Item WIP Release, Artist Announcement, & Pre-Orders Closing Soon!
Hey everyone! Progress update time!
The work continues. I am still behind, and I feel like my month-by-month milestones may have been too optimistic (although I'm still confident in the overall delivery date). My further writing is now firmly mixed in with layout, which will be mixed in with some playtests planned for September as well. Everything is looking better and better, but it's sort of steady progress on all fronts vs. a siloed-off one-thing-done-at-a-time. It might be messy, and it's contrary to the original plans I laid out to y'all, but I have come to accept that I am fighting a good amount of burnout this past year and this has been the best way to make progress I'm happy with. Like I said, I'm still planning to have the digital fulfillment in November though, and that is very important to me!
What is nice is that all of the Vault's contents have been written! Fire Sale 1 had 38 items across its four categories. Fire Sale 2 includes all of those items, plus 102 more. The smaller categories like Valuables and Secrets have also been expanded to the same size as the others.
Since I've also done the layout for those tables, I will be releasing WIP spreads of just the items to backers today! You should get an email about it, and otherwise they will be accessible through Your Pledges & Surveys > Your Digital Rewards (or Your Pledges & Surveys > Fire Sale 2 > Get Your Digital Downloads). There's a lot of cool and potentially game-breaking stuff on those tables, so as I move into my own playtesting sessions I'd love to hear how they hit for you and your tables as well! Questions, critique, and balance suggestions are all welcome.
Note that I will also be closing the Pre-Order Store end of day September 1st, at which point those of you who have pre-ordered will be charged and you will also gain access to the WIP files!
As for artists! Per our $6K stretch goal of an Art Expansion, I have procured the services of Michael Pisano, also known as Haunted Meat, and Atlas Costa Aguilera, cover+interior artist for Exit, Pursued by a Dream! They'll be contributing to both the regular edition cover and the interior of the book, and I can't wait to share some previews once I have them.
That'll be it for now! That lore drop I previously mentioned is still coming, I just reckon it'll pair better with some art, so expect that sometime in September. I'll be in touch soon! Enjoy those items, y'all.
The smoke tests went swimmingly, so I have sent surveys to the rest of y'all and cracked open the Pre-Order Store for late pledges on the Digital and Physical editions of the zine! These will be live for a good while, so let your friends know they can still get in on the heist of the century if they're keen!
I'm pleased to report that as of now, the smoke test for your surveys has begun, which means about 5% of y'all should be receiving your surveys by email! You have a good long while to respond while I keep cooking on the module, but please still do check it out if you receive it! Confirm what you pledged for and upgrade if you're so inclined (that option should be available to you). If the test goes well, I'll be sending out the rest of the surveys by the end of the month and opening up the Pre-Order Store for folks to make late pledges!
As for the status of the module! It's still in a rough draft but reading pretty well, and I've been playing around with layout a bit early to get a sense for things (and specifically for what and where the extra art y'all unlocked will go). Unfortunately a lot of my time this month has been taken up by another project previously on my docket, so I haven't been able to get as much done as I'd have hoped. Once this other project is cleared off my plate, I'll be able to devote full attention back to Fire Sale, so I'm locking in and intending to make up for lost time in early August!
Thank you all for your patience and continued support. I'm keen to share more about the expanded lore of the module once things are a bit more presentable - in particular, the Trestby Mob and the time-travelling technology that allows them to stay ahead of the competition and the law. I'll see about a fun lore drop on the next big update!
In the meantime, keep an eye out for your surveys. I'll be sure to share when the overall Pre-Order Store goes live too! Talk then!
So as of this morning, our project has concluded with a wild total $8,268 raised - which means we hit one last stretch goal right before the end! I'm so thankful to each and every one of you (320 strong!) for chipping in to help make this adventure a reality. It's always a surreal feeling to do these crowdfunds and I feel honoured that I get to do this for (essentially) a living! Very, very stoked to dig in on this for the rest of the year and whip it all into shape. Stay tuned for updates - I'll be aiming to check in roughly once a month with my progress!
Now, there's one last thing to do before I disappear into the kitchen to get cooking. We have one last...
This last spotlight features Equipment and Valuables, two categories which tied in the poll I ran at the start of the campaign. Let's start with Equipment!
This is a completely new category of items within the Company Vault - in running the original Fire Sale, I often had players asking to search for armor, wearables, or other assorted stuff which didn't fit cleanly into any of the other categories. So now it's got a section of the loot table all to itself! Additionally, this means some items formerly on the Artifacts table have been moved over as better fits, and rest assured they'll get some wild replacements. Lots of fun surprises on this table!
