Printing updates / Final digital rewards
15 days ago
– Mon, Apr 13, 2026 at 12:35:00 PM
We're very close to sending the books off for the big print run
Hi y'all! Thanks for your patience as we finish up the "last-mile" tweaks to all five Danse Macabre books (counting both the softcover and hardback Rulebook).
By way of update, we're very close to being fully done with production work, but we're still engaging in some productive back and forth with the printer regarding CMYK values, foil placement, and finishes. This is a tedious but important proofing step: we don't want to print 500 or 1,000 copies and have a fixable error on the cover, however small.
It feels like we hit a Zeno's paradox moment with each campaign: the fun stuff is done, but we can't quite hit "PRINT IT ALL!" just yet. That said, we really should be done this week. I'll keep everyone updated when we send the final-final-actually-final files off to print.
In the meantime, here are some images of the second round of physical proofs, showing off the near-final covers and foil choices. These books are going to be easy to use for players and look extremely sick on the shelf!
Look out for updated digital rewards via BackerKit
In addition to finalizing print production, we have been hard at work finalizing the digital rewards. We should be able to send you all final PDFs of the books along with the Danse Macabre Original Soundtrack and the Danse Macabre VTT Bundle this week!
Note, the books have been updated to correct several small but important typos. Thanks so much to Alex McGuigan and everyone else who chipped in for a very helpful final round of proofreading.
We'll send all digital rewards via BackerKit first. We'll send the book PDFs later via Itch and DTRPG as well, for digital–archival completeness. So please check your BackerKit email's inbox.
Closing down the store and beyond
Once we get all the good stuff out to you + the printer, we will shut down the BackerKit store. So if you or a friend want the high-res OST files, this is your chance!
After that, I'll update everyone with a shipping schedule. Still aiming for this summer. Stay tuned! Thanks again for your support!
Closing surveys at midnight / Sending PDFs tomorrow!
about 2 months ago
– Wed, Mar 11, 2026 at 09:38:44 AM
The serious bit
The headline says it all: if you want your name in the credits and haven't already posted it in a comment on an earlier update or DMed me, please fill out your (very short) BackerKit survey by midnight tonight.
The point of all this is just to credit you in the Danse Macabre Rulebook. Folks who don't respond will be credited using their Kickstarter names.
Reminder 1: this survey was sent to your KS/BK email address. It may have gone to spam. If you don't see it in your inbox or spam folder, please DM me, and we'll resend it to whatever address you want.
Reminder 2: this survey has nothing to do with shipping dates/fees, since we'll ship books in the summer. You'll get an email about shipping from BackerKit when the books are inbound from China.
The fun bit
Tomorrow, we should be able to send all 4 PDFs: The Danse Macabre Rulebook, Guide to the Abandoned World, Unsunken, and the Reliquary!
These have all been laid out, edited, illustrated, proofed, and set up for printing. We are giving them one last look tonight, adding backer names (after midnight), and sending them off to you.
Major thanks to the team and to all of you for supporting this game. We're excited to hear from backers once you get the PDFs and have a chance to read through them and use them at your tables.
In the meantime, we'll continue to work with our printer on finalizing the physical books + cool enamel pin. We're deep in the weeds on how to best add foil to book covers, ensure maps look good when broken up over spreads, and so forth. TL;DR: it's a lot of work, but everything looks awesome (and, as appropriate, horrifying).
More soon.
Quick reminder: surveys are out! Closing soon
about 2 months ago
– Fri, Mar 06, 2026 at 07:50:21 AM
Happy Friday! I have sent out BackerKit surveys. Let me know if you can't find a survey-related email, after checking your spam folder.
We are now on track to send you PDFs of all books next week. But to finish the Danse Macabre Rulebook—where you're credited—we need to close out the surveys at the end of this weekend. Please let me know if you need more time or have any questions. (It's super short, I promise!)
FYI, I am closing down Late Pledges on Kickstarter today. Please send your friends who missed the campaign to the BackerKit store instead :)
We'll have more updates soon as we send final-final-actual-final files off to print. We are still fiddling with silver foil and bronze foil layers on the covers of the Danse Macabre Rulebook (perfectbound) and Danse Macabre Rulebook Deluxe. TL;DR, everything is going well with design, but there are a lot of details to check with setting up fancy covers/interior covers.
Expect more next week!
BackerKit surveys on their way
about 2 months ago
– Tue, Mar 03, 2026 at 07:15:54 AM
Surveys, and then digital rewards
Thank you for your patience. Moving pledge management over to BackerKit, everything proceeded smoothly. Expect surveys in your inboxes soon.
Re names in the credits, many thanks to everyone who responded to the previous post. We have noted your preferred credits names. Apologies for asking twice, but you'll also see this question in the BackerKit survey. (I didn't know how long it would take to get set up the survey and get approved, hence asking the first time. My bad!)
Because we want to get our thank-yous in the Danse Macabre Rulebook, we are hoping to close the survey within a week. Note, if we don't hear from you, we'll use your Kickstarter name. Shipping will be charged after we print and get a better sense of costs.
FYI, we're also ending Late Pledges on Kickstarter to shift everything to BackerKit. This shouldn't affect any existing pledges, just new (late) ones, which can still happen via the BackerKit store.
Next week, we should be able to send you PDFs of most or all of the books—and then the Danse can truly begin!
Question for you
2 months ago
– Mon, Feb 23, 2026 at 12:35:06 PM
Survey delay—but no delay to PDFs!
Dear backers, after a back-and-forth with Kickstarter, I have confirmed that there is no way to use their tools to send you a survey without also charging for shipping. We aren't shipping physical rewards until the summer.
In the meantime, we have one urgent question for you:
What name would you like to appear in the credits?
Please respond to this update with a comment if you want us to credit something other than your Kickstarter name. (Or DM me if you want to chat privately, but keeping the answers in one place will speed up the process for us.)
If you do not respond to this question, we will use your name as listed in the Kickstarter system.
If you prefer not to be credited, simply write "Anonymous."
Apologies for the lack of nicely styled survey and pre-order shop at this time, but we'll get there. First, though, we want to finalize PDFs and get them to you, hence asking to confirm credits.
Thank you so much for your support!
