The Daughter of the Blight game campaign is free for those who signed up on the Backerkit landing page before the campaign began. Read below for details.
Our ecosystem was dying. All of humanity's hope lay in Panacea: a scientific miracle that would repair the damage caused by centuries of hubris and neglect. Perhaps it was the sheer bulk of pollution to ingest. Maybe it was a flaw in the design of Panacea itself. Whatever the cause, humanity only had the briefest flight of hope before careening to the very brink of extinction.
Panacea, created to be our savior, had become the Blight. And nature was devouring all as it reclaimed the lands it had lost.
Dead Air: Seasons is a post-apocalyptic tabletop RPG inspired by ecofiction classics such as The Last of Us, Station 11, The Girl With All the Gifts, Contagion, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and others.
It is developed by the creative team behind Broken Tales, and runs on the same game system, Monad Echo, here amped up for a grim survival action experience.
All materials for Dead Air: Seasons will be available in both English and Italian. Native speakers are assisting us with the English edition's translation and editing. You'll be able to pick the materials in a language of your choice in the Pledge Manager, after the campaign is over.
Dead Air: Seasons draws inspiration from a number of works in the post-apocalyptic/zombie apocalypse genre. However, it accomplishes this by keeping people's stories at the forefront. Furthermore, the game delves into the theme of ecology, the consequences of mankind's destruction of natural environments, and the illusory hope that things can be fixed without our sacrifice. We focused on three major narrative threads:
People's stories: We want the game to explore human ingenuity in difficult situations, as well as the abysses we can fall into when primal instincts like anger, revenge, or hunger guide us.Inspirations in this vein include The Last of Us series, Station 11, and The Road.
A world that has changed forever: People gather in communities for safety as governments collapse and nations fall apart. All interactions in this scenario are filtered by a hostile world, making it difficult to trust one another. Contagion, 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, and Mad Max: Fury Road serve as inspirations.
Nature demands a tribute: The trajectory of the real world already clearly indicates an unavoidable destiny: humanity can begin to act now or destroy its only home, suffering the devastating consequences, possibly leading to a new balance in which humanity could play a new role. We looked at works like the manga Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, TV shows and films like Sweet Tooth, Children of Men, Annihilation, or The Girl With All the Gifts, and documentaries like Racing Extinction to find the right narrative tones within these themes.
Dead Air: Seasons will be a hardcover, sewn-bound book in full color, 16.8x24 cm (about 6.6"x9.4"), printed on uncoated paper. It will have a silk ribbon and will be about 300pages long, depending on the layout and unlocked Stretch Goals.
To play, you only need the Core Book. You'll find the following inside:
What happened: The Blight's story as seen through the eyes of the survivors.
The world now: An overview of Dead Air: Seasons' world and how the constant threat of the Blight has forced humans to reinvent society.
The game system: The complete set of rules for Monad Echo, a streamlined game system built around storytelling.
Character Creation: The guidelines for creating protagonists. The Core Book contains eight Archetypes (Athlete, Fighter, Criminal, Expert, Savant, Explorer, Leader, and Manipulator) that can be mixed and matched to create effective combinations of Gifts and personality.
The rules for creating the Community: the place where the Characters live, with all its benefits and drawbacks, and the people they care about.
A modular approach to developing territory, social dynamics, and areas of interest: The guidelines for creating the game Region, the stage on which the Characters will move, as well as those for creating areas of interest (Sectors) with all the necessary details and social dynamics.
The Blight and its aftermath: All information on the contagion and its offspring. From the Awakened, which are humans who have been hopelessly contaminated by the Blight, to the Chimeras, which are horribly infected animals. In addition, the Blight causes other natural threats such as Crimson Zones, Fungal Colonies, and Abnormal Mycelia.
The rules for generating Crises, the engine of each campaign, and how their epilogue will move a Season forward, affecting the game world.
Seasons' first expansion is Dead Air: Brave New World. It is produced in the same format and high quality as the game's Core Book.
Brave New World includes a number of pre-made elements, story hooks, tools, and optional rules that will shorten the time-to-first-session and enhance your Dead Air: Seasons experience.
