Victory, Defeat, Finales, and Cliffhangers
News from an award winner, Thirty Foes out now, latest episodes of the pod, and much more!
Darest thou surf the Rat Wave? This a big newsletter (have you ever seen I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson, this newsletter is like the sketch in Season 2 when he yells "big wave!" And pushes the table over). Lots happened in my month. I'll cover:
New Release: Thirty Foes OR Once again, we are defeated
Winner Winner, Veggie Dinner (Diana Jones Emerging Designer Program)
Announced Work: Inevitable - Tales from the Barren
New release: The latest This is Your Lifepath episodes
You going to Gexpo mate? (UK Games Expo+ Exciting Print News)
Work in Progress Report: Terminal
Film Recommendation: Please Baby Please
New Release: Thirty Foes OR Once again, we are defeated
I released a new game. It's a storytelling/mapmaking game inspired by Seven Samurai. You tell the tale of cosmic cowboys with divine power defending a rundown village from a thirty-strong bandit army.
You define the key locations in the village and build your map by drawing and interpreting cards (using mechanics inspired by Possible World Games Beak, Feather and Bone). You take on a rotating series of roles and propose how you'll defend each locations and negotiate what the chances of survival will be. Finally the attack comes and you flip coins to determine the fate of this place. There's always a chance to change fate, however, if you're willing to lay down your life for another.
I think I hadn't even really talked about Thirty Foes last month. The truth is it had been mostly written for a while now (like there was a time I was planning to bring it out alongside Old Gods and Young Guns last year). However because of the unique nature of the game I felt I needed to playtest it before continuing. I finally did a playtest this month when I went to Outer Systems (ran by Panny of Leyline Press). The playtest went really well, helped me ID some slight tweaks to make the game pop and made me feel comfortable getting it ready for release.
The art involved collaging old cowboy paintings with public domain comic book in a way I think looks really cool. The layout is a series of double page spreads which make it really pop.
You can buy the game on Itch (https://ratwavegamehouse.itch.io/thirty-foes) or as a print-on-demand comic book on Lulu (https://www.lulu.com/shop/kayla-dice/thirty-foes/paperback/product-n22nk2.html?page=1&pageSize=4)
It was also covered on Dicebreaker recently: Seven Samurai-inspired tabletop RPG sees players defending a town from an army of bandits | Dicebreaker
Winner, Winner, Veggie Dinner (Diana Jones Emerging Designer Program)
I put out a small news update in the middle of April when I was announced as a finalist for the Diana Jones Emerging Designer Program. Very pleased to announce I was one of the winners.
The prizes included can hopefully help me really take my work to the next level (The Affinity 2 Suite means I'll stop doing collage work on web apps of Photoshop knockoffs, a whole new world of possibilities). Because of this I'll be at GenCon this year, what a concept! I'll be running some games and have something on sale at a stall (unsure if I can name which one). This is likely the only time I'll ever be in a position to go to GenCon so I'm excited.
Announced Work: Tales from the Barren (for Inevitable)
I'm doing my first ever work as a stretch goal writer (and thankfully the stretch goal was hit) for my friends at SoulMuppet. Inevitable (A Doomed Arthurian Western that I had an absolute blast playtesting last year) recently finished funding and I've been hired to tell a Tale from the Barren.
"Tales of the Barren are short lore snippets from guest collaborators, acting as hooks for weird and mysterious things you can do during your adventure." - Zach
I'm working on a tale inspired by singing cowboys and my interest in the Taleweavers of Myth. My character in the playtest was a Taleweaver, with vibes partway between Cyrano and melancholy Shakespearean fools, who's ultimate interests were in creating a grand story, but only if they got to leave it alive.
I'll tell the tale of Delirium Jenny, a cowboy who was unmatched in slinging guns and speaking songs, the wielder of a strange guitar with the word of Dreams carved on the body. Perhaps you'll find this guitar in your games, a little dusty and in need of a time up for sure, but still capable of retching dreams into the waking world.
