Hey Everyone!

Thanks so much to Robert Sistler for his great New Year's comment, the timing is perfect!  As I write this (literally) one of our lead-game designers, Jaye Sonia, is working on bonus piece which we are giving as a free Thank-You to all of the wonderful people who donated to our Kickstarter.  It's also his birthday today, so if you feel so inclined, drop him a line!

Some news to help tide you over the next few months....

Our hope is that by the end of this month we will be emailing all of you a new PDF -"The Shadowlands Conversion Guide", it's a short (roughly 10 page) document which is designed to help introduce GMs and Players to some of the differences in the Shadowlands and give you a taste of things to come.

Jaye Sonia has just finished writing a mini-adventure, what we're calling an Adventure Arc, and play tested it this past weekend.  I don't want to spoil the details but I can tell you that the playtesters LOVED it!  Jaye's adventure arc is set in the city of Tarina and is intended to supplement the adventure, "The Gates of Tarina".  It should be released alongside the "Shadowlands Conversion Guide" at the end of February.

And art!  Let me talk about art for a second.  Ben Wootten is back and because he loves the Shadowlands so much has agreed to do a number of beautiful scenes and figures for the Shadowlands. He takes his amazing eye and years of gaming experience and has produced some stunning pieces that I can't wait to share with you.

We also have lined up a number of amazing new artists, Raluca Popan, Gabriel Dunston, and Blake Henriksen who have done some great pieces adding flavor to the Shadowlands.  You can see Blake's gorgeous representation of a Shadowlands Durinn Dergatal (Hill Dwarf) on our Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/BlackStarGames.  We encourage everyone to keep abreast of news via our Facebook page.

We've had a few drawbacks that we're working hard to overcome.  Winter has been especially hard on our developers unfortunately.  I've been sick for about a month and one of our lead designers on the "Tarina Guidebook" got so ill that he had to go to the hospital.  Tragically, our cartographer and one of our interior artists, Jonathan Roberts, had his laptop stolen and has been put behind by at least 3 weeks.  But work continues a pace and we're working really hard to try and not only meet our May deadline but also give you all a little something extra.  That means that for the majority of you, not only will you receive the PDF &/or print editions of our books, but you'll also be getting at least THREE free bonus supplementary mini-adventures to go with the "Gates of Tarina" adventure &/or the "Tarina Guidebook".  We'll put them up for download at cost on the Paizo store, but you will receive them via email for free.

Dear Friends,

It's been almost a month since the end of our Kickstarter, and what an exceptional month it's been!  Last week I handed off one of the semi-final versions of our adventure, "The Gates of Tarina" to one of our developers for review and I have to say it looks HOT!  Soon it will go to an Editor for final review and then hopefully some play-testing to give it that little extra dose of awesomeness.  I'm also very happy to report that we have a new member of our development team on board, Clinton Boomer, who many of your almost certainly know from his exceptional work on Pathfinder's "Campaign Setting" and the incredible "Kingmaker Player's Guide".  He'll be applying his exceptional writing talents to the "Tarina Guidebook" and will hopefully be joining us in 2012 as we plan some other super secret projects.  It's already looking like next year will be incredible, so stay tuned!

The good news doesn't stop there though.  Like I said, we've been busy, really busy.  In order to give you all a thank-you treat of the wonders that are in store, and to continue to generate interest in Saemyyr and the first official Shadowlands releases, we've decided to give you some treats.  We're currently working on a series of adventure-arcs, short little encounters that take place in and around Tarina of just a few encounters which are designed to really hook you into the city, the region of Tar Sequinus, and the World of Saemyyr and the Shadowlands Campaign Setting. 

Designer Jaye Sonia is producing a rowdy adventure-arc that will have you running through the streets of Tarina in a darkly humorous escapade that is reminiscent of "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" with some NPCs your players are sure to never forget.  Our incredible cartographer, Michael Arrington (also a talented game designer and the genius behind Acacia Games), is also bringing you a short tale of danger and intrigue, exploring one of Tarina's harbor islands and what happens when an unknown outside group decides to pursue their own ends.  Its the kind of mini-adventure that will have you begging for more!  Want a little crunch, you say?  Well, it's on its way!  We've got a few delicious little treats on the back-burner that I don't want to spoil yet, but let's just say that not all of Tarina's underworld lives above the surface, and Ben Cacchione is working on new rules for factions which will leave your players rushing to up the ante!