Dead Air: Brave New World includes the following:
2 new Archetypes, with more to unlock: Soldier (trained military personnel) and Provectus (those who can tame the Blight), plus all their Gifts.
Rules for establishing hostile Communities.
5 ready-to-use starting Communities for your Characters to begin in.
5 ready-to-use external Communities for you to drop in your Region.
10 Thematic Sectors with pre-made areas and social dynamics that you can use to begin your game or drop into any custom campaign. These Sectors are not limited to a single geographical location, but rather provide a "theme" that can be applied to a variety of locations around the world. The following are the initial Thematic Sectors, with more to be unlocked as Stretch Goals:
Terror on the Ice (Places enveloped in the grip of cold weather.)
Fortress Island (Circumscribed areas surrounded by the sea, not far from the mainland.)
Cradle of Civilization (Places where many cultural relics – books, paintings, statues – are collected.)
Old Walls (Ancient fortresses used as impenetrable shelter.)
Altar of Faith (Religious centers gathering communities of believers.)
Luxury Resort (Luxury hotels, resorts, and spas run by a sect with strict behavioral guidelines.)
Concrete Purgatory (Large vertical buildings that have created their own self-sufficiency. Severe social tensions.)
Mausoleum of Humankind (Stadiums used as accommodation for Communities.)
Behind Bars (Places with many cells.)
Beneath (Bunkers used as a refuge against the Blight.)
Dead Air: The Daughter of the Blight is a softcover campaign book that covers an entire Crisis and is the same size as the Core Book and Brave New World.
The Daughter of the Blight game campaign is free for those who signed up on the Backerkit landing page before the campaign began. The free copy will be added to your order in the Pledge Manager phase, regardless of when you put in your pledge, as long as you use the same email address you signed up with. You will receive a digital or digital + printed edition according to the rest of your pledge. NOTE: Each backer receives a maximum of one free PDF and one free printed copy of The Daughter of the Blight.
The book is also available as an Add-On.
The Daughter of the Blight, whose first Act is also included in the Quickstart,tells the story of the Nemes Community's race against time to recover one of their companions kidnapped by paramilitaries. Not only is their friend dear to them, but she is also the only one who can tame a monstrous creature threatening the Nemes Community.
The content in The Daughter of the Blight is enough for six to eight game Sessions. This is what you'll find inside:
Some of you are familiar with Monad Echo from our previous games, such as Broken Tales and other titles available on the Italian market only (Valraven: Le Cronache del Sangue e del Ferro and Evolution Pulse Rebirth). The Dead Air: Seasons Quickstart will teach others the fundamentals.
We’ll go over the highlights of the system in the first updates.
But what is it about Dead Air: Seasons that makes it such a grim survival game, and how does the system support it? Here are a few examples:
Contamination: Nobody can ever escape the Blight. Every interaction with the Blight and its emissaries, the Awakened, raises the Contamination level of the Character. If they can't keep it under control, they may Awaken or become a Walker Between Worlds, doomed to be neither human nor monsters, a condition that most survivors are terrified of.
Preparation: When out in the wilderness, it's critical to be prepared. Seasons avoids long lists of equipment in favor of a three-tiered slot system - decide what you have with you on the fly, but the better you're prepared, the more weight you'll have on you, making even simple reactions difficult.
Scavenging and Bartering: A quick mechanic for scavenging dangerous areas will allow Characters to create tense scenes in which the amount of time elapsed and the number of lookouts determine how dangerous the operation is. A point system for bartering eliminates tedious inventories while keeping the findings relevant to the story.
Community strengths and weaknesses: Communities are not static entities, and things can change quickly for the better or for the worse. Each has Descriptors (which explain positives and negatives in three areas: Security, Resources, and Society) that can change depending on how the Crisis is resolved. Communities also have Gifts that can be invoked by the players as support during their adventures.
Crises and Seasons: Crises are the story's engine, highlighting key moments in a Community's history. Each has conditions for resolution - the outcome of a Crisis will change the outlook of the Community and increase the Events Counter depending on how well this task is completed. When this Counter reaches a certain level, we enter a new Season: the Blight disrupts the status quo, challenging the Community in an entirely new way.
