The All New Gobber's Guide to Hearth and Home

Progress, Challenges and the Final Stages
over 1 year ago – Mon, Jun 16, 2025 at 02:27:18 PM

Hey everyone!

First of all, sorry it has been a little bit! The health issues I talked about in our last update have sadly persisted, and while I am improving, things are moving a bit slower than I'd have liked. I do want to thank you all for all the support you have shown, your messages have really helped me through a tough period, and have helped me to push through to complete more of the logistics of this project.

The other reason I haven't shared much is because, simply put, there haven't been a lot of exciting things to share. Progress continues, and the book is a lot more ready than it was before, but the last thing I want to do is spam your inboxes with updates that simply come down to "We've done more writing!" Instead, I'd rather wait until I have a bit more for you. This brings me to today's update, where, in the spirit of full transparency, I'm going to break down exactly where we are in production, as well as exactly what challenges we have remaining (spoiler, it's just one big one).

Digital Book

I will not bury the lead, the digital copy of the book is not going to be going out this month, but we are not also expecting a huge delay. You should all be receiving it by the end of July. We want the finished product to be worth the wait, and as such, those additional weeks will do wonders to help us polish and apply final design tweaks.

Playtesting has also finished, with the final rules ready for implementation. As proof, please enjoy a few snippets of the book!

Physical Book

While the actual writing of the book is progressing well, we are facing challenges regarding the logistics of the physical copies.

We mentioned previously that, with the situation of global trade as it is, several stumbling blocks have appeared for us. The Unlimited Realms team has always adopted a policy of honesty with our backers, and this is going to be no different. TLDR: With global tariffs rising, our original plans for production & distribution are now too expensive for a print run of our scale. We are searching for a new printing partner that ticks our requirements, but this is proving to be a challenge.

To start, when we built our Kickstarter, we had a printing plan, working with a Printer based in China that would be within the budget we had accommodated for when we set our goal. The original budget was the most cost-effective option that still ensured a good-quality product, with plans to scale up if the Kickstarter had raised additional funds.

However, when tariffs were introduced earlier this year, an extra cost was added to that cheapest option, meaning it no longer fit into the budget we had calculated. We immediately started looking for alternative options, however, most printers have a minimum order limit, which our original printing partner did not. So not only must we find a printer that fits within our budget, but is also able to print a rather small amount of books (under 1,000 copies). 

In an ideal world, we would be able to work with a US or European-based printer and print extra copies that we can sell after distributing Kickstarter rewards. Larger companies (who are facing similar issues) have been able to do that, but we sadly do not have the resources to do this. And to be clear, Dave and I already made the decision to not pay ourselves for any work on Gobber's to help the situation. 

The Solutions

We have a plan to resolve this situation. We are currently in talks with a printer that, while more expensive than our original budget, would be more cost-effective than continuing with our initial plan. To make this work, we are exploring a couple of options, involving discussions with publishers, to collaborating with other industry figures to raise further funds through a combination of deals and promotions at events. 

Currently, we can't confirm a timeline for delivering the Physical, but we are still confident in being able to deliver them. We are not giving up, and are working hard to get the copies in your hands as early as possible. We will of course keep you updated as to the situation, so you know what to expect every step of the way. 

Future Projects

Because there is this delay on the Physical delivery, I wanted to take a moment to share a little more about the general future of Unlimited Realms. 

Almost everything we make from our Kickstarters gets put back into the project. Dave and I make very little on each project (as mentioned above, with Gobber's, nothing). This means that every project we do could very well be our last. That's why delivering the best product we can is so important to us: we've taken five years to build our reputation, and we'll be darned if we're going to let you guys down now.

Unlimited Realms has been quietly collaborating and working on a new project for some time now. Originally this was intended to launch after the physical delivery of Gobber's, but due to the delays with printing, it may go live beforehand.

We want to reassure you: until every physical copy has been distributed, Gobber's will remain our top priority. The book is fully written, and we’re actively working to secure the right printing partner. We haven’t given up on delivering the physical copies you’ve been waiting for. In fact, the success of any future project will directly support the delivery of Gobber’s. Every bit of profit earned from Unlimited Realms will be put towards our printing solution that meets the standards you deserve.

