Monetization Platform Expansion and Changes

Hey guys!

I really did some self reflection over this month - with a recent scare over a potentially stress related health issue and not sleeping right for months now, I came to the conclusion that I can’t keep running DM Tuz as it currently is. I want to expand on the stuff that I provide already, but if I am already hitting my limit, I need to change how I do things.

I need to streamline my tasks and cut corners that are not necessary, but I also want to expand DM Tuz monetization beyond patreon and for that I need a homogenous model that is platform agnostic. Let's talk about the new plattforms first.

The DM Tuz avenues where fans can support me and my work are the following:

Patreon (you know this one)

Kofi - I upgraded to Gold Membership and will set up things for recurring payments starting November. Currently I have set up a shop for one-off purchases of released material!

Jemi (NEW) - Jemi is a new plattform (currently in early access) where fans can support their favourite creators with one off donations in exchange for fan interactions. You don't  need to set up an account to use it, very convenient!

And now for the changes to help me keep things easier to manage - the following changes will come into effect starting November 1st:

• The $1 and $2 Pledge Tier will be unpublished and replaced with a $3 tier. This tier will get you access to ALL released monsters (including Vault exclusives), tokens, maps, and discord access!
  • I want to stress that the $1 and $2 pledge tiers are not going anywhere. It will just be set that no new people can access them anymore.
• $3 Pledge Tier and up will also gain early access to future public releases.
• The Vault will become a convenience for $5 patrons and up, rather than a place to lock older material behind.
• Annual Subscriptions will now get a 15% discount!
• The $10 pledge will become Jemi exclusive (at least for a bit to give the new platform a try)!
• I will scale back on the artwork. I will still make one or two fully illustrated pieces for promotional purposes for each update, but the other art pieces will have less production values - I will try to find a middle ground between before the art upgrade and the current standard. Instead I will use the additional time to focus on the monster statblocks themselves.
  • Affording regular commissioned artwork to lighten my load will become a set patreon goal.

I did a survey on my discord and people seemed to be relatively favorable towards this change. But I also know that some people will not be happy about this change, especially the ones that put in extra money to gain the long term boon of the Vault access. But the fact of the matter is managing the vault long term is not sustainable and also makes things complicated for new users. To make it up to the people that increased their pledge temporarily with the goal of getting the vault access: Hit me up and I will look at your situation for potential refunds.

I am just a guy that tries to make this whole thing work, which means trying new things and trying to figure things out as I go. So a big thank you for all that are bearing with me!

- Tuz