Your name will be inscribed on a dilapidated wall in the middle of a Fungal Colony for all eternity (and in the Core Book).
DIGITAL PDF FILES
All materials are available in downloadable PDF file format.
DEAD AIR: SEASONS CORE BOOK (PRINTED)
A 300-page full-color laminated hardcover book printed on uncoated paper, 16.8x24 cm (about 6.6"x9.4"). A ribbon is included. It's everything you need to get started. Stretch goals may result in increased pagination.
DEAD AIR: BRAVE NEW WORLD (PRINTED)
A full-color laminated hardcover book printed on uncoated paper, 16.8x24 cm (about 6.6"x9.4"). A ribbon is included. It comes with pre-made Communities and Thematic Sectors, as well as new Archetypes, story hooks, and optional game rules. The final pagination is determined by the Stretch Goals.
THE DAUGHTER OF THE BLIGHT (PRINTED)
A full-color, softcover, perfect-bound book with a three-act campaign and more playable material, measuring 16.8x24 cm (about 6.6"x9.4"). The final pagination is determined by the Stretch Goals.
A closer look at some Master Screen details
DEAD AIR: SEASONS’ MASTER SCREEN A high-end, deluxe Master (of the Blight) Screen in landscape orientation. It features evocative art by Samuele Zardinoni on one side and a plethora of useful summaries, tables, and quick references on the other to conceal the MB's plans and make their job easier.
DEAD AIR: SEASONS’ CUSTOM DICE SET A set of twelve 16mm dice tailored to Dead Air: Seasons mechanics, divided into three batches of six Standard, three Advantage, and three Drawback dice. These dice will be made by Q-Workshop, the leading European premium dice maker.
NOTE: You can also play the game with regular d6s.
Design not final
Design not final
PRINTED PLAYBOOKS
To use as handouts at the gaming table, a complete set of Archetype Playbooks printed on thick sheets, including both Dead Air: Seasons and Dead Air: Brave New World Archetypes, as well as unlocked Stretch Goals. These Playbooks introduce the Archetypes and explain the relevant Gifts so that your players can get a full picture of the available roles without consulting your game books first. A summary of character creation is also included. Please keep in mind that you will still need both game books to fully utilize all the Playbooks.
The PDF versions of these playbooks will be limited to the roles included in the books you purchased (for example, if you only have the Core Book, you will not receive the Playbooks for Brave New World).
By contributing funds now, you help us unlock Stretch Goals. You can create your own bundle or add copies of any item to your pledge. You can do it in two ways:
1) You'll see a screen similar to the one below during checkout. Choose your desired items, and their value will be added to your pledge. (Please keep in mind that you will not be able to access this screen unless you first pledge!)
This screen will appear during the checkout process.
Make sure the total pledge amount includes the value of the Add-On you want. For example, if you pledged for the 85€ tier and want to add a dice set, your total pledge amount needs to be 85€ (your tier) + 22€ (dice set) = 107€
Remember that at this stage you're just telling us how much you're pledging. In Backerkit's Pledge Manager, after the campaign is over, you will be able to go over your order and confirm (or change) your selection of tiers and Add-Ons. If you need help, read the FAQor leave a comment. 2) After checking out, you can change your pledge by clicking on the banners below. As a result, your pledge will be automatically increased to include the Add-On amount. Click "Confirm your Pledge," and you're done. If you want to add more Add-Ons, repeat the process.
Please note:Add-ons will be sent at the same time as your main reward, to optimize shipping fees. Digital files will be delivered only when all fees are paid and the survey is locked down. If you want something that is already available and want it now, buy it from our store.
A printed copy of the Dead Air: Seasons Core Book. The PDF is included.
A printed copy of the Dead Air: Brave New World Expansion Book. The PDF is included.
A PDF version of the Dead Air: Brave New World Expansion Book.
