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Dr. Grordbort's Scientific Adventure Violence

Created by Crowbar Creative and Exalted Funeral

A Tabletop Role-Playing Game Setting & Supplement for 5th Edition

Latest Updates from Our Project:

DrG Digital Drop!
10 months ago – Sat, Jun 17, 2023 at 04:03:07 PM

 The PDF is Here!

We are pleased to announce that the digital version of the book is done and ready for your perusal, pontification, and playing! It has been an honor working with this material, and with Greg and the Wētā Workshop team. The book grew and grew and GREW as the project went on, so instead of 225 pages, you are getting 330. Instead of 200 illustrations, you are getting over 400. More on that below, but, for now, we sincerely hope that you are pleased with the result. This group of backers has been positive, supportive, and enthusiastic from the very beginning, and we hope very much that the end result fires your rockets. You deserve nothing less.

If, however, you spot anything we've missed or that needs fixing, we have until June 30th to make adjustments. We've been through several rounds of editing, copy editing, and proofing, but given how much more content ended up in the book, there might be some derps in there. We will be doing another round of proofing before sending it to press, but we welcome your input too. Please send any such feedback to  [email protected].  

The pdf is coming your way via BackerKit, so be on the lookout for that email. Nota bene: In order to download the files, your BackerKit survey must be completed and your credit charge completed. If you haven't completed those steps, you can access your BackerKit account here.

STLs Are Here! 

The fearsome workhorse of the BCEF Tank Cops: the Gargatherium VII Tank! The ray-pistol so iconic, Dr. Grordbort put it in his logo: the Righteous Bison Indivisible Particle Smasher. The wave weapon of choice when breaking into a foreign power’s top-secret HQ, negotiating a pretend peace treaty with aliens, or simply robbing the local petroleum station: the Saboteur 66 Ultra-wave Equaliser. And the rocket preferred--and often crashed--by Lord Cockswain himself: The Endangerer Class Rocket

The STLs are coming to you via BackerKit, just like the book pdf. If you don't have access to a 3D printer, we recommend ShapeWays or Sculpteo as print-and-ship services. The tank consists of 11 different files, the Bison 2, the Saboteur 4, and the rocket 3. Assembling them is a simple affair. If you run into trouble, here are a couple of videos that walk you through the procedure. 

We would like to give a huge thanks to Joaquim Silva for his design expertise (he created the Endangerer!) and his STL wizardry, which we hope will make the printing go smoothly for everyone. You can see more of his work here

We'd love to see how yours turn out! Tag us on socials @exaltedfuneral with pics of your models and paint schemes.


Physical Book Update 

And now, regrettably, we must announce that the printed edition will not be in your hands in June. We worked very hard to hold to our delivery date, but given the amount of additional content that went in, layout took longer than we'd scheduled for. We had a choice: cut loads of content and hold the date, or cram more in and push the date. We opted for the latter, and we hope you will be pleased that we did so. 

Just a quick rundown of what we promised in the Kickstarter vs. what you're actually getting--and with no additional price hikes or increased shipping costs:

  • 200+ illustrations. Actual: 400+ illustrations, including many by Greg that have never been seen, plus over 200 illustrations commissioned from Wētā Workshop artists. 
  • 225 pages. Actual: 330 pages
  • 37 weapons. Actual: 45. 
  • 40 gadgets and attachments. Actual: 42. 
  • 14 pieces of armour. Actual: 16 (includes armour, headwear, and apparel). 
  • 57 new and wild creatures. Actual: 61 creatures, 26 named NPCs, 10 common NPCs.
  • Stretch goal: raygun sticker sheet. Actual 2 sheets. 

We hope you'll agree that you are getting a lot of bang for your buck, but we understand the disappointment of a ship delay. The book is set to hit the presses in July, and we are printing in Europe, which means a quicker turnaround than Far East printing. All other physical components--dice, tray, pins, etc.--are being manufactured now. Based on production timelines, we estimate late summer early/ early fall for delivery of printed book and all physical rewards. 

We've got more content to send your way--including the 5-track soundtrack you unlocked through a stretch goal, so there will be more updates over the next few weeks. And we will, of course, keep you posted on printing and shipping statuses. 

If you have any questions please reach out to us at [email protected].

Thank you for your continued enthusiasm and support!

Exalted Funeral & Crowbar Creative

May Update: Layout Done! Spread Sneak Peek!
10 months ago – Tue, May 23, 2023 at 10:58:47 AM

Greetings and scientific salutations,

Exciting times in the DrG RPG lab: the layout is finished! Remember that 250-page book we promised? Thanks to your support and unlocking of stretch goals, it's more than 320 (give or take a few, once the index is finished). Cramming all this scientific insanity into a layout that is both functional and pleasing to the eye has been a daunting and gratifying challenge. Thanks to Chandler's design boffinry--as well as Greg and the artists at Wētā Workshop who've created hundreds of illustrations, more than 200 of which have never been seen and/or were specially commissioned for this book--the finished product is something that we are proud of and that we hope you will love. 

