Chapter 4 Preview! Progress Update & Delays
about 2 years ago – Tue, Oct 25, 2022 at 05:36:56 AM

Finally, the meatiest chapter in the book. Chapter 4: the WORLD chapter! It's packed with so much stuff, I've decided to divide the previews into 2 updates, plus it'll give me some more time to finish the Chapter's layout.

 "The World" - Chapter 4 Preview (pt. 1)

First off, here's a concept for this chapter's opening spread:

In this piece (unfinished, concept by the talented @benjaminsommeregger) a Masked is holding on for dear life as a Tower Dweller carries them over fields and swamps towards a castle/estate in the distance. So much of the content I've shown off reflects how down-to-earth ZND is, I think it's worth remembering that it's still a FANTASTIC world! Emphasis on "fantasy."

The chapter starts off with a few big, beautiful maps. This one divides the world into the "Old World" consisting of the countries that survived the end of the previous Era, and the "New World" consisting of countries & territories that didn't exist before the current (4th) Era. The world of ZND has ended many times. Still, something always stays. 

Then there's this beauty! This political map shows the strange bind this world's gotten itself in. Alliances, pacts, independence, war... trace all these things with a marker and you'll end up with something that looks like a neon spider-web. Luckily, the specifics are left for GMs to fill in, this chapter only provides the historical background needed to start you off. In your campaign, maybe Lunas & Luka's alliance is shakey, maybe there are even whispers of war... Maybe they're still close allies and it's the prideful Humans from Umina who are trying to take over Uminoa to the east. Anything goes! The world chapter presents a single moment in time. Where it goes from there is all up to you. I can't wait to see what you do with it!

The Gods are real, but you'll wish they weren't. Anyone who worships the Gods is considered a dangerous criminal. The reason? The Gods usually hear it and turn their attention to whatever sad plot of land the worship came from. The Gods can give gifts, power, legendary status, and more... Yet, chaos and destruction always seem to be the end result. Adventure is great for poets and singers, but it's not great for the local economy...

History plays an important part of ZND, but no one likes sitting down for a lore lecture. Instead, the lore is built into the very systems that keep the world of ZND turning. Simple things like calendars, maps, and roads were all created by someone, some culture, and their stories are indelibly stamped on their creations. The Lehrean calendar is no different. It was (allegedly) invented by Lehrer the Wise, an ancient ruler of the human empire in the 1st Era. So many stories and creations are attributed to him that it's difficult to tell if 'Lehrer' is an actual historical figure or some kind of ancient archetype for a wise ruler.

The Missing Month (what happened?)

Some of you have noticed that no new update came out last month. Originally this was because I was taking a short break, briefly going out of the country to visit family. However, I quickly realized that I'm not feeling well and consulted both a psychiatrist and a general practitioner. Without going into too much detail, I'm under the weather. I've been so devoted to this project, to getting it out on time that I neglected my own health and, as it turns out, waited too long before getting myself looked at. It's nothing too serious, but it has affected my ability to work more than I'd like it to. I waited with the update because I didn't have any decisive news, or any conclusions, but also because I was embarrassed that it took me 2 months to do what I used to get done in 1 month. This will undoubtedly cause a delay. I hope it won't be a big one, and I hope you'll forgive me. If you have any more questions, hop onto the ZND discord channel and I'll gladly answer everything :D

Chapter 3 Preview! (+Paypal Enabled on BackerKit)
over 2 years ago – Mon, Aug 22, 2022 at 11:19:48 PM

Note

 I want this system to be as clear as possible and super easy to pick up. In my own games, it's never taken a player more than one session to become completely intuitively comfortable with the Fitting Action system. However, not everyone has the game's creator as GM and that's why I want to add as many tools in this book to make the system as intuitive as possible. Your suggestions have been a huge help! Especially the top 2: more play-by-play examples, and more in-world fiction. I've gone back and reworked the first two chapters to include more of both. The biggest one so far is this spread showing an example of how to use Zin, Zin Towers, and a new mechanic called ''Pushing It.'' I've added a short player introduction to prevent confusion and, to make things even clearer, some visuals to show what skills or, in this case, Zin Tower each player will be using in this example.

Here's the new mechanic "Pushing It:" Every player has 5 Zin Slots to begin with. But what if a player spends all their slots, then finds themselves in a dangerous situation? Or what if the action they’re attempting is so outrageous, that even 5 Zin Slots aren’t enough? To put it simply, what if you need MORE? By “Pushing it,” a player can use up some of their LP (life points) as Zin Slots. LP heals much slower than HP, making this a dangerous tactic to employ. Remember, when you run out of LP, your character is dead.

"Surviving on Djin-Za" - chapter 3 preview

Chapter 3 is taking shape! This chapter, "surviving on djin-za," covers the rules & dangers you'll encounter out in the world. Here you'll learn about combat, different types of health, optional mechanics like hunger, as well as practical non-mechanical dangers like the art of Mai-Dji (dueling tradition), travelling by land and by sea, and more! Here's a draft version of the opening spread.

