Designed by the creators of Shadows of Esteren and Fateforge, Creatures is a love letter to fantasy bestiaries. Its 400 pages detail more than 200 illustrated creatures using the 5th Edition ruleset of the most famous of roleplaying games. Its contents include 6 playable species, NPCs with related adventure hooks for all levels, reimagined classic creatures and brand new ones, as well as 15 archetypes, providing you with material to design new monsters for your games!
đŹđ§ đ«đ· This project is available in French and English.
â Get a Kaani Crab Mini for free with your Late Pledge Order :)
đŠ Delivery First quarter 2021 at the same time as all backers. Tracked parcels. Delivery all over the world. US and EU-friendly. Physical rewards will be sent from the USA (USPS) and France (Colissimo for France, DHL for Europe). Backers from these countries will not pay import taxes.
đ Thank you SO MUCH because your support allows our RPG creation studio to exist :)
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Important Shipping Update
almost 3 years ago
â Mon, Jan 31, 2022 at 01:06:50 AM
[đ«đ· version française plus bas]
Hi everyone!
Nel here â co-author of Fateforge and president of studio Agate,
Here is a full news about the shipping process of your rewards. First of all, please excuse my broken English. We have just received an update from our partners and while the shipments are very advanced, they are not yet finished! Even though these aspects are totally out of our control, we are really sorry for having announced an end of the expeditions for the end of January because it was an over-optimistic estimation. We are very sorry about that. We kindly ask you for some more patience. Here are all the details as we know them today:
Shipments to France, Europe and International
Shipments to USA
Customs issues with DHL in UK and Canada
Contact Agate Support
Revised timeline of upcoming project and next steps
Extended Rewards Photo Contest
Let's go!
Shipments to France, Europe and International
The parcels for these destinations leave from France via Colissimo for France and DHL for the rest of the world. To date, 85% of the shipments have been completed. There are still about 800 parcels to be shipped and our partner has announced a completion date of 11 February. After that, we will deal with all the anomalies and requests received at support (mainly replacements and missing item). At the moment we have an incident rate of about 5%. This is more or less the norm, but it still concerns several hundred backers. In the end, we hope that the entire operation will be completed by the end of February.
Shipments to USA
To date, 2400 parcels have been sent out of the 5200 by our American partner. They are experiencing some difficulties, we share their message with you: "We are still having issues with the pandemic, weather and lack of employees. We are applying all the manpower we can to getting the rest of the orders out the door."
Our partner is having trouble announcing an end date for shipments. When this wave is over, we will have to process all the requests received at the support desk like replacements and missing item. In the end, we hope that all packages will be shipped by the end of February and that all anomalies will be solved by mid-March.
Please note that these are only estimates. On our side, two members of our studio are working full time on shipment tracking and support. And we sincerely believe that our partners in France and the USA are doing their best. We thank you very much for your patience and kind understanding :)
Customs issues with DHL in UK and Canada
Read carefully : several UK and Canadian backers have reported significant customs charges added to their initial pledge. This seems to be mainly for the UK and Canada. We do not understand these customs fees which seem prohibitive. For our part, the invoices and customs documents were filled in with the correct product codes for customs. However, books, which constitute the majority of your rewards, are very lightly taxed. A customs fee of 20% on the total rewards seems very odd to us.
We are currently trying to contact DHL who are legally responsible for collecting and remitting the taxes. It is very difficult to reach them but we insist.
This problem of customs charges is beyond our control but we will do our best to get an explanation and share it with you. We hope that these actions will lead to a refund of these charges, should they prove to be undue.
If you receive a request for payment of these charges, please feel free to ask the DHL customer service department in your area for an explanation, reminding them that your parcel consists largely of books. You can also contact the customs department in your country to get some assistance.
Contact Agate Support
We are on deck to help and answer all our backers' requests. There are thousands of you and only two people managing this aspect, we ask for your patience :) We will do our best to solve your problem. Please do not send private messages via Kickstarter messaging. It is easier for us to track and centralize everything via our support form: https://www.studio-agate.com/en/contact
Revised timeline of upcoming project and next steps
Some backers are asking us when the launch of Creatures: Netherworld will take place. We would like to wait until deliveries are fully completed. If it takes too long, it could cause problems for our studio because we would not have enough cash flow. The way things are going, we're looking at an April 4th launch. We're giving ourselves a bit of leeway from what we've been told by our logistic partners.
In the meantime, we will be presenting new previews of the Creatures: Netherworld book. We will also finish the work on the mini-scenario collections.
