Auto generated & summarized transcript (disclaimer: may contain errors/incorrect context)
Good morning everyone! Happy Monday! It's April 6th — hope you all had a fantastic week and weekend. Here's everything that happened last week and what we're working on this week.
A Note on Last Week's Delays
Last week had a bunch of delays, and I want to be upfront about it — nothing was wrong internally. Several people on our team had major things happen in their personal lives, and I was not going to force anyone to come in and work through that. I told them to take the week, take care of themselves, and not worry about the project. If things get delayed, they get delayed. I'm not going to push people when they're going through something.
Some of the assets I needed were also on other people's computers, so there wasn't much I could do on my end either. I've been checking in on everyone through Discord and making sure we're all good. I'll be double-checking on everybody again today.
Show Updates
Tales of Bravos
The group just wrapped up their fifth and final test session!
Based on your feedback, we've had some really good constructive conversations with the group about what people are responding to. They've been incredibly professional, understanding, and receptive — I genuinely feel blessed with this crew.
As mentioned last week, the adventure path they all voted for is Season of Ghosts, and we're going forward with it. Minerva will also be joining as a player, which should be a great fit given how roleplay-heavy the campaign is.
I've been going through the full adventure path, taking notes, and making reference cards so I'm as prepared as possible when we start.
I'm now putting money down with artists and getting things scheduled — Season of Ghosts is officially in the pipeline.
The show will be Patreon exclusive. The first episode will go on YouTube so people know it exists, then we'll direct everyone here. We'll bank up a few episodes first before making that announcement.
A quick brag on the group: Five has been going off to read up on the system on their own. Count has been doing the same. Veg too. Horatio even sat down with me to ask how they can help. The communication has been amazing and I couldn't be happier.
I'll be editing their footage today as well.
WarHams: A Chaos Odyssey (Black Crusade)
Black Crusade is going great! We have a recording session today and I'm getting all the asset editing done this morning to prep for it.
The last episode we recorded was a really good one — everyone was having a blast by the end of it.
Thurston starts his vacation on the 9th, so we will not be recording Black Crusade next week. We'll be back at it on the 15th.
I still need to sit down with EZ to work out a YouTube membership pre-release schedule for Black Crusade — members get it early, then it goes public. That's the experiment I want to run.
Rotgrind
Rotgrind has just been cursed lately — tech issues, real life issues, everything hitting at once. The players want to play and we want to get it done.
Hoping to get a session in this Wednesday. I'll be checking in with Thurston to confirm, and if needed we can shift it to Tuesday.
We want to finish Rotgrind this year. We all love everyone involved, but we're ready to put our creative energy into what's next.
Thurston deserves this vacation — I'm telling him don't even think about us, just go take care of yourself.
Upcoming Schedule
Black Crusade recording — today, April 6th
Rotgrind — hopefully Wednesday April 9th (confirming with Thurston)
No Black Crusade recording week of April 9th (Thurston on vacation)
Rotgrind — April 15th
New Ideas — Live Streaming & Patron Engagement
I've been thinking a lot about how to make live streams more worthwhile and interactive, and I want to share the idea with you all and get your feedback.
The concept: during a live stream, if you're a member or subscriber, you could use a command to speak as an NPC in the game. Your character would appear on screen with a speech bubble, and you'd be able to interact with the players directly. We'd have filters in place, keep character limits tight, and only show messages from people who have been actively chatting — so there's a built-in quality filter. And honestly, if you're funny, we're putting you in a short.
For Patreon folks, I'd also like to tie it in so that if you give us your Twitch or YouTube details, you get flagged for priority or random NPC assignment.
On the access side, the idea is: live stream it so anyone can watch it free during broadcast, then it goes straight to Patreon, and eventually to YouTube members. That way there's a real reason to catch the live stream, while Patreon still gets the full vod whenever they want it.
This will take some time to implement, but I think it could be really fun. Let me know what you think in the comments!
Legendary & Diamond Benefactor Update
I want to make the Legendary Benefactor tier more consistently worthwhile. The custom art and token placement has been great in theory, but in practice the timing gaps have been too long and the placement opportunities aren't always there.
Going forward, Legendary Benefactors will be kept in the end credits on an ongoing basis. As we hit a limit, the oldest entry rotates out to make room for new ones — but you'll always be acknowledged for your generosity. And when we're in a town setting like Season of Ghosts, I'll be placing you in as citizens so you're actually in the world.
If you've filled out the form for your art and haven't heard from us — please just come yell at us on Discord. I only check the form about once a week and sometimes things slip through. That's on me and I'm working on fixing the process.
Other Updates
I finished a YouTube video last week with game master advice aimed at people who are nervous to run their first game. I've been running the script by experienced GMs I know and the feedback has been positive. Looking forward to getting that out.
Mikura has pre-loaded a solid chunk of animations already — the plan is to run three shorts a week with an animation mixed in on a regular cadence. The first animation short should be coming out on YouTube this month.
Good news on the tax front: our tax folks worked some miracles this year and things are looking way lighter than the start of the year. We're actually getting a return, and I'm planning to give everyone on the team a bonus. They've been working incredibly hard and they deserve it.
EZ should be back today — I'll be checking in with him to get the YouTube membership release schedule sorted.
Website updates that didn't go out last week — I'll be checking in with Odo on that today.
Map work for Thurston continues — should be able to knock out the remaining maps without too much trouble.
Thank You
Seriously — your support over the past few months has made a real difference. We were sweating through a good chunk of the start of this year, and things are so much lighter now because of you. Thank you for being here, for your feedback, and for sticking with us.
Take care of yourselves out there. See you next week!
— Zoran & the Narrative Declaration Team