Producer’s screen / rules = written / fill-in-the-blank fun
10 months ago
– Tue, Feb 27, 2024 at 02:01:13 PM
Crossing stretch-goal streams: 20K now = the Producer’s screen!
Happy almost-the-end-of-Zine Quest! We are excited to see so many great indie TTRPGs emerge, and we’re of course profoundly thankful for the opportunity to create the Blister Critters Boxed Set as Tony imagined it.
In fact, the team talked late last week, and we feel so strongly about achieving Tony’s vision that we are officially unleashing another stretch goal early. If we can make it to 20K, we will create the Producer’s screen with 3 pockets for cards. This extra funding should cover a run of plenty of screens, and we’ll still be able to pay the team who has worked to bring this game to life.
Tony went ahead and sketched his idea for the screen, and it is EPIC. The art says everything about the vibe of the show: who will prevail in the titanomachy to control your televisual TTRPG experience—Beasts or Critters?
The bird is holding a knife, y’all.
Let your friends who haven’t backed yet know: the next stretch goal is a twofer!
Status update: writing = done
By way of a quick update, we’re done writing the Blister Critter Rulebook! Tony has drafted every section; Stephen and I have reviewed it all and suggested tweaks (sometimes in response to feedback from playtesters—thank you!); and our very talented copyeditor, Jedd Cole, is diving into the polishing phase.
The only core rules left to finish are the mechanical details of all 200 items of Stuff found in the book’s tremendous Stuff catalogue and of all 48 Beasts and Bliffs who appear on the cards. As Jedd edits the book, Tony is finalizing the Stuff and cards. But roughly three-quarters of the Stuff is drafted, and the art for many cards is sketched or finished.
More updates as we have them. TL;DR: this will not be a terribly long process, as Kickstarter campaigns for games go. We have already created and playtested game; we just need to print it up.
Shouting out another game with a fill-in-the-blank mechanic: Tabletop Gone Mad
Time for another fist-bump. Our fellow NYC-based game designers, Twice Rolled Tales, have designed a whole game based on our belovèd fill-in-the-blank ad-libs! The game, Tabletop Gone Mad, looks beautiful and fun to play. Our team can’t wait to try it (perhaps with the Twice Rolled crew!?). Here is the pitch:
Tabletop Gone Mad, a book of no-prep, fill-in-the-blank TTRPG adventures by Linnie Schell and published by Twice Rolled Tales, is now on Kickstarter!
Tabletop Gone Mad combines streamlined d20 mechanics familiar to fans of Dungeons & Dragons with fill-in-the-blank scenario and character generation to create customized one-shot adventures that get your party rolling in minutes.
The system book will include 25 adventure sheets perfect for your next game night, including 5 new one-shots by Rom Com Drama Bomb creator Elliot Davis. The book will also feature 12 character sheets and roll tables to fuel your randomization!
Time's running out to back this special Kickstarter Zine Quest campaign! For more information and to watch Tabletop Gone Mad in action, visit twicerolledtales.com. Make your pledge now and discover your new favorite no-prep way to play!
That’s it! Remember to tune in to the Blister Critters mini-marathon livestream on Sunday, March 3! We’re streaming two games, one at 12 PM Eastern and one at 3. Follow us on Twitch >
Thank you, and happy upcoming Leap Day!
Stickers = unlocked! / Shouting out more rad games
10 months ago
– Fri, Feb 23, 2024 at 01:50:55 PM
More stickers in every box!
Whew, we did it! We’ve unlocked the second sheet of Blister Stickers, which we’ll add to every Blister Critters Boxed Set. Thanks so much to everyone who’s supported the game! It means the world to Tony and the Stillfleet Studio team, and we promise to deliver high-quality boxes full of weird art and fun rules. With the funds raised to date, we can confidently create the boxed set Tony dreamed of, and we may have a surprise or two in store left yet…
For now, the team is busy editing the book, and Tony is busy creating the cards. Here is a sneak-peek! I can't wait for the full deck!
