Encyclopedia: Lore Book & Toolbox for your 5E Campaign
Created by Studio Agate
Welcome on the Late Pledge for Encyclopedia! Level-up your 5th Edition campaign with this 360-page tome featuring dozens of ready-to-use cities, locations, NPCs and magic items.
🇬🇧 🇫🇷 This project is available in French and English.
🌟 Choose your à la carte options on this page. Discover the Fateforge series and secure the accessories offered during the Kickstarter campaign, most of which will soon be unavailable.
đź‘‘ Enjoy the Fateforge 5E Tetralogy Collection including all the Stretch Goals from the KS campaign and receive your PDFs as soon as your preorder is processed.
📦 Delivery September 2021 at the same time as all backers. Tracked parcels. Delivery all over the world. US and EU-friendly. Physical rewards will be sent from the USA (USPS) and France (Colissimo for France, DHL for Europe). Backers from these countries will not pay import taxes.
đź’ś Thank you SO MUCH because your support allows our RPG creation studio to exist :)
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Progress on freighting and Schedule for the Extra Shipping Fees
over 2 years ago
– Sat, Oct 09, 2021 at 11:43:14 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Survey Results and Voluntary Contribution to Shipping Fees
over 2 years ago
– Wed, Sep 15, 2021 at 02:48:24 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Mass Production is Complete + Delivery Schedule Update
over 2 years ago
– Wed, Sep 08, 2021 at 01:40:58 AM
[🇫🇷 version française plus bas]
Hello everyone,
Summer is almost over, and now that we finally have the important information we’ve been expecting for months, it’s time for an update! Here are the key informations:
 Manufacturing is complete! All the items are now waiting to be freighted.
The survey we opened in July is now closed. The “Ask backers to help cover extra shipping fees” option was the most popular by far. In this regard, every backer will be able to choose whether they want to chip in or not. There will be no obligation. Those who wish to give more will be able to, and will get a special digital reward as thanks. There will be a dedicated update on the subject, with all the details.
As for the delivery schedule, according to our contacts, delivery will occur between December at the soonest and next spring at the latest. Every day, we do all we can to ensure that you will get your rewards before Christmas.
That covers everything! If you encounter issues or have questions concerning your reward, let us know with a contact form: https://www.studio-agate.com/en/contactÂ
Now, if you want to know more about out current prospects and what is happening behind the scenes, here is food for thought and details on the current situation.
In details
Starting with the good news, manufacturing is FINALLY complete. What a relief. After months of delays, a production schedule that got constantly pushed back, increased costs without warning, issues with the availability of raw material… It’s over. Manufacturing is done. We have received the last samples for mass production and are currently quality-checking them before they are freighted. As a reminder, our books are made in Europe, while major accessories (dice, boxes, pawns, etc.) are made in China. We are now about to enter the last step of the project: transportation.
Sea freight crisis
To our dismay, the difficulties related to maritime freight that we described in the previous updates have gotten worse. The current crisis is almost without comparison. Let’s start with the prices. To give you some numbers, we have a total of five containers to move. Where the freighting of a container used to be around $5,000, the quotes now range from $20,000 to $30,000 per container depending on the destination. Another difficulty lies in the waits and delays before items are on their way. Even with such sums, you may have to wait several weeks, if not more, as there is a sort of bidding system, with those who pay the most getting to go first. To those of you who might legitimately wonder: no, the quotations we were offered gave no guarantees regarding freighting schedules. It’s “Take it or leave it... or pay more.”. And it goes without saying that our structure, despite our best efforts, has its limits.
