A fantasy TTRPG about insatiable hunger in a blighted land, inspired by Hollow Knight, Bloodborne, Dark Souls, and Elden Ring.
We aim to start shipping physical rewards by June 2026. Digital rewards for already-existing books will be sent when orders are locked down (July 2025). Once they're ready, all other digital rewards will be made accessible (estimated Q2 2026).
Pre-order sales are final. Shipping will be charged closer to fulfillment. You can check estimated shipping pricesHERE (Shipping and Fulfillment section)
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Summer Update
8 months ago
– Thu, Jul 31, 2025 at 02:16:03 AM
Hello Dowsers,
Here’s a quick update to check in. Work is progressing steadily, and while there aren’t major announcements at this time, we have a few things to share—so read on if you’d like to know more.
Project Status
As things stand, we expect to complete the Core Book by mid-August. This aligns well with our plan to begin translation in September. The team is fully focused on wrapping this up before moving on to finalize the remaining two books.
We’ve experienced a slight slowdown in the art department due to real-life interruptions, but nothing that should significantly impact our overall timeline.
Have You Received Your Add-On PDFs?
If you backed any product from the Broken Tales or Dead Air: Seasons game lines during the campaign, you should have already received an email with download links. If not, simply log into your survey and check the Digital Downloads tab—you’ll find everything there.
If you supported anything from the Valraven line, good news: we’re finalizing those files, and we expect to deliver the final PDFs by early September at the latest.
Just to clarify: no PDFs related to Bitter Chalice are ready to share at this time.
That’s all for now—come say hi on Discord if you haven’t already!
You can follow and interact with us on multiple platforms:
• Discord: Join our community and chat directly with us. • Facebook: Follow The World Anvil Publishing page. • Bluesky: Stay updated with our latest posts. • Telegram: Get quick updates straight to your device. • Instagram: See behind-the-scenes content and more.
Surveys Locking Down Soon!
9 months ago
– Mon, Jun 23, 2025 at 08:56:13 AM
Hello Dowsers,
It’s time for a small update on how work is going, but first…
The Pledge Manager will lock orders on July 2nd
Most of you have already completed the Pledge Manager survey—thank you! However, around 12% of backers still haven’t. If you’re unsure whether you’ve filled it out, please check now. Automatic reminders are being sent, but you may have missed them if you’re not checking your email regularly.
For everyone else: orders will lock on July 2nd. What does this mean in practice?
After that date, you won’t be able to modify your order on your own. So if you want to add anything, do it now.
Any outstanding fees, such as for Add Ons you selected during the Pledge Manager process, will be charged at that time.
Digital files for our previous games (if you added any version of them to your order) will become available for download provided your outstanding balance, if any, is paid. Please note that all Valraven-related material is still in progress and will be available over the summer, once it is out of Beta.
Your shipping address will remain editable until much closer to fulfillment.
Just a reminder: shipping fees have not been charged yet, as we’ll only have accurate estimates closer to delivery.
Project Status
The team is currently working on all three books in parallel, as keeping cross-references consistent between them is essential.
Here are the latest milestones:
Core Book: The Campaign section has reached 80% completion. We’ve finalized and revised a massive list of over 150 weapons, armors, and trinkets. A detailed combat example has also been written to ensure all mechanics are explained as clearly as possible.
Dirge of the Dust King: The Extended Lore and Chronology are now 75% complete.
Illustrations: Harry Conway has finished his part of the work. Fabio Porfidia is working smoothly through a series of more than 30 additional pieces.
Up Next: We’ll be focusing on completing all Events for the game’s 33 Locations.
We expect to make substantial progress over the summer, when the whole team will have a bit more breathing room from day-to-day responsibilities.
That’s all for now—don’t forget the July 2nd deadline!
• Telegram: Get quick updates straight to your device.
• Instagram: See behind-the-scenes content and more.
The Pledge Manager is Open to All
10 months ago
– Mon, May 26, 2025 at 07:58:01 AM
Hello Dowsers,
Good news: the Smoke Test went smoothly, so I’ve now sent out Pledge Manager invitations to all backers!
If you don’t see an email within the next couple of hours, please check your spam folder. Still nothing? Reach out and I’ll send you a direct link.
The survey process is simple, just follow the on-screen instructions and you should be all set. That said, here are a few important notes:
Had a failed payment on Kickstarter? You can fix it now directly in the Pledge Manager adding a funded card.
