Hey Ecopunks! It's May and we're back with news on Why We Fight!

This first post-campaign month has been a lot of planning, organising, and recalibrating. That last one is very much because of the various folks who got in touch and shared their experiences, both positive and negative, of trying out our teaser edition of Direct Action! 

First off, I'd like to say a huge thank you to them! The feedback and session notes we received were invaluable, and especially in the context of people playing the game without being led! Crafting a game book is very much about crafting an experience, and we've put a lot of work into creating an easy to use, low barrier of entry rulebook. Alongside this feedback we also received a lot of praise for our layout and overall display and readability!

After going over the reviews carefully, we've determined the biggest barrier for DA is its speed. Or, rather, lack thereof. So we're making some major changes to the Direct Action edition Situations to allow you to jump straight into the action. As it currently stands, combat situations take almost as long to set up as they do to resolve! We've taken the time to rewrite our Missions and Situations, streamline a few other common sticking points, and should be able to give out an early version of the full-fledged PDF by next month. 

I'm particularly excited for this because we'll also be releasing a bunch of other Peaceful Situations, because while it is called Direct Action, Why We Fight isn't just about making a difference with your fists. 

Meanwhile, we've been putting the finishing touches on the Core Book's Campaign supplement, which will be a roughly 38 page supplement at the back of the book allowing you to build your very own community trying to survive in the ever-changing world. You'll see your community change in the face of both your actions and those around you, and different challenges will arise depending on what needs are met. All this while scavenging and rewilding the world around you!

We've designed it to be relatively numbers light and with developing complexity, so you won't be tracking precise food usage vs population size or deciding who sleeps where, but instead you'll create cultural aspects and raise quality of life, using resources scavenged and surplus created to create more stable access to what you need, upgrade production areas to higher tech levels, and in time, drive out the White Fist once and for all.

While it's not yet been turned into glorious beauty of beautiful layout, we've decided to share the google doc early draft (in the Backer Only Content below) so you can try it out! It won't be fully playable without the Core Book, but you can use it to create your own settlement, and share the results with us! While not the live document we're working from, we've left comments open, so you can leave your thoughts and feedback within, if you like :)

Last of all, late pledges are now open! So if you know anyone who missed the campaign and don't want them to miss out on their chance to make a brighter, greener future, send them along to THIS page!

Otherwise, we're preparing to send out surveys to all of you to finalise your pledges and allow you to purchase any add-ons or adjust your pledges. If it all goes well, 5% of you should receive your surveys this month as we roll out the smoke test and iron out the issues. If you receive the survey notification, please fill it out asap! You've been chosen by the magical BackerKit algorithm to guide the rest to the promised land of Functional Surveydia!

All jokes aside, we've tussled with Backerkits survey forms once before, so it should all go fine.

That's all from us this month, but we're happy to answer any questions in the comments below, or on our Discord server! If you've tried the preview edition out and have Feelings, please get in touch! It doesn't just need to be struggles, we like hearing your Crew's adventures too ;)

Until next time, Ecopunk friends!
~ Laurie & the SDR Team