Mappa Mundi - An Exploration + Ecology RPG

Update 12 - Printing Continues + Fulfilment Planning
over 1 year ago – Tue, Apr 15, 2025 at 05:30:34 AM

Hello, Chroniclers! Time for a new update as we hit the middle of April. It has now been just over two weeks since we opened up our Backerkit Pledge Manager and I'm really happy to say things are going really well across the board. 

In this update, I'll follow our usual format of Printing and Production, Fulfilment, Additional Materials, and any News and Reveals. So, let's get into it!

Printing and Production

It has been a busy few weeks on the printing and production side of things. I'm happy to say that printing is exactly on schedule, and I have some videos and images to share with you below.

Current status of the production is that the books have all been printed and will finish being bound this week. The journey deck cards are also all printed and have started the lamination process before being fully collated. We're starting printing on the boxes this week, and once that is all complete, the final product will be assembled and we'll be ready for freight to the UK and the US to begin!

Have you ever seen 3000 book covers stacked up before? You haven't? Well, you'll want to take a look at this video. And ASMR fans -- you're in for a treat!

Printing and Production Status: On Target

Fulfilment

Our Backerkit Pledge Manager and Preorder Store has been open for just over two weeks now and the response has been great!

We're currently sat at 87% of surveys having been completed, with 1665 of you having filled them in. Thank you! That leaves us with 13% of surveys left to complete, so if you're one of the 235 people who haven't completed your survey yet, please consider doing so!

Over the last few weeks, I've been working closely with our two fulfilment partners (one here in the UK and one in the US) to get our shipping rates resolved. Once I've got definite answers, I'll be locking the pledge manager and charging cards for shipping. I'll give plenty of warning for this, and it will likely happen shortly after our next fortnightly update.

What does this mean for you? It means that if you want to upgrade your pledge -- whether that's adding a physical copy of the game to your pledge or adding some of our beautiful prints -- now is the time to do so.

A Note on Tariffs: For our US backers, tariffs have obviously been a topic of huge discussion over recent weeks. I just want to make clear that our plans haven't been disrupted by this, despite those of a LOT of our industry friends and colleagues being affected. We'll be fulfilling orders to the US as usual and at no extra expense.

Fulfilment Status: On Target

Additional Materials - PDF Copy, Chronicles of the Wilds, Volume 1, and the Solo Supplement

Our additional materials are coming on great! Chronicles of the WIlds is now 75% written, edited, and laid out, and Joel is hard at work on some new illustrations to help bring the four adventures to life. Just one remains to be written -- Into the Rift -- and Jeremy is making great pace through it.

Playtesting finished on the Solo Supplement and I'm happy to say that the layout is 95% complete. We're working with our excellent graphic designer, Alderdoodle, to produce a new character sheet -- the Team Sheet -- to help you run your solo adventures. More on that next update!

Additional Materials Status: On Target

News and Reveals

There's no major news items in this update. Just to let you know that we've been in touch with the Save Elephant Foundation regularly and hope to be making our donation asap.

Signing Off

Thanks so much for reading through update 12! As always, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them in the comments below. And if you can, we'd appreciate you sharing the Mappa Mundi preorder store link with your friends and communities. If they order by the end of April, we'll guarantee their copy arriving during the first wave!

Until next time, Chroniclers, stay safe and be excellent to each other!

George
Mappa Mundi creator and designer

Update 11 - Mappa Mundi Preorder Store Now Open!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Apr 01, 2025 at 05:45:06 AM

Hello, Chroniclers! I'm back with an update a little earlier than expected, but this is just a quick one, so I'm sure you'll forgive me.

Mappa Mundi Preorder Store Now Open!

As our pledge manager is now up and running, I'm happy to say that we also have our Preorder Store open. 

If you didn't get a chance to back Mappa Mundi during the Kickstarter campaign, now is the perfect time to order it to have it arrive along with the first wave of orders.

You can find the store by clicking this link: Mappa Mundi Preorder Store

Anyone preordering the game during April will be guaranteed to receive their copy during the first fulfilment wave, so don't miss out!

Other News

I don't have any other updates for you just yet, beyond the fact that everything is continuing on schedule, which is always good to know. I'll be back with my regular update next Tuesday, and then we should fall into a happy two-week update schedule from there.

Just one other thing. For those of you looking for a great new project to back, I'd suggest our friends over at Stillfleet Studios, who are in their last few days crowdfunding over on Backerkit for their project Into the Nostalgitron -- a Saturday morning cartoons themed introduction to Stillfleet. If was Backer number 1, and you can back it here: 

And last but not least, for all you horror aficionados out there, I'd suggest going and looking at (and then promptly backing!) GAST: Horror Zine Collection. This is ably steered by the team at Hatched Games, all of whom we know well, and is spearheaded by Kat Southern, who has also written one of the four adventures for Mappa Mundi's 'Chronicles of the Wilds.'

I was Backer Number 4 on this one, and you should definitely check it out! 

Update 9.5 - Backerkit Surveys Now Sent + Production Sneak Peak
over 1 year ago – Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 05:51:04 AM

Hello, Chroniclers!

