Limited Edition Hardback is finished and will ship shortly! Final logistics and last loose ends.
8 days ago
– Sat, Apr 18, 2026 at 12:53:44 PM
Dear backers,
It is an auspicious day. The stars have aligned. The hardback edition of Return of the Ripper is finished and ready to go to press!
The book will be bound in red cloth wrap, with a glossy dust jacket to showcase Jeff's cover art. Here is the cover layout (bleed at top and bottom will be trimmed during the printing process):
The spine is 1" (25 mm) thick, so the book will make an impression on whatever bookshelf it sits on. The blurb is on the inside folds, so the back cover is not obscured by text and logos.
As the page size (US Trade, 6"×9" / 152 mm × 229 mm) is smaller than the softback, the interior has been reformatted into a single-column layout. Body text font is the same but heading fonts have a bit more gravitas:
The new layout created some additional spaces here and there, that I filled with a dozen new pieces of spot art:
The read aloud text is set with a side bar so it stands out on the page:
The page ratio allows most of Arjuna's art to be displayed on a full page:
Jason also tweaked the layout of all the maps to fit the new page ratio:
I'm really pleased with it. I hope you will enjoy reading and looking at this edition as much as playing it.
Final logistics — shipping and taxes
So one step remains before I can send this to you: I need to collect payment for shipping (and sales taxes where applicable). As it's being sent all over the world —backers are from 11 countries in five continents — I will use BackerKit to manage the complexity.
Everyone will receive an e-mail from BackerKit in the next few days.
- If you backed at the Hardback tier, please click on the link, check your shipping address is correct/up-to-date and pay the shipping cost.
- If you backed at the Digital or Softback tier, but now you wish you had ordered the hardback, you succeed in your Luck check. You now have the opportunity to upgrade your pledge in BackerKit until 5 May.
- I'm also offering the softback book at half price to backers during the hardback fulfillment, for anyone at the Digital tier who would like a physical book, or anyone who would like to order extra copies.
If none of the above applies to you, please feel free to ignore the e-mail from BackerKit.
Last loose ends
In parallel with the hardback fulfillment I will finalise the last remaining loose ends in the project:
- Judge's screen PDF with POD option
- Full-colour handouts PDF with POD option
- Signed and numbered prints of the cover art
I think that's it, but if you are missing anything else please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Look out for the e-mail from BackerKit and I'll be in touch again at Beltane to report how it's going.
Mind your kerning and always check your ligatures before a hanging
indent.
— Michael
Hardback layout (almost) finished! Conventions where I plan to run Return of the Ripper.
27 days ago
– Mon, Mar 30, 2026 at 11:00:29 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Softback tier fulfilled. Limited Edition Hardback.
2 months ago
– Tue, Feb 24, 2026 at 01:36:30 PM
Greetings dear backers,
Here is a short update, with a preview of the layout for the Limited Edition Hardback of Return of the Ripper.
Softback books fulfilled
If you backed at the softback tier, hopefully you have ordered and perhaps already received your book. If you did not receive the ordering link or you experience any problems, don't hesitate to get in touch.
Please do let me know what you think of the book. I would also be very pleased if you would leave a rating and/or a review on DriveThruRPG.
Limited Edition Hardback
In consultation with The Elements of Typographic Style, I took some decisions about the typography of the hardback and I am working through re-doing the layout.
For the body text, I have stayed with TeX Gyre Pagella 10pt, the same font used for the softback. This is an elegant serifed font, LaTeX's homage to Hermann Zapf's famous Palatino.
For the headings, I decided to depart from Goodman Games house style, replacing the Duvall font with Palatino Nova Imperial. This is a digital version of Michelangelo, designed by Zapf in the 1950s as a titling font to pair with Palatino. I feel it gives the hardback book a weightier, more serious style.
Subheadings and area headings are set in Libre Caslon, a TeX font homage to William Caslon's famous metal typeface designed in the 18th century. Caslon's font is the typographic epitome of the English Baroque.
Other layout choices include the page size and text area (discussed in the last update), indented paragraphs and new formatting for the read-aloud text, marked by a lighter shade and a vertical bar.
Overall I'm pretty pleased with the result. Here is a preview of chapter 1 of the hardback:
Once these choices were made, laying out the text was fairly straightforward. The fiddly bit is re-setting all the images and tables which have to be done one-by-one.
