The ultimate game master's guide for roleplaying dark cults, factions, and their leaders. For any fantasy roleplaying game.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Remarkable Cults Development Update
almost 3 years ago
– Fri, Jul 16, 2021 at 12:49:51 AM
Hello, dear Remarkable backers!
I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe.
Development on Remarkable Cults is going very well and things are right on track. It's amazing to see everything coming together and we can't wait to show off more of the product very soon.
We've put together a little video update for you which gives more behind the scenes insights. With the next update we are going to share progress on the layout phase of the book. Prepare to get spoiled big time :)
Writing nearing completion
The writers are almost finished putting together a complete version of the book. Certain parts have already gone of to our editors and proofreaders, which is a big milestone. We are taking into account an additional month of additional writing and polishing, to really squeeze out maximum creativity and content.
Artwork almost complete
Our team of artists has completed almost all of the illustrations, color artworks, and maps. The artwork for this book is on another level than anything we have done before, and we can't wait to start showing off some of that with the next updates!
Layout phase starting
With writing and artwork in place, we are starting the book layout phase next week. This means that things actually start to look like a real book, and we will have much more to show to you. We are going at a great pace and everyone is really enjoying themselves with this book. Keeping you posted!
That's it for this update! If you like to chime in, please join our Discord where we hang out every day!
That's it for now, but we are back with more progress very soon!
Chris van der Linden
Development Update & Brainstorm
almost 3 years ago
– Wed, Jun 23, 2021 at 02:43:15 AM
Hello, dear Remarkable backers!
We're back with another development update. I hope everyone is doing fine, what is keeping you busy?
Writing, Editing & Artwork
The book has been in development now since late last year and it is coming together very nicely. Large parts of the book have finished writing as a first version, a second version. Some parts are undergoing minor to extensive re-writes, which is quite normal after our internal reviews with the department heads and creative talent. Revisions range from expanding sections, rewriting things for clarity or amped-up creativity levels, and so on. Many parts and sometimes entire chapters are now nearing completion, after which they are sent to the next development stage: editing and proofreading.
Artwork is also going great, and a team of 4 artists has been working for months to provide you with stunning maps, illustrations, color paintings, and more. It is very exciting to see all of this come together. Check out the video to spot a few of those artworks.
Development ETA
The planned release schedule for Remarkable Cults & Their Followers at the start of the Kickstarter campaign was as follows:
Digital Fulfillment: December 2021
Physical Fulfillment: February 2022
Development is going well and we are on track with the above schedule. The digital PDF version of Remarkable Cults may actually be done earlier than our December milestone, which would be great. This means there is a chance we can provide the digital files to backers earlier, certainly a preview version that can serve as a final proofread by backers. Physical fulfillment is still planned for next year, as we anticipate manufacturing and transportation of the products to take longer than normal due to Covid. We will keep everyone posted as we have more information.
Aurele from the Scarlet Fleet (art: Jens Kuczwara)
Help Brainstorm "Cult Signs & Symbols"
We are looking for thoughts on the chapter for the Remarkable Cults book that is about Signs & Symbols. We have a first version written, but are open to ideas from backers to see if we can squeeze in just a little more. What are things you like to see in a chapter that tells about Signs, Symbols, and Hidden Languages that are used by Cults? Some questions to get your gears going:
What kind of format would you like this chapter to take?
What parts of ‘cult signs & symbols’ are you most interested in exploring, ie logos and symbols for cults, secret languages, codes, sigils, etc.?
We have a survey out that you can participate in to help brainstorm the content for our nextbook called Remarkable Guilds. If you have not done so, take a moment to give us your thoughts!
WHEW! What an update. We will be back soon with more!
Talk soon,
Chris van der Linden
Remarkable Guilds Brainstorm Survey
almost 3 years ago
– Sat, Jun 19, 2021 at 10:01:24 PM
Dear Remarkable backers!
We are back with a new update (and yes we will have Cults dev progress soon as well), yet this time it is about our next book: Remarkable Guilds.
4th 'Remarkable' Book Kickstarts 2022
Remarkable Guilds will be the 4th book in our best-selling GM sourcebook series, and it will focus on heroic guilds and valiant factions. It will Kickstart Q1 2022, and pre-production starts soon. As you may know, due to the delays of our Wondrous Expeditions Forest book, we decided not to do our typical 2nd Kickstarter this year, to allow for more focus and finish both Cults and Wondrous entirely. This does mean our company misses out on over a third of this years gross revenue, making 2021 a very challenging year. It was a bitter pill, but we feel this was the right decision to make, with both our backers' interest in mind as well as not to burden our team further. So we are now gearing up for a new chapter to start in 2022.
Enter The Guilds
The new Guilds book will share certain similarities with our Cults book, as they have been designed to be companion books. Where Cults deals with sinister factions and nefarious villains, Guilds brings you noble guilds and valiant heroes that fight for the light. The new Guilds book will provide ten exciting factions to introduce to your campaign world, complete with their own unique location, leader, NPCs, special quests, items, and more. In addition, there will be the staple chapters including how to bring your guilds to life with new roleplaying concepts, a dedicated random table chapter to roll your own guild complete with buildings and characters, a chapter on having your players form and operate a guild, and much much more.
Pitch your ideas - Take the Guilds survey
You know Loresmyth loves making fans, customers and backers a part of the creative process. You are dungeon masters and players with eons of experience combined, so it would be crazy not to tap into it!
