The Wildsea RPG

Created by Ray Chou

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:

The Farthest Reaches
over 3 years ago – Sat, Nov 21, 2020 at 01:57:40 AM

Good evening, kickstarter people! I think it's time for another update...


So first off, thank you all so much for pushing us over the 85k mark - now that we've unlocked the Farthest Reaches stretch goal, I have the opportunity to throw some exciting weirdness into the optional setting materials (and exciting weirdness is very much my favourite part to work on, as a writer).


But not everything out on the waves is an exploration of the uncanny - sometimes reality comes crashing through and hits hard. And, whether it's in the chemical crack of a firearm or the jabs of an angry pinwolf, your characters are going to take a knock every now and then. 


Luckily for you, we have something for that...


The Surgeon

A healer of flesh and mind alike, few long-travelling ships leave port without the surgeon's post filled by a competent professional (or an enthusiastic amateur). The post will be a part of the updated Quickstart rules scheduled for release after campaign's end, but here's a teaser for those of you that want to incorporate a healing touch into your games as soon as possible. 

Adjust your spectacles and grip that bonesaw tight... There's no end of work out on the rustling waves.

And with that little teaser pushed out into the world, I'll leave the rest of this update to Ray!


YARR I BE TAKING OVER!! 

Expect more pictures and exclamation points! This hype train has no breaks. 

Prototype #2 of the Wildsea Dice. Design almost final, but not quite. Black Walnut Engraved.

Dog Might Games 

Felix and I are happy to officially announce that we are partnering with Dog Might Games to handcraft the beautiful wooden dice we've hinted at and shown above. Dog Might Games is a crafter of original  accessories for tabletop games shop based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 

Wooden Dice: The Lowdown

Indian Ebony + Enlay

So here's the deal. Each set of six dice will be handcrafted and packaged, carved, shaped, and engraved to order. There's a not-insignificant cost to making these dice in both material and labor.  As such, the price of these dice reflect a premium product that supports living wages and manufacturing in the USA: 


  • Black Walnut (Engraved): $45
  • Chechen (+Inlay): $60
  • Indian Ebony (+Inlay): $70

You'll be able to add-on dice via Kickstarter a couple of minutes after this update goes out. You'll also be able to add on orders when our pledge manager goes live! (whenever that is...)


Chechen Wood with Enlay. Design not final. Of note - we're probably going to go a little bit closer to bone white for the enlay if we can.

 $25 - Plastic Dice? 

We understand that the dice presented may be potentially out of many people's budget for dice. We're also exploring the possibility of offering cheaper set of plastic design (with the same pip designs) at $25 for a set of six.


If you're interested in a set of $25 dice, please fill out the form linked.


Manufacturing plastic dice  would cost somewhere in the $3,000-5,000 range to produce 500-600 sets, depending on other factors like country of origin, packaging, etc. Internally, this means that in order to break even we'd have to sell around 130 units. We're not sure what the demand is for dice, so if you're interested please fill out the form. If there isn't enough interest, we won't pursue it further. 


Press Clippings

To close today, some recent press clippings featuring The Wildsea! 





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Have question? Want to catch a game or three? Join the Discord! 


HI HO HI HO ON THE WAVES WE GO! 


- Felix and Ray 


Send Specimens Plz

Stuff, More Stuff, and Stuff!
over 3 years ago – Tue, Nov 17, 2020 at 10:59:24 AM

Ahoy Wildsailors!

I'll bet a dollar that the smoothies are nutritious and delicious on the Wildsea.

DON'T FORGET YOUR VEGETABLES!

The Lion's Mane. They come in pairs dont'cha know?

Additional Content + Crew

Okay, so we're still working behind the scenes talking to designers and other folk to bring on board. We don't want to overpromise, underdeliver, etc. etc. THAT SAID - we do have a couple of announcements regarding some of the additional content BUT - the new stuff starts with familiar faces.


Ric Heise - The Steep

Ric is one of the mods on the Wildsea Discord and the head of playtesting. Back in ye olden days (circa ten weeks ago) he bravely stewarded the Wildsea Discord, Fireflying for Wildsailors Far and Wide Almost Three to Four Times a Week!

To this day he is the player with the most hours in The Wildsea - more than even Felix himself (he can't deny it- we have the tapes!). The importance of those hours cannot be understated. See, the thing about games is in order to make them any good they actually have to be played. Crazy, huh? Design is iteration, and Ric has allowed the Wildsea to engage in that iteration process more than any other single soul, the mad lad.

The Steep. Now an official part of the Wildsea!

Ric is  the first designer we are bringing on board to create additional content - starting with the Steep. The fan favorite fan Post is now an official part of the Wildsea!  Ric is also working on a new Origin that is as-yet-publicly-unnamed based on those that choose to live in the dense wilds of the tangle rather than on the surface of the canopy.

Ryan Khan

In the days leading up to lockdown, Felix found himself on the strange shores of the New World, presenting his latest theorems of fictional ritual to a group of simians with sharp strange accents. The presentation went well. They seemed to enjoy his creation, the seeds of what we call the Wildsea.

Then everything changed.    


