Locking Surveys in 24hrs
about 4 years ago – Mon, Mar 02, 2020 at 10:23:15 PM

Hello Dragonbonded!

As mentioned in our past update we will be Locking Surveys in 24 hours, so make sure to fill them and select the dragons and add-ons you want to receive! Credit cards will be charged in March 5th. You can access your survey here. We need to close surveys to lay the production plan in Draco Forge for 2020 with the final counts. However, you will be able to access into our online store later this year in case you wish to buy extra pieces.

Development Status

Clarification on Rawraxxa posing from last update: The model was finished and uploaded to the folder "Full Body Compressed". It is basically a neutral T-Pose because we want to review with Tom (artist) a looming pose different than the concept art. Dehrilya and Rawraxxa split files are yet to be finished and will be uploaded once we finish splitting them. We are also sculpting the last models (Busts, Breath Weapons, Scenic Bases, Alt heads and battle scars body parts).

Lair maps for all dragons have been finished! Prepress for printing the last artprints is in progress. We will also update the PDF Pack to include those.

Epic Encounters playtesting has finished. We are updating the version and will send an update in March.

A 1st version for the World Primer for Dragonbond is about to be finished so we can send you the PDF.

Wave 1 fulfillment status

Communication from our forwarder supplier has been bad since 2020 started. We have been asking for a detailed status or tracking number for the pallet going with our fulfillment partner with no success. Last notification was that the items left customs and were on their way to our fulfillment partner's warehouse. These past days we have been insisting on getting accurate status, we will share those with you as soon as we have them. We are terribly sorry for the delay impacting wave 1 backers, but each day we are closer to fulfilling the first orders.

Wave 2 production status

Luckily, we control manufacture so the progress on the other waves has not stopped. Here's the status for the miniatures' production:

• Aureus miniatures 26 completed of 69 
• Kuxcoatl miniatures 76 completed of 81 
• Sivax miniatures 60 completed of 60
• Baastherox master print in progress
• Nixis master print in queue

The numbers of required miniatures might vary slightly depending on the results after locking orders.

Special Teaser

Just as we promised during our previous update, the art and writing team from Dragonbond has been working with great results! This year we will release more Dragons for Dragonbond and other Dragon-related projects in the works.

If you have been following Dragonbond, you might recall the Great Wyrms in this campaign are only the Azhurmas of their brood, the most powerful dragons. Kadmos, the first dragon, gave them the ability to reproduce so the Red Moon is dominated by the Azhurmas and their offspring (there are also Dragonkin and Valernians but that's a story for another time). 

Aureus Fulgen, his Radiant Majesty, is one of the most relevant personalities in our world. Here's Ferellon Fulgen, champion from the Fulgen brood.

Ferellon takes pride in his appearence; elegant grace counterbalancing with his bulk. He only has seen the “benevolent” side of his brood father, and for lack of a better word, he's a bit naive and more of an idealist than his father because that's the front Aureus puts on, so its all Ferellon has ever known. He is one of the main dragons in the Graphic Novel we are working on. Would you like to see some expression sheets for the characters in the next update?

We know there has been some hiccups on development and wave 1 fulfillment, at Draco Studios we are working mostly on fulfilling rewards of our active projects, but external partners have been writing, illustrating, editing, and designing this expanded universe for a while now. Once we feel again everything is on track for this campaign fulfillment, we will go all-in to show you what's been in the works... you, our Dragonbonded backers with a ton of love for dragons, will be the very first to see this amazing world! 

Rawraxxa complete + Unboxing video!
about 4 years ago – Fri, Feb 21, 2020 at 11:45:50 PM

Hello Dragonbonded,

Today we reached another big milestone, all full-body dragon models from this campaign have been completed!

Rawraxxa, Apex Huntress is complete

 At Draco Studios, we are extremely proud of this miniature. We worked closely with Tom Babbey to make Rawraxxa as beautiful as the other Great Wyrms. In several studies and voting contests we have organized, Rawraxxa is usually the least popular (she is great! but the other dragons have features or dynamic poses which make them look more unique) so we dedicated extra attention and care for this one and we are truly delighted with the result. Every part of Rawraxxa holds an amazing amount of detail.

Before printing the master piece for tooling and models, we might re-explore shifting the pose a little bit into a more dynamic looming or lurking stance. However, the current model will be uploaded in your STL pack on DriveThruRPG (and we will update the pack later when we re-pose the model).  Please share with us pictures of your 3D prints or painted dragons! Join our Facebook Ambassadors group!

