Inspired by Altered Carbon (2002), Ex Machina (2015), Destiny (2014), The Stygian Library (2018), and Gradient Descent (2020), Certain Fathoms offers a massive location that changes upon each visit, a patron NPC that can provide credits and O2 in exchange for enigmatic gear and knowledge, and several factions presented throughout the megacomplex that complicate matters.
If you're familiar with Mothership and happen to own the module "A Pound of Flesh", this adds directly onto that!
Followers will be notified when the project goes live and will have first dibs on some pretty sweet 48-hour goodies—not just from me but also from the other amazing creators participating in Mothership Month 2025!
You won't want to miss it. In fact, by following my project, I'll even give you a freebie today!
Dungeoneering: Catalysts Launches Tomorrow -- Launch Party is on!
about 2 years ago
– Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 11:01:54 AM
Apologies if you've gotten this twice - that just means you're a superfan. :)
Dungeoneers,
Hello! I've got exciting news: Dungeoneering: Catalysts is launching tomorrow on BackerKit.
For returning backers, I'm happy to announce we'll have a super secret, special bonus that comes with your pledges at no extra cost to you -- more will be revealed tomorrow at noon EST!
Additionally, you can get even MORE cool free stuff by backing in the first 48 hours. We'll talk more about that once the game is launched. For now, however, I wanted to invite you to join in on some of the pre-launch festivities over at the...
By joining the Launch Party, you'll be able to join other backers in chatting about the game, get first dibs on some goodies at launch, and engage in some discussions that will give you direct control over how the book turns out!
Thanks for being a backer of my projects and for supporting me. I couldn't have done it without you! Its thanks to your support over the years that I've been able to get to where I'm at today. Let's make this our best crowdfunding campaign ever - for both of us!
- Nate
UPDATE #24: Something Dungeoneering This Way Comes
over 2 years ago
– Tue, Dec 12, 2023 at 09:28:58 AM
Hello everyone! Hope all have been well in the months since the last update. I wanted to give a few project updates going into 2024 that I think folks will be interested in.
First though, a quick update on Pocket Encounters:
The upcoming Pocket Encounters project is temporarily paused as I rethink some of the aspects around it. What had started as a pretty simple "100 encounters with random tables and art" has evolved into something a bit more complicated, but ultimately cooler (in my opinion).
Check out the sample below comparing the early 2023 draft to the most recent, which should help explain the complexity change:
Early 2023 Draft
Updated 2024 Draft (Art Subject to Change)
As you can see, a substantial evolution has occurred resulting in two discrete "issues": each encounter effectively has double the content. Which leads to the second "issue": if we're doubling the content, the page count must also double.
So! As I plug away at that in 2024, I wanted to bring attention to a new project that's coming along muchsooner that will have Dungeoneering fans excited:
Yes! The Starlit Spire is the first fully-fleshed out adventure for Dungeoneering that takes place in the same world as our megadungeon setting, "The Nine Tombs of Athal-Kar". The adventure deals with the Cult of the Starborn - a profane organization set on summoning an eldritch evil from beyond the cosmos to the Barren Lands.
Here's a peak at the cover:
Art Subject to Change
Why BackerKit
You'll notice that the new campaign is on BackerKit rather than Kickstarter. Despite Dungeoneering having its humble beginnings in the throes of ZineQuest, two reasons came to the fore when we determined which crowdfunding site to use.
The first was that, unlike the spirit of ZineQuest, Dungeoneering is a fairly "feature-complete" product and as such, feels like it goes against the spirit of ZineQuest - which is more DIY, taking risks, etc. While we're still planning on launching in February, following in the footsteps of our prior projects, we'll be largely unaffiliated with KS and ZQ as a result of our move.
The second is that, as many of you know, we already use BackerKit for the post-crowdfunding pledge manager! It just makes sense to keep everything on as few platforms as possible. Plus, as Gloomhaven, the MCDM RPG, and many more have shown, the platform is thriving. We can't wait to dig into the tools they've got set up as we get closer to launch.
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That's it for this update! If you're interested in learning more about the upcoming expansion for Dungeoneering, please click here to be notified when we go live over on BackerKit. I'll likely be posting some updates here and there about Catalyst previews, so keep an eye on your inboxes for those.
