A post-fall fantasy roleplaying game set on an ocean of verdant green. Please note that this is a preorder store for fans who missed the live campaign but would still like to support the game.
This game is in active development. Shipping will be charged separately closer to the game's delivery to reflect live shipping rates.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
January 2021 Update
almost 4 years ago
– Thu, Jan 14, 2021 at 12:26:21 PM
Happy New Year and Salutations!
Just a short update today to check in with everyone. Here's what we've been up to:
Layouts
We're hard at work on the next edition of the rules: Quickstart Playtest D, to be presented in full color! Most recently, we've been working on the first two layout templates designed by Leo and incorporating some of the existing color illustrations we have. It's been a lot of back and forth, with tons of artist meetings and revisions in between. We're definitely headed in the right direction and we can't wait to show you more, maybe as soon as next month.
Playtesting
We've also been playtesting extensively, both in private home games as well as on the Discord. Felix has been compiling a massive list of 'to-change, to do's' based off of the feedback and discussions that have been taking place in the community. Once we have the layouts figured out, he'll be going back to revising and drafting the rules. We're doing it in this order to try and ensure there's as little backtracking as possible.
Once again, if you'd like to submit feedback, there are a couple of ways:
Post feedback on the Discord. There's a variety of channels you can do this, from #playtest-feedback for after session reactions or #crunch for rules discussions.
If you're looking to get a game in, come through the Discord to say hello! Over the next few weeks some of the principles will be posting players wanted for public campaign playtests, in the hopes that other Fireflies get in on the action as well!
Here's some interesting data from the feedback we've gathered thus far:
Thus far we have around ~200 playtesters that have submitted feedback for the game, tracking across both Playtest B and Playtest C. That's pretty amazing. I've personally never been a part of a design cycle as large as this so it's been fun to see how such a relatively robust player pool shapes the loop of development!
Actual Plays
Finally, if you'd like to get a better feel for how the game plays or are just hankering for more Wildsea content, check out the following links:
Today is a landmark day, which feels pretty good to say - the full release of Playtest C. This new PDF clocks in at around 140 pages, adding a whole host of additional options for ship creation, character creation and (perhaps most importantly given its focus) character advancement.
It also has pdf bookmarks, meaning it should be far easier to zip around the document in search of whatever elusive rule or options you might be after. Massive thanks to Ray for setting those up, they're something that's been asked for a few times now and we're glad we can deliver.
Campaign Play
While you can still easily use playtest C to run one-shots it's written primarily with campaign play in mind. Rules for scenes, montages and journeys are expanded, and the final chapter of the document now contains a set of three pre-made Reaches - areas of the Wildsea that break away from the usual character of the rustling waves.
An early draft of the first reach was featured in the previous playtest, but there have been some major changes; the new reach format should be easier to read, use and reference, giving the GM locations and storylines to use at their leisure or merely offering details and curiosities to spark some inspiration.
The Writlings - a faction from the Foxloft.
You'll find the full details in the document itself, but I'll give you a quick run-down here as well:
The Foxloft: A reach of green and gold leaves, thrillseeking hunting families and writlings obsessed with pre-verdant wealth.
Nadir: A reach of pale blossoms and hive-minded swarms, swooping aeronauts and difficult tides.
The Interregnum: A dark, cold reach of obelisk pines and bitter snow, where cults run rampant and heat is more valuable than food.
Virtual Play Surface
Also, we're excited to announce the first Kickstarter-wide release of our Virtual Play Surface!
So far, we've built out the surface using Google Sheets. We figure most people have a Google account, which allows most people to access the surface on any device. Sheets is a robust program that allows for a great degree of customization. So far, all of the Character Creation options are built into the sheet. In the future we'll also automate the Ship Sheet as well.
Grab the Virtual Play Surface here. To use, make a copy and give access to your players. Then create your characters on the various tabs and boom! You're ready to play!
Feedback
That's not to say we're resting on our laurels. The Wildsea is still in active development. Over the next few weeks we are moving to a new stage of playtesting focusing on campaigns. The most important thing for me as a creator right now is to get as much feedback from you in the community as possible. How do you play, what do you use, what needs expanding and what experiences emerge from the Rules As Written.