Valuables are, similar to Weapons, very straightforward. Vaults should have things worth money in them, and in many cases the item itself isn't the point - it's a question of who you can sell it to, and what that money buys you if you can make it out! Valuables form a solid backbone of the loot table, in that you don't want a huge volume of "useless" or unfun entries, but you do want punctuation between the weird and deadly stuff that can just be there. Do you take it with you? What can you risk carrying? There's always incentive to try and pack in that last item for a little extra cred...
With that, we've toured through all of the types of items you can expect to find in the Vault! If you've been reading along week to week, thanks so much, and keep your eyes peeled - there's a ton more hidden in the facility's cracks and crevices and I'm keen to share more as the project progresses.
Like I said above, I'll now be shifting from weekly updates into closer to monthly check-ins, so hang tight! I'll be back in touch before you know it with new stuff to show off. Talk then!
Hello everyone! Thanks to all of you, this week we cracked the $6K mark and unlocked our first Art Expansion for the book. I'm really excited to start reaching out to some artists to help bring the Vault, its guardians, and maybe even some of its contents to life! I'll be sharing updates here when I have a better idea of who I'll be commissioning.
Now, onto this week's...
This week, you voted to take a look at the Weapons category. It's not a complicated category - what you see is what you get. These are some gnarly, weird, and highly, highly-dangerous implements! If you find yourself out of ammo or completely unarmed during your heist, searching for a weapon off the shelf is a worthwhile investment... just as long as you keep in mind that the Vault's security guards are authorized to do the same.
I'll note here too: you may notice some formatting going on with each of these items! Text in red indicates an item pulled from the Player's Survival Guide, text in Bold indicates information that the players should glean upon finding/seeing the item, and text in Italics indicates hidden information about the item which should only reveal itself to them once they have used it. A small touch but one that allows each item to have a fun discovery phase that can turn into entire encounters unto themselves.
That's all for this week! The project has only a week left (so I'll probably combine the final two categories into a mega Vault Spotlight) and I'm very honoured by the support y'all have already shown. I'm excited to knuckle down and get this module off the launch pad - especially now that I'll be able to bring some artists along for the ride. Take care!
Hey folks! Our second week has been a steady climb upwards towards our next stretch goal - art commissions! I'd love to stretch my wings and do the art myself, but there are so many talented artists in the MoSh community that it'd be a shame not to get them in the mix. We're very close (like less than $100 close) - spread the word and help us cross that milestone off!
Now, onto the main event...
This week, we are taking a look at two of the Vault's Secret items. If you have read or played the original Fire Sale, you'll know that these items are A) rolled randomly to determine your ultimate objective in raiding the vault, and B) typically impossible to search for specifically. You have to either get to a specific, well-guarded area, or stumble randomly upon one with a wide search on the entire loot table.
Secrets are easily the Vault's most dangerous and valuable occupants. Removing them and exposing them to the world at large could make you the epicentre of a major historical event, up to and including the end of the world itself. Or, perhaps, the end of the Company...
Many Secrets will be complicated to remove from the Vault and more complicated still to own afterwards. If you get out alive, you may just end up with more problems than you started. All the more reason to double down and hit the Vault again... surely two brains in a jar will solve this?
Alright! No more spoilers - at least on the Secrets, and for this week. I'll be back next time with some more items in tow and any project updates we might have! Take care!
This is super fun - I'm even more excited for the full module now!
I did notice that references to the Unconfirmed Contact Reports were labeled WOM instead, and that entry 873–881 says "NO NOT OPEN" instead of "DO NOT OPEN"
The work continues. I am still behind, and I feel like my month-by-month milestones may have been too optimistic (although I'm still confident in the overall delivery date). My further writing is now firmly mixed in with layout, which will be mixed in with some playtests planned for September as well. Everything is looking better and better, but it's sort of steady progress on all fronts vs. a siloed-off one-thing-done-at-a-time. It might be messy, and it's contrary to the original plans I laid out to y'all, but I have come to accept that I am fighting a good amount of burnout this past year and this has been the best way to make progress I'm happy with. Like I said, I'm still planning to have the digital fulfillment in November though, and that is very important to me!
What is nice is that all of the Vault's contents have been written! Fire Sale 1 had 38 items across its four categories. Fire Sale 2 includes all of those items, plus 102 more. The smaller categories like Valuables and Secrets have also been expanded to the same size as the others.
