Studio Agate, 2023 // 🇬🇧 English version

23:45 Louthane 0 Comments

🇫🇷 Version française ici
 
What a start to the year!
 
This week has once more been quite the ride, with many new announcements and developments concerning the future of the OGL. On our end, we have been mulling the situation over and making plans, and we can now tell you about our projects' next steps!  This is a historic moment for role-playing, and a very important one for our studio. Things are moving fast and we already see many opportunities emerging. The creation of the RPG ESU, the European RPG Studios Union or the OpenDnD movement are undoubtedly a good illustrations of this.
 
Though the future of Fateforge and Draconis is still dependent on what the new OGL will be like (since both series are 5E-powered), its owner WotC has once again reminded that "again, any content you have already published under OGL 1.0a will still always be licensed under OGL 1.0a."
 
We have thus decided to release everything we've been preparing for Fateforge and Draconis as soon as possible. Several books are ready. We intended to give them more time and release them through 2023 and 2024, but our plan is now to give you as many of them as possible by the upcoming summer.
 
Below, you will find more details about Fateforge and Draconis, as well as about Esteren, our other projects, and the Patreon we plan to launch in the near future!
 
Feel free to join us on Monday 30th 6:00 PM to talk about it all via a live chat on our Discord server.
 
But for now, here we go with a review of our projects!

FATEFORGE


The second Encyclopedia volume is almost finished. The writing is complete and illustrations are in progress. It will be our next crowdfunded book, with the crowdfunding campaign starting on Monday 6 February!

▶ The English version will be available on Kickstarter and will likewise feature early bird perks. You can register 👉 here to be informed of the launch.

We initially planned to launch this project later in the year, when the PDF would be fully complete. At present, though all texts are in their final version, certain illustrations are still in progress. At the end of the campaign, backers will get a beta PDF version of the book with all the Encyclopedia texts, with updated versions of the file being released as more illustrations are completed.
 
Several other books are works in progress. Some are at a very advanced stage, while others are still in their infancy. 
 
Though the future of the OGL remains up in the air, the campaign will feature two more releases, first in PDF, and later hopefully as printed books: the second volume of Grimoire, and Moons of Eana.

The Second FATEFORGE Tetralogy

 
Along with the second volumes of Creatures and Encyclopedia, the two aforementioned books will form the second Fateforge Tetralogy. We hope that it will have as bright a future as its forebear, which was graced by an ENNIE Award in the Best Writing category at last year's Gen Con, making for quite the capstone for an incredible adventure that started in 2016.
 
As for the future of Fateforge beyond this second Tetralogy, more long-term developments will depend on how the OGL shapes up. We like the 5th Edition and we would have liked to continue experiencing it with you, in this augmented version we have been working on for nearly eight years now. We have been considering carrying on with Fateforge, but powered by a different system. Beyond the engine the game runs on, sharing more of the Eana setting is what we really want.
 
At the time we are writing this, the team is working on several books beyond the second Tetralogy. Texts have been written and illustrations drawn, but these WIPs aren't as advanced. Should the prospect of a new game engine come to pass, we will discuss it with you. From the very start of this adventure, we have been building this series alongside you, and we will keep doing so.
 

DRACONIS


This is our new series, made in partnership with the greatly talented artist Chane. Some of you already got to read or see excerpts of the eponymous art book, based on which we have come up with a 5E-powered feel-good TRPG.

Visit the Draconis portal and discover the trailer.
The English version will be released alongside the French one. You will soon be able to pre-register on a Kickstarter page.
▶  Follow Chane on Instagram as well as on her personal site.
 
The Draconis series will feature three books:

Call of Adventure, a novice-friendly core book containing everything needed to get started with TRPGs;
Heritage, which presents the game's setting and rules suited to this pacifistic feel-good TRPG;
Codex Anima, which catalogs many of the wondrous creatures of Draconis's setting.
 
We would like to launch this series in spring, as we initially planned. We are currently entering the final steps of the development of this project that we started several years ago now. We look forward to sharing all of this with you!
 

SHADOWS OF ESTEREN


Initially, we intended to crowdfund the second volume of Dearg in January, but due to the ongoing OGL events, we had no choice but to postpone this campaign and move forward with Fateforge content instead.
 
Until we can settle on a new date for the crowdfunding of Dearg 2, we will keep fleshing out and putting the final touches on this opus and all the transmedia creations related to it. We will endeavor to share as much of these developments as we can with you.

The English version will be available on Kickstarter. You can register on this 👉 page now to be informed of the launch.
 
Dearg 2 will be the second season of the eponymous campaign, and will also mark the end of a cycle for Shadows of Esteren, which got many releases last year: the Melwan side book, the Yldiane comic, the Adeliane album which received an ENNIE Award last summer, etc. The next cycle will be focused on the highly anticipated Secrets. Work on this front is ever-ongoing behind the scenes, and many projects are taking shape. We can't wait to tell you about it all!
 
Work on this new cycle will proceed alongside the development of a generic version of the Shadows of Esteren system (SAN), which we will tell you more about very soon.
 

A PATREON FOR THE STUDIO


Our Studio gathers more than fifteen people; creators from all walks of life who also handle all the publisher part of our work, ensuring that we can remain free and independent. As you have seen through this article, we are working on many projects simultaneously, and wish to give our community more openings to interact with us and support us directly while having access to as much of our content as possible. We have been considering it for a while, and in the present circumstances, launching a Patreon of our own seems judicious.
 
The idea is pretty simple: giving you a steady influx of previews and game material in a continuous manner rather than you having to wait for a subscription campaign once every year (if not once every two or three years, depending on the series) to get new content all at once. We are also considering the idea of giving patrons full access to our PDF catalog and available digital content. By being a patron, you can also be part of the future of our projects via polls.
 
For you, this will be a way to support us directly, expressing your conviction that an independent studio like us should exist. This support will allow us to further our commitment to open up access to role-playing games by making the core books on our original PDF catalogue Pay What You Want for everyone.
 
Of course, you are under absolutely no obligation to subscribe to this Patreon. Whoever would rather support us in other ways can still obtain our creations through our subscription campaigns, the temporary online shops that we occasionally set up, and the network of game stores that sell our releases.
 
We look forward to showing you this Patreon page, and hope that you will like it and find it worth supporting!

SEE YOU LIVE ON MONDAY 30TH 6:00 PM


We invite you to a live chat on our Discord server on January 30th, 6:00 PM. We can answer your questions and discuss the next steps of this great adventure!
 
We end this message by wishing you an excellent New Year 2023...!  
 
Thank you for everything,
                                                                                                                Nel & the Studio's whole team
 
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