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:
January Update (2024)
about 1 year ago
– Tue, Jan 02, 2024 at 11:54:15 AM
Hey Folks-
Just a quick update this time around, as we are pretty much in the same spot as last update in terms of that I'm hoping to get an update out to fairly soon. Unfortunately I didn't get the update wrapped up before the Holidays, but will try to get finished soon.
Overall, I still expect the book to print in Q1 of this year still, but it's taking longer than I'd hoped. As I've promised a draft for a few months now, there's not too much to add until the draft is done. Finishing the book is more or less the only thing on my schedule at the moment, so it has my full attention; it's just a matter of getting it done.
I'll be back with another update once the draft is done.
All the best,
-Kibbles
December Update
about 1 year ago
– Wed, Dec 06, 2023 at 10:20:06 PM
Hey Folks-
Status
Just a quick update as it's been awhile and I want to give monthly updates. I was hoping to get the November draft out before I left on a trip to visit my family over Thanksgiving, but unfortunately wasn't able to, so it'll be rolled into the December update.
I expect the December update to be in a few weeks here and fairly substantial, but probably not the final draft. I am running behind at this point, but do think it'll be wrapped up before too long.
I did end up having a little less... computer... during the trip than expected, so I'm a little behind on messages and things. I'll be catching up and clearing out the sort of thing in the next couple days, and then move on wrapping up the December draft, though I expect that take awhile.
Least there will be plenty of new art with the update.
VTTs
I've said for awhile that I'll make the FoundryVTT alpha module available, and I'll try to do that this month. That ultimately got a little derailed by a handful of FoundryVTT updates - not a big deal, I just never got around to adapting the module, so it's been sitting around on my inbox. I do think the Shard version is going to be available as well thanks, I just need to sort some details out there that I've been meaning to do for... well, a month now. Sorting out details is the bane of these things.
Roll20 and FantasyGrounds will come somewhat later, once the PDF is done. Don't have as a detailed an estimate on those yet, as they follow a somewhat different process.
Quick Shout Out - Fernbloom's Guide
It's been awhile since I shared one out, but a friend asked me to share their KS with ya'll as enters it's final week, so without further ado check out Fernbloom's Guide to Freebone Value by T.M. van Dalen. It's a mini setting filled with adventure hooks, random encounters, locations, and more.
Alright folks, that's all I got for you, I'll be back with a (hopefully) early Christmas present with the December draft. Maybe I shouldn't promise too much with the 'early' part. I'll update folks again when it's available, and will have some updates between now and then on the Discord now that I'm back in the land of computers and Discord.
All the best,
-Kibbles
November Update - Draft update in about 1-2 weeks.
about 1 year ago
– Wed, Nov 01, 2023 at 11:30:17 PM
Hey Folks-
Just a quick update to say the draft update will probably in be about 1-2 weeks, and distributed through Backerkit as usual. Just putting this update here as that's what a lot of folks check, but it will come through to your email when it's updated as normal.
I could have just waited for the update to go out through Backerkit, but there's a button that people can click that requests an update here, so I aim to please (I try to keep a monthly update here, even though in this case the update is just that the update is coming... a classic announcement of announcement).
As always, feel free to drop by the Discord and let me know if you have any questions.
I try to keep the updates roughly lined up with these updates at the start of the month and things are roughly on schedule (as per the previously delayed schedule), but I've been sick for the last week or so (which has unfortunately been the case a lot this year), so this last update running about that behind schedule.
I may put up a separately update if there's things too explain with the draft update (like VTT Alpha versions), but don't want to make too many promises there - if we see those, they'd be for FoundryVTT and ShardVTT so far, but there's still some hoops to jump through for both. Roll20/Fantasy Grounds are probably not expected until later in the process (since those are waiting for the PDF to complete).
I will be trying to get back to any outstanding messages/emails/etc by tomorrow, so if you haven't heard from me on anything by Friday feel free to give me another poke or drop by the Discord.
