A deck of worldbuilding prompts for creating imagined lands, local lore, and story-driven maps for creative writing and tabletop RPGs.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
A holiday gift: the expansion demo!
over 2 years ago
– Tue, Jan 25, 2022 at 07:21:15 AM
Hello backers!
I'm dropping by quickly to wish you happy holidays and leave you a little gift: the expansion demo! (And a new export of the main deck!)
We'll be releasing the full run of expansions when we charge credit cards next month for any balances owing in BackerKit: this includes shipping fees, post-campaign add-ons, and any VAT or Canadian GST/HST due. (Don't worry, I'll post a 2-week, 1-week, and 48-hour warning before we charge cards in BackerKit!)
I know that in the meantime, a lot of you were eager to dip your toes into the expansions and give them a try, so I thought I would make a sampling of them available to everyone as a little holiday bonus!
The Expansion Demo
In your BackerKit, you'll find download links for the expansion demo, which contains eco-efficient and high-quality PDFs featuring 12 sample cards from each Genre and Cartography expansion. The material is just about final, so please do DM here on Kickstarter if you spot any typos or formatting issues!
We're still working on the eco-version backgrounds for the Creative Expansions, so we'll be delivering those in both eco and high-quality a little later when we can provide them as a set. I also wasn't able to export the expansion guidebooklets before shutting down my workstation for a few days of holiday.
For now, here are my suggestion for two ways to use the expansions:
If you're looking to free-form create, mix the expansions in with the main deck and draw as you normally would. If you ever can't make an expansion card work with your setup, just discard and redraw.
If you're looking to consciously plan different climate zones, you might consider setting the Cartography Expansions aside and drawing cards from the different sets specifically when you want to develop a coastal area, arctic area, or desert area!
There are more options when you have one or more complete expansions, but I'll save those for the guidebook.
You'll also find an updated main deck in your BackerKit downloads! Most of the changes are to Region and Landmark artwork and pairings.
If you have any trouble accessing your downloads, try these instructions or contact BackerKit for support!
Quick Progress Check-In
We've been continuing to review and proofread the decks and we're making excellent progress! About 80% of the cards have now been reviewed by the sensitivity readers and curriculum team and roughly 50% is through proofreading and exported for print. We should have that wrapped up around the end of the month, at which time we'll pivot to final review of the guidebook and expansion guidebooklets.
I also recently got the last of the artwork from the EMBERWIND team and it is STUNNING. Huge thanks to Derek and Nick for pulling out all the stops on these!
Happy holidays and expect to hear from me again soon in the new year as we plan to distribute the full suite of PDFs and charge cards for any outstanding balance in BackerKit.
Thanks and take good care!
Locking pledges + charging BackerKit credit cards in 2 weeks
over 2 years ago
– Tue, Jan 25, 2022 at 07:20:21 AM
Happy New Year, backers!
This is a shorter update to let you know that tomorrow I will start the BackerKit pledge-locking process in advance of distributing all PDF expansions and boosters and charging your credit cards for any outstanding balance on Jan 18.
Tomorrow, you should receive an email notification from BackerKit saying that your order will be locked in 48 hours. This means that you have 48 hours to change your pledge level or add-ons using the link provided in the email. You can also update your order using your original survey link or by recovering your survey link.
Remember:
Your address will NOT be locked yet. You will still be able to update your shipping address any time you want using these instructions. Addresses will be locked closer to the start of shipping, and you will receive a similar notification giving you 48 hours to update your address.
You will still be able to change your pledge/add-ons by DMing me on Kickstarter with specific requests. I am always happy to help people adjust their pledges right until shipping begins.
Charging Credit Cards on Jan. 18
On Jan 18 we will be distributing all PDFs and charging credit cards for any outstanding balances in BackerKit using the payment processor Stripe.
ADDED AFTER POSTING UPDATE: If you would like to delay charging your card and receiving your PDFs to a later date, just send me a DM on Kickstarter and I will prevent your survey from locking.
You can check your balance using your survey link or the link provided in the order locking email.
Your balance will reflect the pre-shipping pledge total that was collected in Kickstarter, as well as any shipping, sales tax, add-ons, or pledge changes that were updated/assessed in BackerKit after the campaign.
