Monte Cook's legendary Ptolus campaign setting, updated for Fifth Edition and the Cypher System.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
GM Screen, NPC Deck, Adventures, and More
almost 5 years ago
– Thu, Jul 22, 2021 at 02:59:57 AM
Greetings, delver—
We hope you’ve been enjoying Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City by the Spire! As you know, we have a lot of other stuff in the pipeline for you, so we thought we’d give you an update on how things are coming.
When Ptolus went to press back in March, we were already hard at work on other items you funded. The Ptolus GM Screen, the Ptolus Character Portfolio (in Cypher System and 5e versions), and Ptolus NPC Deck were designed, edited, laid out, and into production by June. The Runeblood Blessing, Ebon Hand, and The Doctrine of Ghul were all well into design by the start of the summer. Here’s an update on where they all stand:
NPC Deck and GM Screen
Have a look at this:
The text side of Ptolus NPC Deck cards.
Each card has an image of the NPC on the reverse, making it easy to show players.
Here's a closeup of the text. You get all the key roleplaying elements—role, description, personality, affiliations, and so on, with a page reference to the stats in the book!
Those are proof sheets for the Ptolus NPC Deck. Our Art Director, Bear, received them from the printer and reviewed and approved them a few weeks ago. The deck has been on press for several weeks and should be done pretty soon.
If these were normal times, we’d expect it to take about five weeks for these items to make it from the overseas manufacturing plant to our warehouses. The pandemic has had a massive effect on international shipping, though, particularly in the past month or so. International freight costs have quadrupled since the spring, and that’s if you can reserve space at all. Analysts expect it to only get worse in the months to come before things (hopefully) return to normal next year.
Will this impact the NPC Deck and GM Screen? The increase in cost is not an issue; we’ll swallow that to keep our commitments to you, of course. But space on ships is scarce. Both products are fairly small and compact; we have to ship only a few pallets, not entire containers, so we’re hoping for good news from our freight broker in the days to come.
Assuming no freight delays, we hope to fulfill these two items in September. But please be forgiving; while we’re working hard to avoid them, there could be delays getting these products to our warehouses and then you.
Character Portfolios
The Ptolus Character Portfolio went to press back in June, too. It’s produced in North America, so we don’t expect any delays in receiving it—once it’s done. That said, it’s already late due to COVID-related manufacturing delays at the printer. It was originally scheduled to fulfill right about now. Instead, our printer won’t be able to complete the print run until mid-August.
(We’ve worked with this vendor on nearly 100 projects over almost ten years, and they’ve been 100% reliable in the past. So when they told us they wouldn’t be able to meet their original schedule, we knew they weren’t just slacking off.)
Assuming our printer maintains their current schedule (which we trust as they’ve proven to be reliable over the years), we should be able to fulfill the Ptolus Character Portfolio, in both the Cypher System and 5e versions, in August.
Ptolus Extras Packets
We have the extras packets in our warehouses, and fulfillment will happen this week!
Adventures
And finally: adventures. The manufacturing and shipping issues we discussed above have no effect on our in-house work. We’ve been designing apace on the big swathe of adventures coming your way. Here’s the scoop on these:
The Runeblood Blessing is fully designed and has just completed the editing phase. It moves into layout in the weeks to come.
The Doctrine of Ghul is likewise designed and just headed into editing.
Ebon Hand is still in design and is nearing completion.
And work is underway on the conversion of The Banewarrens and Night of Dissolution.
These titles remain on track to fulfill over the course of this autumn!
Stealing Stories for the Devilis a fast-paced tabletop roleplaying game by legendary designer Monte Cook, in which you save existence as we know it by bending reality to carry out the perfect heist.
When you play Stealing Stories, you pull off the perfect heist. Unique mechanics and structure ensure players and PCs are competent and cool at every stage of the adventure, and always have a trick up their sleeves. A collaborative scenario-building process means zero GM prep as the group formulates its elaborate plan while creating the adventure scenario at the same time.
Unique mechanical elements such as Mission Cards hand the initiative to the players, turning crisis into opportunity just when it looks like there’s no hope of success. And, as reality-shaping liars, PCs can reshape their situation in literally any way they can conceive of. And lies always succeed. (While success is not in question, the price may be steep.) Throughout gameplay, unprecedented player agency ensures the PCs create and pull off amazing feats, completing their heists against incredible odds and looking great while they do it.
Fresh, Hot Ptolus Rewards!
about 5 years ago
– Sat, May 01, 2021 at 12:52:51 AM
Greetings backers!
We are fulfilling the following rewards from this campaign now:
Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire in PDF for Cypher System and 5e
Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire for Cypher System in print
Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire for Cypher System in print, autographed
Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire for 5e in print
Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire for 5e in print, autographed
You are receiving this message because you are entitled to at least one of these rewards (it's not an indicator that you should receive all of them).
