Defy the Gods RPG

Book at the printer! Pre-orders locking on Cyber Monday!
5 months ago – Mon, Nov 17, 2025 at 08:14:42 AM

tl;dr: With the game hurtling toward physical substance, we plan to lock down orders in two weeks and then charge cards. Between now and Cyber Monday, pre-order everything you want at https://defy-the-gods-rpg.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders! 

Hi! Wow!

This morning, I sent the book to the printer. 

Let me back up. A lot's happened since our last update a little over a month ago. Defy the Gods has become a real book. 

We gotcher cover art. Yer spot-gloss mask. Endpapers? Gorgeous endpapers by Arthur Riel Cabezas—detail above!

And between those endpapers, we got three hundred and twelve pages. Superstar graphic designer Cris Viana laid them all out, from the table of contents to Jolanta Komornicka's meticulous index. They include the guide to fantasy ancient Sumer and Ryan Khan's delicious Sumerian supper recipe.

Plus, we got over seventy gobsmacking illustrations, including nineteen full-pagers. I sent fourteen of them to the printer for print tests, to reduce revisions later. You can see a few of the prints they sent me below.

All these assets are now in the hands of expert TTRPG printers Regent Publishing Services Ltd in Hong Kong. Whew!

We had to submit the book by Wednesday to get it printed before Chinese New Year, and we’re two days early. Not making that cut-off would've delayed our planned May fulfillment to June or July, leaving you waiting and us with nothing to sell at Origins and other cons. 

Thanks to Cris and project manager Cole Stephenson for heroic efforts to get here. Big thanks to Arthur, Kev, Katrin Dirim, and many other artists who made beautiful work under sometimes tight deadlines.

Next come the hard proofs, corrections, and corrected soft proofs before we can start the presses. It'll take time, and I'll keep you updated as we go.

But today, we’ve hit a big milestone. This book of daring adventure, queer romance and cursed power has left our hands and is flying toward reality!

What you need to do next: 

In two weeks, on December 1st, I'll lock down orders on BackerKit, and we'll charge cards shortly after. This makes sure we order enough books. Get in any last orders at https://defy-the-gods-rpg.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders! I'll lock them down on Cyber Monday!

Tell your friends—tell your enemies! Defy the Gods is coming.

Cheers,
Chrys

P.S. One last reminder: Between now and Cyber Monday, pre-order everything you want at https://defy-the-gods-rpg.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders! 

Final Text! Art! Real physical items!
6 months ago – Thu, Oct 09, 2025 at 05:29:01 PM

Hi! 

I'm excited. Bouncing up and down. This week, Rue finished the copyedits, and I stopped making even the tiniest tweaks to the text. After months of the manuscript's tab constantly staring at me in my browser, I closed it. The text is final. It even has all the formatting tags Cris needs to translate it into laid-out spreads for the printer. 

And, thanks to our rolling process, Cris has already started returning spreads at an impressive pace. She's laid out six chapters and has her hands on the remaining 12. Take a look: 

And the art! I know the book already had tons of cool art, but it turns out we needed twice as many full-page pieces and even more smaller ones. So, I've contracted with Amita Sevellaraja, Annalise Jensen, Artiodaktyl, Delayjia Kendall, Jaen N. Butler, Lorne Colt, and Robbi Burns—as well as some of the artists you already know from the Kickstarter—to make more art. So much art. We're making a beautiful book of sword & sorcery. A ripe, succulent book dripping with juice you can sink your teeth into. 

(Do not actually try to bite the book.)

(Or do. I'm not your mom.)

Meanwhile, non-book items have started arriving from the manufacturers, ready to fulfill in May as soon as the book is done. Even though you won't get your hands on them for months yet, I wanted you to know they're more than just vaporware. Check it:

I had the pins and patches delivered to my place, but I'll forward them to the fulfillment house in Philly after I set aside a few for Origins.

That just leaves the books, the dice, and the special drawings for top-tier backers. Of those, I've ordered the dice. So far, they're on schedule.

I bought lots of everything, so you can still order more from the pre-order store. Give it a try! We won't lock down Backerkit orders till November—but November is coming up fast.

Best,
Chrys

Rewards now estimated to go out in May
7 months ago – Sun, Sep 21, 2025 at 08:10:12 AM

Hi all!

Artists are making even more full-page art for the book! I'm so excited for the new artists contributing their talents. Our goal is to have one full-page piece for every chapter heading. People, there are a lot of chapters.

I’ve finished all my writing, and Sean has written all the creatures and enemies. Rue continues to make copy edits, and Cris is laying out the parts that Rue has edited. Cole has been keeping us all on task. Basically, things are humming.

I’ve heard from the printer. It looks like, with all of us running flat-out to finish the book, we’re now looking at May to ship your rewards. That's assuming we get the book printed before Chinese New Year, when the printer (and everyone else in China) takes a big vacation. 

When I ran the Kickstarter, I said January, and obviously that was too optimistic! I’ll remember that for next time. Of course, May is an estimate, since a lot can happen between now and then. But we're all working hard to hit that timeframe.

Thanks for your patience! We're going to make Defy the Gods worth the wait. 

Cheers,
Chrys

Backerkit surveys sent
7 months ago – Wed, Sep 03, 2025 at 07:53:40 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Surveys coming!
8 months ago – Fri, Aug 29, 2025 at 06:25:53 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.