Fifth Season October 2023 Update
7 months ago
– Wed, Oct 11, 2023 at 10:00:22 AM
Just a short update this month, but we're going to get back to regular updates going forward. Everyone has been working steadily to get the book ready to go to press, and to get that PDF out to backers at last.
In fact, you may have noticed that earlier this week we locked orders, which also means we're going to be charging cards for shipping and add-ons. We're getting very close!
Here's Joseph Carriker with the October update!
The spinning of plates continues, but we are happy to announce that we’ve crossed an important threshold:
The Fifth Season core rulebook is now in layout! We’ve also got full art notes for our map of the Stillness, and a whole bunch of other goodies we can’t wait to share.
We’re still hard at work getting the materials for the Game Moderator’s Kit and the various Stretch Goals lined up and ready to go. Not a lot to look at on that front quite yet, but we wanted to have something to show off, so we thought we’d share a couple of iconic characters.
One of the main things that these characters are intended to do is do some heavy lifting in describing the myriad peoples of the Stillness. As such, we’ve gone for a really wide range of people in their depiction, hopefully to jumpstart the imagination of players – even those who may not be as familiar with the setting.
Well that was unexpected!
10 months ago
– Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 12:00:08 PM
Hey folks!
Quick update here to address a problem that many of you just pointed out to us!
So it looks like the early-backer offer for a free print copy of the Quickstart was causing the digital-only pledges (which didn't require a shipping address), to default to the maximum amount for shipping in your region by mistake.
We've just now turned on "enter shipping info" for those $2, PDF only, and VTT only pledge tiers, just in case you qualified for the printed Quickstart, so that you can see the actual shipping amount, and not that very high, and very surprising number.
If you'd rather not receive the print copy of the Quickstart after all, send us an email to custserv AT greenronin DOT com, and we'll remove it for you.
So sorry for the confusion!
Pledge Manager Surveys going out today!
10 months ago
– Mon, Jul 24, 2023 at 10:43:04 AM
Hey Backers,
The smoke test was successful, and today we are sending out the remaining surveys to all backers! It may take a little bit of time for all surveys to reach inboxes, but if you still do not have the email after 24 hours, you can use the link at the end of this update.
Important Note! One thing that we did notice, is that a few backers who had increased their pledge by $25, which just happens to be the price of the Game Moderator's Kit, ended up not adding that item to their cart in the Add-ons section. Unfortunately, the GM Kit was not able to be added to existing pledges during the campaign, so a number of people increased the total of their pledge to make sure the funds would be available later, and to help unlock stretch goals! We suspect a few folks may have forgotten what the extra $25 was for.
So just a reminder to please look over your cart carefully before submitting your completed survey. Particularly if you notice you still have a positive total remaining!
If you were one of the smoke-test backers who already completed their survey and want to double check to make sure everything looks right, you can request a new link to your survey at the address below.
https://the-fifth-season-roleplaying-game.backerkit.com/
If you have questions or any concerns, feel free to reach out to us at
[email protected].
Fifth Season June/July 2023 Update
10 months ago
– Thu, Jul 20, 2023 at 11:43:38 AM
Apologies for the time it took us to put this together, but it turns out we’ve got a lot of these plates spinning!
This month, we’re bringing you some of the worldbuilding detail of the Stillness, as distilled from Jemisin’s novels by one of our developers, Hiromi Cota. This is from a set of art notes for maps of comms that are one of our stretch goals, but we thought it might make a fun look at not just what we’re doing, but how we’re doing it behind the scenes.
Enjoy!
~Joseph D. Carriker
Common Features
Each settlement is enclosed by at least a partial wall, with the exception of the Islands Village. Walls generally have ladders or stairs on the city’s side for defenders and lookouts to observe the land around them. In addition to the walls, they also have a large gate, often with mechanical assists to opening, like levers, counter-balances, or pulley systems. The books don’t mention hydraulics, but wealthy cities and towns have the appropriate technology for it.
Technology
Streets
This world did not develop complex metallurgy, thus doesn’t have internal combustion engines or computers. So, there are no cars or trains here. Instead, transportation is largely by horse, some other beast of burden, or by foot. However, they have a highly sophisticated understanding of chemistry and geology, nearly on par with our own. So, some settlements — particularly wealthy cities — pave their streets with asphalt or some other polymer-based mixture.
Buildings
Similarly, stoneworking and masonry in this world are on par or beyond ours, even though we have computer aided design. Part of this is because there’s a type of magic that allows its wielders to raise perfectly supported structures straight out of the bedrock. This magic is too expensive for most places, but several settlements have buildings with utterly no tool marks and daring architecture that could be basically anything you can dream up. As an example, the emperor of this world and his family live in a massive, amber geodesic dome-palace that sits on top of an obsidian star pyramid that serves as the capital building.
Metal construction is generally frowned upon, but some places still have it, especially in places an architect might show off a little. (e.g. decorations, the city’s gate, railings). Because of the advanced geology and chemistry here, glass can be far stronger than in our world; the books mention “bridges woven of glass and audacity,” which implies load-bearing glass is rare but not impossible. Also, glass in this world is often quite colorful or even opaque.
Lights
The technology level varies wildly between these settlements, with the cities having geothermal & hydroelectric power and electric lights and the villages making due with candles. Places in between generally use oil lights. Natural gas, coal gas, and coal exist, but are rare because of the inherent dangers and historical reasons.
Eastern Coastals
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Climate: Tropical savanna. Dry winters with significant rainfall for over half the year, leading to relatively predictable growing seasons, albeit with occasional flooding.
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Climate touchstones: West Africa (e.g. Ghana, Nigeria)
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Trees: African mahogany, baobab, bamboo
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Local stone: Gneiss, amphibolite
#4 Eastern Coastals Town
An up-and-coming town. The residents are in the middle of doubling the acreage by building a temporary wooden wall.
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Wall: A 15 foot tall amphibolite wall surrounds the older half of the town. A 10 foot tall mahogany wall is under construction. A sturdy-looking stone-framed gate is already in place. This wall extends from the stone wall and encloses an area about the same size as the stone one. One side of the wooden wall is done. The other 2 sides have stacks of 10 foot tall mahogany logs and stacks of 40-50 foot mahogany logs near them.
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Surroundings: A mahogany forest that ends abruptly near the side of town surrounded by a wooden wall. There are piles of mahogany branches along the forest’s edge, as well as clear drag marks that lead off the map.
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Topology: The area is fairly flat, with a single 20-30 foot diameter boulder somewhere.
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Size: 32 acres
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Households: 40
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Construction details: Roughly half of the buildings are made of stone and the rest are made of wood. The streets are cobblestone or gravel.
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Points of Interest & Neighborhoods: Horse stables, a large farm with conical piles of hay (there are no hay bales)
