The Tower - A System Agnostic Puzzle Dungeon Crawl

First Stretch Goal Met!
12 months ago – Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 04:50:04 AM

Amazing, we've met our first stretch goal. Which means 3 more rooms, and an expansion to a very special puzzle room!

I'm looking forward to writing up these extra rooms, taking The Tower to a total of 10 rooms and along with it more creatures and items. I'm really grateful to all of you for supporting this project and getting us here as this tier is the one that factors in me (Lola) getting paid more than £100 for the writing of the Zine (and fulfilment process), so your appreciation of my ideas is frankly, very cool and very exciting. Of course as we reach more of the stretch goals, we'll be adding in more of Nala's amazing art and more for them. If we were to hit our final listed stretch goal, I may have at least one more secret stretch goal that we could aim for....

The sword is an item that's been pretty central to this campaign as it is a physical reward in keyring form. So here's a little bit more about it.

The sword is a vicious thing, with jagged edges made to rend, catch and disarm. Its hilt is partially wrapped to ease the hold, as the sharp tip and reservoir takes from its wielder, whilst promising to decimate your foes. The gem sitting between hilt and sword is empty and dull, until claimed and revitalised.

It recognises you as you give it your blood, the gem inside fills and begins to glow. 
If you choose to bond with this sword and use it over others it promises to make your enemies bleed.
You are swifter to cut and your damage lasts longer, the jagged edge puncturing deeper and rupturing more.

A practiced sword will find a parry can be turned into a disarm, as an enemy weapon catches against the jagged edges.

The cuts with this sword leave lasting damage, and despite the harsh looking nature of it, it lends the wielder a fluidity of movement and enhanced swiftness to attack. 

 

It is found by its former wielder's skeletal corpse, hand still gripping it in death. 

A sword this intense needs a name, it can't be called by the action used to achieve it forever. So wonderful backers over to you!

What shall we name this sword?

Community Projects

NUKED! is a post-apocalyptic RPG where players take on the roles of Skrappers - bunker-bustin', raider-killin', and adventure-havin' miscreants in search of one more big score. This system reminds me very much of my youthful love of Tank Girl (aging myself here) and a more recent appreciation Mad Max Fury road. These two new supplemental adventures for the system look like a lot of fun. 

What's my Motivation?I have a deep love of solo journalling TTRPGs, which is why i'm always working on a few.  This one though is a great exploration of character development and storytelling. Where you embark on a journey of self-discovery with this character-building system for tabletop games, novels, and other fictional settings. Navigate through your character's Past, Present, and Future. Become a better storyteller, improve party dynamics, and increase story engagement with thoughtful prompts and deeper, more complex characters for your TTRPGs.

Arkyvr The other Mothership 1e adventure that has me champing at the bit to play mothership for the first time. Trying to do your job in... less than optimal conditions, equipped with only camera gear, ARKYVRs will attempt to document life in space and expose corporate atrocities while surviving the void’s unspeakable horrors. So you know if anyone is looking to bring this to the table message me.....

Over 1000, That first stretch goal is in sight!
about 1 year ago – Thu, Feb 08, 2024 at 09:26:52 AM

Welcome Everyone and many many thanks!
Our first stretch goal is in sight, which is fantastic because I've been noodling on at least one room after outlining it and its taking over my brain a bit. If you'd also like to get those stretch goals going, please don't forget to share far and wide!

Tempt them with prints and the promise of sword keyrings, puzzles, poetry, riddles, art and a bunch of creatures and items. Then give them the link and say they know what to do! :P
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johnsonofair/the-tower-a-puzzle-dungeon-crawl

In other news, I'm really excited to share that the prints have arrived!!!!!

Also I got a frame straight away for mine because I love it! It's going to hang on the wall by my Game bookshelf.
For more close ups of the texture, feel free to check out our tiktok video on the prints.
 

