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Gloomhaven Grand Festival

Created by Cephalofair

We invite you to join the celebration and check out the latest in the city of Gloomhaven. From Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs, Gloomhaven: The Role Playing Game, Miniatures of Gloomhaven, Gloomhaven: Second Edition and more, there is something for everyone.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Charging cards for wave 1 on Friday, retailer pledge manager, plus where we're at
over 2 years ago – Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 10:22:29 AM

Good day! I'm dropping the update a bit early this week because we are planning on charging cards in the pledge manager for waves 1 and 2 on Friday (the 22nd), and just wanted to give everyone a bit of a heads-up before doing so.

Previously, it was communicated that would be happening last Friday (the 15th), but in order to make sure we had addressed all backer emails and concerns, we wanted to take an extra week and get caught up on our support inbox before closing. I apologize for any confusion that caused when no charges took place. We are firmly set for this Friday, though, so if you would like anything from waves 1 and 2 (Frosthaven, Frosthaven playsurface books and other accessories, Forgotten Circles, Buttons & Bugs), please adjust your pledge manager this week!

With that said, I am happy to report that we are all caught up on customer service requests. I want to give a huge shout-out to Chris, Aaron, and Ted for catching us up on that. I will also note that we are not very present in the comments these days. We're still working on staffing someone to help out there, but in the mean time, if you have a question, the best way to get it answered is just to reach out to support: [email protected].

                             

This Friday will also be the launch of the retailer pledge manager - thank you to our ever patient Gloomhaven merchants!

A few important notes:

  1. If this is your first time backing as a retailer, you will be receiving a Retailer Verification Google Form to complete with your store's information and business documentation.
  2. If you are a returning backer, you should receive immediate access to the Retail Pledge Manager. 
  3. Products will be pre-priced at 50% off MSRP.
  4. As this project contains multiple product lines and fulfillment windows, we will only be providing access to products currently in production and destined for shipping in the near future. 

You will have opportunities to order all products during the following Pledge Manager windows as they make their way through development and production:
  • Wave 1 and 2: Gloomhaven Buttons & Bugs / Frosthaven Second Printing / Forgotten Circles - NOW SERVING
  • Wave 3: Gloomhaven Second Edition - Q1 2023 Pledge Manager
  • Wave 4: Gloomhaven RPG - Q2 2023 Pledge Manager
  • Wave 5: Miniatures of Gloomhaven - Q4 2023 Pledge Manager

                             

So now I'd like to spend the rest of the update giving you the news on where we are with everything. And first off, I just want to acknowledge that we are behind on everything in waves 1 and 2.

We communicated during the campaign that we'd enter production on Frosthaven at the end of July, but we are unfortunately still finishing up proofs. This was due to a lack of bandwidth during the campaign to get this rolling, so now we're playing catch up. We should be done with proofs within the next week, and so entering production at the end of this month puts us at freight shipping in early November.

Importantly, this means that we can't guarantee anything will ship by Christmas, so please take that into consideration when managing your pledge.

The Frosthaven playsurface books are on a similar timeline, which is good, since they will also be fulfilled in wave 1. Admittedly, editing the books took longer than we expected, but we have gotten through that now, so they are off to the printers for a proofing process that should be much shorter than Frosthaven. In addition, the production time should be shorter, too.

And then that brings us to Buttons & Bugs, which we have made tremendous progress on in the last few weeks due to Nikki's project management and Arch's art direction. We are on track to get files submitted to the printer at the beginning of next month. Admittedly, our original communication was that the would be submitted at the beginning of September, so we are still a month behind. In addition, the production process is going to take longer than we originally anticipated. We'll need a couple weeks for proofing, and then another month and a half to account for all the components, including the molded dice, which means we probably won't start freight shipping on Buttons & Bugs until the end of November.



I feel like I keep saying this, but we'll have more substantial RPG updates in the future. We're headed in a good direction with the design, but it still needs to be nailed down before I talk about the process. Our goal is to get that done by the end of the month as well.

So that's where we're at. I don't enjoy writing these updates any more than you enjoy reading them, but we want to keep you informed on what is going on. It's not fun to be two months behind on these initial waves, but the good news is that we've got a firm handle on moving them forward at this point. I can't promise there won't be any more delays, given the mercurial nature of shipping, but we're feeling very good about these new estimates.

As a final reminder, we will be changing cards in the pledge manager on Friday, so be prepared for that! Also we are looking for booth staff for New York Comic Con (application form) and Essen (application form) if you will be in the area and would like to help out. Thanks, and I'll catch you next time! Have a good week!

