Across a Thousand Dead Worlds

We did it! Across a Thousand Dead Worlds is Funded!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Feb 01, 2022 at 04:17:58 AM

So it's a wrap guys, we did it! After two weeks of smashing through stretch goals, ATDW has funded well beyond our initial expectations; we always knew the game was going to be a success because we've been working hard on it for quite some time now, the concept is cool, and there isn't that many solo sci-fi RPGs out there! But to reach 531% funding? Well, that we did not expect! So thank you all very, very much for supporting this little project and turning it into this giant success!

So what's next, you ask? We're setting up Backerkit so those who missed the campaign can pre-order a digital or physical copy of the game, and to allow those of you who want to upgrade your pledge or simply grab more standard copies to do so. The deluxe Murgo edition was a Kickstarter exclusive though, so that one will not be available anywhere else again! 

Aside from the many backend details we have to deal with, we'll keep working on our respective assignments; it seems Vi can't start editing before March due to previous compromises, which gives us a month to finish the new scenarios and other stretch goal material, as well as more time to playtest. I'm quite happy with where the game is at this point but there are still a couple of things I want to iron out before I can say I'm totally satisfied with how everything works. There are a lot of moving parts in this game, layer upon layer of systems, and they all must work well in conjunction. Vil and Likozor are still churning out illustrations; as a matter of fact, here are some more sketches from Vil:

These are all alien shipwrecks, and just preliminary sketches. Can't wait to see what Vil does with the final pieces! 

As the project progresses, I'll be posting updates to show you guys what we've been up to. I tend to want to share every detail of what we're working on but I'll try to refrain myself and just post one or two updates each month. 

So I guess that's all for now! Once again, thank you all so much for making this possible! I better get going and write some weapons that will hopefully help you survive the many things that will try to eat you during your travels!

- Alex

Art, interviews, and more playtesting!
over 2 years ago – Mon, Jan 31, 2022 at 03:06:50 AM

Hello guys, no stretch goal today (looks like we'll reach the last one tomorrow though!), but I still wanted to write a short update to share a few things with you.

First, as you know Vil and Likozor are already working on new illustrations, and I just had to share Vil's latest piece:

Isn't it amazing? So far it's my favorite piece, I absolutely love it. What do you guys think?

Next, Mel Li has posted his second video showcasing a playtest playthrough, and it's super fun to watch. He skipped a couple of things and others have already changed (he doesn't have the latest version of the playtest document because we haven't upload it), but you get a really good idea of how the game plays. I had a lot of fun watching it, hope you like it too!

And last but not least, YouTube channel Plus One Exp is having me as a guest tomorrow at 3 pm ET. It's a live thing, so don't miss it! If you do don't worry, it will be uploaded later to the channel. It should be really cool though!

So that's it for now, we're all hard at work, writing the new content, and dealing with the thousand things that are left to do. The game's looking really good though, so I can't wait to get it into your hands!

- Alex

We did it! Last stretch goal reached!
over 2 years ago – Mon, Jan 31, 2022 at 03:04:39 AM

I can't express how grateful I am for all the support you guys are showing for this project! We reached our final stretch goal, way faster than we ever hoped, so thank you all so much for your trust! I can tell you that the whole team is working hard on our respective assignments:

- Both Likozor and Vil are hard at work on new art, I'll probably have some of Likozor's ideas for the Àrsaidh spaceships to share with you guys very soon!

- Leo and Donn are gathering ideas for their scenarios and should start writing very soon

- Phil is working on more designs for the NPC and planet sheets, as well as finishing some playtest stuff. He can't really start with the final layout until the text has been edited, but I assure you he's keeping himself busy

- Glynn is busy working on finishing all the battlemaps, they look super cool!

- I'm busy fixing things thanks to the playtest feedback that keeps coming, as well as writing the stretch goals

So as you can see, we're all doing what we can to have this finished ASAP! Vi will start working on editing the book in March, let's hope they don't need to spend too long fixing my messy writing!

Some of you have taken the initiative when it comes to VTT support, and are working hard on a Foundry module for ATDW, which is extremely cool! In case anyone wants to help or just see how things go, drop by the Blackoath Discord server and say hi! 

Oh, I had my little chat with Tony from Plus One Exp, and it was super fun! As of this writing, it is not up on their YouTube channel, but I'm sure it will be very soon. If you're curious about my background and want to hear more about ATDW, go give it a watch!

