Baastherox, the Mightiest final 2d drawing.
over 5 years ago – Wed, May 29, 2019 at 12:04:18 AM

Baastherox

The idea behind Baastherox was to make him feel massive, even more heavily built that Aureus. He has a different build than Aureus, with a stouter body and limbs, and everything on him is craggy and gnarled; there are no sleek or uniform areas on him at all...his hide is covered in these irregular, Square-ish scales (almost like Godzilla’s hide) that form little spikes and spines here and there, and his wings are tattered at the edges, suffering from his legendary battle. Despite that, he still can fly, and I thought it would be cool to have him in a pose where he’s about to take off, launching off of one foot into the air.  - Tom Babbey

Hello dragonbonded!

Here is the next dragon! Tom is hard at work on the other designs. For the time being you can bask in this amazingly powerful dragon, built for battle and destruction. We are sure his tail will be the last thing many adventurers face. Our 3d sculptor will start modeling him today so you can see him in his 3d form in a couple weeks, but for now this should be a good indication of how he will look.

We expect to have more drawings today or tomorrow so stay tuned to see how the dragons take flight and become more and more real!

Kuxcoatl Master print finished + UKGE location
over 5 years ago – Mon, May 27, 2019 at 01:49:35 AM

Hello Dragonbonded!

This just a quick update to share with you some pictures of this week's progress.

All Kuxcoatl pieces have been printed! This coming week, Kuxcoatl molds will be created in Draco Forge and we shall see many Kuxcoatls very soon. 

In the picture above you can see how the STL model will be delivered. If you look closely, you may also note that there are a couple of extra heads and an additional arm+hand there. Those are the Battle Scar-parts and the alternate head (open mouth). Let's have a closer look:

 UKGE

This coming weekend we will be at UK Games Expo hosting some demos of our games (War for Chicken Island & Eldritch Century: Into the Lost Continent); while we are not bringing with us any miniatures from Dragons of the Red Moon, feel free to come visit to stand 2-T1 to chat about this project's status and ask any questions ;)

We will most likely have some (or all) of the final dragons full-body designs this week. If this happens, we will be sending your Backerkit surveys this week with further instructions in a future update. Keep an eye open for more updates!

While we await for the final designs...
over 5 years ago – Wed, May 15, 2019 at 02:01:44 AM

Hello dragonbonded!

Time for an update, we were hoping to share the full-body designs for the unlocked dragons a week ago but we are still awaiting for them, however, we are confident the wait will be worthwhile for everyone (we are as eager as you are to see them all). 

Nevertheless, we have been making progress in other areas and, hopefully, the content of this update will still manage to keep you delighted with the project. 

In short, here's what we have been doing in the last weeks:

• Backerkit (the pledge manager) has been paid and all set up. We just want to have the full-body dragons revealed so that most of you can choose which dragons you want. The pledge manager will remain open for several months until all 3D models are finished, but since the dragon miniatures are the core reward (and most important decision for many backers) we believe it is better to send the surveys as soon as we have the full body artwork for them; that way, we can ensure most surveys are answered fast.

Here's a quick preview of the add-ons you will find in Backerkit (in addition to extra miniatures and Dice set which are the core rewards from the campaign):

We will provide more details in another update covering all the basics for Backerkit.

• Gen Con preparations. That's right! We will have a booth at Gen Con 2019 and we are super excited about it! We will make our best effort to bring the test prints for the dragons which are already sculpted at that point. Now that the Exhibit Hall map has been published, we can show you which will be our location (that yellow square near the Art Show –where Tom Babbey will be, btw). It is still very soon to know if we will be able to bring the prints or dice with us for local pickup but we will let you know for sure later on, in case you want to arrange local pickup. 

We have submitted our events as well and some have been already approved. We will let you know when the Epic Encounters events are approved so that you can sign up! 

• The concept art for the three original great wyrms has been finished. In the last update we shared Kuxcoatl's. Here are the bases for Sivax and Aureus still at 2d concept but we will have these sculpted soon.

• And speaking of Aureus, his lair art will be the very first to be completed. It is still a work in progress missing just some final touches. 