Just a quick half update to day to say that the smoke test has concluded, we're gathering the data we need, and that Backerkit pledge manager surveys are now live!

Every backer will have received an email to the account associated with your Kickstarter account so make sure to check there (including in junk/spam or promotions folders) and follow the instructions.

Don't forget, you can upgrade your pledge during the pledge manager phase, as well as adding any additional items to your pledge. So if you're looking to upgrade, now is the time to do so! 

Production Sneak Peak

Just as a little additional insight into the production process, I wanted to share these photos of the first production samples coming off the presses!

Until the next update!

George
Mappa Mundi creator and designer

Update 9 - Backerkit Pledge Manager Smoke Test + General Updates
over 1 year ago – Tue, Mar 25, 2025 at 06:25:50 AM

Hello, Chroniclers! George, here, with another Mappa Mundi - An Exploration + Ecology RPG update! 

This update is going to follow the structure of the last update, covering Printing and Production, Fulfilment, Additional Materials, and any News and Reveals we have to share with you, but the most important part of this update is progress on our Backerkit Pledge Manager situation. This is important, so please read carefully!

Pledge Manager Ready To Go - Smoke Test starts today

For us to get your games and any add ons to you quickly and efficiently, we need to make use of a pledge manager. 

For those of you unfamiliar with crowdfunding, a pledge manager is a tool that allows us to collect your address/shipping information, allows you to enter your payment details ready for when we charge shipping -- note: this won't be done immediately, but will be charged just before we start shipping to ensure we get you the best prices possible -- and allow you to add any additional items to your pledge or to upgrade your current pledge to a higher one (digital to physical, for example).

Our Backerkit pledge manager is now set up and ready to go! Today I'll be sending out a Smoke Test -- this goes to 5% of campaign backers and just helps us check that everything is correct before releasing it to everyone else. If you get an email from Backerkit asking you to complete your survey, please do so as promptly as possible. Once your surveys are complete, we can then release the surveys to everyone else!

As we're working on a tight turnaround to get Mappa Mundi delivered to you, we ask you all to complete your surveys as quickly as you can. We'll be leaving the pledge manager open until mid-May before we close it to preorders, and everyone who completes their information by that time will get their games fulfilled in the first wave, so don't miss out!

Printing and Production

All files have now been approved and printing has started!

Our printing partners, MegaPrint, have started printing the books and cards, and once we're fully underway with those will then move onto the boxes to package both book and cards into.

There's not much more to say about this for now, but I will keep you updated every two weeks!

Production status: On Target

Fulfillment

With the Backerkit Pledge Manager starting smoke testing today, we're planning to have surveys open to all backers by the end of this week. We're aiming for Friday, but it might be Sunday/Monday.

Given the update above on Backerkit, there isn't much to say here either. Only to say, once again, that getting your surveys completed promptly is always a good idea!

Don't forget: you can upgrade your pledge during the pledge management phase and add one or more of our beautiful art prints to your order!

Fulfillment Status: On Target

Additional Materials - PDF Copy, Chronicles of the Wilds, Volume 1, and the Solo Supplement

We have now finalised our layout for Chronicles of the Wilds, Volume 1 and completed the edit and rewrite of Root and Branch, one of the four adventures included in the PDF! We've also completed all our suggestions for our one external writer and are working with her to get her adventure, HIs Smile, As Sharp As Briar's Edge, completed and layout finalised.

Work proceeds on the final two adventures, with Jeremy hard at work getting them written and finalised. And Joel is working on new artwork for all four adventures, and you won't want to miss the final pieces.

Finally, the Solo Supplement has finished playtesting and I'm busy incorporating the final suggestions from our team of playtesters. We're going to be releasing a Solo Supplement specific character sheet (the Team Sheet) to help solo players guide their crew of Chroniclers through the Wilds, and I'm hoping to be able to share that with you soon.

Additional Materials Status: On Target

News and Reveals

In campaign news, our Kickstarter funds have now been released and we're in the process of spending that money and sending it where it needs to go. For our social impact stretch goals, we're donating £2,500 to the Save Elephant Foundation, and we're in touch about how to best get that money to them. I hope to have more updates on this for you in two weeks time.

Conventions are one of our most favourite things to do, and I'm happy to say that Three Sails Studios will be at at least three conventions this year!

Beginning with UK Games Expo at the end of May, where we'll be revealing our brand new game and running sessions of Mappa Mundi for three solid days, we then move on to EssenSpiel in October, spending four days in beautiful Germany, and then ending the year with Dragonmeet in London, at their new venue in East London.

We're hoping to add at least one more convention to our list for this year, and I'll share more as and when I can!

Signing Off

With the pledge manager now starting, you can expect to receive updates from me every two weeks, on a Tuesday afternoon. In line with the above, I'll keep you up to date on everything to do with printing and production, fulfillment, and our additional materials, in addition to any news and new reveals.

Thanks so much for reading, everyone! Don't forget, when those Backerkit surveys come through, get them completed nice and early so we can ensure you get your copy of Mappa Mundi as quickly as possible!

