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Silk Road Guide to Seafaring

Created by Red Panda Publishing

A 5E-compatible, historical fantasy guide to trade, exploration, and ship combat during the height of the Roman Empire and Han Dynasty.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Fulfillment Update
17 days ago – Mon, Nov 04, 2024 at 10:58:35 AM

VTT Asset Pack Available

VTT Asset Pack v 1.0 available for download from Backerkit now.

The VTT Asset Pack was made available on Backerkit last month, but somehow did not get mentioned in our last update! The version that is currently available through Backerkit is nearly complete, but mat differ slightly from the final version that will be delivered through Drivethrurpg when Fulfillment Concludes. To download v 1.0 of the VTT asset pack, click the Digital Downloads link on the last page of your Backerkit Survey.

Hardcover Fulfillment

If your Backerkit Survey was completed by the deadline, then the order for your hardcover book has been sent to your local drivethrurpg facility. While many books have already arrived at their destinations, it is possible that some regions may not receive their books for a few more weeks. If you completed your survey before the deadline and still have not received your book by November 25, please contact us at [email protected] so that we can try and locate your order.

If you completed your survey late, or still have not completed your survey, then your physical items are currently queued for fulfillment, and will be sent in the next wave of orders, which are currently scheduled for Decemeber 1.

If there is a problem with your physical rewards, such as damage to the cover of the book during shipping, low quality printing in the interior of the book itself, or other errors in the printing or shipping process of your physical items, please contact us at [email protected] with pictures of your product. We occasionally experience issues when dealing with the various Onebookshelf printing facilities around the world, and we want to make sure that we correct any errors as we become aware of them.

Nautica Obscura Fulfillment Update

Nautica Obscura is our current focus for the next few weeks, with art and layout design beginning to wrap up, and the remaining work expected to be complete in the next month. Fulfillment of this title is still expected in December. If you did not originally purchase Nautica Obscura as an add-on, but would like to do so now, it is still for sale through the Backerkit Pre-orders page.

October Update
about 2 months ago – Fri, Oct 04, 2024 at 05:25:18 PM

Credit Cards Charged

Credit cards have now been charged to collect payment for add-ons and applicable shipping fees. A small number of cards were not able to be successfully charged, and these backers have been notified by email. If your card failed to charge, please update your payment information as soon as possible to avoid delays in the fulfillment of your rewards.

All physical rewards are currently scheduled to begin printing and shipping as early as Monday.

Maps and Handouts

Both the "Maps and Handouts" document, as well as the Full Resolution World map are now available for download through the Digital Downloads feature on Backerkit. Both of these are available in digital and print-ready versions.

Regarding the Supply Chain

For those of you who have expressed concerns about the recent dockworkers strike, and how it may affect the supply chain, there are two reasons not to be worried! First, the strike is currently suspended due to an agreement to raise dockworkers hourly pay (yay!). Second, because of DriveThruRPG's fulfillment model, most books are actually printed locally before being shipped to the backer. This means that very few books need to travel through ports to begin with. 

In summary? We currently do not expect any setbacks in the fulfillment process, other than any slowdowns on the printing side, which are minimal at the writing of this update.

Date Changes
2 months ago – Fri, Sep 20, 2024 at 04:12:12 AM

New Credit Card Charge Date: September 30 

All Backerkit orders have now been locked and we were originally scheduled to charge credit cards this week; however, due to a printing slowdown at Drivethrurpg (nothing major), we have not yet received the proof copy of the hardcover book. We cannot begin fulfillment of the book until we review and approve the proof copy; thus, we have decided to postpone charging credit cards until books are actually about to start moving out the door. The new credit card charge date is Monday, September 30.

Orders have been locked in order to finalize counts and expedite distribution. However, if you would like to make any changes to your order, you can do so by sending a message through Kickstarter, reaching out to Backerkit Customer Service, or by emailing [email protected]. All orders are final after September 30.

Reminder: Complete Survey ASAP

A small number of backers have yet to complete their survey. If you have not yet done this, please complete your survey within the next week. We cannot guarantee the delivery of your rewards if your surveys is incomplete at the time we begin fulfillment.

