Playtesting the Brain Reaver Class
over 2 years ago – Sun, Sep 03, 2023 at 05:51:57 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Some good, some bad and some ugly...
over 2 years ago – Thu, Aug 31, 2023 at 06:51:17 AM

Awesome people!

Let’s start with the ugly. There’s no way I’ll be able to deliver your books in November. I hope January but it seems like February is more like it.

Windfiddle! I know right… the heaviest of sighs

Why? Well, setbacks in quality

Setbacks and being a perfectionist doesn’t really help. That means I’m aiming for a high quality of books, comparable with market leaders. Yet, my team is slightly less substantial.

The bad. Again sea turtles mate...

In the background we’ve had setbacks with:

• Layout design
• Artwork
• Playtesting the Brain Reaver Class
• Structure of the book which led to re-writing.
• Dice and quality of design, so I’ll be spending thrice more money on dice than originally expected. See below for the blurred lines that are a challenge with the stone and logo of course.
• A few surprises that I’ve got cooking up are taking a surprisingly larger amount of time.
• Travelling and working is exhausting, especially with a little one who has sleep regression as a part of developing. So, also less sleep.
• Some internet failures, yadayada...

If often felt like setback month. But! That’s what being an entrepreneur sometimes is about. Regardless...

The good..? I made a list of inspiring quotes and why not share one?!

Consider failure as a door you pull instead of push. Failure shows something new, what something could become, and that’s something improved. Regardless of the burdens you carried from yesterday and just accepting the challenges of today; there’s always tomorrow where everything could fall into place and be a success. Failure is measured by obstacles you didn’t overcome. Let's find courage in overcoming obstacles, counting each step forward as a success in itself. If not today, there’s always tomorrow.

The great! On a more fun note! 

I’m going to MCMComicCon and SPIEL in London (UK) and Essen (Germany), both in October. If anyone might be going to either, feel free to reach out!

Ow and look at this artwork for Zathina! Brain Reaver art is still in the works!

Stay awesome! I’ll get back to writing!

Best,

Frank

World Building to Spark Ideas
over 2 years ago – Mon, Jul 31, 2023 at 08:00:41 AM

Hi again awesome backers,

We’ve done our fair share of world building regarding the factions and deities. That means that you’ll get for each deity some artwork like the sigils and their powers, moral and ethical values, etc.

Hopefully enough information that you could spin into something tailored to your own homebrew game at home, or feel free to copy them, mix or match, or use them as a baseline for your own inventions.

1. Factions in the Ketza Kingdom

Remember that the book you’ve pledged for is in a homebrew world but you could plug and play elements into anything. Same for the adventure that has a node based structure, but more on the locations in the next update!

Let’s share more about the homebrew world. In it humanoids tend to cluster around certain deities they make factions of likeminded individuals. In the Ketza Kingdom the humanoid races are spread out over the lands but some races are more predominant in areas as others.

2. What does that mean? 

For example the deity Zathina that is the deity that helped create the Elemental Phase of Water, and has created humanoids based on her own self image: Dragonborn in this instance. They cluster predominantly in the Flying Lands and more often than not are devoted to Zathina.

As a faction they are called the Radiant Riders, where they stand for righteousness, justice, and more for you to find out when you get the book. Suffice to say it includes quite a number of things you might to bring it to life for your players.

3. Hold on to your dice!

... and enjoy at the extent of the factions details, around 10 pages per deity/ faction, so sure maybe a little overboard, but it was fun and I honestly couldn’t see a right moment to stop...

Especially since we are travelling in our caravan and are currently in our 4th country in 7 weeks, this was the perfect moment to immerse myself into anything culturally. Even while writing this I got new ideas that MUST be included.

So, we’ve created very detailed factions to say the least. That includes a number of useful things. 

4. You’ve made it this far, let’s share!

4. This is just a snippet of the elusive and secretive Ketsaï Creed, and still under revision, but there's more:

You'll get for the Radiant Riders, Faith of the Leaf and the Builders Guild, of which some apply to the Ketsaï Creed: 

• Birthday customs, 
• Role playing and immersion notes, 
• Architecture elements, 
• Type of clothing, 
• Tasks they could give your players fitting with the faction, 
• Their viewpoint to see the world including a short anecdote of a member, 
• What they worship, 
• Some quirks, 
• How they connect to their deity, 
• How the deity selects a champion and what subclasses tend to be mostly in line with that faction, 
• Some calendar moments 
• Types of magical schools related.

5. Anything you feel we should include as well?

Let us know in the comments, Discord or even Twitter @Frank_QuestNest.

As always, I’m super grateful that you’re all helping me do the things we both really enjoy.

Much love and stay awesome!

Frank

Quest Nest is 'questing'
almost 3 years ago – Sun, Jul 02, 2023 at 05:32:08 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Mamma mia, nearly forgot the time
almost 3 years ago – Thu, May 11, 2023 at 02:42:17 AM

Short and sweet, brief and super excited!

See the quick reference I made to the Super Mario Bros movie? Completely unrelated, aside from power-enhancing mushrooms and herbs then...

