For anyone who may have missed the campaign, but still wanted to get a copy of the game, we have launched the Pre-Order Store on Backerkit!

Check it out right here!


Note that if you are already a backer, this is not the place to add things to an existing pledge. We'll have the pledge manager up and running soon, and that will be where you can add any dice, books, or the GM Kit to your pledge, as well as enter your shipping info.

Happy Autumn! Let’s break down where we’re at with all the moving parts of this project, shall we?

Core Rulebook: In Production. The core rulebook (including the bonus scenario) is now in layout, and we are starting to figure out the art for everything. (If you didn’t catch the art samples last month, check out October’s update!)

Game Moderator’s Kit: In development. Once we’ve got the main book laid out, we’ll be pulling the important elements into the GM’s screen and the cards, and getting the scenario Ruin-Under laid out.

Map of the Stillness + Fifth Season Digital Map Pack: In Production. Art notes for all of these are wrapped and in Production’s hands. Once we start getting all of the art and cartography contracted out with our artists, this will be among them.

Comms of the Stillness + People of the Stillness: In drafts. These are nearly written and ready for an editor.

~Joseph D. Carriker, Jr.

Exciting News!

We've worked out a solution to the issues involved with shipping to Germany, and we can now successfully send print books to that country! The downside is that international shipping to the EU is still pretty high, and we're unable to cover the VAT fees associated with your order, but we can at last remove this limitation on German backers.

If you are one of our backers currently residing in Germany, and would like to modify your order to include any physical books or add-ons, you can request a new link to survey details using the address below.

https://the-fifth-season-roleplaying-game.backerkit.com/

If you run into any issues with making changes to your pledge in Backerkit, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected].

Hey folks!

Quick update here to address a problem that many of you just pointed out to us!

So it looks like the early-backer offer for a free print copy of the Quickstart was causing the digital-only pledges (which didn't require a shipping address), to default to the maximum amount for shipping in your region by mistake. 

We've just now turned on "enter shipping info" for those $2, PDF only, and VTT only pledge tiers, just in case you qualified for the printed Quickstart, so that you can see the actual shipping amount, and not that very high, and very surprising number.

If you'd rather not receive the print copy of the Quickstart after all, send us an email to custserv AT greenronin DOT com, and we'll remove it for you. 

So sorry for the confusion!

Hey Backers,
 
The smoke test was successful, and today we are sending out the remaining surveys to all backers! It may take a little bit of time for all surveys to reach inboxes, but if you still do not have the email after 24 hours, you can use the link at the end of this update.
 
Important Note! One thing that we did notice, is that a few backers who had increased their pledge by $25, which just happens to be the price of the Game Moderator's Kit, ended up not adding that item to their cart in the Add-ons section. Unfortunately, the GM Kit was not able to be added to existing pledges during the campaign, so a number of people increased the total of their pledge to make sure the funds would be available later, and to help unlock stretch goals! We suspect a few folks may have forgotten what the extra $25 was for.
 
So just a reminder to please look over your cart carefully before submitting your completed survey. Particularly if you notice you still have a positive total remaining!
 
If you were one of the smoke-test backers who already completed their survey and want to double check to make sure everything looks right, you can request a new link to your survey at the address below.
 
https://the-fifth-season-roleplaying-game.backerkit.com/
 
If you have questions or any concerns, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].

Hello Backers!

Before we turn things over to Joseph Carriker for the latest progress update (we'll post that separately, because it's a pretty big one), we have some news about the Pledge Manger at last!

It's taken much longer than expected, but we're ready to start sending out surveys for your pledges! Some of you may have noticed that global shipping costs have dramatically increased over the last several months, but we've managed to finally arrange with our fulfillment partners for rates that accurately reflect our estimate during the campaign. 

For those of you who are new to crowdfunding campaigns, here's what happens next: Along with this update, we'll be initially sending out surveys for what is called a "smoke test". This is a small percentage of backers across every pledge tier, so we can test out the pledge manager and make sure everything runs smoothly. We'll keep an eye on how things go over the weekend, and so long as we don't encounter any significant issues, we'll send out the remaining surveys on Monday (the 24th).

