Welcome to the Confluence RPG August Update! Read about what we’ve been working on, updates to the makeup of the team, and an announcement for the timeline.
TL;DR
The team is working as much as we can, but we have seen further complications. We have one final push of the timeline. Writing and editing on all printed material will be complete by August 31, 2027. We are working with our layout artist to give you a final date for when the project will go to print. That date will be announced in the next update towards the end of the year. There will be no further pushes to the timeline.
For Backers, you now have access to the update Rockwater Isles and a first look the layout of the Smol Inn Reviews in this Update. We ran into a slowdown over the last few months with work due to illness and burnout. However, the Final Packet of the year will be pretty bulky. Check the end of the Update for the full list.
We appreciate you and your willingness to stick with us on this journey.
Timeline
We have done an evaluation of the timeline and realized there is no way our team can get this done by this coming January. We know it’s been a much longer road than what we all anticipated. I think we’ve said that in every Update this year. For us, when we started in 2021, we thought it was going to be a year, and now it’s been five. We are very ready for this to be out of our hands, and we can only imagine that you as the backers feel the same.
You have been with us for the first two Packets, and work is getting done. However, there is still a lot of work to do, and our team is still struggling with multiple commitments, personal and family health issues, and life events. That said, we refuse to be one of the projects that never delivers. And we realize your patience is already worn thin. So we are working on a set of final dates. By these dates, whatever is done goes to print.
Our writers and editors have met and agreed on a final deadline for all printed material to be written and edited. By August 31, 2027 all documents going to print will be in the hands of our layout team.
We are still working with our Illustrator and Layout Artist on a realistic final date for their portion of the project. Too often writers take too long and Artists and Layout have to pick up the slack. We are dedicated to that not happening here. We will have final dates for the full project in the next Update.
You can still expect Packets each quarter. As our material is ready, you will have access to it. See the end of the Update for a full list of what is coming in the Final Packet of the year.
Team Update
We made promises in our campaign with the understanding we’d have a team of 12-15. Now we have a team of 5-6, all of whom are working 10 or less hours weekly on Confluence. The realities of what can be done in that time are hard to grapple with. Especially from April through June of this, we hit a big slump. But we are making some changes that should speed up the process. In the last month, work has increased.
Changes to the team include:
VJ Harris is taking over administration for completing our module book.
Seven is stepping in as they can for writing and editing, focusing on Sujatha’s Journal, developmental and copy editing, mechanics layout, and settings and mechanics writing.
Laya is also increasing their hours significantly to push the writing of both setting and mechanics material.
Several team members have stepped away more permanently.
Development
Areas in the Atlas:
The Rockwater Isles is in its final copy edit and inclusion of the final art pieces. Backers can find the updated version here.
Rgnb is fully written. It is getting its final copy edits and being sent to layout in early September.
Crop Circle Junction is fully written. It is also getting its final edits now.
Delrun is through initial writing and currently in Developmental Editing. It should be sent for final editing in early September.
Inland and Swirling Sea Intro Material is now in development. Material will be sent to our editors in September.
Project C-1019 is in production.
Sujatha’s Journal:
Seven and Shubham, our Creative Director, are working diligently on Sujatha’s Journal.
Seven has done the rewrite of the base writing with expanded material for a handful of Lineages, and has committed to finish these and all other Sujatha’s material in September. It will then go through editing.
A first look at these will be included in the Final Packet of the year.
In the World of Mechanics:
The final update to the CGLA (our core rulebook) is almost done. Sylvan, who has been working on sprucing up the language, will be done by the end of this month. We’ll have some final information to input and then it will go for its final copy edit and layout.
Backers can expect a completed CGLA in the next Packet with a first draft of layout by Seven.
Proficiencies and Callings
Laya took some time to focus on the Atlas material, and our mechanics editor has had to step away from the project. Therefore, we don’t have any new Proficiencies or Callings for you. However, the Proficiencies that you saw in the May Packet are through one major edit and being finalized in September.
Now that the CGLA is close to its final form, and the Atlas has a good chunk of writing in editing and Layout, Laya, Sylvan, and Seven will be turning their attention back to Proficiencies and Callings soon.
