Ok yep it’s been a while since my last post – lots going on here I assure you – let’s get to it!!
Playtest v7
First up, Playtest V7 is now available for Backers only. This version is primarily art updates, including quite a few substitutions, plus commissions like this cracker from Marcin! Marcin has been a pleasure to work with and his characters – especially their facial expressions – never fail to make me smile. If you’re a creator in need of some art, check him out!
And this one from Jeff Koch!! Jeff is a consummate professional with amazing talent, great communication, and skilled in many different styles (line art, greyscale, oil on canvas, charcoal, portrait work, and more!). I’m super impressed with him and his work – if you have commissions, shoot Jeff a message, you won’t be disappointed!
There are also some rules tweaks, as follows:
- Human p.13 the +1 bonus on one attribute is now limited to 16 instead of 17. This is consistent with the general cap on boosting attributes as PCs level up, and will keep 17s & 18s (ie +3 bonus) very rare (which I think assists with keeping the game more dangerous).
- Ranger’s Perc mod p.39 is specifically noted as a bonus to their Beast companion’s AC (previously it appeared in the stat block examples only).
- Alchemist (Artificer variant) p.18 Poison ability better fleshed out.
- Healing Salve p.12 Ranger ability clarified.
- Gear p.56-61 added numbers to all gear entries, in case you want to roll randomly for them for some reason.
The PDF is now very advanced and I expect it will be finalised by 31 July 2024. That includes all art (we have three outstanding commissions), proof reading & editing, and playtesting tweaks. We will continue to playtest in the meantime – if you have any feedback please reach out!
Pledge Manger & Pre-Order Store
Surveys to access the Pledge Manager will be going out next week. The “Smoke Test” surveys went out today (these surveys only go to 5% of Backers as a test run, as required by Backerkit). Assuming all goes well, the other 95% of Backer surveys will follow next week.
The Pre-Order Store is now open!
The Pledge Manager & Pre-Order Store will close on 31 July 2024. That will allow us to finalise production numbers for August. Note that shipping will be charged in a later survey, when we’re closer to physical rewards distribution.
Next Steps
My priorities for end of June will be (i) continuing to playtest, (ii) finalising the PDF (art, editing, any remaining rules tweaking), and (iii) finalising the Creative Commons Licence & Affinity Publisher template. If there’s time I’ll work on the first adventure and finalise the tables for the GM screen.
Speaking of GM Screens, IHateLucho over on Discord has made a very sweet six page one already – in both landscape AND portrait!
As always if you have any feedback or play reports I’d love to hear them!! As indicated, I mean to finalise the PDF by 31 July, so hit me with any suggestions before then!
Culinary Roleplaying ToA Review
Walther over at Culinary Roleplaying has made a sweet overview of Tales of Argosa – thanks so much Walther – and glad you’re liking it so far :DD With a bit of luck I might be able to convince him to do a play through video!
Tokyo & Lafayette Lowlife 2090 Gazettes
Wiley Gambit Gaming has released not one but two new Lowlife 2090 city gazettes – Tokyo and Lafayette!
In Tokyo 2090, CTAC mutation has been embraced and harnessed, founding an economic powerhouse of cutting edge CTAC adaption and magic-cyber integration. The gazette includes thirty districts, key players (including Yakuza and mega corps), and plot hook tables (one for districts and one for key players).
Lafayette 2090 is a beacon of human tenacity; despite rising swampwaters, prowling urgot, and increasingly violent storms, residents battle to make their fortunes. The city is divided into three main districts; Marshfront, the Purged Quarters, and Outland Fringe, for lifers to explore. The gazette includes a summary of key players, twenty one plot hooks, and a new monster!
Yum DM’s d12 Monthly Annual Vol 1
Yum DM is putting together his first annual compilation of d12 Monthly! It’s an amazing zine of OSR goodness with a huge range of gameable content: random tables, classes, locations, new mechanics – you name it d12 Monthly has it! If you haven’t seen d12 Monthly before, each issue has both a free and paid version, so why not check it out?
Sign up to the Kickstarter pre-launch page to be notified when the campaign goes live!
Bandit’s Keep – Let the Dice Decide
“Trust the dice” – is there any better counsel when it comes to tabletop gaming? I certainly can’t think of any. Daniel over at Bandit’s Keep has a great video on oracles for your RPG – including a reference to our very own Deck of Signs :DD Some fun emergent play tools in here folks!
Geek Gamers – Accessorize your Dungeon Crawl
Speaking of Emergent Play tools, Geek Gamer’s “Accessorize your Dungeon Crawl” video suggests several analog goodies to spice up your dungeon crawls – such as minis/tokens, dungeon building cards, tarot decks, and a bunch more – including our own Deck of Signs :DD
Community Content
Five magnificent gaming additions this month folks – care of IHateLucho, Seadaily, Billy0311, and Cobb – Thanks so much for your hard work y’all, greatly appreciated!
- Tales of Argosa GM Screen by IHateLucho in Landscape and Portrait
- Roll Over conversion by Billy0311: Link
- Swashbuckler Class by Seadaily: Link
- Factotum Class by Seadaily: Link
- Pregens Class Abilities Summaries for AF#68 Caverns of Shennog by Cobb: Link
And that’s all for now gameroonies – have a great week!
Pickpocket Press 