With that said, Ray has prepared two new feedback surveys:
Campaign Playtesting Form - If you plan on running an ongoing campaign of the Wildsea, please consider filling out the playtesting form after each of your sessions and getting your players to fill it out as well! With this form we are trying to gather specific data about how people use the mechanics of the game including a closer look at skills and advancement. Please help us learn about how people are using the rules!
Finally, after some research exploring the various options we're pleased to announce that we'll be launching a late backer preorder campaign on IndieGogo next Tuesday, December 15th2020.
Why IndieGoGo? Primarily because IndieGoGo InDemand will allow us to create a storefront after the close of the campaign (which will only last 7 days with a goal of $500). IndieGoGo also plugs in seamlessly to BackerKit, allowing us to consolidate our backend. We looked into some other options, but in the end decided that this was the best way to get preorders up ASAP with a reputable platform.
For me, a few days of relaxation. I'll read some books, talk to players, maybe even play in a few games myself - I've definitely got some new character ideas buzzing around in my head with the new content.
And after that the work begins.
A shift to a new publishing program, to better accommodate the artists and layout designer. Reference sheets to help Fireflies and new players as they take to the table for the first time. The inclusion of our additional content, everything from backer art rewards (we'll be reaching out to you very soon) to alternate ways to run the game as a whole. More art. More writing. More options.
... And editing. The long, gruelling process of making sure that we get as much game as possible into easy-to-read sections, get the rules and concepts across with as much clarity as we can.
It's going to be a long few months for me, for Ray and Vince, and for the rest of the artists we have working with us. There's a lot of work to do to turn the Wildsea from something 'surprisingly playable' (one of my favourite reviews of the game so far) to something you'll be proud to have on your bookshelf (or coffee table, or download folder).
In the meantime, you can find us on the Discord, where we'll be organizing campaigns, playtests, and feedback on the daily.
See you there!
- Felix
The Road Ahead - Meetings, Milestones, and Mansions
almost 4 years ago
– Wed, Dec 02, 2020 at 07:41:21 AM
Hey Everyone!
To our American backers - hope you had a wonderful, relaxing, and safe holiday weekend. We over at Team Wildsea had a bit of respite from a hectic two months. Some games were played, plans made, and celebrations shared. Now we're back ready to go with a book to make. Let's get into it.
All Hands !
Shortly after the conclusion of the campaign, the entire creative and publishing team had the chance to meet face to face (virtually) for the first time. It was nice seeing the principles involved in the project, chat, and hash out the road ahead.
Forgot to take a picture during the meeting, so instead here is a picture of our glorious leader with posh accessories sure to enliven homes this holiday season.
During the meeting, we primarily covered how workflow is going to established and continuously refined and iterated upon in the weeks and months ahead. We have a pretty good plan for how we're going to tackle making this book, some of which we're going to share with you today.
Quickstart Playtest C
The next major milestone for TheWildsea is the release of Quickstart Playtest C in around 1-2 weeks. This release will contain the majority of content previewed over the past two months, including new Bloodlines, Posts, and Origins. Crucially, Quickstart C will also contain updated rules for advancement as well as new iterations of Reaches. This Quickstart will be exclusive to Backers as well as members of our Discord community - our way of saying thank you for supporting us this far.
The Horizoneer, one of the new Posts that will be available in Quickstart Playtest C.
Quickstart Playtest C will also be the last set of rules drafted in the existing format established in previous Quickstarts. Once this set of rules is out, we begin the long arduous journey to converting The Wildsea into a full a color printed rulebook.
Introducing: BlueTwoDays
That said, it's my pleasure to announce our layout artist for the project, Leo Cheung aka BlueTwoDays!
Leo is a polymath in the true sense of the word. A former dentist, he now plies his trade as a do-it-all artist who is capable of solving any problem.
An example of Leo's layout work for Parselings.