• The following images are just incredible. We have begun 3D printing the Master pieces for Kuxcoatl. After a first printing test, we felt that we could still offer you a better definition – after all, we are committed to deliver the best dragon miniatures – so we went back to the raw file, provided an enhancement to the feather's detail and printed again. Here's the before/after:

Having completed that step, the printing resumed and has not stopped since then. Here are the completed pieces up to date: 

And just so that you can have a scale comparison...

Those parts are still missing some procedure before we are able to use them for casting. The joints will be filled with greenstuff and the pieces must be prepared for the molds afterwards. You can expect for Kuxcoatl STL file to have that exact separation for the parts.

 Frequently Asked Questions

• When are the STL files going to be sent? Once your surveys are sent and completely answered, we will start sending you STL files from those included in your bundle so that you can start printing. 
• So, when are you going to send the surveys? As indicated at the start of the update, we decided to wait for the final dragon designs so that most of you can choose your dragon miniatures just by watching the dragon's full illustration. Still on May 2019. 
• How much time will the pledge manager remain open?  We are considering 3 months so that you can see all the models and choose your add-ons.

---

That's all for now, thanks a lot for your patience and don't forget to share your comments and thoughts with us in our community forums:

• What do you think of Aureus' Lair?
• Comment your thoughts about this update here.

Painted Kuxcoatl busts
over 5 years ago – Thu, Apr 25, 2019 at 01:20:03 AM

Hello dragonbonded!

We have been missing you but we are here with our weekly update for you!

Campaign Timeline

At this point, errored pledges were marked as dropped. Those 47 backers will still get their surveys and a chance to fix their payment in Backerkit. We are still setting up Backerkit surveys and as indicated previously, we are looking to be able to send them in 2 weeks. Once sent, surveys will remain open for three months so you are able to see all the dragon designs (as well as the scenic bases and breath weapons). 

Rewards status

Here's the status of what we have been doing for the past weeks:

• Dragons: Tom is going to give us an update on the full body designs by the end of April. We will be sharing the full-body designs with you as we get them. We can't wait to see them!
• Models & Printing: This past week we split Kuxcoatl for the Master. It took a bit longer than expected. We are currently printing some pieces to show you the detail in the next update.
• Dice: We sent the dice files to our manufacturer and they gave us some feedback to adapt the files. Bleed, measures, after making all the changes, they prepared a preview render file for the d%

We will be sharing the preview renders for the dice as well as we get them.

• RPG Epic Encounters: Four of them have been fully written (Sivax, Kuxcoatl, Nixis, Baastherox); we are reviewing them and once approved, will proceed to editing. 
• Dragonbond Primer: After many many hours of writing, the core content for the first part is done. We are still editing and reviewing but we are glad to be making progress for this so we can keep sharing details about Dragonbond in the coming months.
• Scenic bases: We are currently at the design phase. This is still a Work-in-Progress 2D design on top of the Kuxcoatl render but we just love to share teasers with you:

We will keep sharing teasers and screenshots as behind the scenes content ;)

Painted Kuxcoatl Busts 

Before launching this Kickstarter campaign, we hosted a Painting contest where we uploaded an early version of the Kuxcoatl bust for people to print and paint.

When we built the Kickstarter campaign page, the team from Kickstarter warned us that we would not be able to share the contest on Kickstarter while the campaign was live, because of infringement to Kickstarter rules (no contests or raffles allowed in the campaign while it's live; it is still ok to host contests outside of Kickstarter while the campaign is live). 

We have reached the deadline for submissions and we know you will absolutely love to see what awaits you when we finish your rewards. So here are the painted busts. 

We got so excited about them and now we can't wait for all of you to get your STL bundles to print, or receive your miniatures, and watch how each one of you paint your dragons!

We will pick a 1st and 2nd place from among those submissions as well as a random winner. If you wish, you can help us decide for some finalists by voting here (there are pictures of different angles in the link). We would love to hear the comments from our dragonbonded backers on this.