In this art piece (unfinished, concept by the talented @benjaminsommeregger) a human and feborn can be seen dueling, both using the Tower of Fire as an audience watches. This duel isn't an ordinary street fight. It's Mai-Dji, an ancient dueling tradition where the more powerful fighter vows to restrict their use of Zin to the level of their opponent. One fighter might have 3 levels in a tower, but if their opponent only has 2, they'll only use the first 2 levels. If their opponent has no levels in any Zin Towers the duel is a special category of Zinless Mai-Dji with its own history and tradition. 

An introductory spread showing, among other things, the difference between HP & LP, and explaining some basic out-of-game principles concerning danger and character death.

This is a part of the chapter I'm particularly excited about since none of it is included in the Quickstart Guide. It's completely new to everyone, playtesters included! This is part of a section about the use of masks by the non-masked species of Djin-Za. Masks play an important role in civil & military life in Zin Never Dies, and a very different one than the one we're familiar with. In many cases, masks aren't seen as a form of concealing, but of honesty and transparency as explained by this in-world excerpt:

“The mask is the face of your master. You wear it into battle, for you are an extension of your master’s will on the field. You wear it so as to fill the last moments of your enemy’s living mind with the face of your master. In the haze of death as in the haze of battle, it becomes that face. One who betrays the face of their master is unworthy of their mask. To wear the face of your master is to shed your own, and to become a vessel of a higher will. To wear the face of your master is to let go of the ego.”

Oh, and that second top suggestion "in-world fiction" hasn't fallen by the wayside. The book will include lots of in-world fiction from many different points of view, all of them subjective despite what some of them might say. The sources range from eye-witness testimonies to collectors of tales from anonymous sources, to ancient legends full of embellishments and outright lies. Like our real-world history, the winners often grab bits and pieces from the stories of the defeated and integrate them into their own. The wise king Lehrer, for example, has more tales to his name than any one person possibly could. That's because once the stereotype of the "trickster" became synonymous with Lehrer, storytellers and singers had an easy, well-known main character to pin their ideas to. 

Maybe the darkest part of this chapter covers near-death. Coming near-death in ZND scars you in ways that are difficult to describe. The full extent of these effects will be described in the GM section of the book as their consequences are mainly from the narrative side of things rather than number-based nerfs & buffs.

BackerKit update

Aside from the ~40 stragglers, everyone has completed their BackerKit surveys! Some have contacted me about being unable to pay with a credit card despite already having pledged on Kickstarter. No worries! I changed the settings on my end to enable anyone to pay with PayPal instead. Hopefully that will help :D

That's all for today! I'll keep you posted as I make more progress!

Nemo

Chapter 2 Preview!
over 2 years ago – Fri, Jul 22, 2022 at 06:07:06 PM

"Who will you be...?" - chapter 2 preview

That's the title of chapter 2 which covers character creation, species selection, the basic rules, and Zin Towers (a mechanic not unlike "schools" of magic). In the previous update, I wrote that chapter 3 will be all about "rules & dangers" and chapter 2 would only concern character creation. However, while working on this chapter I realized that it makes more sense to feature the basic mechanics in this chapter, and then introduce the "dangerous" mechanics in the next chapter "Surviving on Djin-Za," mechanics like combat, health, hunger, and damage. Let me know what you think!

As you can see by the table of contents, this chapter has much more meat than chapter 1, the introduction. Some folks have asked if all the art in the book will be "Masked-focused." The short answer is no. The long answer is that most "background-less" pieces like the Masked teacher (in the "Taking Action" example page below) are Masked-folk, yes. But most full-page art pieces like the one shown above will feature all the different species of ZND. 

This is because the Masked are the reader's guides through the book in the same way that the Vault-Boy is the player's guide through the mechanics of the Fallout games. A (mostly) solo project like mine can't feature as much art as something made by the big TTRPG studios who've been doing this stuff for decades, the budget just isn't there... and full-color, full-page pieces like this one take up a lot of that budget. Still, I want there to be as much art in this game as I can possibly make! I'm trying this out with the help of many incredibly talented concept artists. The art in the background of this spread for example was made by me and conceptualized by the talented Benjamin Sommeregger.

Player suggestion: play-by-play examples

I have read, organized, categorized, and re-read your amazing suggestions submitted in the surveys and the one that kept popping up was "actual-play examples." Short bits that show the rules of the game in action. In board-game terms, if the rules section is the "manual," then these parts are the "watching your friends play a round before jumping in yourself." After a section teaching a new mechanic, you'll find a page like this featuring a dialogue between player/s and GM. 

Some of you suggested that the examples shouldn't just describe the rules, but help set the tone as well and I think that's a great idea. I'll do my best to walk the line between charming and spooky which the rest of the game aims for with these examples. The example page above, "Saving Mr. Torches (draft)," keeps things simple with one player and one goal: saving a cat. As the mechanics get more involved, so will the examples. I hope this will help everyone get a better grip on the mechanics (and tone) of ZND :D

And for a sneak peek at the Zin Towers section, here are the concepts for 6 of the Towers, followed by the Tower of Illusion in its finished state to show what these will look like when they're done.

