Zaman's Guide to the End of Time (And How to Fix It)

Zaman's Reimbursements and First Beta Test!
about 1 year ago – Thu, Jul 10, 2025 at 03:08:47 PM

This update covers reimbursement coupons for End Times adventures, the release of the first Beta of Zaman’s Guide, and an upcoming project: Voidsea!

Zaman's Guide to Coupons (And How to Get Them)

Zaman’s Guide has been a crazy journey so far, and we want to once again thank all of our backers for making this project a reality. So if you purchased any of the adventures in the End Times series from the Loot Tavern webstore and later backed Zaman’s Guide on Kickstarter at a tier that includes the Cradle of the Chronowyrm adventure book (or included the adventure book as an add-on), we’re giving you a coupon for our webstore! Here’s how you can get it:

If you backed Zaman’s Guide with the same email address as your https://loottavern.com/ account, you don’t need to do anything—you’ll receive an email containing your coupon. If you used a different email address than your https://loottavern.com/ account, however, you need to fill out this form before you can receive your email.

The value of the coupon will be the sum of the prices of any PDFs or DABs from the End Times series you’ve purchased (minus any applicable taxes), up to the cost of the Cradle of the Chronowyrm Adventure Book PDF ($30). The coupons can be used only for digital items from our store. We will be sending these out in waves, so don’t worry if you don’t get it right away! 

Also, note that to avoid disrupting the fabric of reality, each coupon can only be used once across all time and space. We apologise profusely to all chronomancers out there.

The Beta PDF Is Here!

The time has finally come! We’re excited to present all of you with the first portion of Zaman’s Guide Beta Version 1—the product of eons of carefully studying the nature of time and recording its secrets, all chronomantically condensed into the span of a few months.

We know you’ve been waiting for a while, so what can you expect from this Beta? This initial segment focuses heavily on player options, and includes:

• The full version of the Gunner class, with the Bulletsmith, Chronotrigger, Deadeye, and Slugger subclasses.
• A total of 12 new subclasses: one for each of DnD 5e’s base classes.
• 7 new player species and 2 new subspecies, one for the Dwarf and one for the Rakin.
• 6 new backgrounds and 22 new feats, involving deserts, jinn, and time travel.
• Harvesting & Crafting Lite rules.
• A sample of some of the new spells that will be included in the full version.

Notably, this version does not include:

• Stretch goal content (such as the Outrider Tamer, the Disciple of Celerity Bender, and the Spellslinger and Dragoon Gunner Creeds).
• Changes resulting from pre-campaign playtesting feedback. Worry not, we’re not ignoring your comments! It’ll just be a little longer before we can give them the attention they deserve.

Feedback. We’re dying to know what you think, so if you want to share your opinions on what we’ve released so far, just fill in this form!

Once the remaining parts of Beta Version 1 are released (over the next few months), we’ll process and implement this feedback (alongside feedback from the pre-campaign playtests) to create Beta Version 2 of Zaman’s Guide. Don’t miss this chance to let your voice be heard! Future you would be upset.

What Lurks Beneath the Waves?

Voidsea—a brand new collaborative project between Archvillain Games, Loot Tavern, and Titan Forge, that’s what! Dive into a vast oceanic expanse full of slumbering pelagic titans, bloodthirsty pirate crews, and… your very own mimic ship? Voidsea brings you a new system for naval combat, fully customisable vessels with harvestable and craftable ship components, naval perks to build your crew, horrifying eldritch mutations, and so much more.

The project officially launches on September 30th, but you can follow the Kickstarter page right now to help us unlock FREE miniatures as community stretch goals! We’re only about 300 followers away from the next goal!

In Need of Assistance?

As usual, if you have any questions, you can reach us through our email, where ChefTinyT will try to get back to you in no later than two business days. An even better way you can reach us is the #zamans-questions-answered channel of the Loot Tavern Discord Server, where answers are usually less than a day away.

— Maru and the Loot Tavern Team
 

Surveys are Live!
about 1 year ago – Tue, Jun 03, 2025 at 01:05:39 PM

The Backerkit Surveys are already live!

