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| Image via Jason Lutes |
No one knows how the Stone got there, or what the runes cut into its surface might mean. Few even remember how the village sprang up around it. When storms roll up and the Stone pulls lightning from the sky, outsiders cringe and cower. But us? We barely even notice.
We live here, see. This village, Stonetop—it’s our home. It’s not a glamorous place, far from it. But we look out for each other. We might not always get along, but we’re a community. Everyone contributes. Everyone shares.
And right now, as the first wildflowers bloom in the Flats and the trees bud in the Great Wood, trouble is a-brewing. The world itself is darkening, like the sky before a late-summer storm. Everyone can feel it. Folks are getting scared.
You and me? We’re the ones folk look to when they’re scared. Like it or not, we’re the brave ones. The clever ones. And yeah, sure, the strange ones, too.
These are good people, here in Stonetop. Our kith and our kin.
If we don’t step up to protect them, who will?The PCs play the local heroes of a small, isolated village in an iron age that never was. The giant ruins of the Makers lie half-buried all around. The Fae dance in the Great Wood. The Things Below plot and dream and, recently, they stir. And all sane folk avoid deep water, for there dwell things, things that slither forth and drag you to your doom. Everyone knows this.
The game's core conceit is that it's centered on the PC's home town. It's still (mostly) a game about going on adventures, but those adventures happen to defend the town or to improve it. The steading itself gets its own playbook, with stats and improvements to be unlocked.
I've been working on this for a long time. It's a playable game. I'm in the process, now, of turning it into a full-fledged product. Jason Lutes is doing art direction, editing, and layout and publishing under his imprint, Lampblack & Brimstone. Artwork is by the amazing Lucie Arnoux.
Here's a taste of the game:
- The Setting Overview, with plenty of blanks for you to fill in during play
- Moves & gear
- Steading Playbook
- The Heavy, this game's version of the fighter
- The Would-be Hero, who's in over their head but might outshine us all
- The Seeker, definitely not a wizard
- Some of the major arcana the Seeker might start with: the Staff of the Lidless Orb, the Azure Hand, and the Twisted Spear.
- A visual tutorial of the gear and inventory system
- A preview chapter: Running Stonetop
You can learn more here.
If you pre-order, you get access to the current PDFs and the Stonetop Discord server. Alas, Backerkit doesn't have a way to automatically send you that info, so we send out emails in batches to new backers every month or so.
Looks like you have the Heavy and the Seeker listed here. Is this because they're the most polished and finalized character playbooks? I've seen about four of the others as drafts in the stonetop collection (out of the nine total listed in setting overview). What about the others? What state are they in? In your games what's being used?
ReplyDeleteOh, the rest are all fully done and fleshed out. I just picked these two cuz I they do a good job of showing how Stonetop is different from Dungeon World.
DeleteThe PCs in my home game have been rocking Seeker, Heavy, Blessed, Ranger, Fox, and Would-be Hero. I've got a Judge, Marshal, and Lightbearer in the an online game, but scheduling that has been absolutely accursed.
We're wrapping up a 60+ session Masks game, and looking for a community-focused pbta game to sink our teeth into. Stonetop is on the short list. I *think* have most of the playbooks accumulated, but I continue to see references to material (the Alamanc?) that I can't locate. Any help available?
ReplyDeleteHi Doyce, sorry for the late reply! This was caught in moderator limbo!
DeleteThe almanac is very much a work in progress. I've got snippets laying around, but I'm still feeling my way through that.
If you're still thinking about putting a group together, let me know.
I would be able to run 3 playtests, but probably not until Feb 19
ReplyDeleteHi Wayne, just to be clear: you've got a group on board to play starting Feb 19ish?
DeleteI could, yes. My weekly game group would be willing.
ReplyDeleteCoolio. Just sent you an invite to the G+ community. That's the hub for now, but obviously we'll need to find a new place going forward. Let me know if you don't see the invite/notification.
DeleteI was just wandering if there was a date yet for this to go on sale?
ReplyDeleteI don’t currently have a group for play testing but I’d love to get a copy. I’m thinking it sounds like it would be great for doing more than one offs at conventions with different groups.
There is no date, and previous attempts to predict one have been... wrong. We'll make a big noise when it's ready, almost certainly kickstart it.
DeleteIt's definitely not a great fit for cons, unless you arrange to do a "long con" (3-4 sessions spread out across multiple days with the same group).
I've followed this project for a while with interest, and I would be interested in platesting. My local game group runs in 'seasons' and the next one is due to start on the 1st May. Would that be too late to get involved in your playtest?