Until then, may your holidays and New Year be filled with joy, warmth, and great games.
- Nate
UPDATE #23: One Project Closes, Another Project Opens...
almost 3 years ago
– Wed, Jun 14, 2023 at 07:55:04 AM
Hello all,
I've been watching EasyShip like a hawk and while some of the orders I can't fully confirm have been delivered, on my end it appears as though everyone has their stuff. Which means that this will very likely be the last update for the Dungeoneering: Wanderers project!
I want to thank you all for your support and dedication to Dungeoneering. It means so much to me to have so much excitement around the project for the past few years and you've truly helped me dive headfirst into the world of self-publishing RPG products.
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With that being said, there is a project I've been working on now for a little over a year that I'm really excited to launch. It's not quite ready, but I do have a pre-launch page where you can mark yourself down to get notified when it is.
Pocket Encounters is a 100-encounter memo pad, each encounter intricately illustrated for inspiration. Along with a description, each encounter has its own unique rollable table, making it a practical upgrade to other more generic tables.
The idea is that you'll have 100 total illustrated encounters that fit into five categories:
Tranquil: Calm and peaceful experiences.
Conflict: Confrontation and negotiation, sometimes by force.
Mystery: Investigation into puzzles and perplexing situations.
Discovery: Explore, learn, or acquire something new.
Wonder: Awe-inspiring or larger-than-life encounters.
Each encounter has:
a title
three keywords for indexing
a description
a d6 table specific to that encounter (with the first three entries of the table providing context for the encounter and the last three entries providing things for the players to interact with).
The whole thing is meant to kickstart (heh) your imagination and allow you enough room to customize the encounter for your game.
I'm working with DC Stow, of course, to create 100 illustrations - one for every encounter in the book.
If you're interested, please give us a follow! Again, that link is here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/grinningratpub/pocket-encounters
And here's some images of spreads and illustrations for the book: https://imgur.com/a/GNjqQ6r
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Thanks again for all your support over the years! Here's to more games and good rolls!
- Nate
UPDATE #22: Last Batch Shipment, Project Future, and GRP Store
almost 3 years ago
– Fri, Apr 28, 2023 at 11:23:18 AM
Hello everyone!
Hope everyone is doing well. Here it's raining and calm, a perfect way to punctuate this project. I've got a short update this time as there are only a few (but mighty) things.
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Last Batch Shipment Out the Door
I'm happy to announce that as of this afternoon that final batch shipment for Dungeoneering: Wanderers is out the door. This has been a long time coming and I can't thank you all enough for your patience. As a general reminder, Media Mail can take anywhere up to 14 days in the US - and international backers can likely expect a little longer than that.
I'll be doing a final project update towards the end of May to confirm people have gotten their books, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
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Project Future and Closeout
With that being said, the next update will be the last update of the project (barring any future product announcements). As all the books are printed, PDFs are available for download, and shipments are on their way, there are no other items on the Dungeoneering: Wanderers project checklist that need completion.
I want to thank you all sincerely for your support and kind words the past few years. Without you this project wouldn't exist and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I truly cherish the trust and excitement around the project and its ideas. I consider it the least I can do to give you these books and materials as you've given me so much more than that.
Thank you!
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Grinning Rat Publications Store
Once books have been received by folks and I can tally up the remaining product stock, I plan on opening a Grinning Rat Publications storefront where you'll be able to purchase Dungeoneering and its expanded materials.
This will include things like Dungeoneering: Wanderers and The Nine Tombs of Athal-Kar: Complete, but also some things that were Kickstarter exclusives such as the Dungeoneering Dust Jacket / GM Screen and the Dungeoneering "Treasures" Enamel Pin.
My expectation is that this will launch sometime in June, which will allow me plenty of time to track down straggler shipments. I want to avoid selling any physical copies of anything from this Kickstarter until backers have received their goods. I feel like that's only fair.
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Friends, that's it for this update. I'm eager for you all to get these books and peruse them. Hopefully they were worth the wait!
Once you've gotten your books, if you'd like to leave a comment on the project page about your favorite thing or something you just think is neat, I'd greatly appreciate it.:)
