When am I releasing Spell Saga™ 2nd Edition? Today!
When am I releasing Spell Saga™ 2nd Edition?
Hi, I’m self-aware couch-critic Todd Michael Rogers. I am currently writing to you from a national heat-wave that has some saying: “I thought the world ended in March of 2020, what is this?”.
Before we (youtuber voice) “get into it”, let me say this right up front: This newsletter is 16 days late (a “Baker’s 3 x 5”, if you will), and I apologize. There was shit that needed to get done, and to paraphrase our Lord Tolkien: I did not neglect that shit. (Insert youtuber thumbnail of a complete ass shrugging their shoulders like a clown in a circus mugshot).
Spell Saga 2nd Edition releases today!
(sort of) HERE IS THE LINK….but you should probably read this blog first : )
I have been working on the same project for 15 months straight, from mid-pandemic, to our culturally enforced make-believe end of it. That project is called: Spell Saga™ 2nd Edition. And I’m going to tell you all about it. But first, a roadmap is needed, because this answer is going to be spread out across three separate newsletters:
WHY & WHAT (LINK)
HOW pt. 1 (LINK)
HOW pt. 2 (LINK)
WHEN (You are finally releasing this now)
This demo of “All Our Uncounted Stars” remains unfinished--which is entirely on purpose. I need feedback before I continue. Everything from the gameplay, to the graphic design needs to be judged or enjoyed.
Let’s talk about the “Taste Chart”. You may recall I’m in a band or two. One thing that comes up when making art with other people is the constant sharp-toothed arguing of passionate morons. These moments are actually really important--not the arguing part, but the difference in opinions. My belief is that no one in the room is right…it just comes down to a matter of taste. There are currently 4 people involved in my band Beset.: It's three of us writing songs and the engineer (if your producer, engineer isn’t that integral to the band, you don’t need ‘em). And when we argue,there’s a chart in my head concerning our tastes, and it looks like this:
The red circle is each member's natural state of taste. It sounds correct to us, but if it’s in the red…it ain’t. It’s selfish and that’s it (can you guess which one is me). We make art for others, not just for ourselves. So how do we craft something correctly (IE honestly, by putting ourselves into it) without neglecting the tastes of others? We do this by reworking our ideas until they reach the green circle...that’s when an idea is still ours, but hits elements of everyone else's tastes as well. It’s the closest way to get to the blue X: which is the (impossible to reach) correct solution. IE when everyone takes their idea and bends it toward everyone else's tastes, the resulting song is as close to correct as it can be, because it’s a work of art made and enjoyed by everyone who cares about it.
This is what you and I are going to do with Spell Saga Second Edition. I’m giving you this unfinished demo, and we’re gonna spend the next weeks playing, talking about it, and sharing our opinions until it’s as close to “X” as possible…at which point, we’ll do it again, and hopefully have something ready to be sold.
Remember, there’s a LOT more to Spell Saga than just the card game…and I’ll have an adjusted roadmap for everything else I’m releasing in (2) weeks: June 29th.
But for now, let’s talk the exciting plans for The Tabletop Novels:
(WHEN ) THIS DEMO 0.1 IS RELEASING (it’s today)
1
All our Uncounted Stars is the very start of it all. There are a lot of ideas built into this release. Some of them are even good! One important thing to remember: the mechanics change between releases. There are some specific ideas that will be carried across the line, but each deck will have its own unique flavor of gameplay.
In the first edition of Spell Saga, players had to figure out the specific set of circumstances which led to victory. Not so much anymore! My goal is to have about five moments (I call them chapters) in each release, and to have 4+1 ways to get to that moment: Four ideas that I thoughtfully crafted, and then at least one open-ended crazy way that even I couldn’t have foreseen, brought about by a player’s personal style and a random combination of cards.
2
I want Spell Saga to be accessible to more than just me and “someone who is even more unhinged”. So besides the “taste chart” referenced above, there’s also a “joy chart”we need to think about. This second chart shows us where Spell Saga should fall in line when compared to other forms of story-driven media.
Think about the possible joy of a product as a spectrum--things are either enjoyed easily, or only after time, money and resources have led a person to understand how to enjoy the thing .I need your help to make sure Spell Saga falls on the blue X…somewhere in the middle, close enough to the left for people to give it a try, but advanced and novel enough to be appreciated for its intricacies.