ReplyDeleteHi Jack! Yeah, still taking playtest groups. We've been asking folks to commit to playing at least 3 sessions and giving feedback. If that sounds like something your group is down for, send me an email at "jack" underscore "blackfoot" at the yahoo, and I'll hook you up with the deets.
DeleteWhat is the best way to keep up to date on Stonetop? Do you have a mailing list or Twitter feed with updates? Unfortunately right now I cannot commit to playtesting. :(
ReplyDeleteHi John,
DeleteI plan to start posting some updates about it on https://reddit.com/r/dungeonworld going forward, as well as the blog. I occasionally kick ideas around in the Dungeon World Discord server (https://discord.me/dungeonworld). Thanks for your interest!
Hey, Jeremy:
ReplyDeleteI have a group who'd be willing to play at least five sessions if you still need playtesters. This sounds right up our alley!
For some reason it's saying I'm unknown! You can email me at emilyfromthewharf@gmail.com if you have questions -- or let me know if there's a different way you'd like to be in touch.
DeleteEek! Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Check your email for a message from me (from jack underscore blackfoot at the yahoo com).
DeleteHi I've got a group that is willing to play three or four sessions of stonetop, if you are still looking for people to do playtesting.
ReplyDeleteHi Joe! Yes, still taking playtest groups. Drop me a line at jack underscore blackfoot at yahoo, and I'll hook you up with the info. If you email and don't hear back from me within a day or so, reply here and let me know!
DeleteI'd be very interested in playtesting this. I'm travelling abroad and won't be back to a homebase until April 2020 though.
ReplyDeleteCheck in again when you get yourself settled. We'll hopefully be published at that time (or at least well into production), but if we're not, we'll certainly be taking feedback.
DeleteHey Jeremy -
ReplyDeleteMy group's going to be finishing our current campaign in next month or so. They might be up for playtesting. We've played DW before.
By when would you need feedback?
Hello! Pitch the game to them, and if they're down for trying at least 3 sessions, let me know. You can email me at jack underscore blackfoot at yahoo.
DeleteAs for timeline... it's a rolling thing. I appreciate feedback as soon as you have it, but no specific timelines.
Let me know if you have questions.
Hey, Jeremy. I have a group on board for playtesting. Can I drop you a line?
ReplyDeleteSure! Hit me up at jack underscore blackfoot at yahoo. Cheers!
DeletePerfect, sent you an email!
DeleteGot it and replied. Let me know if you haven't received it.
DeleteHi Jeremy
ReplyDeleteI have assembled a group with 3 or 4 players. I have introduced the concept of Stonetop to them (I've been myself desperately wanting to play for a long time), and they agree to play a few sessions before deciding for a longer campaign. Anyway I'm quite sure we will do at least three sessions and give you feedback if still needed. May I drop you an email at your yahoo address?
Hi Marquejaune!
DeleteThat sounds great. Send me an email, and I'll get you all the stuff you need!
Jeremy
Hi Jeremy
DeleteI send you the email ten days ago... maybe I got the wrong adress? jack underscore blackfoot at Yahoo dot com ?
Ah, crap! I got it, and meant to reply, and then... life happened. My bad. Sending a response now! My apologies!
DeleteHi Jeremy,
ReplyDeleteI have a regular DW group that would really like to do a short campaign of Stonetop, are you still looking for play testers?
We are! If you're down for at least 3 sessions plus providing feedback, hit me up at jack underscore blackfoot at yahoo. (And if you don't hear back from me, feel free to badger here.)
DeleteIs this game to be published soon? Looks great!
ReplyDeleteHopefully? I continue to work on it, and Jason continues to lay it out. I will make much noise when we kickstart.
DeleteYeah, there are definite similarities. I really like a lot of what Beyond the Wall does, particularly in the communal character creation stuff. But it's always struck me as odd that it slots the lifepaths into a more-or-less standard set of D&D classes with more-or-less standard D&D abilities. It's been on my "someday maybe" list to redo the BTW lifepaths with something like World of Dungeons, and see how that worked. But, y'know, I got the this ^^^ thing to finish first.
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest differences in "vibe" between Stonetop and BTW are:
1) In BTW, you're all young adults, just starting out, and the game is metaphor for growing up (at least, I think it is). In Stonetop, you certainly can be a young adult, but you can also be an old, established pillar of the community. The game is more about the community itself, and how the PCs fit into it, protect it, build it up.
2) In BTW, character creation and your starting adventure pack shape the village pretty much from nothing. Stonetop has a much more baked-in starting point.
3) BTW tends to put the starting village in context of a larger kingdom or civilization. Stonetop is much more on the edge of nowhere, isolated, etc.
