Day 11 Progress | Alleyman Touched Bundle | Update #7
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Oct 25, 2024 at 10:49:23 AM
TL;DR
- We have hit 40k!
- For lore nerds that like secrets, the limited Alleyman Touched Bundle is for you! Grab it quick.
- Rowan, Rook & Decard are Kickstarting a tarot-based TTRPG Royal Blood.
- Vote on your favorite lineage, Ell'el Vs. Unlelo.
Day 11 Progress
With 21 days left we have hit $40k. Only $15k more to go to hit goal.
The Alleyman Touched Lore Bundle
For the lore nerds who want something special, this very limited bundle includes the two settings books of the game and will be "touched" by our very own head goblin, Seven! As the holder of all the lore of all the Publishing Goblin canons Seven will be making connections in these books to the Alley tarot deck that no other person can make. You may also find some random (not just Alley) touched tarot cards in between the pages!
Royal Blood Spotlight
Rowan, Rook & Decard are
Kickstarting a tarot-based TTRPG and a beautiful deck of cards to go with it. The cards are illustrated by artist Silvia De Stefanis, and they're a powerfully striking collection.
Backers can get the cards on their own, or invest in the game to go with them. If Rowan, Rook & Decard hit some stretch goals, they'll expand the already full 78 card deck with additional court cards to match those found in variant tarot decks.
The game itself is steeped in tarot, too.
Royal Blood, players portray Royals - descendants of sorcerer-kings and witch-queens with magic in their veins; the court cards of the tarot. They're noble and powerful, but they aspire to more: they covet the power of the major arcana, and with wits and a little luck, the Royals will seize their domains for themselves.
Royal Blood is played fully with tarot cards, to create characters, generate the story, and determine the outcome of risky choices. And if you
do want to use the cards for gameplay, you can also pick up a second set for reading.
Ephemera Review: Aaron Voigt
Check out this
video by Aaron Voigt breaking down the ephemera canon of the The Atlas. Aaron does a fantastic job explaining the differences between the base text and the ephemera and how they can be used to get the details and secrets about the world.
Confluence at Big Bad Con 2024
More than half the squad is currently at Big Bad Con in San Francisco! Find one of them, take a selfie, and post and tag us on Bluesky
@confluencerpg.bsky.social or Twitter @PubGobGames and we will send you a discount code for Confluence funding right now on Backerkit. Don't forget to ask to sign or doodle in the beta atlases floating around.
Lineage Knockout Tournament: Bracket #1 Match up 4
Lineage Spotlight: Ell’el
The Ell’el remind me of insects from Earth, but with more humanoid appendages. When they are born, the Ell’el have fairly proportionate arms and legs compared to the lanky arms and short legs of the Chell. Their chitinous skin often comes in shades of yellow, green, orange, red, and brown. As they grow up, many will choose to add mechanical augmentations to their bodies like metal limbs and plates to perform certain tasks or provide better protection when traveling. Many Ell’el are now modding with Living Metal (metal that grows similar to other flora) and other materials found in Ajurea.
They can be found anywhere across Ajurea. In Motley Coast you can find them in all major cities.
Lineage Spotlight: Unlelo
Unlelo have diverse features that are most comparable to bats. They are long-limbed relative to the length of the core body, with a wide variety of specialized noses and ears. The different suborders of Unlelo vary greatly in size. Unlelo wingspans typically range 1.3 times their height. Their wings and related structures appear delicate at a glance, but the wing bones possess unusual tensile strength by weight and are linked by incredibly elastic ligaments allowing for effective absorption of impact.
They can be found all over Ajurea, and are most populous in the underground and cave communities.
Vote for your favorite in the poll below!
Day 8 Progress | CGLA Deep Dive | Update #6
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Oct 22, 2024 at 03:26:50 PM
TL;DR
- Need $15k to hit goal!
- The Confluence Guide gives you all the rules to play Confluence.
- Some of our wonderful playtesters have made some incredible fan art,
- Presavers that backed get the Jay Dragon adventure for free, but you can also grab it as an add-on.
- Keyassa has been wandering and has a new report for you!
- Vote for your favorite! Goblin Vs. Mjurn.
Day 8 Progress
On day 8 we need about 15k to make our funding goal with 24 days left.
Deep Dive: The Confluence Guide to the Living Archive
The Confluence Guide to the Living Archive (henceforth, the CGLA) is the book that covers all our game’s rules. We’ve divided it into the Player Guide and the Story Leader Guide (Story Leader is what we call our Game Master), but that does not mean that Players shouldn’t peek into the SL section of this book.