And remember the “taste chart” too: right now the game is based solely on my own tastes, I’ll need all of ours to help me pull it more toward the Blue X--the good news is, there's so many of us. And the more of us working on it, the quicker I can finish the design.
With your help, I’m sure we can make this happen.
Look for a survey to be released in the following weeks, and a chat room app too.
3
I also think it's absolutely important to make sure the game is available online for tabletop simulation apps. I know a few of you found a way to pull the first edition into an unofficial cyber realm, and I should have official assets ready for you soon (or someone else can do it and I’ll share the link).
(WHEN) DEMO 0.2 is RELEASING (soon)
4
Demo 0.1 is 52 cards, and it represents the first …let’s say 2 chapters of the story. My plan is to take everyone’s feedback, and remake this demo quick-as-hell, while expanding it to the next chapter or so. If all goes well, we’ll see that demo release in August. This will be followed just a short month later with a final demo, containing more reworked elements and a completed deck of near-final art and graphic design. If all goes well, we’ll have the final digital release in October of 2022.
Let me be clear: this is all based on conjecture. If this demo is a disaster, the rework will take longer. …we want to make sure we get it right because our decisions here will affect the entire line of releases, from graphic design to mechanical complexity. It also depends greatly on my ability to work on the thing, which is directly affected by the Spell Saga Weatherguard Fan club, which is ALSO being released today!
5
The Weatherguard may indeed be the most important thing I’ve ever designed--it’s a subscription-based fan club that allows you to pay a monthly donation to make sure I can work on Spell Saga full time. I really don’t take this lightly. I’ve spent the better part of the last year-and-a-half designing this game, teaching myself the fundamentals of business, eCommerce, branding and marketing. And I’ve put in the work to make sure that I’m capable (medicated) and dependable (on a schedule with a roadmap) to those who would share this vision with me.
My plan is to spend the next 6 months growing this fanclub alongside the new site and its various forms of media releases. I have specific goals that have to be met--the first goal is 200 people (wanna help me reach it?) But I have plans of expansion--special prizes mailed to members, a very unique members-only game (I’ve said too much). Perhaps most exciting of all, I’d like to create a system where each of you gets to pick and choose WHICH seasonal branch of The Weatherguard you might be in, and have specific bonus content for each of the seasons. (there’s five, by the way…you’ll find out why after the lore section of the website is released).
FOR ABOUT .32 CENTS A DAY, YOU CAN MAKE SURE SURE SPELL SAGA--THE CARD GAME, THE NOVEL, THE LORE & MORE ARE RELEASED IN A TIMELY & SUCCESSIVE MANNER.
(WHEN, HOW , WHY) THE FINAL GAME is RELEASING
6
Will there be physical copies? Will there be a Kickstarter? Will I have decks available? I don’t have those answers yet, not entirely. Here's what I do know:
In keeping with our previous blog themes of creating Minimum Viable Products, I would like to test a few different versions of physical releases. There are two in particular that I really like:
1) Printing the cards and cutting them out is a no-go for many players. It’s time-consuming. It’s also cost-prohibitive for some, ink ain't’ cheap, and neither is Fedex. One solution that I like is having the game printed on card stock, with a really nice cover that can be pulled off and set up like an old-school DM screen--it would have exclusive art on one side, and everything you needed to remember during the game printed on the other. This would also come bundled with a nice rulebook. The cost to print these up and ship them would be relatively cheap, even shipping overseas. It’s a win-win for everyone.
2) Another option that I want to do is an actual boxed game. I want Spell Saga to come in a package about the size of a nice fat fantasy hardcover book. Inside would be the cards (perhaps in a tuck box) along with a rulebook, and a tray sized to fit cards that have been sleeved. These would be much more expensive to produce, and to ship. I would need to have a Kickstarter or presale to even think about doing this. But it’s the eventual final form (I think).
(WHEN) THE NEXT TABLETOP NOVELS ARE RELEASING
I’ve said before that Spell Saga Second Edition is going to take about a decade to finish. But that doesn't mean the content isn’t going to be constant. It may take some time to make this my full-time job, but between your drip-donations from The Weatherguard fan club, and the eventual sales of physical media, it’ll happen. I know it. Everything’s a game, and I just gotta design the mechanics to get to the goal. (I sound sure of myself, and I am. But I do stare off into the distance some days, trying not to see the horror).
