A huge expansion for Animon Story, the TTRPG about Kids and their Monster friends!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
March Update - Print Samples & A New Community Discord Server
5 days ago
– Thu, Mar 19, 2026 at 07:31:49 AM
Hello all,
I have some very exciting things to share with you this month - a first look at the print samples for Legend's Wake, the Dunia Map, and the new Card Deck! We also have a new Discord server up and running, which I'll introduce down below.
Print Samples
LongPack have sent over images of the print samples, and things are looking really good. I have to say, I'm just as eager to get these in-hand as you all are. As samples, there are of course corrections and adjustments to make for the final product. One of the more noticeable ones here is on the Legend's Wake book - the dimensions for the spine were slightly out, making the cover art incorrectly aligned. There was also a fix needed for how the map will be placed inside the back cover.
Even so, I hope you'll agree it's awesome to see something very close to the final product!
With regard to the printed A3 map, you might notice that the rear side is the quick reference sheet from the Animon Story core rulebook. When the map stretch goal was unlocked, I mentioned that the rear side might be an animon-tracker, however when designing it, I found that concept to be difficult to execute in practice.
I could put the silhoettes of every animon in the book on there, but without having a sticker set or something similar, it would be difficult to get that feeling of progress, of registering newly discovered animon through play. I also felt that it might be at odds with the function of the map.
The quick reference may be a little less visually exciting, but I'm hoping it will be a nice practical game aid, and it also means the print map has a use for those not playing in the Dunia Region.
A New Discord & Introducing Leaf & Lance!
I'm delighted to introduce Leaf & Lance, a new home for the joint creative works of myself and my partner Leo (@Detheria). This is a new 'brand' we've been working on for a while, which will be the name under which our games and other creative projects will be published. This includes Animon Story (though it won't change our publishing partnership with Metal Weave Games).
For Kickstarter backers, not much will change - only that you'll see the Leaf & Lance name connected with our work from now on.
As part of the Leaf & Lance launch, we have also created a new official community Discord server, where folks can gather to chat about Animon Story, TTRPGs, and anything else.
February Update - BREAK!! Point Now Available, Print Samples on the Way!
about 1 month ago
– Mon, Feb 16, 2026 at 03:11:09 AM
Hello all,
Another quick update while the cogs of the production process continue to turn - but I do have something new to release to you all!
BREAK!! Point Stretch Goal
The scenario created as part of our crossover with BREAK!! RPG is now available for download! All backers should find a new download listed in Backerkit, and you should soon recieve an email notification indicating this.
In the last update I did say it would be out within a week or so - my apologies for keeping you waiting longer than that, however there is a good reason! At the last minute, the BREAK!! artist Carlo, aka GreyWizard offered to create some brand new illustrations to go along with Reynaldo's writing - check them out below!
Carlo's illustrations of Mariah, Mucky, Charmpa, and Mossy Bumpo.
This scenario features a planar fissure that has opened a doorway between the Dunia Region and BREAK!!'s Outer World. Some iconic characters have crossed over to Dunia, and along with the strange dimensional energies, some monsters of Outer World have been transformed into Pseudo-Animon versions of themselves!
I hope you have fun with the scenario! It can be played without knowledge of BREAK!! for those who aren't familiar - but it's a game I love, and I highly recommend you check it out at www.breakrpg.com. It's been so fun working with them, and I doubt it will be the last time!
Production Continues
Since the last update, all print files have been fully approved. Currently we are waiting on samples of the book and card deck to be shipped out.
We've been informed that the card deck sample should be ready imminently, while the book sample should be ready in early March (after the new year celebrations). Once samples have been received and approved, we'll be on to printing proper.
This means including time for the full print run and freight shipping, we are looking at early summer for fulfilment. Things are progressing fine, but of course with the number of steps and all the communication that has to happen, getting through this stage can take a while. I appreciate everyone's continued patience.
What's next?
As always, I will keep you updated on print progress. As for stretch goals, I will be moving on to the introductory Dungeon Den. Look out for more soon!
Until next time,
Zak B
January Update - Legend's Wake Printing, Full Cover Reveal, BREAK!! Crossover Progress
2 months ago
– Sat, Jan 17, 2026 at 02:00:21 AM
Hello all,
Welcome back, and happy new year! I hope it has been treating you well so far.
After a bit of a break over the holiday season, we have been back at work, and things are progressing nicely. Today I have relatively short updates to share on both the physical production side of things, and the digital stretch goals.
