Day 3 - Community Miniature & Give-Away!
over 1 year ago – Mon, Nov 28, 2022 at 01:35:25 PM

Hi everybody! 

We'll dive right into it as we have a few things to cover in this update! 

Day 3 Unlocks: 

The first unlock is the Community Miniature(s?)! Read more about that further down in the update. 

The second unlock is a new Add-on, Bernadette's Toys, a set of 8 accessories. Backers of our last campaign may notice that the sad bunny in the background is actually Jenny's Rabbit, but as it was never released as part of a set, we thought it would fit in nicely here.  

If you're interested in seeing how the Dunkeldorf characters become actual miniatures, then you might be interested in watching Sonny do his magic tomorrow when he's live streaming the first sculpting session of this Kickstarter!

There'll be two live sculpting streams tomorrow (Saturday) at 15:00 to 17:00 CET and then again from 19-21. Sonny will start working on the two Mutant Kids Bibi & Bubi from scratch. We'll make a post on our Facebook page when the stream starts and you can also keep an eye on Sonny's Twitch channel. 

The Community Miniature(s?): 

This tradition began with our second Kickstarter where a Dunkeldorf character based on ideas from our backers was created. In our last campaign we made an even bigger event out of it and concepts of three ideas were drawn and turned into miniatures. 

We don't know for sure how many ideas we will end up throwing into the mix this time, even more so because, we have decided to open up for pets/animals ideas as well! 

That means that we can only say for sure that we will add 1 Community Miniature to this campaign, but there's a possibility for more. 

On Monday, we will pick some of the ideas that we like the most and then begin exploring these ideas together with Christian and figure out how they can be turned into miniatures that fit into Dunkeldorf. The result will be a concept drawing from Christian as you're used to seeing for the regular Stretch Goal miniatures. 

Depending on how many concepts/ideas we end up with, we will do a vote to determine what concepts the majority of you would like to see getting turned into miniatures. As this is a short campaign, this may not be until after the end of the campaign, but we'll see how things go and how much spare time we have!  

How do we do this?

All ideas are very welcome, but we want to keep the line of miniatures consistent and the goal is that all of the Community Miniatures can fit into Dunkeldorf, so we have included a few pointers below that might be helpful :)

• The character does not have to be related to the theme of this Kickstarter. It could be any character that you feel would fit into Dunkeldorf. But if you have ideas that fit the theme, it's more than great! 

• The Dunkeldorf Miniatures are "Low-Fantasy" with the vast majority being humans, but also with a few dwarfs, halflings and elves (And a couple of ogres!). We want to stick to that, so tieflings, dragonborn etc. are unlikely to be chosen. As something new, ideas for pets and animals are an option too! 

• More than one idea is welcome and coming up with specific quirks or details the character might have are even more welcome! 

•  Please write your idea as a comment for this update and not in the comments section of the campaign (If you're on your phone, click the "Leave a Comment" button)

All ideas are welcome, even if it might not be a perfect fit for Dunkeldorf. 

All ideas are subject to our interpretation, and they may not end up exactly as the idea you had in mind, but hopefully you'll like the end result even if that's the case!

The Give-Away

To participate in the Give-Away, you'll need to help with the Community Miniature ideas! We will randomly select 3 backers who have commented in this update with a Community Miniature idea. They will win a Dunkeldorf mug and a little bag with extra Dunkeldorf Miniatures/Accessories that we feel goes well with your pledge. 

The winners of the Give-Away won't be announced until after the campaign and the prizes will be shipped out together with their pledges. 

We hope you'll want to be part of the Community Miniature Event, so please share your ideas with us! In case we get very few ideas (Or none at all) we'll throw in a couple of our own ideas as a backup plan, but we hope that won't be necessary. The deadline to tell us your ideas and to participate in the Give-Away is Monday 10:00 CET!

We may not post an update tomorrow (I'll have a busy day taking photos for the future updates), but we plan on sending out updates on all other days of the Kickstarter. But no matter what, we'll still reveal the Day 4 Unlocks on the campaign page tomorrow :D 

Have a wonderful weekend! 

- Nana & Nicki

Day 2 & Ghartek Geldmann
over 1 year ago – Mon, Nov 28, 2022 at 01:27:27 PM

Hi everybody! Thanks again for your support and for giving us such a wonderful launch day!

Below you can see the Day 2 Unlocks if you haven't already seen them on the campaign page. Further down we have a story about Ghartek's first day in Dunkeldorf written by Mark Warren. You may remember that we're working on a Dunkeldorf RPG Sourcebook. Mark has joined our team to help make that a reality and we're so excited about it! We'll have more information about our book plans in a future update :)

Day 2 Unlocks

This is Bibi, Bubi's sister, just like her brother she's hiding in the sewers of Dunkeldorf and tries to make the best of things, and honestly, things aren't as bad as it would seem for Bibi. We'll tell more about Bibi & Bubi later on!

