Two Big Announcements: Your Support Tier Just Got Better, and Book Two is coming to DnDBeyond!

Hey adventurers!

First of all, let me give a big thank you to everyone that participated in the questionnaires last week. Your feedback was super useful, and went into the planning of some upgrades to your tiers. Information on what upgrades you're getting to your tiers is just below this next segment.

Now, about the other—

The Griffon's Saddlebag: Book Two is coming to DnDBeyond next month!

Prepare to see everything you know from the book on DnDBeyond starting sometime in September! Use your favorite magic items on your character, integrated and usable just like any other official one! This has been an exciting opportunity to work with Wizards after a tumultuous 2023, and it's been refreshing to see them hard at work making good on their intentions and listening to my (and your) feedback. You can expect to hear more from me about this release closer to when it happens next month.

Your Support Tiers are Getting an Upgrade!

By far, the most common reason why a patron drops their pledge is because their financial situation's changed. It's a scary world to live in where you have to choose whether to pay for rent, for groceries, or for your hobbies. From the start, the Saddlebag has been intent on being accessible, and as the world gets more expensive, I want to make sure that you can still feel fiscally safe investing in yourself and your joys.

So, I'm glad to announce that in the coming month, I'm looking to introduce some changes to give you more flexibility with your support options. Below are the changes I'm proposing, and while these are not final, I don't anticipate needing to change them based on your feedback. If you feel strongly about something, please feel free to let me know in the comments below or in a direct message (here or on Discord: either is fine).

In general:

• People like annual options, either for the sake of simplifying their monthly financial planning or because they liked the associated discounts. It's easy for subscriptions to get out of control, so annual ones are an easier way to make thoughtful decisions.

• Free members think that a $3 start tier is a good cost, although a good number also thought a $2 one would be fair.

• $5 members were unsure if adding L+ or PDFs to their tier would be worth a $1 price increase, but definitely wanted them one way or another.

  • Side note: I'm so glad so many of you like the subclasses and settings so much, that's always great to see. It's so much fun making those.

• $9 members really liked the idea of letting their four of their friends get access to L+.

  • Side note: for members that asked questions about filters in L+, hit Tab while searching to change your parameter to Description, rather than name/meta. :)

Here's what I'm planning to do with this information

Reopen the $3 tier. The $3 tier gives you access to new art and card posts, as well as a the base Ledger here on Patreon. It doesn't give you access to the subclasses or settings, nor does it the monthly PDFs or tables, but it's a great and low-cost option for many that are fully focused on just the item content. The monthly card packs would stay put with higher tiers. Because this is a cost effective option for people that just want to support and have access to the art when they need it, I'll also offer this at a reduced annual rate of $30 a year: This splits the difference between an annual membership cost of a $2 and $3 tier.

Reopen the $7 tier at a reduced cost: $6 a month, or $60 a year. This change brings the annual cost to the same as many third party 5e books. This tier gives you the same as the current $5 tier, plus Ledger+ access and the Inventory and Looter's Table monthly files. A great boost in value for a cost that's still attainable.

Give the $9 tier more perks and a similar annual rate of $80 a year. Your support would give you and four other email addresses access to L+. You'd be able to change the list of emails at any time. You would also get the same discount currently reserved for $13 patrons when purchasing the backlog of Foundry content. However, this discount will be increased to 40% off Foundry content from the store. This also makes it so buying year-long megapacks from the store about the same as buying a third party book, and a normally-priced month's module closer to $5 apiece.

Reduce the cost of the $13 tier to $12. You'll also get the L+ upgrade, just for a dollar less (since the Foundry discount is moving to the $9 tier).

For the sake of simplicity, unpublish the $5 tier. The tier would be hidden (but not deleted). This means if you like what you have now, you can stay put. No problems whatsoever. Thank you for it!

What does this look like?

This means that the revised tier list list would be $3 ($30/year), $6 ($60/yr), $9 ($80/year), and $12. There are also new creator tools that could offer you discounts on new membership costs. Again, my goal is to bring the nearly 7,000 free members here, many of whom are ex-patrons because of financial situations, into a place where you feel like you can afford to support the Saddlebag and enjoy the rewards you receive.

To make these changes, Patreon requires that I change the billing method to a typical subscription one instead of the 1st of the month charge that Patreon is well known for. For most of you, that won't impact your bill dates: you'll be billed on the first of each month, because that's when your current cycle starts. For new patrons, though, this means that you won't get billed twice if you join on the 30th and then again on the 1st of the next month.

I'm anticipating these changes going live in about a month. In the meantime, I'm making sure that the Ledger+ can handle the new functionality. More on some associated L+ upgrades soon.

That's all from me today! Again, this time, the comments are open: please feel free to include any thoughts you have, good or bad. I read everything! If someone disagrees with you, please don't feel the need to protect my honor or start an argument. I rely on people disagreeing with me on matters I don't necessarily have a perspective on. Otherwise, shoot me a message here on Patreon or Discord or email.

That's from me for now! Talk more soon, and keep on adventuring!

-g