Update number 12
over 2 years ago
– Tue, Oct 26, 2021 at 03:28:25 AM
Hi everyone!
Just a quick not to let you know that I'm going to delay the launch by a month.
Unfortunately the specter of COVID has raised it's head in my household and so I failed to get the manuscript to the printers to make it for this month.
On the upside, it means I've been able to book more playtesting in and make some minor tweaks to make the game a bit more exciting.
Pat's done an amazing job with the art, so I'm going spend a bit of time tweaking layout with a view to ship out at the end of November instead of October.
My apologies for the delay. Sadly I have the organisational skills of a newt at times and this was one of them.
Thanks,
Ben
Surveys and Locking Orders
over 2 years ago
– Mon, Oct 04, 2021 at 08:19:49 AM
Hi everyone!
80% of you have now completed your BackerKit surveys, which is fantastic!
However, the remaining 20% still need to do theirs so I can lock down the orders, charge the cards and do the victory dance, so please check your spam boxes for messages from BackerKit.
You can also use this link to access the survey: https://dod.backerkit.com/ in case you didn't get the e-mail.
I'm very keen to get this out for the end of the month so you have a Halloween game to play, so I need to lock down orders soon to make that possible.
Writing is in final edit, art is almost completed and the adventure "A Little Evil" has about 1000 words left to go before it's ready, but we're definitely in the home stretch now!
Thanks,
Ben
Second (or third) to last update before sending it out...
over 2 years ago
– Thu, Sep 16, 2021 at 01:33:21 AM
Hello everyone!
Well, I missed my Backerkit target from the last update, BUT (!!!) the writing is now done on the second draft. Some small changes, some big changes. I've changed the names of Limit Break, Consequence and the Need/Want differential to something a bit more 'on theme' with the game.
Lore has been bulked up form the first draft - nearly doubled - and equipment has been remembers, written, trashed and rewritten to use a more versatile 'Gear Dice' mechanic.
More art has come in and we've decided to go with a plain background instead of the fade so that the printers don't have a problem with it. One day I'll be able to do a full colour spectacular - but it is not this day!
Your god might not play dice, but ours do!
Thanks everyone!
Ben
Update number 9
over 2 years ago
– Thu, Aug 26, 2021 at 02:24:18 AM
Hello backers!
Lots of good news for this update!
Firstly, the first draft is completely finished and I'm into the second. I have gained the services of an excellent editor, who has given me detailed and thorough feedback. Good job too, I had egregiously abused the word 'power' throughout the manuscript and have managed to expunge it except where relevant...
Another thing I noticed was that I've mentioned equipment, but not actually built an equipment section, so that's a work in progress in Ver 2.0. Page count is creeping up to rival another 12-sided-dice-game from ZQ3 and will easily top 50 pages (out of a target of 40) because... (fanfare)...
Some art has arrived! Behold, the tattoo-worthy art of something otherworldly ripping through Spacetime:
I've investigated postage and I'm hoping to have Backerkit surveys out by the 2nd of September (6 months to the day from funding), so that should be your next communication from DoD.
Until then, stay safe, fight the Powers and think about how cool Mazikeen's knives are in Lucifer!
Ben
Update 8: Full speed ahead!
almost 3 years ago
– Wed, Jul 21, 2021 at 04:38:14 PM
Hello lovely backers!
My biggest news in this update is that I am retiring from teaching at the end of this week. Much as I've experienced a lot of wonderful things over the last 16 years in education, it's become clear that my health has paid the price for it and that continuing in the field is not the right choice. Lockdown was a brutal teacher, but a necessary one.
This means that - I'm going to be my own boss. I have my little studio set up in the cupboard under the stairs and I'm writing both more and better than I have in years! Descendants of Darkness is really taking shape now. The Eluhoth and Naturae Descents have been drafted into Appendices, and I'm fairly happy with the simple system I've used.
Fulfillment is a slower process for me. I'm looking into BackerKit and similar options, but it's quite pricey. Forrtunately, I have a good community in Garblag Games on Discord, Twitch and YouTube who are giving me really useful pointers in that direction. I plan on having all the writing done by the end of August and still hope to get the books shipped by Hallowe'en, which seems appropriate!
Last thing in this update is a bit about Character Advancement. This game has a strong undercurrent of desire running through it and I wanted to reflect that in character advancement. As such, your Descendants have Needs and Wants:
"Need/Want
We all have things we need and things we want. Sometimes these things align, but often the things we want run counter to the things we need. For individuals with such supernatural origins, their wants and needs have weight on their world. For a character to advance and evolve, they need to achieve one of their Wants or Needs.
Either is sufficient to trigger personal growth in some form - but sometimes the price of getting what you want is having what you once wanted…
Achieving a Need happens when the character meets a need that they have been lacking until this point. This may come against the characters' will (but not the players!) - for example a self-sufficient character may finally settle down and let someone else take care of them, meeting their need for nurturing, or a shy character may be forced to stand up for themselves, meeting a need for self-determination.
Wants are things that the character covets, whether they admit it or not. Achieving a Want can lead to greater power to their Descent, drawing their extra-planar parent entity closer to this realm or the converse where the character becomes more selfish as their own desires are met."
That's it from me for now. I'll be back with another update in a couple of weeks to let you know how it's going.