All Silver & Gold backers will now receive two A5 Art Prints illustrated by Christian Schwager, one of Ghartek and one of Max. 

We'll be back tomorrow with the Day 3 Unlocks and an update about the Community Miniature(s?). We hope that you'll want to be a part of the Community Miniature Event that has now become a tradition in our Kickstarters! More details to come tomorrow :D 

Ghartek "Geldmann" the Imperial Banker

Ghartek dropped his opulent leather case to the floor and wiped the dust from the aging desk. This would do nicely. It was his first visit to Dunkeldorf, and he had rented this abandoned building for a pittance to use as an office while he was in town to sign the new von Struttendorf account, an extraordinarily affluent account indeed, by human standards. He hoped to increase his quarterly profits by acquiring additional accounts while he was in town. The opportunities for investment were ripe, with the festival in full swing.

The building was old, but serviceable and it was right on the Mondplatz in full view of the festival crowds! He could add a few banners and a painting here and there and it would easily represent the respectable demeanor that he preferred to present to his clientele.

Ghartek stepped out of his new office and into the festival crowds, flanked of course, by his bodyguards. His appointment with the von Struttendorfs was not until the evening, and he had time to enjoy the festival. There were colorful awnings covering festive stalls, street performers, and folk from all walks of life celebrating the coming event. Ghartek walked down the steps and his bodyguards, dark-haired human brothers that were both tall and wide, anticipated his direction and parted the crowd with menacing looks. 

Ghartek ignored them, focusing more on the season’s clothing choices. Many had worn their best to the festival, and Ghartek, being a bit of a fashionista, could not help but judge their choices. Most wore fashions from the previous season, as the season had just turned. While this made Ghartek scoff, he could not help but be a little self-satisfied that his clothing was more fitting to the occasion. Unconsciously adjusting his silk shirt, he ventured deeper into the crowd.

The afternoon was a blur of flowers and perfumes, sweet treats and cleaver toys, colorful clothing, and whirling performers. Over the course of the day, Ghartek had ventured far off the beaten track, once to arrange flowers to be sent to the Lady von Struttendorf, and a bit further to patronize an out-of-the-way cloth merchant that the locals claimed had bolts of the finest cloth, sure to be all the rage next season.

Later, Ghartek noticed that his bodyguards, laden with bolts of newly purchased cloth, had an uneasy demeanor about them and only then realized that the sun had gone down on the festival. He was suddenly keenly aware that the sounds of the festival had died away and the streets in this part of town were ominously deserted. Furthermore, he wasn’t entirely sure where he was, having gotten turned around during his excursion.

Ghartek loathed to let his guards know that he was lost and so picked the direction he thought best and began walking. The bodyguards followed, laboring under their burden of cloth. From somewhere ahead came the eerie sound of… what was that? A flute? It came in short, discordant bursts, and though it seemed close, it was impossible to tell where it came from, as it seemed to echo off the walls and from the dark alleyways. Ghartek picked up his pace as his guards struggled to keep up, encumbered as they were. The sound grew closer and louder and began to fray Ghartek’s nerves.

Ghartek squawked as he came up short in front of a tattered man that had stepped from a shadowed alleyway just in front of him, causing him to stumble and nearly topple. The man held a tarnished flute in one hand and a ragged hat in the other. He stared at Ghartek, head askew, looking at him through one overly wide eye as if the vision of the other was too poor for use. “Spare a coin for Old Tully?” He asked in a gravelly and strangely sinister tone, punctuating his request with an offkey jangle from his damaged instrument. Ghartek’s bodyguards moved between the beggar and their charge but knew better than to drop his newly acquired cloth to the ground unless it was absolutely necessary. Old Tully ignored the guards and kept his one good eye on Ghartek, shaking his hat impatiently.

Ghartek produced a silver coin, tossed it haphazardly toward Tully’s hat, and missed. The coin rolled around on the ground and then toward a sewer grate. Tully dived for the coin and Ghartek used the distraction to step around him and sprint toward a distant light as quickly as his short legs would carry him, followed closely by his huffing bodyguards as they struggled to keep up with Ghartek and watch for the beggar behind them at the same time.

As the light grew ever closer, he could again hear the ghostly flute echoing off the shadowed walls of the deserted street. His eyes rolled in their sockets as fear gripped him. Forgotten were his bodyguards and his treasured cloth. Ghartek rounded the corner into a brightly lit area and nearly ran into the black lacquered coach parked by the loading platform. The winged serpent of the von Struttendorf emblem loomed over him on the coach’s door.

