Massive art progress, t-shirt production scheduled, Discord taking off, and a free worldbuilding tool
almost 2 years ago
– Sat, Jul 13, 2024 at 10:55:52 AM
Shrines backers!
Clearly this could've been multiple updates, but when it rains it monsoons or whatever, so here we go:
Art
Conner has been absolutely crushing the illustrations. Their work is surprising, immersive, and deeply affectionate, incorporating insight from our cultural consultants as we continuously negotiate our relationship to the reference material.
Here are three examples, sans text to preserve some surprise:
We're in the home stretch now with exactly three illustrations to go, so we look forward to wrapping art in the very near future.
T-Shirts
Production begins next month at Lancaster Print House for both t-shirt designs.
I'll be on-site the day they go to press, taking pictures of the process, so expect some fun workshop, product, and contributor shots in the following update.
Discord
As always, you're more than welcome to join the EM|NCD Discord server, where a lively and growing cohort are talking game design, roleplaying, and philosophy.
Our philosophy-and-religion channel feels especially rare in the TTRPG space. This book's themes encourage academic dialogue, and boy are we having it. I'm nothing short of honored by the diversity and sophistication of the thinkers here so far.
Free Worldbuilding Tool
Finally, while this only slightly relates, the other day I released a little worldbuilding tool for generating waterfalls with secrets, and obviously this is the right audience.
Here's the high-res link. Enjoy!
Thank you, and with love from the team,
James
Corrected Discord link
about 2 years ago
– Tue, Jun 04, 2024 at 12:08:17 PM
Hi, everyone!
This will be quick: here's the correct link to the EM|NCD Discord server, which I, an absolute fool of a Took, fumbled in the last update.
Otherwise, we're still hard at work, and I hope everyone's kicking off their summer well.
Until next time,
James
SHRINE REVEAL: Altar of the Unbreakable Carapace
about 2 years ago
– Thu, May 09, 2024 at 02:58:17 PM
Venerators!
We hope that you're having a wonderful spring and thank you for your patience since the last update.
We're chipping away at the book's remaining illustration and writing, engaging productively with cultural consultation, and are generally heads-down and at work. We're aiming for excellence here, which means this book won't finish quickly, and we trust that you share this priority. One foot in front of the other until we reach the top.
Shrine Reveal
In the meantime—and look away if you hate spoilers—here's a new spread (high-res link) that shows our refining direction for narrative specificity and mechanical crunch.
I used to think proper nouns had no place in this book's fiction—that a system-agnostic text should also remain setting-agnostic to ensure narrative portability—but now I'm finding that spice simply too tasty to withold. It's a strong spice! So you won't get much of it. But every dish needs hero-flavors to not be bland, and this micro-fiction should offer enough detail to inspire.
Likewise, while we trust GMs to express these gameplay hooks through whatever system they're running (we cannot, nor would ever try, to stop you), there's a percentage of that work they should never have to do, and there's enough shared convention between tabletop RPGs for us to define any critical functionality with confidence in its broad utility. The rules for stacking, expiration, and repeated application are distinctly gamier (and so more alienating to readers less fluent in RPGs) than I originally expected us to include, but we want this book to offer meaningful gameplay value to its readers—not just vibes and fancy printing—which means you should expect more mechanics at approximately that level of complexity.
The Discord Grows!
Since the last update's invitation, some wonderful newcomers to the EM|NCD discord server have been chatting, sharing work, and generally beginning The Discourse. I reiterate the invitation to join us and look forward to meeting everyone who does!
Thanks again, and in touch,
James
Production begins, writing expands, and the Discord server invites you
about 2 years ago
– Wed, Mar 27, 2024 at 12:46:55 PM
Hello again!
Thank you for such a successful campaign. Here's a quick update for the stretch ahead.
Production Begins
With Conner back from some farmwork, where they welcomed at least one little goat into the world and javelined my heart through Instagram, we're officially beginning the book's main production push.
On the art side, this includes the remaining 2/3 of the book's illustrations, plus layout for the essay and generator tables. We'll share drafts and final work through future updates, as appropriate—perhaps polling your preferences when there's a toss-up on direction.
For printing, concrete numbers from the campaign enable concrete logistics and budgeting, so I'll be back and forth between Risolve Studio and Lancaster Print House over the next few months to ensure that both the book and t-shirts come glowing off their respective presses.
More Gameplay, More Buddhism
In terms of writing, I'm heading back to my desk with a fat red pen to reimagine or outright replace a number of the manuscript's shrines. The campaign's reception sharpened my vision of what this book could be, and in general I'm exploring two changes:
- A tad more depth from the gameplay mechanics. System-agnostic minimalism remains a core pillar of our design philosophy, but there's a line between lean and undeveloped, and I want to ensure that each of the book's vignettes satisfies as practical, if lyrical, material for heroic tabletop gameplay.
- More than a tad more Buddhism throughout. Frankly, I didn't expect people to find this component of the project as exciting as they did, so—with the intimate involvement of our cultural consultants—we're gonna crank up the Himalayan influence across all aspects of the book. Thank you for your collective willingness to engage with this material. We reiterate our commitment to its informed, conscientious transposition into roleplaying game design.
Join Us on Discord!
Finally, did you know that EM|NCD has a Discord server? You need another of those, right?! Since Shrines was the press' first real public campaign, joining the Discord now would...enshrine...you forever in the...hallowed...halls (*blows brains out*) of whatever that community happens to become.
So hey, come hang! We'd love to meet you, chat about art or philosophy or whatever, and generally contrive meaning and connection across the great digital divide.
With love, as always,
James
Foiled covers UNLOCKED! Also 44 hours remaining to back.
about 2 years ago
– Thu, Mar 14, 2024 at 10:34:11 AM
Shrines followers!
Stretch Goal Unlocked: Foiled Covers
We foilin', baby! At $10k, which we reached just now, both cover designs gain a premium foil finish. Thanks for helping us make this book literally shine.
Two Days Remaining
And just like that, the month is almost done. The Shrines campaign officially ends in 44 hours, so if you've been planning to back but haven't, now's the time!
Thank you again, and see you in production,
James