Updates:

• We've gotten a lot more structure to the Mind Reaver class (name is still workshopping, all ideas are welcome!) where you get to tailor your character to your own ideas as of level 1. Having no identical abilities, even with a full party or Mind Reavers.
•  Blood rituals are exciting, Lone Colossus Games is collaborating with us to help us with some blood monsters fitting with the theme and in their supplement Injuries and Vile Deeds. Just in case you want to make them more... 'gritty'.
•  Necromancy rituals, where a  friendly NPC druid and an NPC necromancer will have competitive skill checks to change the outcome, of course with the players ability to affect either side.
• So many hooks for players to pull on, even the most satisfied fish will be tempted one way or another. Ways for players to find clues, form alliances, (mis)trust others, let's just say that how the players handle the first session with a mutiny, up until the fight against a green dragon after a war, necromancy ritual, blood ritual and party; well, could everything they collected and kept carrying around with them help them 10 sessions later in fighting off a dragon or will they be hunted down by then for an item that others need to open a separate chamber inside the Well of the Aether? Soo much awesomeness, I'm shaking with excitement to see how your players will play the adventure, could also be the coffee... 
•  New spells for the Blood Ritual, Necromancer, potential Mind Reaver Class, and also exciting, since the world of the Ketza Kingdom has Elemental Phases of Wood, Metal and Lightning, some cool angles on how to harness their powers into spells and potentially harvesting the Aether.
• Speaking of harvest, I've been workshopping some herbs, roots, bark, plants, etc. to give the Faith of the Leaf some more abilities, cool stuff as well. I mean, the irony of a poison resistant party battling a green dragon (after they have already ruined his blood ritual) while they are trying to poison him seems hilariously devious and challenging. 
•  New monsters that are results of (un)successful experiments... Who knows what they will be capable of?!

All right, fine, who am I kidding, I'll give a preliminary glimpse. Let's just say, you've convinced me..? 

Companions Bond, to deepen a connection between your party members. 

And there are some different herbs that could become effective poisons that members of the Faith of the Leaf could teach your players or would have to find a cure for, depending on how things go of course. For example:

Hemlock Haze: 

This is a potent hallucinogenic brew made from the Hemlock Haze vine. Hemlock Haze is known for producing intense visionary experiences that can have profound healing effects on the mind and body. It is typically consumed in a ceremonial setting and can produce intense visions and experiences, like in shamanic rituals and is known for its powerful psychoactive effects. It is very rare and valuable, with a value of around 500 gold pieces per ounce.

• Harvesting: The Hemlock Haze is typically harvested in the rainy season, when it is most potent whilst performing a special dance around the plant, wearing a specific set of feathers and chanting a certain incantation.

Some might, include 'silly' rhymes to help players remember their effects.

• Harvested by dancing with a unique feather,
• Preferably during rainy weather.
• Drugged by Hemlock Haze,
• Too much will affect you for days.
• Your spirit experiences growth good for the mind,
• Be sure to use a shaman to help you as a guide.

And then having a spiritual adventure with the help of a shaman as a random encounter to dive into your players backstories a little more seems fitting. But in case, your table is more for the sneaky assassin-style, they could just create very powerful poisons with it as well. Poisons that are layered even, and could become more effective when the target would be ingesting other things, like cheese, strong liquor, inhaling lavender incense and listening to a harp. I cannot wait to here the stories surrounding that campfire after a success!

Here is a teeny tiny example of a potent poison that could work well with the ingredients mentioned earlier. Since the players might get access to a party at Silas Stronghold with quite a number of potential ability checks and social interaction, they could even use it to their advantage, or not. Maybe they just party along and become great friends!

The Dark Veil of the Silent - Poison

Process of preparation:

• 1. To prepare Dark Veil of the Silent, gather the required ingredients: Shadowstalk, Reptileleaf Vine, Hemlock Haze, and Dragonwort.
• 2. Dry and crush them into a fine powder and combine in a small clay bowl.
• 3. Add a small amount of distilled water while chanting in Druidic, invoking the powers of nature to imbue the mixture with their essence.
• 4. Carefully mix the ingredients together, using a wooden pestle to ensure they are evenly combined.
• 5. Once the mixture is ready, dip the tip of a silver dagger into the poison and gently prick your finger, allowing the tiniest amount of the poison to enter the bloodstream.
• 6. After several minutes, your skin surrounding your finger begins to glow with a faint green light for 10 minutes, which should illuminate the poison to activate it.
• 7. Place the activated poison into a small vial for safekeeping.
• 8. The process of creating Dark Veil of the Silent is incredibly dangerous and should only be attempted by someone with the necessary skill and knowledge.

Well, seeing a glimpse of a spell, herb and poison; a few ideas to spark your creative GM-brain maybe you would consider joining our Discord channel to discuss them?

I'm still setting up Patreon and a newsletter, to keep those extra keen for a bit more information engaged with more monsters, spells, hooks, NPCs, etc. So many more ideas to bring this adventure to you. But for now I guess I'm better at writing GM-friendly adventure books than running a business and building a community. Ah well, we've all got flaws. Next update, maybe...

Seesh! Longer update than expected, seems to be the same for the book, feels like not even halfway yet and currently over 100 pages of content Adam (editor) and I are going over. Love it!

Stay awesome!

Best,

Frank