The CGLA goes over all of our rules, from the d6 dice pool resolution system, to how we handle progression. It helps teach players that this game is a collaborative effort and that the storytelling does not completely fall only on the Story Leader’s shoulders. As a player, you are encouraged to come up with your own story elements that are essential to your table’s campaign and especially to the development of your characters.
The Story Leader section contains a lot of guidance to help any SL weave sessions together to create a fun story for everyone. There’s tools there to teach you how to handle our mechanics, how to prompt players for rolls, and how to manage everyone’s expectations at the table. We have guidance, too, for how to care for the table before, after, and in between sessions.
Fan Art
Guest Spotlight: Jay Dragon
The Motley Coast Adventures Book will have 8 mini adventures to immerse you into the Motley Coast! We have invited guest writers to write a few of those adventures. Our last guest writer is Jay Dragon! If you presaved and backed at PDF level or higher you get Jay's adventure for free! If you missed the presave you can grab the add-on.
Jay Dragon (she/her) is a queer TTRPG designer and creative in Philadelphia, USA. She's the editorial director of Possum Creek Games and author of Wanderhome, Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, Sleepaway, and many others. Her games are about the power of community, the true cost of violence, and the magic of the playground.
Keyassa Report
Lineage Knockout Tournament: Bracket #1 Match up 3
Don't forget to vote on your favorite lineage from the Alfira and the Mjurn!
Day 7 Progress | Atlas Deep Dive | Update #5
over 1 year ago
– Mon, Oct 21, 2024 at 09:20:19 AM
TL;DR
- Over 70% with 25 days left.
- The Motley Coast Atlas is only the beginning and it's full of lore for you to use in your game!
- Jeeyon Shim is one of the guest writers for the Motley Coast Adventures Book!
- New lineage poll! Vote on your favorite between Alfira Vs. Mjurn!
Day 7 Progress
Just over 70% on Day 7. We have still have a few things up our sleeves to get this funded in the next 25 days. Stay tuned for more Wandering Tiers and more media from our friends!
Deep Dive: The Atlas Volume 1: The Motley Coast
The Atlas is your in-game guide to the World. It is diegetic and has been lovingly crafted to feel like a book that has been passed to you or a book that you have found, containing notes from all those who have owned this book before you. The Motley Coast Atlas contains all sorts of information about the important locations here and is divided into three: The Coast, Inland, the Swirling Sea. You’ll get overviews about our cities, such as Motley Coast City, Delrun, Crop Circle Junction, and many others. It also contains some details about notable vistas like the Gravity Isles, the Color Dome, and many, many more. We really tried our best to make sure that the world feels alive and lived in, with lots of bits and pieces for you to use for your campaigns. Speaking of…
Ephemera
One of the biggest features of the Atlas is that it contains a sprawling amount of Ephemera that are meant to serve as ideas, plot hooks, and additional flavor for any campaign that you build for your table. There are handwritten notes, doodles, newspaper clippings, folded posters that you can find throughout the Atlas that all tell little stories here and there. Look closely and you may find the hook for your next campaign!
Plentiful Gameable Lore
The Atlas was designed to be a campaign companion, containing ways for you to mechanize the boundless lore on these pages. Throughout the Atlas, you will find things like Area Traits, Themes, Focuses, and Specialties that have some rules attached to how to use them, allowing you to integrate them smoothly into play. Our team went big on gameable lore, with plenty of samples across the pages of the Atlas, with instructions of how to take anything from the Atlas and use it in your games.
Ajurea and Beyond
Our current Atlas only covers one major region of Ajurea: the Motley Coast. There is so much more of the world out there for you to imagine and create your own lore for. Of course, we hope that a successful first campaign for Confluence could mean that we will be able to also release the rest of the world that we’ve been building, but we also welcome you to create your own areas, locations, and ideas within the world we’ve made! Confluence is named so because it is a true melting pot for a myriad of things from several eras, both in the past and future, so truly, anything is possible.
Guest Writer: Jeeyon Shim Spotlight
The Motley Coast Adventures Book will have 8 mini adventures to immerse you into the Motley Coast! We have invited guest writers to write a few of those adventures. Our second guest writer is Jeeyon Shim!