For anyone who wanted to add to their pledge to pick up a set of dice, or the Game Moderator's Kit, this will be the perfect opportunity to do so, since Backerkit's system wouldn't let folks add those items during the live campaign. 

When the PDF is completed, we'll send that out to backers next, and once things have gone to press, we'll lock in your shipping addresses, and charge for any shipping fees once print production is underway! We'll also be sure to give everyone plenty of early warning before that's about to happen.

If you have any questions or concerns, you can always reach us at custserv AT greenronin, and we'll get things sorted out for you.

Apologies for the time it took us to put this together, but it turns out we’ve got a lot of these plates spinning! 

This month, we’re bringing you some of the worldbuilding detail of the Stillness, as distilled from Jemisin’s novels by one of our developers, Hiromi Cota. This is from a set of art notes for maps of comms that are one of our stretch goals, but we thought it might make a fun look at not just what we’re doing, but how we’re doing it behind the scenes.

Enjoy!

~Joseph D. Carriker

Each settlement is enclosed by at least a partial wall, with the exception of the Islands Village. Walls generally have ladders or stairs on the city’s side for defenders and lookouts to observe the land around them. In addition to the walls, they also have a large gate, often with mechanical assists to opening, like levers, counter-balances, or pulley systems. The books don’t mention hydraulics, but wealthy cities and towns have the appropriate technology for it.

This world did not develop complex metallurgy, thus doesn’t have internal combustion engines or computers. So, there are no cars or trains here. Instead, transportation is largely by horse, some other beast of burden, or by foot. However, they have a highly sophisticated understanding of chemistry and geology, nearly on par with our own. So, some settlements  — particularly wealthy cities — pave their streets with asphalt or some other polymer-based mixture.

Similarly, stoneworking and masonry in this world are on par or beyond ours, even though we have computer aided design. Part of this is because there’s a type of magic that allows its wielders to raise perfectly supported structures straight out of the bedrock. This magic is too expensive for most places, but several settlements have buildings with utterly no tool marks and daring architecture that could be basically anything you can dream up. As an example, the emperor of this world and his family live in a massive, amber geodesic dome-palace that sits on top of an obsidian star pyramid that serves as the capital building. 

Metal construction is generally frowned upon, but some places still have it, especially in places an architect might show off a little. (e.g. decorations, the city’s gate, railings). Because of the advanced geology and chemistry here, glass can be far stronger than in our world; the books mention “bridges woven of glass and audacity,” which implies load-bearing glass is rare but not impossible. Also, glass in this world is often quite colorful or even opaque.

The technology level varies wildly between these settlements, with the cities having geothermal & hydroelectric power and electric lights and the villages making due with candles. Places in between generally use oil lights. Natural gas, coal gas, and coal exist, but are rare because of the inherent dangers and historical reasons.

An up-and-coming town. The residents are in the middle of doubling the acreage by building a temporary wooden wall.

Hello, all. It’s time for your Fifth Season Roleplaying update!

Core Rulebook: In Production, with Miroq Festival adventure In Edits. With the exception of the Miroq Festival scenario (which was a stretch goal from the campaign), this is all ready and in the capable hands of our production department, who handle the layout and art! Here in the coming months, we’ll hopefully be able to show off some of the lovely work they do.

Game Moderator’s Kit: In development. My main task at the moment is planning for the contents of the Game Moderator’s screens, and the cards that come with it. The bonus scenario in this kit, Ruin-Under is back from editing and looking great!

Map of the Stillness + Fifth Season Digital Map Pack: In outlines. Hiromi has been hard at work getting the notes necessary to allow our cartographers to make these happen. Once they’re all wrapped and good to go, we may even share them with y’all! Still hard at work on them currently, though.

Comms of the Stillness: In outlines. Planning phase is nearly done with this, and writing is about to start. Looking forward to creating some fun places for the PCs to call home…or to count as neighbors. 

Other Stretch Goal Projects: The other stretch goal projects are waiting in the wings for their turn on the table, and we’re anxious to get to them. More info soon!

~Joseph D. Carriker