The Stillfleet Core Rulebook is a ~340-page, hardback (casebound), letter-sized (8.5 × 11 inch), professionally designed, full-color book written in American English. The PDF and physical book will differ, in that the PDF will show text redactions in black (so text must be highlighted to be read), while the physical copy will stylize redactions as boxed or slightly grayed-out but still readable.

Each chapter will feature illustrations by artist Ethan Gould and graphic work by designer Erich Lazar; the book may include some work by other guest artists. The book also features maps by the author, Wythe Marschall, and possibly a guest artist. The cover, which shows Spindle, is by Ethan Gould.

Last updated: August 06, 2022 09:22

The Rain Thieves is a ~80-page, softback (perfectbound), letter-sized (8.5 × 11 inch), professionally designed, full-color book written in American English. The PDF and physical book will differ, in that the PDF will show text redactions in black (so text must be highlighted to be read), while the physical copy will stylize redactions as boxed or slightly grayed-out but still readable.

The book will feature illustrations by artist Ethan Gould and graphic work by Sunaree Paiwong and Erich Lazar. The book also features a detailed world map by the author, Aaron H. The cover, which shows a shoot-out with spider-like xenofauna, is by Ethan Gould.

Last updated: August 06, 2022 09:22

The core digital rewards (Core Rulebook PDF and Rain Thieves PDF) should be ready by mid-November 2022. This is somewhat dependent on how many add-ons we need to juggle, but we have already laid out and illustrated most of the CRB, and The Rain Thieves is written and edited, with a few illustrations.

We are planning to ship core physical rewards (Core Rulebook print copies, Rain Thieves print copies, T-shirts, and pins) in late February of 2023. This is dependent on the printer, the shipping company, the freight forwarder, and our NYC team’s ability to rapidly pack and ship a variety of packages by ourselves. That said, our printer (who contracts with the shipper and freight forwarder) is a major company that creates many game books. We have been told that, if we send them final files in mid-November, they will get us books in early 2023. Of course, we apologize if this timeline shifts due to unforeseen production delays. We will remain communicative and try to update you as often as we can, when we learn anything. Fingers crossed, backers will receive packages in the early spring.

All add-ons should track with the above plan (PDFs in late 2022; physical items shipped with books, T-shirts, and pins). Because adding more work will necessarily shift our production plan somewhat, we may de-prioritize some of these items, if it just isn’t feasible to get them to you at the same time as the core rewards. We want to make sure the core rewards ship on time. That said, printing cards and posters should be no issue. We’ll update you as we lock in estimates for these items.

Last updated: August 06, 2022 09:22

We think so! We’ve been playing it for years, and we play with new people often. It only takes a few minutes to learn, since there are only five scores (combat, movement, reason, will, and charm), two pools of resources to spend (health and grit), and a few powers for a 1st-level character (4 by class, and a variable number of generally more passive abilities by species).

By way of background: the writer comes from an “Old-School Renaissance” design background, and he and some friends started working with various versions of a d20 game, years ago. But the new dice-as-scores system seemed to work better, the more the team used it. We’ve now playtested it thoroughly with players all over the world. We like all sorts of systems and settings, but we particularly like this new one.

We’ve actually used the Stillfleet System to play extended games in two different fantasy settings (working on those books!) and a wytch-tastic early modern setting focused on resisting historical processes of colonization in Turtle Island/North America. We’re also developing a book using the same basic rules that focuses on the stories of woodland animals and the threats they face from humans. (But for now, of course, our focus is sci-fi!)

In any event, the Stillfleet System is not hard to learn, and it’s extensible. We can’t guarantee you’ll love it, but we hope you give it a shot!

Last updated: August 06, 2022 09:38

Yes! Details to come. (It turns out that putting the core rules online in a legible, accessible, hackable way is a project unto itself. We’re on it.)

Last updated: August 06, 2022 09:38