Jeeyon Shim is a multidisciplinary game designer, writer, and artist based in Northern California. Heavily influenced by her background as an outdoor educator, her work grounds itself in her values around art, observation, and stewardship of the natural world. Jeeyon and her award-winning work (Indiecade, Diana Jones Emerging Designer) have been featured on Slate, The Verge, Polygon, and Shut Up and Sit Down. She likes dirt, animals, and green growing things.
Lineage Knockout Tournament: Bracket #1 Match up 3
Goblins Vs. Gods/Fallen Gods..... And the winner is Gods/Fallen Gods in a landslide!
Lineage Spotlight: Alfira
The Alfira are a beloved lineage and are survivors of the collapse of their entire Era of origin, Era 8 Labyrinthea. Alfira look a lot like mice from Earth. They are short and stout with incredible senses, especially their sense of smell. Alfira are the progenitors of one anomalous ability that is widely used in Ajurea: Smoke. Smoke was initially created by Alfira to navigate the mazes of Labyrinthea and defend against anything that might harm them. These days, Smoke is used for more domestic tasks, such as incense, cleansing, and even aromatherapy.
Alfira are found all over Ajurea and are excellent navigators. Would you play an Alfira?
Lineage Spotlight: Mjurn
Mjurn are an amphibious lineage, often presenting as large eels with long double-jointed arms. Mjurn are one of our stranger lineages and even have a vaguely humanoid-like torso for their tongues that allow them to communicate easier with their land-dwelling friends. While Mjurn are capable of slithering around on land, they do not like to be dry for too long. The cool part about them, too, is that their scales can reflect the colors of their environment! Mjurn who live among colorful reefs definitely would have shinier, more iridescent scales!
Would you play a Mjurn?
Vote in the new poll below to see who proceeds to the next bracket!
Day 5 Progress | Book Previews | Update #4
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Oct 19, 2024 at 10:01:20 AM
TL:DR
- 70% funded!
- Check the links for previews of the Atlas and the Calibration Guide.
- You can gain and spend tokens in Confluence to get better odds on a roll or change the direction of the story.
- Brandon O'Brien is one of the guest writers for the Motley Coast Adventures Book!
- Less than 24 hours to vote on your favorite between Goblins and Gods/Fallen Gods.
Day 5 Progress
We are at 70% funded! We still have a ways to go, but we have some innovative pieces to this game that will carry us through. Don't forget to share this campaign with your circles!
Book Previews
The Atlas Volume 1: The Motley CoastHalf the team will be heading to
Big Bad Con in San Francisco next week so we printed a few Best Test Atlases for con goers to doodle on. If you will be at Big Bad make sure to say hi to the team and doodle in the book. The flip through is so pretty that we just had to share! Check it out on
YouTube.
Calibration GuideWe just received a preview of the layout of Calibration from our graphic designer Cris! As with all her work it is gorgeous! Check out the early layout of the zine
here!
*We are still in Best Testing so any information, mechanics, and graphics are subject to change before final publishing.
Token Mechanics Spotlight
In Confluence you can gain and spend tokens to get better odds on a roll or change the direction of the story.
Gain a Token by:
- Using attributes to create interesting story beats.
- Resolving a Scene Roll where the Difficulty Pool had more dice than the Player Pool.
- Failing while using a facet or specialty.
- Clearing a Wound.
Spend a Token to:
- Add a die to a Quick Roll.
- Reroll a die in a Scene Roll and choose which result to use. Explain how you or an ally alter the scene when you reroll.
- Establish something new about the world. Add details to the scene, create NPCs, define a law of the land, etc.
- Have exactly what you need: a piece of forgotten paperwork at the bottom of your pack, a specialty tool that you wouldn’t normally carry, or salt bricks to trade for favors.
Guest Writer: Brandon O’Brien Spotlight
The Motley Coast Adventures Book will have 8 mini adventures to immerse you into the Motley Coast! We have invited guest writers to write a few of those adventures. Our first guest writer is
Brandon O’Brien!
Brandon O’Brien is a writer, poet, and game designer from Trinidad and Tobago. He has written tie-in fiction for Pathfinder, Magic: The Gathering, and Blue Rose RPG, and game content for games like Wanderhome and The House Doesn't Always Win. Find him online @therisingtithes!
Wandering Tier Update
Our first Wandering Tier Pledge Level went live a few hours ago and if you figured out the riddle in Update #2 you know we have more in store for you! They are limited so get the discounted materials while they are hot!
Lineage Knockout Tournament: Bracket #1 Match up 2
You have a little less than 48 hours to vote on your favorite between the Goblins and the Gods/Fallen Gods. The results so far are very interesting... Check out Update 3 for details on these lineages and then vote in the poll!