In the meantime, my plans are broken down into phases. The first of which should take anywhere from 3 to 5 years (depending again upon how much time your donations will give me). I am shooting for 2 to three Tabletop novel releases a year. It’s a lot of work, but by harnessing the power of “you”, we can have multiple demos being tested while I move forward on other parts of the story. Not to mention everything else I’ll be releasing, like the serialized novel “The Unknown Peace Between Shadows”, which I am so excited about. AND of course the super-secret surprise I have planned for if this Weatherguard fan club starts reaching its goals).
---PHASE 1---
RELEASE ONE:
DEMO 0.1 ---JUNE 2022
DEMO 0.2 --- AUGUST 2022
FINAL DEMO --- SEPTEMBER 2022
DIGITAL RELEASE --- OCTOBER ?
PHYSICAL RELEASE---??? (SHORTLY THEREAFTER)
RELEASE TWO:
THIS NAME IS A PLACEHOLDER
DEMO 0.1 ---OCTOBER 2022
DEMO 0.2 --- NOVEMBER 2022
FINAL DEMO --- DECEMBER 2022
DIGITAL RELEASE --- JANUARY 2023
PHYSICAL RELEASE---??? (SHORTLY THEREAFTER)
RELEASE THREE:
DEMO 0.1 ---MARCH 2023*larger sets take longer to design
DEMO 0.2 --- APRIL 2023
FINAL DEMO --- MAY 2023
DIGITAL RELEASE --- MAY 2023
PHYSICAL RELEASE---??? (SHORTLY THEREAFTER)
RELEASE FOUR:
DEMO 0.1 ---APRIL 2023
DEMO 0.2 --- JUNE 2023
FINAL DEMO --- JULY 2023
DIGITAL RELEASE --- AUGUST 2023
PHYSICAL RELEASE---??? (SHORTLY THEREAFTER)
RELEASE FIVE:
DEMO 0.1 ---JULY 2023*larger sets take longer
DEMO 0.2 --- SEPTEMBER 2023
FINAL DEMO --- OCTOBER 2023
DIGITAL RELEASE --- NOVEMBER 2023
PHYSICAL RELEASE---??? (SHORTLY THEREAFTER)
RELEASE SIX:
DEMO 0.1 ---DECEMBER 2023
DEMO 0.2 --- JANUARY 2024
FINAL DEMO --- JANUARY 2024
DIGITAL RELEASE --- FEBRUARY 2024
PHYSICAL RELEASE---??? (SHORTLY THEREAFTER)
RELEASE SEVEN:
DEMO 0.1 ---MARCH 2024*massive sets take the longest
DEMO 0.2 --- MAY 2024
FINAL DEMO --- AUGUST 2024
DIGITAL RELEASE --- NOVEMBER 2024
PHYSICAL RELEASE---??? (SHORTLY THEREAFTER)
RELEASE EIGHT:
DEMO 0.1 ---JUNE 2024
DEMO 0.2 --- JULY 2024
FINAL DEMO --- SEPTEMBER 2024
DIGITAL RELEASE --- DECEMBER 2024
PHYSICAL RELEASE---??? (SHORTLY THEREAFTER)
RELEASE NINE:
DEMO 0.1 ---MARCH 2025*massive sets take the longest
DEMO 0.2 --- APRIL 2025
FINAL DEMO --- MAY 2025
DIGITAL RELEASE --- JUNE 2025
PHYSICAL RELEASE---??? (SHORTLY THEREAFTER)
--END OF TABLETOP NOVEL PHASE 1--
That’s nine releases in the next three years. And I can do it. But I need your help. If you enjoy Spell Saga, and can afford a donation toward the cause, please consider joining The Weatherguard (which hopefully works, because it’s a fancy system that ain’t been put to rigorous testing just yet).
See you all in just two weeks, where I’ll talk about what the rest of the year looks like in terms of releases & etc. And be on the lookout for a survey concerning the gameplay of All Our Uncounted Stars!
-mE.
PS here is a picture my Wife took of me, as I tried to finish this game in an 80 degree house with 201% humidity.