Here are some snaps from six of the seven (the other being the Introduction) chapters.  


Chapter 2: Never Mind the Bollocks! How Do We Play?

First spread of the chapter, introducing the 8 technology types and discussing malfunctions...which surely will never occur.

Chapter 3: Character Creation

The first two of three pages devoted to creating an Anatomaly, the DrG version of Druids, which inject Phlogiston into their organs to create marvellous scientific effects.
One of 7 pages devoted to Backgrounds created for this setting.

Chapter 4: Scientific Adventuring Gear & Vehicles

Six of 45 weapons.
Five of 29 Gadgetronics, which are used by all but two Science-casting Classes to do all that Science-slinging!
Seven of 16 pieces of armour and outerwear.
One of 9 tanks and other ground vehicles.
One of 5 classes of rockets, and one of 14 total air/space vehicles, which includes rockets, airships, and rocket fighters.

 Chapter 5: Grordbortian Mastermind's Handbook

Two of the 12 unique Scientific items unlocked by a stretch goal.

Chapter 6: Interplanetary Bestiary

The opener to the Mars section of the bestiary.
An excerpt from the Robots section of the bestiary.

Chapter 7: Dramatis Personae

The Reflectacle of the Dark Gods spread. This is what happens when you spend too much time mucking about in Venusian quickmud!
Two-thirds of the triumvirate that leads the Triumvermillius faction, devoted to reestablishing the Martian empire of old.

There's lots more of course, and there might be a few tweaks to these spreads to come as we finish our pre-press proofing phase. But we hope this will be enough to keep your engines fueled as we near printing and fulfillment. As always, please hit us up here if you have any questions or feedback on the game, and if you have questions about the pledge manager or your order, please reach out to us at [email protected].

Thank you for your continued enthusiasm and support!

Exalted Funeral & Crowbar Creative

April Update: Unique Mag--er--Scientific Items!
11 months ago – Fri, Apr 28, 2023 at 12:05:38 PM

Hi friends,

It's time for our April update! Thanks for your patience while we assembled this collection of unique scientific adventuring gear, which you unlocked as a stretch goal.


Unique Scientific Adventuring Gear

If you’re after something truly unique to bestow upon the beloved PCs in your game, or to put in the hands of NPCs in the hopes of atomising a few of the beloved PCs in your game, you’re in the right place! Below are 6 of the 12 unique and powerful items designed for interstellar murder hobos. In the book, each includes a full write up with all their essential statistics, properties, and powers. But for the nonce, we wanted to give you a peek at your unlocked loot!


Corporal Gussbert’s Radiomanoeverer

Machinery Remote Control

Invented by a gizmo-obsessed BCEF grunt looking to shirk his vehicular exercise duties, this bulky handheld device with a Phlogiston-channelling antenna allows the user to operate a single piece of Light Machinery, Artillery, or Heavy Machinery from afar. For a piece of tech to be so operated, a small but complex radio receiver must be installed. Once this is done, the user may control the tech from up to a mile away, as if they themselves were at the controls.

Mrs. Fritts’ Ever So Sunny Daytonator

Solar Energy Manipulator 

Melanie Fritts was a dentist, amateur inventor, and lover of warm sunshine. Unfortunately, she was a Scot, so she hardly ever saw the sun. So she invented this thingamajiggy to gather, store, and amplify the sun’s rays. The selenium needed for the panels was easy enough to come by. The gold on the other hand…well let’s just say that her patients tended to find their crowns missing after a procedure. Still, a small price to pay for the seemingly endless summer her town of Butt’s Wynd enjoyed for several months in 1899. A slightly larger price was paid when the entire town was wiped from the map soon thereafter. All that was left was this machine and an awful lot of bones.

Prehistoric Blunderbirther

Life-seeding Cannon

Though it looks something like an 18th-Century blunderbuss with an exaggeratedly flared muzzle, this is actually an ancient piece of alien technology that was recovered on Earth. Scientists have dated the device to long before the rise of human civilisation, and some academics have theorised that aliens used this device to seed Earth with life.

Femtomulet

Amulet with a World Inside It

A dazzling, glittering orb with a loop for a chain or thong. It radiates powerful “magic” (i.e., Science). Inside the orb is what appears to be a spinning planet. And, of course, that’s exactly what it is. The people on the planet are the Femtofuffers, and they consider the person who attaches a thong to the amulet and wears it around their neck to be god. Not a god – the god.