PDF v. 4 Now Available

The fourth version of the PDF is now available for download via the Digital Downloads tool in your Backerkit Survey. For those of you who may already be running games, please make sure to download the latest version, which includes tweaks to some ship mechanics, which will affect encounter balance.

Digital Asset Distribution Timeline

Our current focus is on initiating the fulfillment of the hardcover. Once the hardcover is considered complete and fulfillment begins, focus will shift to the delivery of digital assets, including the high-res map, handouts document, player guides, and the VTT Pack. These rewards should begin fulfilling in the next few weeks. The only reward that currently has a longer delivery timeline is Nautica Obscura, which - since it was unlocked late in the game - is still being developed and illustrated. Nautica Obscura should deliver by December, depending on how smoothly fulfillment runs over the next month.

Quick Updates
2 months ago – Sun, Sep 08, 2024 at 03:31:51 AM

Nautica Obscura Unlocked!

Since our last update, the digital expansion Nautica Obscura has been fully funded and unlocked. This guide to forbidden, arcane, cursed, and obscure seafaring content is now under production and in the process of being illustrated, with a likely release date in December. This expansion includes new subclasses for the sorcerer and fighter, 12 new ships, expanded lore, a series of one-shot adventures, and a few new spells and upgrades as well. You can purchase Nautica Obscura through the add-ons page in your backerkit survey.

In related news, the other two "locked" rewards were substantially less popular, and are hovering at around 30% of their funding goal. It seems unlikely these will meet their goal before next week when surveys lock. If you purchase one of these rewards, you do not need to do anything; it will be automatically removed from your cart before surveys lock. 

Survey has a 92% Completion Rate!

A big thank you to everyone who has completed their survey! 

Surveys LOCK on September 16.

If you are one of the 8% who have still not filled out your survey, please do so before this date. We cannot guarantee the delivery of your rewards unless you complete your survey by the lock date. You can recover a lost survey here.

Credit cards will be charged on September 4.

Fulfillment for physical rewards (the hardcover book and the 11x18 map) will begin immediately after credit cards clear. Since the revision of the book is nearly complete, there should be no setbacks in the fulfillment process, and you can expect delivery by November. 

For other add-ons, such as the VTT pack and Nautica Obscura, delivery may take a bit longer, since production did not begin on these rewards until they were unlocked. The VTT pack will likely be fulfilled in October, since we are only waiting on a few battle maps to be completed. Nautica Obscura was the last reward to be unlocked, and so will likely be the last to be fulfilled, with a likely fulfillment in December.

Important: Please Complete Surveys
3 months ago – Mon, Aug 26, 2024 at 08:21:48 AM

Survey Deadline Approaching

For those of you who have pledged with us before, you may be used to a longer fulfillment time. Silk Road Guide to Seafaring is a much smaller and less complex project than those we have done previously, and so its fulfillment timeline is also much faster. In order to make sure the hardcover book starts moving out the door in a timely manner, we need to lock surveys and begin processing shipping by September 16, 2024. Please complete your surveys by this date.

PDF Version 2.0 Available

For those of you with early access to the PDF, the first round of revision changes are now live. To download the newest version of the digital book, go the the digital downloads section on the final page of your backerkit survey.

"Nautica Obscura" only needs a handful of backers!

As of the writing of this update, the highly anticipated digital expansion Nautica Obscura needs fewer than 10 backers in order to unlock!

Nautica Obscura is a collection of overflow content that wouldn't fit into the core module of Silk Road, including two new nautical subclasses (fighter and sorcerer), 12 new arcane ships; and an assortment of strange items, forgotten spells, cursed side quests, and forbidden ship upgrades. Nautica Obscura is largely based on the theoretical writings and research of Archimedes, the original Artificer, who had some truly wild and inventive ideas for ships and ship upgrades.

Look, I'm not saying ALL Archimedes's ideas were good ones. In fact, most of his ships are untested prototypes, and his "death ray" contraption seems downright reckless. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe it's best if we leave his ideas in the archive... yeah, nevermind. We can't release this content; it's too powerful.  Get Backerkit on the phone, we need to take down Nautica Obscura before it unlocks!

Nautica Obscura only needs a handful of backers to add it to their order and it unlocks for everyone. As a reminder, you are only charged for add-ons if they are successfully unlocked. Any add-ons that fail to meet their goal are automatically removed from your order before credit cards are charged.