Adventure Modules:
VJ Harris has taken over our Module Administration.
We have five modules to edit, make art for, and layout. We’ll be working on these as we are able, and are excited to share them!
Smol Inn Reviews
The Smol Inn Reviews have received their first layout! Backers can find a first look in this Update.
The complete work will be in the Final Packet of the year.
August Packet
August Packet:
Updated Rockwater Isles
First look at the layout of Smol Inn Reviews
The August Packet is only going to Backers and can be found in this Update. We realize this Packet is light. The midyear slump hit this Packet hard. A lot of material is drafted but not edited, or close to but not wholly finished, which is why it’s not being shared here. With Areas in particular they make very little sense until they are laid out. The Final Packet of the year will have much more in it.
Final Packet of the Year
Our Layout artist has a crowdfunding campaign occurring in September and October. Therefore, our next Packet is likely to come towards the end of the year.
A first layout of Rgnb
A full draft of Sujatha’s Guide
A first look at the CGLA (our main mechanics book) lay out
The final versions of previously shared Proficiencies
A handful of new Proficiencies and Callings
Smol Inn Reviews - fully laid out and complete
As so many Areas are in editing, there may be more than Rgnb, but this will be determined by the bandwidth of the layout team.
Thank you for reading and hanging with us as we look towards completing Confluence. We want to reiterate that we are stalwart in our promise to finish this project. With the final writing dates ahead of us, the writers that can double down on our efforts, are doing so. So many people have been a part of this project, lending their minds and creativity. We can’t wait to have it in your hands. Our editors and layout artist are reviewing the work to be completed now, and we’ll have a final date for when the project will go to print in the next update. Again, this is the final time you will see a push to the timeline.
Did you know we have a community Discord? Joining gives you access to some game even if you aren’t a backer!
You can still pre-order Confluence! Backers will enjoy early access to content as we complete it.
We are putting our our second Packet today. The main Packet went to the Backers, however, a smaller packet is going to our Discord Server. If you'd like to check out some of the new content, here is an invite!
You can still pre-order Confluence! Backers will enjoy early access to content as we complete it over the next year. You can see incredible work from Shan still coming in over on Instagram, too! Confluence is an impossibly gorgeous set of game books that we can't wait to get in your hands early 2027.
As promised in our November Newsletter from Monday, we are releasing The Color Dome and Calibration to our Backers! If you are not a Backer, and trying to decide if you want to pre-order, some of the content released to our Backers can be found in our Discord.
Our Backers can expect The Color Dome as a complete Area this week! Our Lead Artist Shan Bennion is doing some final touchups on the art and then it will be on its way.
The Gravity Isles have moved through copy editing and markup, the ephemera is complete, and our layout artist Cris is putting it all together.
Project C-1019 is officially in production. We expanded the material earlier this year and now it's getting a bit more of a facelift by Sean D’souza.
Rockwater Isles is being taken up by Laya Liebeseller. It’s already gone through a developmental edit, and is on its way to line editing before the end of the year!
In Sujatha’s Journal:
Fallen Gods, Ajmniea, Alfira, and Bacha Lineages are all well into development.
Fallen Gods have been given to our layout artist.
Ajmniea and Alfira are going through some final editing.
Bacha have just begun with their first draft!
Working on Project C-1019 means the Chell and El’ell have officially moved into production.
In the world of mechanics:
The next draft of Calibration has been sent to our Backers! It still needs some information like examples of our character journals and group sheets, but the text is finalized and laid out!
The CGLA is going through a Line Edit and the in-progress document will be shared on our Discord in January!
Character Journals and Group Sheets are being worked on actively right now. We’ve met and ideation has begun. We’ll be using the CGLA to build out a Group and set of Characters for our layout artist to use to make our sheets.
Through the last couple of months Laya and Sylvan have been working on how to standardize Proficiencies and have completed an internal document called The Anatomy of a Proficiency which gives our designers more direction in building. Sylvan has officially started the redraft of both Conversationalist and Cooking!
