NEW COVER, AND MINOR DELAYS
Heya! I was originally planning to get the digital version of the game out here in December, but that will be landing here in January, instead. ...
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Wrel
about 1 month ago
The Final Beta Packet is here! (for Distal) ⚔
GET THE FINAL BETA PACKET
Beta Packet 02 has just been released. It's 234 pages of game, from start to finish. Plenty to get your feet wet, or share with friends who are...
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Wrel
about 2 months ago
The October Update (for Distal) 💀
Final Beta and Timetable
Whew, October flew by faster than I would have liked. I'm still in the process of wrapping up the final beta packet for Distal. After that, I'll be...
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Wrel
3 months ago
September's End Update (for Distal) 🍂
Hey there, folks.
As September comes to a close, I wanted to share a brief update on Distal's current state.
BETA PACKET 02 TIMELINE
The next (and likely final) beta packet i...
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Wrel
4 months ago
Quick End-Of-August Update for Distal! 🌄
Hey there, folks! Here's a quick update for August.
Beta Packet Cleanup
You'll probably be getting another email today with some minor updates to Beta Packet 01. The "Printab...
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Wrel
4 months ago
Livestream of Distal this Sunday! (2pm PT/5pm ET)
How does Distal play for folks totally new to TTRPGs?
This Sunday, I'll be running Distal for some folks; a few of which who have no experience with TTRPGs at all. It can...
December Update (Rockwyrm Matron art by: Graey Erb)
NEW COVER, AND MINOR DELAYS
Heya! I was originally planning to get the digital version of the game out here in December, but that will be landing here in January, instead. On the digital side, the game is basically done. There are some loose ends to wrap up, mostly pruning for grammar, but nothing too crazy. The real holdup to getting this thing out the door, however, is that I pulled the trigger on getting some new cover art really late in the process.
I wasn't originally convinced it was something I wanted to do, but as I got toward the end of the process, I felt like I wanted a stronger visual connection to the experiences you'll have from session to session. The idea is that, on the front cover, an adventuring party is leaving the safety of home, having gathered the supplies they'll need for the trip ahead. For the back cover, that same adventuring party has found some trouble.
Remember that the hardcover for Distal is basically split into two distinct halves.
The first half, is dedicated to prep -- basically everything you do before or between sessions. This is where you find character creation, generators to build adventures, lore for the game, and so on.
Flip the book over, and you're on the half dedicated to play. This is where you immediately get into core rules, charts, quick-reference information, as well as monsters, just to balance things out.
I wanted the two sides to be identifiable in their function, and tell that short story of this specific party, as they set out into the world.
Like much of the art in the book, Graey Erb is taking a swing at the cover as well. Here are some of the earliest drafts, though we're already a bit past this stage now.
Front cover and back cover drafts for Distal.
The next time you see this art will likely be in full-form, alongside the digital release .pdf!
DIGITAL DIGEST
Unfortunately, I've fallen a bit behind on the digests. I'm working toward getting a combined November/December digest out for this month. The original hope was to be coupled with the digital release of the book, so the information explicitly references what's within it, but we'll need to punt on that until January.
LOCKING DOWN ORDERS
Most folks already have their surveys completed and paid for hardcover shipping, but there are a handful of stragglers out there who haven't (and whom I can't seem to contact via email.) Payments will be locked down just before the digital release heads out, in January, about a week prior.
Beta Packet 02 is here! (Cutpurse art by: Graey Erb)
GET THE FINAL BETA PACKET
Beta Packet 02 has just been released. It's 234 pages of game, from start to finish. Plenty to get your feet wet, or share with friends who are looking for a new system. At this point, the next steps are to get everything finalized for digital release (this December.)
Despite this being the final beta packet, I'm still looking for feedback. Especially from folks who have a current play group. If you want to share those thoughts, join the Development Discord! I've been sharing some of the art for the game there, as well!
Join us on Discord!
DISTAL DIGEST (OCT/NOV)
The Distal Digest for October has now been sent to folks who are signed on for that tier, with November's digest landing toward the end of the month. October's digest touches on some changes going into Beta 02, does a deep dive on an unexplored lineage (the Laithe), and shares some advice for Basilisk encounters!
Whew, October flew by faster than I would have liked. I'm still in the process of wrapping up the final beta packet for Distal. After that, I'll be moving on to final layout for the book proper. Read on below for a breakdown.
Final Beta Release (Two Weeks-ish) In the next couple of weeks, you'll get a whole new version of the beta. This one has the full level range, monsters for all tiers of play, expanded (and revised) rules, and looks pretty close to a final product, without the art and embellishments that will tighten the book up.
You'll receive an email when your downloads are ready, so be sure keep an eye out!
Full Digital Release (December) It's looking like December for the full digital release, at this point. This is in line with earlier expectations, but I was really hoping to jam through it before then, since I had some momentum going into August/September. But, alas.
Full Hardcover Release (Q1/Q2 2025) For the hardcover release, nothing new here. We're still on track to get books out in Q1 (Q2 at the very latest), same as the original schedule.
Digital Digest (for October/November)
Given the backup on this final beta release, the October digest is going to come in a wee bit late, but it'll break down some of the changes that went into this final version of the beta, and discuss the Laithe lineage, which was one of the stretch goals we didn't quite hit during the BackerKit campaign.
I'll be sure to check in again once the beta lands.
Hey there, folks. As September comes to a close, I wanted to share a brief update on Distal's current state.
BETA PACKET 02 TIMELINE
The next (and likely final) beta packet is currently in development for Distal. This contains classes at their maximum levels, loads of polish, iteration, and a few substantial mechanics overhauls at the same time. The packet is currently slated to land some time in October, with the full digital release possibly some time in late November if testing goes well and we hit it hard, but there's no need to rush it out the door.
SEPTEMBER DIGITAL DIGEST
If you signed on for the monthly digital digests, that should have landed in your inbox yesterday. And if you can't find it, just open up your pledge for Distal, and you'll see a link to all available downloads. In this month's digest, we walk through the process of acquiring art, like the Kinsguard lineage art you see above.
VIDEOS ON THE CHANNEL
When able, I've been posting videos to the channel that overview bite-sized aspects of Distal (like lineage and class.) You can the full playlist of videos here.
Here's the latest one, spotlighting the Tanglefolk lineage.
JOIN THE DISCORD
If you're interested in the development of Distal, and are looking for folks to play with, the Discord is a good way to connect to folks and share your thoughts. You can join us on Discord here.
Hey there, folks! Here's a quickupdate for August.
Beta Packet Cleanup You'll probably be getting another email today with some minor updates to Beta Packet 01. The "Printable" version is now actually printable in single-page form, so you can more easily turn it into a little booklet if you wanted to; and both the normal (read: pretty) two-page spread and the printable versions received some small updates (and are labeled v01b).
Distal Digest for August Along with that, if you were signed up to receive the monthly digests, you'll find one of those in your inbox as well. In this month's edition, there's a mini-adventure setup for folks without a lot of time, a concept-preview of the Dervish class (which was originally in pre-alpha versions of the game,) and more.
State of the Project At this point, there isn't too much left to be done for the project proper. It mainly comes down to getting in more levels, monsters, and refining some rough edges -- which playtesting has been super helpful with. The development Discord has been great to get more feedback on the project. Feel free to join using the link below.
Join the community Discord!
Beyond that, art is still in the works, but almost all of the classes/lineage options are finished now, and there won't be too much else work left to do after that.