Day 4 Progress | New Pledge Levels! | Update #3
over 1 year ago
– Fri, Oct 18, 2024 at 09:15:53 AM
Howdy Ajureans!
TL;DR
- Just shy of 70% to goal.
- New Get Pulled Into Ajurea and Touched Atlas levels with the All-in Bundle.
- Stretch Goal: Pixel Table will make a Confluence Wiki, Focus Card Database and an interactive infinite canvas.
- Check out the art process video of the God of the Hunt by art lead Shan Bennion.
- Lineage Poll: And the winner is... the body molting Gen!
- Vote on the next match up of Goblins Vs. Gods/Fallen Gods.
Day 4 Progress
Happy Friday! Just shy of 70% to goal. Help us reach our goal by sharing our campaign!
New Pledge Levels and Add-ons
The All-in + Get Pulled Into Ajurea BundleNow you can get Pulled into Ajurea with a full backpack! Add something (ephemera, focus, doodle, etc.) to the Atlas and get the physical and pdf books with Motley Coast Adventures, a deck of focus cards, the postcard book, and the 3 pin set.
The All-in + Touched Atlas BundleGet your hands on a one of a kind Atlas that will be "touched" by one of our team members adding extra doodles, ephemera, and maybe some secrets. This will replace the regular Atlas in this bundle. You also get the whole kit and caboodle: the physical and pdf books with Motley Coast Adventures, a deck of focus cards, the postcard book, and the 3 pin set.
PDF Bundle Add-on
If you picked up the lore bundle, you can now add-on a pdf bundle of the game!
Pixel Table Spotlight
Confluence is different! To get the full experience we need custom digital tools to make playing online truly seamless. So we have partnered with Pixel Table, the makers of the Alice is Missing digital tools, to help us build a custom tool that will give you the full Confluence experience. Now custom digital tools are expensive so they are a stretch goal for this campaign. Help us reach this goal by backing today!
The Confluence Team has partnered with Pixel Table, to bring our userbase custom digital tools including a Confluence Wiki open to everyone, Focus Card Database including the base game's focuses, focuses from other tables, and even yours if you choose to upload them, and an interactive infinite canvas with character, group, and Story Leader support! You'll even be able to pull in the ephemera you find in the Atlas!
Check out the mock ups below. *These are representations and may not be the final designs.
If we reach this stretch goal backers at the PDF Bundle Level and higher (not including Lore and Retailer's Bundles) will receive the Founder designation which includes:
- Perpetual access to The Motley Coast materials
- 1 Board with 1 Story Leader slot and 5 player slots
- Perpetual access to and use of the Focus Card Database
Art Process Video
Our art lead Shan has put together some amazing art process videos of illustrations from Confluence! Check out how the God of the Hunt came to life from sketch to finished piece.
Lineage Knockout Tournament: Bracket #1 Match up 2
Gen Vs. Salians Winner... the body molting Gen! Goblins Vs. Gods
Lineage Spotlight: Goblins!
Spotlighting Goblins is a no brainer. You all love them so much! Goblins are a familiar lineage across different fantasy stories and games, but Goblins in Ajurea have an interesting quirk about them that sets them apart. They are born Jellyblooded: that is they are born into a symbiotic relationship with a moss, fungi, or mold that covers their whole body. Their symbiotes nourish their hosts and help Goblins heal faster than other lineages. In the same way, Goblins take meticulous care of the growth on their bodies, as the symbiotes themselves cannot survive on their own. They need to be taken care of, too!
Goblins are also incredibly diverse. Most will have pointy ears, but one Goblin can be so different from the next: from tails to the types of their symbiotes, to their claws, and the shapes and colors of their eyes.
Would you play a Goblin?
Lineage Spotlight: Fallen and Full GodsDivinity is an interesting concept in Ajurea, as there truly are full gods just walking among everyone, living their own lives. Fallen gods are a popular lineage and are an exploration of the concept of mortality and the idea of one’s own finite existence. In Ajurea, divinity is an expendable resource. Once a god or fallen god has used up their divinity, they die and are reduced to an object with their lingering essence. Divine beings are incredibly diverse, as you can be the god of basically anything in this game, and take on any type of physical form, from a towering mountain-sized fallen god slowly giving way to slumber to a small mote of sparkling dust, causing mischief wherever you please.
Would you play a god or fallen god?
Vote in the new poll below!
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