Monthly Musings: It's Zine Time!

February 2022

Zine month! Zine month! Zine month!

It's February once again which means two things - first, we've made it through the doldrums of January and second that Zine Month (and with it Zine Quest) is back! I think it's fair to say that January was a hot mess for the RPG industry (looking at you WOTC!) so this month I want to focus on the positives and highlight a number of campaigns that I think you should check out. I’ve talked plenty already about my own Zine Month campaign, Hopes and Dreams of the Orbital Bound, so I’ll leave that to last.

Before I dive into the campaigns I also wanted to say hello to the numerous new subscribers since the move to substack. I hope you enjoy the newsletter and please feel free to get in touch if you have any comments (and same to all of the older subscribers!). That said, on with the projects.

These Stars Will Guide You Home by Albi

Inspired by the Odyssey, These Stars Will Guide You Home  is a solo journaling RPG in which you are captain of thirteen ships exploring a mysterious archipelago in search of a new home while trying to keep your crew happy. As a captain and famous navigator you will use your knowledge of the stars to guide you, then during the second act play as a descendant of the crew as they record the story of the journey in an epic poem.

Like Albi’s previous game, the Royal Cartographer, the game makes maps a central feature, supported by the fact that with each play through the position of the islands changes, altering the dynamics of the map and the connections between each. A lighthouse that previously pointed out to sea may now stare upon a neighbouring island and watch out for raiding parties. You can download the beta here and sign up to the Kickstarter pre-launch page here.

Chiron's Doom by Nick Bate

There is an enigmatic monument at the edge of civilisation, known only as CHIRON’S DOOM. Nobody knows what it does, or who made it, or why. Countless expeditions have torn themselves apart trying to learn its secrets. What makes you think yours will be any different?

CHIRON’S DOOM is a storytelling game for 1-3 players about an ill-fated expedition to explore a mysterious monument. Play centres around the expedition deck, which begins stacked with the monument’s secrets. As the expedition proceeds, things begin to unravel: disaster decks are shuffled in, diluting the pool of secrets with complications and setbacks. Will you press on in the hope of finally uncovering the truth about the monument, or will you turn back?

CHIRON’S DOOM will launch on Kickstarter on February 14th.

CHIRON’S DOOM was one of the first solo RPGs that I played back in 2020 at the start of the pandemic. I used it to explore an early vision of the Dyson Eclipse, long before I’d even thought of Signal to Noise and I really enjoyed telling the story of Arol, Varis and Layla as they embarked upon their doomed expedition. The evocative prompts led me in directions I couldn't have foreseen and writing the story was fairly pivotal in fleshing out some of the background that I had been mulling over in my head (such as the existence and use of gravimetrics in the setting). I cannot wait to see what Nick has in store for this new print edition and it'll be an instant back for me as soon as it goes live.

The Connection Machine by Tanya Floaker

The Connection Machine is a science fiction RPG about the struggles caused by trauma when trying to meaningfully connect with others. Create stories about hope, grief, shame, attachment and love. Create stories about hope, grief, shame, attachment and love.

A quantum computer - the titular Connection Machine - has been tasked with maintaining a stable hypercube. A specially selected group physically step up to the fourth dimension and explore the surreal landscape within. However, their brains struggle to grasp their experience, filling in blanks with memories from their collective past. The characters confront the trauma echoing through their lives, given form as PTSDemons. With each wave of trauma, the hypercube becomes less and less stable, threatening to collapse in on itself with everybody inside!

Each session of The Connection Machine is perfect for creating a stand-alone story about exploring the dream-like landscape of the fourth dimension. Will your character be crushed under the weight of unseen dimensions, or will they step back down into themselves, integrated with their demons and better able to go forward?

You can check find The Connection Machine on Kickstarter now.

Solo but not Alone 3

Shifting away from Zine Month for a moment I wanted to highlight the Solo but not Alone 3 charity bundle that is currently running on itch. This annual bundle raises funds for the suicide prevention charity Jasper’s Game Day. It features contributions by over 100 creators and has, at the time of writing, raised $19.1k of its $20k goal. Mental health is one of the issues that I know many members of the RPG community, myself included, often struggle with so its great to see so many people support the bundle with their contributions.

Hopes and Dreams of the Orbital Bound

Hopes and Dreams of the Orbital Bound is a slice of life sci-fi RPG that explores everyday life when you just happen to live on a gigantic alien space station! Focusing on life aboard one of the vast Habitats that orbit Tau Ceti it is a storytelling game inspired by Becky Chambers Wayfarer novels and Gregor Hutton's Remember Tomorrow RPG. It is a stand alone entry in the Dyson Eclipse, a growing space opera that follows humanity as they travel to the stars. The campaign has a goal of £500 which will fund art and an initial print run.

The Kickstarter goes live on February 7th, which is just a few short days from now!

Also worth checking out:

Earth to Jupiter - a solo epistolary RPG about being stuck on earth during the apocalypse.

Derelict Delvers: Scavenge the galaxy for profit and survival

S.A.D. Zines Volume 2 - Tiny games to connect you to yourself and the place around you

The Round Up

That’s all for this month. All going well this time next month I’ll be reporting back on a successful Kickstarter campaign and more details on what Orbital Bound will look like. I’d hoped to have many of those ready to share now as a special preview but as always I underestimated just how dire January often is in the Northern hemisphere.

Craig
LunarShadow Designs