To redeem your reward (or rewards, if you have more than one!), please go to the MCG Shop and log in to your account. From the account page, click Coupons (in the left hand menu) and you will see all of your available redemption coupons (you won't see coupons for any rewards that are still in production).
Click on a coupon to redeem it, or click on the Add All Product Coupons to Cart to redeem all of your coupons. (Some older coupons will redirect you to your cart when you click them. If this happens and you still have additional items to redeem, return to Coupon page to redeem them before completing your checkout.)
Clicking on a coupon adds the product and discount to your cart. You can also add items you wish to purchase to your cart, such as Ptolus dice or a Ptolus vinyl map. Once you've added all the coupons you wish to redeem, and any other items, click on the cart symbol to get to the checkout page to complete your redemption.
Useful information:
Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire for 5e and Cypher System in PDF includes both the 5e and Cypher System versions.
The handouts in PDF are part of the Ptolus Digital Extras. The download link for the digital extras is on page 11 of Ptolus. They aren’t ready yet, but will be very soon.
If you've ordered more than one of an item, you don't need to increase the quantity at checkout; we've bundled the multiples together to make it easier for you.
If you don't remember which rewards and add-ons you should receive and you think the coupons in your MCG Shop account are wrong, please check BackerKit or Kickstarter and then Contact Us.
We guarantee a Kickstarter reward will be available for you to redeem for up to a year beyond its release date.
If you've added any PDFs to your cart, they are available immediately upon checkout.
For print and physical products: Domestic USPS shipping is a flat rate of $7 USD, but you may choose to upgrade to a different service if you wish. International shipping is charged using current shipping rates.
Due to precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, our US warehouse is operating with a small staff, so order processing might take slightly longer than normal. Our international warehouses are also operating with smaller staffs and increased processing time due to the global pandemic.
If you have any difficulty with the reward redemption process, or questions about your rewards, please email [email protected] or use the MCG Contact Us page. We respond to messages Monday - Friday from 8 AM - 4 PM ET, except for holidays. We are a small team and your patience when contacting us is greatly appreciated.
Curious what's coming out next from MCG? Check out our Coming Soon page, where you can browse our upcoming products and their anticipated month of release for general sale (Kickstarter backers get their rewards ahead of release date).
A Player’s Guide to Ptolus Is Fulfilling; Ptolus Itself Is on the Move!
about 5 years ago
– Sun, Apr 25, 2021 at 02:37:07 AM
Greetings, delver—
Last night we began the fulfillment process for your primary rewards, starting with A Player’s Guide to Ptolus in print. If this is among your rewards, check your email for instructions on redeeming it. (Don’t have the email? Scroll down.)
If you’d like to get A Player’s Guide to Ptolus in PDF, you can do so right now! It’s not technically a Kickstarter reward because it’s free to all comers—go to the Kickstarter page and click the download link there. You’ll be getting the most current version—it’s been updated since the version we shared during the Kickstarter, including the addition of Ptolus character sheets for 5e and Cypher System.
But that’s not all! The PDF of Ptolus: Monte Cook’s City by the Spire is just about ready to fulfill as well. Generating and proofing literally thousands of hyperlinks and bookmarks—in two versions of the book—has been another gargantuan task, but high usability has been a hallmark of Ptolus since the original edition, so it’s been well worth it. Look for fulfillment of the PDF to begin in a matter of days.
And it gets even better! The first wave of Ptolus:Monte Cook's City by the Spire has cleared production and is now in transit to our warehouses!
I was hoping to show you a photo of the first-off-the-presses copies, which we expected to have yesterday, but instead I can only show you this. The first-off-the-presses copies are currently stalled in Memphis for some reason.
We expect this first wave to reach our North American warehouses next week (it will take a week or so longer for them to get to our UK and Australian warehouses). As soon as we have them, we’ll begin fulfillment.
Whether you’re getting Ptolus in PDF, in print, or both, watch your email inbox for fulfillment instructions beginning in the next few days!
If A Player’s Guide to Ptolus in print is among your rewards, but you don’t see an email from us, just follow these steps:
Log into the MCG Shop using the email you provided for this purpose in BackerKit.
Under the Store menu, click My Account. Then navigate to Coupons.
You should see the coupon there. Click on it, then check out. (If you have other coupons, or want to buy anything else, you can add those items before checking out.)
IMPORTANT: If your reward includes more than one copy (you can tell by looking at the coupon name), INCREASE THE QUANTITY before checking out.
If you have any issues or questions, shoot us an email at [email protected].
Photos of Ptolus from the Bindery and More!
about 5 years ago
– Fri, Apr 02, 2021 at 12:03:39 AM
Greetings, delver—
Ptolus is coming together—literally! We have some fascinating photos from the production process, below, but first:
Take a Look inside The Darkest House
The Darkest House is a horror mega-adventure designed to be woven into the RPG you're running now, no matter what game or setting you're playing. In fact, it’s made for your existing campaign, because it really shines when you play it with characters and a party that have already established their history, backstories, bonds, and ideals. It tests and challenges those elements, and builds its horror upon what it uncovers. Your PCs and your campaign will be richer, deeper, and more cohesively bonded after experiencing the Darkest House.
