Ho Ho Holy Vineyard Update
4 months ago
– Thu, Dec 25, 2025 at 12:10:47 AM
I've been tidying up a lot of sections and stat blocks for our villains over the holiday season. All 8 Vineyard Lieutenants (and Aisling) are finished in their current state, pending further adjustment from playtesting & editor. All major locations are finished besides Rock Below, something I've entrusted to Basheer along with the faction the Muhannad Company, the muscle for Zalzalah who was featured in the last update. Other monster stat blocks, secrets, and contracts are the last major hurdle of the book.
Take a look at this pleasingly well-checked checklist.
Happy holidays and take care in this dreadful timeline.
Zalzalah, Company Commander
5 months ago
– Thu, Nov 20, 2025 at 04:01:09 AM
Howdy hey.
I appreciate everyone's patience. I'm in discussion with a publisher about the future of Vineyard and getting it to print. I don't want to give details just yet as we are not finalized!
As for the writing: I've given myself a deadline of Dec 31st for all draft writing left, which is within my grasp. Most bits of work that I'm going through are re-writes, tightening up mechanics, or missed bits here or there. Current word count for the book is around 85,000 which translates to 210 pages or roughly the average size of a WotC hardcover.
Zalzalah
Here is a preview of one of our Vineyard lieutenants, by Basheer Ghouse. She has two forms (and two stat blocks)! In addition, instead of a lair: she will have supporting NPC stat blocks for members of the Muhannad Company.
Art by Yorsy Hernandez
Remaining Work
- Clean up locations chapter
- Finish Contract chapter
- Complete Lieutenant contracts
- Additional monster stat blocks
Where We Are
about 1 year ago
– Thu, Apr 03, 2025 at 09:37:40 PM
Well this sucks.
Hey y'all.
Apologies for the lack of updates. I'm still deep in the work to finish and ship How To GM Romance and when I complete that, I can fully turn my attention back to Vineyard RPG. I only have so many hours since I now work full time at a "regular job", a decision I made late last year because I found life untenable without healthcare. I do apologize that another TTRPG project has taken priority over this one, but the reality is that that one pays, while this one costs me money to complete. The money I am making on that project is going toward completing this one and squaring my debts to contributors.
Furthermore, the recent tariff insanity has me fearful that I'll not be able to ship the physical copies at all. I'm already going to have to pay out of pocket to complete production. The additional raised funds from the BackerKit would have barely covered print/freight. Adding 54% to my current costs is not something I can ever hope to overcome.
Here's what I am I doing:
- I have some villains to wrap up design work on and a couple sections left to add to.
- Unfortunately, I don't have the capital to compensate ERF Jordan to completely edit this book, so I'll need to edit it myself.
- I'll have to learn layout.
- I'll continue production until the book is complete.
Still - I believe in the book and think you all will enjoy it. If you have not checked it out: please take a look at some of the villains in our playtest document. Take these spoopy guys and let your party tear em apart. Let me know what you think. Your feedback is important to me. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lnNK7yVxsP5pa9PUh3L8qWoRrwmEdPZdAYq04s6ReQM/edit?usp=sharing
Most of all: Thank you for your patience.
Friday
Vineyard RPG Playtest 1, January 2025
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Jan 14, 2025 at 05:50:43 AM
Playtesting Starts NOW
Hey y'all! Sorry for the long delay, as life has been very challenging for me of late. I've started a new day job, moved, and other personal things that I won't get into. Needless to say: Vineyard is still being produced. The biggest hurdle I am looking at is that I need to earn enough money to pay our talent what they're worth. If you or someone you know who is interested in VRPG has not already backed, it would help us immensely to have more pre-orders. Currently our pre-order sum just barely covers printing cost - not even freight!
That being said: please take your time to enjoy these 4 villains for playtesting. Feel free to share it around as you wish! My hope is that we build more interest in the full release this year before we close pre-orders, playtest these thoroughly, and ship to our wonderful backers.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lnNK7yVxsP5pa9PUh3L8qWoRrwmEdPZdAYq04s6ReQM/edit?usp=sharing
Current status of Vineyard RPG
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Nov 19, 2024 at 02:02:48 PM
Hey backers!
Thanks for your patience as always. I apologize for the lack of updates, but the reality is that production has been on hold as I get myself into a better financial and healthcare situation. I am still working through payments to our contributors for work that has been delivered to me. Once I have caught up with the payments I owe our contributors I will be chipping away at the narrative list below. As of right now I am pushing through freelance work which will pay me so I can settle these debts and finish Vineyard RPG.
What is mostly likely the outcome of exceeding my budget is that I am going to reduce the amount of art in the final product, prioritizing on things that matter the most to me. I'm picking up a majority of the narrative and design workload that remains due to budget constraints.
Stat-blocks
- Pallor (2nd draft) + Friday playtests
- Solicitor General (final draft) + Friday playtests
- Aisling (final draft) + Friday playtests
- Surgeon (1st draft) + Friday playtests
Districts
- Rock Below (likely to be greatly reduced in size)
Lore
- Contracts (w/ assist from Kimchi & Nat)
- Other Factions: Merc Company & League of Extraordinary Profits
Mechanics
- Contracts (w/ assist from Nat)
- Secrets (w/ assist from Nat)
Monsters
- #s 1-9 Monster guys (Friday)
Backer Stuff
- Backer NPCs 1-3
Altogether this is about 15,000 words to be drafted and many days of design work, playtesting, and refining. Our lead designer Nat will be working closely with me in 2025 to ensure we are releasing the best possible product.
