I don't think that sounds as good in a British accent, so maybe I should leave those kind of intros to Aaron. Anyway, Tim here.
I'm in charge of production so, while Aaron is busy chopping and changing the 90k plus words he wrote for this game, I am going to give you a quick update on where we are.
First up, the quick start!
I promised this some time ago, but that time ran away with me. This is all on me as it's my job to get try concentrate Aaron's fabulous work on this project into a much smaller document without losing the essence of the game.
I'm almost there! My intention is to have everything out to you this weekend (I'll post a secret link for backers in one of these updates). The quick start also includes a little scenario for you to jump right in.
An example of the Quick Start layouts. Check out the new character sheet created by Rowan Asbel!
Another live play!
The wonderful folks over at Hack Recklessly will be doing a live play of Death Valley over on their Twitch channel next week. Give them a follow to get notified when it's going live. I'll also drop you a quick update here, so you can be sure not to miss it.
The general production schedule.
We're keeping our timetable on track for the game, so here is a quick rundown of where we expect to be over the coming months.
This month: Quick start out. Preorder/Late Pledges open. April/May: Layouts begin. June: Betas sent out and proofreading begins. Survey's close. Late June: Final edits and printing begins. July/August: Fulfilment of all rewards!
Aaron is doing an amazing job with the editing and playtesting, so I'm confident we can keep to these timelines.
Okay, that's all for now. I'll save you a very British Yeehaw.
If you have any questions, please do drop them in the comments and I do my best to address them as specifically as possible.
It's the last day! If you haven't yet, please hop on board. We've got confirmation that new content is still coming down the pipeline with solo play rules and an adventure called The Ballad of Boogie Briggs. If you are already a part of the dead, I'm so thankful to you.
If you're watching us I hope we look fun enough to join and to those of you out there with no idea what's coming it's us, the dead and the damned hehehehe see yall real soon.
Yee-haw, Aaron
P.s. I'm so excited to bring death valley to you all thanks again!
Tim here, momentarily snatching the reins from Aaron (he'll wrestle them back on no time) to bring some exciting news straight from the dusty trails of Death Valley.
We’re adding a full solo play mode to the game, complete with its own dedicated zine! Whether you ride with friends or strike out alone under the desert moon, you’ll now have the tools to explore the world of Death Valley on your own terms.
The zine includes all the mechanics needed to play any scenario alone, plus a brand-new solo scenario written by me called The Ballad of Boogie Briggs.
It tells the story of a traveling fair that rolls into town, bringing laughter, light, and one very unwanted guest. What starts as a night of wonder soon turns into something far darker.
Every backer will receive this bonus content:
💀 Physical backers will get the printed zine alongside their rewards.
⚡ Digital backers will get the PDF version delivered with the rest of their files.
There's just under three days left to back us, so please do get on the stagecoach with us as we career towards Death Valley.
Welp, here we are, the final undead form, and frankly, my personal favorite (see Rattlesnake Roberts in the Actual Play). I guess it comes from how undeniably UNDEAD the skeleton is. In a lot of games, it's the underdog starter undead, the first thing a necromancer learns to raise, and it never stands a chance against the big guys. In Death Valley, though, they do their darndest.
A Skeleton takes a long walk at night
This skeleton has a bone to pick with you
You are no longer a bag of bones; you lost the bag. With this form, the worldly concerns of water and food are well behind you now. You are just brittle, clack, and rattle. While you don't have much in the way of muscles moving seems almost easier, you don't know what allows your motion, but at this point, you don't have a brain either, so you're pretty sure you don't need to think too hard about it.
Skeletons are, among the undead, considered the bottom of the barrel. The furthest from connecting to the monad as they lack the blood and flesh of life. In religious circles, they represent the “dust” as many of the other lower undead do. Many skeletons don't even get to keep their sanity as the experience of their existence scratches against too many knowns of the person who once lived in the bones of the skeleton. This undead, more than any, are prone to losing pieces of themself and having to rebuild from the ground up. Many struggle with the philosophy of “the ship of Theseus" as they replace a femur there or a rib here.
In the realm of religion, many skeletons look disfavorably on the church of the black veil for the hand that fate “dealt” them. In skeleton culture, devout followers of the black veil are referred to as broken Basilars or broken skulls. They are seen as lost members of the family, too broken to know they are betraying their family, helping their oppressors, breaking even themselves to fit the mold the church places on them. While most skeletons feel this way, few speak out against the church lest they have their own skulls broken. Solo skeletons who are not zealots of the church are just seen as oddballs who are less traditional.