You can start looking for these and more in the New Year and we'll be giving them away for FREE to everyone who pledged $25 or more (but not to our commercial donors).  We'll have more exciting news and some more on the details for all of you in about a month, but we wanted to give you something to look forward to for the holidays and to once again say 'Thank You!" for all of your incredible support.

A very Happy Solstice to each of you and our best wishes to you and yours for this holiday season!

Happy Holidays

Chris, and everyone at BlackStar Studios

Dear Friends,

There is so much for us to be thankful for today. For many of you in the United States, today is Thanksgiving.  The received story is that a harsh and difficult winter was made survivable by the assistance and generosity of unknown friends.  That's the story that I chose to carry with us all today.  You have helped to bring about not just a vision of a world, but to bring into being a long held Dream.  We can't thank you enough for that.

There is much to be done, there is a great deal for us to prepare, to write, to gather together, and finally, to share with you - our supporters.  But today is not the day for many of you to be worrying about that, we hope that you, like us, are with people you love and who give meaning to you.  So rather than send out a flurry of emails, a bevy of information and requests for information, we'll say simply instead - thank you.  Thank you so much for your trust and faith, thank you all for believing in us and getting us backed.  We really couldn't have done it without you.  We hope to preserve that faith and trust by giving you the very best we can, a product even better than what you expected.  We hope to treat you with the same feast you have given to us.

So, thank you, enjoy this time with those close to you, and you'll be hearing from us soon, with exciting news, details, and much more trying to keep our end of the bargain.

Our deepest thanks and best of wishes, you'll hear more from us very soon.

Chris Merwin

Publisher, BlackStar Studios

Dear Friends,

We've done it!  Actually, you've done it! You pulled us through with time to spare, A LOT of time to spare!  As of right now there's still 48 hours to go, that's almost two full days left for people to still donate, to still join the project which you believed in!

Now's its time to shine even brighter than before.  I'm still amazed and astounded at your generosity and support, your trust and faith in our Vision.  What do you say we share that idea?  With the time that's left I hope you will get out there and share the news of the success of the Shadowlands.  Here's what I would like you to do.  If you're not a gamer, but a friend who loves this idea, tell your gamer friends, tell ALL your friends, that we've been successful and they still have a chance to participate, and won't they check out this super cool project and get in on it while there is time left.

If you are a gamer, chances are you are on a forum somewhere, whether it's one of Paizo's forums, ENWorld.com, RPG.net, RPGGeek.com, Acaeum.com, the Cartographer's Guid, or any number of other wonder communities of gamers.  Let them know about us, let them know what you think!  Coming from us it sounds like advertising, coming from you, they'll know how excited you are.  Give them a link (this is a good one: http://kck.st/qOP9Re) and tell them to back us while there's still time, so they can share in the fun too!

If we make extra money here is what I promise to do with it -

• at $11,000 - we'll give you another map of the city, broken up into regions, showing the control of the mafia families and who's who! (we can't do a whole lot more as Kickstarter wants their 10% cut)
  
• at $12,000 - we'll give all backers at all levels a MINI-ADVENTURE, a side-story with several encounters we've been working on which will whet your appetite's for more of Tarina's seedy side! I think we can even go so far as to offer you two!
  
• at $13,000 - we'll give everyone at all levels a unique new monster, native to the ancient steamy jungles of Tar Sequinus! Not just any monster, and not just a set of stat blocks, but with real color art and unique to your special editions of the PDF or print editions.  That's right, yours will be a Limited Edition version, unavailable for purchase (in addition to those who bought signed and numbered editions).  And just for fun we'll toss in a short story set in the sultry Black Pearl of Tarina to sweeten the deal.
  
• at $15,000 - we'll significantly expand the size of the Tarina Guidebook for all backers at the $25 and above, 15 extra pages of art, NPCs, locations, Traits, Equipment, and Feats.
  

Alright gang!  You've been amazing, let's see what we can do with the remaining 48 hours!

Game on!

Chris Merwin,

Founder, BlackStar Studios