His game, Parselings, is 100% created, developed, arted, and laid out by him. He's a one man art army and we're honored to have him on the team.
Some very early thumbnails exploring composition.
We can't emphasize the importance of a good layout artist enough. In comics, the role of a Letterer completes the work of the whole with precision to be unnoticed. Layouts guide the eye and feel in a similar manner. In addition to working closely with Felix and the other artists on the overall look and feel of the book, Leo will also be one of the last people to handle the files before we send them off to the printer.
The work he creates for our layout templates will heavily evoke the existing Quickstart Rules Felix has put together. We're excited to have Leo on board the project and can't wait to see what he comes up with for the Wildsea!
Campaign Testing
To coincide with the release of Quickstart C, we'll also be opening up a new phase of playtesting - campaign playtesting! In the past two months, the amount of hours on the lignin tide has grown exponentially. Thanks to the stewardship of Ryan and Ric, we're now up to around 1-3 playtests daily on the Discord. It's been a joy seeing the community grow so fast and the enthusiasm for the game is palpable.
This new phase of testing will involve a new Google Survey form to be filled by players/fireflies at the end of each session. Again, we'd love it if you decided to become a playtester in the upcoming weeks. Campaign Crews will get special acknowledgement in the rules,named by Ship.
We're asking that those that play campaign-style register a minimum of 6 play sessions in a row with corresponding feedback after each session. More when we have the campaign playtest forms up and running!
Cycle of Iteration
We've designed our workflow around the concept of iteration. The book will be built in three distinct phases - what we're calling The Model, The Shed, and The Mansion.
The Model - Once Quickstart C is complete, Felix and Leo will turn their attention to creating three strong layout templates - one for Pierre's work, one for Omercan's, and one for Katy's - that will form the basis of the look and feel of the book going forward. This a crucial step akin to developing the first five pages of a comic book - we'll be testing full colors and two page layouts during this cycle.
TheShed - Once we have a strong aesthetic template from the Model, we'll be working on a new iteration of the abbreviated rules - Quickstart Playtest D. This will be the first release / preview of the full colored book to Backers. We'll be converting the existing rules into the new format as well as hopefully releasing a bunch of new content for this release.
TheMansion - Once Quickstart D drops, our attention turns to the completion of the Core Rules. The design of this section will be done in chunks, though the collective we'll colloquially refer to as 'The Mansion.' When we get this phase, expect us to release samples like the Firefly Section, Hazards, Reaches separately rather than all at once.
The three phases allow us three main cycles where we can further work on developing not only the look and feel of the book, but also the communication and creative balance between the team. We know there will be unexpected challenges along the way, but we look forward to tackling and solving them as they come. The Quickstart is a strong hull - we're just purchasing more fittings now that we have the stakes :)
Bestiary, Cameo, & Leviathan Tiers
If you are one of our backers at the Bestiary, Cameo, or Leviathan Tiers, expect an email from either myself or Felix (with the other CC'd) once the funds for the campaign have closed. The process for getting these tiers developed will work roughly as follows:
Felix and Ray contact you via email, introduce ourselves and the general parameters of the project.
You reply, pitching your idea to Felix and working back and forth with him to refine the concept into something that is 'Wildsea'-able, earning Felix's official canon stamp of approval.
From there, we bring in the artists into the workflow, keeping you updated as new drafts of art come in.
You'll also of course receive full credits in the book :D
Again, probably another week or two before these emails are sent out. Once the funds clear.
Future Updates
Expect a couple of updates in December as we gear up to release Quickstart C and move into Campaign Playtesting. Once the new year begins, we're going to hunker down and really get to work. That said, expect an update on the Kickstarter about once a month starting in January. We'll try to time them at the beginning of the month and hopefully will have plenty of progress and content to show.
Otherwise, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, you can reach us directly via Kickstarter, email, or the discord. Discord is once again probably the fastest way to reach us, though elsewhere you can find us at: [email protected] or [email protected].
Hot off the Press!