For Canadians with physical pledge tiers in PST/HST provinces, the total shown in your survey may not be final as mentioned in Update 11. Once your base pledge is finished locking on Jan 6, we will spend the next 72 hours applying complimentary credit to your pledges to make sure that the total of your base pledge shipping + sales tax does not exceed the shipping estimates we provided for your base pledge during the campaign. You will be able to check your BackerKit profile any time after Jan 10 and see your updated final total.
Canadians with digital pledges are unaffected as those pledge prices are tax-inclusive. Pledge totals for Canadians in GST-only provinces should already be final and accurate.
Development Updates
We're in the final stretch of preparing for print! The sensitivity reviewers are sending me notes on the final block of 180 cards. The proofreaders have two blocks of cards left to finish. All the expansion and booster boxes have been designed and will be sent for review this week. I'm finishing up text edits on the mini-guidebooks for the expansions and boosters over the next two days.
When all notes are in and changes have been applied, I will take an extra few days to do the final-final-final just-to-be-sure review, and then do the final asset-by-asset export. Our production partner is standing by to start checking our files.
I'm especially excited about the packing for the new Story Engine boosters! The lotus-folding booster design allows us to do double-sided printing and add multiple panels of art. Here are a couple of my favorites from the new set.
Note: These assets have not been reviewed yet.
That's all for now! As in previous updates, I may be a little slower to respond to messages and comments as I push through the last pre-print preparations!
Deck pre-production progress continues on schedule!
over 2 years ago
– Mon, Jan 03, 2022 at 09:46:50 PM
Hello backers! I just wanted to provide a check-in on deck progress, which continues full steam ahead!
Beta Feedback
First of all, I wanted to say thank you for all the comments and feedback we received during the beta. It was incredibly helpful for fine-tuning the cues and some of the visuals, and we made a number of cue changes and image substitutions before sending the cards into pre-production.
Pre-Production Process
Since the beta, we have been ferrying the main deck and consolidated blocks of expansions through the various stages of review: first tagging in our sensitivity readers and curriculum developer to consult on each set of cards, making adjustments as recommended, and then exporting high-res files for our proofreaders to review.
Right now, my primary focus is keeping these content blocks moving between teams so we can aim to send our files to print at the end of December/beginning of January. With over 1,000 cards, numerous guidebooks/booklets, and the exterior packaging, it's a lot to stay on top of.
Fortunately, there's an excellent team working on everything! The sensitivity readers and curriculum consultant (Yasmine Fahmy, Sonya Ballantyne, A.Z. Louise, and Kendra Harrison) have been providing invaluable notes on improving deck content, increasing accessibility, and finding the best treatment of potentially problematic cues. The proofreading team (Leigh Teetzel and Tyson Pink) have been keeping eagle-eyes on the text and print formatting while expediting their turnaround times, so we're in great shape!
I also wanted to thank Zach Schuster, who has continued to be a great help keeping exported decks moving between teams, and Miroki Tong, who has come on board to help keep production timelines moving and get ahead of any fulfillment hurdles.
Updating the Beta and Print-and-Play
I had hoped to provide more updated exports of the beta as deck pre-production continues, but the pre-production process has left less time than I wanted for coordinating fresh exports and uploads of print-and-play material.
I am committed to uploading a new beta version of the main deck within the next week.
For the expansions and new Story Engine sets, the plan is to release print-and-plays in January when we will charge credit cards in BackerKit for any shipping fees, VAT/Canadian sales tax, add-ons, and pledge upgrades. This will be three months ahead of schedule!
Larger Timeline Check-in
Our larger physical deck fulfillment timeline continues to look good for October 2022 fulfilment.
As you might know, the world is in the midst of global freight crisis and raw materials shortage. We've been planning around skyrocketing freight times and costs since March, well before launching the project.
Under normal circumstances, our production timeline might include 1-2 months for print production and 1-2 months for ocean freight.
For this project, we budgeted more than double that: 9-10 months for production and freight.
As global logistics continue to get worse and worse, it looks like we planned well by expecting unprecedented freight timelines. While the optimist in me holds a reservoir of hope that decks will deliver early, it's the pessimist in me who I put in charge of logistics. (And right now, that pessimist seems to have called things right!)
