WE MADE IT!
over 2 years ago – Mon, Aug 30, 2021 at 12:44:50 PM

WE MADE IT!

We funded the zine, we reached 2 stretch goals, we have more than 230 backers, that’s more than 230 copies of BROKEN LUCK. Two hundred and thirty copies. It’s unbelievable.

And none of this could have happened without your support. You have all warmed my heart, and I feel immensely grateful. I can’t wait to see BROKEN LUCK printed and distributed in paper and digitally around the globe.

THANK YOU!!!

I want to take a moment to thank all the people who contributed to the zine/campaign: Perplexing Ruins for the awesome art, Cleo Madeleine for proofreading the zine and editing the campaign updates and nightly tweets, Laura Elle for art direction on the campaign video, Spooky Rusty for the trippy soundtrack, LF OSR for handcrafting the A5 Faceless God Card, Ian Yusem for the impeccable mentoring, our distribution partners Floating Chair Club, Monkey’s Paws Games, and Rook's Press, Leo Hunt and Tony Vasinda for the advice given, and Vi Huntsman for the reverse interview. And to the Troika! crowd, THANK YOU so much for the support and the love!!!

Here’s what’s going to happen in the next week or so.

You’ll receive soon a survey request, asking for some important information (email, address, etc.) that will help us fulfill the rewards.

Your data will be loaded in BackerKit, there you will be able to review your order and pick an add-on, I'll detail these steps in a further update.

I'll keep you posted with regular updates detailing all the steps of the production and fulfillment process so that you know what's happening behind the scenes, so keep an eye on your inbox.

Once again: I can’t thank you all enough. You have helped make my mad dreams a reality.

Enjoy the rest of your day

Iko

The Develop-Mental Zone (industry insider exclusive)
over 2 years ago – Sat, Aug 28, 2021 at 06:17:15 PM

Hello intrepid backers, Ian speaking. Welcome to a little corner of the web I like to call The Develop-Mental Zone. That's right, buckle up for a totally cool behind the scenes look at this brand new product coming soon to mailboxes near you.

DID YOU KNOW?

Way back in ye olde March 1997, I took an exclusive look at an alpha build of BROKEN LUCK courtesy of The Lost Bay studios in sunny Paris! I even got to flex my gamer knowledge and give the team a development pointer or two. Let's see what they used for the final build!

MIEN GREEN

Whoa! The zine you see today is totally different from the last time I checked it out. It's packing almost 50% more content, with new levels and upgraded AI! The mad geniuses at Lost Bay added adaptive reaction control tech (AKA "Mien Tables") to enemies, suggestion courtesy of yours truly.

GAMER TIP Bring raccoons into the Godly Palace level to eat away at Chaos's garbage body! 

Is that a new boss I see? Behold Chaos, guardian of the Godly Palace! And what's that? The gods are dead drunk and covered with insects? These new levels and characters add much welcomed gameplay to the zine, fleshing it out from primarily a character customization tech demo into a proper gaming playground. You're welcome, Lost Bay!

IAN'S INTERNATIONAL INTERVIEWS

I got to sit down with creative lead and HR manager Iko from The Lost Bay studios to chat about his newest title. Let's peer inside the brain behind this revolutionary new product.

Ian: Hi Iko. Thanks for sitting down with me to talk about your new book, BROKEN LUCK.

To start off, which celebrity would be your top pick to play the Holy Beast in the book's Hollywood blockbuster adaptation?

Iko: Ah ah. David Bautista because he looks melancholic despite all his muscles. Or Idris Elba, for the same reasons. Whichever one agrees to do the film fully nude.

Ian: What a fun response! Everybody loves David Bautista and Idris Elba.

Sources tell me about your long standing beef with Questing Beast producer Ben Milton. Care to comment?

Iko: Rumors claiming that Ben is the main inspiration for the Faceless God are inaccurate.

Ian: Things are getting spicy in here! One last question for our readers:

What do you plan to do with the cash from your new smash success, BROKEN LUCK?
Iko: Buy all the zines listed in my "Zines I need to read urgently" collection on itch, there's 44 of them.

Ian: Wow! What a cool thought. Thanks again for chatting with me Iko, and good luck coping with your newfound success!