For our next Kickstarter, we plan to have everything manufactured in France, Europe and Canada. Until now, our books were made in Europe and all the accessories in China, imposing many sea transits between Europe, China and the United States. In 2021 we had to move 5 full containers and it was very time consuming, stressful and expensive. We have been wanting to relocate our production for a long time, we think this is the right time to do it!
On the shipping of your rewards, we will discuss with our logistics partners to improve the shipping method. If possible, we would like to set up shipping hubs from Canada and England, and maybe even Australia, in order to reduce shipping and customs costs, but also the environmental impact of our creations. We are also considering offering the possibility of collecting your rewards in a local game shop. We are sharing some thoughts with you here, nothing is done yet but you have an idea of what we will be working on in the coming months :)
Extended Rewards Photo Contest
We will extend the contest until everyone will get its reward. Here is a reminder : To celebrate the delivery of your rewards, we are organizing a small photo contest.The concept is simple: take a photo of your rewards, being as imaginative as possible. The winner of the contest will get a Fateforge Tetralogy (which will be sent to them or a person of their choice) as well as a credit of $200 for our next Kickstarter campaign, which will take place early in the coming year and will be focused on the world below: Netherworld.
Participation is very simple
Take a photo of your rewards.
Post it on social media (Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter) with the #fateforge and #agate hashtag.
You can post several different photos on different social media. Let your imagination run free! :)
The contest will last until the end of the shipping process, so that everyone gets their rewards and can participate. The results will be announced soon after.
Below a photo taken by GinL, our graphic artist, and also layout artist and illustrator for the Fateforge series.
That's it for today! We will come back to you as soon as we have reached another important step.
Thank you very much for your support and patience,
Creatures 2 : Netherworld Preview!
almost 3 years ago
â Fri, Jan 14, 2022 at 09:47:50 AM
Dear Backers!
As the Creatures book expeditions come to a close (if you missed it, please double check our lastest update about shipping here), we're giving you a sneak peek at what's next. This second installment of Creatures will deal with the Netherworld. At its heart lies an age-old enemy: Canker!Â
Tonight, we are delighted to share a first extract of about twenty pages that will allow you to discover two new playable species: the Duegars and the Svirfnebelins. You should receive an email with a direct link to our PDFs by Backerkit. If not, check this link.Â
A Kickstarter campaign dedicated to Creatures: Netherworld will take place in March. We're counting on you!Â
Until then, we hope to share with you more previews, see you soon! Take care of yourself!Â
Shipments Status + Stretch goal progress + Creatures 2 Preview
almost 3 years ago
â Thu, Jan 13, 2022 at 02:22:04 PM
[đ«đ· version française plus bas]
Dear all!
Nel here - I am the co designer of Fateforge with Iris (who is the main author) and director of the studio.
First of all, I wish you a happy new year 2022! May you enjoy our hobby in the best possible conditions!
Today I will give all of you a full update about the project so buckle up ! Thank you all for your patience as we were waiting for some important informations to finish this update. My english is pretty broken, so sorry for any mistakes I can make. Hope all this will be understandable :)
1/ The progress of shipmentsÂ
2/ How and when to contact our customer service: wait until end of january to contact the customer service as we are still sending your rewards
3/ Very first preview about our next book : CREATURES : NETHERWORLDÂ
4/ For our french audience : the all italian TRPG Brancalonia in FrenchÂ
As before, this news is divided in two parts: the United States, and the rest of the world (including North America minus the USA). C'est parti !
1/ PROGRESS OF SHIPMENTS
UNITED STATES: Shipment status as of January 11
The shipment testing phase is over. This week, we should receive the final feedback on packaging quality. If all is well, we will give the go-ahead to our service provider to proceed, starting today, with the preparation and shipment of 4,900 orders encompassing all product ranges.
Shipping will take several weeks, so weâd like to thank you once more for your patience in this final stretch ! Our goal is to get every US backers delivered by the end of this month.
REST OF THE WORLD
For France and Europe, as of January 11, the vast majority of packages have shipped out. We are still working on the last parcels to ship.
For countries outside the European Union, around 1,000 packages have yet to ship out. It should be over by the end of the month :)
All this take a little bit longer than expected, we are sorry for this and we thank you so much for your patience!
2/ CUSTOMER SERVICE
Good news: the new packages have shown a much better resistance and a much lower incident rate than their predecessors.
However, despite all the care taken by our service provider's teams, some packages have arrived damaged. If this has happened to you, please contact our customer service.
Please note: as of today, all messages received before January 3 should have been processed by our customer service team. Replacement items will be sent out once the first global shipment wave is over.
