Josh is currently working on layout. This is going to be a lengthy process, as the man is a perfectionist and we both want to make sure what you are getting is something worthy of your time and support.
He did hand me over an art piece to show you all. Check it out!
Expect a lot of fun skeletons in this book, you all.
Sometime in Mid-Late March / Early April we will open the backerkit to lock down shipping and make sure we have everything we need to get these in your hands.
After that: PDFs get into your hands.
After that: test prints from Lulu (international) and Mixam (Local).
AFTER THAT: We order the print runs and start the process of getting books into your hands. We can't wait.
Thank you.
There isn't much more to report at this moment other than thank you. We will be making periodic updates, so you know where we are (I hate it when Kickstarter campaigns go dark for long periods of time).
In the meantime, if you head to Gary Con 2026, look for me at the Limithron Booth and the Limithron Game Room! Say Hi!
Later,
William "This Effin' GM" Tramp
Land Ho! The journey is coming to an end.
22 days ago
– Sat, Feb 21, 2026 at 05:06:46 PM
Land Ho!
Well folks, we have only a few more days left of this incredible journey with These Bloody Sails. Together, you have made our dream of making a zine for Pirate Borg a reality we could not have anticipated and we are so grateful.
For those of you still on the fence, you still have some time to nab our zine. The Kickstarter ends at 8 AM CST on Tuesday, February 24th. We hope you plan to join us in this venture!
Spread 'em
Josh has been working really hard on layout and art for These Bloody Sails and wanted to get something to show you all before the Kickstarter ended. Though this is a draft, I personally think it's amazing and am super excited to show to you the intro scenario for our adventure, In Which the Pirates Steal the Gilded Swine.
Wow, is Josh talented or what?
Check out the gilded swine figurehead!!!
I would die for this pig.
GaryCon 2026
I will be heading to GaryCon 2026 this year for the first time to work with Limithron in their booth and to run games! Silver Ticket Event sales begin this weekend and if you are interested in playing with me at a convention, you can! Here is my schedule.
I'll be at the helm, so prepare for a lot of energy. A lot. Check out events right freaking here.
Ship of the Dead
I recently had a chance to speak with Luke Stratton and Jon Pohl on Limithron's Ship of the Dead show (Though the episode won't release until AFTER this Kickstarter is over). We discussed this project, Luke and I's shared love of depth crawls, and Jon and I offer tips on how to run Venom in the Veins, a new adventure found in Limithron's Down Among the Dead supplement. If you didn't have a chance to back that Kickstarter in 2024, you really should give it a look, it's a fantastic adventure. Pre-Orders are open Limithron's Web Store.
Me posing with Down Among the Dead among other great booty.
Other Great Kickstarter Projects
I know I have said it before, but it bears repeating: There are some great projects going on through Zine Quest. Let's talk about a few of my favorites.
An Acre of Barren Ground is another Pirate Borg based project, this time in a nifty trifold. According to Randall, the goal of this adventure was to create a dungeon with limited real estate (e.g., the lighthouse) but the events of the adventure occur in such a way as to have each location have a variety of potential events in it, some of which can shape the structure of the dungeon itself, and to result in no location ever being permanently "cleared." That is, until the end, whether it will be victory or defeat. It also comes with a neat cocktail recipe!
Tales from the Locker #1 is a Pirate Borg project we have talked about before and we are pretty happy to see how well it has done. Ed has put together a really great project here with some heavy hitting writers, and it only has a few days left! Led by Ed Bourelle, who brings creators together under a shared visual and creative vision, each issue features a collaboration of well-known, experienced, and new Pirate Borg creators from around the world. Adventures, articles, NPCs, character classes, monsters, and table-ready tools come together in a single, modular zine built for play.
Expeditions into the Blood Sands is an Old School Essentials project I worked on, and I couldn't be happier for Jeff in how well its doing. In this Kickstarter, Jeff is offering four books, all of which are either printed, or ready for print:
Adventures in the Blood Sands: Rising Tides | 16-page adventure module.
