Cultists Were Defeated, What Next?
over 7 years ago – Tue, Aug 14, 2018 at 10:44:32 AM

Perdition’s Mouth: Abyssal Rift is being played for some time already, and more and more playing groups are reaching the final level. On Dragon Dawn Production side the production of the Revised Edition of the game is successfully moving forward towards its release so even more people will be able to mop-up pure evil from the world of Zanziar.

This means, that both we in DDP and the victorious demon beating parties have the same question: what next? As for us, there are many of the “next”. We are working on Singularity Sky - the evolution of our past game Phantom league transformed into a universe of a book of the same name (written by Charles Stross), card game Dwarf and Soul Spire - significant expansion of Perdition’s Mouth. And the last title is something, that might be really interesting for you if you finished or nearly finished the campaign.

Let me disclose a piece of internal communication about Soul Spire, that led me to write this update:

Timo: main Soul Spire document:
“...the assumption is that in the beginning you must have Simma+Guide+4 other Heroes to choose from. If those are not alive, you’ll need to resurrect the ones you like. But I think that in that case you should lose the “level up” cards that I did for those Heroes. Thi....”

Me in the comments:
“This requires heroes to be in the "big campaign" mode of PM:AR.

We should expect many groups starting with PM:SS. Even people, that finish AR will probably have their decks disbanded by the time SS is released. And those will definitely regret they have some interesting cards they can not use.”

Our internal discussion continues as we turn every idea upside down before we use it, but this is not that important. What I would like to say to you: after you finish the last scenario in your campaign, do save your game the same way how you did that between the missions and in addition to that, record your decks and items of both fallen and living heroes, so you can decommission your deck for another run through or single scenarios, but are still ready for the next installment!

The way how the transition to the new installment will be done is not clear at the moment (I most like the one, where in an additional prequel scenario surviving heroes return to AR with a rod of resurrection to collect remains of their fallen comrades and bring them to life). There is a long way from good ideas to a good game. But if you win (or won) the campaign, be advised, that there will be a way how to resurrect and heal your heroes. As always in PM, not for free, but even if you lose most of your party while killing the demon, it will be better for you to “continue” the campaign in Soul Spire than just start a new one.

Completion of project, finally a fix for broken Örns and more
almost 8 years ago – Tue, Jun 26, 2018 at 12:38:42 AM

Dear backers,

In out last update we said there’d be one more, due to the problems that some of you experienced with your Brother Örn miniature. It’s taken longer than we’d have liked to get everything sorted for this but, finally, we have good news to share with you - we have received the replacement miniatures from our manufacturer!

We also have more good news to share. Firstly, the news you expect - we’re pretty certain that all of you have now received Perdition’s Mouth: Traitor Guard. This means that fulfilment is complete, except for the issue of replacements for broken miniatures (see below). Secondly, we’d like to let you know that there will be Perdition’s Mouth: Traitor Guard overview and playthrough videos coming soon from Catweazle and Slickerdrips. There are a lot of very good videos for Perdition’s Mouth: Abyssal Rift and these two creators have produced some of our favourites. Judging from the feedback we’ve heard, they’re both among our backers’ favourite videos, too, so we’re sure you’ll be as excited as us to see what they make of the expansion.

How to replace a broken Örn?

We’ve put a lot of thought into how best to resolve the broken Brother Örn miniatures in a way that is both satisfactory to you and that doesn’t risk our future. It seems important to mention at this point that we’ve learned some important lessons from this shipment - we need more packing material to protect our miniatures, whatever the manufacturer tells us, and we need to listen to our sculptors when they tell us of weak points, instead of emphasising aesthetics. That last point, of course, doesn’t mean that we’ll sacrifice the quality of our miniatures in future, quite the reverse, just that we need to listen harder to our skilled and experienced artists.

So, what are the solutions we’ve come up with? We’d like to offer you a choice, in the hope that one of them will be acceptable to you:

• A) If you think you can repair your miniature (with superglue) to a level that you feel OK about, then please let us know by email. We’ll provide you with a US$3 voucher to use in our webstore as a small token of our thanks and an apology. 
• B) If you feel that your miniature cannot be repaired to a level that you’re happy with then please let us know by email. We will send you a replacement.

If you’re going for option b) then please note that you have a further decision to make - when do you want to receive it? We can dispatch your replacement figure now at a cost of US$4.50. Please note that this money goes straight to the couriers and fulfilment companies, this is not us trying to squeeze extra money out of you! If you can live without your replacement until October and have ordered any part of the revised edition of Perdition’s Mouth: Abyssal Rift then we can add your replacement Brother Örn to your order at no cost.

C) If you’ve chosen the replacement miniature, you’ll notice a significant change from what you received before (yes, this is us learning our lessons). The replacement Brother Örn miniatures come in three parts, which you will need to assemble using superglue. This is how it was originally intended to be produced.

Finally, we’ve gotten a stock of replacement miniatures based on the feedback you gave us and we’re confident that we have enough. Once they’re gone, however, they’re gone. This means that if you ask for a replacement and it also arrives broken we won’t be able to offer you a second replacement. It’s unlikely and hopefully this won’t happen but we want to be clear about this now rather than risk disappointing people further down the line.