Obsidian Portal did a review of the Wildsea Quickstart B. Check it out:
Felix also did an interview for Hacked in the Dark, a podcast about Forged in the Dark Games:
Ryan's Actual Play for Go Jess is up on Youtube now:
If you have Wildsea stuff you'd like to share, hit us up! We'll be glad to post it.
Until next time!
Ray
The Year of the Wildsea
almost 4 years ago
– Wed, Nov 25, 2020 at 11:59:26 PM
Hello people, Felix here.
Before I get into the meat of this update, the excited congratulations and content reveals, I want to shine a light on the private side of development, the bit 'behind the curtain'. It'll be a little sombre, so if you're just here for the big kickstarter success bonanza bit feel free to skip ahead to the first heading down below. I won't hold it against you. :)
Let me share a little something with you from the start of the year. From the First of January, in fact. Taken straight from thewildsea.co.uk, a post seen by... what, twenty people? Maybe?
It seems so long ago now...
My intentions were clear, but my path was anything but. I had some positive responses from the early playtesters and one or two industry types, some useful criticism and encouragement from the design spaces on reddit, but nothing in the way of a wider following and none of the social media experience needed to create one. I had bills to pay and loved ones to think about, and I'd seen others go under through pursuit of a passion project without a definite end goal in sight. It's easy to get wrapped up in what you love, after all, but reality needs to take the reins from time to time.
So I gave myself that end goal. As I publicly promised that 2020 would be the year of the Wildsea, I promised myself in private that if it wasn't, it would be the end of the Wildsea instead. I'd release what I had and move focus to something else. I thought, at best, I might be able to scrape through a kickstarter with enough funds to pay myself back for the art spend over the previous years, finish off a basic version of the book and head for a digital release.
Well.
I think it's safe to say that things have turned out better than I could have hoped for. :)
We're Funded!
Now those are some exciting words to type!
First off, as is customary, the biggest possible thank you to everybody that's played a part in getting us here. To Ray and Vince from Mythopoeia for agreeing to publish me, to Ric and Ryan for being some of my most dedicated playtesters over the past few years, and for keeping the Discord community at full steam with regular games. To the folks over at RPGDesign and RPGCreation, for all of the useful feedback. To the artists and all of the life they've breathed into the world. To Ben Dutter and OneShot, for making and playing Belly of the Beast, a game without which I would never have had the confidence to dive headfirst into a weird fantasy setting. To Darren Korb and the Supergiant team, whose music was the backing track to at least 50% of the game's creation. To my loved ones for supporting me, and keeping me on task.
And, perhaps most of all, to the backers for taking a chance on the Wildsea and throwing their money behind it. All 2692 of you!
Thank you so much. How can I ever repay you?
Oh, right - with a game. :D
The Future of the Wildsea
We've raised enough to do what we need to do to bring the Wildsea to you in its maximal form, the best game it could possibly be. We'll be releasing a set of monthly development milestones sometime in the near future, a schedule to hold ourselves accountable to. I'll let Ray do that bit though, he does a good job at pushing me to produce.
My first task is to take a break for a day or so, then get back to work on the next updated playtest. More bloodlines, origins, posts, ship options and hazards to try out at your table, as well as a first look at some of the new arconautic content.
Including the Steep, an arconautic post created by our very own Ric Heise!
New options for advancement and character development, new ways to make a character and create aspects of your own. A new microguide as soon as possible as well, to make it as easy as possible for new players to learn and reference the basic rules and setting of the Wildsea as they play.
And, importantly, new Reaches - pre-defined areas of the Wildsea that break some of the normal rules, perfect for players and GMs that want to jump right in or see some more of what we use at our own tables.
And I don't want to spoil too much before the actual playtest release, but some of you will have caught Pierre Demet's art streams over the last month, so it feels a shame not to showcase something he's worked so hard on...
Old Venom Raz, the largest port of Venom Grand
Venom Grand, one the new wildsea reaches - a place of leviathan insects, drifting miasmic smoke and the definitely unsafe alchemical practice of mining crystalline fluid deposits from titanic chitinous corpses. I hope you enjoy basing one-shots and campaigns there as much as I've enjoyed detailing it - and that's only one of the 3 (4? I don't want to get too ambitious, but...).