Tomb of a Thousand Doors crossover!
Oh hey, did we mention that we teamed up with Matthew Morris and the amazing team behind the grand new Mausritter megadungeon, Tomb of a Thousand Doors, to create a special crossover episode for Blister Critters: "The Critter of a Thousand Blisters!?”
The story: you've fallen through a portal into the Static Zone—an inter-realm that links all of the universes in which humans have disappeared and animals taken up the reins of the earth. This strange and foreboding place, covered in TV-static snow, is home to one very curious Beast: a giant centipede now imbued with all of the powers of TV advertisements and infomercials... (Think Max Headroom meets... a giant centipede.)
If you haven’t checked out Tomb of a Thousand Doors, please hop over to their Kickstarter and stay on the lookout for late pledge opportunities and more exciting news from the prolific Mausritter community. ToaTD is full of fun animal-scale adventure hooks and dope art. We love Mausritter and can’t wait to spend some time crossing up Blister Critter with the OG wee-little-dudes game.
Shout-out: Punch Nazis… in 865 AD!
In other shout-out news, we only recently discovered No Nazis in Valhalla by fellow Leftist game designer Wes Ascolese, and we had to throw this game some love. Here is the quick pitch:
January 1945: the writing is on the wall, and it is clear that the Nazis are going to surrender. The Thule society, through mysticism and technology, send all members they found relevant, back in time to the year 865 England. Their goal to ally themselves with the Great Heathen Army whom they idolize. Their presence is met with harsh resistance and a new war breaks out.
This book puts players in a heroic role of repelling the Nazis out of England in the year 865. The year is one where The Great Heathen Army began it's conquest on England but have found themselves a new foe.
Take on the role of a Norse hero with the power of the gods and take an axe to the face of fascism.
Reminder, we are still running the Critter City Crawl game jam on Itch.io. We’ve heard some wonderful ideas from people about what the near-future eco-apocalyptic world of Blister Critters would look like in their own regions. We can’t wait to read through these! But we decided to do this after the campaign, to give the team some breathing room. That means you still have time to write up a quick one-page Location (game term—a setting) for the game!
New news: we are planning a day of streaming Blister Critters games with some guest players and GMs on Sunday, March 3, over on Twitch.TV/Stillfleet. We’ll be playing one game at 12 PM Eastern and another at 3 PM. Tune in! More news on this soon!
Finally, we are grateful for continued press coverage! Thank you! Press folks, feel free to DM me and get in touch!
Welcome to Critter City / Shouting out Death Game
10 months ago
– Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 10:01:38 AM
Join the jam, try the game!
Reminder, we are running a game jam over on Itch.io to create more fun content for Blister Critters so that you can dive into any number of different episodes right away.
We already have several entries, but we want to bring in as many voices as we can. We've now extended the game jam beyond the end of the Kickstarter campaign. The requirements for the jam are very light, and you still have plenty of time! If you have questions, please reach out.
We've also created a new channel on the Stillfleet Studio Discord server for discussing and setting up games of Blister Critters. Use this channel for brainstorming game jam submissions, talents for your favorite animals, plot hooks, ideas for Stuff—whatever you want!
Also, if you're curious to learn more about how the game works, Tony and Wythe just recorded an actual play episode with The Weekly Scroll and our consulting producer, Logan Dean. Check it out!
Shout-out to a project we can't wait to play: Death Game
If you haven't heard of it, please check out Death Game, the battle royale TTRPG by by Laurie O’Connel (writing), HODAG RPG (art), and Sam Leigh (editing). Laurie is an amazing game designer, and HODAG illustrated a few spreads of the Stillfleet Core Rulebook.
As a fan of brutal, eat-the-rich stories such as The Hunger Games, Squid Game, and Battle Royale, I had to back this one. The character archetypes in the game are extremely cool and weird. Plus, Death Game uses dice for scores, much like the Grit System!