Please let us know your choice (VOUCHER, REPLACEMENT NOW or REPLACEMENT PMRE) AND your full shipping address by email to: [email protected]

Last chances of getting your PM:RE upgrade pack 

Now, onto some more positive news. The upgrade packs for existing Perdition’s Mouth: Abyssal Rift owners, especially in German and English, are getting really scarce. We ordered some extra copies from our manufacturer after the kickstarter campaign ended, in case any existing owners missed the campaign for any reason. There are not many though. If you want one you should reserve it now. There are less than twenty upgrade packs left and we will not make any more. These upgrade packs have been made as a service to you - our loyal backers - and we make a loss on everyone. You can order it from here.

Another interesting kickstarter

Lastly, you’ll know that we try not to spam you with other Kickstarter projects but we want to end on a positive note - and for us that means sharing some of the things we love in our hobby. We really appreciate good game overviews and rules videos and we expect you might as well. Greg Cornell makes some of our favourites, having chosen a very time-consuming but entertaining method of making animated game tutorials. He has a Kickstarter campaign running now - not to pay his wages or anything like that, he’s just hoping for a modest amount to upgrade some of his equipment..

We sincerely hope you’ll consider backing him. We did.

Lee, Timo and the DDP team.

The Beginning of the End (or The Long Goodbye)
about 8 years ago – Thu, Jan 18, 2018 at 02:22:39 PM

Earlier this week I thought this might be the penultimate Kickstarter update for Traitor Guard but there may now have to be two more. So, first - the good news. As many of you probably know already, backers in Europe have been receiving their rewards. I made a mistake in the update last week (and not the only one, I’ll correct the other one further down) when I said that you would receive a shipping notification. You won’t. I can confirm, however, that everything that could be shipped was shipped by last Thursday (11th January). That means that most people in Europe will have already received their rewards, whilst those being sent elsewhere are currently in transit and should be arriving shortly.

 What does ‘everything that could be shipped’ mean?

It means that all the most basic rewards have been shipped - those including unpainted minis and no backerkit add-ons. It means that all the rewards including painted minis and no backerkit add-ons have been shipped - including those that were originally estimated for delivery in February. It also means that most of the rewards that included add-ons have been shipped. So nearly everything in fact.

What about the stuff that hasn’t been shipped yet?

Due to the shipping delays mentioned in the last update, we have not yet managed to ship any orders which included the Victim #2 mini. There are also two orders which contained doors and chests and one which contained an extra Aisha hero sheet which have suffered the same delay. Finally, there is one order where the address was unclear - we’ve contacted this backer by email but if you think it might be you and you haven’t replied yet please do check your spam folder (if you haven’t already replied by the time this is posted). So, pretty much everything has shipped. We’re quite pleased about that.

When will shipping be completed?

We will ship the outstanding rewards within the next two weeks and we will post another update when that is completed.

What should you do if your copy is damaged?

If any parts of your order are damaged you should email us immediately with details. In particular, some people have reported that their Brother Örn mini has arrived snapped at the ankles (this has effected the order of one member of our team, too). We’re investigating why this may have happened - a change from a two-part, gluable, figure to a one-part figure and thin ankles are both possible causes. Timo would like to hold his hands up and admit that his insistence on anatomical realism may have played a part in the latter, even if it was a worthy ideal. It’s something that probably wouldn’t have been so much of a problem if we could have afforded to have the minis produced in plastic rather than resin but that was the financial constraint we were under. We have spoken to our manufacturer and we are taking delivery of some spares which we can only hope will be enough to replace the damaged items until such time as we know precisely how many are affected.

To that end, please note that we must insist on receiving details of any damaged items by 15th April 2018 at the very latest. We are still receiving the odd report of damaged components from the first edition of Perdition’s Mouth: Abyssal Rift and we’re doing our best to sort them out but we’re sure that you’ll agree that this should have been resolved almost a year ago. Please check your order when you receive it and let us know of any problems immediately, although we will always do our best to help we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so after 15th April.

As you know, our manufacturers are based in China, so we have the added complications of the Chinese New Year affecting communications right now but they have responded very promptly to our queries this week.

 Is this the end?

Not quite. As I mentioned earlier, there will be at least one more update when we have shipped the remaining rewards. There may well be another one when we know the final results of how many rewards have been damaged, in what way, and how we can resolve or will have resolved those problems. So you haven’t heard the last from us but this is the last of the regular weekly updates.

Can we keep in touch?

Yes, please do. We’d love to hear what you think of the new scenarios. Please share your thoughts and ask questions on BGG or in our Facebook group. We’d rather you did this than ask questions on Kickstarter as it’s more visible (and therefore potentially helpful) for others in our community.

Can you keep hearing from us every week?