Since I've also done the layout for those tables, I will be releasing WIP spreads of just the items to backers today! You should get an email about it, and otherwise they will be accessible through Your Pledges & Surveys > Your Digital Rewards (or Your Pledges & Surveys > Fire Sale 2 > Get Your Digital Downloads). There's a lot of cool and potentially game-breaking stuff on those tables, so as I move into my own playtesting sessions I'd love to hear how they hit for you and your tables as well! Questions, critique, and balance suggestions are all welcome.
Note that I will also be closing the Pre-Order Store end of day September 1st, at which point those of you who have pre-ordered will be charged and you will also gain access to the WIP files!
As for artists! Per our $6K stretch goal of an Art Expansion, I have procured the services of Michael Pisano, also known as Haunted Meat, and Atlas Costa Aguilera, cover+interior artist for Exit, Pursued by a Dream! They'll be contributing to both the regular edition cover and the interior of the book, and I can't wait to share some previews once I have them.
That'll be it for now! That lore drop I previously mentioned is still coming, I just reckon it'll pair better with some art, so expect that sometime in September. I'll be in touch soon! Enjoy those items, y'all.
The smoke tests went swimmingly, so I have sent surveys to the rest of y'all and cracked open the Pre-Order Store for late pledges on the Digital and Physical editions of the zine! These will be live for a good while, so let your friends know they can still get in on the heist of the century if they're keen!
I'm pleased to report that as of now, the smoke test for your surveys has begun, which means about 5% of y'all should be receiving your surveys by email! You have a good long while to respond while I keep cooking on the module, but please still do check it out if you receive it! Confirm what you pledged for and upgrade if you're so inclined (that option should be available to you). If the test goes well, I'll be sending out the rest of the surveys by the end of the month and opening up the Pre-Order Store for folks to make late pledges!
As for the status of the module! It's still in a rough draft but reading pretty well, and I've been playing around with layout a bit early to get a sense for things (and specifically for what and where the extra art y'all unlocked will go). Unfortunately a lot of my time this month has been taken up by another project previously on my docket, so I haven't been able to get as much done as I'd have hoped. Once this other project is cleared off my plate, I'll be able to devote full attention back to Fire Sale, so I'm locking in and intending to make up for lost time in early August!
Thank you all for your patience and continued support. I'm keen to share more about the expanded lore of the module once things are a bit more presentable - in particular, the Trestby Mob and the time-travelling technology that allows them to stay ahead of the competition and the law. I'll see about a fun lore drop on the next big update!
In the meantime, keep an eye out for your surveys. I'll be sure to share when the overall Pre-Order Store goes live too! Talk then!
So as of this morning, our project has concluded with a wild total $8,268 raised - which means we hit one last stretch goal right before the end! I'm so thankful to each and every one of you (320 strong!) for chipping in to help make this adventure a reality. It's always a surreal feeling to do these crowdfunds and I feel honoured that I get to do this for (essentially) a living! Very, very stoked to dig in on this for the rest of the year and whip it all into shape. Stay tuned for updates - I'll be aiming to check in roughly once a month with my progress!
Now, there's one last thing to do before I disappear into the kitchen to get cooking. We have one last...
This last spotlight features Equipment and Valuables, two categories which tied in the poll I ran at the start of the campaign. Let's start with Equipment!
This is a completely new category of items within the Company Vault - in running the original Fire Sale, I often had players asking to search for armor, wearables, or other assorted stuff which didn't fit cleanly into any of the other categories. So now it's got a section of the loot table all to itself! Additionally, this means some items formerly on the Artifacts table have been moved over as better fits, and rest assured they'll get some wild replacements. Lots of fun surprises on this table!
Valuables are, similar to Weapons, very straightforward. Vaults should have things worth money in them, and in many cases the item itself isn't the point - it's a question of who you can sell it to, and what that money buys you if you can make it out! Valuables form a solid backbone of the loot table, in that you don't want a huge volume of "useless" or unfun entries, but you do want punctuation between the weird and deadly stuff that can just be there. Do you take it with you? What can you risk carrying? There's always incentive to try and pack in that last item for a little extra cred...
With that, we've toured through all of the types of items you can expect to find in the Vault! If you've been reading along week to week, thanks so much, and keep your eyes peeled - there's a ton more hidden in the facility's cracks and crevices and I'm keen to share more as the project progresses.
Like I said above, I'll now be shifting from weekly updates into closer to monthly check-ins, so hang tight! I'll be back in touch before you know it with new stuff to show off. Talk then!