An explanation of shipping costs
over 2 years ago – Fri, Sep 08, 2023 at 03:21:07 PM

Good day! We are steadily moving along over here at Cephalofair Games to get all these projects out the door to you! I've got some updates on most of the projects, but first, I just wanted to address some of the comments from the previous update.

First, let's talk about support. As always, if you have any issues with your pledge, you can contact [email protected]. There has been some delay getting support requests answered due to the incredibly high volume, and, quite frankly, we are not happy with that delay at all. We have a little more manpower behind it now that everyone is back from PAX West, but we have made it a top priority to continue to staff up so that we can minimize support times. I apologize for the delays, and we are working to do better.

Next, there has been some confusion about how shipping costs are calculated, compounded by the fact that they were in a bit of flux around the time of the last update as we made some adjustments. Things should be settled now, so let's talk about how we arrive at your shipping amount.

The most important thing to know is that everything is shipping in five separate waves:
  • Wave 1 - Frosthaven
  • Wave 2 - Buttons & Bugs
  • Wave 3 - Gloomhaven: Second Edition
  • Wave 4 - Gloomhaven RPG
  • Wave 5 - Miniatures of Gloomhaven
So if you bought a number of things all from a single wave, we can generally bundle that together and save on shipping, but if it is all from different waves, we've gotta pay shipping on each separate item.

Example:

So let's say you're ordering the Frosthaven Playsurface Book, Buttons & Bugs, Gloomhaven: Second Edition, Gloomhaven Solo Scenarios, and the RPG Deluxe Box - that's four different shipping waves:
  1. Frosthaven Playsurface Book
  2. Buttons & Bugs
  3. Gloomhaven: Second Edition and Gloomhaven Solo Scenarios
  4. RPG Deluxe Box

For each item we sell, there is an associated weight, and for each wave, we compare the combined weight of your products in that wave to our shipping weight tables. In the US, for instance, the shipping weight table looks something like this:
  • 0-1 lb: $7
  • 1-2 lb: $10
  • 2-3 lb: $12
  • 3-4.5 lb: $14
  • 4.5-6 lb: $18
  • 6-9 lb: $22
  • 9-13 lb: $26
  • 13-38 lb: $30
  • 38-49 lb: $35
  • 49-76 lb: $60
And then it continues to go up by $30 for every 38 lb, because we gotta ship each box of Frosthaven/Gloomhaven separately.

So if we add the weights of each of your items and find the shipping price for each wave individually, we see:
  1. Frosthaven Playsurface Book (6 lb) = $18
  2. Buttons & Bugs (1 lb) = $7
  3. Gloomhaven: Second Edition (31 lb) and Gloomhaven Solo Scenarios (1 lb) = $30
  4. RPG Deluxe Box (12 lb) = $26 (this is actually $20 because we use a slightly different shipping chart for wave 4)
Which gives a total of $75.

Now of course we use different tables for different parts of the world, but in each case, we have done our best to find a reasonable price for you. I hope this example sheds some light on how the shipping price is arrived at!

                           

With all that said, let's move on to project updates, starting with Buttons & Bugs! I'm happy to say we've finished playtesting and design development on this one, so we're now just working on finishing up the art, graphic design, and sculpting, which are all coming along nicely. We may end up with a small production delay, however, as our original production schedule was based on using screen-printed dice. Custom molded dice will more consistently capture the attention-to-detail and quality you've come to expect from us. We're working with our production partners to move this forward as quickly as possible while we complete the art and graphic design.

The last thing we want to do is rush all that, and I am pleased to report that the Cephalofair art director, Arch, has taken Buttons & Bugs as a jumping-off point to really dig deep into each ancestry to better define how they are depicted in our games. To that end, we have done some revisions on the Mindthief art:



From Arch: Thank you all for joining us as this next chapter unfolds. With your help we’ve been able to further bring the world of Gloomhaven to life and take a special focus on who lives there, from the iconic mercenaries to the creatures that lurk underfoot. With the help of our collaborators, we have been making new discoveries about the lore of the world that will add wonderful depth to both the written words and the beautiful art that will immerse you in our upcoming titles. We can’t wait to go on these new adventures with you!


Over in Frosthaven land, we are still working through proofs in preparation for starting the second printing. And for the playsurface books, we are finishing up our final round of edits, so I'm really hoping we'll be submitting files to the factory next week.