4) The baked in elements of the Stonetop world tend to be... grimmer? The magic especially has a certain sort of bloody, powers-that-you-probably-shouldn't-mess-with vibe. I don't generally get that from BTW, though it certainly can be there.
It's there a draft / ashcan version available at the moment? Would be useful in these selfisolating times.
ReplyDeleteIs playtesting still relevant? I'm pretty sure this is the direction I'd like to take my next campaign.
ReplyDeleteIt is! I've been asking groups to commit to at least 3 sessions and to giving feedback. If that sounds like your group, send me an email at "jack" underscore "blackfoot" at yahoo and let me know. Or reply here with an email address I can contact you at.
Delete-Jeremy
Email received, reply sent. Let me know if you don't get it!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeremy! Are you still accepting playtesters? I sent you an email last weekend. Lemme know :)
ReplyDeleteHi Adam! Sorry for the delay. Just replied to your email. Let me know if you don't see it.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteMy group would love to give this a shot! Half of my players are new to rpgs in general and we've been playtesting Wildsea. It'll be time to check out another system soon and I love yours and its setting.
I couldn't find your email address; I hope this works.
Thanks!
We're still taking playtesters, yeah. I've been asking groups to commit to at least 3 sessions and to giving feedback. If that sounds like your group, send me an email at "jack" underscore "blackfoot" at yahoo and let me know. Or reply here with an email address I can contact you at.
Delete-Jeremy
Hey there!
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to double check if you're still accepting playtesters. Shot you a quick email about a week ago. Been selling my group on Stonetop and they're aclamor over the idea.
Thanks!
Hi Brent! I don't think I received your email (I've checked my spam and inbox). We are still taking playtesters, though. Maybe send it again, and/or reply here with your email address?
DeleteMy email: "jack_blackfoot" (at yahoo dot com).
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAre we here yet???!! ;-) promoted it on German PnP forums . Looking forward to it. Its going to be some sort of OGL to share own settings?
ReplyDeleteDo you write about your desing process anywhere for moves? I noticed that many of the moves have positive outcomes on 7-9 with no downside (except not getting the 10+ outcome). Can you talk about why that is? I suppose it rewards the player using the custom move, making it safer?
ReplyDeleteCan you be a little more specific? Are you talking about playbook moves? Some of the new moves for Stonetop like Forage or Seasons Change? Either way, can you give some examples?
DeleteEverything here looks really nice. I'm quite excited about this game!
ReplyDeleteBut I have a (potentially strange) question:
How closely integrated is the Stonetop situation/setting to the rules and playbooks?
What would happen, hypothetically, if a group took the rules and playbooks and played it AW-style (an improvised situation and setting, arising from "following the characters around")? Would it work, or would there be major issues?
If you just took the playbooks, plus you and your own players default assumptions about the game world, and did the Apocalypse World thing of following the characters around for a session, I think you could make a pretty good go of it. To be honest, that's largely what Emily & company are doing on the sessions they've been running for Happy Jacks RPG network on twitch. https://www.happyjacks.org/stonetop/
DeleteI expect you'd find the gears grinding in a few places, specifically related to arcana, the steading improvements, and the systems related to equipment and possessions. You'd likely find that many of the arcana felt out of sync with the lore that your group established at the table together. You'd probably find players making assumptions about personal property and wealth that didn't jive with the gear lists or how the Trade & Barter move works (for example).
I also worry that you'd end up with the PCs very quickly becomes monsters in the home village, rather than it's heroes. Like, the playbooks set the PCs up to have ties to the village and deep connections to it, but the PCs are also *PCs*, with skills and abilities and outlooks that point them towards adventure and (often violent) conflict. In a number of playtests were folks reported doing a more "follow the PCs around" sort of style, they frequently led to PCs killing their neighbors in session 1 or setting themselves up as petty tyrants or the like, which... yeah, play to find out, but not quite the mood that the game is selling, y'know?
With all that said, I do intend to have a "making Stonetop yours" chapter in the final product that talks about the various changes you might make to the setting and what ripple effects those might have.
Dear Jeremy, what about the poor souls who missed the Kickstarter? 😢 Any chance for late entry? Pre-order or anything? Cheers!
ReplyDeleteI came here to ask the same thing. I'm surprised there isn't some option to sign up for late pledges on the Kickstarter page. I'd like to get in before DTRPG is the only print option.
DeleteEek, sorry about never replying to this. Pre-orders are available here, if you're still interested!
Deletehttps://stonetop.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders/
Hi Jeremy!
ReplyDeleteI made a pre-order, do you know when the PDF's will come out? I have a group super excited to play!