A set of twelve 16mm dice tailored to Dead Air: Seasons mechanics, divided into three batches of six Standard, three Advantage, and three Drawback dice. These dice will be made by Q-Workshop, the leading European premium dice maker.
A high-end, deluxe Master (of the Blight) Screen in landscape orientation. It features evocative art by Samuele Zardinoni on one side and a plethora of useful summaries, tables, and quick references on the other to conceal the MB's plans and make their job easier.
A digital version of the Dead Air: Seasons Master Screen, to be printed at home.
Aprinted copy of Daughter of the Blight. Includes PDF.
The PDF copy of Daughter of the Blight.
KS EDITION - LIMITED QUANTITIES - WILL BE ASSIGNED UNTIL SUPPLY LASTS IN ORDER OF SURVEY COMPLETION IN THE PLEDGE MANAGER PHASE. Add a printed copy of Broken Tales to your pledge. In the unfortunate event we run out of copies, and we establish a second print run is not feasible, you'll receive your credit back. More info.
🇮🇹 FOR ITALIAN BACKERS: Date le quantità limitate di questa edizione del gioco, vi consigliamo fortemente di acquistarne una copia direttamente dal nostro store per evitare problemi di disponibilità sul lungo periodo.
Normal MSRP 19.90€. Add the PDF of Broken Tales to your pledge. More info.
KS EDITION - LIMITED QUANTITIES - WILL BE ASSIGNED UNTIL SUPPLY LASTS IN ORDER OF SURVEY COMPLETION IN THE PLEDGE MANAGER PHASE. Add a printed copy of The Broken Ones to your pledge. In the unfortunate event we run out of copies, and we establish a second print run is not feasible, you'll receive your credit back. More info.
🇮🇹 FOR ITALIAN BACKERS: Date le quantità limitate di questa edizione del gioco, vi consigliamo fortemente di acquistarne una copia direttamente dal nostro store per evitare problemi di disponibilità sul lungo periodo.
Normal MSRP 17.90€. Add the PDF of The Broken Ones to your pledge. More info.
Dead Air: Seasons comes with a ton of game content to get you started. To limit feature creep and delays, we decided to mainly focus Stretch Goals on things we can manage internally or with the help of our community. Having said that, we still have a few surprises in store for you!
All Stretch Goals will be added to the appropriate Tiers and books at no additional cost.
€15 000 - Crimson Hunter – New Archetype (Brave New World): The Crimson Hunter is a new playable Archetype who is familiar with the Blight and its various manifestations, whether through direct experience or systematic study. A Crimson Hunter understands how to avoid infection, travel through Crimson Zones, and hunt Chimeras and Awakened. A new Playbook will also be added to the collection of printed and digital Playbooks.
€20 000 - Metal Graveyard – New Thematic Sector (Brave New World): Communities of people who live on shipwrecks. They have access to a variety of ferrous materials for bartering with other communities.
€25 000-The Last Bastion – New Thematic Sector (Brave New World): Communities that have barricaded themselves on a large bridge. The only two routes are easily defendable. The river below is navigable. A town center is within walking distance.
€30 000 - Archetypes Upgrade (Core Book): All Core Book Archetypes receive an additional Gift to their base list for increased customization!
€35 000 - Where the Eagles Fly – New Thematic Sector (Brave New World): Communities stationed at high altitudes or in remote areas. Interactions with other Communities are difficult, but they enjoy relative peace from unwelcome encounters... but not the Blight.
€40 000 - Sea Embrace – New Thematic Sector (Brave New World): Islands of medium size. The handling of the dead becomes critical. High levels of social tension.
€45 000 - Generic Gifts Upgrade (Core Book): theGeneric Gifts section will be expanded with more options to allow you to further customize your Characters.
€50 000 - Lone Wolf – New Archetype (Brave New World): The Lone Wolf is a new playable Archetype who has survived solely on his own strengths and abilities. However, there is a limit to what one person can do on their own, and it is time to find a pack for the coming seasons. The Lone Wolf is not an individualist, but he recognizes when it is necessary to act alone to avoid unnecessary pain. A new Playbook will also be added to the collection of printed and digital Playbooks.
