The City of Sands adventure module starts where the Domes of Ishaq-Zahur leaves off, sending a party of heroes from the peril of the desert tombs to the streets of the sandy metropolis, Archensheen. There the players will find themselves caught in the middle of a fierce struggle for political power and ancient artifacts as factions from all across the city vie for control of relics from the Nartheneen's glory days. Choosing a side may make more enemies than it does friends, but can the heroes survive if they choose to stand alone?
Latest Updates from Our Project:
April Monthly Update
about 7 years ago
– Sat, Apr 01, 2017 at 08:45:49 PM
Happy April Fools! We're jumping in here with a fairly-comprehensive update on the status of City of Sands and what we've been up to during the month of March. No jokes here - let's get cracking!
Art Updates
Some great progress on the art fronts here, including:
50+ Objects for the Digital Deluxe Supporters by Kadra Alvaro
3 New Illustrations by Jason Strutz (two more remain)
We've started on the Token and Map artwork as well (haven't forgotten), but the process on these can sometimes take a little longer, so we don't yet have post-able updates on those fronts. Check out the art progress below!
From the Object pack, we're most-excited about the extremely modular functionality of the market stalls. With many types of goods (food, weapons, clothing, etc.) and a variety of awnings, rugs, and carts, there's all manner of options. The pack will include several pre-made markets for easy placement as well as all of the components used to build them.
Acquiring the Scepter & The City's Lamplighters
When Mimics Attack
The City of Archensheen - With Faction Overlays
Writing Updates
A few notable updates here:
We've finished the writing on the first Act of three.
We've a tested, working draft of the simple faction & intrigue system to be used for the module (and other 2CGaming projects), which we'll go into a bit below.
Monsters, Objects, and Outline for the module are selected and completed.
As is the rest of the project, the writing is ahead of schedule - we're expecting to have the remaining two acts finished up by the end of April, which should put us in a good place for review, copy editing, and formatting through May, delivering the PDFs in late May or early June.
Intrigue and Rumors in Archensheen
The Intrigue system you'll find in City of Sands was designed with one priority: ease of use. As a Dungeon Master you have a lot on your plate, and we want to make your life easier, not harder. All you need to use it is to track one number for each faction in the city, called Influence. This number represents the relationship of the faction and the party, and it (usually) begins at 0, a neutral relationship. It can increase or decrease, with positive values reflecting a good relationship, and negative values reflecting a bad one. As Influence reaches certain thresholds, either positive or negative, events will occur. These events are specific to each faction, and can be as simple as a percent discount on all services or as involved as two minor houses teaming up to replace the ancient artifact the party was planning to steal with a worthless replica.
As these events occur, the party can put their skills (or their coin) to work asking about for rumors and information during downtime. This involves a skill check, with better results revealing more information. They'll have the option to spend some coin to improve their results, meaning a skilled party can get information cheaply, and a bunch of brutes will need to shell out quite a lot of coin to learn the same things.
The system is simple, the implementation in the module will bring the world to life, rewarding or punishing your players by their choices, as the world tangibly alters in response their actions.
Music Update
We're working with Kole Hicks of Kole Audio Solutions on the second and final track for City of Sands, building off the themes from the first track. No updates yet, but expect a snippet from that by the May update.
Module #3: The Lion's Vault
With your generous overfunding through Kickstarter and Backerkit, we've collected enough funding to start on some of the art for the third module in the Fate of the Forebears Adventure Path - The Lion's Vault. As soon as the artists are freed up (likely late April or early May), we'll get started on the following items, funded through this overfunding:
The Cover by Ambrose Hoilman (Illustrator for the Cover of City of Sands)
One track by Kole Hicks
Three illustrations by Jason Strutz
15 Creature Tokens by Natalie Kelly.
That's all for now folks! As always, let us know if there are any questions, comments, or concerns.
Best,
Jon Kelly - The 2CGaming Team
Fulfillment Schedule & Digital Items
about 7 years ago
– Sat, Mar 25, 2017 at 01:46:49 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Maps, Monsters, and Music - Oh My!
about 7 years ago
– Mon, Mar 13, 2017 at 06:14:50 PM
The Story So Far...
The writing team is plugging away at their keyboards laying the foundation, and the art team is bringing it to life. Let's take a look at what we're working on!
Archensheen City Map
John Stevenson (http://www.imaginebetterworlds.com/) has been hard at work on the map of the city, and we can hardly wait to show it off. The map is still a work in progress, but it looks amazing already.
WIP Map of Archensheen by John Stevenson
The finished map will come in two versions, one very similar to the one we've shared here but with key locations labeled, and the second one with a colored overlay indicating which factions control which parts of the city. It's been awesome working with him, and we hope you enjoy running games set in Archensheen as much as we've enjoyed creating the city.
