Sacrificial dagger and dire incantations: Whispers of Persephone update!

Athame from Whispers of Persephone
Art by: Christian Martinez
(No actual souls were imprisoned during the creation of this image)

As you have seen from previous entries, Whispers of Persephone is coming to Kickstarter soon.

All art for the book is being painstakingly crafted by Christian Martinez whose art has graced the Tarot Adventures books.

Now, for the news!!!!

The KickStarter campaign for Whispers of Persephone is being pushed back a couple of weeks due to a combination of scheduling difficulties and ongoing fulfillment of The Steel Road.   This should see the KickStarter campaign launching in September with fulfillment scheduled to be concluded in December or sooner.

Scheduling issues: 

Coordinating a launch event, such as the one planned for this campaign, is a bit complicated.  We'll be having guests appearing on the live stream for launch day and I intend for them to have play test copies in hand before that event.  This requires scheduling to account for delivery of copy, as well as the guests' own calendar availability.

The Steel Road

The Steel Road is actually on schedule to fulfill on time this month (August 2018) but it will be a near thing.   I am firmly committed to bringing the best books I can create to the backers who have made them possible.  Those backers come first, before other book launches (Note: Technically you're not supposed to launch another KickStarter campaign until you've fulfilled your previous one.  I'm not certain how some creators have gotten around that, and I'm not interested in doing so myself.)

The athame 

An athame is a ritual dagger.  Whispers of Persephone introduces the athame as a tool for ritual sacrifice, one used by the Stygian Necromancers as an important tool in their ritual work.  The athame is valuable to these characters beyond the damage output scale and are key to the accumulation of power and dread secrets.  I want to thank Christian Martinez for doing such a remarkable job on this and the other illustrations going into the book.

What is Whispers of Persephone?

Glad you asked!

Whispers of Persephone is a source book for the 5th edition game mechanic of the world's most popular tabletop role playing game.  It includes the new arcane tradition: Stygian Necromancy, new spells, poisons, alchemical agents, potions, magic items, rituals/rites, feats, and narrative text complete with fleshed out descriptions of these practitioners of the darkest of arts.  Whispers of Persephone is created to bring the 'DARK' back to the dark arts in your game.

The material within is designed for use by player and non-player characters alike.  Whether used by player characters or used against player characters, Whispers of Persephone brings dread evil to your game table.

Why use KickStarter?

I use KickStarter to fund the costs for art and development of my books. I'm a firm believer in paying my artists fairly for work well done.  Successful KickStarter campaigns allow me to do just that, as well as cover production costs for things like print copy.   Without KickStarter campaigns and the support of backers, I would not be able to produce books that are so heavily laden with all original art.

Who is Christian Martinez?

Christian is a very talented professional artist and graduate of the prestigious Kubert School. Christian has created fantastic art for other RPG books I've released, as well as for an uncounted number of clients. For more information you can access his biography.   He is a remarkable talent and you'll be seeing more great work from him in the months and years to come!


Notes for other writers, game designers and self-publishers  

I've been working at a furious pace, on several projects.  I wouldn't have been able to manage so many tasks if I hadn't taken the time to schedule my work and I would not have been able to adapt to unseen obstacles if I hadn't built in additional time as a buffer in my timelines.  I would like to recommend that in your own project planning you remember to give yourself time to make mistakes as well as for the curve balls life sometimes throws at as us all.

Remember to enjoy what you are doing, write to the best of your ability, check your game designs and have your play testers go over it thoroughly, and don't stop.  You can, and will, create wonders.  Give yourself the time to do so.

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Thank you for joining me once again on my adventure in game design, writing and self-publishing.  I look forward to seeing you next time as I explore my own missteps, discuss my own project development as well as other cool things I see around, and try to leave you with information that will help you avoid mistakes I make along the way.

Thanks again!