Denizens of the Blood Sands | 56-page weird-science fantasy bestiary.
Journal of the Blood Sands 1 | 24-page system-light setting guide.
Journal of the Blood Sands 2 | 44-page player class & tech guide
Make sure to nab Rising Tides, the short intro adventure I wrote. Its disgustingly good.
Magika Nostalgika is a D&D 5e project from Mathew Sargent. Matthew is amazing and I can't wait to see this climb higher, cause that guy deserves the best. Inspired by popular toys of the 90s and the wish-inducing catalogs that contained them, Magika Nostalgika is a zine of magic items for D&D 5e. In this 5.5" x 8.5", full-color, 12-page TTRPG zine, you'll find 20+ new magic items like:
Bonk-It
Soaker Supreme
Yeoman’s Oscillating Yewen Orbicular (Y.O.Y.O.)
PlayWell Bricks
Figures of Action
And more!
Checking this out is a must for anyone who appreciates flights of fancy and the winds of whimsy.
Tales from the Tape Deck comes to us from Suffety Games and promises to be a unique experience. Tales from the Tape Deck is a TTRPG system that explores a series of post-apocalyptic adventures set to genre-specific playlists with art from the world beyond…all contained in one cassette case. The scenes and adventures vary from cassette to cassette, using a variation of the Mork Borg, Shadowdark, DCC, and OSR systems.
They launch the day we close. Let's GOOOOOOOO.
Our Upcoming Projects
Both John and I have projects on the docket, releasing after ZineQuest is over.
Winds of Hell is a full-length Pirate Borg campaign that takes your crews to the depths of hell and back. Packed with content, it features:
Black-on-Matte-Black with Red Foil Cover
Approx. 96-page, 6 Adventure Storyline
Detailed Overview of Port Royal
20+ Devils, Pirates, & Inquisitors
Also featured in the Kickstarter Campaign are 🏴☠️ Saltwater Sacrament, an Inquisition-heavy adventure zine, 🏴☠️ new pamphlet adventures On a Trail of Blood and Apex Ruin, 🏴☠️ hand-made Buckskin Buccaneer's Pouches, 🏴☠️ and plenty of previously published PIRATE BORG adventures! I wrote the introductory adventure to the campaign, and I am so proud to have been a part of what should prove to be one of the greatest 3pp pirate borg projects I have ever seen.
Its Shadow Means Death is John's baby and it's a big one. Its Shadow Means Death (ISMD) is a rules-light roleplaying game where players take on roles of massive kaiju. John and team wanted to create a fast and easy game where players could step into the scales of giant monsters and duke it out while causing glorious destruction.
Inspired by our love of kaiju films like Godzilla, Gamera, and Pacific Rim, the team wanted a way to recreate that feeling. If you have the toys available, they fully recommend busting them out and recreating the action on the table as you play. Which is RAD. AS. HELL.
That's it.
And that's all! As I mentioned, we have only a few more days of this Kickstarter left, and I just wanted to gush for a second about how proud and humbled we are. We look forward to seeing you at port.
-William "This Effin' GM" Tramp
Whoa! We're Half Way There!
about 1 month ago
– Fri, Feb 13, 2026 at 08:46:47 AM
Halfway to Journey's End
Hello all! William Tramp, also known as This Effin' GM here. The funding journey for These Bloody Sails is halfway done and the response has been thus far amazing. We have over 10K in funding, 350+ backers, and have obtained the coveted Projects We Love from Kickstarter. We could not have imagined a better outcome, and it's not even done yet.
I know I have said it before, but it bears repeating: Thank you all for believing and supporting this project.
Ok. Lets talk about where we are currently.
Editing is Complete
John Baltisberger, editor extraordinaire, has completed the editing on These Bloody Sails. What does that mean? It means one of the largest hurdles in producing a book is in our rearview and we are neck deep in layout.
