Dev Log #18: Posting cadence change, project schedules, and SXSW EDU
Check out the latest on the TTRPGkids works in progress to stay up to date on upcoming releases! This Dev Log will cover some general changes to the TTRPGkids schedule, including the posting cadence (and why), the latest status for the StoryGuider and Mystery Snacks projects, and plans for SXSW EDU 2026!
Jump to:
Schedule and posting cadence changes on TTRPGkids
Before getting into anything else, I wanted to let you all know that I am going to need to slow things down a bit at TTRPGkids temporarily and why.
Previously, I was posting 2-3 times per week, and I am going to have to cut back to 1 post per week with a floating spot for featured projects and pull ahead postss (if time permits).
I will also be delaying my Pocketopia 2026 project, Begamed Brochures, to Pocketopia 2027, and there may be some delays to the StoryGuider POD release (not the digital print-and-play though).
All of this is because… I had booked myself to about 75% capacity, then I found out in December that I have a tumor, then sick/snow days/school closings with kiddo have taken, on average, 2 days of midweek capacity per week for the past 8 weeks.
Kiddo is doing better and snow days have settled, but I’m still bouncing between testing (and retesting and more testing) and doctor’s offices for my own health. I’ve also blown way past my 25% buffer for two months.
I’m now crunched up into other projects that were planned to start and complete during March – July but am still trying to figure out the Jan – Feb projects that are still open.
So, I am going to see where I can leave myself some space to get caught up on my existing commitments.
For you all reading this, it means there will be fewer posts for a little bit, I won’t be taking on new review/writing requests until my existing ones are totally done, and StoryGuider POD keys might delay a month or two. I do still plan on going to the conventions I have planned for the year unless there is a medical sitution that prevents my going (most travel is already paid), and I’m doing what I can to minimize project delays.
I’ll figure it out and will be OK, but I wanted to be transparent for readers and give context for when I go through the StoryGuider schedule.
StoryGuider updates
Progress!
Despite what I have above, there’s been some significant progress on StoryGuider!
I’ve finished laying out all the books in the Heroes series and am half way through the Friends series. I also decided to color the covers:
I have 6 more to go in the Friends series, plus layout for the Big Book of Friends, then, I can get proof copies ordered.
Art for the Dragon series is also on track, arriving in packets (so I’m seeing the progress), and super cute! (I’ll show you more next time when I have colored covers for the Dragon series books finished)
I also recieved proofs for the first 6 books! To help save a bit of time, I ordered these test prints as soon as they were laid out (so, not waiting to layout the whole series) so I could confirm that we weren’t loosing anything to the gutters or center seam of the book and that the print quality was decent. It took about 4 weeks for prints to arrive, which mean that I was able to layout the next 12 books during that time.
And it’s a good thing I did!
There were no issues with the gutters or book seam, and the art came out alright, but there was an issue at the end of the book.
Extra pages…
The printer requires a blank sheet on the final page of the bookso they can label it with an internal barcode. The page numbers also need to be divisble by 6 for the printing and binding process, so I’m keeping each book to 23 pages + 1 blank page = 24 pages.
I think the printer’s software looked at the blank page at the end and registered “there is a page here; it has a box of nothing = it has a box; this page is not really blank; I need to add a blank page; I need to add 5 more pages to make it divisible by 6.”
So, all of the books have 6 extra pages at the end.
To fix this, I just need to delete that page and order more test prints to make sure it worked, but I’m going to have to go back in and do that for every book, and the import, export, upload, printer check process takes some time even if the page delete itself is quick while I’m in the software.
That said, this just gave me early feedback so I could fix this now instead of finding out when I sent the whole series for test printing, and now I know that the rest of my layout is OK.
Current schedule
To get into the overall schedule, I have updated some of the dates due to the chaos that was Dec – Feb. My priorities right now are to: get the Heroes and Friends series finished + order test prints, get backer surveys out, and set up the digital distribution of the Heroes and Friends series.
Digital print-and-play distribution is still on track to meet the Heroes and Friends target (April) but may be delayed a month (June –> July) for the Dragon and coloring book target. POD key distribution will likely be 1-2 months behind each print-and-play distribution if I find any print errors and need to update and run an extra round of proofs.