Until next time, Chroniclers,

George
Mappa Mundi creator and designer

Update 8 - Production Begins!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Mar 11, 2025 at 05:58:12 AM

Hello, Chroniclers, and welcome to the first proper post-campaign update! It has been a week, now, since the campaign for Mappa Mundi - An Exploration + Ecology RPG finished, and what a week it has been.

This is the first of our regular post-campaign updates on the project. In these updates, I'll share with you our progress towards fulfillment, keep you up to date on how printing and production is going, make you aware of any significant milestones that we're approaching or have achieved, and also share some additional materials from the final game with you.

I'm sure that I'll settle into a nice and familiar structure with these updates, but for now I'm just seeing what feels right. So let's get down to it.

Printing and Production

I am happy to report that not only have all the files (book, box, and cards) been sent to our printing partner and that 95% have been approved already! 

Our printers, MegaPrint, based in Istanbul, Turkey, have been incredible throughout this process and have continued their support as we start the printing process. All book files (end pages, internal pages, and covers) have been approved and pre-print work continues. This is the same with the box.

This morning we've been finalising the files for the cards. All that needs changing is some bleed margins and we'll be all approved there, too. (See below for some card reveals -- you haven't seen any of our Monster cards yet!)

We have set a tight but achieveable deadline for the printing and I'm happy to report that we're on track to hit that deadline. I'll have more information for you in my next update.

Production Status: On Target

Fulfillment

As you know, we have set an ambitious deadline to have Mappa Mundi printed, fulfilled, and in your hands. Our current aim is to have the game in your hands by June 2025.

At the moment, as printing is on schedule, this target definitely looks achievable. Of course, we have the vagaries and complexities of international shipping to consider, but at the time of writing, our target definitely seems achievable.

The next big step is to start the Pledge Management stage. We are using Backerkit as our pledge manager and I have been hard at work this last week getting everything sorted for it.

Backerkit advise waiting until Kickstarter funds have been released to us before launching the pledge manager and so we're following this advice. I plan to have everything sorted for the pledge manager this week so that we'll be ready to go live as soon as Kickstarter have released the campaign funds.

For those who haven't used a pledge manager before: this process allows us to collect your address information, allows you to upgrade or add items to your pledge, and -- finally, and most importantly -- allows us to charge for shipping and any relevant taxes just before we start sending out your orders. I'll provide more information on this when we launch the pledge manager, but I encourage all of you to ensure that your address information is added and up to date as soon as possible, as we're looking at a relatively short pledge manager period.

I'll have more information for you all in an update next week, but for now, we're looking good.

Fulfillment Status: On Target

Additional Materials - PDF copy, Chronicles of the Wilds + Solo Supplement

While Mappa Mundi is being printed, we are still hard at work getting our free backer rewards -- Chronicles of the Wilds, Volume 1 and the Solo Supplement -- ready for you all.

Of course, as we've gone to print, the PDF copy of Mappa Mundi is ready to go. However, we've taken the decision to release the PDF copy of the game alongside the additional digital materials all at the same time. Our aim is to have all digital materials to backers in early May 2025.

This last weekend, we conducted our layout testing for Chronicles of the Wilds, Volume 1 and I'm happy to say that its in a really good place. I'm currently digesting the feedback from Jeremy and will be spending this week getting the layout design fixed in place. 

Jeremy has finished the revised edition of Root and Branch, which some of you will have already played or read. Kat Southern, otherwise known as the Lore Mistress, has delivered her manuscript for His Smile, as Sharp as Briar's Edge, a dark adventure taking place in Domolov's Koenigswald, and I'm going to be editing it to fit our layout as soon as we've settled on a final version. Meanwhile, Jeremy is working on the remaining two adventures and I'll keep you updated on those as they develop.

Playtesting has finished on the Solo Supplement and I'll be beginning the layout process for that later on this month!

Additional Materials Status: On Target

News and Reveals

2025 is going to be an incredibly busy year for Three Sails Studios. Not only have we successfully funded Mappa Mundi and will be focused on supporting it throughout the year to come, we're also attending a number of conventions and -- at one of them -- revealing our brand new game!

While I can't share any more information on the new game yet, we're all very excited to reveal it and share it with you. While different to Mappa Mundi in tone, it shares the same DNA of hope, of everyday people standing up to change the world, and even develops the Shaping mechanic in very interesting ways.

But I know you all want to hear and see more about Mappa Mundi, and I won't deny you that!

During the campaign, you will likely have seen a number of Journey Deck reveals. All of these were our landscape based cards (of which there are 37 in the final product). But what you didn't see were any of our Monster cards. These were the final pieces of artwork that Joel was working on during the campaign and I am really happy to say that 1) they are excellent and 2) to reveal some to you today!

These are just six of the THIRTY Monster cards you'll be receiving in the final box and they are beautiful complements to the landscape cards.

Signing Off

Well, that's it from me for this week's update! I don't have fixed days I'll be releasing the updates just yet -- not until we've started the pledge manager process -- but once we have, I'll set a fixed day of the week and a regular schedule to keep you updated.

Until then, thank you for reading, thank you for backing, and don't forget to share the campaign with your friends as late pledges are still open!

Until next time, Chroniclers,

George
Mappa Mundi creator and designer