The Widow's Web: Trials of the Drow - A Competitive 5e Mode

Jan 2nd, 2025 Update - Happy New Year!
about 1 year ago – Thu, Jan 02, 2025 at 11:40:19 AM

Happy new year, you spidery champions!

 

Surveys a'comin!

The backer surveys will be sent out the week of January 13th

 

The surveys will ask for your shipping address and you'll have a chance to get add-ons. Did you want an extra set of our dice? Or the sweet GM screen? Then make sure to order them in the survey.

 

Please fill these out for us when you get a chance. It helps us work with our suppliers and make sure we don't under or over order. Thanks for helping us avoid making waste in the world!

 

Shipping Note

One important note: shipping costs will be charged at a later date, much closer to actual shipping and not at the time of the backer surveys. There are many unanswered economic questions in the world at this moment that will affect shipping costs in October (our ship date).

 

To ensure we don't under or over-charge you beautiful arachnids, we are going to wait until a few weeks before fulfillment to set shipping charges.

 

You will be notified of these prices BEFORE they are charged. 

 

Book Progress Update

As mentioned above, Web 3 is all laid out! Now it's down to proofreading and art. And speaking of art...

Alex Jury, who created our "Backstab" image in our advertisements, has graced us with another incredible piece. This is an image of Headmistress Helaena of Widowfang Academy. You want to do well in her class.

December 17th, 2024 Update
over 1 year ago – Wed, Dec 18, 2024 at 05:33:15 PM

Backer Survey Update 

Well... more of a repetition than an update. As reported in the last update, things are progressing with the backer surveys and it's looking good to have them sent out in early January (either the week of Jan. 6th or week of the 13th). 

And again, do not worry about missing it. If you're paying attention to email, Kickstarter, or our Discord we will send out messages on all channels about it when they go live. 

Pages and Art and Pages of Art!

Ryan is nearly done laying out Web 3! Woo! In fact, he may be done by the time you read this. There is still a lot to do, but I'm shouting about this achievement because there are some Kickstarters (who shall remain nameless) that don't even finish writing their main book until a year after the campaign. 

Yay us! 

Also, all the art for Web 1 is done! No more placeholders in that section of the book! We have quite a bit of the Web 2 art in our hands too. Since we are working entirely with human artists, the visuals are the thing that takes the longest. We want the book to be as awesome as possible (and free of AI "art") so it's worth the time. 

Happy holidays from all of us and be wicked this winter!

And hope that you don't run into this chap under the mistletoe...

December ‘24 Update
over 1 year ago – Thu, Dec 05, 2024 at 05:51:53 PM

Compatibility!

Another 5e sourcebook I backed on Kickstarter had to make a wild pivot and offer different versions of their book for the 2014 and 2024 5e rules. 

This made me want to restate that The Widow’s Web: Trials of the Drow is compatible with both 2014 and 2024 rules. All in one book!

The foundation is 2014 but there will be 2024-specific notes and suggestions, but NOT an entirely separate 2024 book. The editions will co-exist within our pages.

Surveys News

This was mentioned in an earlier update, but we plan to have backer surveys sent out in early January. There’s a LOT to set up in the systems to get those out. We’ll post here when we are about to send them, when they get sent, and at intervals to remind folks to fill them out. 

If you’re reading this, you'll be getting those notifications and will not miss the news when the backer surveys are ready!

Grand Widow Mother V'ladra: High Priestess of Malarachne

You haven’t experienced the full glory of V’ladra yet, but she is a pivotal figure in the Widow’s Web and the society of the Umbral drow city of Karik’Marz. Here’s the latest art of this powerful priestess:

A Huge Thank You! The Mother Spider Blessed Our Campaign!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Nov 22, 2024 at 08:41:00 AM

We want to extend a massive THANK YOU to everyone. You are the reason we have come this far and why we are going to have a high-quality, three adventure tome instead of a black and white, art-free, one Web pdf. 

All of us are blown away by how you all showed up and we can't express enough gratitude.

Eight Stretch Goals Unlocked!

With that last minute push, we crested the $100K mark and you lucky backers will be getting a mini-adventure on top of the three one-shot Webs in the main book and all the other extra goodies. Only one goal was out of reach, that's a hell of a good percentage. 

What Now?

There's a lot of logistical effort that will be going on for the next few weeks, so be on the lookout for the reward survey that should hit your email inboxes early January (we'll shout from the rooftops when it's on its way). 

We'll also be posting updates about the progress we make on the contents of the book, the stretch goals, and other bundle items. I'll strive to post every two weeks at most (don't want to flood y'all) and pledge there will never be more than a month between updates. 

Thank you all once more, from the bottom of our cold, scheming hearts!

THREE DAYS LEFT! Plus a Dev Interview and Web One Playthrough!
over 1 year ago – Mon, Nov 18, 2024 at 07:52:15 AM

Three Days! 

We’re in the home stretch! Now’s the time to upgrade your pledge tier, as these discounted prices will be gone forever in merely three days! And if we really push it in these last moments, we can get to that next stretch goal!

Really Dicey Interviews Karl and Mars

If you want a peek into the minds of two of the Widow’s Web designers, and some insight into where this whole idea came from, you can see Karl and Mars interviewed on the Really Dicey YouTube channel. Manny was a generous host and we really appreciate the time he took to talk to us. Check out this interview and his other vids!

d20Play plays Web One!

SPOILER ALERT! Tom Christy and the d20play crew played Web 1 and have posted a video of their exploits. It’s amazing to see others experience the adventure and Tom did an absolutely fantastic job running it and setting up the online playspace. 

Be warned! If you want to be surprised, this is the actual first Web that is in the book! But when you are planning to run it yourself, we highly recommend watching this video to get a solid grounding for GMing it.

Quick Question...

While we wait for the main campaign to wrap up, I have a question for you all: What class or multi-class build would you create to face the Umbral drow goddess Malarachne’s challenges? (Answer in the comments!)