April Will Bring Spring and a Tide of New Progress
over 2 years ago – Sun, Mar 27, 2022 at 04:02:33 AM

Things are Busy!

A quick rundown: the team is hard at work every minute we can spare each 24-hour day. Programming, painting, typing, thinking, dreaming. Time is short. But it feels so meaningful. Our commissioned artists are sending in enough gorgeous images to pack the core book cover to cover. Check out some of what we've got!

Introducing our Discord bot: Terminarch

Brandon is programming our Virtual Tabletop integrations himself on top of working on the book. Our first milestone is a beta version of a Discord bot, which we have named Terminarch. Terminarch is a fork of the popular D&D 5e Discord bot Avrae ("Thanks for your help, zhu.exe!" - Brandon). You can add the bot to your own server by using this link. 

Keep in mind that the bot is in beta, and not all automations and features are currently available! However, it has been tweaked to support the Redsky Rules (all Elements, Classes, and Sentients) as they currently exist, and also includes some enhancements to combat to factor in things like Touch AC. The monsters from our Playtest module are included as well! To use the bot, you'll have to make a character by making a copy of our Google Sheets Character Sheet and importing it into the bot. You can find more instructions in the sheet.

The Playtest

What's the deal with the Playtest so far? Well if you haven't heard yet, you can get beta access to the Redsky Core Rules by just signing up on our website. The Playtest has been well underway for over a month, and we'll start sending out feedback surveys to participants as March comes to an end.

If you already downloaded the files for the playtest, we suggest you go and re-download the Shieldwoods Incident PDF and the character sheet files. They've been updated quite a bit! 

Contrary to previous statements, we have decided not to take down access to the playtest materials just yet. They will remain available for at least another month, so it's not too late to invite your friends on a world-defining adventure through the Shieldwoods!

What about Foundry VTT?

Unfortunately, we could not make the Foundry compendium available at the beginning of the playtest, but it's here now! We've assembled the library of maps and tokens you'll need to run our Playtest adventure. You can get access to them on our website with the rest of the playtest materials! The full Redsky system for Foundry is not available yet ("I'm workin' on it! Come back later!" -Brandon), so character sheets and the like will have to be managed outside of Foundry or using the 5e system to keep track of stats and inventory. We appreciate your patience.

Any other news?

We’ve drafted 130,000 good words of lore and game mechanics. The copy is now firmly in the editing stage. Meanwhile, the artist commissions have poured in at a thrilling rate. Assembling the final book has officially begun, and we're finalizing our orders for the extra goodies as this is written.

This ongoing Redsky work all must be done on top of maintaining our company’s legal and financial upkeep, and our personal lives. This has only worked because we’ve done the dreaded crunch. I’ll be open: it was and is heavily affecting team morale. We all know too many active status effects going at once are a drain on finite mana bars. We’ve learned the hard way our mana bars need time to recharge.

In the wake of this onslaught of work, I felt inspired to share some feelings and thoughts about the state of Redsky on our website's blog. Please check it out if you have a few minutes, even if it's just to check out even more of the gorgeous art we have commissioned.

One final note: the Discord server, as we try to remind the beloved few who still talk regularly, is in intentional hibernation. We do not have a social media expert or community outreach member on the team. We’re definitely grinding for the day we can afford to bring on a new member to handle those responsibilities. In the meantime, feel free to share your excitement for Redsky on there (as well as ask us questions), but we don't expect traffic to pick up until the book is released. For now, drumming up conversations would take time and goodwill we can’t ask of you, because we do not have the materials ready yet that could give you endless ways to gather and create. Yet. Like a tavern getting ready for Friday night’s opening, the Discord is silent but waiting for life.

That life will be breathed into it this summer when the team delivers to you the Redsky Core Book containing our shared world, Dema. The mods and devs cannot wait to hear your stories. To help democratize creativity. To welcome the guests with a metaphorical ale and a warm fire after the cold of this winter.

-Tyler Gamba

Playtest #2 has begun!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Feb 22, 2022 at 08:33:51 AM

Hello Backers (and soon to be playtesters)!

