Hello rebels!

It's been a rather exciting 26 hours - thanks for getting on this ride with us! At backer request, we've added several new options for you. Read on...

Minerva's finished updating the layout for the quickstart, which is now beautiful. We've updated the digital files on our website, and put a convenient link to the updated version on the campaign page. You can also grab it here.

OK, this wasn't a backer request, we knew we were doing this today. Anyway, we hope you like it.

A few people asked whether the GM Kit and Burn This City notebook would be available as separate PDFs. They are now! You can pick them up individually, and anyone getting the physical versions will get a complimentary PDF too.

For the record, we're really happy we have the kind of supporters who ask about these things - we didn't anticipate that there'd be a demand for these for online play, and we're happy to know you want them. 

Since there are now two more digital products, we've made a pledge tier that allows you to get them all in one place. The Everything Digital pledge is £30 (which is very slightly cheaper than buying the items individually), and gets you the PDFs of:

Plus all digital stretch goals.

You may well wonder whether we're adding the GM Kit to the "Everything" pledge. The answer here is sadly no: we can't change the price of a pledge people have already backed, which makes adding a new physical reward to a pledge tier basically impossible (unless we add it for free).

Thanks to you, we've found (and fixed) two errors. 

First - "Accessories Only" shipping for Rest Of World is now a much more reasonable level. Still high, but less eyewatering. 

Second - the digital-only pledges weren't available in some countries, which was causing a weird interaction where Backerkit wanted to know where you were, but wouldn't let you say so. We've had confirmation the PDF-only tier is working, and we've applied the same fix to the Retailer pledge.  

Busy first day, eh? Thanks for supporting us, even though we made it a bit harder than it needed to be in some cases. Stick around: we're close to funding, and the stretch goals are great. 

- Chant

As I (Chant) keep alluding to, Minerva hasn't just spent her time working on the look of the core Voidheart rulebook; she's been writing too.

Today, we're delighted to present to you a preview of the newly rewritten Voidheart Symphony setting chapter. In the form of a zine, because what other medium is there for a loose network of scrappy rebels? It's not quite finalised but it's close. You may recognise some of the pages from last week's update, but there's also stuff you definitely haven't seen.

We're excited to know what you think: is it what you expected? Do you have questions? Thoughts? Previously unimagined levels of excitement?

Grab yourself a copy here:
rrdgames.com/vhs-setting-preview
(Thanks to those who left comments about readability and accessibility. Heard, and Mina's worked on this revised version of these pages.)
rrdgames.com/vhs-setting-hi-vis

The revolution will not, as far as we know, be televised, but it is gradually infiltrating the media.

First up, we have the latest of Minerva's design blogs - this time about the core rules of Voidheart Symphony. Many of you are familiar with how the game works, but the blog's an excellent refresher and a great lead-in to some more upcoming posts.

Second, for your listening pleasure, we present a fireside chat about Voidheart, featuring Grant and Minerva. This is 45 minutes of bliss: two superb game designers talking meaning, intent, and mechanics. There are jokes, too.

Finally, to prove we are letting Mina work on the book as well as promoting it, here's a glimpse of some of the refreshed design.

I really love this one: Mina's fully leaning into the zine aesthetic here, and it feels so right.


Actually, I love this one, too. Representing the agents of the Castle - the Vassal's Avatar and Enforcers - like this is both striking and suitably cosmically horrifying.


Then there's this excellent spread that makes the expanding network of personal connections really easy to visualise even when it starts getting juicy and complex. Plus, I'm very much here for the point that a community is a critical mass of personal connections.


One of the many things Minerva's been thinking about is adding strong, clear iconography to more aspects of the game, and it pays off here.

This one I'm sharing partially because I would happily get this at poster size and put it on my wall (not currently an option, sadly. Unless...), and also because long-time UFO Press fans might recognise that castle silhouette...

And finally - a glimpse of some of Voidheart's Covenants, because February is for The Lovers. (I'm sorry, I got through the whole day without making a terrible Valentine's Day joke, let me have one!)

I hope this has been a suitably enticing visual treat, and I also hope you'll check out the fireside chat and Mina's blog - they're both really illuminating, intelligent, and fun looks at Voidheart Symphony in different levels of detail, and we're all really proud of them. 

Next week, keep an eye out for a tasty manuscript preview.

For now, though - goodbye, Rebels. See you next time.

- Chant

You know how we said that Mina was using this extra time before the crowdfunder to work on more tweaks and upgrades? We've got something to show you.

Our first behind the scenes peek comes in the form of changes to the Voidheart Symphony playbook designs. We're revising the book, but the book's only part of the play experience; most players will spend a lot more time looking at their playbook.

First, here's the old version. Perfectly useable character sheet, but Mina's ambitions and skills have progressed.
Next, the redesign - brighter, clearer, more space for notes:



It's a little hard to see in the still image, but this is a folded pamphlet. The gif shows it better.


Mina's also working on some more interactivity for the web versions of these sheets, for those of you who (like Chant and Mina) play most of your games online. This is form fillable (of course) and we're working on adding tooltips so you don't need to open the rulebook to check what a Move does.



These are still a work in progress: we're not just posting them to show off (though that's definitely some of it), but to see what you think. So - what do you think? Any feedback, suggestions, advice? You can also leave a comment if you just want to praise the designs, we don't object. 

- Chant and Mina