Chosen

August Update w/ GrandCon around the corner
over 1 year ago – Fri, Aug 23, 2024 at 01:28:24 AM

Greetings, Chosen!

I hope everyone is doing well! It is, once again, time for an update. There's not much news to share this month, but we are about to hit the home stretch of Chosen's development. I foresee many long nights in the near future, as there's still a good bit of layout and design to do.

I'm also still awaiting submissions from individuals who pledged at higher tiers (addressed below). However, we still appear to be on track for an October PDF release. If that changes, you all will be the first to know.

The book is coming along nicely. Development is not fast by any means, but it feels steady. Besides that, Chosen is trucking along with the finish line on the horizon.

Material Submission Forms

I can no longer wait to send out the survey, so I emailed every backer who had not completed their Material Submission Forms a few nights ago. If you pledged any tier above The Lightbringer (PDF + physical copy), you should have an email with a link to a Google form in your inbox. The original emails with the links are titled "Chosen Kickstarter Rewards."

Please fill those out, or let me know if you need me to send you a new one. If you feel you've received that email by mistake, please get in touch with me so we can resolve any confusion. I've already spoken to a few people regarding their submissions, and what's been submitted so far is excellent!

If you have any questions about the forms or are unsure what you need to do, don't hesitate to ask me. I will happily help in any way I can.

GrandCon - Grand Rapids, MI

I will be at GrandCon with Imagining Games. If you're in the area or planning to go to the con, come by the booth to get a peak at the game's manuscript. It's still a work in progress, but reception so far has been really positive.

Since there is very little news, I'll give you all another art reveal. I've gotten a lot of love for House Wylfenfis since I announced it. Due to that excitement, here are art pieces for the two Paths a player can pick for House Wylfenfis: Wood Walker & Den Raider

Above is the art for the Wood Walker.

Wood Walkers are extremely devoted hunters, going so far as contracting lycanthropy themselves to better assist in their efforts to track their prey. Some even choose to keep the sickness, refusing to kill the Evigbo'ri responsible for that infestation. Legendary abilities are gaining the ability to use weapons while in werewolf form or mastering the ability to transform into a werewolf at will.

This piece is meant to represent the Den Raider.

Den Raiders have spent so long in the wild that they often rather spend time with wolves than humans. One of their legendary abilities is to bond with a pack and call them for aid. Den Raiders also get a Dire Wolf mount.

I've also updated the cover of the book.

Front Cover

Back Cover

I've decided to go with perfect binding since we're moving out of zine territory and into small TTRPG territory.

Last Thoughts

It's 3:15 a.m. at my house, and I can tell my tea has worn off lol. My daughter's first homeschool class is at 7:30, so I'll send out surveys sometime tomorrow (Friday). I will likely provide updates more frequently as we approach launch (when the book goes to proofreading, editing status, etc.), so keep an eye out for them.

Backers who pledged at higher tiers, please check your inboxes for that email. Your submission has to be edited and formatted, so the earlier you get it turned in, the quicker I can start working on it. I hope to see backers at GrandCon! We're past the halfway point now. I'm so excited!

Goodnight and happy hunting,
Joe Weaver - Creator

July/Gen Con '24 Update
over 1 year ago – Sun, Jul 21, 2024 at 11:24:51 PM

Greetings Chosen!!!

I can't believe it's already been another month! Time flies when you're having fun...or stuck in your office like a hermit who only emerges for food and water (I joke, but sometimes it feels like that lol).

Before I get to the good stuff, I wanted to bring you up to speed on the surveys. I know I said in the last update that they would go out the last week of June. Well, Kickstarter now has a Backer Survey, so I intend to try it out instead of using Backerkit's survey. After a bit of thought, it also doesn't make sense for me to send out surveys before the add-on and reward tier creative forms have been submitted.

There are questions on the survey about the creative reward tiers, so I need to know if those backers have seen their forms. I just "bumped" those emails in case you haven't. For those who already filled out their form, just ignore the email bump. For those who have not, I would like to have these filled out within the next two weeks, if possible. If circumstances don't allow for you to complete your form, please reach out to me to let me know what's going on. I can work with you to ensure your weapon, location, NPC, etc., makes it into the first PDF release. You paid for it. You deserve it.

For reference, only 20% (roughly) of the creative forms have been submitted, so I'm missing forms from quite a few backers. I will say that the stuff submitted so far is excellent! I can't wait to get it formatted and into the book. However, I want to get the surveys out, so let's get this done.

