2023 Q1 Update

Hey patrons, it's been a while since I've given you a BTS update, so I thought today I'd sit down and give you a little glimpse at what has been going on at Icarus HQ and where we're going in Q2. 

Reflecting on 2022

Every time I sit down to do an update, I always talk about how much has been going on, and that remains true this time! 

Since I last updated you in. . . August (Really, it's been that long?!) a heap of things have been going on. 

The biggest one was of course the SIDEQUEST annual year 1 kickstarter, which gave folks a chance to get a printed version of the first 12 issues of the magazine. 

The books have started to arrive with backers, though current Royal Mail delays in the UK mean its taking a lot longer than expected. 

The OGL

The other big element of the last few months was the OGL drama. I cannot describe how stressful that month was as a third party publisher. I felt like I didn't sleep for weeks, and it really threw a spanner into the magazine's production as article submissions stopped overnight, then we thought we've have to change everything about what we present in the 'zine, then it was all fine again. 

Things changed fast enough to give you whiplash! 

As it stands now, the 5th edition SRD is in creative commons, so we don't have to worry about being allowed to publish 5e compatible content anymore. But as I've mentioned several times, the whole experience did make me want to start exploring more system-neutral content, as well as mechanical content for other systems, primarily Pathfinder 2e. 

Illness

Around Christmas time I picked up a nasty infection that wiped me out, and since then I've had a bunch of off and on health issues which has slowed down my work a lot. Things are getting better, and I think part of it was winter blues, so I'm hopeful the amount of content can start to increase again. 

Speaking of which. . . 

New Horizons

I've talked a little bit about this already, but issue 25 of SIDEQUEST is going to mark our turning point for new content, including Pathfinder material. 

Holding off for issue 25 means we will have 2 complete years of 5e and system neutral content for annuals, and we can start the third year of the magazine off strong. 

Over the coming months I'd like to start a new gazetteer series looking at areas in the Jewel Cities, provide more system-neutral GM tools for worldbuilding and planning, and of course, bring you more new monsters, like the beauty below, which will come with 5e and PF2 statblocks. 

As always, I am immensely grateful to you all for your support in helping make SIDEQUEST a reality and keeping the lights on in Icarus HQ.

Much love
Anto