we’ll make weekly updates until all orders have been fulfilled. As always, thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter.

Team Ink and Lyre

March Update (BOOKS ARE HERE!!!)
about 1 year ago – Sun, Mar 12, 2023 at 11:29:11 AM

Stargazer’s Guide to Aroria has officially landed stateside. We’re obviously so thrilled they survived the sea and are looking forward to getting these stunning books in your hands. With that in mind, here’s your March update with the details we have to share right now.

Fulfillment and Addresses

Now that the books have arrived, the packing and shipping can begin. We have discovered that this process will be a little more tedious and challenging than we expected, but our partners over at Gamerarti are helping us every step of the way. We’re asking that all backers double-check their shipping address in BackerKit and update us by Friday, March 24th. If you experience any issues updating the address, you may reach out directly to [email protected]. 

We're working with Gamerarti and their fulfillment schedule to get a more clear picture of when you can expect the book in your hands. When we have that information, we'll pass it along.

Fate has Ended

I want to take some space in our update today to recognize the finale of our flagship campaign for SGtA, Fate’s End. The campaign, which ended last Monday, ran for more than two years and wrapped with 110 episodes. I want to shout out the amazing players, Deanna, Dani, Brandon, Christian, and Rayna, who dedicated thousands of hours both on stream and off to bring “The Silent” to you. I also want to thank Lauren, who poured her whole heart into weaving a story from the threads we gave her.

Finally, we must thank you all, our backers, viewers, and subscribers who joined us on our adventure in Aroria. TTRPGs bring happiness to our lives and that feeling is multiplied over and over again when we share it with friends and, for me, that includes all of you. It was truly an honor to bring Fate’s End to you every week and share the joy of collaborative storytelling with an audience.

-Daniel

That’s NOT all folks

Fate’s End may have run its course, but that’s not all for Ink and Lyre. You can still see us every Wednesday for Iron Valor (currently a Spelljammer campaign) and every Friday for Breach Battles: A Malifaux Tourney. We also have several other shows in the works (and a dream for Fate’s End 2 after some much-needed rest) but there’s nothing we’re ready to announce right now. Follow us on the socials and join us at twitch.tv/inkandlyre to stay updated with the crew!

Thanks!

Team Ink and Lyre

January Update
about 1 year ago – Wed, Feb 01, 2023 at 01:58:18 PM

Hello All! Ink and Lyre here with your January update. We’ve been patient (panicking) while the OGL changes from WOTC rolled out and have focused on making steady progress on the fulfillment. We’ve reached the “hurry up and wait” stage now and are simply waiting for everything to arrive. I have more details below, but if this is all you read, know that we’ll be sending out another update on the same day the books arrive stateside.

Shipping Timeline Update

The books are out at sea and are casually making their way to our fulfillment location. Our records show the books were loaded onto the boat on December 30th and are on route now. We are still within our expected timeframe for arrival and assume everything on the high seas is going well. The second we’re made aware of their arrival in the states, we will drop an update here on Kickstarter.

Locking Addresses for Shipping

We will lock addresses in Backerkit on February 10, 2023. Please update your address in Backerkit if it’s changed in the last year. If you experience any issues with this, please contact [email protected] to update your address.

Twitch Streams

If you’re following us at Twittch.tv/Inkandlyre you’ll know that our Spelljammer and Fate’s End campaigns are coming to a close. Join us on Monday at 8:30 Est to catch the last chapters of the Silent as they seek to save the world from the Seven of Severance. You can also see our spacefaring rendition of Spelljammer Wednesdays at 9:00 Est as they deal with the logical consequences of their actions. We love it when you all join us and look forward to telling more stories with you all in the future!

Thanks!

Team Ink and Lyre

December Update (Fulfillment Dates!)
over 1 year ago – Sat, Dec 03, 2022 at 10:33:38 PM

Hello All! Ink and Lyre here with our December update for you all. We are quickly approaching the end of this project. Now that things are more concrete, we’re excited to share some details with you concerning the final delivery.

Shipping Timeline

SGtA is scheduled to arrive at the fulfillment location on January 20th, 2023. At that point, all physical products for Stargazers will begin shipping. Final shipping to your location will vary.

Printing and shipping Stargazer’s Guide to Aroria is taking far longer than any of us expected. We knew things would take time. We knew this was our first project. We knew our estimations were very optimistic. However, we did not expect to be flat wrong about how long things would take. Considering the expectations we set for ourselves with delivering the hard copies of SGtA and the other add-ons, it’s obvious that we’ve failed to live up to them. We are disappointed with the way we’ve executed this crowdfund, and there are hundreds of things we should have done differently, but we can’t go back, we can only move forward.

Though the process isn’t what anyone imagined, we believe the results are. Stargazer’s Guide to Aroria is an intricate book full of unique characters, locations, and adventures. The art and production on the cover and interior are gorgeous. The add-ons you’ve included with your orders will bring an extra layer of immersion to make your adventure wholly your own. We are very proud of each writer, artist, and creative who made Aroria the incredible setting it is, and we are thankful for every one of you who believed in it from the beginning.

Mayhem Under the Stars

While you wait for Stargazer’s (and if you find yourself with a little extra time around the holidays) We are excited to announce the final add-on adventure, The Stars of Aroria, will release on December 19th. We designed the conclusion to Mayhem Under the Stars to guide a party from level 2 to level 3 and explore the vibrant city of La Cambria. The adventure will be distributed to all backers via BackerKit.

Thanks!

Team Ink and Lyre

October/November Update Plus the Lapidary Artificer
over 1 year ago – Tue, Nov 08, 2022 at 09:58:55 PM

Hello Everyone! Ink and Lyre here with our October/November update. We've reached two super exciting milestones in our production process and are excited to share some new content with you all!

Lapidary Artificer

The Lapidary Artificer Subclass for Stargazer's Guide to Aroria has been distributed to all Backers! Now, your Artificer in Aroria can use gemstones, like amber, emerald, and diamond, as an arcane focus to optimize your spells for the task at hand. All files were distributed via BackerKit to your email on file. If you did not receive your copy, please reach out to [email protected]

Mayhem Under the Stars

We're happy to announce that writing and testing for Mayhem Under the Stars is complete! The supplementary adventure for SGtA, that you all unlocked with our stretch goals, takes us into "The Stars of Aroria" exhibit at Niveau Maximum and is designed for adventuring parties level 1-3. This adventure is the perfect way to introduce a party to the Signs of Aroria and set them up for success in your long-term campaign. We're wrapping up the final pieces of polish and production on the Adventure and will send it out as a digital file to all Backers upon completion.

SGtA Cover

Finally, as we near completion of of Stargazer's, we wanted to share the first look at the cover for SGtA. We are THRILLED with the gold embossing on this cover and the quality of this book is exactly what we wanted when we envisioned this on our shelf. We hope you love it just as much as we do and we can't wait to get it in your hands.

That's all for now! Thanks for all your support!

Team Ink and Lyre!