Ghartek screeched as a voice behind him asked, “Master Ghartek, I presume? I have been waiting for you.” His heart pounding, Ghartek realized that he had stumbled into the coaching house where he was supposed to meet his escort to Schloss von Struttendorf. “Yes,” he said shakily, then slowly composing himself said, “Yes, I am he. Please convey me to the von Struttendorf estate with all haste.”

Ghartek quickly opened the door and climbed into the coach, not even waiting for assistance from his bodyguards. When the goods were stowed and all were aboard, the stoic driver shook the reigns and turned the coach toward the von Struttendorf manor. Soon the disjointed, shrill tones of a battered flute were the only sounds on the darkened street.

We'll be back again tomorrow! 

- Nana & Nicki

Thank you!
over 1 year ago – Sun, Nov 27, 2022 at 09:44:54 AM

Hi everybody!

What a great finish to the campaign, thank you all so much! We weren't sure what to expect going into this Kickstarter, as we have changed several things from our past campaigns, but we couldn't be happier with how it all turned out. Thank you for making this another succesful campaign for us, much more than we had hoped for. 

We've really enjoyed this campaign and we hope you have as well. But as mentioned in the last update, we're not finished yet! We still have more stories to tell, painted miniatures to show, stretch goal miniatures to be finished and of course the Community Miniatures. So we'll be back with more updates in the weeks (And months) to come. 

Next week we'll send out an update covering the details of "What happens" next. For now, though, we'll relax and recharge for a few days :D 

Failed Payments

We did however want to cover one specific subject. Failed payments, this always happens after a campaign, a credit card might be refused or not have coverage etc. - Kickstarter will immediately send out an email to you if this happens, and they'll continue to do so for some days. Please check and see if you have received one of these emails. If you don't take the steps necessary to resolve it, then Kickstarter will automatically drop your pledge.

Next Week

We'll be back with an update next week, about the Community Miniatures and more details about what's going to happen next. 

However, I might as well mention right away that, we do not plan on launching the Pledge Manager quickly. We will take our time getting it ready, and our plan is that it'll be launched in early January. That means that everything will have been sculpted before then and we'll have plenty of time to add EVERYTHING from our past Kickstarters to it as well. 

If you missed out on upgrading to the All-in Pledge, you'll be able to do so in the Pledge Manager. 

If you're new to Kickstarter and Pledge Managers and all of that, then don't worry, for now you don't need to do anything until the Pledge Manager is launched, and we'll tell everything there is to know about it in the future updates! :) 

That's it for today. Now for a few days rest and recharging :D - We'll be back next week with another update!

On behalf of everyone on the Dunkeldorf Team: Thank you all so much for supporting the project and our work, it means so much to us all! ❤️

Day 5 - Bernadette the Toymaker
over 1 year ago – Wed, Nov 16, 2022 at 12:40:30 PM

Hi everybody! 

Since we had no update yesterday, we'll show yesterday's and today's unlocks in this update! We talk about the Community Miniature(s),  then we have another story by Mark Warren, this time about Bernadette the Toymaker. Lastly, Gerry from OnTableTop has done an Unboxing Video showcasing some miniatures from this Kickstarter! Let's dig into it :D 

Day 4 Unlocks

Bibi's Mutated Pet Frog "Prinz" is now included with all Silver & Gold Pledges! 

Konrad the.. not so observant Guard can now be chosen for all pledges! He fits on all the existing chairs, stools and benches in the Dunkeldorf range. 

Day 5 Unlocks

 Anton the Minstrel can now be chosen for all pledges. We'll tell more about this character later on! 

Max's Flower Basket, Gisela's Poetry & Ghartek's Chest Accessories are now included for free with all Gold Pledges!

Stretch Goal Freebies Status

Here's a summary of what Freebies are included with the Silver and Gold Pledges. 

•  Silver Backer Freebies: 2 Extra Miniatures, 1 A5 Art Print and the frog "Prinz"

•  Gold Backer Freebies: 4 Extra Miniatures, 1 At Art Print, the Frog "Prinz" and 3 Accessories (Flowers, Poetry & Chest)

Community Miniature Update

Thank you for all your ideas for the Community Miniature(s). We have already discussed several of them!

The deadline to pitch your ideas and to participate in the Give-Away is tomorrow at 10:00 CET - You can find the Community Miniature update by clicking this link. 