And on the RPG, I've spent a lot of time over past couple weeks hammering out some design tweaks based on the latest round of playtesting feedback, but we're now doing some internal testing to see what works and what doesn't, so it's still too early to go into detail on that. I can't wait to share more with you once we've got the design fully nailed down!

I think that'll just about do it from me. Have a great weekend, and I'll catch you next time!

Late pledges open
over 2 years ago – Fri, Aug 25, 2023 at 11:47:39 AM

Good day! I'd like to spend some of today's update giving you news on many of our projects, but first, let's touch on the opening of late pledges, which happened on Wednesday.

That's right, with all of the pledge managers deployed to backers, I just wanted to let everyone know that late pledges have officially opened and answer some questions about it. So if your friends, family, co-workers, guild members, mail carriers, etc., were bummed they missed us during the live campaign, now is the best chance to jump in.

Q. First off, what is a late pledge?
A. As with each of our projects, late pledges are a last chance to join in on the excitement of our newly crowdfunded projects if you happened to miss us during the live 30 day campaign.

Q. What is the difference between regular pledges and late pledges?
A. In terms of content, nothing. All addons from the campaign are available. The only notable difference is pricing and timing.

Q. Do late pledge orders still receive discounted pricing?
A. Yes. Though pricing for most addons is closer to MSRP than what it was during the Backerkit campaign, late pledges still receive a discount on their order for backing and helping us fund the creation of awesome new things.

Q. When do late pledge orders arrive?
A. Late pledge orders are fulfilled immediately after backer copies have completed in each fulfillment region, respectively. For more information on project timelines please see graphic at the bottom of the Gloomhaven Grand Festival Backerkit page.

Q. How long will late pledges be available?
A. Late pledges will be available on a similar timeline as the pledge manager, but certain addons will be subject to limited availability based on order volume, logistical needs, or production availability. Cephalofair will provide notice before the store closes fully.

In addition on the administrative side, we discovered a few instances in the pledge manager where certain combinations of items were charging the wrong shipping amount, and this has been fixed as of Tuesday. All completed pledges have been adjusted to fix this issue, and if your pledge hasn't been completed, you may also see a reduction in your shipping total if you recheck your cart.

                                     

With all of that laid out, let's talk projects. For the Frosthaven reprint, the factory is organizing, staging, and acquiring materials now that we've locked in order quantities, and we'll be starting up production soon.

I just got the latest versionof the Frosthaven playsurface books, and they are looking really slick. I think they should be good to send to the factory after one last editing pass (just to triple-check all the page numbers).



Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs continues its triumphant but tiny march toward the finish line. Our playtest team continues to work hard on debugging the game, which is a delicate process, given that there are some types of bugs that really ought to remain, per the game’s title. Our creative team is bringing the world of Gloomhaven to life in a way we haven’t seen before, crafting a dreamlike and luminous world where bright faces and unexpectedly endearing dangers await. Our shrunken heroes will find themselves steeped in some truly mischievous magic that has transformed themselves as well as the world around them.

And we're also plugging away on the RPG. We received a whole host of valuable feedback from playtesters over the last few month while we were busy with the campaign, and I've been using it all to craft a new iteration of the rule set that really focuses in on the fun for both players and the GM. We still have a lot of work to do on the RPG development, so you'll be hearing a lot more about this in the coming weeks and months.

For now, though, I think that'll do it. If you're headed to PAX West next week, be sure to stop by our booth (TT51) to check out the RPG, Gloomhaven: Second Edition, and Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs. And if you'd like to help us work the booth, we are still looking to fill some afternoon shifts, and you can sign up here. Until next time!

Pledge Manager Surveys Are LIVE!
over 2 years ago – Wed, Aug 16, 2023 at 04:32:48 PM

Hello Backers!

Price here - and I’m pleased to officially let you know that by now 100% of backer surveys have been deployed and should have found their way to inboxes - so please make sure you’ve checked your inbox, spam, and/or junk folders for access to your post-campaign cart.


-PLEDGE MANAGER REMINDERS-


Just as a reminder, this first wave Pledge Manager will be open through September 15th, 2023 at which point guaranteed backer orders for Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs, and Frosthaven (2nd Printing) will be locked down for production & freight purposes.

The Pledge Manager will then reopen (est. 1-2 weeks later) for additional opportunities to back addons from the following product lines:
  • Gloomhaven: Second Edition
  • Gloomhaven RPG
  • Miniatures of Gloomhaven


-LATE PLEDGE MANAGER & RETAIL PLEDGE MANAGER-


Late Pledges
With the size, scope, and complexity of this project we are launching the late pledge manager in the next few days as things settle with backer surveys fully deployed. 