All the best,
-Kibbles
October Update - KCLL Alpha 0.4 now available via Backerkit
over 1 year ago
– Mon, Oct 02, 2023 at 01:08:23 PM
Hey Folks-
Draft Update
I've updated the draft. It doesn't have a complete changelog, but here's a quick summary of the notable changes:
General:
25 Additional Pages
Battle System Added (Alpha 2)*
License Information Added
Additional Art.
Classes: Minimal Changes
Subclasses: New Options Added
Barbarian Path of the Dragon
Monk Way of the Elements
Rogue Divine Hand
Sorcerer Fey Origin
Sorcerer Sea Soul
Warlock The Dragon
Warlock The Fey
Feats: No Changes
Spells:
Added Gale Shot
Added Heavy Blow
Added Final Flame
Added Manipulate Earth
Added Manipulate Fire
Added Manipulate Water
Added Manipulate Wind
Added Blood Slash
Added Blood Wave
*Note regarding this for people familiar with the Battle System Alpha, this is the same as the standalone version, just reformatted and added to the draft to merge the two going forward. Future updates will be to the KCLL draft version.
It has been distributed through Backerkit as of.... now.
Questions and Feedback
I am always happy to answer your questions and see your feedback. I try to get back to everyone. On that note, I have a bit of a backlog at the moment, but will be trying to clear that this week. If you've reached out to me, but not heard back from me by Thursday, feel free to give me another poke. At the end of the day, I'm just one bloke and across Discord, Patreon, Comments, Messages, Email, Contact Forms... things do occasionally get lost. I'll scour through, but I haven't gotten back until Thursday gave it another poke.
To touch on a few of overall ones though:
Where do I get my draft, Kibbles? I don't have my draft! Drafts are sent out through Backerkit. You should have an email in your inbox, either reminding you to complete your survey, or with your shiny new draft.
Editing. Editing is in progress. If you've found errors, you're free to submit them at thecopy edit sheet here, but I would hold off on spending too much time on it yet. There will be a time where I ask for all hands on deck before we go to print, but right now folks are still chewing on a lot. Speaking of which, if you see the [Unedited] tag, it just means that I have an edited version of that thing, it just didn't make it into the draft.
Work In Progress. At the end of the day, I don't want to fall into the pattern of pushing an update till I have a clean version that's nice and shiny, as I promised monthly updates, so monthly updates you shall get. That means there are some odd stubs and things that I was working on and just didn't get done. Like the Swordmaster Feat. Yes. It's still blank. Sorry about that. If I didn't update a section, it doesn't necessarily mean it's final complete super done, just that's not what I worked on.
Battle System. The Battle Systems rules are pretty close to solid at this point. The main thing that needs to be added is the content (cards, templates, etc). These can be done custom (which is what most people running it currently do) but takes more work. So, feel free to look it over and run it, but if it looks like a lot of work, that's the part that'll get a lot easier over time, especially for physical content folks with the actual cards.
"Replacement" Content. Some of the options here are just my versions of otherwise existing content. The Champion Fighter for example. I think I addressed this previously, but as I got a few questions on it... basically it's just my version of those things. This is a relatively small % of the overall content and included for completion sake since there are that many that wanted it. Other things are replaced because there is no SRD version of thing I could use under Creative Commons (like if "Manipulate Earth" reminds of any spells that mold things, that's fine, use whichever version you want, but I need a spell I can use under the Creative Commons for shoving around some Earth). In these cases, you can either my version or other versions that might be out there - they'll be slightly different, but functionally similar in theme and effect. Again, this is a small % of the overall content... a fairly literal drop in the bucket, but makes things simpler smoother overall. It's part of why this project is released under Creative Commons License itself, to give folks 'generic' versions of spells and the like to be a common pool out there for anyone that wants to use them.
License. Speaking of licenses I've added Licensing information to the KCLL Draft. As per the stretch goal, the text of the classes, subclasses, feats, spells, and... basically all the content of is available under the CC-BY-4.0 license. I realize that both this license and the way I've worded it is somewhat permissive - that's intentional. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. Over the coming months, more or less all of my content will be made available under the CC-BY license.