Adventure Modules:
Brighton: A Gravity Isles module that focuses on small town politics and cult mysteries is through its first Developmental Edit.
Reviewing our Form: We have two forms of modules, one that builds out a location more fully and one that provides an act-based adventure. We are reorganizing our location modules for readability with the help of our editor Lauren Maddox.
Other Material:
Four Smol Inn Reviews have gone through editing.
All Gambling Dens are in editing and will be sent out to our Patreon subscribers in early December.
All Fishing Spots are in editing and will be going out to our Patreon subscribers in early December.
Laya Liebeseller has begun the writeups for our mechanical histories, starting with character sheets. Readers will have access to the old character sheets we made through the years of Confluence development.
In early to mid-January we are set to send out the following in-process documents as a package:
Calibration
The CGLA
Character Journals and Group Sheets
2-4 Proficiencies
2-4 Lineages
Area: The Color Dome
Area: Gravity Isles
Brighton - location module in the Gravity Isles
We will be sending the packet out directly to Backers via email.
Although we will not be doing another official playtest, we will be sharing some of these documents in the playtesting Discord server, should anyone wish to play around with the updated material.
Eerie Games is in need of more time for the Act One of the Fates of Those Who Dream. Although both of these games are important to us, life outside the work does take precedence.
Laya and Scott are working together to see what can be done given the current circumstances. The folks here at Confluence and Eerie Games appreciate your patience. We’ll have an updated timeline as soon as possible.
Did you know we have a community Discord? Join today!
You can still pre-order Confluence! Backers will enjoy early access to content as we complete it over the next year.
Welcome to the Confluence RPG August Update! Read about what we’ve been working on, updates to the makeup of the team, and an announcement for the timeline.
TL;DR
The team is working as much as we can, but we have seen further complications. We have one final push of the timeline. Writing and editing on all printed material will be complete by August 31, 2027. We are working with our layout artist to give you a final date for when the project will go to print. That date will be announced in the next update towards the end of the year. There will be no further pushes to the timeline.
For Backers, you now have access to the update Rockwater Isles and a first look the layout of the Smol Inn Reviews in this Update. We ran into a slowdown over the last few months with work due to illness and burnout. However, the Final Packet of the year will be pretty bulky. Check the end of the Update for the full list.
We appreciate you and your willingness to stick with us on this journey.
Timeline
We have done an evaluation of the timeline and realized there is no way our team can get this done by this coming January. We know it’s been a much longer road than what we all anticipated. I think we’ve said that in every Update this year. For us, when we started in 2021, we thought it was going to be a year, and now it’s been five. We are very ready for this to be out of our hands, and we can only imagine that you as the backers feel the same.
You have been with us for the first two Packets, and work is getting done. However, there is still a lot of work to do, and our team is still struggling with multiple commitments, personal and family health issues, and life events. That said, we refuse to be one of the projects that never delivers. And we realize your patience is already worn thin. So we are working on a set of final dates. By these dates, whatever is done goes to print.
Our writers and editors have met and agreed on a final deadline for all printed material to be written and edited. By August 31, 2027 all documents going to print will be in the hands of our layout team.
We are still working with our Illustrator and Layout Artist on a realistic final date for their portion of the project. Too often writers take too long and Artists and Layout have to pick up the slack. We are dedicated to that not happening here. We will have final dates for the full project in the next Update.
You can still expect Packets each quarter. As our material is ready, you will have access to it. See the end of the Update for a full list of what is coming in the Final Packet of the year.
Team Update
We made promises in our campaign with the understanding we’d have a team of 12-15. Now we have a team of 5-6, all of whom are working 10 or less hours weekly on Confluence. The realities of what can be done in that time are hard to grapple with. Especially from April through June of this, we hit a big slump. But we are making some changes that should speed up the process. In the last month, work has increased.
Changes to the team include:
VJ Harris is taking over administration for completing our module book.
Seven is stepping in as they can for writing and editing, focusing on Sujatha’s Journal, developmental and copy editing, mechanics layout, and settings and mechanics writing.
Laya is also increasing their hours significantly to push the writing of both setting and mechanics material.
