Grimskald UPDATE and Torch & Shield Forged.
Hello everyone!
This post has been percolating for the last couple of weeks, as I figured out how to write it. To cut a long story short this Patreon will be changing.
The chief reason for this, is Mike, (the guy who sculpts the miniatures and does a lot of art) will no longer be working on Grimskald projects in a full time capacity. In fact, Mike is effectively separating from Grimskald. He will be starting up his own entity from which he will be following his own independent pursuits. The Grimskald MMF will transition in kind.
Is this the end of Grimskald? What of the Patreon?
No it isn't. But we have to change things. I can no longer maintain a transactional Patreon. Specifically, one that delivers miniature STL's, but just generally, I can not deliver new stuff on a monthly basis.
I will be converting this Patreon into a more traditional format - the way Patreon's used to be - where if you like what we are doing you can support us financially with a few dollars. The Centurion tier (at least for the time being) will be retired. The other two tiers will be lowered. The Patreon will operate as a kind of newsletter/beta-rules release delivery system. The Legion Gold will remain and as I intend to continue to release game products, you will get a chance to use it and still get Crowdfunding discounts.
If you want to cancel your paid support - I totally get it. In the next days I will alter the Patreon Tiers accordingly and then you can decide what you want to do. The support from Patreon has been huge for us, but I can't promise and then not deliver - so I need to be honest about that.
Does this mean no more official miniatures?
Again, no it doesn't. Mike will still work on Grimskald Projects on a contract basis. I fully intend to develop more Dwarf Clan lines for Torch & Shield for example. The production line for miniatures will slow down though, and in the near term, Mike is taking a break.
There has been no falling out, or bad blood in the team. This is just a change of direction. We have been working on Grimskald for a long time and Mike has other goals to achieve. Mike will still be involved with Torch & Shield - indeed he is working on something Torch & Shield as I write this - it will just be in a more limited capacity.
The good news side of this is there may be the opportunity to work with other creators (I have already had a couple of very talented individuals reach out). With change we see opportunity.
I also want to put more effort into creating physical miniatures. On the same line, I want to create more physical books. Even if they are a digest of Patreon releases, I think in this world of AI and digital slop, real physical goods are very appealing.
Right now, I am juggling fulfilment of the Vaults of Zarn Kickstarter, the setup phases of Drop Corps, and planning to run tests of Demon Core.
So, as I continue to track toward future game releases, I want to encourage creativity from those of you that play our games. As a result I have unveiled the Torch & Shield Forged community license.
Now anyone that wants to make their own supplement or expansion for Torch & Shield can do so. Likewise, anyone that wants to use the skeleton of these rules for their own game project can also do it (similar to what I have done with Demon Core).
My hope is that those that love the game might want to develop their own corner of the world.
You can find out more here: https://www.grimskald.com/torch-shield-forged
I plan to release a similar license for Drop Corps - but this will come out on-release.
Drop Corps is a very good template for many tabletop worlds, and I expect that it will make a very functional community license.
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That is all for now. I intend to increase communication as we press forward. So watch this space.
Dan / Grimskald
https://www.patreon.com/posts/patreon-update-153076875