Again, I want to thank you all for your patience. Our next update will be focusing on the delivery of digital editions, and again, we love you all.

Many thanks, 
Mat

Hospitals Visits, Tariffs and Monster Playtests!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Mar 28, 2025 at 02:13:25 PM

Hey everyone, 

I know a number of people have been wanting an update, and normally I would of done one much sooner (as well as release a couple of playtest packets over the last month as previously promised!) so first off I want to explain why there has not been any communication since the last update. 

A bit of a warning, it has been a rough month for me, which I will explain in detail below, but includes hospital visits and illness as well as brief mention of uncertainty on shipping tariffs, if these are details you would rather not dive into, I completely understand. We do have some exciting things to share, where I will also include a summary of what our delivery timeline is currently looking like at the end of the update, in the section titled "Looking Forward and MANY Playtests!" 

 At the beginning of the month I was rushed into hospital being incredibly sick, with a lot of pain, drifting in and out of consciousness. It turned out that I had a severe infection that has caused sepsis. The illness kind of hit me hard and pretty much out of no where and put me in a bad condition. I stayed in Hospital a week, before being set up to go back home, continuing on a number meds, with the strict orders of staying in bed (not that I could really do much but sleep at the time.) As you can imagine, during this time I was unable to get much work done, what little energy I did have had to be used towards my day job (I am a work from home video editor) to keep my income, which was still difficult as I could only really do something for an hour before the effort left me in a lot of pain. Since then I have been resting, and while I am still in pain and still on different antibiotics, the last week or so I have finally started getting back up to speed. 

What does this mean for Gobbers?

So as I have talked about before, there are only two of us here and Unlimited Realms Ltd, myself and Dave, so with me out, we essentially lost 50% of our writing force, not to mention I handle most of the game design elements. Dave worked hard to make sure things didn't grind to a halt, but the work he could focus on would of been done by him, whether I had been available or not. This means that we are currently a month behind where we were expecting to be right now, with very little progress being made since my last update. I am hitting things hard to try and make up the time, starting with two Playtest updates that I have just put live on our Patreon, more on that at the end, but the sad truth is this will push back our book release further from the end of May, to the end of June. I hate to say this, but as I try to get up to speed, I would rather say end of June and find we will be ready closer to the end of May, than say end of May, then find things will be pushed back a few weeks.

Tariffs and How Gobbers Might Be Effected

This is just a small bit I wanted to add, as I am sure everyone is aware right now, there are a number of tariffs being set up in different countries, on a number of good and products being imported, including a general tariff being levied in a country where a large number of you are. I just wanted to let you know, Dave and I are keeping an eye on these, as they could greatly effect when and how we deliver books to people. Considering the changing situation, there is a chance that these may not be in effect when we ship and it is nothing to worry about, however, I wanted to make mention of it so If it comes to June and there is an issue, you are not completely surprised by it. We will also keep you informed of what exactly it might mean.

Looking Forward and MANY Playtests

So in conclusion, sadly, our expected end date has to be shifted back a little more to the end of June. However, it is not all negative, with my much improved health, I have dived in and tried to make up for lost time, along with some things I had finished off before I had gotten ill. We have just posted on our Patreon and Discord a collection of 10 new magic items for playtesting, as well as the first 6 Monsters from Gobbers for Playtesting! The items range from legendary Armour, to Magic Potions, and the Monsters introduces NPCs from the Architect Guild, Magically created guards, the Hall Monitors and finally, the Huge Titanic Devourer, on the prowl for some buildings to eat! So head over now to download!

But wait, there's more! One of the last things I did before everything happened this month, was officially sign off on our map tiles by Venatus, for the build your own base map tiles! This add on comes with 20 tiles, that combines elements of all your base building options from the book, so that you can build a battle map of your players base so they can really explore it and make it their own. These maps are even compatible with other battle maps, so combine them with any you already own to make a truly unique base! Take a look at our first few sneak peek below, and if you haven't already, add them to your order now on backerkit! (availble in both physical and digital versions!)