We've put together a survey that allows you to say what you think should absolutely be in the ultimate guide about Remarkable Guilds. Follow the link below to participate. The submission closes July 1st.
That's it for today. Who is hyped? Love to hear your thoughts!
Chris VDL, Christopher 'Mono' Mahon
Development Update - Skeleton Cup stock increased
almost 3 years ago
– Sun, Jun 06, 2021 at 02:52:47 PM
Hello, dear Remarkable backers.
How is everyone doing? Summer is starting here and temperatures are on the rise. With fewer covid restrictions, things are starting to look a bit more positive.
Cults Development Update
Talking about the positive, the development of Remarkable Cults is going strong, and large parts of the book are now written as a first pass. We are in the process of reviewing the materials internally, after which they get a second pass. When the writing takes a more final shape, we usually start on a rough layout pass as well. This is the moment when the plain text files start to actually look like a book. We will keep you posted on our progress.
Our writing progress tracker
Percentage Tracker - The percentage shown in our progress tracker above gives a good indication. Although it may seem on the low side, this number will start to go up very quickly now, as chapters move through their second pass, and eventually get reviewed/approved by me (Chris VDL, the product director). Sometimes we use a third writing pass if after the second pass we still feel it needs work, or when backer reviewing results in change requests. Also, the Writing Approved column at the end dampens the percentages, while it does not actually take work, but it is in there to force us to really have a safety lock to really know when something is finished and turned over to our editors.
Evil is a Point of View - We are having a lot of fun trying to find our way with how outright dark or nuanced this book should be. The pre-made Cults range from clearly villainous to morally gray areas, where at a glance things look benevolent. We certainly do not want to make a book where every bad guy comes walking in with spiky shoulder pads and Kiss- facepaint. We hope you are going to like our creative direction. It's a little scary, but we just don't want to do too many cliches.
A work in progress...
More Skeleton Cups
We've managed to increase the stock level of the popular Skeleton Cup add-on. You can now order a maximum of 5 per backer, while stock lasts. After this we can not manufacture more, because the freight cost is killing us :-) You can update your pledge in Backerkit to taste.
Come Join Our Discord
We have a growing club of bonafide nerds on Discord and we would love for you to join as well! Come say hello and talk about D&D and other cool stuff.
That's it for today's update. Talk again soon!
Chris van der Linden
Development Update & Art Preview
almost 3 years ago
– Sat, May 22, 2021 at 01:09:30 AM
Hello, dear Remarkable backers!
We launched the backerkit pledge manager surveys earlier this week and many of you have already responded, which is fantastic to see. The pledge manager doesn't close until later this year, so you still have plenty of time to sort out cards, choose add-ons and update your address.
Heroic Challenges Expansion deck price correction
We had mistakenly listed the Heroic Challenges expansion deck add-ons at 25,- euro, but this should be 15,- euro so we corrected it. If you have this item as part of your pledge or add-on, please have a look if it is correctly adjusted now.
SupportQuestions: If you have any questions regarding Backerkit, your pledge, and so on, please let us know at [email protected]. Need the direct link to your survey? The pledge manager link for Remarkable Cults is: https://remarkablecults.backerkit.com/
Skeleton Cup Popularity
It seems the illustrious Skeleton Cup item is much more popular than we anticipated. Originally planned at 100 pieces, we are already looking to manufacture about 700 of them, but we are still getting more questions about them. Currently, we have limited the goblet at one per backer, but some told us they like to order multiples for their entire gaming table and to scare their mother-in-law. Please comment below if you like to see the limit of 1-per-backer lifted on this item. Yikes!
Remarkable Cults Development
With all this capitalism talk, one would forget we are actually developing a new Remarkable book. We are seeing strong progress across the board, and without spoiling too much already, below is another sneak preview of a cult that will be featured in the book. With the unlocked stretch-goal funds we have been able to amp up the amount and quality of artwork for this book, compared to our previous releases, and it definitely shows!
Who is this raven-clad mistress with many faces?
The planned release schedule for Remarkable Cults & Their Followers at the start of the Kickstarter campaign was as follows:
Digital Fulfillment: December 2021
Physical Fulfillment: February 2022
Development is going well and we are on track with the above schedule. Certain things such as writing are taking a little bit longer mainly due to us unlock ALL stretch goals, but other aspects such as the artwork production are going a little bit faster. Overall the timelines look good and with our "lessons learned" from the Wondrous Expeditions project, we are confident we can stay on track.
Backerpreviews: In addition to the December milestone, we plan to release PDF previews to backers as early as August, to allow for a "proofreading" pass before going to print. This allows us to catch any errors we or our editor may have missed and it already allows backers to get their hands on the content.
Physical Fulfillment: At this moment our only concern is the physical fulfillment milestone, as we are hearing from fellow companies that due to COVID, manufacturing of books and ocean freight is taking longer than last year. We now calculate a hefty 5-6 month period from the moment the digital files are finished and delivered to the book manufacturer, to when the printed books are actually in stock at our warehouses across the world. This used to be much less, but even after almost two years, the coronavirus still manages to impact companies one way or the other.
Come Join Our Discord
We have a growing club of bonafide nerds on Discord and we would love for you to join as well! Come say hello and talk about D&D and other cool stuff.
