WarHams

A very important update - NarDec Update July 2025

Added 2025-07-19 13:52:10 +0000 UTC

Greetings Benefactors! We have a lot of important news to share with you. As much as we say that every post is a big deal, this update inclu

Greetings Benefactors!

We have a lot of important news to share with you. As much as we say that every post is a big deal, this update includes some important changes to our tiers and pricing, and we want to walk you through them.

But first! Since it’s so timely.

GenCon 2025

Me and OnCallGM will be at GenCon this year, which is coming up soon! Be aware however, that I will be walking the floor attending several meetings, same as OnCallGM. But, we will try to create a meetup time and place for everyone to come say hi.

Keep an eye out for us! We will have a dedicated chat in the Narrative Declaration Discord to help inform and co-ordinate a small meetup. If you will miss us or don’t have the time, but will still be there, feel free to still visit the Paizo booth and ask about Starfinder Second Edition! Regardless, the team would love to hear your enthusiasm.

Zoran on the left (But more disheveled looking now) OnCallGM/ThurstonHillman on the right (more grey)

We need your feedback on our total restructure to Narrative Declaration

For those who remember our past update, we had to quietly put an end to our PDF line. Placing it on a “when we can” system. I, personally, haven’t been okay with leaving it just like that. It has caused a problem with the Patreon, having an entire tier which at one point produced 2 PDFs a month, to now halting. We haven’t felt good about the PDF tier operating on a ‘maybe’ basis, and you deserve better clarity and value. That’s why we’re changing it.

Even if we only got rid of the $15 tier, it would mean losing so much revenue that I would have to start laying people off. Multiple members of Narrative Declaration rely on this project to survive, so it would be heartbreaking to tell them that they have no job based on a moral pricing decision.

The alternative system that we’d like to propose, is changing our PDFs to instead be sold separately using Patreon’s shop function (and eventually a website shop option if we can figure that out). Each post can be put up to be “sold.” As if you’re buying a regular PDF from any other storefront. This means we only get paid when we release a PDF and you purchase it on your own time. Instead of paying monthly hoping we release a PDF. (Note the patreon option of we get paid only when we post a thing can’t be tier specific, so that option is out)

So this means when we’re ready to release background art, maps, tokens, etc. We will make it it’s own product page in which you can choose to buy from.

In addition to this adjustment, we will be changing our focus on content. Namely, more shows, some being paid only, others slated to be released for free after you get the early preview (like you’re doing now). This will require us adjusting the prices of the Patreon tiers and YouTube memberships. Don’t worry, if you’re in a tier that would increase in price, you will be grandfathered in at the lower price.

Let me give an example on how and what will change.

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$1 Tier:

Will be raised to $2 USD
Benefactor Discord access. At Bronze Tier Role
Preview of projects and various things

$5 Tier:

Will be raised to $6.00 USD
Benefactor Discord access. At Silver Tier Role
Submission to the Complication System will stay
Voting power on campaigns/games to play
Restructure and revival of Q&A segments during our break time will return
Early access to streamed/recorded episodes meant for public release
Early access to “D20+ One Shot” A blanket name for various games and systems we plan to play a short campaign of. Also slated for public release (Example: We do 6 episodes of Lancer or 8 episodes of Starfinder 2E)
Everything in previous tier

$15 Tier:

Everyone in the $5 tier will be grandfathered into this tier. (Read further below if you don't know what "grandfathered" means) The $15 tier is being reworked to a $10 tier, reflecting its new content model but we’re keeping everyone from the $5 tier in there as a thank you. If your membership drops, or you’re a new member, you will have to pay the new price.
New price is $10 USD
Access to Patreon/Paid exclusive shows (Kingmaker & future paid shows are being moved to this tier) We’ll continue to produce preview-to-free shows in the new $6 tier content alongside our premium shows that’ll be on the $10 tier. The goal is to add more, not take away.
Benefactor Discord access. At Gold Tier Role
Everything provided in the previous tiers.

$?? Tier:

This isn’t 100% in stone (I need to get time to meet with the team. We’re working hard in time for GenCon at the moment) but several of you in the Discord asked for a “donation tier.” I like to make tiers that give the customer at least something so this tier would become a custom art piece you send in that our artist would create and then place at the end credits. More details on this after the review period from all of you.

Additional Patreon Adjustments

We’ve had some issues with unlisted YouTube links being shared more than tolerated, so we’re switching to Vimeo for better control and delivery. That, and it allows us to distribute the video files easier for members on YouTube. Having 2 of the same files uploaded on YT makes YouTube upset. Patreon will always have the latest episodes. YouTube will be lagging behind a fair chunk.

Youtube side:

5.00 USD for membership access to past streams.(But don’t get any other benefits that Patreon does. That and we only get a fraction of the sub)

10.00 USD (if I can set it that way) for paid exclusive shows. (but no podcast access, unless you use YouTube music) (But delayed, Patreon will always be the latest)

Twitch side:
Sub will not change. Mainly cause we can’t change it, and that platform has not been friendly to TTRPG shows due to features being taken away and it’s lack of discoverability.

