Final Text, Production Update, Backerkit, and VTT Update
4 days ago
– Sat, Mar 28, 2026 at 01:20:36 PM
Version 2 - Final Production Version
Hello our little spiders! We are happy to report that we just uploaded and deployed version 2.0 of The Widow's Web to DriveThruRPG. You should get an email alerting you that it's updated, but sometimes it doesn't always go through. Please go and check your account and make sure it's showing up for you. This text represents the final version that will be in the book. We're very happy with how it turned out and are once again very grateful to everyone that contributed to spotting any last minute errors.
There is a fun new addition in this version. We have added in Karl's hand written notes from his first ever Widow's Web from over 20 years ago. It's in the very back of the book. Go download and check it out. It's a super fun artifact. Also, now that you've hopefully had some time to download and read, please leave a review on DriveThru if it strikes your fancy. Every little bit helps!
Production and Backerkit
We are a little bit behind on when we wanted to get to Imago, but we have now submitted ALL the files to them for processing. We will be doing final administrative checks with them the beginning of this next week (invoicing, etc) but we should be off to the races on production now. As stated previously, as we begin to get production copies in, we will be sharing progress with you all.
This also means that we will be turning off our Backerkit store 4/4/2026 . So if you have been thinking about adding anything else to your order, now is the time to get it in, so we make sure to make it a part of our final invoicing. Here is the link: https://the-widows-web-trials-of-the-drow.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns! We will send out a reminder on 4/3.
VTT Update
The VTT is coming along nicely. Our VTT vendor (and former Widow's Web player) is really putting a lot of love and attention into it to make sure all the bells and whistles are included. For folks that have read the book in its entirety, you know there are a lot of special mechanics that need to be considered. This Wednesday (4/1) he's going to be showing us the "final" version of the Foundry module, which he considers to be the more difficult of the two to be pulled together. Once we sign off on that, he'll immediately start on the Roll20 version. No timeline on completion on both yet, but we are feeling hopeful about an end of April timeline for both.
We will continue to give updates as they come in.
General Notes
Finaling has eaten up our brains more generally. From here, we're going to pivot back to finishing the mini adventure. Mario has done most of the work there and we've kicked off some of the art. We're feeling pretty good about the direction, it just needs to go through the editing rock tumbler (which we've learned is a heck of a process). Nick is going to be more active with Imago and our shippers as we prepare for production and shipping. The tariff situation has clearly changed for the cheaper, but the conflict in Iran has now changed the cost of plastic to be more expensive. One thing changes and then another. You just kind of roll with it. Karl has been doing some proper ideation about the future of the Web and Ryan has been grinding away keeping us up to date on edits. It's a fun team, just trying to keep this thing on rails!
As always thank you all for your support. Let us know if you have questions.
Where Are We At? - Mar 14th, 2026 Update
19 days ago
– Sat, Mar 14, 2026 at 09:25:43 AM
Shoulda had this out a couple days back, but to paraphrase a sexy mathematician, "Life gets in the way." Sickness, day jobs, mental breakdowns, family, etc. etc.
Despite all that, we march on!
Physical Stuff
Our priority (still) is getting things printed so you have a Widow's Web you can touch. We keep finding things to correct and adjust, being mindful of the smallest details to make the book as good as possible. (I'll admit, if we had just sent everything to the printer when I thought it was all good to go... I would've been embarrassed by some of the errors that have been caught since then). Our printer is standing by, ready when we are.
But we're within a couple weeks of having it all sent to our vendor, and it's gonna be gorgeous.
Once everything is with the printer we'll be able to dial in the timeline estimate, so we'll all have a better idea of when it'll be in your hot little hands.
Digital Stuff
Did you get the PDF and the STLs? If not, tell us and we'll get new links sent to you! Not to brag, but several folks have told us some version of "Holy crap... this book is f'ing legit!"
If you agree, please leave a review on DriveThruRPG. It truly helps!
The VTT is being set up by a longtime veteran of the original Drow Game. He is treating it with as much love and skill as anything I've ever seen on a virtual RPG platform. He's finished two adventures on Foundry and will move into the third soon.
We had originally estimated end of February/beginning of March for the VTT but the Widow's Web has so many unique mechanics that it's taking extra time. That said, Foundry is the "more difficult" of the two to set up and we are making good progress. We will continue to keep you updated!
Minis on the March!
about 2 months ago
– Thu, Feb 05, 2026 at 01:46:01 PM
STLs
Nick would like to apologize to folks for the delay in getting these out to everyone. Turns out there was some more wrangling on our side than he realized, but we got it sorted. You should have another email from DriveThruRPG that has added each of the character classes and V’Ladra to your DriveThru account. We are really happy with how these models turned out and hope you like them too! For those people who are painting inclined, please send us photos of your paint jobs. We love seeing that sort of stuff! We will even post the kick ass ones... somewhere!