Locking surveys in 10 days

As previously said, before locking surveys we wanted to show all the dragon sculpts so you could make an informed decision when choosing your miniatures (STL bundle 1 includes all of them). Now that we have finished sculpting all 7 seven dragons, we are able to move to the next phase. 

If you haven't placed your order already, please log into your Backerkit survey and let us know which dragons you want to receive (if you have already answered your survey and placed your order, you don't have to worry about this).

• Surveys will be locked down in March 3rd (You will still be able to modify your shipping address if needed but not your selection of items)
• Credit Cards will be charged in March 5th
• Reminder for shipping wave 1: Aureus, Kuxcoatl and Sivax eligible for this shipping wave, if you choose other dragons, they will be sent in next shipping waves. You can choose consolidated shipping or split shipping. 
• Reminder for shipping wave 2: Aureus, Kuxcoatl, Sivax, Nixis and Baastherox eligible for this shipping wave, if you choose other dragons, they will be sent in next shipping waves. You can choose consolidated shipping or split shipping.
• Reminder for shipping wave 3, 4 and 5: all dragons eligible for these shipping waves, if you add extra dragons, they will be sent in next shipping waves. You can choose consolidated shipping or split shipping.

Please help us answer your survey at your earliest convenience and if you have any questions don't hesitate to contact us [email protected]

Shipping Wave 1 Status

The dragon miniatures are in Texas on their way to Gamerati's warehouse who will prepare individual parcels for backers in the US and forward other items to the other fulfillment centers in Europe and Canada.

Mexican orders will be fulfilled next week, included those for Local Pick up.

Miniature unboxing video

Here's a preview of what you shall expect on your Dragon Boxes. We are getting closer!

This video was made with love to all our Dragonbonded backers, so please enjoy it! 

What's next?

Well, first of all we are still working on the rest of the Stretch Goals.

• We still need to sculpt some busts, scenic bases, breath weapons, and alternate parts for a few dragons, we will share those with you and upload them to DriveThruRPG as we finish them.
• Lair maps for the rest of the dragons will be completed soon; right now we are still balancing and playtesting the epic encounters to share with you a revised version.
• We are in revisions for the GM Screen art and DRAGONBOND World primer. Including beta access for "All-in" backers. 
• We are getting ready for new projects that will be released this year! We will be sharing steady sneak peeks for these projects starting on our next update. You can expect a ton of DRACONIC content from us on 2020, new Art, Miniatures, STL packs, RPG supplements, tabletop games, a graphic novel, and even a mobile game. We are partnering with other studios so we can assure each project gets the attention and care they need for development and fulfillment. We hope to count with you and fly together once again on these new adventures!

Rawraxxa, the perfect hunter (sculpt in progress)
over 4 years ago – Tue, Feb 11, 2020 at 01:18:56 AM

Hello Dragonbonded!

We are excited to share a preview for the final dragon sculpt of this campaign!

Rawraxxa

The vast, unforgiving desert of Drakha roars almighty. Its sands shift, restless, giving way to the impossible fire that is Rawraxxa. The apex huntress, the perfect specimen for the direst of environments. Her hunger is endless, only outmatched by her wit and adaptability.

Stranded by a long-lost brood at a very young age, Rawraxxa had to survive in the raging nature of Drakha. She feasted on all she found, trained and tailored by the brutality natural to her brood. In time, her body was larger, stronger, fiercer; grown to a moldable, adaptable specimen to be feared by all who stood in her path.

She found a home in the desert, her own literal sandbox to feast on defenseless creatures. As the prey scurried under the ground she learned to dive into the rough, ever-changing dunes. She moves quietly, constantly seeking her perfect opportunity to deliver one mighty, eviscerating blow. More food for the raking, more trophies for her impossible towers of corpses.

The never-ending sands give way, commanded by the gargantuan shape that travels through them. Like a shark in the water, not some worm through ground, Rawraxxa speeds uncannily under the desert. Her domain is filled with rocks of impossible shapes, all a playground for the huntress, never a refuge for intruders. The storms called on by the huntress offer no cover, rather the result of flying daggers at impossible speeds. Sinkholes give way in a second’s notice by design and the sun beats down mercilessly.