We’ve run the smoke tests and confirmed everything was working last week, so we sent out surveys Monday, May 26th. If you haven’t received your survey yet please reach out to Backerkit Support or to us directly (See below section about needing assistance).

NOTE! If you paid using Apple Pay and you have the feature turned on that hides your email, you will not get a survey and will have to reach out to Backerkit directly, giving them your details so they can find your pledge and manually change the email.

Locking Orders and Payment Information

Currently we are giving people time to finish their surveys and make any changes to their order that they want. Starting on June 23rd 2025 we will begin locking orders. We need to do this so y’all can access the downloadable material (Beta tests, and the Heliana PDF if you purchased that there!)

If you haven't filled out your survey, or don't have sufficient funds in your account, you have until shipping begins (Estimated for October of 2026) to resolve it, but you won't be able to access your digital downloads until your survey is filled out and the balance is paid. If you still need to fill out the survey, now is the time (it takes about 5 minutes). Here’s the link if you still need to do it!

Moving forward, we'll lock in orders every Monday. So, if you complete your survey on a Wednesday, your card will be charged the following Monday, and you'll receive any digital assets at that time too!

We had to reset some surveys to allow for the freedom of choice!

Zaman ended up getting the wrong timeline on his first pass when sending out surveys. He chose the timeline where we just gave everyone the free dice without the choice to not receive them. Turns out that wasn’t the right timeline for us! 

Reset Surveys. We have gone back and now added in the choice for the free dice. What this means is that even though you may have already filled out a survey, if you had the free dice option your survey was reset. Even though your past self already filled the survey out, we need your present self to go and double check to make sure that your survey is completed. All you should have to do is accept or deny your free dice. The changes you’ve already made to your survey should still be there! If you upgraded your order or changed tiers those will still be preserved! Until you make the choice on the free dice you will continue to receive weekly reminders about filling out your survey.

Free Dice. No system is perfect and a few of you may have been missed. Before reaching out to us please check the following as we may have already caught the missing dice ahead of time. (Time Travel is a useful tool for this kinda stuff!)

If you were a First 72 Hour Backer OR you used the DnD Shorts link you’ll want to look on your Review page in backerkit. To get there you will need to log into backerkit and go to Your Surveys, from there you will click on Zaman’s Guide and be taken to your order.

What you will be looking for is the following:

If you see this then you’ve already gotten the dice and the timestreams are aligned properly. If you are missing the free dice at this point please reach out to us!

In need of assistance?

If you have any questions you can reach us through our email, where I, ChefTinyT, will get back to you in no later than two business days. An even better way you can reach us is the #zamans-questions-answered channel of the Loot Tavern Discord Server, where answers are usually less than a day away.

—ChefTinyT and the Loot Tavern Team

Are you ready for a survey?
about 1 year ago – Thu, May 22, 2025 at 08:25:00 PM

Finalising Orders

ChefTinyT here! Backerkit Surveys are coming very soon: they will be ready by May 26th! That survey is the place where you will enter your shipping information, upgrade book covers, choose your VTT (If you got one), and add on any other things you may have missed. You’ll be able to update payment information if your kickstarter pledge didn’t go through and check if the products in your basket match what you were expecting!
 

In order to make sure everything is working, we'll run a "smoke test" this week (it's actually already running). That's where we take a very small number of backers at random, and send them the survey early just to make sure everything is working. When we have no issues, we’ll send the survey out to the rest of you!
 

What is this survey anyway?

The Backerkit Survey is *your* survey. It's the place for you to confirm your details, confirm your pledge, make sure your payment information is up to date and grab any last minute goodies. For example, many people who purchased the Core Book and Game-Ready Tiers were interested in upgrading their book covers to the Deluxe versions. This is the place you can do that! Speaking of upgrades, let's talk about Slipcases.

Deluxe Cover Upgrades and the Slipcase

When you get to the pledge manager on Backerkit, you’ll be able to upgrade things! You can get the fancy foil-embossed Deluxe book covers as shown above, or even upgrade to the Slipcase as shown below!