For those confused on what “grandfathered in” means.

Grandfathering means that if you are already subscribed at a certain tier before we change prices, you get to keep your current benefits without paying the new higher price. It is a way of thanking long-time supporters by letting them stay at their original rate for as long as they keep their membership active.

For example:

The $15 tier is being reworked to a $10 tier, meaning those currently in the $15 tier will now be paying the $10 tier and everyone currently in the $5 tier will be moved up into the new $10 tier at no extra cost. That means you’ll be in the $10 tier but paying $5 (then there are taxes and all that). This price only applies if you keep your membership active. If you leave and rejoin later, you will need to pay the new price.

In short, existing supporters are locked in at their current rate or being made lower as long as they do not cancel. New members, or anyone who rejoins after canceling, will pay the updated price.

The goal of this restructure to the Patreon and pricing structure is this:

Help us continue to afford and compensate players & game masters to participate in future TTRPG shows.
Lay down the $15 dollar PDF tier, and convert our PDF distribution to a friendlier system that respects customer’s time & money.
Adjust the cost of what we do to align with inflation and rising labor costs.
Build anti-boat technology for the Kingmaker campaign.
If growth continues, bring on additional production help to improve the quality of our shows (ie: better audio, podcast formats, music, sound effects, animations in episodes, etc)

From the math and speculation we’ve done, we expect to lose a large chunk of money no matter how we handle the $15 tier and this change. But we believe that this move better secures how we work and create content in the future, while also respecting those who supported our PDF content.

We’re not making these changes lightly. We know times are tough for a lot of folks. We've tried to structure this in a way that lets us keep making content without compromising your value or support.

Questions you guys brought up initially in the Discord:

Good question. The current idea is to let everyone know in that tier to download the PDFs while you can. After we do the restructure, they will then be for sale only. They won't be included in the tier anymore since the $15 tier will be gone. I wish I had a way to grandfather people in that tier into their purchase, but Patreon doesn't allow that. And offering discount codes get tricky cause I’m not 100% sure who has the PDF.

In Patreon’s settings, you can always change your tier at any time. I’d wait till the conversion is complete.

I will consider this. Just need to find an execution I’m comfortable with.

You would be paying the lower price of $10 USD

At the moment, Patreon will be the place to buy the PDFs. Once we're able to afford a development team, we might be able to expand things further and sell on drive thru and our website.

The idea for distribution is to separate maps and tokens to be their own things. And have the PDFs with their assets bundled together and also sell the PDF separate. We will see if we can do this and maintain it.

There are multiple issues with that, and time spent playing with fans could be spent making content. In our super early days I tried that and I didn't feel comfortable.

We sadly have no integration with patreon and our merch partner. And opening up merch from Patreon themselves increases how much patreon takes from us. Making us reliant on Patreon merch sales to make that up.

The idea of sending out coupons on the donation tier seems plausible. I’ll have to see if I can send specific tiers messages and talk to my merch team about that.

What content is in the pipeline?

We have our continued Rotgrind and Kingmaker series. These are slated to be our longer ongoing campaigns that will last a good amount into next year. But, thanks to the way we distribute content, we can squeeze in time to do several one-shots adventures in various systems.

What’s currently in queue for us to play is:

Alien TTRPG (Paid preview then released for free)
Dune TTRPG (Paid preview then released for free)
Starfinder 2E (Paid preview then released for free)
PF2E: Seasons of Ghosts (Will be with a whole new group* & an exclusive)
PF2E: Malevolence (October special with horror themed guest! Paid preview then released for free)
Lancer (Short Adventure. Paid preview then released for free)

There are other opportunities, but it’s a factor of people’s time and execution. There are some Warhammer 40K (& an interest in returning to Fantasy again) with some special guests. Along with a strong desire to try out the Star Trek TTRPG. But, time and money is always a factor.

When will these changes come into effect?

The plan is to make you aware of the changes now, and when I return from my vacation next month (late August) I will go over all of the feedback you all have given and make adjustments. So expect these changes to happen early September. Regardless we will keep you informed along the way. Speaking of vacation…

Zoran will be away next month!

This makes it inopportune, as I’d like to make all of the adjustments sooner, but I wanted to go through a review process with you first throughout next month. I’ll still have my work laptop to review and go over what everyone has said when I get some free time during my vacation.

Our Website is in the works!

You may have noticed www.narrativedeclaration.com is in maintenance mode. For a long while we’ve been wanting to revamp our website. We’re hoping to document our shows easier for those who can’t navigate all of our platforms easily. We hope this can be a one-stop place to learn about everything we do and how we do it.

It’s a lot of change, and we want to hear your opinions about it. We’d like to adjust things to help keep us afloat while also respecting your time and money with the $15 tier change and new distribution with old and future PDFs & game content.