We hope this update finds you well. As of late last night the Playtest materials were released on our website! 

If you want to join in, or have yet to sign up, this post provides a quick rundown of how (and where) to sign up for the Playtest materials.

Once you've signed up, we'll send you an email within 24 hours with a link to all the Playtest materials.

The customized Avrae bot and Foundry VTT compendium are a little behind schedule, and not available yet. However, it should only be a few more days before they are ready for you to use as well.

Our expected timelines are posted on the Playtest Docs page, and we'll keep it updated, so make sure you check back in.

We're extremely proud of the work that Ken and Brandon have put in over the last couple of months preparing these materials, and we hope it shows!   

In about 4-6 weeks we'll start sending out surveys to collect your feedback. In the meantime, you can dive into an early access version of Redsky's rules and adventure out into the Shieldwoods!

Feel free to reach out to us on Discord if you're looking for a group to play with, or if you have any questions. You can also email Brandon or Ken directly!    

Good luck, and most importantly, have fun!  

The Solar Studios Devs

A Small Playtest Delay
over 2 years ago – Thu, Feb 10, 2022 at 09:42:13 PM

Hello all! Brandon here with a quick update today. We'll have a bigger update to share later on in February.

Due to limits on the team’s  available hours to work during the Omicron variant’s east coast surge,  we must delay the distribution of Redsky’s playtest materials seven days, to Feb 20, 2022.

This is mainly to ensure the highest quality experience for participants using VTT platforms. Ken, Tyler, and I also want to polish the  lore and rules text into its best form possible. The goal, as always, is  to empower our GMs to run the test module as easily as possible, so  this world reaches its full potential and we can hear your feedback. We  regret any scheduling complications this may cause. While unfortunate,  the end product for this shared journey of ours will be that much  stronger with the extra time.

We have an amazing adventure through the Daylands region of Snow's Edge  planned for you, and can't wait for you all to see it! On February 20th, we will email all participants with a link to the page where they can download the materials. If you do not get receive the link, you'll also be able to access them by logging in to our website.

A reminder: we will not be facilitating matchmaking for this round of playtesting. Players and GMs will be responsible for  finding their own groups. If you know people who might be interested,  just send them to our website and they can sign up the same way you did!

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us on the Solar Studios website, or any of our social media. If you want more information about the Playtest and how to sign up, check out our last update.

Thanks again for your patience,

Brandon

A New Year Starting Off With A Bang
over 2 years ago – Thu, Jan 20, 2022 at 02:59:59 PM

Hi, everyone! Ken here with our January update. With the holidays behind us, the time for exciting Redsky experiences is ramping up.

Participate in the Redsky Playtest

We’re happy to announce that Playtest 2 of the Redsky conversion, open to all who want to participate, will start Sunday, February 13th, 2022! Sign-ups will be on our website. Click the "Log In" button in the top right to make an account. After creating an account, you should see a "Playtest" option in the drop-down menu under your name. Click that button and you'll be given the option to sign up as a Player or GM for the playtest!

If you sign up as a GM, we'll provide you with character sheets, rules, maps, and a test module. Players will get a character sheet and the rules. Those seeking new friends to GM for or play along with can meet up on the Redsky Discord. Our server will be coming out of intentional hibernation starting mid-February.

About Virtual Tabletop systems: Our current plan for the playtest is to have beta versions of a Discord bot (based on the popular bot Avrae, customized for Redsky) and a Foundry VTT compendium and maps. Brandon is working hard on a Roll20 character sheet and Shard Tabletop as well, but support for these systems cannot be guaranteed by February 13th.

We will begin collecting feedback over a two-week period starting mid-March. After that, the materials will remain available, but priority will be given to editing using the feedback we have received. All told, your group should have a total of six weeks to enjoy our adventure before we finish collecting feedback.

What about the Rules PDF?