Iko: Thanks for having me. And may the luck be with you, wait, may the mad Gods be merciful. No, wait, no, don't go, I have nice hand-drawn tarot cards to sell.

There you have it folks, another inside scoop from the seedy underbelly of the trendy new tabletop gaming industry. Till next time, this is Ian - out!

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

In case you wondered, Ian is Ian Yusem, author of many Mothership rpg adventure modules and blogger at uncanny spheres

There is no long-standing beef between me and Questing Beast's Ben, actually, he's one of the first guests of my podcast series, yes, I host a podcast with ttrpg designers here: The Lost Bay Podcast

The last week of funding has begun, have you backed the project? No! What are you waiting for?

One. Day. Left.
over 2 years ago – Sat, Aug 28, 2021 at 03:09:21 PM

One. Day. Left.

Oh (mad) Gods!

We are getting closer to the second stretch goal. Unbelievable.

How did that happen? It’s all thanks to you - you’re awesome!

What is the second stretch goal anyway?

It’s an ADVENTURE ENGINE PAMPHLET.

Whaaat? Sounds cool! But what is it?

Remember the old Choose Your Own Adventure books? Fantastical hybrids of RPGs and novels.

 They’d go:

You stand in front of the giant golden door of the Palace of the Gods. What do you do?

You knock -> go to page 23

You sing an a capella song -> go to page 666

Well, that’s what the Adventure Engine Pamphlet is all about. It’s a one sheet pamphlet tool that will help GMs quickstart strange and exciting games in the BROKEN LUCK universe, and help you kickstart your brain!

‘But how?’ I hear you ask.

It’s easy. You’ll answer a few binary questions like:

• One-shot/Campaign
• Mellow/Restless
• Sun/Slime
• Music/Blood

And so on and so forth.

Then at the end of the process the AEP will give you an NPC, a location, and an adventure spark that you can use in combination with the rest of the zine.

Cool, right? In less than five minutes you can generate a brand new quick adventure. And this technological marvel of infinite possibilities is going to be packed into a single-sheet foldable pamphlet.

YOU CAN HELP US get there by backing the project or sharing it with your friends, your lovers, your colleagues, by sending tweets, text messages, pigeons, telepathic wires – anything that helps us spread the word and finish the campaign on a smoking hot vibe.

Two videos for you!
over 2 years ago – Fri, Aug 27, 2021 at 04:48:50 AM

Today I have a couple of BROKEN LUCK videos for you, because the weekend is close, and c’mon, let’s watch videos, right?

The first one is a leaf-through (is that even a word?) of BROKEN LUCK. If you have backed the zine, it will give you a preview of the marvel you funded. If you haven’t backed it yet, well maybe it will make you want to. 

But hurry up!

There's only 2 days left before the end of the campaign.

The second video is a reverse interview. I interviewed a couple of months ago Vi Huntsman, from the YT channel Collabs without permission, a great channel. And this week they interviewed me - I discovered that it’s much easier to ask questions than to answer them :) The video is really cool, I talk a little bit about how I worked on the zine, and you can even see what I look like (I've got the blue shirt)

Until the next update, stay well!

Troika! + Suburbs + Crapland + Video - Whaaat?
over 2 years ago – Wed, Aug 25, 2021 at 02:23:12 PM

This quick update isn't really about BROKEN LUCK (or maybe it is somehow). It's a shout-out to a game, to those spaces lying at the margins of everything, and to a zine (and its sequel).

It's about Troika! + Suburbs + Crapland. 

In the indie RPG space, there are a few suburb-themed games and zines. Some are standalone games, but a lot of them are Troika! zines. The Troika game system and implied fantasy vibe welcome weird contemporary settings, especially suburban settings.

Yes, sure, but why?

I've been quite obsessed with all those mind-itching questions lately.  And I've made a video about that. This video is also a deep-dive into Crapland by Sean Richer, a mind-blowing Troika! zine, you should know, and if you don't know it yet, you will love it.  Check the video and then hurry and back Sean's Crapland sequel: Crapland Issue 2 - YES because the good news, if there is a sequel to Crapland, and the Kickstarter is running right now.