Hey there, folks! Been silent on Deeds Drawn for quite, but I've got some updates to share.
Entering Production
In a few days I'll be sending Deeds Drawn in to the manufacturer to get it produced. This is my first time working with partners overseas, so I don't really know what to expect beyond the dates they've given me. 15-20 days lead time after the sample approval, then 20-25 days on a boat to reach us. Frankly... that's a lot of days, and might mean orders don't actually ship until October. But hopefully not, we've still got a lot of August left. Fingers crossed!
The Game Itself
A lot has changed about Deeds Drawn since its earliest iteration. The medium, cards over paper, altered so much of the feel of the game that it just never sat right as a TTRPG experience. I had continually run afoul of there feeling like there was too little "game" there, compared to the interpretation of the experience.
It's an interesting problem... given that between a pen, paper, and rules lite system, you can basically play make-believe all day long and it feels fine. Cards, and the solo nature of the game, just flatly feel different. Hard characteristic to quantify.
At the end of it, I moved a little bit closer to a deck-builder model in an effort to make the game punchier.
You still have your core character pieces, (Lineage, Class, and Traits,) but also incorporate "Rewards" into your deck as you play through a Deed. In a Scene, you'll choose which challenge you want to solve, exhaust a card to do so, roll some dice, and get a reward... or the opposite of that.
In each Scene, there are multiple challenges you can attempt, and you'll be pursuing the right kinds of rewards you need to complete your Deed, based on the requests of the story.
For example: You might need to earn a Favor to progress in your Deed, and if an opportunity to do so appears in your current scene, you can take a shot at it. The favor itself is a card, maybe something like "Quid Pro Quo," which gives you some equally thematic keywords to spend. Using it might represent cashing in an owed debt to get you a Lead on something else.
Based on the juggling of card types I did, a lot of the classes, lineages, and foes were ripped out of the game to fit into the 72 card limit. The result feels a bit like a "base experience," kind of like a Starter Deck in a TCG. Adding more lineage options, classes, traits, foes, scenes... all of it, really, would be easy enough to pull off, but only if folks dig what's there now.
Preorders Closing, Surveys Incoming
With that said, I'm going to be closing the pre-order shop here fairly soon so I'm not juggling any more work. If you want to make a purchase, this will be your last chance for a while. After the cards get here, and orders for everyone go out, I'll be able to put remaining decks back up in the shop, or sell them via my own website alongside Distal.
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Whew, okay. That was a lot. But just to recap -> Production starting, surveys sending, preorders ending.
Hey all, I'm cruising right along with the card designs, and settled on something I really dig. At the same time, I wanted to talk a bit about how cards work in the game.
Cards in General
In Deeds Drawn, most of the moment-to-moment follows this pattern:
Read the card's prompt.
Choose your approach to solving it (using character cards.)
Roll for the outcome.
Pretty straight forward, if you're comfortable with some interpretation.
Foes
Below, is an example of a "Foe" card, front and back. As you pass (or fail to pass) challenges, you'll rotate the card a certain number of times. If you would ever repeat a challenge you've already passed, you instead flip the card over. At this point, the mob becomes desperate, and has a new set of challenges. Beat them here, and you defeat them. Defeat them, and you get their reward.
An example Foe, front and back.
In the mix, are "Stat" icons (left of the prompt,) and "Risk" icons (right of prompt.) Stats help determine the DC of a check (which we'll talk about in a later post,) and the Risk determines the effects if you fail a check. Fail softly, and you eat the first risk. Fail hard, and you suffer them both.
Risks can cause you to exhaust your cards, making them temporarily unusable... or they might disarm your weapon, poison you to prevent healing during downtime, flee from the fight entirely, and so on. The goal is to reflect change the entire feeling of a fight... not just beat them down until their health is zeroed.
We'll talk more about stats and rewards later.
Let me know what you think of the current design. Thanks, folks! -Wrel
Super quick update: I've had a couple folks ask if they can make a late pledge. If this sounds like you (or anyone who might be interested,) the pre-order store is now open!
Additionally, once the Deeds Drawn survey goes out (which I've tentatively slated for August, but it might be sooner,) there will be a question that asks if you want to bundle the shipping with your Gossamer Frontier order. Folks who backed Gossamer Frontier will see the same question on theirs.
However...
I don't think people who order via the pre-order store see the same survey as the folks who pledged during the campaign. So anyone who pre-orders Deeds Drawn past this point, I'll just reach out to by hand to confirm.
The campaign has officially concluded, and it all went pretty freaking well. Thank you so much for throwing your support behind the project. I can't wait to get these cards in your hands.
As a quick recap though, we hit all our stretch goals right there at the end!
Thank you again for helping spread the word. Now I get to do the fun job of finishing the game (mostly balance and rules cleanup at this point,) and the less-fun job of handling all the BackerKit survey stuff.
Based on my current progress, Deeds Drawn is definitely going to land before Gossamer Frontier, but you'll be able to choose whether or not you want to wait and ship them both out at once (in the case that you also purchased Gossamer Frontier physical copies.) It'll be one of the questions on your survey, which will be sent once we're a bit further along. We'll talk about how all that works in a later update.
UPDATE: Aaaaaaaaand it's done. VIOLET FOILED EDGES FOR ALL THE PEOPLE. 💜
Reaaaaal quick update, folks. We're here in the final stretch, and only a few shares away from hitting our goal for the purple-foiled card edges. You can do it!
Here's a motivational goat to support you.
But you know who the real G.O.A.T. is? It's you. Let's finish strong, folks! -Wrel
