Truly, sending out five million thank yous to each backer for supporting this pretty out-there Mothership module. It's going to be something special. After a weekend of much-needed personal time and writing, I'm getting to work to get this zine pack into your hands, :)
We didn't quite hit that Cloud Empress conversion kit goal, but Hodag and I are still keen to get it made at some point. My priority will be to finish the core Twisting Unseen package, but once all that's digitally fulfilled I'll send a poll to folks to see if y'all are still eager for the CE conversion kit.
Ripley Matthews has already completed the work on the Twisting Unseen map tiles (she rules). These are the raw image files, not in the flyer layout, but here's what she got for us:
The next step is preparing the manuscript for layout. During Mothership Month 2025, Tuesday Knight Games shared a new Mothership Style Guide with us, and Will Jobst's editing on Twisting Unseen predates its arrival. Luckily, in addition to running this crowdfund campaign, my life the past three weeks has been editing MM25 entries, haha, so I know this style guide pretty well. So the first part will be me making sure the manuscript follows this style guide, and making other small tweaks as I go along. Late in the month, I hope to consult with Jean Verne about getting layout underway.
Future Updates
For those new to my projects, I commit to sending an update on my project's progress every month. Expect to receive an update on the second-to-last Monday of each month, during which I may also share some other projects I'm working on. See y'all in three weeks.
We're entering the final 48 hours of the campaign, thanks so much for all the support you've shown, :)
Today, February 25th at 5pm EST, I'll be on the Weird Place Zine Month livestream, talking about Twisting Unseen and ZiMo excitement. My buddy Waco Matrixo is on at the same time slot too!
A new episode of Ansible Uplink, the sci-fi module review podcast that I host, dropped today. This week, D. Kenny of Hardlight Station fame joins me to review Amanda P.'s Mothership module, Resonant.
A Familiar Tower
I gotta give a huge shout out to one of the greats out there, Direct Sun, writing puzzle dungeons that are loads of fun and making them look cool while he does it. Not only that, Direct Sun also organized our cross-promo cohort for this Zine Month, a ttrpg community man!
The long-awaited sequel to the acclaimed Abberant Reflections, and inspired by the puzzle box dungeons of The Legend of Zelda series, A Familiar Tower delivers challenges that feel organic to its world—mechanics that click into place the moment you discover how they work. With editing by the lauded Sam Sorensen and art by the irreplaceable Sam "Skullboy" Mameli, this is sure to hit on all cylinders.
We've entered the final few days of the campaign! It's been a wild ride, and I've one last surprise yet for y'all tomorrow.
Also, hah, I thought I'd already shared the Underthings art, but I was wrong! Compare and contrast the Mothership and Cloud Empress versions of the cybernetic weird lil guy faction:
Art by Paul Enami
Last Light Station Launch!
In a few short hours, Mothership writer and radio host Joshua Justice is launching his first solo crowdfunding project for their zine Last Light Station.
Gear up with new cybermods and equipment, experience new downtime Shore Leave, and even sing some sultry karaoke on Last Light Station. In this tight zine, a conflict is brewing in the Hekate Sector, and the crew can tip the balance, one way or the other.
We've hit the Stretch Goal for more map tiles from Ripley Matthews! She's been hard at work on the Flatline on the Blocks maps (a collab Mothership project I'm part of), and it'll be cool to chain those maps with these new map tiles, thanks everyone, :)
Just a fun Before/After mockup of the map
Twisting Unseen: Conversion Kit
The next Stretch Goal is a digital-only Cloud Empress RPG conversion kit for Twisting Unseen. And now, I'm excited to announce that if we hit this Stretch Goal, the kind and kickass HodagRPG will illustrate the cover! Hodag's art fills The Unseen City, and so I'm very much looking forward to hitting this new Stretch Goal to have him back for the Twisting Unseen Conversion Kit.
The cover mock-up, without Hodag's cover illustration
As I mentioned in my last Update,among stat conversions and faction reflavoring, the Underthings are the faction that change the most. Underthings are a gnome-like cybernetic people from another world/reality that was sucked into Kagami by the first portal disaster, millienia before. For Cloud Empress, I'm taking the Underthings to their Mystling roots in The Unseen City as the Gourdlings. Gourdlings have the same abilities as the Underthings, but are a much more gentle people than their Mothership counterparts.
In Cain Sun, players take on the role of parasitic brain worms who all control one human: Dr. Abelsson. On the unexplored planet of Cain 615, and like a certain scientist in Prometheus (2012), the good doctor put his nose where it did not belong to disastrous (for him) consequences.
This is Waco's Mothership take on the game Everyone is John, except Everyone is Worms. Each player has not-necessarily mutually exclusive goals, and you'll want to accomplish that without tipping off to Dr. Abelsson's colleagues that he's infected by you. Like all of Waco's games, it sounds like a riot, so go check out Cain Sun!
For those that might not know, I host a podcast called Ansible Uplink where I invite ttrpg creators to review a sci-fi module with me. This week, Cloud Empress RPG creator watt joined me to review Picket Line Tango by Emily Weiss.
I was very glad to have watt on the show because Twisting Unseen is linked thematically (and physically) to my Cloud Empress RPG biome, The Unseen City, which is part of the Unseen & Sleeper Crew bundles. Since this module has portal technology at its heart, I felt it'd be a great way to send a table into another game, too.
All Physical Tiers are 15% off retail value
Third Stretch Goal: Play Twisting Unseen with Cloud Empress RPG!
It's a bit of a "spoiler" but the next Stretch Goal after Ripley's art is to make a digital bifold conversion guide for all backers for folks wanting to run Twisting Unseen in the world of Cloud Empress. This includes simple alterations like stat blocks, but also a major alteration to the Underthings and tonal shifts for the main human NPCs and their motivations, all to be more in line with the themes of Cloud Empress RPG and The Unseen City.
Outcast Unseelie and the Ooze Between
And I can't write an Update without spreading the Zine Month love!
In Outcast Unseelie and the Ooze Between for Shadowdark RPG, the mountain bleeds potent arcaneooze from the long-abandoned Brackenhoorg mines, and now fey lords feed upon its power. In this puzzle dungeon, characters manipulate a powerful magical substance, the ooze, through a 30+ room dungeon.
This is Jesse Winter’s second crowdfund campaign, after last year’s successful Shadowdark showing A Haunting in Glass, which was featured on Between Two Cairns.And for all first 48-hour backers, Jesse is delivering a free one-page dungeon!