The Darkest House is also an entirely new type of product. Think of it like an RPG book reimagined to make the most of the online environment. Every image and map is conveniently shareable and downloadable. Each encounter is formatted to your screen, giving you everything you need in a single view. Text for sharing with the players is easily copied with a single click. A rich network of hyperlinks makes navigation simple and intuitive. The Darkest House is as easy on the GM as the house itself is challenging to the PCs. Try it: download a free preview from the Kickstarter to see how impressive and different this really is!
The house’s hunger knows few bounds, and we’ve grown it many times through stretch goals already. The Kickstarter ends tomorrow, so back now to access exclusive content that won’t be available after the campaign and to help it continue to grow!
See Ptolus in Action
The gang at RockPunch, along with MCG's own LaTia Jaquise, has been livestreaming a 5e Ptolus adventure! You can check out Episode 1, below. The last of the four episodes wraps up tomorrow night (Friday)—you can catch it live on Twitch!
A Look at Ptolus Under Construction!
Here are a few photos from the bindery, which is the final step in the production process of your book:
A selection of printed "signatures," or 32-page chunks of the book. (The complete book contains far more than you see here!)
Bookmarks, printed and perforated. With the signatures and other elements, these are moving into the bindery, where they're being assembled, trimmed, and bound.
Just SOME of the handouts. These go into envelopes, which are being "booger glued" (yes, that is actually what it's called!) into the back of the books as they come out of bindery.
While the printer has been busy making your books, we’ve been getting ready for the massive fulfillment that’s just weeks away:
This week we installed new pallet racking at our Kansas warehouse. The incoming shipment of Ptolus and A Player's Guide to Ptolus will total 20ish pallets. Here's the first step.
And here's the result, after a very long day. Moving existing product out of the way has cleared space to receive Ptolus and process fulfillment to you!
Dice, Posters, and Fulfillment Starting Soon!
about 5 years ago
– Thu, Mar 25, 2021 at 09:37:27 PM
Greetings, delver—
With Ptolus and A Player’s Guide to Ptolus now on press, we’re beginning our preparations for the massive job of fulfilling this fantastic campaign setting to you! Details to follow, but first:
Look at These Dice!
Ptolus dice—the 5e set.
Ptolus dice, crafted by our friends at Q-Workshop, have fulfilled to backers. If these are among your rewards and you haven’t done so already, log in to the MCG Shop to redeem yours!
The ginormous Ptolus vinyl map! (Also available in merely huge.)
And while we’re at it, here’s the oversized Ptolus vinyl wall map. It’s also going out to backers now.
Didn’t back for these rewards? No problem. They both go on sale at the MCG Shop tomorrow!
Where in Ptolus Is the Darkest House?
Like an invasive vine or a creeping shadow, the Darkest House insinuates itself into any universe. It is a malignant and primal force, unconcerned with the nature of the worlds it seeps into. The Darkest House exists in our world—in your world—in any world. It hungers for new locations. It hungers for Ptolus.
The Darkest House is a horror product compatible with 5e, the Cypher System, or any game you play. In fact, it’s made for it. It really shines when you play it with characters and a party that have already established their history, backstories, bonds, and ideals. It tests and challenges those elements, and builds its horror upon what it uncovers.
The Darkest House is also an entirely new type of product. Think of it like an RPG book reimagined to make the most of the online environment. Every image and map is conveniently shareable and downloadable. Each encounter is formatted to your screen, giving you everything you need in a single view. Text for sharing with the players is easily copied with a single click. A rich network of hyperlinks makes navigation simple and intuitive. The Darkest House is as easy on the GM as the house itself is challenging to the PCs.
In Monte’s Ptolus game, the House that Hungers sits, shunned, in Oldtown. As ancient as that district is, nobody can remember a time or find a record of when the house wasn’t there. Rumors imply that it has an entrance into the dungeons, but they’re probably false—as are reputed connections to Ghul or the Dread One. The house is its own blight; its own evil. It harbors its own terrors.
Production of Ptolus is well underway, and we anticipate it reaching our warehouses in just two to three weeks. This is no small thing: the delivery to our North American warehouse will amount to roughly 20 pallets of books—each pallet weighing well over a ton. We are in the process now of installing new pallet racking to accommodate this huge shipment!
We will begin fulfilling Ptolus as soon as it reaches our warehouses. Look for an email in about three weeks with instructions on how to redeem your reward (in print, PDF, or both!).
It’s been a long road, and a very tumultuous twelve months. With everything that’s happened over the past year, we’re really pleased and proud that we’ll be fulfilling your primary reward just a week or two later than our initial, pre-COVID promise. And we’re sure you’re going to love Ptolus!
