After all the years leading to this moment... IT'S HERE!!!

Here are a bunch of photos of our big day in the warehouse.

















A second container will arrive early next week with the remainder of the print run. Soon people will start receiving ship notifications and tracking... I even managed to get a few dozen packages into the hands of UPS before the end of the day, but please be patient! It will take us a while to get everything done, especially given that the warehouse is currently in the midst of a couple of other fulfillment projects.

Despite feeling a compulsion to spend the entire weekend packing and labeling boxes, I will be spending Saturday and Sunday at Excalibur Con, a pleasant little gaming/SF/fandom convention here in Duluth. We don't go to a lot of conventions these days, but this one is just down the hill, our whole family enjoys it, and Atlas Games is delighted to be there.

Given the vast geographic dispersion of our backers (as I was preparing for shipping I realized that nearly half our rewards are going outside the USA!), YOU, dear reader, are probably not going to be at the convention. But if you are (we do have quite a few backers within driving distance!), stop by the booth (booths 82-83 in South Pioneer Hall) and say hi!

-John Nephew
President & Co-owner, Atlas Games

I just want to dash off an update before I head to the warehouse today.

Tariffs have been delaying our first container. Since the total estimated tariffs were over $2000, we had to pay before the broker cleared customs, and for some reason it has taken Freightos more than a week to acknowledge receipt of our bank transfer and green light the broker to clear customs. That has finally happened, so we have a reasonable belief that our first shipping container will be delivered to our warehouse today or tomorrow.

Unfortunately, the new tariff that was just set in place does NOT have an exemption for books, as was the case with previous iterations. But once again it is being challenged in court so maybe someday we'll get a refund.

The second container is crossing Canada right now, and is expected to be in Minneapolis tomorrow, and should be delivered to us early next week.

This is a crazy busy month in our warehouse; besides more than 4,000 packages with Ars Magica Definitive, we have several large client fulfillment projects already underway and due to arrive soon. We're going to be all hands on deck for the rest of the summer working to get boxes out the door as fast as we can.

Shipping costs (and fuel surcharges in particular) have increased since we set our shipping rates. I'm looking at some new alternatives to minimize the increased expense, so we'll wind up using some different carriers than we'd originally expected in some cases. We're also going to be spending a little bit more in some cases simply to increase the volume we can send out with carriers each day. We knew that fulfillment was going to 

Most backers don't need to do anything - you're paid up, your order is already set up in shipstation, ready for a label to print.

BUT...some backers still need to help us out! This include people who had unsuccessful charges, and people who backed at the $1 level and might want to upgrade their pledge now (or confirm that you don't want to), and people who warned us of an imminent move and we're awaiting an updated ship-to address. Also, we're going to reach out to retailer backers to check on final order adjustments and additions, now that shipping is imminent.

For any communication about your pledge, it is best to contact us by e-mail at [email protected]. This is an account monitored by multiple people so it's the fastest way to make sure we see and take care of your issue. In particular, if your address has changed and you didn't already warn us, do not delay!

Finally, a reminder about international shipping, duties, taxes, fees. If you are in the UK, Canada, USA or EU, you should not be receiving any additional charges on delivery. If you do, something went wrong! Tell us so we can fix it ASAP.

In other countries, you MIGHT get a bill that you need to pay to receive your goods. You'll need to look into your local policies and regulations, which may have changed since this campaign ran almost two years ago. We're trying to minimize any fees and expenses for our international backers, but ultimately we don't control what happens at your border and honestly can't predict it.

We're so proud and excited about Ars Magica Definitive Edition, and can't wait to hear about copies arriving in the hands of our sodales all over the world.

-John Nephew
President/Co-owner, Atlas Games

Our original ship for our Ars Magica container was overbooked, it turns out. But that only delayed it a week, and it's on the water now with a new port ETA of Aug 1. It's then estimated to reach Minneapolis by rail on August 10. It still needs to clear customs at that point, before driving the last leg to Duluth via truck. If things go well, that could be just a couple days, or it could be a week or more depending. 