I think that's it for now! Thanks to this last stretch goal we'll have a very nice array of battlemaps for everyone, as well as cool tokens to represent our characters and the horrors they'll face during their travels. The campaign is nearing its end, but I'd love it if you can still share it around and bring more people over to make this game an even bigger success!

Talk to you soon!

- Alex

Extra gear unlocked! What's next?
over 2 years ago – Sun, Jan 30, 2022 at 10:05:56 PM

Another day, another stretch goal destroyed! You guys are the best, thanks so much for your continued support! Together we're making Across a Thousand Dead Worlds become exactly what I originally envisioned, and more! With this latest stretch goal unlocked, your Deep Diver will have a bunch of extra toys to play with; I'm talking form useful gadgets like a grappling gun (for when your team falls into a crevasse; trust me, it happens...), to augmentations that can synergize with certain Talents, allowing you to specialize deeper on a certain playstyle (if you choose to) and of course, more experimental gear, which is the cool end-game stuff you'll be wanting to bring with you as soon as you can afford it! I have a list of cool things I wanted to add, so now I have the opportunity to develop them properly!

I'm right now busy with incorporating the feedback I'm still getting from the playtesting; speaking of which, are you curious to know how the game plays? One of my playtesters has uploaded a video showcasing the first stages of a mission, so go check it out! Keep in mind that nothing you see is 100% final, especially the layout and the non-existing editing.  It's a fantastic video though, so don't miss it!

So what's next, I hear you ask? Well, to be 100% honest, there are some things I wanted to include and unlock via more stretch goals, but I'm starting to realize that we can end up with a bit of feature creep, because with each new addition we push the final release date a bit further. There is also the fact that this is my first Kickstarter campaign, and although I have help (couldn't do all this alone), the weight of the project rests on my shoulders. I don't want to bite more than I can swallow, I'm sure you can understand! This is why we're adding one last stretch goal: 2 new Battlemaps, and tokens for you to use together with the battlemaps, to represent your characters and the creatures they'll fight. They're going to be awesome, just wait!

So I think that's it for now, go and watch that video, and if you have any questions, you know where to find me!

- Alex

We made it, another stretch goal destroyed!
over 2 years ago – Sun, Jan 30, 2022 at 10:03:06 PM

This is incredible, we're going through stretch goals like a team of Deep Divers go through oxygen pellets! Thank you all so, so much for your incredible support! You know what this means though: Donn Stroud is officially aboard Karum Station! Those of you familiar with his work know what to expect: dark, evocative writing that will transport us to faraway places and exotic dangers. With Donn as part of the project, it means we now have two whole scenarios for your characters to go through! They should be a nice change of pace from all the randomly generated content that forms the core gameplay experience. 

Speaking of gameplay, I realize that in yesterday's interview I didn't do a great job at explaining how oracles, the core mechanic in any solo RPG experience, work. So I've decided to briefly explain you how our Prediction Subroutine works. Let's take a look at the graphic!

Looks cool, doesn't it? This seemly complex table is used to answer yes & no type of questions; what this means is that, as long as you formulate any question the correct way ("Is there a guard?" or "Will it rain today?"), you can get answers to almost anything you need to know. With this table and a bit of common sense, you can get the answers to all those questions you would normally ask a Game Master. So how does it work? It's really simple: You first think of the question you need an answer for (remember, it has to be formulated in a way that gives you a yes or no answer), then you think how likely it is for the answer to be "yes", and roll a single D20. If the result is higher than the number on the table, then the answer is yes. For example, let's say we just found the remains of a dead creature. We want to know if the creature died of natural causes, or if it was killed by something else; this is a question we would normally ask a GM, but since we're playing GM-less, we use the Prediction Subroutine. So the question we ask is: "Did the creature die at the hands of another creature?". Since we really don't have a clue, we choose the "Even Chances" option from the table: this means we must roll a 10 or les in order for the answer to be yes. We take the D20 and roll, and obtain a 13, which means yes, the creature was killed by some other one. Now, most of the times we would roll an extra D6 (the "Qualifier" die) in order to get a more precise answer, but in this case we wanted a clean yes/no answer, so we're done. We can of course follow up with more questions, using either this core oracle, or any of the many other found in the book, until we have all the answers we need. And that's it! Congratulations, you no longer need a GM!

I'll leave it at that for today; at the rate we're going though, it seems like I'll be posting another one of these tomorrow. So thank you all once again, and talk to you soon!

- Alex