We are super proud (and honestly in awe) of the editing work John has done on the zine. I took a singular joy in watching John take my rambling prose and turn it into something worthy of a Borg book. The man is a surgeon and one I am happy to have gotten on our team. Thank you John.
Speaking of John and his amazing work, have you taken a look at his new project coming to Kickstarter? It's Shadow Means Death is not only a phenomally named book, its also one promising to be larger than life. This game of explosive Kaiju battles and unchecked destruction is 100% a must buy for me and I hope you all join me in supporting it. Go click that notify on launch button, you won't be dissapointed.
Layout and Art is Underway
With editing completed, Josh Christoffersen is diving into layout and art. In our view, there isn't really a difference between the two because every spread Josh has put together so far is a masterpiece in and of itself. With his blessing, check out the introductory spread he shared with me the other day.
This is awesome to me. Josh captures the essence of the adventure perfectly here, a ship being precariously pressed forward through the Dark Caribbean. I love it and I hope you do too.
Out in the World
Adrian is the mad genius behind Dungeons and Dyslexia and has taken it upon himself on his youtube channel to highlight great works coming out through Zine Month. One of his first discussions was about These Bloody Sails! Take a gander.
In addition, I had an interview with my good pal Sergio over at Dungeons and Dragons Lorecast, wherew we discused the history fo Pirates in Forgotten Realms. That episode will be airing sometime next week, but I want to direct you to his show so you have a chance to hear it when it drops (I talk about this project quite a bit too).
Our Friends Make Cool Stuff Too
As it is Zine Month, there are just so many cool things being made. I wanted to take a moment to highlight some projects by friends of ours that I am backing and I hope you do too.
Expedition into the Blood Sands is an OSE Science Fantasy setting that has three new supplements for you to sink your teeth into. I did some writing on this and am extremely proud to see Jeff's vision hit your gaming tables.
Magika Nostalgika is a fun creation by Matthew Sargent (Who did the art on Expedition into the Blood Sands). It's a D&D 5e magic item supplement invoking toys from the 1990s and I know it's going to be a hoot.
The Necromancer of Exetus is another D&D 5e project brought to us by David Barrentine, who has a strong track record of making really engaging 5e material for his World of Oranth series. I am betting that this adventure will be a hit in any world.
Courts of Rememory is my friend Mark Meredith's follow up to his successful ttrpg, Song of the River Prince. In this, he introduces a variety fo fey factions that permeate the Riverlands. This kickstarter only has a couple of days left, is so close to hitting funding, and we hope this one goes all the way.
I Have Lived a Thousand Lives is a solo journaling ttrpg brought to us by Rachel Bennett and being produced by Alex Rinehart. This was an insta back, as the two have already brought my collection a ton of fun with Cyberrats (which is also getting a follow up soon, Cyberrats in Space).
The Curse of Stoneshatter Tomb is a Shadowdark adventure written by Jeff Mueller and is intended for one shot or convention play. Me, I love short games like this because they are so easy to drop into an existing game.
There are so many amazing products coming out at this time, some of which have yet to hit funding, and I encourage everyone to take a look at what is being offered and help support indie writers in getting their names out there and work published.
Speaking of Amazing Products on the Horizon...
Zac Goins, probably my 14th most best friend on the entire earth, has a phenomenal new Pirate Borg adventure coming out in March called The Winds of Hell. I bring this up for two reasons.
It's rad.
I'm writing on it.
The Winds of Hell is a daemonic campaign swarming with bloodthirsty undead, Inquisition zealots, and enough pirates to fill all the hulks in the Colonies. An entire Campaign! For Pirate Borg! This is really exciting and we have a lot of great people working on this one. I had the opportunity to read through it and when I saw the types fo shenanigans the player pirates will be getting into, I had to be a part of it.
That has a few more weeks until we will see funding begin, but Pirate Borg fans across the board should prepare because this one is going to be a doozy.
That's it for now.
That's all I have! I want to thank you all again for being apart of our journey here and helping us get as far as we have. I look forward to making another update once we get closer to that 48 hour mark. For now, I hope you all have a wonderful day and smooth sailing.