Gen Con

It's been a wild year, so far. That trend seems to continue in two weeks by seeing me and the rest of the CHEW TTRPG development team win a Judge's Spotlight Award at the 2024 Ennies! With that said, I will DEFINITELY be at Gen Con. I'll be at booth 458 with Imagining Games, so feel free to come by and say hi. Meeting backers is an awesome experience! I'll also have the Vor Dice (custom coins) with me, so you can pick yours up early if you want.

Book Progress

The manuscript is coming along nicely. As a solo developer, some days are spent writing, some on art, and others on layout. 

Mechanics
I've changed how armor works. I've decided to give armor a vitality rating. When your armor reaches 1 vitality point, it'll be considered "rent" (torn or damaged to the point it's nearly useless). All damage taken while wearing rent armor is treated as if there is no armor. If a character takes a deadly blow while wearing rent armor, the armor is destroyed. 

Damaged and rent armor can be repaired. Chosen are trained in field repairs, so a PC can mend armor for up to 5 VP. However, to fully repair your armor, you will need to visit a smith/armorer.

I've also changed how experience is obtained. Now, only Order Sanctioned Contracts provide experience. Unsanctioned hunts provide loot, but will not count toward your progress within the Order.

Design & Layout
One of the biggest things that happened in the past month was a breakthrough in the book's style. For the past couple of months, I haven't been able to settle on a font style or color. Thanks to some very constructive feedback and hours of playing with fonts, I've found the style/color combination that will be the one I use going forward in the design process.

I've also revamped my choice of text boxes, using something more akin to loose pages of an ancient book than ancient scrolls (what I had before). Shout out to my friend and fellow designer Pete Petrusha, who does an amazing job at telling me what I need to hear instead of what I want to hear any time I have a question.

Examples of the new text boxes with completed layout:

Image Credit: Warm_Tail/Shutterstock.com

Art Reveal

Below are three more pieces of art that appear in the book. They may not look exactly like this, as I often use a filter to get the color/crispness I desire for the page. However, the works themselves are unaltered in all their glory. I'm thrilled to have found these to use for this game!

Image Credit: Warm_Tail/Shutterstock.com

Image Credit: Riptaid/Shutterstock.com

Image Credit: Warm_Tail/Shutterstock.com

What's Next?

The next big event on the "to-do" list is, of course, Gen Con. Other than that, it's just continuing to chip away at completing the manuscript for Chosen. Again, if you go to Gen Con, feel free to come by our booth (#458) and introduce yourself. I would love to meet you!!! I'll also have custom coins to take home with you if you ordered them. Until next time, stay safe and happy hunting!

The Void Gives You Strength,
Joe Weaver - Creator

The Chaos Engine
almost 2 years ago – Mon, Jul 01, 2024 at 11:10:56 PM

Greetings Chosen!!!

I'm reaching out late this evening (I live just south of Lake Michigan) because something occurred to me yesterday. I was getting ready to send out the forms for all the reward tiers above The Lightbringer, and it dawned on me that I was about to ask those backers to submit designs for a system they hadn't seen or played to any great length (some not at all).

To that end, I present to you the system that will run Chosen: Chaos Engine https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kdS6RSynxixqBq-neHp8ID2vcVRzpdzA/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=102553125328401023880&rtpof=true&sd=true 

Chaos Engine is my creation and is probably somewhere between the alpha and beta stages. There are still some things I need to add to the system, but more playtesting is key to making sure the play experience stays enjoyable from session to session.

I put summaries of how submitted material works on the forms for backers. However, the preliminary system document will stay open to backers for you to access if you need/want it. The player-submitted material forms will go out right after this update.

Relevant sections of the Chaos Engine for those submitting material:

• Locales/Finding Work - starts on page 4
• Combat Rules - starts on page 6

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to let me know. The system is still a work in progress, and clarity is a priority. 

I always have Discord running in the background, so you can message me there if you want (username: a_rogue_clone). Don't forget that there's a Discord server you can join for more info. I plan to start posting there more, especially after the game releases. You can find it here: https://discord.gg/gRpJhYjEDy 

You can also email me or use Kickstarter messaging to reach me if need be.

With that, I say "good night" and "happy hunting." Also, for those in the States, have a safe July 4th!

Best,
Joe Weaver - Creator

Origins Fair and Other News!!!
almost 2 years ago – Tue, Jun 25, 2024 at 06:27:35 PM

Greetings Chosen!!!

Let's start by apologizing for the delay in updating you. I usually aim to get the update out on the third weekend of the month. However, complications from moving that put me behind, followed by prepping for Origins Fair, pushed this one out a bit. 