The Sound of Waves
We're also working hard on things outside of the book itself, materials made to make play as easy and immersive as possible. We have playsheets and digital resources in the works, wooden dice all set to go (though the production process on that one is going to take some time), but my personal favourite out-of-book project at the moment has to be the music. Liam Vaughan has been hard at work over the past few weeks, trialling different instruments and effects to find some core Wildsea sounds. He did the music for our Kickstarter video and nailed that, and I think he's going from strength to strength in terms of capturing the feeling of the rustling waves.
But don't take my word for it - listen for yourselves! Here's a track he's produced to show off some of the different instruments commonly found across the wildsea, everything from the wolf-wire ravito and jawcordion to the tzelicrae trisketar and ektus hip-drums.
There is something amazing about not just seeing, but hearing the waves of this weird, weird world come to life! And as someone who's privy to snatches of audio for the upcoming tracks as well, I can honestly say we've got some great stuff lined up.
The Online Community
And here's another open offer to join us on the Discord - we have usually between 7 and 10 playtest games run there every week now, thanks in huge part to a whole host of new Fireflies gearing up to take the GM spot for old and new players alike. It's a friendly place, and there's a lot of community-created content being created there too - not just art, audio and short fiction, but bloodlines, origins and posts are being revealed by eager Discord members who've caught the creative spark there too!
A Final Thanks
And yes, I've said it already, but it wouldn't feel right to end this campaign-success update without another thank you to all of you. So, uh...
Thanks, people. You're the best. :)
See you on the wildsea.
- A Very Happy Felix
One One Seven, Seven Six Eight
almost 4 years ago
– Wed, Nov 25, 2020 at 02:52:15 AM
It might seem like an odd number to celebrate...
But hear me out. :)
With the campaign in its last 24 hours, I set out to write a final, congratulatory post that was to go live tomorrow - about sixteen hours from now, in fact. It was going to be a mixture of thanks, art reveal, plans for the future, a peek behind the curtain and, most likely, more thanks.
One of the things it was going to thank you all for was for getting us to 100k, which is an extremly large amount of money to put into the capable hands of Mythopoeia and enough to fund everything we could possibly have dreamed of in terms of the content, art and assets for the Wildsea's physical book release.
Well, turns out I underestimated the power of last-minute backers!
So as I put the finishing touches on my 100k message, I checked the kickstarter amount again. I try not to do it too much - it can be extremely distracting.
And that was the number - 117,768 dollars.
So here's my new message of thanks, to all of you who have backed or thought about backing or spread the word - thank you for the 100k, and the 110k, and the 115k...
But most of all, thank you for the 117,768. :D
Quite possibly my new favourite number.
New Origin
While we've released some new WIP bloodlines and posts on the discord (and these will all be fully released in the next public playtest scheduled for release a few weeks from now too), we've been pretty light on information about new origins. This is partly because, well, secrets are exciting - we want to be able to pleasantly surprise you with new content for every iteration leading up to the final release.
But it's also partly because Origins are harder to write than Bloodlines or Posts, because their scope is so much wider. They're not what you are or what you do, but where you're from - thematically, rather than just geographically. The Rootless grew up on ships, but their flavour text, drives and aspects all work toward more than that, a strong focus on family and survival and community in a dangerous world. Ridgebacks may live on mountaintops but they're defined as much by their cults and the things they've done to survive as the ground they stand on. Then you've got Shanklings and their elegant bravery, and Spit-Born with their shrewdness and social smarts.
Every Origin needs to say something important about a character's past, the places or cultures or events that made the biggest marks. The ones that helped shape their view of the world, I suppose.
So with all that said, maybe it's time for some people to strike out on their own.
The Windward, defiant to the end
The Windward follow their own paths, defined not by where they grew up but the journey they're on. I hope you'll have some fun with them next time you head out onto the waves.
Anyway, I'll save the rest of the news for tomorrow - looks like it's going to be a pretty important day for us here!
