Packaging and layout still in progress.
about 3 years ago – Fri, Feb 26, 2021 at 12:17:08 AM

Hello Dragonbonded! 

It has been a while since the last update and we want to share with you the news! 

We are working on the layout of the book and we are excited to share with you that all editing has been finished for all 7 adventures! 

The detailed status is:

• Writing & editing: 100%
• Maps: 40%
• Art: 60%
• Layout: 15%

Here's a sneak peek of how's everything coming together:

Tom Babbey and Daniel Ehrli have done a fantastic job supervising all the visual aspects of the book!

Miniatures

Chinese New Year has finished, so our manufacturer Panda is resuming work with the resin wax samples for the miniatures, by March 8th, the samples will be sent to us for revision. 

Also, our design team has finished packaging design, we heard your comments and we decided to add the concept art on one side, a painted mini on the other, and the cover art in the back. 

MIMIPaintingStudio has been painting all the miniatures and working on impressive pictures of them, we just love the photos they have taken. Here's Baastherox, the Mightiest, ready to fight you! Will you dare to enter the lair? 

Timeline adjustment

Due to a delay on art and layout, we are expecting to finish the PDF by the end of April and enter to mass production by early June with fulfillment of physical rewards taking place in September. We are doing our best to get back in track but we want to share with you the status of the project in advance in order to keep our promise of being transparent clear with communication. We aim for top-notch art and maps, so it is taking slightly longer than expected but we promise it will be worth the wait!

STL digital distribution will start next month for Dragons of the Red Moon and for some of the lairs, we are still working in the sculpts for some of the massive lairs but we will start fulfillment next month for those we have ready. 

LAST DAYS TO FILL YOUR BACKERKIT SURVEY!

If you haven't answered your survey please click here and complete your survey as soon as possible so we can lock numbers for production and export lists for STL fulfillment.

Will be in touch very soon!

IMPORTANT: Surveys within 24 hrs!
about 3 years ago – Thu, Jan 28, 2021 at 11:19:22 PM

Hello Dragonbonded!

We have finished setting up Backerkit, our chosen pledge manager.

Within the next 24 hrs you will receive an email with a personal link. A smoke test has been sent and 5% random backers of each reward tier have already received their survey so we can check if there's anything we need to fix before sending the rest of the surveys. The email will look similar to this:

Backerkit is the place where you let us know your shipping address where to send your rewards (when manufacture is complete), include any extras and pay shipping fees according to total weight. We encourage you to fill your survey as soon as possible, the pledge manager will be open for a short period of time so we can finalize counts and move to placing mass manufacture order. During this window, you have the opportunity to include add-ons or increase your pledge level. 

One great thing about Backerkit is that you can reply your survey as soon as you get it with the add-ons you like and get charged for them later. In this case, you must answer your survey within 1 month and your card will be charged in March 1st. (Don't worry, we will be in touch to remind you when the date is closer).

Once you open your survey, in the first screen you can confirm or upgrade your pledge level and country of residence in case you are awaiting physical rewards (so you the system loads the proper shipping fees).

Local pickup: Backers in Mexico City or Guadalajara will be able to select Local pickup in the country drop-down menu for waived shipping fee.

Before selecting optional buys (add-ons) you might have to answer a few pledge questions depending on your reward tier; such as choosing the dragons included in your pledge level, or whether you want the lair STL files with Townbuilder or just the presets, etc.

Once you answer these questions, you will go into the most exciting section where you will be able to include optional buys.

Returning backers: you will find your loyalty rewards already in your shopping cart. Once you finish choosing your add-ons, you will be able to select your preferred choice for your loyalty rewards.

 Let's take a quick look at them.

Add-ons

First we have the core rewards:

1. A hardcover copy of the book Great Wyrms of Drakha (or PDF version if it is not included already in your reward tier.

2. The gargantuan dragon miniatures for Aureus, Kuxcoatl, and Baastherox.

3. The thematic dice-set

4. The limited opportunity to have an NPC art piece made in your resemblance and included in the book.

5. For our dear retailers, we are offering the thematic exhibitor/displays that will help you to improve sales performance of your order while providing an immersive experience to your local gamers. All of these were designed keeping in mind new releases with some pieces that can be exchanged in the future to match the future releases. We are very excited to be able to offer these and we look forward for a long lasting relationship.

6.  If you are into 3D printing, you can find more STL files for some of our past releases, including Legendary Dragons from Jetpack7. STL Fulfillment will start in early March once surveys are answered and locked!