Regardless, I'm starting to get caught up on everything, and man, am I excited! After going a week without internet (thanks Comcast), I was forced to make a choice. I either finished my side work, the surveys, and other forms for Chosen, or I created a working demo to playtest at Origins Fair. Ultimately, I chose the latter, and I'm glad I did.

Last Thursday saw Chosen get its first official playtest, and it was a smashing success! Players tested character creation, locale creation, combat, and path abilities in route to ridding a village of a werewolf infestation. I took the main map and cut a chunk from it for the purpose of the demo.

Dangloven and the Cuvon River are locations added to the demo to provide backstory. I haven't decided whether to keep it yet.

I also have all the Houses built out. Obviously, they can still change, but 4 different paths were used in last Thursday's playtest. The table was great and gave a lot of good feedback. The demo requires one player to take the role of a Den Raider, and I feel the path played like I wanted it to. Here's House Wylfenfis, as it was tested at Origins:

The layout of the Houses' abilities is likely to change. It's not as clear as I want it to be during character creation. However, once the play began, the players had a lot of fun with their abilities. The other three Houses that were showcased in the playtest were House Lunagladenscath, House Gehennavos, and House Vellonjavai.

We had a great time, and I can't wait to test out more of Chosen!

Coins

In my last update, I said the custom D2s/collectible coins were in production. I now have them, and they look great!!!

What's Next?

July is right around the corner, and a good chunk of the game will be hammered out between now and Gen Con. Now that I'm getting caught up on the work I missed during my week offline, forms and (hopefully) the survey will go out this weekend. If the survey doesn't go out this week, it should definitely go out next week.

With the demo at Origins complete, I've now seen the game in action with a group of players. I have some tweaks to make, but I can safely say that the game is on the right track. I was worried I might have to make some major changes for the solo play to translate well to group play. Those fears were unfounded. I'm now even more excited about where this is all headed.

For those who pledged more than just the physical copy + pdf, I'm really looking forward to seeing your ideas!!! You'll be hearing from me soon.

Remember...The Order provides, and the void shall give you strength.

Until next time,
Joe Weaver - Creator

Update: Journals, Coins, and More!!!
almost 2 years ago – Mon, May 20, 2024 at 10:00:57 PM

Greetings, Chosen!!!

It's been a month since the campaign ended, which means it's time for an update!

I'm happy to say that the designs of both physical add-ons are finalized. By saying that, I mean the Vor (Order currency) collectible coins have completed manufacture and are currently on their way to Foam Brain Games! Foam Brain has been a pleasure to work with, so I can totally see myself using them for add-ons in the future. I'm excited to get the coins.

I intend to place the order with the printer for the custom journals this week. They've evolved a bit over the past month, so here's a peek at what those will look like:

The Covers:

Adventure Pages:
Each journal is broken into sections of 5 pages, with the first page marked by dark fantasy/horror clipart in the top left corner and the last page including two utility boxes that players can label and use for whatever they want. Want a place to list the relics you've collected that aren't in your stash? These boxes are just the tool for such a list.

Stash and larger holdings:
The last 2 pages of each journal are a series of larger boxes that can be used for whatever purpose the player desires. They were designed with player stashes in mind. There's also the potential that players can come into possession of larger holdings, such as abandoned houses they can take for themselves. The largest box would be an excellent place to keep track of what you have at your home.

Houses and Paths:

At this point, all seven houses have their paths. The next step is fleshing them out (abilities, loadout options, etc). Given that this is a dystopic, dark future setting, I like the idea of mixing future tech with fantasy for this world. I decided to emphasize that by making House Vos a technology-savvy House of Volrathi.  With tech in mind and the need for a land-based path to offset the Abyssal Guardian, the Cyberstrider of House Vos was born.

Lore:
Once Chosen of House Vos become old enough to survive the training, they learn how to separate their spirits from their physical bodies, but only momentarily. They must be able to control their spirit long enough to transfer it from their body into their chosen Skalyer (the cybernetic body they will have for the rest of their known existence). 

Next Month:

Over the next month, I'll be getting the Cyberstrider and all the other paths ready to roll. The goal is to have all seven Houses ready for Origins Fair. I'm so excited!!!

I also intend to start reaching out to those who pledged higher tiers with forms for their creations, as well as send out a survey. I can't wait to see where Chosen is a month from now! Thank you all for coming on this journey with me!!!

Sincerely,

Joe Weaver - Creator/Designer