GEN CON, PHYSICAL QUICKSTART, LORE

Gen Con has wrapped! A huge thanks to everybody who swung by the Chaosium booth. Check out some images from the show below, including a physical copy of the Quickstart! For those of you who missed getting a physical copy at Gen Con, read on for some exciting news. 

We're super excited about the upcoming Backerkit launch. We want it to be the best it can be, so we've decided to hold off hitting the big button for a couple more weeks. The new date is September 1st. That extra time means we can add so much more to the campaign. In that spirit, here's some of the things we can share right away: 

So, there will be a little bit longer to wait until the campaign launches, but it will let us make everything bigger and better.

It also means that we have some extra time to talk about something plenty of folks have been requesting; story, setting and lore.

The World of Fog

First, there's a short summary of Time Without Tide's setting in Chapter 5 of the Quickstart. It's a free download for anyone who follows the project, so remember to check it out. However, it only scratches the surface. 

Time Without Tide takes place in the World of Fog. It’s not Earth and it never was. Everything used to be wonderful. Humanity luxuriated in an era of boundless innovation called the Age of Decadence. Thanks to marvelous technology powered by shards of the moon, they were capable of almost anything.

Then came the Sundering. The moon crashed down to earth. A twisted fog called the “Unknown” emerged from the wound left in the night sky. It smothered and mutated the few disorientated survivors; anybody who wasn’t protected by light. It gave birth to terrible monsters that started to stalk through the ruins of Decadent cities. That’s the backdrop.

Your adventures happen later.

Decades have passed. Anybody who remembers the Sundering is dead or suspiciously old. After a few generations of despair, humanity shakily hauled itself upright. Getting this far was a struggle, but even the softest of Decadent hands grew calloused eventually. Now, human civilization with all of its glories, follies, and flaws, is fighting back.

You, as Delvers, are at the forefront of this struggle. Your guild exists to venture into the Unknown. You hunt dangerous monsters, you scavenge for rare resources, and you do whatever you can to help the other survivors of the fallen moon.

The Delvers’ Guild headquarters are on a rocky island off the coast of Saltport; last and greatest city of the age, the justified center of the tideless world. It stands on a fortified peninsula at the edge of a larger, lost, Decadent metropolis. It’s filled with all kinds of people, distributed across twelve districts; greedy industrialists, dejected workers, irreverent dandies, sailors, soldiers, performers, scientists, criminals, journalists, and more.  

Your adventures shape Saltport. We’ve laid out an interconnected web of characters, factions, plots, and threats to the last city. The way you deal with them has direct and visible consequences. When you take a job for one faction the balance of power swings in their favor. Eventually, their will might overwhelm Saltport, for better or worse. 

What about beyond the walls? Outside Saltport, dozens of smaller townships and outposts (called tenderholds) are fighting to establish themselves. Just like in Saltport, your actions will shape the surrounding regions. The longer you play, the more you will see the World of Fog Develop around you.

I’ll close off today’s update by saying that when you play Time Without Tide, you get to decide what the World of Fog looks like. All the people, places, and history therein is yours to rework and restructure however best suits your games. What’s written is a suggestion. We’re proud of the story and we’ve done our best to make it both compelling and receptive to the actions players take. Your interpretations are sure to entertain everybody at your table. 

One last thing, thank you for answering our polls. Please keep your comments coming. For example, are there any details about the World of Fog you’d like to hear more about?

So far, our polls have been about what to focus on first. Here's a more cut and dry one.  What kind of video content would you’d like us to release leading up to and during the course of the campaign? We can't make it all, so we'll have to prioritize. Please share your thoughts, both here, and in the Chaosium Discord. 

Thanks everybody!