Skeletons' communal nature and lack of rest have led to them spending a great deal of time learning how to pass the time. Skeletons make games usually involving bones or rolling implements like dice. The spirit of the skeleton lies in its ability to keep itself looking for something to live for. The lack of things that would keep most folk going, the separation of their experience from their body, and its constant reminder that they are some strange entity make it difficult to hold one's mind together. With family, good humor(s), and a purpose, a skeleton can hold it together.
🦴Key Attribute: Agility (+1)
💀 Undead Boon — Hard Target: The space between your bones means all attacks against you that are not short range are made at -2 modifier
🌙 Starting Banes: Silver, Blunt Damage
🪇 Rattle of Bones: They can hear you coming. -2 die on sneak checks when near other beings, living or Undead
🩸 Healing — Bones of Theseus: once per dawn, you can use the bones of any dead Humanoid to repair your own and recover 1d6 life force. If the bones are from a living Humanoid, they can heal critical injuries or 2d6 life force.
⚰️Post-Mortem Questions:
When you woke up as a skeleton, were you alone? If so, what were your first moments like in your new body? If not, who was with you?
Are you a social skeleton? What groups do you know, and why are you connected? If not, what keeps you from forming those connections?
How many bones have you replaced? What was the worst shape you've ever been in?
What senses do you still have? Does it bother you that you lack organs to experience them?
When you are injured, do you try and repair the bones of your original body, or are they just parts to you now? What makes you think either?
Does your lack of face disturb you? How have you tried to portray emotion since you lost it?
Whats next? Well I figure we can talk about some mechanics and see where to go from there. The campaign is nearing its end. Im excited to see how it ends.
Today, we are talking about Ghouls. In many legends, ghouls are stalkers and terrorizers, grave yard creepers, and consumers of dead flesh. That holds up true here!
A Ghoulish gentleman happy to help you find a grave.
Pale grey hunger wrapped up in tooth and claw. You aren't smart in the classic way, but your mind is more cunning than ever. Your instincts are keener than a razor's edge, and all those tasty warmblood smells, you are not just some slavering dog scrounging for any meat you can sink your grizzly fangs into, no, no, no. You are a gourmand of earthly delights, and you'll be damned before you are told otherwise.
The existence of a Ghoul is difficult; many go feral from the sheer pain of the hunger breaking down any psychological barriers they have and evoking the memories of their past life as their mind consumes itself for something, anything to take away a drop of the unending, ceaseless pit within them. Those who have held on to their minds and made peace with themselves have a strong tether to their past lives
Those in the highest seats of society have elaborate dinner parties with a live guest who serves as the main course, slowly being devoured in pieces over the evening, and using horrid magiks to keep them alive. The less privileged in ghoul society make do with non-human fare, the best they can. Grading human meat has become a practice in ghoulish culture as well. Rating live humans near the top and within that rating, 5 sub ratings based on health and heft of the human. Dead humans are rated based on the freshness of the human, preservation of the body, and the body itself, like any slab of beef.
🍖Key Attribute: Wits (+1)
💀 Undead Boon — Flesh Prince of foul air: You can sniff out living and undead with your keen nose. Drift checks to track things are made at +3.
🌙 Starting Banes: Silver, Starvation
🤤 Eternal hunger: Your stomach speaks almost as much as you do, and your eyes don't hide it too well. If you are under starvation, -3 to pokerface checks until you eat.
🩸 Healing — Ghoulash Dinning: Once per new dawn, you can consume the flesh of a dead human to heal 1d6 life force. If the human was alive, recover 2d6 or a critical injury instead!
⚰️Post-Mortem Questions:
When you awoke as a ghoul, what was the first thing you craved, and how did you satiate that initial hunger?
Have you eaten a living human before? If not, what holds you back? If yes, what did you feel most fully as the flesh slithered down your gullet?
What are your feelings about "Ghoul dinner parties"? How do you feel about the "Flesh trade" that supports them?
What are your personal rituals or methods for acquiring the "tasty warmblood smells" that drive your hunger? What are your feelings on "recreating the sensation and flavor of living human flesh in other things"? Is it a worthy culinary art, or a poor imitation?
Do you ever feel conflicted between your civilized self and the primal urges of your ghoul nature? How do you reconcile these opposing forces?
When the hunger gets too strong, what memories begin to fade away? What are you afraid of losing the most when the hunger finally takes you?
Hungry for more? Ghouls will be built in the vein of ambush predators who gain power from the food they eat. While starvation may seem very "mortal," I felt that bane was tied deeply to the mythology surrounding the Ghouls. Only one more, I hope you've got a bone to pick, cause we are going to Skeletons!!!