Slipcase. Here's how this works: The slipcase will be packaged by the manufacturer with the three books inside of it: Deluxe Zaman’s, Deluxe Chronowyrm, and the Art Book. and packed as a single unit (which prevents damage in transit). The slipcase appears as a single line item in your basket—don’t worry if you don’t see the books individually listed.

Book Tier. If you’re in the book tier and want to upgrade to the slipcase, the cheapest option is to change your pledge level by clicking ‘Switch You Pledge Level’ and choosing the Game-Ready tier. Then follow the steps in the paragraph below.
 

Game-Ready and Core Box. If you're in the Game-Ready or Core Box tier, you can upgrade to this slipcase for $100 (this takes into account the two Deluxe cover upgrades and the Art book).

Deluxe and All-in. If you're in the Deluxe Box tier, you can simply add the slipcase addon for $20. The all-in tier already gets the slipcase!

Already Added the Artbook. If you already added the Art Book as an addon in Kickstarter and choose to get the slipcase bundle, let us know by immediately contacting Backerkit Support and ask them to "remove the Art Book Kickstarter addon because you have selected the slipcase addon". They'll remove the extra Art Book so that you don't get two of them! 

Shipping and Addresses 

Shipping and Taxes. Shipping and taxes will be charged once the project is close to fulfilling in around 18 months. For a breakdown of estimated shipping charges, consult this image. For taxes and duties, consult your government's information.
 

Addresses. Thinking you might move? Zaman's is expected to fulfil in Q3 of 2026. Closer to that time, we'll send out reminders asking you to update your addresses. Don't sweat it until then.
 

In need of assistance?

If you have any questions you can reach us through our email, where I, ChefTinyT, will get back to you in no later than two business days. An even better way you can reach us is the #zamans-questions-answered channel of the Loot Tavern Discord Server, where answers are usually less than a day away.

-ChefTinyT and the Loot Tavern Team

Funded! Next steps: Backerkit and Beyond
over 1 year ago – Mon, May 12, 2025 at 03:29:39 PM

Another successful Kickstarter thanks to all of you!

And as the last grains of sand in the hourglass fall, the Kickstarter campaign for Zaman’s Guide to the End of Time comes to an end. What a month it’s been! We must have triggered some sort of time dilation paradox, because it somehow felt like a year but also went by in a flash!

830k is no easy feat, especially during these uncertain times, and we want to once again thank YOU for making it all possible. Without your interest or support, none of this would’ve happened. Your feedback kept our writers on their toes, your compliments kept our artists motivated, and your questions kept our community managers INCREDIBLY busy.

The ball’s on our court now! We’re retreating into our chronomanticlab to extort the finished product from our future selves diligently write the rest of the book and get the beta test into your hands as soon as possible. Unfortunately, we’ve only figured out how to travel into the future at a rate of one second per second, so this will take a little while. Know that it’s because we’re trying our absolute best to deliver the most polished product we can!

Future Updates. For the next couple of months you can expect an update every two weeks or so. These will tell you about Backerkit surveys, new Beta test PDFs, and the like. After that, updates will come once every 4-6 weeks as we process feedback, get manufacturing samples, and go through the usual rigamarole of making a new product!

The Next Steps

It's going to take about 10 more days for Kickstarter to process all the payments and communicate with Backerkit! In approximately two weeks, you will receive an email where you can:

• Give us your shipping info
• Add any addons you like
• Raise your pledge level
• Upgrade your book covers from core to deluxe
• Add the artbook and slipcase 
• Confirm your desire to receive your free dice (if applicable)

Pledge Management.We'll have a more in depth 'How To' on pledge management closer to the time!

Addresses. Thinking you might move? Zaman's is expected to fulfil in Q3 of 2026. Closer to that time, we'll send out reminders asking you to update your addresses. Don't sweat it until then.

Zaman’s available for Pre-Order!