Here's a nifty map to watch the ship cross the Pacific: https://www.vesselfinder.com/?imo=9312767

 

Open License Images Downloads: Now that my co-producer Ben Hartfield has some space to breathe, he's put together a package of high resolution downloads (at least, as hi-rez as actually exist), for all the images we released under our open license for Ars Magica. You can download those in the sidebar on the Ars Magica Open License page (at the bottom under Released Images).

Then, check out this new fan content for Ars Magica Open License …

Wisdom of the Deserts: Ars Magica content centered on the Levant tribunal. There are 42 separate products available on the Patreon!

A Tale of Two Free Cities on DriveThruRPG & RPGTrader: A mystery adventure for the Curse of the Rhine Gorge saga (from Guardians of the Forests). When an Infernal tractatus is found in the possession of an NPC that turned on the Covenant, the troupe has one lead: something is rotten in the city of Köln. The first thread of this corruption leads to a nunnery in the city of Köln, where the characters can find clues leading to Wetzlar, which is being corrupted by Infernal forces. This is a multi-location sandbox, where the characters have the opportunity to make supernatural allies to battle the forces of the Infernal. Incorporating real events and historical personalities, it slots into a high-research saga; includes a foreword by local historian Felix A. Masak.

There are OVER SIXTY fan titles on DriveThruRPG now. Check them out here!
Want to work on your own Ars Magica project? See the details of the Open License!

-Michelle Nephew
Atlas Games Co-Owner

Ars Magica Definitive will soon be sailing the Mythic Seas, on its way to us here in the New World! Its ship is scheduled to depart on July 4th (our Independence Day, coincidentally). 

A neat thing that's new for this trip is GPS tracking on our INDIVIDUAL CONTAINER. Jenae Floerke is our Shipping Coordinator, and she mentioned that in the past we've gotten distraught fan comments about how "IT'S GONE BACK OUT TO SEA!" when the tracking is on the SHIP at port. Not so this time! You should be able to watch our container move across the countryside by rail and truck, straight to our warehouse in Duluth MN.

Check out the latest fan releases under the Ars Magica Open License:

Elder Magi Volume I - Audrey du Verditius: Profiles a brilliant, eccentric master artisan of House Verditius. Alongside her complete sheet, this PDF introduces the Confraternity of Arachne, a brand-new textile and silk-working Hermetic Confraternity, plus it gives full statistics for her customized Laboratory, enchanted Talisman, personal Familiar, and unique magical items, the library of Hermetic books she has authored, and mystic initiations she underwent to attain her power.

Peregrinatores on DriveThruRPG and RPG Trader: Take up your staff and travel the Rhine Tribunal! Supported by ancient legal rights of hospitality, peregrinatores are magi who wander from covenant to covenant, staying a few years at each, performing service or paying vis in exchange for the use of the library or a laboratory. Eventually they join covenants and settle down, but the friends and enemies they make in their wandering years can last a lifetime. This supplement details the peregrinatores, their lifestyle and culture, and the challenges they face. It also includes a guide to the covenants of the Rhine Tribunal, additional rules for itinerant magi, and rules for solo play.

The Faith & Flame Toolkit: Jason Tondro is working on a FREE aid for storyguides and players that provides tools for quickly starting a new saga in the Provençal tribunal, based out of the covenant of the Coenobium. This project is still in development, but the initial version available for download now.

There are OVER SIXTY fan titles on DriveThruRPG now. Check them out here!
Want to work on your own Ars Magica project? See the details of the Open License!

In other Open License news, we're thrilled to have just released our Magical Kitties Save the Day RPG under the same Creative Commons license as Ars Magica!

To celebrate, we're giving way a HUGE digital prize package worth $90 to the first 30 people who post Open License content for Magical Kitties on DriveThruRPG, by July 31st! Help us launch this new open license fan community with your own contribution …

-Michelle Nephew
 Atlas Games Co-Owner