A massive book of martial might and magical mayhem for D&D 5e - 4 epic new classes, 30+ new subclasses, 30+ feats, and over 240 spells!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
September Update (2024) - KCLL 0.9 sent out.
6 months ago
– Thu, Sep 19, 2024 at 09:42:39 PM
Hey Folks-
Sorry it's been awhile since I did an update, but there wasn't much to add until the version was out and done, which now is. KCLL 0.9 is being pushed out via Backerkit as we speak. This should be the 'complete' version, but not the 'final' version. Everything should be in there now, but it is going through some editing passes before print.
I know we are very overdue for the book to be printed and shipped out; trust me, it's a subject I follow closely! Overall, the book is probably going to be about a year late from its original target date, and that's a pretty bad miss.
There's a lot of reasons for it, but it mostly just boils down to putting too much stuff in the book (for complicated reasons), and getting behind schedule with some health issues. While there's a good number of folks that have a hand in getting the books done, KibblesTasty is ultimately a one-bloke show, so if I'm running behind everything runs late.
I would love to give you the exact date it will show up on your door, but the next step of this show is printing and international shipping, and that can be a frustrating process. I will update you as we go, with the next updates being about the final PDF version, VTT versions, and finally the print delivery details as I have them.
For anyone with concerns about KS and production issues/delays, there's nothing to worry about as far as it eventually getting done and funds; I don't draw salary/money out of the KS until it's delivered beside to pay the major project bills (Printing, Shipping, VTT versions), so the money is by and large just sitting there - that's why I'm the most eager person here to get this book done and finished.
I will be pulling in a variety of folks for the final editing pass, but also welcoming any volunteers that want to scour for issues - I cannot recommend that as a hobby, but I know folks with stranger ones. For folks that wish to get each editing copy as I make updates, I'll be making a channel on the Discord (so that folks aren't spamming with new drafts until the 1.0 goes out).
The book is currently sitting at 347 pages, which overruns the target a fair bit, but I don't think it will be a problem. As far as print cost goes, there shouldn't be any budget concerns with that.
As I settle up with the printer on a few details, the book might get a few pages longer, since there's certain breakpoints books need to hit due to how they print the things. If the book gets a bit longer, we'll get a few more monsters and things like that, but nothing too exciting. All the major content of the book should be in there, and anything new I'm working on will be for future projects at this point (it's already going to be a monster of a book).
The Bookmarks/Table of Content should be properly set up this time, but there will be a few things that aren't polished up (cross reference links, stuff like that).
As always, feel free to drop by the Discord if you have any comments. I'm more or less always around to hear what you have to say. If you've reached out to me here or through email and I haven't gotten back, feel free to give me another poke; I get a shocking amount of messages per day (...shocking to me, anyway) and sometimes miss stuff.
Ya'll have been extremely patient (...well, most of you), and I appreciate that. We are in the final stretch here.
All the best,
-Kibbles
August Update (2024) - KCLL Draft 0.8 Sent Out
7 months ago
– Thu, Aug 01, 2024 at 01:19:28 AM
Hey Folks-
Going to be a short update, but just wanted to get this out:
I've just queued up and sent out KCLL draft 0.8. Unfortunately, it is still not the 'complete' draft I've been trying to get together. There's just always more to hammer out it seems. This is +25 pages from the last draft, clocking in at 336... which some people may notice is over our target of 320 pages. That said, it's fine. The book will be slightly longer than expected, this was accounted for as a possibility.
KCLL 0.9 will come out pretty soon (I hope), and after that we'll be at the 1.0 version, but I would say we are still at least a month from print (since 0.9 will need more editing to make sure I didn't break anything). On the bright side, you can still update your addresses as needed for now! :)
I don't have a full changelog on hand for 0.7 -> 0.8, but I will try to cobble one together over on Discord tomorrow. There's not that much new content, mostly edits and updates (...I have no idea how it got 25 pages longer considering...). Few pieces here and there: Awakened Undead (player race) is added, there's some new feats (Storm Shooter, Line Breaker), some new spells. There's some new monsters, but don't take the CR too seriously on those yet (they aren't fully CR calculated or edited).