That's All For Now!
In the meantime, I'm staying focused on keeping our files moving through the review process and off to print! As always, I'll be around for questions or concerns, but I may be a little slower to respond during the pre-print crunch!
Once everything is with the printer, I'll be pivoting my attention to releasing the rest of the print-and-plays and starting to produce additional tutorial videos and stretch goal resources.
Beta feedback deadline + new PDF resource + fan guidebook + art update + more!
over 2 years ago
– Wed, Dec 08, 2021 at 03:29:02 PM
We have lots of news and a few important deadlines coming up for today’s update!
Deck of Worlds beta feedback deadline: November 17
New free PDF resource: worldbuilding journal pages
Bonus guidebook materials for Deck of Worlds/The Story Engine Deck
We hope you’ve been enjoying the beta version of the Deck of Worlds! For those of you who have submitted feedback, thanks so much!
We're setting November 17th as a soft deadline for everyone to submit thoughts on the beta. If you haven’t had the chance to tell us your thoughts, we'd appreciate you sending them in by them.
We will still accept feedback beyond this date, but will have less flexibility for folding it into the deck design. We want to make sure the final product is something we’re all happy with, so your input at this stage is invaluable!
Also, for those who have shared photos of your home-printed decks: thank you! We always love the chance to share what you're up to on our Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Also, love to see those corner-rounding punches at work! ;)
In the meantime, we're tightening up the final pieces of the expansions and starting to prepare for print.
Free PDF Journal for the Deck of Worlds
We teamed up with WorldCraft Club to create some free PDF journal pages for recording prompts and setting notes. This PDF can now be found in your BackerKit downloads if your pledge included the Deck of Worlds PDF. (For help accessing your digital downloads, see here.)
1 of 4 worldbuilding journal pages designed by WorldCraft Club for their Worldbuilder's Journal, all included in the PDF
WorldCraft Club is currently running a fully-funded Kickstarter for The Worldbuilder’s Journal, which will be a great tool for expanding the worlds you create with the Deck of Worlds! We got an early look at the resources and believe they're a valuable addition to any worldbuilder's toolkit.
Nick Gilbert's PDF Guidebook for Deck of Worlds/The Story Engine Deck
For those of you with both The Story Engine Deck as well as the Deck of Worlds, Nick Gilbert of The Story Engine Deck Creative Collective on Facebook has created an unofficial guidebook for using the two decks together.
Sample custom page from Nick Gilbert's customized guidebook!
The Story Engine Deck Creative Collective on Facebook is a fan-run group that has been a welcoming space for writers, roleplayers, and worldbuilders to share their original content. Please consider checking it out!
Over the past couple of months we've been working with the art team of the EMBERWIND tabletop RPG to produce new illustrations for the Enchanted Items & Cursed Curios: Unique Items Expansion.
The team has produced some beautiful illustrations and I just wanted to share the process of going from concept to almost-final art.
Here are the concept sketches behind the "quill" card:
Once, we had a concept we liked (in this case a combination of concept 2 and 4) we proceeded to a detailed version.
This version still needs a final touch: EMBERWIND's iconic paint spatter/brushstroke effects. But the concept is already coming through beautifully.
I'll showcase a demo of the Unique Items expansion in the new year!
You can still add this expansion to your pledge in BackerKit. Just open (or recover) your original BackerKit survey link and click "Edit Your Order" in the top-right.
Micro-Setting Art Updates
If you’ve been following The Story Engine on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, you’ve no doubt seen some of the amazing micro-settings created by our team of talented writers and artists for the postcard series.
There are still a few more we’ll be revealing over the course of the next month. Here’s a sneak peek of some of the micro-settings if you haven’t seen them yet:
The Basin That Weeps, created by Alina Pete and illustrated by Tiago Sousa
The River That Walks, created and illustrated by Grace P. Fong
Once the decks are printing we'll start sharing a deeper dive into these micro-settings, including lore and short stories!
If you'd like to get the collector set of 13 postcards we're printing of these micro-settings, you can still add that on in BackerKit. Just open (or recover) your original BackerKit survey link and click "Edit Your Order" in the top-right.