Karl Says “…Or Forever Hold Your Peace…”
We’ve gotten about 15-20 mistakes reported from you all out in Kickstarter land. First, thank you! Second, we are going to stop accepting edits/errors/shenanigans on 2/8/2026 and call the book READY FOR THE PRINTER. So, if you are sitting on a spicy edit or typo and just haven’t sent it our way, do so now or… you know…
Please Leave a Review!
If you've had a chance to flip through the book and like what you see, please leave us a review on DriveThruRPG! We would love to get your thoughts.
Final Laps
Karl just finished his run through the DM Screen. We’re doing a group review of it through this week. Ryan is finishing some updates to the back of the cards. And… those are the final things (along with the book edits above) for us to go to the printer. We've reached out to our printer already this week and started kicking off the work to get things rolling. We are nervous and excited… but mostly excited. We will be keeping you up to date, so hang in there!
Mini Adventure
We’ve kicked off production on the mini-adventure. Ryan is working on the maps and we have creature art currently being made. Mario has the first draft written and we are doing our group review still. The editing process (as we have learned) takes a bit of time, but we are making good progress. Will keep you up to date.
One of our community members sent us this:
Hey Karl, loving the widows web, looks like it will be a blast to run. I love the artwork you did of morgrax on the back cover and had him 3d printed.
And then they sent us a picture of a Morgax puppet they are making too!
How fun is that?! If anyone else has any fun Widow’s Web projects send them our way!
Ok, talk to you soon!
End of the Week Wrap Up
2 months ago
– Fri, Jan 23, 2026 at 01:33:20 PM
It’s Alive!
Thus closes the first week of the full text being out in the world! All things considered, it’s been a relatively quiet week on the customer service front. There were a couple folks missed, that we have since remedied. We’ve only had a handful of embarrassing edits discovered so far (like the whole missing beta reader section in the credits - sorry folks!). We will definitely be cutting a v2 before we go to publication. We’re exhausted, but ecstatic, and so thankful for everyone’s cool calm in this process.
What’s Next?
Now that we’ve got a hang of this DriveThruRPG situation, we have some minis we need to send your way. Nick is going to start exploring that this next week, with a delivery no later than early February. Mario is whipping the horses on getting edits on the mini-adventure pulled together, while the team starts to activate our artists and other sundry for it. Karl is reviewing the DM screen so we can finalize it as a team.
As we’ve said the past couple messages, our goal is to start moving to physical production in early February. Once we do the handoff to our partner, Imago, we’ll let you know. We also have our vendor work working on the VTTs. While we’ve hit an important milestone there’s still plenty left to do to bring you the full Widow’s Web experience.
In the meantime…
We’ve mentioned our friends over at Critical Crafting before. They’ve been a huge help in navigating the turbulent waters that are Kickstarting. They reached out and said, “Hey, we’re doing a treacherous and backstabby supplement this month! Want to do a collaboration together?” And of course we said, “How many backs do we get to stab?”
All joking aside, the folks over at Critical Crafting have a new 5e supplement out called Debauchery in Derelis. It’s full of pirates, treasures, and morally ambiguous decisions. Given that this group of people love drow, we figured you might be interested! To sweeten the pot, they’ve also graciously donated a mini STL, The Snatcher Shark, and some other goodies to go along with him (everything found in their Acolyte tier). Check out their websites below!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/open-post-in-147080789
Snatcher Shark download: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZyYVcc1h3qxyWhasvLu-jume0bih6dlt&usp=drive_fs
Acolyte tier download: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1oXBwQ_O_f6sTHhBNNv7cRkiv-_LugycK&usp=drive_fs
These links stop working on February 3rd, so download soon!
PDFs Deployed!
2 months ago
– Tue, Jan 20, 2026 at 08:58:52 PM
Emails Inbound
Hello again spiderlings! Please check your email! Your should have received an email from DriveThruRPG with your digital download of The Widow's Web: Trials of the Drow redemption link in it. As of this evening (we're doing it a little late here, sorry) we've already had a number of folks report they were able to claim successfully! We are super excited that we were able to get the digital book into your digital hands! If you have not received a link and believe you should have, please send us a message and we will look into it as soon as possible.
Reminder: Karl's Request
Per our last update, we've got a window of time here before we go to physical production where we can still make edits. If you find any errors/shenanigans/problems. please email [email protected] so he can review.
Onward!
We are going to do customer service for a few days and make sure everyone has their copy. Afterwards, on to physical production! We will send another email later in the week giving the all clear and give a quick update. Thanks again to everyone for your support.
