End of October update
over 6 years ago – Tue, Oct 31, 2017 at 05:30:53 PM

Want to see Adrian Stone's latest art for Spire? Of course you do. Here are three portraits of the character classes:

 As far as the rest goes, we're still on schedule for our estimated delivery date next year. In more detail: 

- We're still undergoing proof-reading of the core document to make sure it all works properly (and to fix my apparent desire to capitalise every other noun)

- We've been through a few rounds of revisions for the layout design, and we're currently juggling three options and trying to work out which elements of them we want to combine into the finished product (we'll show you a preview soon)

CAMPAIGN FRAMES

We're working on two pay-what-you-want campaign frames to be released alongside the PDF launch of Spire, intended to give players an easy-in to the world (and to let people take a look at what the game is like without having to buy it). These are similar to Blood and Dust, our quickstart adventure, but aren't bundled with the rules and are intended to set up a series of about ten linked games each. 

Eidolon Sky, currently in playtest on the Spire discord, is a story set in the towering minarets of New Heaven; demonic incursions are driving the inhabitants mad, and a new drug is sweeping the streets like an epidemic. What's going on? And how can the players take advantage?

The Kings of Silver gives the player characters a straightforward mission - take the Silver Quarter, a district of debauchery, wealth and sin from the control of Mesye So, the aelfir's puppet ruler and divert profits to the Ministry.

We've not really written adventures before, and we weren't huge fans of the way that most of the ones we'd seen were written, so we've steered away from a focused approach and presented something closer to a sandbox; we give you characters (both PC and NPC), motivations, trigger scenes and suggested actions, and you go at it however works for your group. 

(Chris and I are running two separate games of Eidolon Sky at present and they're going entirely differently; his players are drinking tea with a Blood-Witch, and mine are investigating corpses jammed full of occult machinery. So I guess that means the system works?)

Anyway. We (Chris, Mary and I) had a business meeting last week and discussed the way that Spire is moving forward after the runaway success of this Kickstarter, and what we can do to further explore the world that we've created. We're really excited to show you what we've got coming up next year.

Yours,

- Grant

End of September update: Art, Words, etc
over 6 years ago – Sat, Sep 30, 2017 at 03:02:19 PM

Hello!

Thought you'd appreciate an update on how things are progressing.

Firstly, we've finished up the leftover sections from the core book and sent them off to Harry for proofreading. We've had a lot of fun writing up the backer-created gods and the abilities they offer: we've got a hive-mind of refugee gods from the Home Nations, formed as drow fled the civil war; a god that lets you build a powered flight suit; Garrack, the once-human god of robotic transhumanism; and The Masked God, who appears in the mirrors of liars and offers them great power.

Secondly, Tim has finished up his maps and newspaper clippings, and they look amazing.

 Can't wait to see how they all look in print. (We'll be offering a print of the Underspire available through the backerkit soon.)

- Grant

Backerkit integration complete
over 6 years ago – Sun, Sep 10, 2017 at 07:52:28 PM

You should have received your Backerkit emails by now - please check your spam folders if you've not found it in your inbox. We've also included a download link for Blood and Dust, the Spire quickstart rules and scenario, and a code for Discord access - so if you've backed us at a level that allows access to those, you can login into Backerkit to get them.

BLACK MAGIC.

We've been hard at work on Black Magic since we last wrote, and we're happy to announce that we've finished the first draft and included full rules for the enormously powerful and horribly dangerous Demonology. What follows is a few excerpts from the book to whet your appetite...

 That's us for now. More soon!

- Grant and Chris

Expect your surveys soon!
over 6 years ago – Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 01:38:28 AM

Hey folks,

PRE-ORDERS ARE LIVE.

Did your friends and associates miss out on the grimy wonders of Spire? Want to let them join you as you plunge headlong into the Vermissian or kick masked aristocrats from the parapets of New Heaven? Our pre-order store is live, and you can access it here. We'll be leaving it open until we go to print, which at current estimates will be around January. If you share it with your friends, we'll love you forever,

SURVEYS.

Just a heads-up - we should receive the money from the Kickstarter either today or tomorrow, and once we have it, we'll send out the Backerkit surveys to the email addresses linked to your Kickstarter profiles. If you've backed at a fancy high-tier level that involves us creating content for you, you'll be able to fill out details on your rube, tavern or god there - otherwise, all you'll need to do is confirm your shipping address if you're awaiting hard copies.

BLACK MAGIC, BEE WIZARDS, SPIDER-MUMS, AND SO ON.

Chris and I have been hard at work on the additional supplements that we reached as part of the stretch goals. We've finished the first draft on Deep Apiarists, as you can see from the excerpt of our low abilities below...

We've also completed the Midwife, the Blood Witch, and the Hunger Witch (now called the Grangou, whose skills involve no fewer than three different kinds of magical curry goat). In addition to that, we're hashing out some more solid rules for demonology, after hinting at it vaguely throughout the core book - we feel like it's worth giving your players every opportunity to grab a monkey's paw, after all.

And that's not all! Chad Walker's sent over his manuscript of Secrets Kept From the Sun, Tim's hard at work on the map of the Undercity (taking his trademark liberties with the source material) and we've listened to all of the the background tracks from Tabletop Audio. In fact, here's one to listen to right now - the scuttling sanctuary of the midwife hatchery.

That's us for the time being; we'll be in touch periodically with updates on what we're doing as and when. 

- Grant

DONE.
over 6 years ago – Thu, Aug 17, 2017 at 10:58:55 PM

DONE. DUSTED. COMPLETE.

We're done. The constant updates can cease. The continual shilling will stop. The rampant wailing of the Blood-Witches will... well, that's carrying on, apparently. We can't get them to stop. I don't want to get in their way.

Thank you all so much for your support over the last month. It's been hectic and a little stressful, but it's been brilliant to see everyone get excited and invested in the system, the setting, and the stories that are already coming out of Spire.

We're going to go quiet for a bit while we write the rules (we're nearly done with Blood-Witches, and we've got a list of ideas as long as my arm for Deep Apiarists) and get various things sorted out, but once we have updates, you'll be the first to know. First order of business is to set up the Backerkit, which we'll use to manage your pledges, distribute rewards, and keep your addresses up to date. (Also, it'll have a full pre-order store too, so you can upgrade your pledge, or buy additional copies, if that's something you fancy doing.)

Right. Going to have a lie down now.

- Grant (and Chris and Mary)