We thought we should point out again that, while all ideas are greatly appreciated and welcome, it's important to us that the Community Miniatures stay true to our vision of Dunkeldorf, and are characters that we think would be fun for us to work on and have in the miniature line.  

Here are a few of the ideas that we're excited about, and currently talking about (These are not all of them, we'll mention the other ones tomorrow) 

A Pregnant Woman! Nana and I have already talked about a Pregnant Lady for the next Dunkeldorf Kickstarter set for 2023, but we were planning on a Pregnant Noble Lady, relaxing, having a good time etc. 

We think it would be a lot of fun to have a big contrast to that idea with a Pregnant Peasant, who would be the COMPLETE opposite of the Noble Lady. There would be no servants to help the pregnant peasant with her daily tasks, so she'd just be a huge mess to look at, going about her daily business on the streets, perhaps with a kid or two, or even three in tow. 

Fisherman! This could be either a male or female, the suggestion was lots of Hooks and bait hanging from the pockets. These are exactly the things we always try to think about when we work on Dunkeldorf characters, how to add fun little details that both add character, but also details that would be fun to paint. Lots of fun options to consider here, and we would probably end up making it a slightly crazy looking fisherrman. 

Down on his luck Actor: For some reason, Nana and I have never talked about adding an actor to Dunkeldorf, and we loved the idea when we saw it. I immediately imagined Calculon from Futurama, this over-the-top, very theatrical actor. The Actor may once have had succes, but certainly not recently. The Mond Fest would be his opportunity to shine though! Not only would this be a fun miniature to work on, it would also be a character that would be a lot of fun in the RPG Sourcebook that we're working on. 

Remember, there's still time to submit your ideas! Tomorrow we'll mention the other ideas we're also discussing :)

You may skip this final bit if you know nothing of, or are not interested in three kids and a large coat. 

Since the first time we did the Community Miniature Event during our 2nd Kickstarter, a certain idea keeps being mentioned: Three Kids in a coat trying to pass for an adult. We’re so sorry, but none of us on the team (Not just Nana and myself) are excited about this idea. Despite of that, we talked about it yesterday, considering if we should try it or not, since it seems like something several of you would like to see.

But ultimately our decision was that we don’t feel that we would end up with a miniature that we'd be happy with. We love adding details and quirks to the Dunkeldorf characters, that’s the fun part for us, and we feel that we would be very limited in adding these things here. The majority of the miniature would be a big coat, perhaps with a tiny head or two peeking out (With a total of three kids, these heads would also need to be very tiny unless it was changed to two kids). 

We are not saying it’s a bad idea or that it can’t be done! (See further down) But there are other ideas from you that we love, and it wouldn’t make sense for us to not pick these ideas that we are more excited about. We hope you understand, and you are more than welcome to keep suggesting it of course, I bet it'll even end up as a tradition within a tradition, but we think it's unlikely that we'll change our minds about this, sorry :D

Those of you who are interested in a miniature similar to this idea, might find this miniature from Dark Sword Miniatures interesting: Halflings in Disguise – Open and Closed Cloak – It’s of course not kids, but instead two halflings, with two variants included, an open and closed cloak version.

Bernadette the Toymaker

The tinkle of a music box and the smell of a morning glory infusion filled the cozy toy store. The child giggled in delight as the clockwork Griffin flapped its pewter wings and roared its tiny tin roar. This toy was handcrafted by a distant Elven artisan and was exceedingly rare as well as extravagantly expensive. Her father could afford it, though. Bernadette noticed that the young girl’s father had fixated on something in the corner, an articulated soldier with mount and detachable armor. Another obscenely expensive piece.

While his attention was on the soldier, Bernadette leaned down to the child and whispered in her ear, “You know, Griffins are said to be great protectors. Some say that only the aspect of the Griffin can protect them from the horrors of the night.” She sat up and smiled, sighing with contentment. She did so love children. Most children. “You should take him with you, girl. I think he likes you. I believe he may have bonded with you, which makes you an incredibly lucky girl, indeed!” The uneasy look on the girl's face told Bernadette everything she needed to know. This sale was assured. It was time to see just how much her father admired the toy soldier.

Jenny peered into the window of the toy store from the shadows. The light spilling from the window did little to reveal her hidden form. She could be very sneaky when she wanted. Inside, the fat woman with rosy cheeks and a bubbly laugh danced around her customers. But she was a fake and every kid on the street knew it. She was only nice to the rich kids. If a poor kid went into her store, he was shooed out with a broom and switch. She set traps for them and threw sand and stones at them, but only when no one was looking. When people were around, she was nice, but really, she was a fake, and Jenny knew it! She would get her, no doubt, and when she did the patchwork puppy would be hers!

