Empty Envelopes

I blundered sending out the first batch of SoB orders. The envelopes I bought seemed like they were solid, had a nice sticky strip of self-adhesive, and I saw no problem shipping them as is.

Stupid me. Seems a handful of these envelopes reached their destinations with nothing inside. *sigh*

If this happened to you, please let me know. By “first batch” I mean the test batch I sent out early last week. The two big orders were all reinforced with tape. If any of those arrive empty, I’ll be busy banging my head against brick if you need me.

Pre-Orders

Now that the Kickstarter copies have all gone out, I turn my attention to those of you who pre-ordered. I plan to pack all of them up tonight and get out in tomorrow’s mail, ideally, though some may slip to Thursday. I’ll update when they’ve gone out.

Purchase Page

I was too busy sorting through the stacks of Kickstarter and pre-order books that needed fulfilled to add even more to my to-do list, but I finally got the Purchase Page up. You can order both the corebook and the dice set from there. When Five-Story Drop launches, I’ll add that as well.

This has all been far from an ideal launch but I’m getting my feet back under me. Thank you all for your (continued) patience.

The past two weeks have been a busy time full of signing, packing, stamping, filling out customs forms, and spending a lot of money at the post office. All in the name of Kickstarter fulfillment! Here’s where things are:

If You Pledged $25

Your book is either on its way or in your hands! This includes domestic and international backers. Three batches went out: one last week; one on Saturday; one today. All the internationals at this level went out last week and Saturday (most of them last week). The domestics were fairly split between Saturday and today. A few domestics went out last week so I could gauge postage cost.

If You Pledged $45 or More

I had originally intended to wait until the hardcopies of Five-Story Drop were in-hand but I can’t, in good conscience, leave you all waiting. So I’m going to fulfill all your hardcopies this week, including any dice or additional books due at your pledge level, and then ship Five-Story Drop separately once it’s done.

Five-Story Drop

Speaking of, Shawn and I both are still in production on this book. I hope to have it done (including print copies) by end of November but I can’t hard promise that. I will keep you all in the loop.

Sounds of Bedlam

Ed is still hard at work getting the last half of the soundtrack together. I don’t have any further news on that front currently.

Ready-Made Characters

A lot of you are due that six-pack PDF of ready-made characters as well. I should have them done the same time as Five-Story Drop.

All of this is much later than I had anticipated and promised. I will keep working to make this up to you all. Your patience has been amazing and humbling. Thank you all.

Good news, Kickstarter backers! I have begun the long (and awesome) task of signing, packing, labeling, and shipping books. Most of the orders are signed, packed, and labeled (I ran out of labels last night and need to pick up some more) and are now ready to fly toward their final destinations.

If you’re an international Kickstarter backer, odds are good your order went out this morning. All others will go out this week. For those of you in the States, you’ll probably get your orders by next Monday at the latest. For my international friends, you should get yours by the end of the month. (I hope sooner but I don’t control the boats.)

I will update again once all the orders have gone out.

If you have the corebook and Five-Story Drop coming to you, I’m waiting until 5SD is done to ship your order. On that front, I am working hard to get the file done!

Today’s a special day round these parts. Streets of Bedlam illustrator Shawn Gaston is another year closer to retirement. Shawn’s work went a long way towards bringing the people and places of Bedlam to life. I can honestly say the book wouldn’t have been the same without his remarkable artistic style and sensibilities. Happy birthday, man.

If you enjoyed Shawn’s work in Streets of Bedlam, consider swinging by his website, maybe buying a print or three of his work. And be sure to pop by his Twitter account to give him a birthday spanking. Don’t forget the one to grow on.

As Streets of Bedlam was made possible through Kickstarter, I’d be remiss not to shine the occasional light on Bedlam-related projects such as Sebastian Guiterrez’s film Hotel Noir, a work that promises trenchcoats, revolvers, and femme fatales. Pretty classic noir stuff there.

Unlike some films seeking funding, Hotel Noir is finished. The filmmakers are seeking cash to get it shown in theaters so it qualifies for larger recognition (such as awards). As a backer, you can get a digital copy of the script, a lobby card, an backer-exclusive version of the film, and more.