Here is a bit more about the project from their press release:
Death Game is a narrative driven tabletop roleplaying game when characters compete in a high-stakes battle for survival for the entertainment of the ultra-rich. Throughout the game, players will pick up different characters, struggling against all the odds for victory. As the number of competitors narrows and the stakes grow higher, you'll play until one of you wins, and the rest of you die. During that time, you’ll build an arena, work out the rules of play, and grow attached to your mostly-doomed cohort of competitors.
Shout-out to a beautiful diceless adventure: Mystery Under Magi-Mart
To end this week's update, we have to shout out a project by another talented indie creator we admire—Bodie H. Bodie makes vivid, perfect little gems of games (sometimes sci-fi!), and Mystery Under Magi-Mart looks to be no exception.
The game is a self-contained diceless adventure; there are tons of items (you know we love items); and Bodie is making stickers (you know we love stickers). Here's the quick pitch in the creator's words:
Mystery Under Magi-Mart is a pick-your-path adventure book, taking you on a quest into a magic store’s dungeon basement to find a potion. There are no dice, no rules to learn, just exciting choices to make on every page as you explore this bizarre dungeon.
That's all for now. Fingers crossed we unlock more Blister Stickers! Thanks to everyone who's supported our work!
First stretch goal unlocked! / Next up: stickers!
11 months ago
– Fri, Feb 09, 2024 at 12:33:51 PM
Ad-Libs = in the box!
Happy almost-weekend, everyone! Thanks so much for backing Blister Critters and making our weird-cartoon-animal dreams come true.
We've now raised enough funds to unlock The Book of Ad-Libs —thank you, thank you, thank you! That means this fun play-aid will be added to every Blister Critters Boxed Set. That means you get more useful Stuff at the same price!
And that means we're announcing a new stretch goal…
Blister Stickers × 2
Tony and I love stickers, and everybody loves Tony's art. So we couldn't resist: every Blister Critters Boxed Set comes with one sheet of stickers already.
But, if we hit our next stretch goal, we'll add a second, different sheet of stickers. That's, what?, twice as many stickers, by my sticker-maths!
Here's a preview of what we're talking about:
Note, you'll already have Critters on the first sheet of stickers, so the second sheet will offer more Stuff, environmental elements (Phases of the mutating sun), and even wee little sticker character sheets!
Please help spread the word and unlock these stickers!
Press for Blister Critters
We're delighted that some Zine Quest round-ups are highlighting our game in their best-of lists! Here are a few pieces mentioning us.
Let us know if you see any others—or if you're a reviewer who wants to play the game, chat with the team, or learn more!
Funded! / Stretchin toward a goal
11 months ago
– Wed, Feb 07, 2024 at 09:34:25 AM
Funded day 1!
Thank you so much to everyone who backed us early! Tony, Wythe, and the team have worked so hard to create, playtest, and perfect Blister Critters, and it means everything that we'll definitely be able to print the book and cards.
At the end of the day, we're indie creators who are reliant on crowdfunding. All we want is to make high-quality, fun-to-play games. And we can't do it without you!
If you know a cool, games-enjoying person who might like Blister Critters, please spread the love! We truly appreciate it.
Stretch goal #1: The Book of Ad-Libs
We are now scurrying toward our stretch goals, of which we have many planned. First up is the great Book of Ad-Libs, which will be a 52-page addition to every Blister Critters Boxed Set.
"Today’s episode of Blister Critters was made possible by the following sponsor…"
At the beginning of each episode of Blister Critters, the GM and players can agree to use the Ad-Lib rule: the players will then generate a very random infomercial for a canonical product in the game's Critterverse, which can then be brought into the game as Stuff. Encountering this special Stuff lets the Critters then regain pool (health and grit)!
(Many of you have probably filled out an Ad-Lib or two with your buds when you were younger. Update: it's still fun!)
This is the sort of goofy but functional and mechanics-extending rule is exactly why we're so excited to be publishing Tony's take on the Grit System. We hope we're able to add this lil book to the Boxed Set, and we can't wait to see some of the sponsored Stuff y'all come up with!