This is all leading up to our conversion’s grand rollout this spring and summer. Due to the delay of the playtest, we unfortunately had to delay the rollout of the Rules PDF as well. The finalized version of the Rules PDF will then be shipped in April, after we have had time to edit and revise using the playtest feedback. The rules document we will be shipping for the playtest is a beta version of the Rules PDF, so if you want early access, come play the game with us! Thankfully, the lore writing and art development is proceeding on-schedule (thanks, Tyler and Matt!), so this delay should not impact the ship date of the book in July.

We apologize for the delay in the rollout, and ask your forgiveness. We’re very proud of the gaming experience we're about to deliver to this community, and that’s even before you all have left your own mark on it.

A Sneak Peek

I would now like to pause so we can look at the Forest of Ilda.

Yeah. I know. And that’s just one of many in various stages of development. The art team is going full speed ahead. We are only seeking a few more collaborative artists before all of our ducks are in a row. What mysteries are in these lands? Who adventures there, and why? The lore that will help you craft those narratives is 96% of the way drafted. All that is left is editing and formatting, which will carry over into the spring.

As always, don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions on our website or social media. Tune in next Monday, the 24th, when Tyler and I will be doing a livestreamed interview with Nerdarchy's Live Channel, Nerdarchy Live , about Redsky and all things TTRPG.

We hope our friends around the world stay safe through this winter. See you in the simulacrum.

- Ken

All You Need To Know About Redsky At PAX Unplugged 2021
almost 3 years ago – Tue, Dec 07, 2021 at 10:51:25 PM

Hi everybody!

Alex here wishing our backers around the world a happy holiday season. As you may have read in our last update, we've been hard at work on Redsky 5e, and are looking forward to a victory lap after shipping in Summer 2022. I am unbelievably proud to have Tyler, Matt, Ken, and Brandon as coworkers and friends, and to be able to share our creative universe with a constantly growing community.

My work on Redsky 5e is something of a smörgåsbord: I've primarily been editing (to reach our target of 200+ pages of well-refined lore), organizing our social media, and coordinating our marketing. In short, I've been running support while Tyler writes tens of thousands of words for the lore, Ken crafts in-depth adventures, Brandon sharpens the mechanics, and Matt keeps on churning out god-tier artwork. This has left me with a bit more extra time each week than the rest of the team. Now that the core content of the book is over the hill, I wanted to spend my extra time getting back to my roots: game design. I co-founded Solar Studios and Redsky primarily to craft new gameplay experiences, and after a year or so helping to manage our launch and running support, I am thrilled to once again have the opportunity to tinker with game mechanics.

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Over the last few months I’ve been having a blast while working solo on the design and prototypes for the next Redsky experience: a brand new strategy boardgame set in the Redsky universe!

As the next Redsky chapter to co-exist with the TTRPG (Redsky 5e) and Tyler's fantasy novels, this competitive 2-4 player boardgame was inspired by Risk, Settlers of Catan, Terraforming Mars, and some of my favorite 4X games.

In short <2 hr. play sessions, you can gather resources from a randomly generated world, settle cities, develop your own unique culture by picking up Virtue and Vice cards, and then hold on for dear life as late-game Event cards (representing Redsky's cyclical apocalypse) try to wipe everyone out. The survivor with the most Virtue cards (and fewest Vice cards) wins, so players are incentivized to either double down on developing their cultures (to be the most virtuous survivor), or to pick up aggressive Vice cards (to be the only survivor)!

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Along with talking your heads off in-person about the 5e conversion, Ken, Brandon, and I are excited to showcase early alpha prototypes of the Redsky boardgame at PAX Unplugged this weekend in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. If you’ll be in town, come find our table during the Tabletop Freeplay. More than one alpha tester has independently described the boardgame as “Spicy Catan.” I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this early-stage creation -- I can't wait to see this project evolve with your help.

Also, if you are a boardgame publisher (or know one) that's interested in learning more about Redsky or the Redsky boardgame, don't hesitate to reach out and message us, or come meet us at PAX Unplugged! We're always looking for opportunities to collaborate and bring our world to life through games. 

Seeing the faces of who we’ve connected with is one of the best parts of this job. Whether you’re a tabletop diehard with gameplay questions, or just a curious backer stopping by to say hi, I can’t wait to see some of you this weekend!

-Alex