Thank you again for your support. During this tough time and everything that has happened this month, there was not a day where I didn't think about you guys and making Gobbers for you. Not just worrying that I was losing time working on it, but coming up with ideas and thoughts to include, while I was stuck in bed. 

Thank you all, 
Mat from Unlimited Realms

Items Play Testing, Progress made and Backerkit charged!
over 1 year ago – Sat, Feb 08, 2025 at 10:42:23 AM

Hey Everybody!

First off, I hope everyone's 2025 is off to a great start! As promised, wanted to jump on and give you a bit of an update, as well as point you over to our first batch of Magic Item playtesting over on our Patreon (Don't worry, they are still free to download, but more on those later!)

Things have been a little delayed in writing this last month. This is due to my Mother being rushed to hospital and me having to step up and give support and assistance now shes back home. These delays shouldn't effect the overall timeline for Gobber's, but as always, I believe in 100% transparency in things. This is also why you will not have seen as much communication from me on socials or here, what little time I have,  I want to spend getting the book finished and polished. Now new stuff!

NEW STUFF!

As mentioned above, we have made some real progress with the book, more and more art is being completed and we are in the process to going back and tweaking things that play-testing has shown need tweaking! All the character building content is pretty much finalized, with the whole section of the book now in the hands of our graphic designer to finish off, and we have started the process of finalizing the Base building parts of the book. In fact, enjoy some new pieces of artwork of different bases you can build with Gobbers!

With this chapter being finished off, we are going to start shifting more onto the Items and Monsters section of the book, the last big section of new content, with rules and playtesting needed.  As mentioned above, you can go playtest our first batch of Magic items, which more coming later in the month (As well as a few monsters to try out!) Please keep an eye out on our Patreon page or our discord, as we will be sharing these there.

Backerkit Add-ons and Pre-orders Charging

Lastly, as pre-warned in our last update, our Backerkit will now be charging cards for all Add-ons and Pre-orders. You will still be able to get Pre-orders there, but everything will now be charged as you order it! Check out the Pre-order store if you want to get your copies of Gobbers!

Thank you again for all your support! As always we will give another update next month (or sooner if something comes up!) as we start to look towards release!

Many thanks, 
Mat

Getting the new year off to a FLYING start!
almost 2 years ago – Wed, Jan 08, 2025 at 11:06:08 AM

 Hey everyone, 

First of all, I hope you all had a fantastic holiday period and a spectacular New Year! It has been a pretty crazy one for Dave and I at Unlimited Realms, I have been working hard, getting more and more things finished for Gobbers, ticking bits off that to-do list ready for the finished product! However, more importantly, Dave and Mrs Dave from Unlimited Realms welcomed a new child over the new year! 

Gobbers Progress

Despite a lot going on, we have plenty of progress with the book, we are currently internally testing magic items and monsters, so expect those to start going out for play testing via our Patreon (Don't expect everything to be going out there, some things we will keep to internal testing... gotta leave you guys some surprises!) as well as us continuing our schedule of sharing more content from previous projects there too soon!

And as a little taste, we have started to get an influx of artwork for the book. So as a small preview, here is a couple of items, presented without context or names, to whet your appetites!

I have also been working on writing some of the less rules related things, helping to flesh out the world of Gobbers and expanding on the Roleplay elements of, how to build your base into a settlement and beyond. I cannot wait to show you guys more!

Pre-orders and Add-on being charged

So as previously mentioned. We have been using Pre-orders to help unlock some extras, and I can announce that we have raised an additional 5k via them! This means that Flying bases are unlocked! (More on that in a moment) Sadly there comes a point where we have to stop working towards stretch goals or we will be writing Gobbers forever! As such, the 8th of February is our cut off for Stretch Goals. You WILL still be able to Pre-order and purchase add-ons, but  they will not count towards unlocking further goals. 

