Welcome to the Confluence RPG August Update! Read about what we’ve been working on, updates to the makeup of the team, and an announcement for the timeline. 

TL;DR 

The team is working as much as we can, but we have seen further complications. We have one final push of the timeline. Writing and editing on all printed material will be complete by August 31, 2027. We are working with our layout artist to give you a final date for when the project will go to print. That date will be announced in the next update towards the end of the year. There will be no further pushes to the timeline. 

For Backers, you now have access to the update Rockwater Isles and a first look the layout of the Smol Inn Reviews in this Update. We ran into a slowdown over the last few months with work due to illness and burnout. However, the Final Packet of the year will be pretty bulky. Check the end of the Update for the full list. 

We appreciate you and your willingness to stick with us on this journey.

We have done an evaluation of the timeline and realized there is no way our team can get this done by this coming January. We know it’s been a much longer road than what we all anticipated. I think we’ve said that in every Update this year. For us, when we started in 2021, we thought it was going to be a year, and now it’s been five. We are very ready for this to be out of our hands, and we can only imagine that you as the backers feel the same. 

You have been with us for the first two Packets, and work is getting done. However, there is still a lot of work to do, and our team is still struggling with multiple commitments, personal and family health issues, and life events. That said, we refuse to be one of the projects that never delivers. And we realize your patience is already worn thin. So we are working on a set of final dates. By these dates, whatever is done goes to print. 

Our writers and editors have met and agreed on a final deadline for all printed material to be written and edited. By August 31, 2027 all documents going to print will be in the hands of our layout team.

We are still working with our Illustrator and Layout Artist on a realistic final date for their portion of the project. Too often writers take too long and Artists and Layout have to pick up the slack. We are dedicated to that not happening here. We will have final dates for the full project in the next Update. 

You can still expect Packets each quarter. As our material is ready, you will have access to it. See the end of the Update for a full list of what is coming in the Final Packet of the year.

We made promises in our campaign with the understanding we’d have a team of 12-15. Now we have a team of 5-6, all of whom are working 10 or less hours weekly on Confluence. The realities of what can be done in that time are hard to grapple with. Especially from April through June of this, we hit a big slump. But we are making some changes that should speed up the process. In the last month, work has increased. 

Changes to the team include: 

VJ Harris is taking over administration for completing our module book. 

Seven is stepping in as they can for writing and editing, focusing on Sujatha’s Journal, developmental and copy editing, mechanics layout, and settings and mechanics writing.  

Laya is also increasing their hours significantly to push the writing of both setting and mechanics material. 

Several team members have stepped away more permanently. 

Areas in the Atlas: 

Sujatha’s Journal: 

In the World of Mechanics:

Adventure Modules:

Smol Inn Reviews

August Packet: 

The August Packet is only going to Backers and can be found in this Update. We realize this Packet is light. The midyear slump hit this Packet hard. A lot of material is drafted but not edited, or close to but not wholly finished, which is why it’s not being shared here. With Areas in particular they make very little sense until they are laid out. The Final Packet of the year will have much more in it. 

Our Layout artist has a crowdfunding campaign occurring in September and October. Therefore, our next Packet is likely to come towards the end of the year. 

 

Thank you for reading and hanging with us as we look towards completing Confluence. We want to reiterate that we are stalwart in our promise to finish this project. With the final writing dates ahead of us, the writers that can double down on our efforts, are doing so. So many people have been a part of this project, lending their minds and creativity. We can’t wait to have it in your hands. Our editors and layout artist are reviewing the work to be completed now, and we’ll have a final date for when the project will go to print in the next update. Again, this is the final time you will see a push to the timeline.