COMPLETED:
- Oct – campaign funds released from Backerkit
- Oct – send contracts for funded art to artists
- Oct – draft the Tome Traveller Trilogy (part of the Heroes series)
- Oct → Nov – collect first round of art from early artist kick-offs (from itchio and ko-fi prefunds)
- Nov – artists working on Heroes series
- Nov/Dec – finish writing the new Dragon series adventures
- Nov → Jan – reformat the Heroes series
- Jan – Heroes series art due
- Jan – order Heroes series proofs (round 1)
- Jan – artists working on Friends series
- Feb – Friends series art due
- Feb – Heroes series proofs arrive, review, update (round 1)
NEXT STEPS:
- Jan – Mar – reformat the Friends series
- Jan – Apr – artists working on Dragon series
- Mar – order Friends series proofs (round 1)
- Mar – order Heroes series proofs (round 2)
- Mar – send backer surveys
- Apr – Dragon series art due
- Apr – set up digial pages for Friends and Heroes series
- Apr – fulfill digital print-and-play for Friends and Heroes series
- Apr – May – reformat the Dragon series
- Apr – May – Friends series proofs arrive, review, update (round 1)
- Apr – May – Heroes series proofs arrive, review, update (round 2)
- May – if no issues, distribute POD keys for Friends and Heroes series
- May – start weekly releases of a la carte trilogies for public on DTRPG
- May – Jun – order Dragons series and coloring book proofs (round 1)
- Jun – fulfill digital print-and-play for Dragon series
- Jul – Dragon series proofs arrive, review, update (round 1)
- Jul – if no issues, distribute POD keys for Dragon series and coloring book
Mystery Snacks
Mystery Snacks is in it’s final week on Backerkit and is at about 300% funded!
We’ve unlocked several stretch goals, may be able to fund 1-2 more in the next few days, and will be kicking off work soon!
For this one, I had already seen the overall TTRPGkids schedule back up happening before launch day in early Feb, so I was able to plan my dates in a way that should be pretty feasible despite other chaos. This project is also significanly smaller scale than StoryGuider and I’ve written all my parts. Cover art is completed, and I’ve hired a layout artist to arrange everything inside and out. My role is now on the project management and review side of things, and that’s a bit easier to fit in with the rest of the schedule.
Like with my other projects, I’ll keep a running update in these Dev Logs so you can stay in the know about where we are in the process:
NEXT STEPS:
- Feb – fund project
- Mar – kick off guest writers (send guidelines, formatting + style guide)
- Apr – guest writer check in
- May – guest writer 1st drafts due
- May – review 1st drafts
- June – kick off layout artist
- June – kick off guest writer 2nd drafts
- June – guest writer 2nd draft due
- July – final layout due
- July – order proof (round 1)
- Aug – proofs arrive, check, review update (round 1)
- Aug – order proof (round 2)
- Sep – proofs arrive, check, review update (round 2)
- Sep – order bulk
- Oct – bulk order arrives
- Oct – ship to fulfill project
If you want to catch the project before the campaign ends, check it out here!
SXSW EDU 2026
Finally, I’m getting ready for SXSW EDU! I’ll be going to Austin in March where I’ll be mentoring folks and facilitating game meet ups for educators, plus my book will be on sale in the convention’s bookshop!
You can check out my whole schedule here to see what’s up and stop by if you’re attending!
I am really looking forward to this trip for a number of reasons ranging from wanting to present to escaping the frozen wastes that is Michigan from Nov – Mar to getting to hang out with friends I haven’t seen in a while to having a break from doctor’s appointments and family-mode for a week.
Fingers crossed that all goes well, and I’m excited to see a few TTRPGkids friends in a couple weeks!
Thank you for checking out this update and just kind of being interested in what TTRPGkids is doing! I hope it helps with seeing some of the self-pub, crowdfunding, and blog writing process for anyone who is thinking of getting into that themselves, and…
Until next time, happy gaming!
If you liked this post, make sure to subscribe to the TTRPGkids monthly newsletter to stay up to date on the latest reviews, tips and tricks, game and podcast list updates, and more! Thank you for playing tabletop RPGs with the next generation of gamers.