 Schwartzchild's Singularly 

Black Hole Blade

Here’s the part where you read the fascinating lore and backstory of this thrillingly unique item! Alas, we have no idea where this thing came from or who made it. Might as well ask where black holes come from and who made them. The shard itself is impossible to detect by any means; it can only be vaguely sensed as a kind of 3’ long conical absence of something indefinable. Fortunately, someone – presumably famed physicist Karl Schwartzchild – managed to attach a handle to it at some point in time. Or space-time. Or something.

 St. Jetta's Finger 

Church of England Relic

This ornate, Phlogiston-powered reliquary contains the nicotine-stained middle finger of St. Jetta, the Church of England’s patron saint of cigarettes. The device may be used as a Gadgetronic by spellcasting Classes to cast their Conserection (divine, radiant, holy) and Augmentalgia (weapon/damage enhancements) spells with a +1 to spell attacks and spell save DCs, and it functions as a +1 holy symbol. Once per day, the attuned user must endeavour to feed tobacco smoke into the reliquary’s mouthpiece. The simplest way is to light a cigarette and blow the smoke in, but for those averse to such things, there are doubtless other ways to go about it. If the user fails to meet the requirement, the relic will cease functioning completely until the need is met.

As far as development goes, we're finished with the layout of the equipment chapter. It's 95 pages of weapons, Gadgetronics, scientific adventuring gear, armour, fuel & ammo, and several categories of vehicles, including tanks, rockets, airships, and rocket fighters. We're onto the interplanetary bestiary now. 

We'll be back next month with another update. In the meantime, if you have any questions or need help with anything, remember that emailing us directly at [email protected] is the best way of ensuring a quick response.

Thanks!

Exalted Funeral & Crowbar Creative

March Update: Layouter Space + STLation!
about 1 year ago – Fri, Mar 24, 2023 at 10:34:52 AM

Layouter Space!

Writing? Check. Editing? Check. Art commissions? Check. And now the final stage before this book launches toward your doorsteps: layout! Our intrepid design boffin Chandler Vines is working her mag--er--science to pull all the elements together into an astounding, aesthetically delicious, and utile format for your ocular receptors. Here's a peek at the Light Weapons section (catalogue) from Chapter IV: Equipment.

Captain Vines is churning out pages at warp speed, and we're working with Admiral Broadmore to get them tweaked, approved, and ready for print. 

STLation!

Our STL maestro Joakim Silva (the designer of the Endangerer model) has been meticulously checking, tweaking, and testing the STL files to make sure they are properly set up and printable for your 3D print gadgetronics. Here's a look at the two most complex ones, the Endangerer rocket and the Gargantherium VII tank. They will have to be printed in a few pieces, so we are putting together instructions and an assembly video for you before we release the files...but cor blimey do they cut a fine profile!

That's about it for this month. Everything is humming along, and we are on or ahead of schedule on all fronts. As always, if you have any questions, feedback, or unbridled enthusiams, please reach out to [email protected].

Violently sincerely yours,

Exalted Funeral & Crowbar Creative

February Update: Dice Tray, Devving, and More Art
about 1 year ago – Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 12:59:22 PM

Hello you violently and scientifically handsome humans. Here is your monthly update for Dr. Grordbort's Scientific Adventure Violence. 

Malfunction Dice Tray Prototype

Here's a look at the advance proofs of the dice tray, ready to receive those rectum-clinching rolls on the Malfunction Tables:

It measures 8 x 10" open and 5.5 x 7.5" when snapped up for action. Snappy, no?

Dev Update

Developmental editing is complete, and chapters 1-4 are with the copy editor for final sprucing. We are finishing up the implementation of dev edits on chapters 5-8, and those will be trundled off to the copy editor by early March. 

Meanwhile, we've set up an overall style guide and layout templates for each chapter, so when manuscript polishing is finished and art commissions are done (21 more to go of the 120 pieces we are having commissioned), we'll be ready for layout. Here's a sneak peek at the layout for the spread dealing with interplanetary travel. Please note the excellent snarkiness of our layout maven, who wasn't provided the accompanying text when designing this. 

More Art!

Here are a few more cheeky peeks at the massive and growing trove of art commissioned from Wētā Workshop. 

Harvey Gins, brash though elusive CEO of Daggersphere, chief rival of Dr. Grordbort's Industries.
The Tub-Thumper character class...like a paladin but more scienterrific!
A Martian Tripod War Machine.
My First Dirigibilito...the modern, personal air travel solution.

We'll be back next month with another update, but feel free to hit us up anytime before then. As always, the best place to reach us is by emailing [email protected], but we'll do our best to respond to questions or feedback to this update and on the project comments page.

We're in the home stretch now, friends!

Exalted Funeral & Crowbar Creative

ps. For those wondering about the whole OGL fiasco, there's little to do other than celebrate! The community won a major victory over corporate control, so our project--and many, many others--is safe. We are only drawing from the SRD, which is now under Creative Commons license, so pop a bottle of Lord Cockswain's Courage Porter and toast RPG community activism with us!