Hey, gang!

So sorry we’ve been quiet these last two months. A lot has been going on behind the scenes, and I’m so excited to share with you what we’ve been working towards this whole time. Action Fiction has been acquired by Vala Marketing, and will now become Vala Foundry! I know that the term “acquired” sounds like scary corpo-capitalism speak, but rest assured, very little will be actually changing, and in reality, this will open up some amazing doors for all of us.

LET’S TALK ABOUT IT!

Last summer, Vala Marketing helped us push the Ratified & Radified Backerkit campaign WAY beyond our expectations. What was supposed to just cover the costs to do some light edit work and reprint books became enough for us to see that Murka (and our other games) has so much life in it, and it’s so fun to make, and perhaps most importantly, we might be able to make it full time. 

As some of you know, the AF gang has never done Action Fiction game design full time. All of us have juggled having a day job, working 40 hours a week to feed the capitalism machine and pay rent, and then spending another 20 hours a week working on stuff like Monsters of Murka, Cthulhu Dreamt, and Goblin Cave (not to mention Conventions where we’ve gotten to meet many of you fantastic people). This is how we’ve always operated, and while it’s been amazing, it has also been incredibly difficult. We’ve burned out a few times, we’ve hit walls, we’ve missed bills—all in the pursuit of making games that we, and you, can be passionate about and have fun with. But now with Vala’s help, we can go full time as game designers.

Grant (the big cheese at Vala) really loved working with us on Murka, and now we get to do so much cool shit together. Meeting Grant for Murka was like finding my long lost twin in a number of ways—it was very apparent right from the rip that he understood exactly what Murka is about and why it’s so important. It’s been a breath of fresh air to work with someone with all the same passions and beliefs, and someone who laments all the same realities that we do. It’s also nice because instead of being acquired by “big business,” it feels a lot more like two small businesses forming a very cool alliance which will open doors for both of us.

At the end of the day, very little will change. The AF gang will still own the intellectual property for Murka, Cthulhu Dreamt, and Goblin Cave. We’ll still be the ones cooking stuff up for you. And we retain all our creative control. Really, Vala is just empowering us to do our thing, and then do some more. We’ve been hard at work polishing Murka and Cthulhu Dreamt and Goblin Cave, but we’ve also started planning for our next few games and what will come next. This will be the first time in AF’s history that we can actually look ahead, we can stop to take a breather and formulate a plan, and we can pay ourselves for our work. For us, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. And for you, that means more games!

Part of our future means Monsters of Murka and Cthulhu Dreamt will be published by Vala’s TTRPG publishing arm, QuasiReal Publishing (perhaps best known for MythCraft), so you'll start to see their logo and branding more. This is because we’ll be splitting our efforts a bit, with all of our TTRPG content moving to QuasiReal, and all of our board game content staying here with Vala Foundry. But it'll still be the same folks steering the Murka ship as before, so you shouldn't expect any major changes!

From here on out, you can expect faster timelines and more frequent updates! Not having to relegate ourselves to 20 hours a week and only when we’re able to muster the energy after 40 hours of day-jobbing means we’re so much more refreshed. It’s hard to describe how freeing it feels. All we’ve felt lately is space to breathe, and a really exciting road ahead.

So, for us, the only real change we’re experiencing (other than all the new resources and focus) is that the A in AF is flipping upside-down. Now we’re the VF gang. (inb4 one of you—probably Brad—says “Vction Fiction”).

Did you know: Your liver is the only organ in your body that can completely regenerate itself. I know this because I am currently like 90% of the way to completely regenerating my own after donating! Ayyy!

Okay now scroll down for some of that good, good Murka stuff.

Cheyenne continues her work laying out the bits of the Murka books which have exited the editing stages, and we finished ALL 23 of the spells from Arcana Americana, which we now present to you for review! 

The PDF is currently currently a work-in-progress; we're still finalizing a lot of the art and layout elements. But the text is in a pre-release state ready for public playtest. Feel free to theory craft, run a one-shot, or start your Murka campaign outright! Then, collect your feedback and submit it in our handy dandy feedback form!

You can find the Feedback Form here, or in the Playtest PDF.

We're primarily looking for any wonky mechanical interactions or obvious balancing issues, so if you catch any, please please submit them! As a show of our appreciation, there's a section in the feedback form to submit your name which will be credited separately in the book as a playtester. This section is optional, so if you'd rather not have your name in the book, that's fine too!

The poll was overall in favor of printing in the 2024 ruleset, but some of you offered some REALLY helpful suggestions on how to mitigate the issue entirely by including both. The most-suggested and best solution we've found so far is to print the 2024 rules with 2014 sidebars, meaning, the default rules assume 2024, and when the two rulesets differ, we offer specifics on how to use the content in 2014 D&D. 

This is also the approach Loot Tavern is taking in their new materials, and having now seen them for myself, it looks great and it's such an elegant solution. So, thanks to everyone who suggested it—this will actually save us some time on layout in the long run, and drastically simplify our processes from here on out!