Legend's Wake Printing
As of the last update, most print files had been sent to the printers for checking. We have had a couple rounds of proofs from them and edits to send back on the Legend's Wake book over the last month, and now the expansion is fully approved and printing is going ahead!
One of the final pieces to be locked in was the full cover design, which I'm happy to share with you all now. It features a lovely endorsement quote from a friend and designer whom I admire greatly, Emanuele Galletto of Rooster Games, creator of Fabula Ultima. Their positive response was very lovely to receive!
The new Card Deck is yet to be fully approved, but I am expecting this to come through very soon, after which that can begin printing as well.
We have asked for an updated production timeline, though I haven't received this as of writing this update unfortunately. Chinese New Year celebrations between 17th Feb and 3rd March are likely to interrupt the process, but exactly how much depends on what stage we're at. The proofing and approval took a little extra time but we are still broadly on track, and once underway we are simply waiting for printing to complete.
BREAK!! Crossover
Layout continues on the BREAK!! Crossover adventure site. It has been a pleasure to finally bring Reynaldo's work together into a supplement!
I don't want to say much more about it until you can dive in yourselves. All that remains is me plugging away at the layout, which should be done in the next week or so. Expect another update with the download soon!
Stretch goal content will be the more regularly paced side of things, hopefully with a nice string of releases to ease us along to the final print fulfilment.
Thank you all as always!
Until next time,
Zak B
December Update - Files to Printers, BREAK!! Adventure Site on the way!
4 months ago
– Mon, Dec 01, 2025 at 07:06:19 AM
Hello all,
A shorter update this time, as everything can be summarised rather quickly this time! There's two main points to let you know about:
Printing Physical Rewards
In the last update I mentioned that getting quotes and picking a printer was taking a little longer, but that has now been completed. We'll be working with Longpack Games who fit into our budget and have a strong history of quality products.
As of the end of November, all the print files have been checked and sent on to Longpack, aside from the cover file which just needs to be adjusted based on the final spine width - this is going to be chunky book!
Our aim is to be shipping from China by early February. Based on that estimate, books should be with distributors by March, and the majority of fulfilment done by April.
The production schedule is mostly moving at the predicted pace, as I included plenty of wiggle room - for this project it really was the writing and design side of things which added unexpected time!
BREAK!! Adventure Site
The second part of the BREAK!! RPG crossover, following up from the Adventure Site rules in the expansion book, is almost ready! Reynaldo has written an amazingly fun scenario using the Adventure Site system - this features a literal dimensional portal between the Dunia Region and BREAK!!'s Outer World!
Animon tamers meet fantasy adventurers, and the monsters of Outer World have become much more animon-like as they travel across the boundary of worlds.
I will soon begin layout on the scenario, after which it will be sent out as a download to all backers.
Thanks as always for your patience and support!
Until next time,
Zak B
October Update - Revised PDF, Card Deck #2, Print Prep & More
5 months ago
– Sat, Oct 25, 2025 at 02:47:24 AM
Hello all,
Firstly, I hope you have all been enjoying the Legend's Wake digital release since it was sent out! I know many will be waiting for the physical release before properly diving in (though this update may have something to help with that) - but I would love to hear your experiences with the book so far.
Has anyone set out into Dunia yet? Have you made use of the new Player options and GM tools? Let me know!
The Gap in Updates
Before moving on to the main content for today, I want to address the gap in communications from myself to make sure I am being transparent - as this is a benefit to both myself and all of you.
Intentional Breaks The build-up to completing Legend's Wake and releasing the PDF was a very intense period of work for me, and came at the end of a stretch where, for the best part of a year, this book is all I had been thinking about all day every day. After the release, I took a week off to recover. More recently (earlier in October), I was away for a two-week holiday. Though I am not working on this project in a vacuum, I am essentially the only person who can drive it forwards until all the files are sent to Metal Weave Games and on to the printers, so when I'm on a break, things do naturally pause.
Burnout and Personal Issues A short while after the last release, I began to suffer from a nasty bout of creative burnout - I think exacerbated by the sudden transition from solidly working on this one huge project, to suddenly having various logistical and production tasks that needed attention. Along with this, the last two months has seen some difficult times in my personal life. Though I don't wish to go into private matters here, these things had an unfortunately unavoidable impact on my productivity, and slowed me down.