The Laughing Cliffs, created by Victor Manibo and illustrated Sabaa Bismil (left), and The Swamp of Despair, created by Brent Lambert and illustrated by Beth Sparks (right).
New YouTube Microfiction
We've been showcasing a bit of microfiction on our YouTube channel.
As a reminder, the form for schools, libraries and community groups to apply for a free deck is open until November 30. Please remind the teachers, librarians and volunteers in your life about it. Even if their organization is not allocated a deck, they'll receive a free printable PDF copy and set of lesson plans. You'll find full details on the application page!
Production Schedule
Finally, we are powering full-speed ahead on finalizing the expansion content and preparing to export files in advance of proofreading and sensitivity reading.
Over the next couple of months, we will have reduced availability for messages. Our goal is to begin sending files for the printer to review around the end of December/beginning of January, and leave lots of buffer time for freight given the global supply challenges right now. We will still be monitoring social media and comments on here, but responses might take an extra few days.
Thanks again for the ongoing enthusiasm! As always, if you have any questions, let me know in the comments and I'll cover those in the next update!
The beta PDF is out + the educator deck form is open!
over 2 years ago
– Mon, Nov 01, 2021 at 11:27:04 AM
I'm thrilled to announce that the beta print-at-home PDF is now available in BackerKit! I'll walk you through everything you need to know about the latest updates to the design, accessing the beta, and providing feedback.
But first, the form for schools, libraries and community groups to apply for a free deck is now open as well! It will be open until November 30. Please let the teachers, librarians and volunteers in your life know about it, especially those that work with communities that receive less access (or high demand) for educational and creative resources. Even if their organization is not allocated a deck, they'll receive a free printable PDF copy and set of lesson plans. You'll find full details on the application page!
Updates you'll see in the beta
Here's a quick summary of the changes you'll see in the beta compared to the alpha copy shown in the campaign videos, photos, and diagrams. Some of these I have discussed in the previous updates, but I'll cover the one new change in some detail below.
The card text has been updated and supplemented with the contributing writers' ideas. Thanks again to the incredible team who brought so much creativity and insight to these cues, many of which you'll also get to see in the forthcoming expansions as well!
Landmark Cards are now symmetrical and rotatable (like Advent Cards) rather than stacked with both images upright.
Namesake Cards now only have one cue that comes before the name of the Region/Landmark.
NEW: Each Advent Card cue also contains 3 variant suggestions.
Let's talk briefly about the update to the Advent Card design.
Updated Advent design.
Originally, each Advent Card only contained two cues and there were 32 Advent Cards in the deck. This meant there were a total of 64 potential events in the deck. I know from the reception of The Story Engine that people really value the long-term replayability of these decks, and I was worried this might the limiting factor for Deck of Worlds being reused over a span of years. However, I didn't want to add more Advent Cards and disrupt the precise card ratios within the deck, which are designed to model the number of cards you'll use if you alternate between creating simple and complex micro-settings (3 Landmarks, Namesakes, and Attributes for every 2 Regions, Origins, and Advents).
I was also struggling to balance the need for specific, interesting events (that tend to be less replayable) with trying to cover more bases with broader, more open-ended events (that tend to be replayable, but offer less of an immediate hook).
Then I had a brainwave: with a bit of creative redesign, I could present each Advent cue as a headline event with optional suggestions for more specific variations. This would give users the best of both worlds: an open-ended, replayable cue with the option to tap into multiple variants for additional replayability or an immediate hook.
Another example of the updated Advent design.
You'll see that now, each Advent cue has some smaller muted text following the main cue. These are optional suggestions for re-interpreting the event through more specific lenses or mixing up how you manifest the event in your world. This also means that each card has both open-ended and specific options, which is useful for accommodating both interpretative and literal-minded deck users: something I've been trying to design for since the beginning.
What you WON'T see in the beta
Before you dig in, I want to walk you through the development status of the beta.
Here is what has NOT been done yet:
Proofreading. Once the final content is ready, I usually hire 3 professional proofreaders to do complete passes of the deck and guidebook, plus my own card-by-card hard copy review. There will be occasional typos and small errors in this version that the professionals will catch on their passes. Please report these through the feedback form.
