Notorious news, Revolting realms
September '23
Hey everyone and welcome to my very first newsletter!
I only intend to send out these updates once or twice a year for now, but hopefully this means I’ll have plenty of interesting news to share when they arrive. With that said, let’s get the big one out of the way first :)
Outsiders: an expansion for Notorious
I’d imagine many of you are reading this because you either:
backed Notorious (and thought it was pretty cool…)
wanted to order a copy of Notorious, but it was sold out…
heard I might be working on an expansion for Notorious…
Well if any of those are true—I have some exciting news to share.
Outsiders: an expansion for Notorious is coming to Kickstarter in just a few weeks! It’s also the first chance to pick up a reprinted copy of Notorious, at a discount.
The important bit: it’s launching October 10th 2023, and you can sign up here to be notified at launch.
“But what is Outsiders?”, I pretend to hear you say. Well it’s a few things:
a complete solo roleplaying game (essentially a hack of Notorious) with the same rules but all-new content—so it can be played as a standalone game
an expansion for Notorious—with six new cross-compatible Nomads and new planets, factions and species, all set in the Notorious universe
a sequel to Notorious—introducing Trilogy Mode, with rules for combining the content of both games to tell epic three-part stories
The final game will include a complete set of new artwork from Torben (turbo.torbo), and if the campaign goes well I’ll add some sweet copper foiling to the cover, to match Notorious. Jack and Will have also returned to work on the game!
There will be a deluxe edition pledge available, with Kickstarter-exclusive art prints and a gold-foiled display box that’s designed to hold a copy of both Notorious and Outsiders (wiro binding is a pain to store…).
In Outsiders, the setting moves away from the intergalactic war of Notorious to the edge of the galaxy; a place known as the Outside.
Your story brings you into contact with six new factions, who compete to control the resources and opportunities available within this lawless sector.
But the arrival of the Old Empire’s fleet could soon change everything…
If this piques your interest, I am once again asking you to sign up here if you’d like to be notified when the Outsiders campaign goes live!
A sneak peek
Phew! If you’re still with me, here’s a little look at what the future may hold…
Notorious received an incredible reception over the last year or so and it’s taken a lot of my focus away from making other games, to the point where I’ve prioritised Outsiders.
But in the background I’ve been working on a new GM-less multiplayer roleplaying game (possibly with a solo mode), tentatively titled Revolt!.
It’s a card and map-based roleplaying game, where you’ll tell the story of the troubled fantasy realm of Lektok. Players represent a faction, campaigning to gather enough support to overthrow the monarch and crown their leader.
But every monarch’s selfish decree ensure a new revolt is never far away…
Here’s a little preview of a (very) early prototype during a playtest:
During the game, players travel around a pre-drawn map, choosing sites to visit and raise support. You’ll draw cards, revealing information about the site, a problem you need to solve and a score—playing through four stages of a revolt.
At the end of the game, the faction with the most support becomes the monarchy during your next game and the losers are knocked down or banished—allowing new factions to challenge the throne next time.
Revolt! has been inspired by some of my favourite card and/or map-based storygames including Beak, Feather and Bone by Tyler Crumrine, The Quiet Year by Avery Alder, The Slow Knife by Jack Harrison and Fall of Magic by Ross Cowman.
I’ve also taken some inspiration from a couple of my favourite board games—the warring factions of Root and the legacy aspects of Oath, both by Leder Games.
Did I mention that I’ve written a ton of rhymes for the flavour text of this game? It’s probably best that I don’t get into that yet. More news on this sometime next year…
That’s everything for now! I’ll see you on the flipoutside.
-Jason