It’s been some time since we updated the website. This post contains some updates regarding the status of the game and what we’ve been up to:
Death in Space Pledgemanager
We have a Pledgemanager site up since May. If you missed the Kickstarter, and want to make a late pledge you can do that through the Pledgemanager. The Pledgemanager is also where you as an existing backer need to go to finalize your pledge (i.e. pay for shipping and provide your shipping address). As a backer, you’ll find the invite to the Pledgemanager in your inbox (note: same e-mail as that associated with your Kickstarter account), and you can also click the link below to request a new invite.
If you didn’t back the Kickstarter and want to make a late pledge, you can go this link: [LATE PLEDGE]
If you backed the Kickstarter and want to finalize your pledge, go to this link: [FINALIZE PLEDGE]
Project status
Biggest news first: We have worked a lot with the book the months since the Kickstarter ended, to finish everything before a round of external editing and proofreading. About a week ago we finally sent it off! This is a big milestone, as it means that the core book is now more or less done.
Regarding the contents of the book, we have now received all the text for the cults and factions by Pelle Nilsson, and we’re very happy with what he has created. These groups are a really nice complement to the rest of the setting material. We have also received the last spacecraft illustrations from Mattias, and they look absolutely fantastic. Here’s a little teaser, part of a larger illustration of the space station called Epoch spaceport.
Apart from the core book, we have also been digging into the rest of the material that will be sent off to print—the poster, the pamphlets and the character and hub sheets.
The poster: We’re currently writing descriptions of a number of noteworthy companies and organizations, that will be included on the poster. Apart from that, most of the work for the poster is done.
Pamphlet #1 (the one by us): We are currently working through the text, content and layout a last time. The adventure, called Search and Salvage, starts out in a classic fashion, with the player characters picking up a distress call from a nearby spacecraft. When arriving at the spacecraft, things are not as expected.
Pamphlet #2 (by Rickard Antroia): We’re seeing a lot of progress on this adventure, with the working title Katali XI, and have also started working with the layout. The adventure consists of a journey to a strange and dangerous space station beyond space and time.
Character and hub sheets: These are more or less done. In terms of style we’re going for a bureaucratic look. There’s a character sheet for player characters and a hub sheet for the crew’s spacecraft or space station. Below are some images. They’re not final, but should be quite close to how they will look in the end.
Origins
On the character sheets you’ll find the names of the playable origins. There are six different origins, and mechanically, you choose or roll one when creating your character. You get a special benefit connected to your origin, which can be a special ability, an edge in certain situations or some special item. The origins are one place where some of the weird aspects of Death in Space show up. Here’s a list of them:
- Carbon. Grown in space-based exo-wombs. Live their lives offworld and are comfortable in the darkness of space.
- Chrome. Ancient AI placed in body vessels of organic material. Part machine, but with an organic CPU and a distributed neural system that requires oxygen.
- Punk. Rebellious and non-conformist with a long history. They have seen civilizations collapse, and others turn against each other.
- Solpod. Hibernate for decades, only staying awake for short periods. Dedicate their lives to scientific study of slow, cosmic phenomena.
- Velocity cursed. Ill-fated ones that have started to lose their connection to reality. They shift and flicker in and out of spacetime with glitching faces.
- Void. Robed nihility shamans, hidden behind masks, speaking through synthetic voice scramblers. They have seen visions of the edge of the universe.
We think it’s important to have room to create your own version of the setting, and the descriptions of the origins are kept quite open. Exactly how you want to interpret them, and where they fit in your setting is something we want to be up to you and your group. Perhaps they are different species originating from different stellar systems, perhaps they are all different forms of human. Or something completely different, with feathers and a beak, if that’s what you prefer.
Okay, that’s it for this time regarding the progress of the project.
Regarding the timeline in general, we are more or less on track so far. The next big milestone will be sending the stuff to the printer, planned for September.
If you have any questions about what we’re up to or about the progress, you can always reach us via e-mail or on the Discord.