After selecting your add-ons, you will be prompted to enter your mailing address to which we will send your physical rewards in August once manufacture and shipping is done. 

Finally, the last step is to pay for shipping fees or add-ons to complete your survey. We have enabled payment through PayPal for your convenience, but in case you are wondering, Backerkit is also a secure site, we and hundreds of creators and backers have been using it plenty of times.

Don't forget to click on Place order to finish the survey and the system registers your order. You will still be able to modify it for some weeks even after you click this button.

Once the smoke test finishes, the rest of the surveys will be sent and in case you need assistance, you can contact us at [email protected]

We will be back soon with more news and art to share with you! 

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Last but not least, we would like to ask you a favor if you can spare 2 minutes. One of our family games, Dodos Riding Dinos, (in collaboration with Detestable Games) has been nominated within the Top 20 most anticipated games of the year in Boardgamegeek! This is a popularity contest that greatly helps exposure for the winning titles, it would mean the world to us if you could vote for Dodos Riding Dinos! More info here.

Red Moon Monday: Nixis cover & Baastherox paint job
over 3 years ago – Mon, Jan 18, 2021 at 11:29:10 PM

Welcome back. We're glad you all are ready to start another week and that we are now well into January's second half. Time does fly when we keep ourselves busy!

Over the past two weeks, there have been quite a few developments and interesting news for us to share, so let's get started.

Book development progress

• Dehrilya's adventure has just been sent to our editor. We are just missing 2 adventures (Nixis and Rawraxxa) and all the adventures will be in our editor's hands (or eyes).
• Art pieces: 31 / 120 Our art team did it again! We have all the chapter openers and they are fantastic! Take a look at Nixis in all her splendor! 

Miniatures progress

• The factory has finished the adjustments to our 3 models for plastic injection. We are awaiting for samples before moving to mass production.
•  Mimi Painting Studio has finished painting Baastherox, the mightiest! It is truly breathtaking. We will be using this dragon for pictures on its packaging.

• And speaking of packaging we have Kuxcoatl's along with the painted version from AG team (Angel Giraldez).

We are giving our best to deliver you all a great set of finals products!

On a Draco Studios-related note, our LAIR division is running the last days for our Eldritch Century KS campaign for 3D-printable files and RPG content. The project was funded in 1 hour and now has unlocked 10 stretch goals! Be sure to check it out. Specially if you enjoy cosmic horror and pre-apocalyptic settings. You can get some unique bundles starting at $5 or all the 85+ models for $50.

We will be back with more news next week in another Red Moon Monday. Hopefully with Backerkit (pledge manager) surveys already out.

-- Choose to fight! Your battles will become Legend

Red Moon Monday: Labyrinthine Politics, Purveyors of Power
over 3 years ago – Wed, Jan 06, 2021 at 12:40:34 PM

Happy New Year!

Welcome to our first Red Moon Monday of the year. We hope you all had a great holiday season and remain well. May you all accomplish everything you set out to do this year and remain safe, healthy and busy.

In our front, we took a much needed working brea; while not connecting for our daily work-calls and constant communication, all of us kept going over our tasks like working on the finishing touches for the Pledge Manager—we are completing the set up to start the smoke test soon so we can send all the surveys without any further hassle—and preparing for the many projects coming out this year. Of course, we keep the Great Wyrms of Drakha project on schedule and, may we be so bold, it keeps surprising us at every corner. All the revisions and additions are really shaping up the adventures to become truly memorable, the artwork is ever more breathtaking with each new piece. Case in point...

A Face to Deceive The Radiance

In a place as big and as busy as Aureus' Golden City, commerce is an all-important part of daily affairs conducted by all its inhabitants. Dragons were no strangers to the concept of bartering, and their dragonkin were used to exchange services between themselves before the city reached its current stage. The arrival of Valernians only boosted this phenomenom as the mortals are always avid indeed to trade goods and services in order to improve their lives... or their chances at keeping them.

In a city so vibrant and dynamic, one trader stands among the rest because of what she offers and what she represents: luxury and high-end objects for anyone who can afford them. Duh'mÿr, the Fulgen dragonkin, is famous among all other traders who reserve only the finest wares they can produce or acquire to offer to her, in hopes she will find these worthy of a place in her emporium.

Of course, she also has plenty of ways to obtain that which is not available for sale, too.