Bernadette saw motion from the corner of her eye. One of those filthy urchins was peeking in the window again. They crept into her store and stole from her. They tracked in dirt and left grimy handprints on everything they touched. They shed like dogs and smelled twice as bad. Bernadette did not want to lose her valuable customers, so she pulled the shade on the front of the store, but not all the way down. She did not want her peeper to leave just yet. “You take your time, now.” She smiled and waved to the man as he perused her wonderous toys. He was browsing, but his eye never left the soldier.

Bernadette made as if to stretch but instead reached up and pulled a string near the window. There was a crash and a splash, and then a shriek, followed by receding footsteps. The string was attached to a bucket full of water that was balanced on the awning outside the store. The pulling motion had tipped it and drenched the little brat, who had run off into the night.

The man approached Bernadette with a smile, the soldier held tightly in his hands. His daughter hid behind his leg, glancing out from behind nervously, likewise, clutching her prize. Bernadette smiled. It was going to be a good night. She so loved children. Most children.

OnTableTop Unboxing

Finally we have the Unboxing Video by Gerry from OnTableTop! A huge thanks to both Gerry and Ben and the other wonderful OTT folks who are always up for spreading awareness about the Dunkeldorf Miniatures ❤️

That's it for this time, we'll be back tomorrow with the Day 6 Unlocks and another update! 

- Nana & Nicki

Day 6 - The Mondplatz Map
over 1 year ago – Wed, Nov 16, 2022 at 12:40:10 PM

Hi everybody! A relatively short update for you today, but in my opinion, a pretty exciting one nonetheless!

Day 6 Unlocks

It's time for another set of Daily Unlocks, and we're very excited about the first unlock. An isometrical map of Dunkeldorf's Mondplatz. The Mondplatz is the center of the celebrations and festivities of the Mond Festival, and it's the busiest place in all of Dunkeldorf during the festival. 

The incredible map is drawn by the talented Jérôme Huguenin who has mastered doing these awesome isometrical maps. You can read more about the map and see more pictures further down in the update! 

The last of the mutant kids! This is Oli, the bravest and hardiest of the bunch. Oli is always eager to show Bibi just how brave he truly is, unfortunately to little avail, as she seems to find her pet frog Prinz much more interesting than him. He is however adamant to prove his worth and is waiting for just the right moment and opportunity to do so. 

 The Mutant Kids

The full group of Mutant Kids, ready for adventures in the sewers of Dunkeldorf. 

The Mondplatz Map

Jerome drew the map of Sven's Brewery in our last Kickstarter (We plan on having that as an A3 Print in the Pledge Manager as well). While we loved that map, we are blown away this time as Jerome has created such a beautiful and detailed map of Dunkeldorf's Mondplatz. 

Instead of writing a bunch of stuff, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, with a tiny bit of commentary added to each of them, of course.. ;)

Here's a word from Jerome about his work on the map: 

It was a real pleasure working on this map. With all the references given by Nicki and Nana it was pretty easy to draw the first sketch.  I also had plenty of liberty to create the style of all the buildings and stalls (and this is really cool). To work on this kind of map, I love to add lots of details that will (I hope) give ideas for adventure and events when used in roleplaying games. I usually project myself as a character in the drawing, trying to imagine from many points of view what can be seen, or what’s going on around « me ». The map by itself should tell a story, well many stories… that’s my goal and I hope it shows.  

Jérôme

Final Days

As this is the shortest Kickstarter we have ever done, running for 8 days, it's already time to start talking about the Final Days of the campaign! Here's a bit of information about what to expect. 

Stretch Goal Miniatures - We'll soon show some of the finished Stretch Goal sculpts, Sonny has finished several of them, and I plan on photographing the printed versions of them tomorrow. 

All-In Pledge - On Wednesday we will reveal the final unlocks of the campaign and afterwards, we'll create a new All-in Pledge. Those of you who want to pick up everything (Mostly*) from the campaign can easily upgrade to this Pledge. The All-in Pledge will count as an Early Bird Pledge, meaning that The Fiend of Dunkeldorf Set is included for free, so you can upgrade from your Early Bird Pledge to the All-in pledge without missing out on the set. 

* A few late additions, including the Community Miniature(s) will not be part of the All-in. We'll make sure to make it clear what is not included so you can grab the non-included items in the Pledge Manager if you wish to go 100% All-in!

Community Miniatures: The concepts for the Community Miniatures won't be ready before the end of the campaign, but we had more or less expected that. We'll have more information about the Community Miniatures in the coming updates :) 

That's it for today, we'll be back tomorrow with two new Unlocks and another update! 

- Nana & Nicki