Vast as it may be, no newcomer escapes Rawraxxa’s knowledge, let alone her hunger. Only she knows what belongs in her sands. She needs no sight, for the rest of her body receives information from the surface. The surface gives way to her instantaneous lashing, her unstoppable jaw.

No arrhythmic pace can save you from her wrath.

Rawraxxa’s Status

Currently, Rawraxxa is being modeled and we are evaluating the possibility to strike a different lurking pose. Here’s a preview of the work in progress:

Wave 1 Fulfillment

This has been an incredible journey: watching the production for the dragon miniatures, print of the boxes and art prints, the process of packaging everything. All this experience is amazing and we thank you for all your patience, we are one step closer to see wave-1 backers get their hands on the resin cast miniatures.

This week the pallet is in customs to Gamerati will fulfill orders with their different hubs around the world. In the next couple of weeks you will receive a tracking number and we might be posting short updates to provide regular news about this.

We will also contact backers who specified local pickup in Mexico.

Next time we will share an unboxing video but in the meantime here are the last pictures we took before the pallet left our workshop. 

General Status

Before finishing this update, here's a general status:

•  STL Packs: Dehrilya is finished and will be splitted in a couple of weeks after finishing Rawraxxa full-body model. Rawraxxa is being sculpted and we will let you know when the final sculpt is done.
   
•  Resin Miniatures (wave 1): All items for wave 1 backers have been packed and are currently in customs and will arrive soon to the fulfillment hubs.
   
•  Resin Miniatures (wave 2, 3, 4, 5): Production has resumed in Draco Forge. Kuxcoatl and Sivax for orders in shipping wave 2 are almost complete! We will get Baastherox master print within 2 weeks.
   
•  Dice: Backers who pledged only for the dice were fulfilled early in August. All other backers with dice on their pledge will get them with the rest of their rewards according to their shipping wave. (Wave 1 backers will get them in a couple of weeks!)
   
•  Prints: Art print packs need to be completed before we send them. We currently have 38 out of 42 files. (7/7 Dragon Art, 7/7 biographies, 7/7 Lair Art, 4/7 Lair Map, 7/7 5e Stats, 7/7 9th Age Stats). We are just missing the Lair maps for Nixis, Rawraxxa, and Dehrilya which will be finished in late February.
   
•  PDF pack: A first version of the PDF was sent a couple of weeks ago over e-mail (check your SPAM folder or look for an e-mail from Backerkit/Draco Studios). We still need 3 Lair Maps (Nixis, Rawraxxa, and Dehrilya) but also the Red Moon Map, GM Screen, and World Primer. For the World Primer, we are just missing graphic layout, content is complete at this point. We already shared the first version of the Epic Encounters but you can expect an update with more balance and flavor in late February.
   

Backerkit: Pledge manager will still remain open until we show you Rawraxxa so you can make an informed decision while choosing your dragons.

If you have any personal inquiries, don't hesitate to contact us [email protected] and we will be more than happy to help you!

Reminders

•  Issues with the STL files will be fixed after finishing Rawraxxa. Thank you for your patience in this matter!
   
• Here are a couple of helpful updates for 3D printing regarding supports and basics for 3D printing; we cannot prepare files for every different 3D printer in the market but we are willing to help you learn how to use the tools out there to customize the files to your printing needs.
   

Here’s a picture of an amazing golden & red Kuxcoatl (3D printed) skillfully painted by Pg_learnz2paint!

Please tag us in your social media pictures or use the hashtag #dragonsoftheredmoon on Instagram! Or join ourFacebook Ambassadors group to share more about your prints!  

Dehrilya, the forge queen sculpt finished!
over 4 years ago – Mon, Jan 20, 2020 at 11:47:23 PM

Hello Dragonbonded!

We hope your 2020 is going great so far. Thank you all lot for your support and patience. 

We are excited to bring you more news about our dragons!

In this update (surprises are coming), we will give you more details about:

• Dehrilya, the forge queen
• Dehrilya's sculpt
• General Status
• Reminders

Dehrilya, the forge queen

The low, furious roar of molten rock abounds in the depths of the Volcano Nurazhirme. The magma that would become crystallized upon contact with the outside reaches of the Red Moon feeds the mightiest forge to ever be built. So, the queen builds and transforms the most structurally sound materials into tools of nameless power.

