D&D enhanced: A 350+ page tome of kaiju battles, crafting mechanics, and player options inspired by ancient folklore and yokai legend. Published by Loot Tavern.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Ryoko's Guide is OUT NOW! Final PDF Download, Mass Production and More!!
12 months ago
– Sat, Apr 05, 2025 at 11:52:43 AM
Ryoko's Guide Is Out Now!
That's right! The final, ultimate, 100% finished PDFs for Ryoko's Guide to the Yokai Realms and Wrath of the Kaiju are available for download on backerkit. This is the final form, with all feedback implemented, additional chapters added, and every spelling error eradicated (without mercy).
In all her glory, she's here at last!!
But that's not all, a ton more digital content is available too! You can download your magic item cards, tokens, handouts, cheat sheets, and everything else from Backerkit as of today as well. If you picked them up across the campaign, or want to grab them as an add-on today, they're ready for your games!
We've been a little sneaky...
I suppose I should apologise for being a little sneaky. I was very ill over February/March and missed the opportunity to update you on something important as it happened. Then I figured it might be more exciting to announce everything all once, so here goes: Ryoko's Guide has been in mass production for weeks!
Pretty dice in a pretty package = free dopamine. Who needs drugs when you have resealable bags of yokai dice?!
That's right, we've been forging those beautiful dice and epic dragon minis for weeks already! That means the production process is going to be much swifter than typical post-final PDFs 🥳🥳. Naturally, we still have plenty to print, but we've got one heck of a headstart and can't wait for y'all to get everything. With that in mind, let's take a look at a tentative timeline...
Rough Timeline
Today: Digital products are released, final PDFs can be downloaded and have been sent to the manufacturers for printing. Mass Production is already underway!
Within the next month: Final production samples will be sent to us for checking. We've been incredibly meticulous with our checks, and this is the final one before we ship. Basically just confirming everything is as it should be with regard to packaging quality, barcodes, etc. We anticipate no issues, and I'll make an unboxing video when it arrives so y'all can see exactly what will be on the way!
Within the next 2-3 months: Ryoko's Guide is published on Roll20 and Foundry. We had initially hoped to get the Foundry package out a little sooner, but it's now looking like they'll all drop at the same time. Production will be completed and then we'll ship to you!
This is a section of the pre-production sample, but I'll never get tired of seeing everything together! <3
What's The Deal With These Tariffs??
You might be aware that the US government has just announced a huge series of tariffs on all imports to the USA from across the globe, including a 54% tariff on goods from China (where almost all TTRPGs and board games are manufactured, including Ryoko's Guide). These tariffs are paid by American companies on all goods that enter the country. This has a titanic impact on our entire industry, but Ryoko's is still a few months away from shipping and a lot can happen in that time. The US government hasn't made it clear how long they intend to maintain the tariffs or if they'll go up. No matter what, we're doing everything we can to minimize the impact these tariffs have on backers.
Larger companies will directly pass the 54% tax cost onto the consumer, but Ryoko's is relatively small, and we have other options! We're in constant communication with depots across North America and with maunfacturers across the world. We'll keep you updated every step of the way, and we will find the best possible solution to get everything to you as quickly as possible with the absolute lowest disruption to shipping costs we can wrangle. There are many options and we're exploring them all, and we'll listen and work together with you all to find the best way forward as a community as our options become apparent.
If you're outside the US, the disruption will be almost unnoticable. We'll likely be shipping to distribution depots in Canada, rather than the US, for backers in the Americas which might add a few days to shipping times, but that's it. Any additional shipping costs incurred by the disruption to those of you outside the US will be 100% covered by Loot Tavern.
Who's da man? You Za-man! (they begged me not to make this pun, begged me)
Zaman's Guide is a 700+ page 5e expansion that introduces an incredible Paradox system to add time travel mechanics to D&D! It's also rocking an all new class, The Gunner, alongside amazing new subclasses, species, 100+ magic items, and tons more awesome stuff.
A cosmic adventure across time and space!! With GUNS!
You can sign up to the pre-launch page here to be notified when it drops!Loot Tavern is aiming to hit 4,000 followers before launch and, if they can get there, they're releasing an ADDITIONAL subclass for the Gunner! From the team that brought you Ryoko's Guide (except me, RIP) Zaman's is the ultimate desertpunk, timetravelling expansion for your games!
Thank You
Thanks so much for all your support over the last year and a half. Seeing Ryoko's finished and knowing the books are being printed as we speak is a very powerful feeling. I'm not sure I can articulate it in words, but I know that I wake up every day so grateful that you're enjoying gaming and sharing moments together using the stuff we've made. From me, Yo, Dai, the folks at Loot Tavern, and all the incredible artists, thanks so much for being here and letting us play a small part in the stories you tell.
As always, if you've got any questions, head on over to the #ryokos-guide channels of the Loot Tavern Discord Server. Smaller, regular updates are given there more often too!
Stay funky!
Will
Ryoko's Guide In Print! First Look + Final Steps!
about 1 year ago
– Wed, Feb 05, 2025 at 07:43:47 AM
We're In Print Baby!!