With that said, we are confident. We promise that we’ll deliver all the rewards you are owed. That’s a commitment we are certain we can make good on. This leads us to the matter of the delivery schedule. At the soonest, we estimate that you might get your rewards in time for Christmas. Why this date in particular? Currently, we are fighting to get your rewards on their way on September 22nd. After that will be Golden Week in China, meaning that the next departure won’t be before late October. So in late September, we’ll know whether Christmas deliveries will be possible or not. Even then, however, we wouldn’t be out of the woods, because docks are currently very crowded, particularly in the US. The situation is less critical in the EU, meaning that as far as European backers are concerned, it’s much more likely that we’ll get everything in time to ensure a delivery before Christmas. Out of principle, we’d like for everyone to be delivered at the same time, but it is possible that we’ll do two delivery waves, with Europe and the rest of the world first, and then the US. But at the moment, we have not reached a decision.
What's next
Why are we confident today? For several reasons. All the people involved in our studio have given their all. Profits accrued by Agate are invested in the studio. The current situation has forced us to put several projects on hold and to put off several planned hires. We dearly hope that those will only be momentary delays. Most of our partners have been accommodating with payments, giving us some breathing room financially. And finally, a good portion of the community has expressed the will to help us cover the extra shipping fees. All of this together lets us hope that we will make it through this new ordeal. Now that manufacturing is complete and freighting is pending, there’s nothing more we can do on the current front. Like you, we must wait. In the end, despite all the pressure, we consider ourselves lucky. We are in good health and the studio endures, side by side with you, our dear community. This gives us ever-renewed courage and determination.
I have read here and there that some backers didn’t want transparency from us, but rather efficacy. This gave me a lot to think about. For many reasons, I don’t like promises. And for that matter, I would rather be pessimistic (those who are familiar with my work on Shadows of Esteren know why) and be pleasantly surprised than the opposite. The only thing I can guarantee is transparency, because you are our backers. Though I obviously don’t know each and every one of you, I am familiar with some names. People I had drinks with at GenCon, and whom I met in England, France, and elsewhere. Without you, we would not exist. That’s what I repeat to myself every day. I hope that you will get your books as soon as possible, and that we still have your trust and support. I don’t know if we have been efficacious. Obviously, we could have done better, but we did all we could, with all our hearts, to create these books and have them delivered to you.
A happy September to all of you. I hope to be able to write the next update very soon, with all the details related to the survey and to how you might be able to help us through this ultimate step.
Production Update: Good News, Bad News + Community Survey
almost 3 years ago
– Sun, Jul 18, 2021 at 11:59:51 PM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Production Update + Pledge Managet Closes Tonight + Credit Card Charged in Two Days
almost 3 years ago
– Sat, Jun 05, 2021 at 04:28:05 AM
[🇫🇷 version française plus bas]
Dear all,
Here we are already in June! The good weather is back and the vaccination campaign is going well here in France... and we have received the first printed samples of the project! Good times ahead :D But before we get into the heart of this production update, here is an important reminder about the Pledge Manager.
Tonight you will receive an email from the Pledge Manager Backerkit asking you if you would like to make a final adjustment to your accountand the options you have chosen. Within 48 hours your account will be set tau "locked" status and your credit cards will be charged (shipping costs and additional options).
If you have any issue or need help, please do not hesitate to write to us. Well, we receive a lot of messages and we are a small team... we try to answer everyone but it may take a little time, so please be patient :) If you don't hear from us after a week, please contact us again.
Production Update
This past month has seen some great steps ahead in production! It may not be the most glamorous part, but when you're indie authors like us, you have to deal with all the production and logistics in addition to creating the books. And that's no mean feat. This month we have had many exchanges with the printer to produce the samples before mass production.
Receiving them is always a very special moment! After years of work, we have in our hands the first concrete results of our work. And we are happy to share this moment with you :)
Not all items are here but here are some pictures of the very first samples:
If we are well oriented on the production level itself for a delivery in September, the challenge will be around the transport as a deep crisis affects the world cargo shipping. We will have more information on this subject in July and August. For now, we are preparing for the launch of mass production.
For the next update, we should be able to post pictures of this mass production.... Exciting times! We will also post images from the book itself, Encyclopedia.