Less than 8 hours left to grab a free art print! (Distal)
7 months ago – Fri, Apr 26, 2024 at 08:13:11 AM

Back a physical order and get a free art print of the Temple Grizzly (art by: Lailamon) before 7pm EDT tonight!



We're doing great so far, and are more than a quarter of the way toward our funding goal. You've all been doing a great job interacting with the project and keeping us moving. Let's keep it going!
-Wrel

Hey, so, we launched! 🚀 Here's what's next. (Distal)
7 months ago – Thu, Apr 25, 2024 at 10:46:26 AM

Hey all! Yesterday we launched the campaign for Distal. This is my first-ever crowdfunding campaign, so all of the learning, and building, and doing has been exciting, fun, and intimidating at the same time!

There are a few things I want to get across up top.

1. Thank you all for being a part of this, (and special thanks to those who showed up to launch last night!)
2. There's a long road ahead I'll continue to post updates throughout the campaign.
3. If you want a free art print, be sure to pledge a physical edition either today, or early-ish tomorrow, as it's only available in the first 48 hours.

If you missed the launch day stream, you can check out the VOD here.


Provided everything goes to plan, and we're funded at (at least) $18,000. Here's the roadmap I showed off on stream. You'll find some elaboration on what all that means in the launch stream video.



Before we can even really think too hard about this stuff though, we've got to fund the game first. We've got a good head start for our first foray into crowdfunding, but it's still a ways off from reaching our minimum to ship.

Remember, if the project doesn't fund, your money isn't even collected. So if you have the means financially, let's get this thing built! Thanks all!
-Wrel

Backstories, organizations, and playing the game before... playing the game. (Distal)
7 months ago – Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 06:02:34 PM

Backstories

Backstories (backgrounds) are a big part of Distal's character creation, so we made building them as fun and relevant as the rest of the character creation process. They provide you with mechanical benefits and narrative hooks that you and the GM can grab hold of and build on.

 

Organizations

During your Session Zero, we put your real-life party of players through a team-building exercise to establish an organization. An organization is built with prompts, similar to a background, except that you choose, as a team, which prompts are most appealing to you. It helps set the tone for the kind of campaign you'd like to run, as well as the role and reputation your characters take on in the world.
 



--
Have you created a character from the free alpha material yet?

If so, what was their two-sentence backstory, and how did you interpret it?

Post it in the comments section!

Almost a year of work lead to today. 🎉 (Distal)
7 months ago – Wed, Apr 24, 2024 at 08:43:33 AM

The original Google Doc I started this project from has a creation date of May 12, 2023. It wasn't a game at that point, just a list of ideas I was kicking around for fun. Fast forward through almost a year of development, and we're on the cusp of launching a new d20 experience that you and your friends can play forever.

Today is launch day! At 7pm EDT, the campaign goes Live, and we'll be livestreaming it to celebrate. (Find your local time here.)

I have some pretty outsized aspirations for this project.

• I want Distal to be a solid foundation you can build on.
• I want third-party content creators to be free to share and sell their work, without their livelihood being threatened by the whims of major corporations, like Hasbro.
• Most of all, I want you all to feel good about the game your playing -- and that you feel connected to not only the world and your character, but the other real-life people at the table.

Buuuut, that's getting ahead of ourselves. Ultimately, the future of the game is in your hands, and how well this campaign does. So let's start with today.
 
I've put together a quick video talking about what you can do to be prepared for launch later today. If you haven't seen it already, click here to watch!


Here's the TL;DR.

There are a few things you can do to help Distal have a successful launch.

1. Follow the project: You might have created a BackerKit account, but haven't followed the actual project yet.
2. Engage with the project and other backers to push us to the 🔥trending🔥 page! Commenting on posts, liking posts, and replying to comments from other users counts toward this effect.
3. Make a pledge! And don't worry: If the project doesn't fully fund, BackerKit doesn't collect your money.

ONE WEEK until launch, here's how to help. (Distal)
7 months ago – Wed, Apr 17, 2024 at 09:54:44 AM

Only. 👏 one. 👏 week. 👏 until. 👏 launch.

How to Support the Project on Launch Day (Apr. 24, 7pm ET)

1. Follow the project if you aren't already
   • (You may have entered your email, but may not be following! Be sure to check!)
2. Watch the Livestream on Apr. 24, 7pm ET
   • Set a calendar reminder for Google, Apple, or Yahoo
3. Engage with polls, comments, and updates.
   • Engagement helps push us to the trending page!
4. Invite your friends!

Introducing: Mendarii

Experienced fantasy worldbuilder and homebrew hero, Mendarii, will be joining us to develop a micro-setting for Distal if we reach our 25k stretch goal! (We'll talk more about stretch goals once we're closer to launch.)

Mendarii often streams her process on twitch.tv/mendarii, so go check it out!

What's next?