Behind the Scenes Progress Of course, plenty has still been going in this 3 month period, though much of it has been the sort of work that is difficult to write full updates about. Going from digital release to physical printing is a process of transferring files and having discussions between myself and Andreas at Metal Weave Games, who is overseeing the printing and shipping side. Progress on various aspects - such as the card deck layout, preparing specs for printers, and completing final edits on the book, has been happening simultaneously. Basically, there wasn't any one particular thing to build an update around, so I wanted to wait until there was something more solid to talk about.
Production Disruption Related to the last point - the first step of the printing process is getting quotes from various manufacturers and deciding who to go with. This has been more difficult and taken longer than expected due to the current instability of global trade and shipping. Andreas has been enquiring for quotes from various printers, and some have come back with prices well above what we expected compared to previous Kickstarter projects. Others simply refused our requests because our quantities were not high enough - though printing 1-1.5k books has never been an issue before. Navigating this has taken some time and, again, isn't something I wanted to build an update around until we were ready to progress.
Updated PDFs
All backers of digital rewards should have received a notification this morning informing you of updated files available. You may not notice a great deal of differences, but there have been several small edits made to correct mistakes that slipped through the proofreading and initial edit.
The bigger change for you all is that the PDFs should now have a full list of functional bookmarks, making the file significantly easier to navigate (which is important given how big a book it is!) The bookmark list matches the in-book contents.
Make sure to download the new files and replace your previous ones! These are pretty much the final print files now, so if anyone has noticed any errors that have not yet been corrected, please let me know as soon as possible.
Card Deck #2 PDF
A new download is now available to everyone who backed for the new card deck. Though it was listed as 'Card Deck #2' in the Kickstarter, I've decided to title it the 'Evolving Horizons Card Deck', to make sure it's clear that the first card deck is not a prerequisite to using this one.
This card deck contains all the new animon detailed in Legend's Wake, as well as one or two animon who were created between now and the original books. It even includes the new legendary and mythical animon! I hope you all enjoy it.
Production of Physical Rewards
As mentioned, we are now finalizing print files for all materials, with only a few small steps remaining to be completed: the cover file, book end pages, and the box top and bottom for the card deck.
Andreas is waiting for one final quote to come in before we lock in our choice of printer - this should be very soon.
This means that our print files will be ready to send as soon as our chosen printer is confirmed and a quote accepted. I hope to send files to print in early November. From there, Andreas will be overseeing the print process, so either he or I will continue to update as this progresses.
Stretch Goals & Extra Materials
One of the great things about Metal Weave Games overseeing printing, is that it means I can then turn most of my attention to design, writing, and layout for the stretch goals and other bonus bits.
I have prepared a mini roadmap detailed the order in which I will be working on these materials, which is below:
#1: BREAK!! Point Adventure Site Representing the 2nd half of the BREAK!! RPG crossover, this scenario has been written by Reynaldo Madriñan and is only awaiting a final edit and layout. This will be sent out to all backers and also made available to download for free from www.animonstory.com.
#2: Introductory Dungeon Den Dungeon Dens are a new way to play, focusing entirely on the Animon Characters. To supplement the rules in Legend's Wake, a full Dungeon Den scenario will be created and released for free.
#3: Further Adventures in Dunia One of the stretch goal bonuses, this release will be a collection of short standalone adventures that take place in the Dunia Region. They will make use of locations and characters presented in the massive setting section of Legend's Wake, but as they will be self-contained, they'll be ideal for one-shots or side stories.
#4: Epilogue Adventure Another stretch goal, this scenario will explore the region after the end of the Legend's Wake Campaign. This will be a bit different, as it'll need to account for the fact that everyone's version of the campaign will be very different. I've put this one later as I'd be seriously impressed if anyone has finished the campaign already!
#5: Solo Mode Our final, and perhaps most anticipated stretch goal. The reason this one is coming in last is simply that it will be the biggest and most intricate design challenge. I am going to be creating and releasing this as a standalone expansion, though of course all backers will get it for free. I will certainly not be rushing it, as I want to explore the huge potential a Kid & Monster setup has in solo roleplaying - imagine virtual pet mechanics helping to add more autonomy to your animon companion, creating a really interesting and dynamic relationship to build your solo story around. I'm sorry to keep you waiting for this one, but I do believe it will be worth it!
Until Next Time
Many thanks for your attention, and your patience.
I very much hope to avoid any more unplanned gaps in updates. They should become more consistent again, especially as we get into print, and I get to developing the extra materials.