-Will "This Effin' GM" Tramp
Sailing along and A Look at Cool Projects
about 1 month ago
– Thu, Feb 05, 2026 at 05:29:13 AM
Sailing Along
Good morning everyone! These Bloody Sails is sailing right along towards 300 backers and that is just phenomenal. Again, thank you to all of you who have backed it, you are all amazing. Josh and I are both over the moon with the response to this.
Editing is getting finished up and Josh has been hard at work with getting pages into layout. There's not much to report on the zine other than we aren't going to stop working until the work is done!
If you haven't yet taken a look at our video and want an idea as to what to expect from the project/who is involved, take a look at this:
A Look at Cool Projects
These Bloody Sails is a project we are really proud of, but it's not the only projects we are excited about. Our editor, John Baltisberger, has a sick looking game coming out called It's Shadow Means Death. It looks AWESOME.
Its Shadow Means Death (ISMD) is a rules-light roleplaying game where players take on roles of massive kaiju. They wanted to create a fast and easy game where players could step into the scales of giant monsters and duke it out while causing glorious destruction.
They were inspired by their love of kaiju films like Godzilla, Gamera, and Pacific Rim, and wanted a way to recreate that feeling. If you have the toys available, they fully recommend busting them out and recreating the action on the table as you play.
In fact, the rules are so light that if you wanted to, you could slap ISMD in the middle of another game, using it to control Kaiju/Giant Robot moments! But that's not all; with the expanded rules, you can take on the role of cities defending against monsters or get into mass monster melee a la FINAL WARS or GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK.
Next, our friend Mark Merideth is over halfway to his goal of bringing Courts of Rememory: A Supplement to Song of the River Prince to life.
Return to the Riverlands with a supplement to Song of the River Prince. Courts of Rememory is an exploration of the Fey and the way they touch every life along the routes of the Wide River. The entities are strange and mysterious, inscrutable to most mortal folk.
This supplement will bring you a collection of Fey Courts pledged to the High Courts of the Fey, Archfey, Lesser Fey, Fey Creatures, Borderlands between the mortal and immortal worlds, along with Spell-songs and tales of commonfolk meeting with the Courts of Rememory.
This supplement is great for any fantasy roleplaying game, allowing you to drop these creatures and worlds into your own campaign, though it is designed for the Song of The River Prince RPG.
And finally, I would be remiss if I didn't point out that Matthew Sargent (a great artist and fan of ska music) has a new project coming out in a week for Dungeons and Dragons 5e, Magika Nostalgika.
Throughout history, mages have hidden their magical secrets in mundane objects, from carvings to clothing... even humble playthings.
Discover the arcane origins of your favorite childhood toys within the pages of the Magika Nostalgika!
Inspired by popular toys of the 90s and the wish-inducing catalogs that contained them, Magika Nostalgika is a zine of magic items for D&D 5e. Inside, you'll find over 20 fantastical twists on old favorites like.
I appreciate you letting us fill your email box with news of our project and other indie projects we are excited about. There's just too many cool things going on for us to sit by and let them pass with without word! I look forward to talking to you all soon.
-William "This Effin' GM" Tramp
100% Funded in less than 1 Hour? THANK YOU!
about 1 month ago
– Tue, Feb 03, 2026 at 08:17:52 AM
Wow.
Our collective minds are absolutely blown. Thank you so much for your generous support in this endeavor. Funding this quickly absolutely relieves a ton of stress.
While you are looking at great Pirate Borg things, make sure to take a look at SkeletonKey Game's Tales from the Locker #1, currently on Kickstarter
Also, my friends at Suffety Games are launching a music based TTRPG, Tales from the Tape Deck! This is a pretty fun idea and I hope people are ready to follow and back when this hits
And if you want to see more of my own work, check out Expeditions into the Blood Sands from RPG Ramblings, where I wrote the free adventure available to backers in the first 48 hours!