New Release: Recent episodes of This is Your Lifepath
The podcast rolled on over the past month. Episode 5 featured an interview with Marx Shepherd (creator of ghostbox and A Loud Noise in a Quiet Place). We talked about nature, community and putting yourself into writing.
Episodes 6 and 7 were a two part interview with Tanya Floaker (creator of Lo! Thy Dread Empire, The Connection Machine, and Be Seeing You). The first half involves talking about growing in places you feel the need to leave amongst other topics, while the second goes in on specific inspirations for Tanya's games.
This is a wrap on the first season of the show. I'll take a break and be back at some point with a second series (probably aiming for around 12 episodes).
In terms of reflections on the first series. I think I really hit a stride as an interviewer early into the series. The conversations I had were really enlightening and I enjoyed making the show. Also people both online and in person told me they enjoyed the show and felt it provided something unique. My enjoyment and the fact there's an audience out there means I'm very content with going for a second series.
There are some things I think I come approve on. Principally, the schedule went wacky and I found trying to record episodes once I ran out of backlog stressful so I think for S2 I'd prefer to have majority of recordings done before I start releasing.
Also the show took a lot of reading (at least the way I wanted to do it, I think it benefited from a close familiarity). This isn't necessarily a frustration but is part of the reason I want to take a break and build a backlog.
Final thought: The logo for the show was made in like five minutes before I uploaded the first one and I should probably give it another pass before Season 2.
Work in Progress: Terminal
Speaking of Soul Muppet's Inevitable (that was an entire section ago but hey I was still speaking of it) I'm continuing work on Terminal, my hack of Inevitable about digital pirates battling against the robot authority inside and outside a simulation.
I've finished character creation, which works differently than in Inevitable. There's not classes but details are informed by your role on your pirate crew, the life you had in the simulation, how long you've been awake and also your outlook on the world.
I've been working on Dooms (the big story arcs that drive the game, likely to be renamed as Doom doesn't fit Terminal's vibe as much). This has really helped me see the shape of the game and I think once I have those six written at a first I'll begin to properly build the first complete draft for the game.
Thinking about where I'll take this game and am leaning towards Kickstarting it. Gonna be trying to connect with artists soon, friends who can offer advise and also think about what the quick pitch is for the game (Matrix X Pirates, yes, but also more specifically).
You going to Gexpo mate? (UK Games Expo + Exciting Print News)
UK Games Expo is at the start of the month and I'll be there working on the Soul Muppet stall. I'm gonna be slinging games and chatting shit. Amongst Soul Muppet's Gexpo wares they'll be some games by yours truly. Look out for:
Transgender Deathmatch Legend
Old Gods and Young Guns
The Man We Knew
Wild Duelist
The Ballad of the Bastard and the Tinkerer (The Wild Duelist Quickstart)
Also after Gexpo those titles will be going up on the SoulMuppet Store. Some have been available Print-on-Demand previously (though this will be The Man We Knew's first print run) but will be sunsetted from the Lulu Bookstore in anticipation of this proper print run.
Also come say hi; if you tell me the code phrase "That gum you like is going to come back in style" I'll give you a code to a super-secret Itch sale I'll run during Gexpo weekend.
Oh and it's my birthday on the Sunday of Gexpo so everyone has to be extra nice to me or I'll be frowning on my birthday. You wouldn't want to see a birthday girl with a frown.
Recommendation: Please Baby Please
I know what you're thinking "hmm, bit of a short one this month". So also I'm just gonna mention that I saw a film this month that is immediately one of my favourites.
Please Baby Please is a "hyperstylised exploration of queer desire and masculinity, featuring dance, BDSM fantasy, poetry and violence" - EdFilmFest
I reviewed it on Letterboxd (https://boxd.it/4drwqt) and I strongly recommend it. It's on MUBI in the UK (And I assume/pray at some point they'll bring out a DVD).
I think it's gonna be in the primordial soup of a lot of what I make going forward; whether I can always see that or not.
Everything that has a beginning has an end, Neo, and that includes this newsletter
See you next month