Sensitivity reading. Three sensitivity readers will be doing a review of the final deck content. While I always strive to create products that are respectful of difference, this draft has not yet had the benefit of a professional review that examines the potential impact of the deck from a variety of perspectives. I welcome such feedback from backers as well.
Curriculum review. The main deck will receive a more in-depth curriculum review to make sure the cues are suitable for classrooms (or can be framed appropriately if they present ideas that will be challenging for younger students).
Expansions. The expansions are fully written, and I've completed the rewrite of the Advent Cards to match the new format, but I want to gauge the reception of the main deck and see what lessons are to be learned before I start locking the final pieces of the expansion designs into place.
Bonus guidebook sections. My project coordinator Zach did an incredible job laying out the guidebook, but you'll notice the current version only goes up to page 6. We will likely add an additional page that covers combining Deck of Worlds and The Story Engine Deck. Until we release that, this demo video covers some techniques for combining the two!
Otherwise, the beta PDF is a fully functional (but still-to-be-polished) version of what I believe the final deck will look like!
How to access the beta
The beta has been distributed via BackerKit's "Digital Downloads" system. You can access your downloads by opening or recovering your BackerKit reward survey, or by checking for an email notification BackerKit may have sent you about the new download files.
To open your survey, access the original link for your reward survey from the BackerKit notification email you were sent when surveys were first distributed. If you cannot find this email, you can recover your survey at this link: https://deckofworlds.backerkit.com/
If you've completed your survey, the confirmation page should show a big button saying "Get Your Digital Downloads" when you arrive there.
If you have not completed your survey, please do so. If you have completed your survey and you do not see your Digital Downloads button, copy and paste the URL above into your browser to load the page manually.
You should now see download buttons for each Digital Download that you have access to.
If you do not see any files available, there is likely an issue occurring with BackerKit's distribution system. Please message me on Kickstarter or contact BackerKit support for help using the button at the bottom of this page.
Printing/producing your beta print-and-play
You'll find two versions of the print-and-play: a high-quality version and an eco-efficient version.
If you are producing your copy at home, I HIGHLY recommend using the eco-efficient version.
Eco-efficient print-and-play.
It's 20 sheets of paper (40 pages double-sided) instead of 40 (80 pages double-sided).
It's better suited to accommodating printers with imprecise alignments for double-siding printing.
It's much more ink-friendly and more grayscale-friendly.
I will likely update the beta files occasionally over the next few weeks, so you may not wish to invest a large amount of ink on a version that may receive updates.
If you are sending your copy to a printer, either version is fine. You'll want to include the first page of the print-and-play document, which includes a statement of written permission to have a printer produce a copy of the deck.
The full-size cards definitely showcase the visuals better.
High-quality print-and-play.
I outlined my experiences producing a print-and-play of the original Story Engine Deck in this update from my previous project. It may help others looking to learn more about producing print-and-plays.
I recommend printing double-sided on 300-350gsm satin cardstock, if you can get your hands on it. I also recommend getting a craft round corner punch to round the corners of your cards.
For the alpha decks I produced for project contributors, I hand-punched 23,040 corners with my corner rounder and I STILL think it's worth it and plan to round the corners on the new batch of beta prints. Pray for my wrist bones!
That's a lot of corners.
Providing feedback on the beta
I've prepared a specific Google Form for inputting beta feedback. I'm always happy to chat in the comments and DMs, but Kickstarter is not optimized for searching, sorting, and cataloging messages/comments the way that a Google Form is, so I'm asking for as much feedback as possible to be channeled through this form. This also frames the kind of feedback I am most able to accommodate at this stage of development.
The form contains 14 questions, including one box for freeform feedback. All questions are optional, so you can choose to answer only the ones that are relevant to you.
I'll keep an eye out for beta issues to help you troubleshoot as needed, and to make sure I can update a new version of the beta if we discover any significant issues with this export. In the meantime, I'll be pivoting my attention to producing some new demo videos and putting finishing touches on the expansions.
I'm so excited for you take your first in-depth look at the deck and try it out!