You can look forward to the next playtest PDF sometime soon, which should include our monsters! Until then, you can find the Arcana Americana subclass Playtest PDF here. Or, you can find the Arcana Americana Spells Playtest PDF here. 

Thanks for all your support! We're nearing the finish line together!


Yours across the plains of Midwesteros,

Jaron R. M. Johnson

And the Action Fiction Faction

The word "poll" seems to be etymologically newer than I thought (~1300 AD) and it basically means "head" or "one among you," like an interpretation of the noun "vote." I don't really know what I expected for such a banal word.

Uhhhhh hell yeah, democracy forever.

The promise we made with this Backerkit was that we would create content compatible with both the 2014 and 2024 versions of the D&D rules systems, and we intend on keeping that promise. This made sense to us since, at the time, it was largely just planned to be an edited update and rerelease of the first three books, which were already printed in the 2014 ruleset. But, after polishing these books for a year, and as the community (and us, admittedly) have gradually warmed up more and more to the 2024 ruleset, we're left with a very tough question: Which version do we send to print?

It had been our original plan to send the 2014 version to print (so that they match the first editions of our Murka books more closely) and to create a digital 2024 conversion PDF that would be included for anyone who ever bought our books (including all backers). But as we've continued working, and as we're nearing the point of no return that is pressing "submit" on our giganto-fuck print order, this decision has felt less cut-and-dry than it was the first time around. And we need your help deciding. (Spoiler alert, there is a poll)  

I'll explain our big thoughts deeply below, but first, a TLDR:

And ultimately, there are only two paths to choose from:

This is the most exciting hangup for us; we've had so much fun returning to the world of Murka, and we've got ideas, plans, and in many cases even drafts, for new Murka content. We want to keep releasing it out there for people to play. We want to give you more Murka: a music expansion, a video games expansion, an anime expansion—hell, I've even started work on a small for-fun Murka campaign product with a few subclasses and monsters that could be turned around in as little as a year.

We know for a fact that we want to make more Murka. But to keep the product line alive, we want to adapt and innovate. Eberron has already released, updating the artificer to the 2024 ruleset, and we anticipate them to gradually release more and more products into their 2024 ecosystem like Dragon Delves and eventually with some 2024 versions of the Tasha's and Xanathar's style books. The more content Wizards of the Coast (and other third-party developers we love, like Hit Point Press) releases in the 2024 ruleset, the less relevant and compatible our 2014 Murka content becomes.

We would love to be able to take books to conventions and sell them to new fans of D&D as well, folks who are only just discovering the game, and let them journey into Murka. But it's tough to explain to folks who are new that there are some nuanced reasons why our books are based on the decade-old version of the rules, rather than the most recent—and to understand that nuance, you kind of need to have a deeper understanding of the hobby.

We had always planned for the Ratified & Radified version of Murka to be our "definitive edition" of what Murka could be. After this, we didn't want to dip back in and edit these books anymore; we wanted to only focus on releasing new Murka stuff. But if we send 2014 rules to print, we're leaving ourselves open to have to do a second print run at a later point—especially if the D&D 2024 ruleset become the dominantly desired game format.

One of our first concerns was, "we should do what gets books in the hands of people the fastest." Obviously we are only able to make these books because of our backers (psst... that's you), and because of that, we want you all to be our priority. That's also why we ultimately decided a poll made sense.

When we crunched the numbers, we realized that because layout is going to be the most arduous bottle-neck process, it doesn't matter which version of the rules we take to layout first. Both rulesets ultimately will need to be laid out, and whether we start with 2014 or 2024, you guys will get the PDFs and books at the same time as we had planned.

It's no secret that the OGL catastrophe was... well, a catastrophe. But once the dust had settled and the new OGL/SRD protections were forged in the fires of Creative Commons, there came a lot of security with that. It even opened us up to being more able to talk about compatibility more directly without having to always be so oblique ("for the fifth edition of the world's most popular tabletop roleplaying game" if I have to write that one more time I'll explode). 

All that to say, we think it makes the most sense to send 2024 rules to print, but we aren't planning on making that decision without consulting you first. If people overwhelmingly want 2014 print books, then so be it! We're here to make the kind of Murka you all want to play. And no matter what, we'll do everything we can to make sure you're happy. so if you wind up not happy with the decision we make, we'll be able to refund anyone who is unhappy (and still provide those folks with PDFs either way).

So please, if you don't read another word in this update, please please scroll down to the poll at the bottom of the page and leave us your thoughts. Leave comments - do you have strong feelings one way or another? Are there things we aren't considering? Are there things you want us to think about? Let us know! Our destiny is in your gauntlets.

Good news! Playtests are going exceedingly well. You all caught a lot of really great balance notes and we'll be making our edits accordingly. For those that saw our last update, you'll know I was out of commission for a while (and unfortunately I will continue to be out of commission for a few more weeks), but the Murkan buck doesn't stop with little ol' me; Cheyenne is hard at work on the next Playtest PDF, which will feature both Magic Items and Spells (including a lot of brand new, never-before-seen content).