I will be in touch again as soon as the layout of the hardback is complete. The last details to finish off are the Judge's Screen and POD handouts.
As always, thank you all for your wonderful patience and support. I hope you are enjoying reading the book and that it brings some terror and disgust to your gaming table.
Your most humble slave and dog,
Michael
Actual Play Videos. First review. Stay in touch. All of the tiers. Elements of Typographic Style.
3 months ago
– Tue, Jan 27, 2026 at 01:16:40 PM
Greetings, Ripper backers!
Fulfillment of the digital and softback tiers is almost complete. Read on to find out how the collector's limited edition is progressing.
Actual Play videos on PeerTube
https://tube.fediverse.games/w/vCN6gmAk71rok9yjNMJVSw
At the beginning of the project, I recorded a number of live sessions of Return of the Ripper and put them on YouTube. Now I'm moving them all to PeerTube, a decentralised video-sharing network with no ads and no monetisation and therefore no surveillance. You can watch and share without an account (accounts are only needed if you want to comment or subscribe).
I decided to also improve accessibility by manually editing the subtitles. I'm aiming to upload one video a week.
First review of Return of the Ripper
Throat Punch Games has published the first review of Ripper, giving it a top score of 99/100.
TL;DR Want From Hell in DCC that becomes the Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath?
Read the full review here:
https://throatpunchgames.com/2026/01/19/ring-side-report-rpg-review-of-dungeon-crawl-classics-horror-return-of-the-ripper/
You too can leave a rating or a review on DriveThruRPG!
Let's stay in touch
I hope you have enjoyed these campaign updates. There will be just a couple more as I fulfill the hardbacks and bring the project to a close. After all this time together, it would be a pity to say goodbye.
If you would like to hear about my future projects or crowdfunding campaigns, please sign up to my mailing list by clicking I want to know the forbidden secrets in the invitation e-mail.
If you didn't receive the invitation e-mail, use this link instead: https://listmonk.strangequark.eu/subscription/form
If you don't opt-in, your details will be banished into the void and never seen again.
Privacy policy: I use the privacy-preserving mailing list software ListMonk, hosted on my private server in a European data centre. I collect only the minimum details necessary (name and e-mail address). Your personal details will not be available to any third party like Google or ad companies. You can download or delete your personal data and unsubscribe at any time.
Digital tier
Almost everyone has downloaded the PDF of the book. If you did not receive the e-mail with the download link, please send me a message through Kickstarter and I'll sort you out.
The Judge's Screen is still in the pipeline. I'll finish it after the hardback proof copy has been ordered.
The Player Handouts are included in the PDF in full colour, so you can already print them out at home. I will prepare a separate PDF/POD version of the handouts and make those available on DriveThruRPG too.
Softback tier — redeem before 1 February!
The Return of the Ripper softback was approved for sale on 16 January. All backers at the softback tier or higher should have received an e-mail with a Print On Demand order link. If not, let me know.
NOTE: DriveThruRPG print prices will go up on 1 February. Redeem your POD voucher before the end of January to avoid the higher price.
Backed at the digital tier but want the softback? Need a gift for your loved one on Valentine's Day? Your Friendly Local Game Store has some empty shelf space?
Whatever the reason, here is an opportunity to buy as many additional copies as you need at a $10 discount. Offer valid until end of January.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?discountId=91b1bb2c43
Limited Edition Hardback
I am working on re-setting the book into US Trade size (6"×9"/152 mm × 229 mm) for the hardback.
This is not simply a case of shrinking the pages. Freed from the constraints of the Letter page size and the Goodman Games House Style, I'm taking this as an opportunity to reexamine the layout and make it as aesthetically pleasing as possible. My reference is The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst (1992).
According to Brisinghurst, we should choose the page proportions carefully. He compares proportions to harmonics in music. The 2:3 proportion of the US Trade size is one of the perfect intervals, coinciding exactly with the favoured page shapes of the European Middle Ages.
The text block on each page can be a different proportion, to give an interlocking relationship of symmetry and asymmetry.
All of this geometrical analysis seems to resonate with the themes of the book. The Master Builders would approve.
I will not bore you with all the technical details of how I have selected the margin widths, but they include some practical considerations like leaving enough space at the bottom for your thumb when holding the book. Page numbers will be on the outside edge to make it easy to find the right page when thumbing through.