Did you pledge only 1€ during the campaign (No Reward)? You can now switch to a full pledge.
Want to change your pledge level? You can do so from the very first screen after clicking your link. (It’s a little hidden—see the screenshot below. Yes, it’s a weird UI choice, I know.). If you switch to a lower-level pledge, you can only get credit to spend in the Pledge Manager.
Shipping fees won’t be shown or charged yet. As mentioned during the campaign, we’ll finalize them closer to fulfillment. You can use the price estimates shared during the campaign as a rough guide.
Adding extras? Your card will not be charged right away. We’ll collect payments when we lock the surveys, which is currently planned for early July. I’m planning to distribute all existing digital rewards (meaning our previous games) as soon as the surveys are locked.
If you signed up on the pre-launch page, you’ll notice a complimentary copy of the Bitter Chalice Art Prints added to your order. Keep in mind these are physical items—so if you selected a digital-only pledge, they will add shipping costs to your order. If you’d prefer not to receive them, just let me know and I’ll remove them from your pledge.
If anything looks off in your survey (missing items, wrong selections, or any confusion at all) just reach out. I’ll be happy to help.
Cheers!
– Tommaso
Reminders:
The Late Pledge Pre-Orders are also open HERE. Tell your friends!
• Telegram: Get quick updates straight to your device.
• Instagram: See behind-the-scenes content and more.
Smoke Tests going out & Pre-Orders open!
10 months ago
– Thu, May 22, 2025 at 11:22:40 AM
Hello Dowsers,
Just a quick update today.
As mentioned in the previous update, we’re now ready to launch the Smoke Test for the Pledge Manager. Here’s what that means:
Only 5% of backers will receive an email with a link to the Pledge Manager. The selection is handled automatically, and usually includes a good mix of pledge levels, locations, and other variables.
We’ll monitor how this group navigates the survey to identify any issues or unclear steps.
Once we’re confident everything is working as it should, the remaining 95% of backers will receive their surveys. I’ll post another update when we’re ready to go live for everyone.
If you don’t receive an email, that just means you’re not part of the test group—nothing to worry about.
For those who do receive the link:
The process should be straightforward, but here are a few tips for things that might not be immediately obvious:
You can switch pledge levels from the very first screen after clicking the link. It’s a little tucked away, so I’ve included a screenshot below to help.
Shipping costs will not be shown or charged at this stage. As mentioned during the campaign, we’ll finalize shipping fees later, closer to fulfillment. You can use the price ranges in the campaign as a fairly precise indication (as of today).
If you add any extras to your order now, your card won’t be charged until we lock the surveys—currently planned for early July.
That should be everything you need to complete the survey smoothly. If anything unexpected comes up, feel free to reach out and we’ll take a look.
Late Pledge preorders
Last but not least, the Late Pledge Pre-Order page is now live—you can find it HERE. If you know someone who missed the campaign but would love a copy of Bitter Chalice, feel free to share the link with them!
And don’t worry: as a campaign backer, you’re still getting the best deal.
That’s all for today, thanks again for your support!
• Telegram: Get quick updates straight to your device.
• Instagram: See behind-the-scenes content and more.
Next step: the Pledge Manager
10 months ago
– Thu, May 15, 2025 at 04:48:28 AM
Hello Dowsers,
After a couple of weeks to catch our breath post-campaign, we’re back at work, and first on the list is configuring the Pledge Manager. This will be the place where you confirm your order, select Add-Ons, and enter your shipping details. Most of you are probably familiar with the process, but don’t worry—we’ll provide clear, step-by-step instructions when it goes live.
Setting it up properly takes time. Think of it like building a global e-commerce platform from scratch—it’s about that level of complexity. With 57 Add-Ons available (yes, we counted), we want to be absolutely sure everything functions as intended before inviting you in.
Once we’re confident the setup is solid, we’ll launch a Smoke Test: this sends the Pledge Manager to about 5% of backers to make sure the system works smoothly and nothing’s been overlooked. I’ll share more details when we’re ready to go.
As foretold by prophecy (and Kickstarter’s historic averages), about 5% of pledges failed due to card issues. If that happened to you, don’t worry—you’ll have a second chance to fix it once the Pledge Manager opens.
On the content side, I’ve also started locking in internal deadlines for wrapping up the books. Work continues in parallel on all three volumes to ensure everything stays consistent across them, and we’re aiming to begin translations in early September.
That’s it for now. I’ll be in touch in a few days with more news about the Smoke Test.
