Incantations

The February Update
about 2 years ago – Fri, Feb 11, 2022 at 09:02:26 PM

Hey gang,  

So it’s been a hot minute, but here’s where we’re at with the PDF: it is completed aside from one last art piece. Once we have that, and put it into the InDesign file, the book is complete and we’ll send it out to backers and printers.  

With that, we'll be locking and charging cards on Backerkit next Wednesday (Feb 16th). You can access your backerkit account here - https://incantations.backerkit.com/ (If you need help accessing your backerkit account, please reach out to us via message and we'll get you a direct link). 

If you're curious at how the book is looking,  here are some preview spreads and spells: 

Additionally, here are some of the newer minis, currently in progress: 

Thank you all for your patience throughout this project. I’ve seen all the comments you’ve all left, those both sympathetic, and those a touch cruel, but ultimately I am thankful for the continued support regardless of where you fall.

- HTTPaladin

Backerkit incomming
over 2 years ago – Wed, Jan 05, 2022 at 11:16:36 PM

Hey Backers! Andreas here, 

I hope you all had a wonderful new years and Christmas break. As you know our anticipated PDF release date was late December, but due to some unexpected events (unfortunately more than one) HTTPaladin had to take some time for himself and recover. 

Currently, as we stand, the book is nearly complete. Editing is in progress as well as some final playtesting revisions on the sub-classes. Need to double check, but I believe we're on track to deliver a PDF by the end of the month/early Feb. 

Also, I've just about finished up the approvals on backerkit, and you should be getting invites this week. 

If you have any questions feel free to ask. 

Andreas 

Grief
over 2 years ago – Sun, Nov 14, 2021 at 01:30:52 AM

Hey gang,

I've been in mourning. I lost a friend of mine in the tail end of September. While I consciously knew that I would lose time to process my grief, I didn't know how much. I didn't know that I'd lose hours upon days, that I would lose track of time entirely as I tried to move past the loss, or that many of my attempts to function would be met with blankly staring at my work. I would have the day's task right in front of me, and just stuck at this thought:

I missed my friend. I miss the person I went to high school with, the person who I gave away at her wedding, the person who watched me struggle for years with just simply drifting. I missed them dearly. And the thought of them no longer being here would pervade and dismiss thoughts of spell schools or casting times or art.

At the same time, I had been dealing with the repair I've mentioned previously, and then later total replacement, of my PC, which I needed to keep writing and have easier communication with my team and my artists.

The past month has been an absolute nightmare.

But here is where the good news starts.

Editors are finishing up on our work. Layout is prepped. The last of art will be received soon, as some of our artists have had their own share of hardships. Our miniature artist is working on the last of the subclasses, and we will share the images of the miniatures once they are done. Currently we are still discussing whether to offer the physical miniatures of the latter six subclass miniatures in the backerkit as addons, as we won't be able to show off what they look like immediately.

BackerKit will be going out this month, with PDF delivery happening next. We will communicate when we have better ideas of physical delivery dates.

Thank you for your continued patience.

- HTTPaladin

Chugging Along
over 2 years ago – Wed, Oct 13, 2021 at 04:35:15 AM

Hey gang!

Today's update is decidedly more upbeat than the last.

Getting the last bit of art these days while we continue to polish the spells, and coordinating our playtests for next week.

But in the meantime, some more art:

For the spell Lethality Bound, we're working with the ever skillful Mizomei:

For Scribe's Delight, we work again with Iroiise:

From the wonderful BleachedRainbows, Ivory Speech and Terraneous Seeking:

And finally, due to our last subclass artist facing ongoing difficulties due to acts of god, we're now working with Wingbuffet for the art of the subclasses unlocked via stretch goals. The WIPs of these subclasses are shown below:

We're currently facing two issues, however, when it comes to getting the BackerKit to everyone, which is twofold:

• I'm still facing ongoing computer issues, but those are hopefully going to be resolved soon. Without it, I can't finish layout for the book itself.
• Second, our final stretch goal was to get miniatures made of the above six subclasses. But we need to give Wingbuffet time to complete the pieces, and then our miniature artist to finish their own work. SPEAKING OF THEIR OWN WORK, here are some of the WIPs of their continued work on miniatures:

We're still working away to get this out to you before the end of the month without having to overwork or stress ourselves out, as healthy work practices make for healthy work, but we'll keep you up to date as to any further delays that may pop up.

Hope y'all are okay.

- HTTPaladin

A Literal Hurricane, Among Other Things
over 2 years ago – Thu, Sep 09, 2021 at 08:00:48 PM

Hey gang!

So some cool stuff, and some not so stellar stuff. Got some WIPs to show, got some detailing of what we're doing with spells, and some unfortunate news.