All in all shipping process will continue during january. If by the end of the month, you havenât received either your pledge or a shipping confirmation, please contact our customer service.
 3/ PREVIEW: PEOPLES OF THE NETHERWORLDÂ
The work on our new book focused on the world below and peoples of the Netherworld is also well advanced! The Kickstarter campaign is expected to take place in March, we are counting on your support after this difficult year 2021!
As a New Year's gift, we are going to share with all of you a first WIP of this book. This book will offer some new playable species :) The PDF should appear in your backerkit account quickly. Here are some pages:
Backers who have supported the efforts on shipping costs with a $50 donation will also receive additional chapters over the coming weeks. Stay tuned and thank you again :)
Once again, thanks again for making this project live and for your incredible support <3
Les souscripteurs qui ont soutenu les efforts sur les frais de ports avec un don de 50$ vont recevoir d'autres preview au fur et Ă mesure des prochaines semaines. Restez attentifs et encore merci pour votre soutien !
Important Shipping Update
almost 3 years ago
â Sun, Dec 19, 2021 at 05:07:04 AM
There we are! After years of constant work, unlikely twists and turns, unpredictable complications related to the unprecedented crisis that threw worldwide freightingâamong other thingsâinto disarray, and fantastic successes on Kickstarter, this is it. The Fateforge deliveries are moving at full speed!
Before we proceed with todayâs news and tell you about what is to come, we wish to thank you, our community. You have been here to support us through these complicated times. Without all of you, none of this would have been possible, so THANK YOU.
And now, for an update on the delivery of the projectâs rewards. Make sure to attentively read this news. It is an important one, as it is about the reception of your pledges.
đșđž Expeditions to the US
đ Expeditions to the Rest of the World
đž Photo Contest
đșđž Expeditions to the USÂ
First off: excellent news! All items have reached our warehouses. We can thus get the deliveries underway!
Here is how this is going to take place:
December testing phase. Before we proceed with the sending of thousands of packages, we will start with a trial run, which will consist in sending hundreds of packages of all sizes and formats, in order to see what feedback we get about them and how many will be sent back. Backers will be picked randomly, so we cannot tell you who will be included in this trial run.
If you encounter issues of any sort, send a message to our support service posthaste. We will make sure that all requests are answered as promptly and efficaciously as possible.
The rest of the deliveries will start from early January. If the results of the trial run are satisfactory, we will give our partner in the US the okay to proceed with mass deliveries. We will post a dedicated update to keep you informed, but our current estimate is that this should take place right after the end-of-the-year festivities.
đ Expeditions to the Rest of the WorldÂ
The trial run is complete, and only a small proportion of the packages were returned. It is a great joy to finally see these books and accessories reach you. Deliveries to the rest of the backers are in progress, and we hope that everyone will get their rewards in time for Christmas :)
Some important information:
 Miniatures are wrapped in a ânestâ of kraft paper. Make sure not to throw it away without unfolding it, lest you inadvertently lose your lovely familiars!
 If you have any doubt concerning the contents of your package, refer to your Backerkit account for the list of your rewards. It is the simplest and most reliable method at this stage of the project.
 By January 10th, if you still havenât received anything or if you receive a package with incomplete or damage contents, contact our support service!
Remember that the photo contest to celebrate the reception of your rewards is still ongoing. The concept is simple: take a photo of your rewards, being as imaginative as possible! The winner of the contest will get a Fateforge Tetralogy (which will be sent to them or a person of their choice), as well as a credit of âŹ200 for our next Kickstarter campaign, which will take place early in the coming year and will be focused on the Netherworld.
Participation is very simple:
Take a photo of your rewards.
Post it on social media (Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter) with the #agate and #Dragons or #Fateforge hashtag.
You can post several different photos on different social media. Let your imagination run free! :)
The contest will last until January 24th, so that everyone can get their rewards and participate. The results will be announced soon after
See you very soon, and again, THANK YOU for your tremendous support <3
The Team
Shipping of your rewards is starting!
almost 3 years ago
â Thu, Dec 02, 2021 at 05:47:51 PM
[đ«đ· version française plus bas]
Dear all!
Finally! Finally we are getting to the part we were all looking forward to! The CREATURESdeliveries are starting! What a ride!!!
The details are not the same depending on whether you are a US backer or not. Make sure to read the section relevant to your country of residence.
An important note for those who ordered minis. To avoid damage, they are in the kraft paper that protects the inside of your packages (we have tried to banish plastic). So don't throw away that kraft paper, look inside!