€55 000 - 3x Postcards from the Blight: All pledges including printed copies of the Core Book now also include three additional postcards with illustrations by the project's main artist, Samuele Zardinoni. Use these as inspiration or game props!
€60 000 - Finder – New Archetype (Brave New World): The Finder is a new playable Archetype who specializes in scouring the ruins of the former world for anything that might be useful to his Community. A Finder is well aware of the dangers of his trade and knows where the best places to search are. A new Playbook will also be added to the collection of printed and digital Playbooks.
Some Stretch Goals will be unlocked after reaching a certain number of backers (spread the word!), a Discord community threshold (join HERE!), or completing challenges that are beneficial to our community of players or simply enjoyable. We had a lot of fun with the Social Goals in previous campaigns, and we intend to do the same this time. Every week we will reveal new Social Stretch Goals.
For more information, keep an eye on the updates!
If unlocked, two new Awakened types will be added to the Core Book, joining the eleven already present: the Blitzer (an agile, acrobat-like Awakened) and the Migrating Multitude (an unstoppable swarm of Awakened, a wet red terror capable of annihilating entire settlements in an instant). Join our Discord server now!
This is UNLOCKED, but come say "hi" on Discord!
Stop whatever you're doing. The Blight is about to take over your home, according to the premise of this challenge. Instructions:
Look around you without moving from where you are standing: no matter what, you can't turn around.
Take a picture: you can only defend yourself with objects within 180 degrees of your reach.
If unlocked, we’ll commit to keeping our Discord server to Level 2 for a full year. This benefits everyone in the Community!
This is UNLOCKED, but feel free to keep posting your pictures!
Peter Chiykowski, author of The Story Engine and TheDeck of Worlds, will use his own tools to create a brand new Thematic Sector for Brave New World. Prepare yourself for the unexpected!
Sign up HERE, get the Deck of Worlds demo, and unlock a brand new Thematic Sector!
This is UNLOCKED, but keep checking out Peter's Deck of Worlds!
We've already established that if the Blight comes close to your safe haven, you're toast.
Assume you only have time for one last message written in blood on the wall. What are you going to write? Instructions:
You have only 45 characters at your disposal. After that, you either run out of wall, or run out of blood. You can count characters easily on sites like this one.
(optional) Fit as many warnings as you can in those 45 characters.
If this Social Stretch is unlocked, we’ll add a new Mother to the Core Book, for a total of two specimens. Mothers are the final form of Awakened - the next stage of human evolution. Each is a unique creature with vast, terrifying abilities.
This is UNLOCKED, but keep writing "Last Words" on our Discord server!
During this final week we need as many eyeballs as possible on the campaign. For that, we need your help.
Go into your favorite community and paste it where you know people might be interested in Dead Air: Seasons. Tell them why you supported this campaign, and why they should take a look. Some ideas: Facebook groups, Twitter, RPG-related subreddits, other Discord servers, Whatsapp groups, Telegram groups, or wherever other players are.
If by the end of the campaign we have reached 700 backers, we’ll unlock The Signal, a new PDF Scenario that will be added to the Founders Package for free.
Post-campaign distribution is complicated, and is not a given. This is your guaranteed chance to get a copy of Dead Air: Seasons, Brave New World, and the Daughter of the Blight as soon as they're available in digital and physical formats.
As work progresses, you'll receive previews and WIP documents.
You assist us in achieving a variety of Stretch Goals. With additional funding and community participation, we will be able to invest more in the game and make it as cool as possible.
Although this is not our primary job (yet), we frequently work on our games every day of the week. By contributing now, you can help a team of dedicated indie developers during a period of significant change in the TTRPG market.
If you own a physical store and would like a few copies of Dead Air: Seasons, please contact us at [email protected].
MS Edizioni will be our distributor for Italian stores once the game is released.
PLEASE NOTE: International distribution is not a given, as transportation costs consume the majority of our profit margins. The only surefire way to get the game is to support this campaign right now.
