[Important Poll] What happens after the 365th item? (Patreon)

Hey heroes! This takes just over 5 minutes to read. If you're short on time, there's a very brief tl;dr at the bottom, followed by the poll. Thank you for your feedback!

A year in (early) review

In one month, the Saddlebag will turn 1 year old. Whew! The first official daily item was posted to Instagram on November 9th last year, the Patreon launched on December 10th, and it's all become the most incredible journey I could have ever dreamed of. What started as a passing suggestion has turned into my dream career, and I have you to thank for it. 

So here's me saying it, again: thank you.

There are very few people who can say that they have the best job in the world, and I count myself among them. I am so happy to provide you with interesting treasures for your games. Your stories of conquest and reward involving them are the highlights of my day whenever I read them. The community around the Saddlebag has been nothing short of incredible, and I consider you all my friends. Because of you, I never feel like I'm working alone.

So, you've all been waiting for it: the book. I'm hoping to be able to launch it on Kickstarter (or other platform) at the start of December. There's so much to do, so please bear with me if anything happens to delay it a little longer!

More immediately, though, what happens after the 365th item? Well, let me tell you.

The 366th.

What's happening in year 2?

An item every weekday, a new public poll, and a new patron-wide exclusive weekly reward.

That's my current plan, but I want to hear from you about it! This would start after the 365th item—not immediately!

The shift from 7 items a week to 5 will prevent creative burn-out, as well as let me spend time on other (really cool!) projects. At the start, I'll be spending my weekends working extensively on the book. But future projects can be the collaborative releases I've been doing with other creators, additional patron-only rewards like settings or adventures, as well as other more divergent D&D ideas. More on that later!

First things first: you will always have my promise that my dedication is to you, your games, and this career that you've given me. This schedule change guarantees my ability to do this for you for many more years to come!

I want to make sure that you and players everywhere still receive some form of content every day. As a result, here 2 new features that would release every Saturday and Sunday, respectively:

1. Favorite item polls, free fan favorites

To account for the missing item content on Saturdays, I'll be releasing a new weekly poll. This poll asks everyone: what was your favorite item from the past week? Crowd favorites become free starting the following week. This means that at the end of year 2, there will be 52 items' art and cards that are free for everyone to access. There are about that many free items now from year 1, too.

Your support guarantees that regardless of what does and does not become free, you always have access to that content. Further, it encourages other adventurers like you to become a patron if their favorite item goes unpicked.

My utmost hope is that this doesn't feel like a devaluation of your support, heroes. I want these polls to be a way to showcase the value you already receive as patrons to new people: people who haven't decided to become a supporter like you yet. 

Let me know in the comments how you feel about this. Your opinion matters!

2. Saddlebag NPCs: a patron-exclusive perk

All patrons will receive a new reward every Sunday: an NPC. This NPC comes with characteristics, quirks, a short backstory, and a table of potential Saddlebag items they might be carrying. The list will offer items in a range of rarities to let the NPC fit in as many games as possible based on the party's level.

These exclusive NPCs will be available as character cards with a portrait illustration. If they're probably good, they're considered a Saddlebuddy. If they're probably bad, they're a Saddlebaddie. Regardless of their alignment, they should be a neat addition to your games and make for some hopefully memorable characters.

The goal of this new patron-exclusive reward is to help you integrate these items into your existing worlds. And, seeing as there will be 52 NPCs made over the year, you could expect to see an eventual physical pack of cards released to compile them all.

Please share your thoughts!

These 2 additions to the weekly release schedule are new ways to reward you for your support as well as provide content and interaction with the larger community. With the revised schedule, I'll be able to prevent creative burn-out and work on related new and exciting projects for you.

I want to hear from you. As with any shift to the schedule or range of rewards I offer, I want to make sure that I'm not misguided in the decision before moving forward. You matter to me, and I don't want to ever betray your trust.

There are 6 options below. Please select up to 2. How do you feel about these changes? Would they influence your support? Please answer honestly! If you all feel that these changes need revision given your perspective, I'll make a new proposal next week following this poll's end!

Regardless of what your opinion is, thank you for taking the time to be here, for reading, and for being a part of the community. You're my hero! 

tl;dr

I'm making 5 items a week (weekdays), a new "favorite item of the week" poll on Saturdays that makes 1 item a week free, and all patrons get a new Saddlebag-NPC on Sundays with details and loot table for you to drop into you game. This will prevent artist burnout, as well as give me chances to work on new projects for you on weekends, including the book!  Let me know how you feel about this change by selecting at least 1 of the options below.