In addition, on the 8th of February, we will be charging cards for any add-ons or pre-orders purchased through Backerkit. This means if you have pledged for any of these through backerkit, and the money has not been charged, this is when you will be charged for it. We wanted to give you guys plenty of notice. This will not end Pre-orders and Add-ons, but it does mean if you purchase any after the 8th of Feb, your card will be charged right away. We will be allowing orders to continue right up to us sending through the final printing order to our printers. Also, as a reminder, this still does not include shipping costs, as previously mentioned on the kickstarter and backer kit, shipping costs will not be charged until printing begins. 

And why are shipping costs held off so long?

Because shipping costs can rise and fall quite a lot in a short space of time, what would cost £20 shipping one week, could cost £20.50 the next, which doesn't sound like a lot and prices will not vary too greatly from our estimates on the kickstarter, but a slight difference on a thousand orders racks up, and we do not want to over charge or under charge you guys on shipping, and cause delays or issues with your orders. 

Wait, did you say Flying bases are unlocked?

Yes and, now the important logistics stuff is out of the way, I can't wait to give you a sneak peek! You will have seen an early draft of the rules in our Base Building Playtest, but honestly, writing the expanded rules, as well as ideas around them for your roleplays has been alot of fun. Considering it wasn't in my original plans, it may be one of my favourite things. And the ART. Our amazing concept artist is putting together a beautiful finished design as we speak, but to help spark your imagination (and because I need to share it with someone!) take a look at the early sketches she put together!

We are so excited to share more, and now that we are past the holiday period, expect to see more and more information come through!

PS - Everytime something goes wrong and a project gets delayed, IT is a complete gut punch, we never want to let you down. So our last update was a really tough one to write, but your support and understanding means so much to us and completely blew me away. I just wanted to add a personal thank you. It truly makes me more determined to make this book something you are proud to own. 

Until next time! 
Love
Mat from Unlimited Realms

Previews, Updates and Delays
almost 2 years ago – Thu, Dec 05, 2024 at 11:33:37 AM

Hey everyone, I really hope everyone is doing well!

Well, they always say to start with the bad news, so I won't bury the lead. Dave and I have decided to push back the expected release of Gobber's back to May 2025. We know it really sucks and we are gutted that there would be any delay on this project, but there were some pretty unavoidable circumstances forcing us to do so.

First of all the last few months has brought some pretty tough times. A number of our contributors have been effected by the Natural disasters in the US as well as other tough personal circumstances. Dave and I hold two things sacred, delivering and end product that smashes your expectations, and a welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone we work with. Delaying means we don't have to compromise the quality of your books, and that everyone working on it is not faced with horrible deadlines and a "crunch time" mentality. 

On a more personal note, as some of our discord members are aware, I recently lost my home on very short notice and had to relocate my life across the country. With only Dave and I writing the book, it means things have fallen behind, and this will mean we can deliver the book you all deserve!

Updates, Previews and more, Oh my!

However, I want to emphasis, all is not doom and gloom, and that progress has been made! We are getting more art in every day and while some parts of the book are yet to be finished, some are progressing rapidly! The first of the exciting new content to share is the first glimpse at our map tiles by Venatus, available as an add on through backer kit, and as part of the special edition reward!

But that is not all! We have been getting more and more artwork completed, with these first pieces from our new artist, Larily!  With a new look at our new Home Gnome race

As well as a special greeting from a familiar face...

And as promised, take a look at the first look at some pages, now going through the final touches (final art pending!)

This is just the beginning, with the whole character creation section of the book now getting put together and polished, with just a few bits of art still being worked on for it. 

This is just a sample of what is being worked on, as we are more excited than ever to bring you all a book you will spend hours pouring over! If you are itching for more, head over our patreon, were the playtest material for Races, Classes and Base building is already up, with Feats and Background being added in the coming week. 

In addition, if you have any further questions, head over to our discord to chat with us directly. As always you are all honestly amazing, and while you might have to wait a little longer for things, hopefully, everything you've seen shows, it'll be worth the extra wait.

Mat from Unlimited Realms.