Awesome Tokens and New Tunes
On top of that, Natalie Kelly and Kadra Alvaro are hard at work on the creature tokens and object pack for City of Sands, and Kole Hicks has started on the next piece of music for the adventure. Kole's next song will be a combat track for when violence breaks out on the streets of Archensheen. We don't have a sample of the music for you yet, but you can check out some of the tokens you can expect to see in City of Sands!
Some of the creatures and characters your players will encounter in City of Sands
Backerkit Surveys
If you haven't yet completed your BackerKit survey, please do so. This will make sure you get all the rewards you want to get! You can get another link to your survey by entering your email here: https://city-of-sands.backerkit.com/
Surveys will close after next weekend, on March 19th, and we currently have 32 Backers who have not yet filled it out. We don't anyone to miss out on getting their rewards, so if you're one of those 32 backers, this is for you!
The Lion's Vault
Thanks to your generous support on Kickstarter and BackerKit, we've raised enough funds to start some of the initial work on the next module, currently titled The Lion's Vault! This is all thanks to you, and everyone on the 2CGaming game wants to extend their fondest appreciation for your support. We'll be starting with the cover art next month, and you can expect to receive updates on that right here!
Writing Words and Telling Tales
In order to avoid spoilers and keep the module fresh, writing details will be kept somewhat scarce here. That said, you can expect future updates to talk about some of the new mechanics we're developing to help Dungeon Masters manage factions and intrigue without drowning in bookkeeping. Stay tuned.
Jon Kelly - 2CGaming Team
Thanks! Let's Talk Next-Steps
about 7 years ago
– Wed, Mar 01, 2017 at 02:10:23 PM
You guys are awesome! Thanks to all your support we've funded part two of the Fate of the Forebears Adventure Path, the City of Sands module! We're supremely excited to get cracking on this project and get it into your hands - thanks again for the support.
City of Sands Next-Steps
So here's how it works.
(1) Backerkit
In the next few days, we'll get backerkit set up, where we'll be handling post-KS add-ons, surveys, and fulfillment of both digital and physical goods. Once that's set up, you'll receive an email with details about your backerkit account.
NOTE: If you see high shipping costs on backerkit, don't be alarmed. The numbers will adjust down to the United States ($4) and Canada ($12) numbers once your address is input.
(2) Our Schedule
We'll release Kickstarter updates detailing our progress, challenges, etc. at the top of each month. Consider this the first - on March 1st. We'll also keep you posted with significant updates or items we need you to do (ie. fill out Backerkit Surveys).
March is the nose-to-the-grindstone month for crushing work on this project. We're going to reach out to all our Artists and start writing like a storm. Our goal is to get all the artwork and reviewed writing for the project 100% complete by mid-April, which'll leave us ample time to format, edit, and print the materials by June.
Fate of the Forebears Next-Steps
While we're champing at the bit on City of Sands, we're keeping a long eye out to the future of the Fate of the Forebears Adventure Path.
Any funding we raise through Kickstarter overfunding, pre-orders, or Backerkit before we release the City of Sands module goes towards lowering the cost of the Kickstarter for the next module. We'll release updates as we hit them, including the art, music, and similar funded by these extra funds raised for the third module in the path - The Lion's Vault.
That's all we've got for now! Thanks again for the support and bringing us to the conclusion of a successful Kickstarter campaign!
LET'S GET WORKING!
Best,
Jon Kelly - The 2CGaming Team
48 Hours! Let's Make This Happen!
about 7 years ago
– Sun, Feb 26, 2017 at 11:03:10 PM
We're in the home stretch! 48 hours and under $500 to raise before the City of Sands becomes a reality! You've all been amazing supporters, thank you for sharing on social media and spreading the word, we couldn't do this without you! Please keep it up in this final stretch, and don't forget any support we raise beyond our funding goal goes directly into the next module in the series, as well as potentially letting us make a Player's Guide PDF with new options for the heroes braving the threats of Archensheen and the Deep Desert!
Speaking of Archensheen, talented mapmaker John Stevenson has already started work on creating a detailed (and beautiful) map of the City of Sands!
WIP Map Sketch of Archensheen by John Stevenson
Archensheen is organized into districts, based on which faction has the most influence in that area. The city's growth, however, is limited first and foremost by food and water, and providing those is up to the temples. The map looks amazing already, and I can't wait to see the finished piece!
This is the final push! The more you share, the more your fellow backers benefit! Let's make this happen and let's make it awesome. See you on the other side!