There's so much stuff that I had to sp...
What you're looking at is the full print test for Ryoko's Guide - everything is here except the wall hanging, which will be arriving soon. The print test is the final step before mass production - it's our chance to identify any issues with packaging, barcodes, etc.
..lit it across TWO images - and this isn't even everything!
I'm delighted to report that there are no significant changes that we need to make. The packaging is sturdy and everything is beautiful quality. There are a couple of small tweaks we're making that I'll walk you through, but nothing that is going to delay mass production.
Small Tweaks
Although we love the crimson foil on black for the spine of the deluxe books, we found that it was difficult to read on a bookshelf. Unless the light is hitting it just right the deep crimson didn't pop. We've changed it from crimson text to gold instead, which just freaking shines off the bookshelf and looks amazing.
Turn it up to 11, cos I there's a spine-I'd-tap! Get it? Cos it's a nice looking spine? Did you get my joke? You may now laugh.
Another plus to the print test is it lets us catch any small errors that might have slipped through, and there was one tiny graphical issue with the card Raiko's Rending Rage. The spell cards for each of the signature kaiju spells are supposed to be on a special black background (see pictured below), but this one was printed with the standard spell back. This disrespect to our lightning kaiju couldn't stand, but it's a simple graphical tweak for us. The rest of the cards are looking great!
Tfw when you're playing poker and opp drops a Raiko's Rending Rage 😬😬
One sneaky thing the print test allows us to do is contrast different foil effects for the book covers. Between Wrath of the Kaiju and Ryoko's Guide, we explored different finishes for the gold and crimson foil. We went with the one used for Wrath of the Kaiju, which is much more clean and resplendant in person. The darker gold of the Ryoko's deluxe cover test ended up feeling a little too muddy, especially under normal light conditions. The great thing about testing both at this stage is it cost us no additional time - that's a change that can be implemented effortlessly as we move to mass production.
One bling to rule them all, one bling to find them...
Other Things
Music
The custom music for Ryoko's is coming along beautifully! Each adventure now has its own soundtrack with adjustable musical elements you can fade in and out to reflect the rising and falling danger across a campaign. Each track is tailored beautifully to the setting of the adventure; it's really evocative, meditative stuff. They're going through final revisions and mixes now, I'll post a track for y'all to hear in the next update.
VTTs
Virtual bros need love too! Roll20 and Foundry integrations are already underway (we don't handle Alchemy ourselves, but they're cooking on that too), and now that everything is finalised in terms of content its just a matter of importing everything and giving it a healthy test before release. The current timeline from Narb (our resident VTT genius) has y'all playing with Ryoko's and Wrath of the Kaiju on Roll20 and Foundry in about two months (mid-April time).
I don't have art of a VTT, so here's a fun picture of some tsukumogami to keep things fresh.
Tariffs
I hate to throw the breaks on an update that is this exciting , but I know lots of folks are nervous about the tariffs announced by the new USA administration and their impact on the price of goods and shipping. It's still extremely early days and we don't know if the tariffs will be maintained or for how long - it's possible they will be withdrawn soon. That said, we are 100% comitted to NOT raising prices or requesting additional fees for shipping/import to those of you in the USA.
Even so, the disruption to companies based in the US who import goods from abroad is something the entire world will have to navigate. We're hopeful it won't translate to any delay to US customers, but once again, we really don't know what will happen yet. We'll keep you updated, but we're very hopeful it won't cost us time and we're steaming ahead no matter what. Tariffs or no tariffs, we're going to get everything to everyone as quickly as is possible, no matter where they are or what tariffs are in place.
Projects We Love
On a significantly more BADASS note, our great friends over at Splattered Ink are entering their final week on the smash-hit 5e expansion: A Time Travellers Guide to Dinosaur Hunting! It's a super-sized, double book collection of bonkers one-shots, colossal monsters, brutal items and weapons, primordial spells, and amazing player options. You can ride a dinosaur, need I say more? You can check them out here and say hey from us if you're hankerin' for some D&D dino action!
As always, if you've got any questions, head on over to the #ryokos-guide channels of the Loot Tavern Discord Server. Smaller, regular updates are given there more often too!
You're awesome, thanks for being awesome, we can't wait to move into mass production and get everything shipped! 🥳🥳
- Will and the Team
A Christmas Ryoko's Update (and a Bpnus Subclass Gift!)
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Dec 19, 2024 at 11:05:09 AM
Even the party's Druid is getting in on the season!
Happy Holidays Everyone!
It's the time of year where it's always dark and cold, horray! Hopefully y'all are getting some time off soon to spend with those you care about and eat way to much food. Everything going great on our end, we're in that period where it's mostly just waiting around for final samples, but that doesn't mean we don't have stuff to share, like...
The Art Book PDF is out right now!
We put the "art" in "heartlessly murdering our players with kaiju!"
That's right! If you picked up the Art Book as part of Ryoko's, the PDF is now available to download on backerkit. It contains stunning artwork, in-progress pieces, and alternate sketches and looks for various creatures, characters, and landscapes! It also includes brief vignettes discussing the mythological, biological, historical, and cultural inspirations behind the Big Five Kaiju of Ryoko's. Although I love every bit of Ryoko's, flipping through the art book is a special type of magical for me; it's probably the most beautiful book I've ever seen.