Survey reminder

Over 540+ of you wonderful beans have filled out the surveys we sent out. A few encountered some issues and couldn't see the email. So far I've been able to help everyone who's reached out. As of today, only 70 beans have yet to finish their surveys. If you think you might be one of those 70, check your inbox or reach out to me through the ZND Discord server.

One last thing before I go. Some of you have notified me of a wonderful fact! If you google "Djin-Za," the world map of ZND comes up on the front page of the search results!!! I absolutely love it and adore you all for spreading the word about ZND. It means the world to me.

That's all for today! I'll keep you posted as I make more progress!

Nemo

Chapter 1 preview | new website features | surveys
over 2 years ago – Mon, Jun 20, 2022 at 04:43:35 PM

Check your inbox! Surveys are in.

Now's the time to finalise your address, shipping, and add-ons. I also used the Backer-Kit surveys to sneak in an extra question. "A little off-topic but... What's one thing you wish more RPG books included?" The answers you all gave are, no joke, the single best creativity boost I've gotten since the Kickstarter ended. Here are a few of the ideas I took note of right away:

• "A quick reference guide/cheat sheet for both players And game master"
• "Tables & generators for world-building or plot creation"
• "Lots of randomisation tables"
• "More ART"

Thanks for submitting answers, everyone! If you skipped the question or had an idea after the survey was already done, no worries! You can drop more suggestions on the #Suggestions channel of the ZND discord server.

Now let's talk about the book!

I've got lots of juicy stuff to show you! First of all, I'll tell you the plan, then the current state of things. My plan is to create seven chapters: 

•  Welcome to Djin-Za - introduction
•  Who will you be? - character creation
•  Surviving on Djin-Za - rules & dangers
•  Djin-Za - the world
•  Buried in sand - history
• Book of living things - bestiary 
•  Behind the veil  - Game Master's guide

But how much already exists? Well, the first chapter (introduction) is finished. Chapter 2 (character creation) and chapter 6 (the bestiary) are 90% done. What remains in those chapters is some layout work and art. Chapter 3 (rules & dangers) is the trickiest since it requires fitting the unreleased mechanics to the ones already available in the Quickstart Guide. Things like armor, poison, and a few other surprises that require big brain Nemo. The easiest part (for me) is writing the world lore and history. As for the Game Master's guide, I'm keeping that until all the mechanics are done so as to not waste a whole bunch of time on rewrites.

Preview: chapter 1 - Welcome to Djin-Za

I'm working on the layout of the different chapters right now and wanted to share what the Chapter 1 spread looks like. This chapter, Welcome to Djin-Za, includes:

• A very basic summary of the mechanics
• An in-world introduction to the world, myths, & history of ZND
• And a summary of the present state of the world.

Here's one of the spreads from this chapter, "back when humans ruled the world" all about the 1st era and the origin of Zin. I want to hit a good balance between art & text. I personally have a hard time with books that drop a metric ton of text on me with no visual orientation or anything.

That spread is immediately followed up by this one, showing the calamity that ended the human "golden age." The art spanning the spread is by the talented Benjamin Sommeregger. He's the one responsible for drafting lots of the full-page pieces throughout the books, which I then use to make the finished pieces. The "Welcome to Djin-Za" cave piece is a good example of the quality you can expect from these when I'm done with them.

Website update

Thanks to @DMYetti, the ZND website has seen yet another make-over! New features include:

• New layout
• Codex of the creatures listed in the Quickstart Guide + their stats
• Codex of the species listed in the Quickstart Guide + their stats

Lush, green, and slightly unsettling. Just like ZND!

Critters!

I actually used this codex yesterday! I was making an example character for the Character Creation chapter and needed stats for a Masked. Instead of flipping through the Quickstart Guide, I just typed "z" into my search bar, let google complete it to "ZinNeverDies.com," and ten seconds later I had all the stats I needed. Hope you find it just as useful! :D

That's all for today! I'll keep you posted as I make more progress!

Nemo

Pre-Order Store is open! (Surveys coming soon :D)
over 2 years ago – Tue, May 24, 2022 at 06:05:49 AM

Success!

The move is officially done! This message is coming to you straight from the new ZND HQ! So, what's been going on?

First, that shiny button on the Kickstarter page no longer says "Follow Along," but "Pre-Order Now"!

Click on that shiny bean and you'll find yourself in the ZND pre-order store hosted on BackerKit. You are more than welcome to have a look around by clicking this here logo. Of course, if you encounter any issues in the pre-order process, let me know either here or on BackerKit. As a (mostly) one bean endeavor, it's more than likely I made errors in setting it up. 

Surveys are coming!

In other BackerKit news, those bad boys are on their way. In the next 7-10 days, you’ll receive an email with a link to your BackerKit survey. It will include some basic questions, the option to switch tiers, and shipping information. Make sure to fill it out as soon as possible so we can put all the logistics behind us as quickly as possible. No need to create a BackerKit account to fill these out. 

After you respond to your survey, you can go back later and change your responses at any time before I close the surveys and get the final counts.

In the meantime, here's some ZND art I've been working on (with the wonderful help of several concept artists) since the Kickstarter concluded. See you all soon for the next update :D

And to finish it off here's a quote from my players during a playtesting session.

I love these idiots <3

See you all in the next update!