Actually, yes, you can. This may be the last of the weekly Perdition’s Mouth: Traitor Guard updates but we also write one for the revised edition Perdition’s Mouth: Abyssal Rift. If you couldn’t or didn’t back that campaign at the time and you’re regretting it now don’t worry - we’re accepting late pledges now. Don’t let this opportunity escape for a second time. The backerkit for the campaign will remain open through February but will close after that and the upgrade kit will never be available at retail, so this is your only chance. By the end of the campaign a lot of new content had been added - a new hero, new scenarios, new victim minis and even new map boards. That’s a lot of content for US$35.

From next week, of course, we’ll also be publishing regular updates for Darwinning!, our new game that is going to Kickstarter at 5pm UTC on Saturday 20th January (not Friday like I said in the last update - I told you there was another mistake I’d correct!). That’s this weekend. Please do come and have a look and let us know what you think, we couldn’t do what we do without your support.

What are those pictures about?

There’s one final way to keep up with us. Timo, Tiinaliisa and their son, Wyrm, left home yesterday morning to begin their year-long tour of the European conventions. Those pictures were taken from their home, the last time that they’ll see it before Christmas. Tiinaliisa is writing a ‘blog of their adventures which you can subscribe to.

Thanks again for all your support.

Lee and the DDP team.

Shipping notification
about 8 years ago – Wed, Jan 10, 2018 at 02:30:50 PM

Shipping notification Last week, we told you that everything had arrived at Fulfilment Europe and that shipping was imminent. One week on, it’s good to be able to tell you that shipping has begun! FE tell us that the first orders have been sent today so you may be one of the lucky backers that’s reading this thinking ‘I know, I already received shipping notification!’ For you and all the other backers, however, it’s important to note that all Perdition’s Mouth: Traitor Guard shipments are being made with DHL (but not using the DHL Express service). This means you will not receive a tracking number.

Please don’t worry about this - it’s a small package that you shouldn’t need to be at home to receive. We know some people like to immediately set up a browser page with their tracking number and follow their parcel’s journey and if that’s you we’re sorry to spoil that fun for you. This is the best way to do it though, keeping costs down to a reasonable level for you. So - don’t panic. Let’s give plenty of time for everything to deliver and then we’ll see if there were any problems.

Speaking of problems, FE also informed us that a third of the cases of games they took delivery of were damaged. Upon opening them though, they have reported no damage to any of the components - we’re very pleased that our manufacturers did a good job packing them!

Our manufacturers did make one mistake though - the shields we ordered to go with the painted miniatures haven’t been included in the shipment. Fortunately, of course, these are a very small and light component so they’re being shipped to us now. This means that the first items to ship are the orders for unpainted expansions - as we promised during the campaign. Those with painted minis will ship in around two weeks, as will orders that included the Mogba’agh bundles (not the Mogba’agh kits, which were a different item) which contain the Victim #2 mini as these are also still on their way to FE.

Hopefully, by the time we write again we’ll have seen the first reports from people playing with the expansion. In the meantime, Perdition’s Mouth: Traitor Guard has been nominated as one of the most anticipated horror games of 2018 on BGG. Do please go and vote for us here.

We’re fast approaching our final update for you, which will be bittersweet. We’re not a company that will spam you with news about every product we do in the future. We don’t like receiving those so we won’t send them. As you know, though, we are launching our next Kickstarter project - Darwinning! - soon. Very soon, in fact - Friday 20th January at 5pm UTC. Due to the slight overlap in schedules we will mention that in our next few updates, as we did for the Revised Edition of Perdition’s Mouth: Abyssal Rift, in the hope that we’ll see some of you there.

Lee and the DDP team

I love it when a plan comes together
about 8 years ago – Wed, Jan 03, 2018 at 11:19:03 PM

The train finally pulled into the station in Berlin on Friday (29th December), on time, and all the copies of Perdition’s Mouth: Traitor Guard cleared customs and got delivered to Fulfilment Europe yesterday. This means that shipping is imminent and you should get notification from FE that your order is on its way soon. It’s out of our hands now but, as it’s such a small print run, all orders of the expansion with an unpainted miniature should hopefully ship in the next week or so.

If you don’t receive a notification immediately, don’t panic. We’ll be in touch again when we think that shipping has been completed and, at that point, if anything seems to have gone awry we can investigate. Until then, we’ll put our faith in FE to do everything right.

Meanwhile, Ukko has finished painting all of the painted Brother Örn miniatures and we will be sending these within the next two weeks as well. This means that some of you will be getting them much earlier than promised - we hope that brings you some cheer in the week that so many of us have had to go back to work

We’d like to wish you a very Happy New Year. Your support for us and Perdition’s Mouth: Abyssal Rift has helped put us where we are today and we don’t plan on resting on our laurels. As you know, we plan on bringing a new game to Kickstarter soon and 2018 also marks the year that you’ll finally get to find out more details about the Soul Spire expansion. We plan to take that to Kickstarter in October, around the same time as the Revised Edition campaign from last year.

We also hope, of course, to meet some more of you. As you know, Timo and Tiinaliisa are taking to the road for 2018 and attending boardgame conventions across Europe, joined by other members of the Dragon Dawn Productions team as our personal schedules allow. Please do come and say hello!

Lee and the DDP team.