Thanks for your support, I generally like to give a project update once a month and will aim to get back on that going forward.
I'm closing in on the final manuscript to submit to my editor and get into layout. Writing has taken longer as the book has expanded with additional location content and revising the webs of clues.
The central Thomas Forysthe murder mystery in Interloper forms a node network of clues that offers lots of directions to take the investigation. A compelling network of clues is real important on a mystery adventure that isn't linear or solved in a quantum state. It's not too different from designing a dungeon where it's good practice to provide looping and interconnected paths for more varied and interesting navigation choices. The clues act as "doors" between locations on Interloper. For an interesting investigation I've tried to ensure that there's always some clues that are easily found and interpreted to provide forward momentum on investigating, some that are more hidden to discover, and others with a more obscure meaning. Some of these clues lead to entirely different side mysteries and hooks.
I've found variety is also key to the gameability of a sandbox module, allowing players to zig instead of zag. As in previous modules, like Desert Moon of Karth, I've worked to make the world of Interloper more dynamic is filling it with plenty of interesting interactive content hooks in the form of the interplay between NPC's- want they want from each other and the crew as useful tools. Ideally, if your players never even tried to solve the murder, they still have a great time with the module getting up to other shenanigans as various clocks ticks down to doom and mayhem.
Currently we're still on track for a Q3 2025 release!
Here's some of the illustrations for the introduced modified bioforms roaming around Interloper from Francesco Zanieri, doomed to freeze as the planet drifts into darkness.
See ya soon, Joel
P.S: The 'Til Death Do Us Part zine is in final layout and digital versions should be released shortly.