Frequently Asked Questions

Just a couple of reminders:

• When will I get my survey? In 2 weeks, most likely.
• Can I wait to see all the dragons/add-ons final models before answering my survey? Yes, the survey will remain open for 3 months before locking them.
• When will you send STL files? We will be uploading and sending them to you as we finish the bundles. We are looking to have everything sent and sculpted before December but you will get files before and we will update your bundle. More details about this in a future update. 
• 3D printing - related questions: Axolote Gaming is preparing an update to cover all the basics and details about this.

Additional topics

Thank you, your support allow us to do what we love everyday. We plan to give you updates every week (or every 2 weeks at the very least). This update has now come to an end, but remember you can join our community forums and keep discussing about Dragonbond, other products we are developing or just to talk with fellow backers about common interests. Other interesting topics currently active:

• Share pictures of your dragon collection!
• The Tongue of Dragons challenge
• What would you like to see for the Epic Encounters

Thank you for flying on this draconic adventure with us!

End of Campaign - Next steps
over 5 years ago – Thu, Apr 11, 2019 at 11:45:05 PM

2385 Dragonbonded backers and $191,205 USD raised! What a Gargantuan result!! Thank you!

Although the campaign has come to an end, the journey for developing this rich universe around Dragonbond is just beginning. If you are a backer, it means you arrived perfectly on time. Some of you will get your Great Wyrms on wave 1, others on wave 5, but along the time it takes to fulfill your rewards, we will be sharing with you a lot about Dragonbond. And even after that, we will continue to create more and develop more around these dragons and the world they live in.

Our mission with Dragonbond is to create the best Dragon miniatures in the world and provide you with a setting where you can create epic experiences. Our mission with Draco Studios is to connect with the community who enjoys what we are creating for them. In this case, for Dragonbond, with you.

You are Dragonbonded!

And even though the campaign has finished, the fun has just begun and will continue! Communication will continue in the comments and via project updates but if you want to interact more and directly with the crew of Draco Studios and other fellow dragonbonded backers, we invite you to join to our community forums. Here's a list of threads that might interest you:

•  Join to this quest to translate the Draconic Poem.
•  Join to this RPG thread to provide ideas or offer any help.
•  Vote for your favorite dragon head design (there will be another poll for full-body design)
•  Show us your Draconic collection! (Please! We want to see pictures!)

We want to know more about you, and unlike other campaigns, we do not want to hear about you only after we post a project update; we want to be with you talking about all the things we know you like, gaming, dragons, miniatures!

Now, regarding that last stretch goal...

We got halfway of the last stretch goal so we will unlock half of that stretch goal: the 3.5 stats! These will take more time since they are harder to balance than those for 5e and 9th age so if you want to join to our RPG creator (in the thread mentioned before) feel free to do so. We will offer these stats in the PDF pack to all backers with every other PDF. 

What's next?

Now that the campaign is over here are the steps we are going to take in the next weeks:

•  Kickstarter will process payments and will deposit funds to our account in 2 weeks. Backers with errored pledges must fix their payment (more about that below) within the next 7 days.
• We will finish setting up Backerkit (our pledge manager) to send your surveys in 3-4 weeks. Here, you will be able to add extra items and pay for shipping fees as well as to let you know your mailing address (if you selected physical rewards).
• During the next days/couple of weeks, Tom will finish the full-body design for the unlocked dragons. The modelling will take about 2 months. We will be showing you previews of the dragons and the add-ons.
• We plan to share the progress with you and to deliver your digital rewards as we finish them.

Errored pledges  

180 backers had run into issues from Kickstarter charging your credit or debit cards. If you received a Kickstarter e-mail about this or think this might be your case follow this steps:  

• Identify the source of the problem and provide the solution:   - Your card has no funds: Transfer funds to it.  - Another Kickstarter project ended on the same day: Your bank blocked the card for security by thinking it was a duplicated charge.  - Your card is incompatible with Kickstarter US charge hub: Try using a different card (yours or from a friend).
• On a web browser (not in the app) go to https://www.kickstarter.com/ and log in your account.
• You will see a red band at the top of the website saying you have an errored pledge. Click on "Fix Payment"
• Try again with the proper card (see the first step: Identify the source of the problem)  

There is a bug on which Kickstarter states you have successfully fixed your pledge even though it might haven't worked. The best way to confirm is to refresh the page and not having the red band on the top; alternatively try looking in your mail for the proper confirmation.    Backers with errored pledges have 7 days to fix it. If you are not able to fix it within that time your pledge will be automatically marked as dropped. Don't worry you will still have 2 opportunities to fix it: 

• The first will be when we send the surveys (in about 3 weeks). Backerkit may be able to charge your card properly.
• The next will be two months after Backerkit surveys arrive, when we will be able to enable PayPal payments.