We anticipate that you will receive your physical rewards by the end of November 2023. Digital files are expected to arrive much sooner, in the summer of 2023. While hiccups are inevitable, much of the content has already been written, and the remaining work will concentrate on completing unlocked Stretch Goals, editing, translation, layout, and additional illustrations.
SHIPPING
VAT is included in all prices. Customs duties and taxes are included for the territories depicted above.
Shipping expenses will be charged closer to shipping, after your surveys in the Pledge Manager have been completed, to reflect current prices.
PLEASE NOTE: International shipping is currently very expensive, and forecasting shipping costs has been a nightmare in recent years - this is not something we can change. As a result, take these prices as indications - we'll do our best to stick to them and possibly find better deals, but we can't guarantee the situation will be the same at the time of shipping. We're partnering with proven logistic partners trusted by many other game companies, to make sure your package is in good hands.
The ranges below should cover parcels in the most common weight ranges from 1 to 3 kilos, and include custom fees, import taxes we will pay on your behalf, and packaging (see above for details on VAT and custom duties). The final weight will be determined by the Stretch Goals unlocked and number of items in your order. Whenever possible, packages will be tracked.
Our current estimates, based on late 2022 prices, are:
Europe ~ 11€-13€ Italy ~ 15€-18€ Germany, Austria ~ 15€-20€ Spain
~ 30-35€ Finland ~ 33-38€ Malta ~ 35€-€37 Greece ~ 35€-€38 Latvia, Estonia, Portugal ~ 48€-51€ Lithuania, Norway
~ 27€-50€ Rest of Europe
North America
~ 25-37€ US
~ 44-79€ Alaska/Hawaii
~ 42€-48€ Canada
Rest of the World:
~ 30€-60€ Japan ~ 31€-42€ Hong Kong ~ 31€-52€ Singapore
~ 39€-44€ Australia
~ 39€-49€ New Zealand
Anywhere else not listed above:
~ 99€+, most likely untracked, choose at your own risk (check exceptions below).
If you live in a country that falls into the "Anywhere else" category, we recommend that you rely on digital rewards. Unfortunately, shipping packages across certain borders at reasonable prices is not possible. We'll do our best to get you your game, but keep in mind that parcels may go untracked and, once sent, are out of our hands. Due to local complications, WE DO NOT SHIP to South America, China, Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, Belarus or Russia.
Dead Air: Seasons was created by one of The World Anvil Publishing's internal teams. Luca Vanin, Federico Scattolin, Enrico Pasotti, and Tommaso De Benetti are among the members of this unholy alliance. Black Box Games' Alberto Tronchi and Daniel Comerci are consulting on the system and in charge of the graphic design, respectively.
People from this group worked on the international hit Broken Tales (2022), and they have delivered over 20 critically acclaimed games on the Italian market. The project's main artist is Samuele Zardinoni. Erika Ajovalasit might assist him on some Stretch Goals. Tebra Hansing is our English native speaker editor, and Francesco Chiaradia is our Italian editor. Nique Cruz assists us with community, marketing, and promotion.
Dead Air: Seasons is our fourth crowdfunding campaign. We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from previous projects, owing to our frequent communication and delivery of previews and WIP versions ahead of schedule. This is our seventh year of operation in some capacity, and we have gained a thorough understanding of game design, manufacturing, printing, and fulfillment. The shortages and delivery chain disruptions caused by the pandemic and war in Ukraine in 2022 have created a slew of previously unanticipated issues, primarily affecting production and shipping prices, as well as delivery estimates.
We're taking all necessary precautions to avoid problems, such as partnering with proven fulfillment partners, who will follow the game all the way until it's in your hands - a guarantee that everything will go smoothly.
We're also collaborating with our community and a native speaker editor to ensure an excellent translation, which is very important to us. Furthermore, we're being conservative in terms of the time required to complete and deliver the project – it could take less, but we'd rather have some wiggle room, especially if the number of Stretch Goals unlocked significantly increases the amount of material to include in the books. This has happened before and will almost certainly happen again.
With that said, unless the world is taken over by the Blight, rest assured that we will do everything in our power to deliver the best possible game as soon as possible.