Retail Pledge Manager
Thank you to all our retailers who showed the project support! The retailer pledge manager will be launching next week for all retail partners. Note: Retail backers will have extended opportunity to place orders over the coming month(s) which will be communicated in your survey. The September 15h Survey Deadline is for consumer backers only. 

- A NEW ADDON HAS APPEARED - 


Per overwhelming request, the GLOOMHAVEN (1st Edition): ENVELOPE X REWARD has been added to the Frosthaven Fulfillment Wave 1 category! We have heard that many of our international fans and community members wanted easier access to this optional upgrade after missing it on our last campaign - so we've made it available here again!

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS AN UPGRADE FOR GLOOMHAVEN (1ST EDITION) & IS  NOT RECOMMENDED FOR GLOOMHAVEN (2ND EDITION) BACKERS.




- PLEDGE MANAGER FAQ's -


We wanted to provide a few quick updates and answers to some recurring questions we’re seeing that hopefully alleviate some of your questions:

  • What is the Pledge Manager?
    • The Backerkit Pledge Manager is where your order can be reviewed, modified, and finalized by paying for shipping & taxes. When you log into your Backerkit Pledge Manager you will see your funds in the form of an order credit, and the pledges/addons you selected prefilled in your cart.

  • What will be charged on my order during the first wave of the Pledge Manager?
    • All pledges & addons will be charged, alongside any/all displayed shipping & taxes fees calculated in your cart. 
    • If you wish to wait to make purchase on Wave 2 - Wave 5 addons, those can be purchased when the Pledge Manager reopens later this year. 

  • My addon is locked to cart, how can I change it?
    • Addons added to your order DURING the Backerkit campaign arrive to cart/pledge manager “locked” - but we understand the desire/need to change this yourself.
    • Backerkit is working on this for us and should be able to allow this self-service modification in the coming couple of days. 

  • I only added the “_______” addon to my cart, but my shipping increased more than I anticipated - what gives?
    • FROSTHAVEN WAVE 1: A specific order combination error was identified and is being fixed to lower the cost on some lighter weight orders and should be fixed within the next ~24 hours. 
    • IN GENERAL: Because this is a multi-wave project - any addons you add from wave’s in which you are not already receiving product will result in an additional shipment with a higher initial cost. (I.e. Gloomhaven 2E Pledge w/ Frosthaven Play Surface Book Addon)
    • Each fulfillment wave, however, is weight based so if you are already receiving product from a specific wave adding additional addons from that wave should have much less impact on total cost. 

  • Shipping seems oddly too high, why is this?
    • In the event you pledged for $1, or find yourself ordering product before entering in your address & country, Backerkit defaults to the larger shipping profile by default. We have attempted to make a change that should trigger your address request first (even at non-physical pledge levels) which should alleviate the sticker shock of “rest of the world” pricing appearing as the default.
    • Some regions (Australia, NZ, Rest of the World) genuinely are just more expensive for Cephalofair Games to ship larger/heavier products to so we’ve done our best to list as close to true cost, but in most cases are being subsidized by Cephalofair to some degree to make it as approachable as possible for our community without jeopardizing our ability to fulfill.  
    • If your region or order still looks vastly out of place - please don’t be afraid to ask in the comments or message us at [email protected] and we’ll be happy to validate your shipping is correct. 



- THAT’S IT FOR NOW! -


We’ll be continuing to monitor and engage with community questions and comments - we thank you very much for your patience and understanding as we triage our support inbox and community forums and get answers to your questions as quickly as possible! Have a great week everyone!

In the meantime...

What are you playing this week??? Personally - In between Frosthaven I may, or may not, have more characters built than time to play in Baldur's Gate 3 and don't personally care that I've basically only played the intro 5 times already. Gazlock, my Half-Orc Druid, is talking to all the animals and looting all the silverwares and won't stop until he has - even if it takes me the next 3 years to do it. As a huge Divinity II fan already - Larian Studios overdelivered and man am I having fun! My family also JUST started playing Animal Adventures by Steamforged Games and have been having an absolute blast with this being my kids' first RPG experience (my kids are 7 & 8). Armed cat & dog miniatures go a long way too, not going to lie! The excitement when my 7 year old rolled his first nat 20 against a Goblin 'Napper was infectious, and they've been pretty much asking to play nightly since. As a dad, I really can't recommend the Animal Adventure Stater Box Set enough - such a fun introduction to pen and paper RPGs!