This piece by Todd Ulrich shows us the taste and refinement of the Golden City's most famous trader of coveted, rare goods—as well as key connections—while also revealing the true nature behind her amenable yet shrewd disposition. To strike a bargain with Duh'mÿr is to open yourselves to as many wonders as Drakha can offer... and many of its deadliest yet most profitable secrets.

Caveat emptor.

So, that is it for now. We will keep you posted on any further developments for this project and we would like to remind you that, tomorrow we will be launching another KS campaign for our Eldritch Century, our sister brand also packed with great sculptures and fantastic artwork depicting the many and varied factions of The Wounded Earth.

You can opt-in to be notified on launch here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lair3d/eldritch-century-3d

Be sure to pass the word around, telling your friends about it and do get ready, for the factions are alway recruiting as the horrors of the Miasma keep coming in an relentless tide.

That's it for today. See you next week and as always, stay safe, wear a mask and be well.

Red Moon Monday: Unveiling The Great Forge
over 3 years ago – Tue, Dec 29, 2020 at 01:41:37 PM

Hello, everyone:

Hoping everything is going well for you at home, and you all had a great Christmas. For our part, we are back to tell you we've been busy with the development of the campaign's Pledge Manager. We can assure you everything is going as scheduled, so you can count on it being up and running during early January.

The 3D models for the Baastherox and Kuxcoatl miniatures we sent to the factory have been reviewed and adapted for the injection-molding process. We went over these changes and they look quite good, in fact. So we are putting our trust in their experience producing plastic miniatures of the highest quality, and remain sure you will get more news and plenty of photos, soon enough.

Now, while we are going full-steam ahead for another short week at the (home)office due to the imminent end of the year festivities, we also have been making progress on the Great Wyrms of Drakha project, as Juan Cristobal Álvarez (affectionately known as Obal) and Daniel Ehrli have been hard at work fine-tuning Sivax's adventure and may move on to Dehrilya's before you know it.

Then, Aldo Domínguez has given us his initial sketches for Nixis' opening illustration and each one of them is simply breathtaking. We are sure you all will agree there is plenty to be excited about when you see the piece he's still working on for The Forge Queen... mind you, it still is a WIP and it's already looking stunning!

So, as we speaking of great artwork to introduce each of the Great Wyrms and the greatest artificer and master crafter in the Red Moon, gather around and listen to the story of a domain and a brood unlike any other.

Inside A "Mountain That Bleeds"

Somewhere beyond the territory claimed by the Magnifex, at the very center of the region collectivelly known as the Obsidian Plains, rises Yenna'arrok, the highest and widest active volcano in the whole of Drakha and its name in Draconic means "Torn Throat." Some of the few Magnifex sages—more like collectors of beautiful trivia—posit this was one of the first and few attempts at creating poetry rather than merely naming a landmark for its general attributes or obvious nature. In it, they could see and revel in the beautiful image of a mountain resembling the torn, bleeding neck of a dragon, mortally wounded yet still standing defiant and powerful. Of course, said "collectors" of "knowledge" have unanimously declared it obviously was a Magnifex who named it, but those who claimed it as their territory know for sure it was simply called that way when they settled in.

Still, what is far more interesting than a name is that it is the only place in the Red Moon where a vast complex of edifications was built inside the volcano's main chimney, spiraling down to the bottom of its crater. This is the fantastic reign of the Ehrlya dragons; a brood known for its focus on majestic craftmanship and self-modification as a way to improve their physical forms... just like the once-lame Dehrilya, their azhurma, has done ever since she claimed the title and reconfigured the brood's lair as a fortress-domain, only to then name it The Kiln.

There, under a huge cavern beneath The Kiln's lowest level, where she created The Vault, a place where only the greatest among her many creations and those of her most skilled artisans are kept in display for all Erhlya to be inspired and motivated. But there is still another, somewhat smaller cavern underneath it. Right in the heart of Yenna'arrok.

Here is the place where all of Dehrilya's wondrous creations are masterfully crafted at The Great Forge, her personal lair and the chamber where everyone joining up to play through this adventure will eventually come to face The Forge Queen herself.

Finally, as part of our other efforts, we are proud and pretty excited to announce Draco is now in charge of creating the official miniatures for Monte Cook Game's Numenera. You can read all about it here: https://www.dracostudios.com/post/Numenera-3d-announcement

That's it for the last Red Moon Monday of the year, but no need to worry, as we will be keeping you on the loop throughout the coming year on a regular basis. Also, be sure to check our blog where we will be providing you with further lore tidbits for every project Draco Studios is working on.

Be well, stay safe and wear your mask.

May you all have a great 2021!