We will be here to provide support. But rest assured that your pledge info is still on record and you will have some opportunities to fix payment in the future. However, the best would be to fix the payment in Kickstarter so that you still receive the project updates directly.   Having said all of this, your last resource is to ask someone else (a friend or family member) for their card so you can try different cards Visa, American Express, Master Card until the payment is successful.

Pledge manager

We will fully cover this topic later once it goes live but just to point the basics for newcomers:

• Now that the campaign has finished we need to know how many miniatures we are going to manufacture and which dragon(s) each backer wants. This is done by filling you a Backerkit survey (in 3-4 weeks) that you need to fill as soon as possible.
• You will also share with us some details from your order such as the amount of dragons, your selection of dragons and add-ons, your mailing address (to send you your rewards) and e-mail for digital rewards.
• Your shipping fee will be calculated automatically based on weight and you will pay for shipping fees there and may add extra funds for other items. You will also be asked to have split-shipping or one delivery (at the latest date).

We will include the question for your favorite Great Wyrms so that we can create the art for the GM screen, this is to ensure everyone gets the chance to vote and do it once.

We are still looking to the possibility to include the physical GM screen add-on, if we are able it will be available only during the first two months while the pledge manager is live.

FAQ

•  How can I let you know about the add-ons (optional buys) for the extra funds I added?  You will receive an e-mail with a link to your personal survey on Backerkit, our preferred pledge manager, where you will be able to allocate extra funds for add-ons or shipping fees.  
•  How can I let you know which dragons I want?  You will be able to chose it on our pledge manager once you get your link for your personal survey.  
•  When will I receive invitation to the pledge manager? In 3-4 weeks. 
•  I want some add-on/optional buy but I didn't add the funds, will I be able to include them later?  Yes, you will be able to add extra funds for additional items on the pledge manager. 
•  A friend / I missed the campaign. Can I pledge later or become a backer? Yes, we will accept pre-orders on the pledge manager and you will still get the stretch goals freebies but at the latest shipping wave (even an additional one depending on the final numbers). Pricing will be slightly higher for the dragons. 
•  Congratulations Draco Studios, thanks for an awesome campaign! This is not a question, but we have received similar messages and we just love to read those. Thank you for being part of this campaign. :) 

Next project

Draco Studios is conformed by 3 sub companies and many partners. At this point we want to focus on making big progress on our current projects before launching another project:

• Dragons of the Red Moon to have all the models ready and most of the PDFs finished; having manufacture on track for the first shipping wave.
• Having the pre production copy approved for War for Chicken Island and enter mass manufacture.
• Fulfillment of the Eldritch Century resin miniatures campaign; next week we will begin with packaging and fulfillment.

However, we want to share with you that our next project on Kickstarter will –finally– be the Skirmish game with RPG supplements based in Eldritch Century, the Sci-Fi universe we have been developing for almost 2 years now. Here's a special sneak peek for you today, celebrating the end of the Dragons of the Red Moon campaign:

Kickstarter flight

24 days have passed since when Dragons of the Red Moon launched on Kickstarter. Some of you joined during Day-1, others in mid campaign, and the project had a HUGE response until its last day, today. 

We are excited for the journey ahead, because to us, the flight will allow us to discover more of this world as we develop it with you, our dragonbonded. We have BIG plans for Dragonbond, and this is just the beginning of a new Draconic world unfolding for you...

...well, two worlds actually. Because as you may recall: Drakha, albeit a planet, it is also known as the Red Moon for Dralorians, the inhabitants of Dralore, where you will find more dragons and their dragonriders, the Dragonbonded.

Thank you for all your support; because of it, we can continue working in our draconic dreams to make them a reality. 

– Everyone at Draco Studios