To US Backers
All containers have reached the American mainland! They are currently in customs for a yet unknown duration. We hope that the procedure will be swift and that all items will have reached our warehouses in the following weeks.
However, take note that it will not be possible for deliveries to begin before the end-of-the-year festivities. In all likelihood, expeditions will start in early January 2022.
We are sincerely sorry about this change of schedule, though there was unfortunately nothing we could have done to speed up the delivery.
Once more, many thanks for your patience. We will keep you informed of the next steps concerning the delivery of your rewards.
To Non-US Backers
Note: when we say ânon-USâ, we do mean âoutside of the 50 states of the United Statesâ. Thus, the following applies to Canadian backers!
This is an important update. Here is its summary:
Next Delivery Steps
Rewards Photo Contest
Before we get into these, a quick update on this major step. All items have reached our French warehouses and have been sorted. All the material ordered to prepare and send your packages has been received. These past days, we have taken care of checking our inventory and reviewing our huge delivery file, so as to fix any stray issues with the backersâ addresses. The amount of books and accessories that will be sent is certainly impressive! Here is a picture of our stocks:
Next Delivery Steps
 Trial delivery this week: Before we proceed with sending thousands of packages, we will begin with a trial phase, which will consist in sending a small portion of packages (about 10%) of all shapes and sizes to EU backers. This will give us valuable feedback on the quality of the packaging and on the proportion of packages returned. This trial run has begun on November 30th!
 The trial run will go on until around December 10th: This will be enough time to get data on the packages received. The preceding week will be mostly dedicated to waiting for feedback from the backers, hearing out any issues they may have (such as damaged or missing items), and addressing problems. If you are among those backers and notice an issue of any sort, send us a message and let us know all about it.
 The rest of the deliveries will start around December 10th: If no noticeable issues are reported, we will greenlight the expedition of the rest of the packages. We will post a dedicated update when this happensâwhich should be between December 6th and 13th. We will be able to assemble and send between 300 and 500 packages each day, depending on how many items a package includes. During this phase, the order of the deliveries will be entirely random. Also, please note that the packages must be signed for upon receipt!
 Tracking. Our objective is for all backers to get their rewards by Christmas. If everything goes as planned, you should get a tracking number, but note that this is something managed by your delivery service that we have no control on. If you havenât received an e-mail with your tracking number, look into your spam folder. However, it may happen that you do not get a tracking number at all, in which case please kindly wait and donât send us a contact form about it yet, as it will only delay the delivery of your rewards. Sending out all the packages will take time, and we areare working hard to get your books and accessories underway as quickly and securely as possible.
 When and how can you contact our support team? Your package may be long to reach you for many reasons. And even if all packages are sent in the following weeks, your rewards might not reach you until after Christmas. If you receive a damaged or incomplete package, let us know as soon as possible and weâll help. Even if your package is long to come, please wait until January 3rd before contacting our support service. Many thanks for your understanding and patience :)
Rewards Photo Contest
To celebrate the delivery of your rewards, we are organizing a small photo contest.The concept is simple: take a photo of your rewards, being as imaginative as possible. The winner of the contest will get a Fateforge Tetralogy(which will be sent to them or a person of their choice) as well as a credit of $200 for our next Kickstarter campaign, which will take place early in the coming year and will be focused on the world below: Netherworld.
Participation is very simple:
Take a photo of your rewards.
Post it on social media (Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter) with the #fateforge and #agate hashtag.
You can post several different photos on different social media. Let your imagination run free! :)
The contest will last until January 10th, so that everyone gets their rewards and can participate. The results will be announced soon after.
Here is a photo taken by GinL, our graphic artist, and also layout artist and illustrator for the Fateforge series:
To All Backers
Currently, there are still 187 backers whose Backerkit accounts still include errors and unpaid items. Said items might be the pledgeâs base shipping fees, or extra add-ons that were added during the Pledge Manager phase and must still be paid for. If your Backerkit account still includes unpaid add-ons, your order will remain pending until the unpaid items are paid for. We encourage you to log in on your Backerkit account and settle this at your earliest convenience. In case of doubt, do not hesitate to send us a contact form so that the issue can be addressed all the more expeditiously.
Note: The aforementioned 187 backers do not include backers who still have an unpaid $10 of extra shipping fees on their account. As mentioned in previous updates, backers who do not wish to contribute to the extra shipping fees will automatically have the corresponding add-on removed from their Backerkit on December 6th, after which their pledge will join the expedition queue.
We are now in the home stretch of this great project.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU once more to all of your for your awesome support!