Which embodiment of fury and lightning represents your mood today? I'm such a 3 until I get my coffee...
Digital Proofs Are Approved!
The digital proofs have all been approved, and the print test is underway. This is the final stage of pre-production! As soon as those print tests come through, we'll update you again (I'll make a full unboxing video so you can see exactly how everything is looking) and then we'll print everything en-masse and ship! We'll keep you updated on every small step from here on out, so you know exactly when to expect Ryoko's in your hands!
We're almost there, just gotta keep sawing away on the final stretch!
We raised over $4000 for CALM! Thanks to everyone who donated - you are amazing!
As always, if you've got any questions, head on over to the #ryokos-guide channels of the Loot Tavern Discord Server. Smaller, regular updates are given there more often too!
You can also reach us on the discord if you need any support, want to contact the team, or want upgrade your pledge. The team will be taking a break over Christmas, but we'll be popping in as often as we can to help out!
From all of us, have a wonderful holiday season, and we'll see you in the new year with an update when the print tests arrive!
That's all for now!
- Will and the Team
(Whoops, pressed Publish too Early!) Wrath of the Kaiju Is Here!! Plus Tokens, Music, Bombuku's Notebook, and More!
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Oct 31, 2024 at 01:33:01 PM
MFW there's new stuff to download!! 🥳🥳
Happy Halloween Everyone!
Spooky season is upon us, and is there anything more spooky than PROOF-READING A 300+ PAGE ADVENTURE BOOK?! I don't think so, and if anyone has any doubts they'll soon be assuaged because...
Wrath of the Kaiju Is Here!!
You can now download the latest PDF version of Wrath of the Kaiju from BackerKit. As with Ryoko's Guide, this isn't technically the final version, but in terms of balance and content, everything is there! Some very small things (like page reference numbers, the index, etc.) are unfinalised, but we'll be adding those in shortly. By releasing it now, any final things you spot, like spelling errors, we can still act on before going to final printing!
ARE YOU READY TO RUUMMBLEEEEE?!! Wrath of the Kaiju rampages into action!
As always, letting us know any errors you spot on the Loot Tavern discord is really appreciated! And now that Wrath of the Kaiju is out and ready to rumble, you should probably also grab the...
Top Down Tokens!
The top-down tokens from Ryoko's Guide and Wrath of the Kaiju are up on BackerKit. In fact, the eagle eyed among you have already spotted them (we dropped them silently last week).
Gotta Catch 'Em All! We're rocking tokens for every creature and kaiju in the game!
These are the tokens for use in VTTs, and the physical ones will be printed on punch-out boards for use on tabletop. For those of you wondering, there's multiple copies of all the tokens that are needed in multiples for the adventures in the physical boards, so it's everything you'll ever need.
Bombuku's Notebook Is Also Here
Bombuku's Notebook of Knowhow is the player-facing supplement to Ryoko's Guide, containing all the core mechanics on fighting kaiju, improved extra attack, weapon masteries, combo attacks, equipment and prostheses, and a hyperlink to the crafting mechanics.
He's just a humble genius crafting weapons of mass destruction for the good of everyone
Basically, it's everything a player might need to know and reference in game, without any of the spoilers for the adventures or kaiju battles themselves, and without the need to flip through the EXTRA-THICC beast that is the Ryoko's Guide hardcover itself.
Other Stuff!
At these final stages in development, lots of things move at the same time. Dice have entered mass production, the music tracks are being finalised (and they sound BEAUTIFUL), and we're finalising the text for the art book tomorrow. That's probably the thing we're most excited to show y'all; there's so much gorgeous art that you've still to see! We'll drop an update when that final PDF is ready for download too, of course, and also when we get the print tests back with everything.
Here's some of the earliest concept sketches showing how Nomi took shape. We tested more bipedal and elegant forms, but ultimately settled on GIGA THICC! I hope you agree we made the correct choice, though I still love draft 1 here!
If you've got any questions, head on over to the #ryokos-guide channels of the Loot Tavern Discord Server. Smaller, regular updates are given there more often too!
You can also reach us on the discord if you need any support, want to contact the team or upgrade your pledge. You are awesome, thanks for being so awesome - it's awesome how awesome you are.
Grab some beautiful hard enamel class pins to reward your players for (finally) not being murder hobos, or as a gift for your favourite GM! There’s one for each core class and the GM, as well as the Bender and the Tamer from Ryoko’s and Heliana’s Guides. See them all here!
This QUICKSTARTER by Loot Tavern (Co-creators and publishers of Ryoko's Guide) aims to fulfill before Christmas making this the perfect gift! All design and test prints are done, the manufacturers are ready, and they just need to be told how many to make. It launches next Tuesday 5th November and each backer who abcks within the first 48 hours gets a FREE MYSTERY DICE SET!
That's all for now!
- Will and the Team
Pressed Update too early - see newer update
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Oct 31, 2024 at 01:08:37 PM