What convinced me wasn’t the pitch but the cast. We’re talking Carla Gugino, Danny Devito, Rufus Sewell, Rosario Dawson, Malin Akerman, Robert Forster, Mandy Moore, and Kevin Connolly.

To hear the pitch, check out the video below. For more details, hit the film’s Kickstarter page. As of this posting, the run still has two weeks to go. It’s already hit funding, which is great, but these projects can almost always use more (and you can get some great swag to boot).

Have you seen these?

The Streets of Bedlam Dice Set* includes a standard complement of d4, d6, d8, 2d10, d12, d20, plus a custom Wild Die featuring Vincent’s battered bloody fist at the 6-spot. All wrapped up in a smooth silken drawstring bag with the Streets of Bedlam logo on the front.

This set is gorgeous and, as they were made by Chessex, they have a nice heft and roll great. You can get your own sets right now at just $15 each.

Note on Shipping

The shipping on these will be the same if you order a single set or half a dozen (you can cram a lot of sets into the USPS flat rate boxes), so if you have local friends who each want a set, make it all one order and save yourself some cash.

Ordering Lots of Sets

You can order up to four sets using the button above but, if you want more than that, send me an email using the Contact Form and I’ll get you squared away.

Attention Kickstarter Backers!

If you backed the Kickstarter with a pledge of $60 or more, you already have one set of these beauties coming to you! (But don’t let that stop you from ordering more, if you like.)

*Dice of Bedlam?

The proof of the physical book is in and I’m really happy with how it looks. I’m going to put in the order this week and get those hot copies out in the mail to all you good folks. I’ll post another update when they come in and they’re ready to ship!

Hey all,

If you haven’t since late last night, download a fresh copy of the Streets of Bedlam PDF to see the new drug rules, Edges, Hindrances, random episode generator, and a bunch of other touch-ups and polish.

In addition, I’ve uploaded the files to the printer and have ordered the physical proof. Once that’s approved, I’ll order the books!

The next book Five-Story Drop is in production currently. I hope to have that all done inside six weeks. It’s been a slow crawl back from the delay caused by the out-of-state move, starting a new job, etc. Thank you all for your patience. You’ve been wonderful.

One false move. One bad deal. One broken promise. That’s all that stands between you and a one-way trip off the nearest skyscraper.

You manage to navigate the ins and outs, you’ll find yourself on the top of the heap. You stumble, you’ll spend the rest of your short life sucking wind until the concrete comes up to kiss you.

At least you’ll have lived a story worth telling, yeah?
Because in the end that’s what we’re all doing here.
Telling stories.

Five-Story Drop is a collection of episodes for Streets of Bedlam: A Savage World of Crime + Corruption.
Within these pages, you’ll run across a suburban cannibal cult, gun-running streetracers, a precinct-wide conspiracy, a sadist with a taste for young girls, and a man who simply refuses to stay dead.

Five-Story Drop includes:

“Does a Body Good”
“Life in the Fast Lane”
“The Burial Plot”
“That Man’s Got a Real Backscratcher”
“Eli Mendoza is a Dead Man”

Coming October 2012 in Print + PDF.

The printing bricks that is! The new files are under final review and the pdf will be uploaded to the printer on Tuesday, September 4th. I should have print copies very soon. Then they’ll go out to backers. YOU WILL FINALLY HAVE YOUR HARDCOPIES! I am excited (and relieved) about this. The revised version of the PDF will go up Monday, the 3rd.

In addition to cleaning up some typos, the final copy of the book now includes:

New Drug Rules
Drugs are a big part of Bedlam and these rules touch on the popular vices, their effects, and in-game penalties for their abuse.

Episode Generator
A new episode generator lets you drum up a compelling scenario with a few flops of the cards.

NPCs Have Edges + Hindrances
Look at all that depth!

Other Minor Tweaks
Including a new Hindrance and some other cool things.

The delay on this stemmed almost entirely from the move and the new job and all that other real world stuff. But all that’s settled down and I’m back on track. Expect a Five-Story Drop update very soon!