Missed the Kickstarter? No worries. We have a pre-order store on Backerkit, where folks who missed out the Kickstarter campaign can still pick it up! We're honouring all the prices/rewards/tiers on the Kickstarter page on the BackerKit pre-order store, so that those who found out about the project late or couldn't save up in time (please be financially responsible, this is just a game!) can get the same rewards.

Shipping and Taxes. Shipping and taxes will be charged once the project is close to fulfilling in around 18 months. For a breakdown of estimated shipping charges, consult this image. For taxes and duties, consult your government's information.

So Who’s Still Hungry for that Last Stretch Goal?

Ever had a meal you enjoyed so much you wanted to time travel and eat it all over again, paradoxes be damned? Well now you can. With folks already backing on Backerkit we figured you basically hit the Magical Meal stretch goal. Long story short: we will be adding 8 boss monster magical meals as craftable items to Cradle of the Chronowyrm!
 

Magical Meals. Crafted from the remains of the boss monster’s you defeat, boss monster magical meals enhance the cooking experience of Heliana’s Guide with new unique effects. Magical meals are like elixirs from Baldur’s Gate 3—their effects last a long time and you can only benefit from one meal at once. These are the perfect tool with which to prepare for your next fight, granting you a variety of modular effects!

If you have any questions you can reach us through our email, where I, ChefTinyT, will get back to you in no later than two business days. An even better way you can reach us is the #zamans-questions-answered channel of the Loot Tavern Discord Server, where answers are usually less than a day away.
 

ChefTinyT and the Team

The Sands of Time are Running Out! 72 Hours Remain!
over 1 year ago – Tue, May 06, 2025 at 07:50:36 AM

For the next course, two stretch goals!

We’ve been busy in the kitchen trying to keep up with how quickly you’ve been downing these stretch goals. Over the weekend, we knocked out TWO goals! Let’s see what the cards hold for us while they’re still hot in the plate:

650k - New Subrace: Elemental Dji!

Harnessing the primordial elements of the Imaginal Plane, Elemental Dji have an attunement to a specific element.  This is similar to how Cosmic Dji attune to an aspect of reality and Emotion Dji embody emotions! A question for you! What aspects of elements, reality, and emotions, might need to be combined to create a jinn-descendant nicknamed the Fire of Creation? Asking for a friend… we totally have the answer.

700k - Magic Item Cards - Timespun Treasures!

You unlocked MORE magic items! We’re adding 30 NEW items (~100 with rarity variants), inspired by Arabian, Egyptian and North African cultures to Zaman’s Guide! The additional deck of ~100 tarot-sized Cards is included in the Core, Deluxe, and All-In tiers.

Next Stretch Goal - 750k - New Subrace: Entomorph Locustkin!

Help us to help you fulfil your dream of playing a grunt of the Galactic Federation and get steamrolled by your favourite scientist and his grandson!

If we hit $750k before the campaign’s end, we unlock a second subspecies for the Entomorph race: Locustkin. What traits would you give a locust-themed insectoid race?

End of Kickstarter Stream!

The dream team is at it again to do one final stream for Zaman’s Guide. This Wednesday (May 7th), at 12 pm MST, we will be streaming on Loot Tavern's Youtube Channel. Ognjen Sporin will be working on more illustrations for the book, accompanied by our lead writer for Zaman’s Guide João Araújo and our creative director Mohammed Bellafquih. They will be there to both entertain the eyes with amazing art and to chat with you and maybe even answer some of your most burning questions!

Heliana-Compatible Project: Tome of Intangible Treasures II

Lone Colossus games funded their 4th campaign last week—a tome of 100 new monsters from whose harvested components you can conduct rituals to grant yourself over 300 boons and charms! We’ll let them tell it themselves:

Heliana Compatible. The Ritual system is compatible with the Crafting and Harvesting systems from Heliana’s Guide to Monster Hunting. Do more than enchant items and cook magical meals with this supplement for 5e. We’re super excited to see independent writers embracing Heliana’s mechanics—it gives all you monster hunters more bang for your buck! Check them out here.

Thanks again,

ChefTinyT and the LT team