Pledge manager opening
over 2 years ago – Fri, Aug 11, 2023 at 04:59:07 PM

Good day! It's been two weeks, so it's time for another Grand Festival update! We just got back from Gen Con earlier this week, where we had a very busy and productive time. Some fun was had, of course, and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting everyone who came out to the booth to demo our games, show off their art or other creative works, or just tell us how much they enjoy Gloomhaven. It is always rejuvenating to meet fans face-to-face.


Now that the big conventions are behind us for a while, we are back to work getting things ready for the first wave of fulfillment. The most immediate part of that is opening the pledge manager.

At this point, the Gloomhaven Grand Festival pledge manager has been built, and is being double/triple tested today for our official "smoke test" to start on Monday. A smoke test is sending out the pledge manager survey to a random selection of 5% of the project backers, which allows us to catch any launch issues should they arise ahead of launching the full data set across all ~35k backers.

While we'd intended to launch the smoke test this week, returning from Gen Con proved a bit more work than anticipated and we'd prefer to have Backerkit staff on hand, given the size of this project, so are refraining from a Friday/Weekend launch. Instead, our smoke test will fly early Monday, and then the full pledge manager will launch Tuesday (though note that this will also occur in batches and may take a day or so to get out to everyone, given the large number of backers).

Just so it's clear how the pledge manager will operate, Price has the following Important Notes for you:

The fulfillment will happen over 5 Waves:
  • Wave 1 - Frosthaven
  • Wave 2 - Buttons & Bugs
  • Wave 3 - Gloomhaven (2nd)
  • Wave 4 - Gloomhaven RPG
  • Wave 5 - Miniatures

Pledge Manager Close/Open
When a given fulfillment wave begins ocean freight, we will charge all outstanding orders and cut off new orders to that product wave.  Once those are closed off, the pledge manager will reopen for all later product waves, should you wish to add or modify your order.

If your pledge for products from a specific wave is not confirmed when that wave closes, or multiple attempts to charge payment fail, you may lose the discounted pledge pricing and guarantee that the product will still be available, and any partial funds you still have in the pledge manager will persist as credit for future waves.

Late Pledges & Preorders
Late pledges will be made available through the Backerkit preorder store for those who missed the Gloomhaven Grand Festival. While pricing will still be slightly reduced from MSRP for preorders, the reduction won't be as significant as it was during the Backerkit campaign.

Late pledges will open once all backer surveys have been deployed, and late pledges will be fulfilled after normal fulfillment has completed in each region.

Shipping & Taxes
Shipping is automatically calculated separately for each fulfillment wave based on total weight, then combined across all fulfillment waves to arrive at your full shipping charge. All outstanding shipping and taxes will be charged for all items in your cart at the time any product wave goes into fulfillment.

If you want to wait to pay shipping and taxes, you can wait to confirm your order until the wave you want is up for fulfillment, but please make sure to confirm your order before that product's fulfillment window closes by keeping up with project updates and timelines!

There is no option for combined single wave shipping, and no option for split shipping. Address changes can be submitted via Backerkit between fulfillment waves.

                             

We've also made lots of progress on getting the printings underway for the first wave: Frosthaven second printing, the Frosthaven playsurface books, and other Frosthaven add-ons.

First, I am pleased to say that all typo edits for the second printing of Frosthaven have been made to the files and they are now ready to be submitted for digital proofing with the factory. This means that the next step is the factory will layout the files in the format they will be printed, and we will have one more chance to look over those digital layouts before we start the printing process.

For the Frosthaven playsurface books, everything is coming together with the full layout of these books, including covers and indices and all that. We're still going through rounds of edits and are whittling down the errors slowly but surely (there are A LOT of page numbers to cross-reference). Once the editing is complete, we will also go through digital proofing for these.

And lastly, I also wanted to give you a small update on Buttons & Bugs progress, which is wave 2, and more significant updates will come soon. Artist Mofei Wang has begun to bring our mercenaries into the miniaturized world of Buttons & Bugs. The Vermling Mindthief has been transformed into something a little more friend-shaped, showing off a brighter coloration and warm environmental lighting - but watch out! Those teeth may be tiny, but they are still sharp!



And that is all for this week! Look out for the pledge manager launch on Tuesday, and I'll catch you again in two weeks!