 
    The crater’s walls are bathed in gold. One can spot the Forge Queen’s dragonkin fulfilling her studious desires. Dragons of her brood build their own creations to be judged by she who made herself. All dragons in her forge strive to construct their own bodies to match her magnificence, only to be bested by their Azhurma’s endless creativity.

Her body changes from scale to metal seamlessly. An incomplete dragon hatched from an incomplete egg, Dehrilya crafted the missing parts of her body not only as a survival strategy, but to make herself mightier. Her vast experience with materials has granted the Queen perfect insight on the structural strength and integrity of all she uses to create.

Dehrilya's Sculpt

We have completed the sculpt of our Forge Queen, Dehrilya and it will be uploaded in DriveThruRPG very soon!!

Here are some Work-in-progress shots: 

Each scale sculpted separately. 

The wait have totally worth it! 

Almost done at that point, just the scales from the tail were missing. 

As a master of creation herself, the actual sculpt for Dehrilya is a masterpiece.

Artprints + Boxes Status 

During the first week of January we received the boxes and a couple of days after, the art prints for Aureus, Sivax and Kuxcoatl (including their stats and Lair) 

The box has a scale-like finish with Spot-UV (which si hard to capture in picture but looks great in real life).

The box ended up being larger than expected and we decided to make them telescopic (two-piece) rather than big tuckboxes which is better (more resistant) and will allow you to re-use them to store other things after building your dragons.

Pijamas' day
 

After the holidays, we have the chance to be part of a PJ day, in which we could wear our pijamas at the office, being warm, cozy and have fun with our friends from our co-working place. 

General Status

Before finishing this update, here's a general status:

•  STL Packs: Dehrilya is finished and will be uploaded on DriveThruRPG in the coming days. Rawraxxa will be completed within the next weeks.
•  Resin Miniatures (wave 1): All items for wave 1 backers have been packed and are ready to start freight shipping (truck) from Mexico to the fulfillment hub. Exportation will take place in the coming days.
•  Resin Miniatures (wave 2, 3, 4, 5): Manufacture will resume in Draco Forge. We will get a new master print (probably Baastherox before Nixis).
•  Dice: Backers who pledged only for the dice were fulfilled early in August. All other backers with dice on their pledge will get them with the rest of their rewards according to their shipping wave.
•  Prints: Art print packs need to be completed before we send them. We currently have 38out of 42 files. (7/7 Dragon Art, 7/7 biographies, 7/7 Lair Art, 4/7 Lair Map, 7/7 5e Stats, 7/7 9th Age Stats). We are just missing the Lair maps for Nixis, Rawraxxa, and Dehrilya which will be finished in February.
•  PDF pack: A first version of the PDF has just been sent over e-mail (check your SPAM folder or look for an e-mail from Backerkit/Draco Studios). We still need 3 Lair Maps (Nixis, Rawraxxa, and Dehrilya) but also Red Moon Map, GM Screen, and World Primer. For the World Primer, we are just missing graphic layout, content is complete at this point. We already shared a first version of the Epic Encounters but you can expect an update with more balance and flavor in late February. 

Backerkit: Pledge manager will still remain open until we show you Rawraxxa so you can make an informed decision while choosing your dragons. If you have anything .

If you have any personal inquiries, don't hesitate to contact us [email protected] and we will be more than happy to help you!

Reminders

•  Issues with the STL files will be fixed after finishing Rawraxxa. Thank you for your patience in this matter!
• Here are a couple of helpful updates for 3D printing regarding supports and basics for 3D printing; we cannot prepare files for every different 3D printer in the market but we are willing to help you learn how to use the tools out there to customize the files to your printing needs.
•  Please tag us in your social media pictures or use the hashtag #dragonsoftheredmoon on Instagram! Or join our Facebook Ambassadors group to share more about your prints! Check this amazing print for Nixis! This is the first one we have seen, masterfully printed by Hout O'Brien:

Nixis uploaded + End of year status
over 4 years ago – Mon, Dec 23, 2019 at 09:40:56 PM

Dear Dragonbonded, 

We are always excited to fly back and give you more flaming news about the progress of our dragons and all the moving parts of this project. 

In this update you will find out more news about: 

• Nixis STL
• Overall status

Nixis

Nixis is beautiful and we wanted to keep the original concept art in the model and not take some of the common shortcuts when doing undead dragons (extra skin, thicker joined bones, filled out parts with muscle, etc), because of this we have a truly unique Dragon skeleton; however, this means that this will be pretty hard to print, for our resin cast we have made all the necessary splits so it can be cast correctly and we foresee no real issues with the resin casting, however for our STL backers we do recommend that you try out different orientations when printing and do use heavy supports since every bone has to be printed separately and you do not want your entire ribcage to fail because of one rib that got detached mid-print.