This is going to be a short update, I just wanted to get this out to let folks know a draft had been sent out, as well as keep folks in the loop. I think the 'complete' draft (which will be 0.9) this month... but I'll admit I've been saying that for so many months I've lost track. What's definition of insanity again...?
As always, if you want to get the most play-by-play version or poke me with any questions, I'm around the Discord every day, and often leave little snippets of the change log there as I go.
All the best,
-Kibbles
June Update (2024)
9 months ago
– Tue, Jun 18, 2024 at 02:39:04 PM
Hey Folks-
Update & Status
Unfortunately the June draft isn't quite ready yet, but as we are getting right along through June at this point I wanted to put out the update just to keep folks posted, though this will be a short update.
I said previously that the June update would be the 'complete' draft, which, as probably expected (by at least everyone but me), is the cause of it running late, as there is always more devils lurking in details when trying to finish things (and while they are low CR, there's been a lot of them!). We've been on the last yard for at least a mile now, but I assure you no one is more eager than I to get this done and printed.
The KCLL Fantasy Grounds VTT module beta has been sent out through Backerkit since the last update (which I mentioned it would be), but the Shard one has not yet. To be honest, I sort of forgot, and there's some procedure hoops I need to figure out there in how to distribute it since I hadn't done of those before.
I still indeed for there to be a "June Update" but I'm equally aware that June is somehow more than half over (even if I didn't give it permission to do go by that fast... weird, it's almost like time marches on regardless of my wishes). I won't make a separate update for it when it goes out (since we are close to the July Update at this point), but will ping the role on Discord.
Shoutouts
As long term readers of these updates will remember, I often shout out other 5e Kickstarters at the end of these updates. It's been awhile but I have a special one to share with you folks this time around.
Both of the following Kickstarters launched about a week ago, and are fully funded and chewing their way through stretch goals.
The first item on our docket comes from Somanyrobots. Somanyrobots is was an editor on KCCC, a moderator on the Discord, and for the last few years has been producing their own 5e content, which is not being collected into a shiny new book! They've got:
Three new classes: the Troubadour, Swashbuckler, and Bloodrager!
Dozens of new subclasses!
A complete set of seafaring rules, for naval combat, ocean travel, and building your own floating stronghold at sea!
Hundreds of spells, including (but not limited to) the entire Spells That Don't Suck project!
New Species!
New Monsters!
Mini-settings, enchanting islands you can drop into an existing game for instant adventure!
If any of that sounds cool, they have a hefty sample over on their Kickstarter and much of their content is available for free on their website, so go check out their stuff!
In a strange twist of fate, Critical Crafting (Dillon Olney)'s KickstarterMages' War launched the same day as Songs of the Spellbound Sea, and over the week they've been running has raised almost the exact same amount, making them quite the interesting pair of tales!
Mages' War is a book pitting high magic against high technology with a whole host of fancy new things including new player races, subclasses, monster templates and blocks, and new system of player options in grafts, sigils, and more.
On top of that, I hear they have a giant pile of STL files and recently have shown off a model of the biggest and shiniest in their updates, so once you've checked out Songs of the Spellbound Sea, make sure to swing by this one and see if it catches your eye!
That's all I got for you folks, so once you've checked out those awesome Kickstarters, sit down and keep an eye on your inbox as June winds up for the June Draft of KCLL.
As always, you can pop over the Discord and give me a poke if you having you urgently need to know or just want to chat. I'm almost always available over there (though will be out of town for a day or two coming up... part of why I decided to send this update now rather than trying to wait any longer for the draft to be ready).
All the best, and I appreciate that you've all be patient as this has taken much longer than expected to get wrapped up. If anything, folks have been too patient, but I'm doing my best to get this book hammered out (...er... printing pressed out? I don't think they use printing presses either anymore... you know what I mean!)
-Kibbles
May Update (2024) - KCLL Draft 0.7 Sent Out
10 months ago
– Wed, May 01, 2024 at 05:08:46 PM
Hey Folks-
I've sent out the 0.7 draft for KCLL, this one is about 311 pages, so about 22 pages more than last time. The rough draft on my side is over 320 pages now, but there's a few things that are still be hacked out.
