Happy 2024!
about 2 years ago – Wed, Jan 10, 2024 at 09:05:18 AM

Good morning folks, and a happy 2024 to you all. I hope everyone has had a chance to relax with family over the holidays. Our holidays were a bit hectic but generally enjoyable... the relative calm of January is nice though haha. 

At Salty Games, I have been most busy with art direction these last few weeks. Damir Rukavina, Kate Kingston, Taylea Stepp, and Alex Rusco are returning artists creating work for the 77 Stories and Heroes of Hyuga, and I've also got some great pieces coming from new-to-NewEdo artists Adam Scythe and William Liberto. That's probably not an exhaustive list (I'm always looking for new artists!) but the books are filling up nicely and I'm really excited about continuing with NewEdo's aesthetic momentum! 

As a teaser, here's one of the simpler 77 Stories plots, some work-in-progress art, and a location description that will be useful for that plot but also for other adventures and worldbuilding in your urban jungle!

Plot: Jiro's Pursuit

You're on a mission in Sakanaya when a black-clad thief nabs something of value off one of the characters.  You notice the theft in time to see the culprit duck into a Go Go Fish Co. food processing plant to escape.  If you follow, the thief leads you on a chase through the processing facility, which would best be described as a blender the size of a city block.  Whirling blades, industrial grinders, flayers, flensers, de-scalers, flame jets and other inexplicably violent industrial machines crowd the sterilized space.  Anyone moving through the plant must succeed on a TN 7 Reflex check each Turn as a free action or take 1d4 kinetic damage.  If you catch the thief before you bleed out, and if you don't kill him on the spot, he identifies himself as Jiro. Jiro is a capable thief who might be useful in the future...

Location: The Go Go Fish Co. Plant

Go Go Fish Co. is the operating name of the food producing arm of the Matasumi Marine Products and Fine Chemicals Group. The main Go Go plant is a hyper-modern facility located on the water in Sakanaya. This city-block sized plant is almost entirely automated, with management functions conducted remotely and only a skeleton maintenance and repair crew on site. With little concern for the needs or safety of sentient beings, the inside of the plant is a densely packed maelstrom of stainless steel violence. Industrial vacuums and conveyors extract marine life from huge fishing vessels that can dock right inside the building. Goods are then scanned, sorted and routed to for flensing, scaling, deboning, and rendering. Processed product is shunted further into the plant for mixing and forming, then split off for frying, baking, or freezing as appropriate. Products intended for retail sale are packaged in friendly Go Go Fish Co. containers before being loaded onto delivery vans, while residual and secondary products are typically liquified for transport in tanker trucks. The Go Go Fish Co. plant produces no waste product.  

Backerkit and Schedule Update

Backerkit and Kickstarter work relatively well together, but the import process is not painless. I'm hoping to have the Backerkit storefront up and running in the next week or so for folks who missed the 77 Stories campaign. As a reminder, surveys won't be going out until we're much closer to fulfilment. That process remains on schedule as art rolls in, so I'm still expecting that you'll have your digital copies of the 77 Stories no later than April of this year, with physical copies starting to ship in May or June. 

And that's it for now! 

Thanks as always for being part of this incredibly community, and I hope you're enjoying your time in NewEdo. Please reach out any time, here or on Discord, with questions or concerns!

-Salty

Files Starting to Go Out
over 2 years ago – Sun, Dec 17, 2023 at 09:18:47 AM

Ahoy folks, I'm going to start sending out digital files of the core NewEdo rulebook and the full (ashcan) version of the Heroes of Hyuga module today (for those who backed at appropriate levels). Download links will be coming from my @saltygames.com email, so keep an eye on your junk if you don't see anything later this afternoon! 

I hope you enjoy your first forays into the colourful world of NewEdo, and would love to chat with you about all of it!

-Salty

A Solid Showing by the 77 Stories!
over 2 years ago – Fri, Dec 15, 2023 at 07:32:13 AM

Aw shucks, you all rock!

Fluffy Love Section

Holy crapsticks we did it! Thank you to everyone who has helped this campaign succeed - returning backers, inquisitive new fans, vocal supporters, lurkers who dove in at the literal last second (nice!) - I can't express how incredible it feels as an indie creator to see so many people excited about NewEdo. 

Almost exactly 50% of you are returning supporters from the original NewEdo campaign, and the other half are new to the game and the world. If you'd asked me before the campaign, I'm not sure I could have stated a more ideal mix. It's amazing to know that my game keeps people coming back for more, and it's exciting to see the NewEdo community growing. This time we got both!

So, for the second but not last time today, thank you.

Next Steps

There's a few things I gotta do it seems. 

• First off, for anyone who ordered any version of the core NewEdo rulebook, you will be getting a discount code to add the PDF to your DriveThruRPG library sometime in the next 48 hours or so. As noted extensively in the campaign, this will require you to fork over another $1 (but you've still paid less than retail, so don't sweat it!) - this helps push the title up their algorithm, hopefully getting it more time on the front page. That in turn gives me more money for game art (which is really what this is all about ha). 
• Similarly, everyone will be getting a link to the ashcan version of the full Heroes of Hyuga adventure module, which is a great introduction to the world of NewEdo. That'll be hosted on DTRPG and when it gets upgraded to full art, you get the upgrade for free. Sweet. But it won't cost you $1, don't worry. 
• Then I get to spend (more) money on art for the 77 Stories and Hyuga and get those projects through final edits and layout. You should expect to get your digital copies sometime next April or so, and hopefully paper copies will be in the mail by June. Art, layout, and proofing is always slower than I want, but at least this isn't my first rodeo!
• Through all of this, I will continue to provide updates here on Kickstarter so when you see the Salty Games notification pop up in your inbox, check in, because I'll probably have some cool new art asset to show off!
• If you ordered a physical copy of the NewEdo hardcover along with a physical copy of the 77 Stories, you will unfortunately have to wait until the latter is ready so I can ship them both together. Shipping is expensive (see next bullet) and nobody wants to pay twice. 
• The 77 Stories will be moving over to the Pledge Manager in Backerkit for late pledges and to collect shipping when we get closer to the date. That's where you'll confirm your final shipping address - so don't worry at all if your address changes between now and when you receive your surveys! Backerkit and Kickstarter speak relatively well to each other but it isn't totally painless. Please give me a few days to get this up and running. Surveys won't go out until late spring, so don't panic if you don't see one right away!