Community Projects

On Kickstarter we have

Ganymede Outriders on the failing terraforming project of Ganymede, someone has to shore up the oxygen, keep the planet liveable, make sure the drops get to where they need to and also .... keep the dinosaurs from overrunning us all. With buggies, mayhem and peril as a tagline this project looks like a lot of fun! 5 days to go

And on Crowdfundr

The Stone Flesh Gift a ship out there in the wilds of space, no comms, no way of hailing it, but a deep strangeness. Glyphs across it's hull and a thrumming at its core. This living ship is the gift and a supplement for Mothership. Honestly this and another project have made me very much want to give Mothership a go, so I would check them out. If you want to run them when they're out let me know if you've space at your table :P

The Hauntings of Hyde Parksometimes I'm a bit of a sucker for what lies beneath, what haunts the streets we walk and what steals the voices of those around us. Especially in Locales that I can recognise but don't live near anymore! 7 days to go!

103% Funded!
about 1 year ago – Mon, Feb 05, 2024 at 07:21:29 AM

The Tower is funded! Thank you so much everyone, we're really excited to bring you The Tower puzzle dungeon crawl. 

Now we want to meet those stretch goals and get more in the zine for you, taking the number of rooms from 7 up to 10, which also means more creatures and more items.
 

Creature Feature

For a little taste of the creatures check out Ultraviolet, kindly named by Rook of RJK Games (As we share further creature profiles, we'll be asking for name suggestions :D)  

A creature made of cast off potions mixed and congealed into a slime.

• This puddle of congealed potions is slow to get started but once awoken is faster than the average person.
• It will take on a person like shape, of various heights and widths and is in all cases a swirl of different colours with some transparent sections.
• Whilst it cannot fully disappear it will find it easier to hide, as it can shift the transparency around its body enabling better blending with its surroundings.
• It can put on bursts of speed to reach a target and envelop them with its poisonous form.
• Someone that manages to escape absorption will often be left with colourful staining on their skin and sickness.
• It will fling liquid or hardened mass from its body as a harmful method of keeping others at a distance until it is ready to attack them up close.
• It's viscous body protects it from most physical weapons.

Basic Art by Lola (For better creature art from Nala J. Wu we need to achieve all those stretch goals!) 

 

Community Projects
 

There are many fantastic projects crowdfunding this Zine Month, Over various different platforms including this one for Zine Quest. 
 

GUTGUN by Grace Gittel Lewis
A Boomer Shooter RPG, for solo play and if you're feeling social can be converted to a 2 player.
This game is designed to bring the blood-pumping action of a classic PC shooter to tabletop, along with their graphic style. It's also SO CLOSE to funding!

There are also projects on Crowdfundr for Tabletop Nonstop. If they sound interesting to you please do check them out and send some love their way! 

Lethe TTRPG - A game about rediscovering your past and deciding how much you will let it define your future.  
For 1-6 players and GM, where players learn their characters as they explore the world of Lethe and get to choose how they define themselves. The eagle eyed among you may also notice that I'm one of the stretch goal writers!

If Actual Plays are your thing especially ones that share an upcoming TTRPG you should check out It Happened One Monday - Girlfriend of the Week~ There are no meet cutes, there is no closure...
It has an incredible team and fantastic cast, I can't wait to see it come to life! 

👀 Over 50% Funded in less than 24 hours!?!
about 1 year ago – Thu, Feb 01, 2024 at 07:35:20 AM

Hey Everyone!

So much love and appreciation for your support so far! 

I can't  believe we're already halfway to funding. Im buzzing with excitement and I can't wait to show you the prints when they arrive at the beginning of next week. 

Over the course of the Kickstarter I'll be sharing creature and item profiles, more behind the scenes goodies and talking about the process.

There will also be opportunities for all of you to have a direct hand in this zine, by suggesting and voting on names for the creatures, and more!

I'm hoping we not only surpass the initial goal and stretch goals, but raise even more because I have some fantastic ideas to elevate your games with this zine. Whilst it will mean we can print more copies, it also means I can pay more creators to make this even better. Which makes my little community focused heart happy!

Have a fantastic day everyone!

 Lola