A wanderer of the seas, Felix found himself stranded in the northern lands known as 'Canada,' unable to return to a home that he no longer recognized. Luckily, The One True K was there to provide shelter. And food. And video games. The essentials to staying alive in 2020.     


Ryan is the other half of the mod team on the Discord. He probably has the second or third most hours on the lingin' tide behind Ric and maybe Felix, part of the original home group! He's also the Wildsea's official Sensitivity Reader, Firefly and now official designer.


Currently, Ryan is working on a new Post based on debris, destruction, and demolition. I don't know how Ryan feels about the Oxford comma but I'm still a firm believer dammit. Ryan is also working on a optional GMless module that allows you to run games without a Firefly!  Maybe if you ask him nicely he'll tell you more on the Discord!


Ryan is also making his stream debut this upcoming Saturday, November 21st, from 2:00 to 5:00 pm EST on go_jg's twitch! Make sure to check it out if you're looking for more Wildsea content! 


Actual Play Stuff

Speaking of content! After discussing it with Felix, we've decided that as part of our Actual Play Stretch Goal, we're to releasing Wildsea streaming assets for anyone to use.  You can find them here or by clicking on the link below:    

So if you've asked us in the past couple of weeks if you can stream the Wildsea - the answer is of course! AND NOW YOU HAVE SOME NIFTY OVERLAYS TO USE FOR THAT SICK STREAM! Please let us know if you decide to stream. We'll let the community know as well :)


Also, important to note is that we're still committed to doing an Actual Play series with some bells and whistles! It actually makes a lot of sense for us as well as the next phase of playtesting once the next Quickstart is out shifts into campaign play.


Announcing: Mistletoe_kiss

Finally, I'm excited to announce that the first new designer to create content for the Wildsea: Mistletoe_kiss! Mistletoe_kiss is a professional Indigenous game master and content creator for TTRPGs. When she is not creating new fiction you can find her writing or roleplaying a campaign within the community. You may be familiar with her as Daisy from the first Wildsea Actual Play or as She Who Ships in Darkness in the Blades in the Dark community! @Mistletoetrex

MK is an incredible Game Master who evokes incredible imagery and pushes players and characters into deliciously dark directions. Check out the Hacked in the Dark actual of play of MonkeyEcho's A Fistful of Darkness above and how she frames the first scene.  We just started playing last week and I cannot wait to be back at her table.

For the Wildsea, MK will be crafting the Ambered Irons, an area of Ironroots that seems to be an ambered leviathan graveyard. What will you find beneath its crystalline depths? I don't know, but I'm excited to find out!

Other Designers


More soon on our other designers, hopefully next week before the campaign closes!

Final Week

Speaking of which, we're just about entering the final week of the campaign! A hearty thank you to all for getting us this far. As we head into the final week, please help us close strong by playing some games, sending good vibes , and spreading the word! We appreciate all of you and the wonderful community that we're building.


And if you're wondering where you can get your hands on all of the wondrous unreleased content I've been previewing in this post - yeah, the Discord. The plan is to release an updated, Backers Only Quickstart once the campaign closes. 


And then from there, we keep grinding, iterating every couple of months until we're ready to go to Print. 


So uh, I guess this might be my longest Kickstarter update ever? Alrighty then! 


SEE YOU ON THE WILDSEA


- Ray 

What Do You Do with a Drunken Balfaz?
over 3 years ago – Fri, Nov 13, 2020 at 12:02:10 AM

Ahoy Wildsailors! 


How fair the waves these days? Our here in California it is cool and dry. Sometimes that can be a recipe for disaster when the winds pick up and the tinder brush. That's why you...


 DON'T FORGET YOUR TOWEL! 

We shouldn't have to remind you thrice! Saprekk Bleu!  

Enjoy the mysteries of many hands and delight in the third and final act of the actual play of the Wildsea from the troupe of intrepid Kiwi explorers!  


$75K - We're Making Dice!! 

We have dice! We've been talking behind the scenes about this and hopefully can announce what we have planned soon. We've been in talks with a USA-based manufacturer for some ultra premium hand-carved dice. 

First prototype in Black Walnut!

Did you know? Felix has not owned a set of dice since the last days of the 2016?! With this Kickstarter, we are manifesting a lifelong wild dream of his to become the proud owner of lush Chchen wood dice featuring a script of his creation. What words will spill out from the magical mathematics of multifaceted manifest? 

The design of the dice will feature Low Sour - the universal language of the Wildsea. We're exploring various options for visibility including arranging as pips and exaggerating arabic numbering in the same style. 

Personally I took home ec instead.

We're also still exploring the possibility of offering something at a more affordable price tier for the masses. If you have thoughts about dice please share below! 


$70k - Writers in the Storm! 

Also, more importantly, we managed to raise the rate of our Writers at $70k! We're still in the process of finalizing everything with those involved but we're hoping to announce more soon. It's a lot - we have to scope by word and by content. That involves getting a rough idea of how many the maximum words would be for a section to determine the overall contract.  which is our immediate priority right now.


Nonetheless, we plan to announce some of the collaborators we have on deck and the content they'll be producing next week! 