Several team members have stepped away more permanently.
Development
Areas in the Atlas:
The Rockwater Isles is in its final copy edit and inclusion of the final art pieces. Backers can find the updated version here.
Rgnb is fully written. It is getting its final copy edits and being sent to layout in early September.
Crop Circle Junction is fully written. It is also getting its final edits now.
Delrun is through initial writing and currently in Developmental Editing. It should be sent for final editing in early September.
Inland and Swirling Sea Intro Material is now in development. Material will be sent to our editors in September.
Project C-1019 is in production.
Sujatha’s Journal:
Seven and Shubham, our Creative Director, are working diligently on Sujatha’s Journal.
Seven has done the rewrite of the base writing with expanded material for a handful of Lineages, and has committed to finish these and all other Sujatha’s material in September. It will then go through editing.
A first look at these will be included in the Final Packet of the year.
In the World of Mechanics:
The final update to the CGLA (our core rulebook) is almost done. Sylvan, who has been working on sprucing up the language, will be done by the end of this month. We’ll have some final information to input and then it will go for its final copy edit and layout.
Backers can expect a completed CGLA in the next Packet with a first draft of layout by Seven.
Proficiencies and Callings
Laya took some time to focus on the Atlas material, and our mechanics editor has had to step away from the project. Therefore, we don’t have any new Proficiencies or Callings for you. However, the Proficiencies that you saw in the May Packet are through one major edit and being finalized in September.
Now that the CGLA is close to its final form, and the Atlas has a good chunk of writing in editing and Layout, Laya, Sylvan, and Seven will be turning their attention back to Proficiencies and Callings soon.
Adventure Modules:
VJ Harris has taken over our Module Administration.
We have five modules to edit, make art for, and layout. We’ll be working on these as we are able, and are excited to share them!
Smol Inn Reviews
The Smol Inn Reviews have received their first layout! Backers can find a first look in this Update.
The complete work will be in the Final Packet of the year.
August Packet
August Packet:
Updated Rockwater Isles
First look at the layout of Smol Inn Reviews
The August Packet is only going to Backers and can be found in this Update. We realize this Packet is light. The midyear slump hit this Packet hard. A lot of material is drafted but not edited, or close to but not wholly finished, which is why it’s not being shared here. With Areas in particular they make very little sense until they are laid out. The Final Packet of the year will have much more in it.
Final Packet of the Year
Our Layout artist has a crowdfunding campaign occurring in September and October. Therefore, our next Packet is likely to come towards the end of the year.
A first layout of Rgnb
A full draft of Sujatha’s Guide
A first look at the CGLA (our main mechanics book) lay out
The final versions of previously shared Proficiencies
A handful of new Proficiencies and Callings
Smol Inn Reviews - fully laid out and complete
As so many Areas are in editing, there may be more than Rgnb, but this will be determined by the bandwidth of the layout team.
Thank you for reading and hanging with us as we look towards completing Confluence. We want to reiterate that we are stalwart in our promise to finish this project. With the final writing dates ahead of us, the writers that can double down on our efforts, are doing so. So many people have been a part of this project, lending their minds and creativity. We can’t wait to have it in your hands. Our editors and layout artist are reviewing the work to be completed now, and we’ll have a final date for when the project will go to print in the next update. Again, this is the final time you will see a push to the timeline.
Did you know we have a community Discord? Joining gives you access to some game even if you aren’t a backer!
You can still pre-order Confluence! Backers will enjoy early access to content as we complete it.
We are putting our our second Packet today. The main Packet went to the Backers, however, a smaller packet is going to our Discord Server. If you'd like to check out some of the new content, here is an invite!
You can still pre-order Confluence! Backers will enjoy early access to content as we complete it over the next year. You can see incredible work from Shan still coming in over on Instagram, too! Confluence is an impossibly gorgeous set of game books that we can't wait to get in your hands early 2027.
As promised in our November Newsletter from Monday, we are releasing The Color Dome and Calibration to our Backers! If you are not a Backer, and trying to decide if you want to pre-order, some of the content released to our Backers can be found in our Discord.