Charging Cards (Preorders/Shipping)
I said I was going to charge cards, and actually tried to do just that, but there was a bit of an issue on Backerkit's side. I've reached out to them and we are working on it. I think it's just a button or flag they need to press, and don't expect any issues, besides a small delay. In the meantime I've gone ahead and distributed the drafts without requiring accounts to be settled, which isn't ideal, so don't scam me too much... (at the end of the day, I didn't want to delay the drafts waiting for them to resolve issues there, and most folks have already paid through KS, it only really matters for the preorders; eventually drafts will require accounts to be charged though). Don't worry about any of this yet, I'll keep you posted, and once cards charge, you should have a few months to make sure you're squared away.
Wrap Up
I think that's all I had to say at a "blast this out to thousands people" level. The FoundryVTT version for KCLL may get an alpha version this month. I'll keep you posted on the Shard, Roll20, and FG versions, but they will be slightly delayed (because the PDF is delayed, the developers cannot necessarily start on them until I'm done, that said, that may vary somewhat between platforms).
All the best,
-Kibbles
KCLL PDF Alpha (0.3.0) now available via Backerkit
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Sep 16, 2023 at 06:54:38 PM
Hey Folks-
KCLL PDF Available
This is two days after I was hoping this would go out, but I'm happy to share that the first draft has finally gone out. This is not a complete version, and is missing a lot of content, art, and editing. Unfortunately the book is running behind, but I wanted to get a draft out, even if that draft is going to need to be updated in subsequent versions.
Going forward, each monthly update will have a new version of the draft, until we get to the final draft. I currently expect the final draft to be closer to the end of the year. Starting next month, some of the VTT versions will start to get draft versions as well, though some of those will take longer.
This version has the 4 classes, many of the subclasses, most of the spells, and a large subsection of the feats. It is missing a lot of stuff though - namely the Battle System (expected to be in the next update), some of the subclasses (trickling in), a lot of art and editing (varies), monster blocks, monster feats, boons, and a few other things... all around it has a little over 2/3 of the projected content (clocking at a little over 200 pages).
I also just realized it doesn't have a credits page, which I'll definitely include in the next round (artist credits, license info, backer/editing credits, etc).
At the end of the day, it's largely my experience with the last book that made me somewhat underestimate aspects of this one. Its greater focus on player options resulted in more demands on playtesting, art, and input than something like the more crafting focused book of KCCC. That said, I expect each update to be fairly sizable, and we aren't as far away from final as it might appear - the draft stage involves weaving a lot of disparate chunks together, so most things are in some form of done, even if they aren't in the draft yet.
It should be available through Backerkit. You should not need a locked order to receive it, but on that note...
Kickstarter Orders Locking in 48 hours.
After the Kickstarters lock, cards will be charged 48 hours after that. You should not need to take any action, and will have plenty of time to resolve any issue, this is just a heads up.
Going Forward - Feedback and Schedule
As noted, the plan from here on it is that my monthly updates will coincide with new draft versions. As for feedback, I don't quite want to open the floodgates there yet. There will be a time in the near future where I will ask for any and all editing, but keep in mind the current version is still being chewed on by editors, and some chunks are still being playtested and reviewed. Most content here is at least a few iterations in, but this is an alpha that's mostly been about compiling all the different threads of what's been available these last through months through discord or the website into a proper PDF. I think around the next draft or two I'll start looking for any feedback on format, editing, etc, but for the time being I don't want to waste folks time pointing out what will already probably be fixed or changed.
Ramifications for Printing Schedule
I've mentioned this before, but the fact we are still on rough drafts at this point means we are a few months late. I would still expect the book early next year, but probably more like March or April than January, though I expect to be printing by Jan, printing and distribution are not a fast process.
I'll keep you updated as we get closer. For now, expect monthly PDF updates where more content is loaded in each time. Next update is the Battle System (which exists as a standalone PDF, but is getting updated before it goes into the draft proper).
As always, feel free to drop by the Discord if you have any questions or comments. If you have been playtesting the character options and have things you'd like to send along to me, even if the floodgates aren't fully open I never am not open to hearing people's thoughts and feedback, so feel free to ask if you have any questions.