I was hoping that this draft would be the 'complete' draft (i.e. all the content, but not all the editing) but its not quite there yet. Things are still taking awhile.
That said, all revisions to the classes, subclasses, feats, and spells I think are complete. The only things still being worked (in the sense of active testing/revision, not just editing and polish) are the monsters, monster feats, and Battle System.
Changelog
There was a popular request for changelogs, so I've gone ahead and done my best to compile one this time; I've posted it over on the Discord in the Kickstarter channel; it's a bit messy and might be incomplete, but was just me recording as many things as I remembered as I was going through, so there's at least most of the changes captured there.
There's some minor issues where the statblock of two monsters at the end are just blank... InDesign decided to delete those when I exported, and I didn't notice until I'd already got ready to send it out, so... we are just going to mark those as incomplete and circle back for the 0.8 draft. Getting InDesign to export a PDF is always a struggle... getting it to export it intact... well, that's asking a bit much I guess.
Art
One thing I wanted to mention was that this draft does add some stock art assets (ones I've used before); these are all licensed (and not AI, I bought them a long time ago, before AI art was a thing). I had originally not intended to use them (using only new custom art for the book), but some people wanted more art in the subclass section because they find it makes navigating (when flipping through) much easier, and there simply wasn't more time to get more custom art there - the book already has roughly twice my last book had in art assets, but there's just a lot of stuff. I know that most people won't notice that, but figured I should explain in case anyone recognized a piece and wondered why I used it.
As always, I will go through an individually credit the art in the final draft, once things stop moving around and the format is settled in.
VTTs
I do have beta versions ready for FoundryVTT, Fantasy Grounds, and Shard, I just need to get things organized. If I don't send these out in a week or so, feel free to bug me about them and I'll try to get the requisite ducks in a row.
Delay Summary & ETA.
We are really close to done, but we've been there for awhile, and it's already about 8 months behind where I was hoping it would be schedule-wise. That's a lot. Ultimately there's a handful of reasons (health issues last year, etc), but the biggest one probably just comes down to the fact that there was (counting the new classes and default class content) 80+ subclass options in the book. That's 80 unique characters, before even getting spells, feats, etc.
That's a lot to test and review. There's only been (I think) about 120 official subclasses printed for 5e over its life cycle, so that's 2/3 of all official content in one book here by my count. That's probably too much, though there's was a reason at the time the book was planned to have so much in it, it's just taken a long time to chew through. A lot of it was already made at the time of the Kickstarter, but some of this stuff I made 5 years ago, and has taken a fair bit of revision and review to be ready for print.
I am currently hoping that it will be off to printers in June or July; that's means we are ways off from getting the book, but not too far. We are getting there though.
As always, if you have any questions or thoughts, or want to look through the changelog, feel free to drop by the Discord. If you have any errors you want to submit, feel free to add them to the copy edit sheet (I've caught up to all previously submitted issues and errors with this draft).
All the best,
-Kibbles
April Update (2024)
11 months ago
– Mon, Apr 01, 2024 at 05:57:13 PM
Hey Folks-
Just a quick monthly update with the most vital (vitalest if you will) of new content...
Distracting people from the book being delayed with more doggo pictures? Me? I would never!
...this is where I'd say obliquely that it was an April Fools update, but I imagine half of you are more excited for new doggo content than the actual updates anyway.
Now to get the less important actual update... progress is going well. I was trying to get things wrapped up last month, and still trying to get things wrapped up, but the next draft should be (a) in a few days, and (b) the 'complete' draft (reaching the final page count).
It has all the art, the battle system testing is complete, and its mostly just a matter of hammering out the layout now. I was hoping to have the update today (as is tradition), but this update is taking a bit longer to layout as it is longer (roughly 30 new pages and quite a bit of reformatting from the last one, as always). I'd say expect it in a few days, but probably less than a week. It'll go out through Backerkit when its once its ready.
I should clarify that version will be 'complete' but not 'final' - that's the draft the last of editing will hammer, and that will take at least a month, so we are currently looking at printing around early-June probably, but I'll keep you posted. Things may go quicker, but since nothing else has I'll do my best to give you a reasonable guess.
As always, feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