Once we finish all dragon models, we are going to make a small guide on an optimal way to print the dragon and upload an alternate folder (named Nixis-alternate) where we will do a recommended optimal (in our opinion) orientation of the files so you can just open in your slicer and get good results, we will be testing this orientation to see how it performs on FDM, in general, Resin has a lot more working for it in the area of supports so we are less worried that people will be able to print it correctly

We can't wait to see pictures of your prints and painted miniatures! Please tag us on social media or use the #dragonsoftheredmoon hashtag.

Overall status 

We are almost there! Between sculpting, casting, design and, printing, sharing these pictures with you is awesome for us.

As we mentioned in earlier updates, the first wave resin production was finished some weeks ago. However, the deluxe boxes are an important part of the product and they are still under production.

Here you can see the boxes print (prior to Spot UV and assembly). We are producing 3000 deluxe boxes for all shipping waves plus a reserve. 

 These will be finished within the first week of January. So we will require 1 week for picking and packing the dragons and the art prints in their boxes and then we will send the parcels to the proper hubs around the world. Some backers from the wave 1 will get their rewards by late January, but expect them to arrive by February.

So, before the year is over, here's an overall status:

•  STL Packs: We are expecting Dehrilya to be finished and uploaded before the end of the year. Rawraxxa will be completed on January.
•  Resin Miniatures (wave 1): Our team at Draco Forge were able to complete the production on time some weeks ago. Unfortunately, the boxes will not be ready until January, which means fulfilment for wave 1 is a little bit delayed. We are very sorry about this, delays are likely to happen when working with 3rd party manufacturers but you can be sure that your dragons will arrive early next year and the whole experience will be truly epic.
•  Resin Miniatures (wave 2, 3, 4, 5): The delay in the boxes does not affect wave 2 and further because we are producing all boxes at once. The team at Draco Forge are already manufacturing the existing dragons for wave 2 (Kuxcoatl, Aureus, and Sivax). We still need more info to estimate any complications with Baastherox and Nixis. Master prints for those 2 dragons will continue on January.
•  Dice: Backers who pledged only for the dice were fulfilled early on August. All other backers with dice on their pledge will get them with the rest of their rewards according to their shipping wave.
•  Prints: Backers who pledged for prints with no dragons will get their prints early next year. We currently have 38out of 42 files. (7/7 Dragon Art, 7/7 biographies, 7/7 Lair Art, 4/7 Lair Map, 7/7 5e Stats, 7/7 9th Age Stats). We are just missing the Lair maps for Nixis, Rawraxxa and Dehrilya which will be finished on February. These prints are looking great and we want to prepare a special packaging for them. Stay tuned on future updates.
•  PDF pack: Similar than the prints, we still need 3 Lair Maps (Nixis, Rawraxxa, and Dehrilya) but also Red Moon Map, GM Screen, and World Primer. For the World Primer we are just missing graphic layout, content is complete at this point. We already shared a first version of the Epic Encounters but you can expect an update with more balance and flavor on late February.

Backerkit: All of the previous information means that the pledge manager will still remain open until January so you are able to make an informed decision once you see all the dragon sculpts.
 

Here's the overall status in our spreadsheet:

Reminders

•  Issues with the STL files. Our sculptor is currently making progress in the new dragons unlocked via stretch goals to meet deadlines and will proceed to make all fixes to released models once all dragons are finished. Thank you for your patience in this matter!
• We posted a couple of helpful updates for 3D printing regarding supports (settings, orienting and removal) and the basics for 3D printing; since all our backers have different 3D printers and software, we can help you get your prints with some useful tips that you can adjust to your printing needs.
•  Please tag us in your social media pictures or use the hashtag #dragonsoftheredmoon on Instagram! Or join our Facebook Ambassadors group to share more about your prints! 

 It has been an amazing year and we thank you for all your support during this journey! For all your patience, support and love, we are really thankful with your support. 

We hope you spend an amazing time with family and friends and wish you always the best! Next year will be a year for Dragons; these dragons will be released and once we have fulfilled wave 1 backers and all digital rewards, we will release our new draconic adventure!

Happy holidays!