Stuff You Can Do (y'know, if you want)

•  Ratings and reviews drive trust in indie games. If you're a returning NewEdo fan who hasn't dropped a rating or review on the product page at DTRPG yet, please consider doing so. And once all you new folks get a chance to chew on the game, any public positivity you can splash around really helps! Of course, if you have criticisms I am very open to those - you can always speak directly to me on Discord - but I'd hope that you give me a chance to respond to them before you bomb my stars haha. 
•  Join the Discord community. Seriously, they get all the good stuff first. For example, a community member asked me about a lore item on something not covered in the book. That led to me promising to deliver a weekly "Lore Bite" on something voted on by the community. That's been going on for a few weeks and you can find the accumulated Lore Bites on our website here, but if you want to influence future releases, come put in your two cents! Or even just bookmark that link and check back weekly for the latest lore. 
• Continue to be cool, and stay tuned in!

One More Fluffy Section

Aw you guys. Thank you again. I'll shut up now. 

Goodies coming soon!

Much love,

-Salty

We're in the home stretch!
over 2 years ago – Wed, Dec 13, 2023 at 03:08:11 PM

We're coming down to the wire eh?! Eeeeee exciting, it's almost time to send out PDFs!

With just over a day left in the campaign, I thought to share another example of the kind of content you'll be seeing in the 77 Stories. "Ride Casual!" (a reference to the famous Han Solo line) is a story about your characters getting the hint about an upcoming heist. This hook gives you the what (a sweet, sweet future-tech motorbike, which will be fully statted), the who (Saiko - a rough and tumble vehicle manufacturer; Oppenheimer - a fusion-energy megacorp known for their clandestine but progressive ways; and Zed's Dead - a gang of wild Bozu anarchists out looking for nothing more than a good time), and the why (tempting players with a secret advantage in Sook's famous race). The how, where and when are left up to you, to fit into your story arc or just craft a one-shot for fun with your players. 

This structure - of providing some detailed information but leaving puzzle pieces missing - is common throughout the 77 Stories. Sometimes I'll give you the when - a plot with an important clock to add tension to your story - or add an engaging who in the form of an NPC with a ton of personality. The example above is on the shorter side, and some of the plots are a full page long. All of them include connections to other parts of the city (mine or yours) that will make the game world seem full. 

There's always more than one solution or outcome to the problems presented in these stories, giving your players the chance to flex their favourite character skills. In Ride Casual! your players might opt for the direct and opportunistic route, getting to the bike first and fighting off anyone who tries to take it from them. Alternately, they might report their information to either Seiko or Oppenheimer, looking to gain an advantage with a corp that has something they want - political influence, deep pockets, or sweet toys. More patient players might decide to let Zed's Dead nab the bike and take the heat, then follow them and buy or steal the bike from them. And even if your players aren't interested in the bike itself, there's the opportunity to use their information gambling on Sook's race - or even Oppenheimer's stock price - for big profits. 

I hope this wets your whistle and gets you excited for the 77 Stories. If you've got a circle of friends or an audience who might enjoy this kind of worldbuilding content, please consider sharing this campaign with them. With the industry awash in AI generated content (both art and copy), it's getting harder for us sweat-and-blood creators to get noticed. I'm proud to fork out thousands of dollars to real human artists, and all my copy was lovingly crafted by yours truly. Usually over a beer or two. 

Thank you for staying tuned and being engaged! You'll hear from me again on Friday with details on what comes next!

Much love, 

-Salty

Stretch Goal Unlocked for a Free Upgrade!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Dec 12, 2023 at 10:56:01 AM

Afternoon folks, just a quick one today, I promise!

We've just cracked through the $7,500 Stretch Goal that will allow me to publish a version of the Heroes of Hyuga adventure module with art and maps! All backers will receive an ashcan version as soon as the campaign ends, and a free* upgrade to the finished version when it's released (likely a bit before the 77 Stories book). Here's a cover teaser from one of NewEdo's original artists, Kate Kingston: 

We're getting pretty close to the final 48 hours here. I've been struggling with what to offer folks to entice anyone who has been on the fence. Hopefully this upgrade to a finished version of a 20-30 page adventure module will help! If you have any suggestions, please feel free to drop them in a comment, with my thanks!

As a reminder, the backer levels / costs during the campaign are below what the retail cost of these items is or will be. The Double Tap tier (C$18) gets you the core game PDF ($20 retail), the 77 Stories PDF (~$9 retail) and the Heroes of Hyuga adventure module (~$3) - that's almost a 50% savings! Physical backers get all that plus a $5 discount on their printed books. If you've got friends who might be interested in NewEdo, now is definitely the time to get them on board!

Ok that's enough shilling from me for today. You'll hear from me again soon as we wrap up the campaign. I hope everyone is having an amazing December and getting teed up for a relaxing holiday season (if you're lucky enough to get one!). Thank you as always for your support, and for being part of this incredible community. 

-Salty