SYNAPSE

Backerkit Roll Out
over 1 year ago – Thu, Aug 11, 2022 at 07:18:46 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

July Update
almost 2 years ago – Sun, Jul 31, 2022 at 07:00:48 AM

Everyone enjoying their summer? I sure hope so!

I know you all have better things to do than read pages of me droning on, so this is a shorty since another update will be coming soon ;) I've managed to keep a fairly steady pace working on SYNAPSE over the last month during the wee hours while everyone else in the house sleeps. It's been a little slower than I would've liked, but not all that unexpected.  No new artwork was commissioned in the last month since that part of the equation is basically complete, but here's an older piece that I find fun!

The main update here is the Backerkit process. I've just sent the surveys off for review, so once I hear back from them (hopefully within a few days) I can get to work on anything that needs to be fixed, and then smoke tests and actual surveys can begin rolling out to people.

So long story short, expect another update from me within the next couple weeks, which will layout the Backerkit survey process for those of you that haven't been through it before (it's very simple). Smoke tests and surveys will roll out right after this next update is sent to you.

That's basically it, we'll chat again very soon :)

Get outside and enjoy the weather!

-Nick

June Update
almost 2 years ago – Tue, Jun 28, 2022 at 11:55:55 PM

Good morning everyone!

June started as we'd expected with a new player entering our game :)

There have been a lot of sleepless nights and floating through days like zombies, but we're starting to hit our stride. Needless to say, with the new baby and trying to keep everything else with our business and personal lives afloat, not much has gotten done from my side of things on SYNAPSE in June. But there was still some progress to be had, and there's a few things to chat about for what's coming.

I've had some more good conversations with backers getting NPC's (they are going to be awesome characters to add to your games), but there are still roughly half of you who backed at that level that have not responded. I'll keep trying to email you, but if you're seeing this and backed at that level please contact me if we haven't already begun a conversation. I'd love to keep the ball rolling on these things so we don't hit any sort of crunch time down the road.

More artwork was also completed for the book, that portion of things is getting very near completion which is absolutely fantastic. He even managed to capture the mental state of people with newborns who are only alive because of copious amounts of coffee...

I've also spent a little more time getting our Backerkit process ready to go. My plan is to roll that out for everyone with the next project update at the end of July. We'll run it for a month to lock down some manufacturing numbers and then I can get the ball rolling on items like the custom dice that have a longer lead time so we're not waiting on those things at the end.

While hanging out with the baby in the wee hours I've been reading over the entirety of the book as it currently stands and am so excited to be getting back to it now that our lives are getting somewhat back to normal. The break has completely revitalized me creatively and I can't wait to dive head first back into things. I've got so many ideas to get onto the page and into the game for you all to enjoy :)

The only other thing of note I'd like to mention is the Cardboard Dungeon Games 3rd Annual Dungeon Dive. It goes live the morning of July 1st and is benefitting a great cause. You can find out more about it through our Facebook page, or when tickets become available on Friday on our website!

Until we chat again, enjoy this awesome weather with friends & family.

As always, thanks for your support on this journey.

-Nick

May Update
almost 2 years ago – Tue, May 24, 2022 at 02:49:22 PM

Morning everyone!

I'm sending this one out a little earlier than normal so that it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. We're in the timeframe where at any moment our family will be growing by one, so I'm certain that things are going to get chaotic around here pretty soon.

The last few weeks have gone really well for the project. I've heard back from about half the people getting custom NPC's done and those conversations are already making several very unique characters come to life that will add a lot of fun to the books adventures. I've also put a bunch of time in on threats that you could face in your SYNAPSE campaigns, and honestly that section has grown a little larger than I'd planned. There's just a lot of stuff I want to add in so I figured why not, let's do it!

Artwork is also progressing well, I got another batch back from AshHillArt and we've already begun work on the next ones. He's come up with some seriously creepy things for me to turn into beasties you might come across, including these little walking balls of NOPE...

The next month could be a little all over the place here, so I mainly plan on cleaning up loose ends of sections I've been working on and finishing small stuff that can easily be managed in bite sized chunks while we fall into a new family rhythm when the baby shows up. With a little luck I'll be back on this full steam before long and we can keep rolling the ball up the hill to getting it on your tabletop.

The more time that has been spent on this project, the more I can't wait to fully show it off. It's very quickly become what I believe is the best thing I've created to this point.

So until we chat again, wish me luck and send me your sleep! I'll just be over here trying to figure out how to open this ATM with my mind so that we can afford the mountains of diapers that are in our future...

Take care, and enjoy this awesome weather!

-Nick

April Update
about 2 years ago – Fri, Apr 29, 2022 at 03:01:04 AM

Morning everyone!

I had another really good month of progress in April, and managed to finally get through all the psionic powers that are currently in the game system. I'm expecting to probably add a couple more along the way, and everything as it exists now will still go under the scrutiny of balancing and further testing, but getting to this point feels like a really big deal as it was one of the biggest sections in the entire book.

Before I go into that any further, I'm also on pace to begin reaching out next week to the several of you who backed at the kitchen sink level and are getting custom NPC's done. I'm aiming to have all those emails sent out by Thursday (May 5th) next week, so if you're one of the people expecting to see one, please keep an eye on your inbox & spam folders (just in case). As far as that process I'll leave the rest of the details in the emails I send so that everyone else doesn't have to get bogged down with any of it!

Now, for psionic powers, I've been asked a couple times what all sort of things will be making their way into the game. And to help with that I've decided to include a little list that shows the names of each of them as they currently exist.

Now I'm sure some of you are thinking, great, but what does that mean?! So here is one of the powers as it currently stands within the book. It is the defensive power of Displace Self.

Each psionic power in the book follows along the same sort of template. It includes the name, a brief description of said power, the range (if applicable), the Mastery level (which dictates certain thresholds your character needs to achieve to begin learning it), and then each of the levels for that power. Each individual level has its own MR (mental reserve) cost to manifest the power in game, a description of what that level does, and then the XP cost to add the power at that level to your character.

Some powers are more simple than others, some require psionic tests to manifest, some can be maintained, some automatically last a certain duration, and some rely upon the psionic resistance of your targets to see if they'll even work. There's a very wide range of uses across the powers which will support tons of character builds.

The next month is going to be a busy one around here, but I plan of mainly focusing in on working more through the adventures, as well as the threats that will be included in the book. So until we chat again, take care and enjoy the weather as it's warming up!

-Nick