I've done a first cut of the new layout and I'm quite pleased with it. Next I need to do a lot of tweaking of the illustrations and tables. I'll post some images in the next update.
That's the end of this update. I'll get the last rewards to you as quickly as I can. In the meantime, enjoy reading the book!
Your humble and obedient servant,
Michael
Happy New Year! Request Submitted: Please Wait Three Days.
3 months ago
– Mon, Jan 12, 2026 at 01:41:56 PM
Happy New Year!
2025 had its share of woe, both personally and on the world stage. Lets hope that 2026 brings more Chaos and creativity and pushback against the evil forces that seek to dominate and control.
Almost all of you have by now have downloaded the PDF of the book. If any stragglers are missing the download link, please get in touch.
I have good news for all those who backed the project at the Softback Book tier or higher:
The proof copy of Return of the Ripper softback has arrived
Since I clicked Submit on Christmas Eve, I have been nursing the softback book through DriveThruRPG's approvals process. On New Year's Eve I ordered the proof copy and today it dropped into my postbox. Here is a short unboxing-type video (but there is no box).
Watch Return of the Ripper has arrived!
It was an emotional moment. The book has taken well over two years from conception to birth. I will be bringing this copy to my gaming table and to a number of conventions this year, to introduce as many people as possible to the filth and squalor of Spittle-Fields.
Request Submitted: Please Wait Three Days.
I have checked and approved the proof. Now I'm waiting for final approval from DriveThruRPG so I can get this into your hands.
In the next few days I will send another DriveThruRPG link to all backers whose reward tier included the softback book. You will need to log in and pay the base print and shipping costs and then the book will be on its way to you.
Regrettably the base print cost will be about three times the $2.50 I estimated at the beginning of the project. This is partly because the book contains twice as many pages as my original estimate (143 vs. 64) and partly because of DriveThruRPG cost increases due to tariffs on paper stock. I hope that all the new material justifies the increase, but if it causes difficulties for anyone, please do get in touch.
Note for backers at the Limited Edition tier: your hardback book is coming! Your tier includes the softback as an optional extra, in case you want to have both.
Limited Edition Hardback
Now that the softback book is finished, I have some final typesetting to do on the hardback, which then needs to go through a similar approvals process. As I have learned with the softback, this can take some weeks. I'll post another update with a better estimate as soon as the hardback has been uploaded to the print platform.
Note that the hardback tier includes all printing costs, but does not include postage. I will calculate postage costs for all backers at the Limited Edition tier and be in touch about how much and where to pay.
There are a few last items to complete fulfilment:
-
Judge's Screen: This will be some tables from the book on one side and artwork on the player-facing side. The PDF is included at all tiers, and the physical screen will be made available to buy on DriveThruRPG. TO DO.
-
Player Handouts: The handouts are included in B&W in the softback book and in colour in the PDF, so you can print them out at home. Does anyone prefer to have the handouts in a separate PDF from the book? I could also make a print-on-demand version if there is interest. Let me know!
-
Spittle-Fields District Maps: Print on demand poster maps are already available on DriveThruRPG. I will investigate if I can find a way to make full-size poster maps available.
Conventions
I plan to attend a few conventions in 2026 and run a some sessions of Return of the Ripper. My plans are still tentative at this stage, but my schedule might include:
-
UK Games Expo, 29-31 May 2026, Birmingham, UK
-
Longcon, 27-28 June 2026, Sheffield, UK
- Q-Con Belfast, date TBC (usually mid-June), Belfast, Northern Ireland
- Dragonmeet, 28 November 2026, London, UK
If you plan to attend any of those conventions, please do let me know. I would love to thank you in person for backing the project. I can also sign your book, if you want it to be worth slightly less.
Let's Stay in Touch
I have a few ideas in my back pocket for future projects. I don't expect any of them will see the light of day in 2026, but if you would like to be notified when they eventually do, please sign up to my mailing list.
I will send an opt-in link to everyone in the next few days. If you would like to hear from me occasionally (a couple of times a year) please click Confirm. If you are tired of my rambling, do nothing and I will bother you no more.
Thank you again for being such wonderful and supportive people. You have really made the whole experience a pleasure. I'll be in touch soon with the final fulfilment details.
Your humble and obedient servant,
Michael