You can look forward to the next playtest PDF sometime soon! Until then, you can find the subclass Playtest PDF here.

Thanks for voting in the below poll (remember, this only applies to the printed books; we will be releasing PDFs of both rulesets no matter what). And thanks for supporting us. Can't wait for you to play our games.



Yours across the plains of Midwesteros,

Jaron R. M. Johnson

And the Action Fiction Faction

Hey gang!

I'm breaking our typical update convention just to share some fun/exciting personal stuff. Gonna talk about medical stuff below, so if that squicks you out, this is your sign to stay away! There will be no Murka stuff in this update, so you won't be missing anything about the books.

This is your last chance!




Get on out of here!




You sticking around? Alright, rad!

Tomorrow morning they're gonna wake me up at like 6 AM and take me down to the operating room and I won't wake up until like 10 hours later, haha. I'm really excited! This is something I've wanted to do for a long time, and I've been actively working towards this procedure for about a year and a half. And now the time is finally here!

I'm VERY fortunate to have people in my life like my two Murka design partners, Brad and CJ, and my partner Cheyenne (who is also doing Murka's layout!) to support me through it. The recovery is about 10-12 weeks, and I wouldn't be able to do it if it weren't for them being so willing to support me through it all. So, special thanks to them, they're the best. Absolutely love them.

I'm mostly posting here because you all have been such wonderful supporters of our work, and I could use your thoughts, luck, prayers, anything you're willing to share! I'm not really nervous about it, mostly just excited and antsy. Feels like a LOT of time and effort—not just my own—went into making this moment a reality. And now I'm on the precipice of the big jump! 

Thanks for being such an amazing community. Really cannot appreciate you enough. Very thankful to all the folks I've met, chatted with, for the folks who shared their ideas, for everything. You give what we do meaning. You give ME meaning. I'm one of those lucky few people on this earth who know for certain, without a shadow of a doubt, what they want to do with their lives. I want to make games. That's my purpose. And thanks to you and people like you, I have gotten to fulfill that purpose for years, and if I'm lucky, I'll get to do it for many more years to come.

Thanks for everything. I promise we'll get an update out next week with some fun and exciting new Murka stuff for you all, we've really been cooking with these final edits and additions. I am blown away at the new content we're generating, and can't wait to share more about it. It may not be me personally writing the next update (I'll be in the hospital for a little while), but I'll be there in spirit.

Yours truly and truly yours,

Jaron R. M. Johnson
jrmj

I wonder if the 2021 movie Don't Look Up had any effect on dictionary sales.

Also, please enjoy this image of our new "Falling Squirrel" beast native to Senekal Park in Magnamalus (featured in Chromatic Gamut). They're nuts. Druids rejoice, as we'll be including a number of new wild shape options like this!

Cheyenne has been hard at work for a while now laying out the bits of the Murka books which have exited the editing stages, and we decided to pull out all the subclasses from Arcana Americana and submit them for your review! 

The PDF is currently currently a work-in-progress; we're still finalizing a lot of the art and layout elements. But the text is in a pre-release state ready for public playtest. Feel free to theory craft, run a one-shot, or start your Murka campaign outright! Then, collect your feedback and submit it in our handy dandy feedback form!

You can find the Feedback Form here, or in the Playtest PDF.

We're primarily looking for any wonky mechanical interactions or obvious balancing issues, so if you catch any, please please submit them! As a show of our appreciation, there's a section in the feedback form to submit your name which will be credited separately in the book as a playtester. This section is optional, so if you'd rather not have your name in the book, that's fine too!

We interrupt your scheduled Backerkit update to inform you that I will be doing a free webinar with Grant (from Vala Marketing) and Backerkit! If you've ever thought about writing and publishing your own D&D content, you should come hang out, ask questions, and let us help you make your own games!

Grant and I will be sharing the tips we've picked up over years of doing it ourselves, plus there will be a Q&A. It's all free! Please consider checking it out, we want to see you guys make your own stuff!

The results of the polls are in! Congratulations to the below winners, and thanks to everyone who submitted suggestions over on our Discord!

I'm happy to announce we also have space to include the Quacken, submitted by Dewey! We have our eyes set on doing something fun with a few other submissions as well, so stay tuned :)

Thanks to everyone who submitted suggestions to the Discord, I laughed so heartily at so many of these. This was so much fun, and I cannot wait to bring these ideas to live (spoiler alert, we've already made early drafts of the Slasher subclass and the quacken).

 

We'll keep plugging away in the editing room, and we hope you'll consider checking out the Playtest PDF and leaving us some feedback!

We hope you have fun and that you're as excited to get your hands on some of this stuff as we were to make it.

Yours across the plains of Midwesteros,

Jaron R. M. Johnson

And the Action Fiction Faction