Lets start with the bad stuff first:

• One of the artists we are working with lives in a not so stellar area in the world, and as a result we've not heard from them in around a month. While we're not angry with them or attempting to harangue them, it does mean that if we don't hear from them soon we'll have to find an artist to replace them for the pieces they're working on. Doubling on that, this is the artist who was doing subclasses, and with their current disappearance, it means we have to hold off on getting the second half of minis if the timing becomes awkward.
• Clericalcleric has been dealing with the direct effects and aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Between streets, highways, buildings flooding and/or exploding, avoiding flood water (which will decimate your health on contact), and in the following week helping to gut out homes, there's been a delay in work.
• I have been dealing with health issues of both my dog and myself. He's old as hell, and I have persistent issues with breathing.

Between all these things, we have to delay release of the PDF to late October, and will have to provide an updated date for delivery of physical copies when we have better optics.

Despite all this, we are still moving forward! We are continuing our work, moving into playtesting, sending content to our editor, and doing our best to ensure there are no further delays.

So that's that.

But here's the good stuff:

• So with each of these spells, I had a couple of rules for us designers:
• It has to demand more from the caster in order to be cast. Higher cost or more esoteric/specific ingredients, longer cast times, sometimes the ability to have multiple people help with casting single spells. If you're familiar with 3.5e DnD, think of the spell Delayed Blast Fireball and Metaconcert power.
• It could not contribute directly to combat. This is mostly taken care of by higher cast times (I've got one spell that takes around a year to finish, currently), but it also couldn't be something along the lines of "This spell deals Xd12 damage when a creature enters this specified area.". There's a plethora of things that contribute to the central theme of violent conflict present in DnD, and I wanted this book to contribute more to things outside of that.
• It should not easily be replicated by a single spell, magic item, or feature, nor replicate a single spell, magic item, or feature but in a similar way. Seems obvious, but should always be repeated.
• After the general statistics for a spell (Cast time, components, duration, etc.), each spell should provide a bit of text to describe what it may be like to cast a spell.

Today, I've got some art WIPs and some rough text for these descriptive texts. These are still waiting to be refined and revised, so keep in mind what you see below is not the final product.

For the images below, just need to point out:

THE FINAL IMAGE IN THIS POST HAS A CONTENT NOTICE FOR BLOOD.

THE SECOND TO LAST IMAGE IN THIS POST HAS A CONTENT NOTICE FOR BONES/SKULLS.

The book will have content notices for these finished pieces as well.

But here we are.

-----------------------------------

Dreamscape Convergence

Clouds stretch as far as your eyes can see, a kaleidoscope of colors bleeding up from the center of the billows. This place glows softly, and with a snap of your fingers, the clouds around you begin to swell and stretch, transforming into more familiar, sturdy features.

A Door That Waits

The chalk lights up as you finish the final word of the spell. A litany of writing and magic circles flare with soothing tones in front of you as another door somewhere else in the world lights up as well. Space and distance tears away at your asking, as the installed mechanism of the door blossoms with magnificent power. Miles and miles removed as space distorts, letting you cross vast distances with the opening of a patient door.

Scribe's Delight

A breath of fresh air, tinged by familiar page bindings and inks, fills your room. Where once there lay bare walls and empty corners, where there was simply the carpet and bedding of your rented abode, now is some further comfort. Ink just as you left it, with the pens and nibs you’ve so carefully become accustomed to, lay near a messy stack of papers you had finished. Tomes of accumulated knowledge, dust removed but their wear and tear still evident, rest on shelves and tables and on the newly reformed desk. Like returning to sanctuary, like finding solace, you return to a bit of the familiarity of home.

To Grasp The Sun

Desperation? Confidence? Brashness? All melt away as you reach up. It should burn, to even attempt to come close to it with magic, but your hand feels only warmth and calm. You feel the clouds against your knuckles, the wind against your fingertips, and the sun against your palm. You find a grip on the world’s curtain, and draw them to a close for a while.

Nine Lives Parade

Rather than provide the flavor text for this, I think this tweet provides better context.

SCROLLING BELOW THIS POINT: CONTENT NOTICE FOR A SKULL, AND THEN CONTENT NOTICE FOR BLOOD.

Deathbound Speaker

The ink dries and becomes permanent, the written writings seeping into air. The skull breathes in, ink-tinted air entering it and sparking it alight. You speak, and with a groan, it responds, its voice like gravel at first but becoming clear as more air enters it, until it talks with clarity and ease, as though death had not dried a now non-existent throat. Awareness seeps into it as the magic takes hold, and a sigh comes out from non-existent lips. It speaks the name you give it, and offers you assistance.

Irreparable Soul

You feel it fading away, slowly, surely, the strife and troubles slowly ebbing away from you. Your altar, dedicated and crafted by you and for you, hums. Your sigil stands above it, your chosen antiquity sits on top, with all the sacrificial pieces below. One by one they collapse and burn away, flames of cold and violent and careless hue robbing them of form. One by one their meanings are burned from you as well, the flames taking them too. Form and meaning are burned and swallowed by the antiquity, as it becomes more and more of you. You push through, as forms and meanings are taken by the spell and fed into your antiquity, until finally there is only you and it remaining, with your sigil above you both. You retain your form, but now it possesses your meaning.

Hope you're all doing well!

- HTTPaladin