August '24 Pandion Updates
Wrapping up Substratum, polls to vote on, and what's ahead!
Hello and welcome to all of our new subscribers! There are over 430 of you, and we are so happy to have you here.
It has certainly been a while since our last Letter went out. Over the last eight months, we have been preparing for, running, and fulfilling our largest campaign to date: Substratum Protocol. It has been an incredible process and a huge thanks goes out to all of our players and backers!
Fulfillment of the campaign has wrapped up, and I feel I can now focus on what we want to do next - and there are many options!
Quick News
For our GenCon goers: Make sure to stop by Indie Press Revolution at Booth 241! IPR was kind enough to take five of our games to the conference!
Yesterday we sat down with Tabletop Bookshelf to discuss Substratum Protocol, Whispers in the Walls, and what we see coming next for Solo TTRPGs! It was a really fun chat. Check it out:
What’s Next for Substratum
The campaign is over, the books are out, and people seem to love it! But we’re not done yet! We’ve built a dedicated page for Substratum Protocol and launched the itch.io page, where we will release free digital content, such as new sectors, events, and clues to discover.
Our first new content will be the Dimensional Diner Sector, a silly area where the scientists find themselves in a strange 1960’s era diner full of patrons completely unaware they are miles below the surface of a planet
Then we’ll release the Leviathan’s Interior Sector, a truly horrific area of flesh and internal organs inspired by the Mystery Flesh Pit National Park.
Finally, we are finalizing the free Creator’s Guide for Substratum Protocol for release soon. You can use it to make your own Hints & Hijinx-powered mystery games or content for Substratum. If there is interest, we’ll also host a game jam once that’s released!
What’s Ahead: A Series of Options
There are a ton of ideas we have been working on in the background. What we’re thinking of doing is alternating between big and small projects. For instance, we released Whispers in the Walls 2e at the beginning of the year, then we launched Substratum Protocol. Now I need another small project to cleanse my palette, so-to-speak.
Make sure to vote on which project interests you the most at the end!
Small Projects
These smaller projects we expect to take 2-3 months to design and get ready. Many are already in a good spot. I’m curious which one you’d like to see us work on most!
Whispering Pines: A backcountry mystery TTRPG set in 1980’s Colorado, built on the same system as Substratum Protocol. It will have a mystery genre selector (Corporate Conspiracy, Folklore, Science Fiction, Eldritch, etc.) that has different events and clues used for each location in the backcountry.
Storyteller 2e: The first game we ever wrote needs an expansion and redesign with additional artwork and expanded mechanics, editing, and clarity of the rules. This is similar to the treatment that Whispers in the Walls 2e received.
Coos Clues: A silly mystery game where players take on the role of Highland Cows (Coos) taking on detective work from folklore creatures to investigate crimes humans and other creatures have committed against them.
Big Projects
These are big games that take a long time to make, require a ton of development, playtesting, and will need a team and likely crowdfunding to bring to life.
Trawlers is the furthest along in development, and we’re already building a team for it! While DNGN DLVR (working title) is almost ready for our first playtesters to help us dial in its core mechanics!
Trawlers
An action adventure TTRPG set in a fictional 1960-styled coastal region called the Northland Sea. Filled with folklore, myths, sentient ships, community building, and overcoming conspiracy-filled industrial capitalists hell-bent on maintaining their control at all costs - even if it means turning to abyssal powers locked far below the waters. Earn a living, upgrade your ship, survive sea leviathans and abyssal powers of the unknown, uncover deep conspiracies, tear down the owner class, and save your home.
Make your way!
DNGN DLVR
It’s the late 90s in the Canadian Rockies. You are a tourist visiting the village of Canmore, a sleepy village nestled outside the magnificent Banff National Park. Five years ago, magical dungeons began to spring up all around the area, full of puzzles, monsters, and magic. Canmore’s tourism board shifted to fully supporting dungeon delving tourism, rebranding as the hip new Canmore Dungeon Society.
Visitors attempting to run the dungeons are colloquially called Delvers. Delving has become something of a recognized sport as Delvers attempt to discover and complete the multitude of dungeons. Progress is tracked in commemorative stamp books provided by the Canmore Dungeon Society.
You’ve banked your vacation days, took a sabbatical, or quit your job entirely with the simple goal of completing all the dungeons Canmore has to offer.
Additional to the main game, we will have a creator’s guide for others to make and publish new regions, monsters, and dungeons to for players to beat.
The Poll
Do you have thoughts on any of these projects? Something about them that you’re really excited for? Let us know!
Whispering Pines and DNGN DLVR are the most intriguing to me!
Whispering Pines is the one I'm most intrigued about, but the idea of playing highland cows is really tempting, ngl