A couple of projects that I want to shout today from creative friends far and wide! 


Slugblaster

First one is Mikey Hamm's Slugblaster! Mikey is dope and I kick it with him on the Blades in the Dark Discord where we discuss the philosophical ramifications of fictional positioning on consent and authority. (Not really, but kinda sometimes.)


His game is all about shredding on hoverboards over quantum centipedes in different dimensions. I've played it. It's rad. Check it out! 


THE FEW AND THE CURSED

Felipe Cagno is a longtime friend and fan of our work! His flagship series is THE FEW AND THE CURSED- a post apocalyptic weird west story starring The Redhead - is going into print in collected trade! 


For us comic creators, this is a huge deal. If you want a comic to look as good as The Few and The Cursed does, it takes both time and money. Over the past five years Felipe has been meticulously shepherding the project issue by issue. I'm sure he's been dreaming of the moment for a very long time. If you're a fan of comics at all, check out The Few and the Cursed


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Alright, that's it from me today! Questions, comments, strange emojis below. Opinions on dice greatly appreciated. Check out the Discord if you're looking for a game or just want to chat Wildsea. 


Otherwise - 


Smell you later alligators! 


Ray




Art, Artists and a Glimpse of the Future
over 3 years ago – Wed, Nov 11, 2020 at 12:38:42 AM

Art and Artists

So first off I just wanted to thank you, everyone that's backed the Wildsea so far - not only have we powered through almost half of our extended stretch goals already, we've hit some of the ones that I feel matter most. 

The ability you've given us to increase the pay for the artists that have helped breathe life into the rustling waves is astounding. Everybody knows that art is valuable in terms of a finished product, but if it weren't for the early concepts and sketches from Kyllian, Omercan and Pierre then the waves of the Wildsea would be dramatically different today - far less detailed, far less colourful and far worse for it. Being able to pay them more represents not only how much we value their art but the thoughts and input that have helped shape the project over the last few years.

Over the next few updates I'll be giving them some space to talk about the road we've taken to get here, the art they've created and the process of turning an idea into something beautiful. Or, you know, something weird, or horrific, or baffling. Which is just as valuable!

And there are so many things you haven't seen yet! Illustration Teaser copyright Pierre Demet 2020

The Future

While we've tried not to overwhelm you with updates, the work behind the scenes over here has been pretty frenzied. Mechanical evaluation, getting new bloodlines, origins and posts into playable form, working on the post-campaign Quickstart PDF, prototyping dice and playing a whole lot of games with a whole lot of new people. 

Frenzied, but fun. 

And in fact, on the note of new posts, here's a little something being playtested right now. Those of you who found the project in its infancy may well have seen this before, but for a lot of you newer folks this will likely be fresh content - emphasis on the fresh!

The Wildsea never tasted so good

The Char is a ship's cook, a worker of wonders with meat and fruits and spices. A few of the aspects still need a little polish to bring them up to date with the improved quickstart rules, but it's already in a playable state - for those of you already running your own games, or considering starting one up, feel free to feast. :)

As we enter the last two weeks of the campaign I'll be releasing some more frequent updates as well. We'll delve into the details behind our unlocked stretch goals, release some expanded content and reveal info about the new writers and musicians contributing their skills to the waves (something I'm particularly excited for).

So once again, thank you all so much for being here with us. And watch this space!

- Felix






Leviathans, Extra Art Slots and Games on Discord
over 3 years ago – Fri, Nov 06, 2020 at 10:12:09 PM

Leviathans and Extra Art Slots

So after some conversation with Ray and the artists, we've decided to increase the number of slots available for the monster and cameo contribution tiers and add several new slots for the creation of Leviathans. The numbers will increase as follows...


Cameo backing tier: Up to 7, from 5

Monster backing tier: Up to 7, from 5

Leviathan backing tier: Up to 3, from 0


These new slots will be added on SUNDAY 8th, 9AM PST (that's 12PM EST and 5PM GMT). Hopefully this gives everyone who might be interested time to see this message and mark their calendar - we don't know how long it'll take before these slots get snapped up by eager creative types! 


We do have some speculative plans to let you add a little creative something to the final product in the near future, but this will very likely be the only slot increase we'll make for the actual Kickstarter campaign - we'd love to give more, but we have art of our own that needs doing too! 

Old Ornail may be small for a leviathan, but he is *extremely* large for a squirrel

Games on Discord

Also, a big thank you to the members of our Discord Community! Over the past month we've almost quadrupled in size, and increase we were definitely not expecting but are extremely pleased with. We went from myself and Ric running three to four games a week to a slew of Fireflies and games run across almost every conceivable timezone - it's incredible seeing this community grow! 

If you would like to try your hand on the waves of the Wildsea, there's no easier place right now than our Discord! There are plenty of players and Fireflies around at all hours of the day, eager to talk about the rustling waves and answer your questions or jump into the voice channels and play a session or two with you. Come say hello - it might be just what you need before running the Wildsea for your own table! 

One Last Thing

Before I go, just another quick thing - we're well on our way to the 70k funding level now, and I can't thank you all enough. :)


- Felix