Nibiru Update #55 - Zephyr is Out
about 1 year ago
– Fri, Feb 03, 2023 at 04:13:29 PM
(if you received this update twice, sorry! I sent it to all my backers!)
Hiyo Vagabonds, long time no see!
I wanted to pop in to let you know that our next roleplaying game, ZEPHYR: An Anarchist Fantasy Game of Fleeting Identities, is out on Kickstarter! If you have enjoyed the deep worldbuilding of Nibiru, its themes of identity, and my art direction, I think there's plenty of awesome stuff to find in Zephyr :)
Check out Zephyr
It really is like nothing out there! I invite you to check it out and thank you kindly for your attention :)
Best wishes,
Federico
Nibiru Update #54 - Xanadu is Out!
about 3 years ago
– Sat, Feb 06, 2021 at 11:02:30 PM
Hey Vagabonds, long time no see!
We're popping in real quick to let you all know that Xanadu, the first expansion for Nibiru, is live on Kickstarter!
If you enjoyed the Nibiru Corebook we're certain you'll love this one. We are delving deep into Antumbra to accompany Vagabonds on their journey, fleshing out the Core Sectors and how to best run games in the region. We're touching on Enki's Covenant, the Pilgrims, and parts of the setting we'd love to flesh out even more, as well as bringing in new fauna, flora, automatons, Revelations, a new habitat, and a new system based on collective memory and identity!
We hope to see you around and would be glad to have your support once again :D
Best wishes,
Federico
Nibiru Update #53 - New Ideas, and the Future of Araukana
about 4 years ago
– Sat, Mar 07, 2020 at 03:05:29 AM
Hello Vagabonds!
This was an overdue update, so I'll start by saying sorry I didn't send this in time! A lot of stuff has been happening over the past few days and I took a break from working on Nibiru for a couple of weeks over the last month.
During the last update, I spoke about this one detailing plans regarding Araukana's future. I've been focusing, for a while, on seeing how the community received Nibiru, and I'm very happy with what I've seen. The way I see it, Nibiru is a niche game that has some mainstream appeal given its format and art budget. A lot of the more passionate fans seem to be mostly hooked by the lore and the world of Nibiru, which is also what I put the more work and got the most enjoyment of. The great thing about that is that it allows me to take that setting and push for different creative endeavours set within the Skyless World.
I've been wanting, for a while, to reach into other mediums. This means that yes: the work on Nibiru and what we'll be releasing is not over, and that I look forward to release new content, though this new content might not be within the TTRPG world. I've been thinking of tackling a videogame for a while, so I'd say there's a big chance that'll be the next thing for Nibiru.
At the same time, I've heard your feedback and also have a couple of things lined up for the TTRPG that I'm working on. First of all, the short adventures we promised for the Pilgrimage campaign. These will be a series of one-page adventures, much more light and loose (since, unfortunately, I cannot afford to pay for edits for new full-size adventures yet), that will go to those who took part of the Pilgrimage marketing campaign during the KS. Second of all, I'm thinking of making a couple of pseudo-lore-sheets to ease people into the setting. The world of Nibiru is complex and ideally we'd have a series of sheets that can be handed out to your players, to get them into the mindset before a games starts.
At the moment, I'm getting geared up to move to Japan on June, so I'm being careful with my savings and the kind of projects I tackle :) thus I cannot unfortunately push for a bigger project. I'll be prepping to set up the company over there, calculate my savings and make sure my visa plan is locked and loaded. Among the multitude of reasons why I'm moving there, one of them is to have the chance of work closely with local artists, so it's likely future projects and iterations of Nibiru will be heavily influenced by the artists I get to connect with over there.
Once I'm settled, and as Nibiru continues to gain its spot in the TTRPG world, I'll be in a safer spot to be like "hey, now it's the time to do a supplement!". I think that when it comes to doing that (say, a supplement or a videogame or something else), I'd like to focus on one of the particular communities of Nibiru, on a specific theme, and kinda dive deep into that to make a more easy-to-digest experience. I think that for some, the sheer amount of information about the Skyless World showcased in the Corebook can be intimidating, and reducing the scope for the next project could help with that :D
When it comes to stuff outside of the Nibiru sphere, if you've been following my work it's likely you've noticed I've been working on another setting for a while (Zephyr). With that said, the worldbuilding aspect of my creative process is by far the most time consuming part of it all (took like three years for Nibiru!) so I wouldn't count on anything in the near future reg. that IP.
I think that's a pretty good vision on what's coming next for Araukana for now :) I'll have to think of what to talk about next, but for now I'd say stay tuned, Vagabonds!
Nibiru Update #52 - Nibiru, the Indies, and the Production Model
about 4 years ago
– Sun, Jan 26, 2020 at 09:06:12 PM
Hi Vagabonds!
I took a bit longer to sit down and write this update since in a way we are writing the epilogue to this whole adventure, and had to collect my thoughts and plan what I wanted to talk about in the last few updates. In this one, I wanted to make a reflection on ethical production of games and Nibiru in particular. Warning: it's LONG :P
There's a lot that I have talked about (and would like to write about) regarding the vision of Nibiru, and the stuff that I wanted to accomplish with it. To push for new, interesting mechanics with clearly defined objectives, to play around with the design space as much as I could, to create a deep world that knows the kind of themes and stories it wants to communicate, and to do so while taking a lot of care for the aesthetic feel and the style we bring to the table.
I'm very proud of what y'all have pulled off together with this project, but if there's one thing I'm proud of the most, is of what this success has meant for the people that were directly working on it. For a good while now, the TTRPG industry has been split in how it manufactures games. While big companies push for deluxe production and high quality while paying near-slave wages of (in some cases) even fractions of a cent per word, indies have decided to prioritize an ethical framework for game creation. And while these games might not be full color, massive, pseudo coffee-table books, they are at the vanguard of games design while, most importantly, laying the groundwork to make this industry a better place to make games in.
Nibiru, however, stands at a weird intersection between these two categories.
This is, for all intents and purposes, an indie game. There's been a focus on delivering a tailor-made experience, made from the ground up, while rejecting most of the baggage that comes with larger, more "mainstream friendly" games. It has been ethically produced, which means people were able to work on it without feeling underappreciated for their work. It means that Nibiru actually made a difference in their lives, not only from a creative standpoint, but at the same time helping them feel like they have a shot at making art and paying their bills with it. It means setting our targets for paying those involved as close as possible to indie payrate guidelines, such as the QTPOC, which are referenced today whenever we make a push for fairer working conditions.
At the the same time though, I felt like if I wanted Nibiru to bring new people to try indie games, I'd have to match or exceed the standards of the big companies. Of course, I also wanted to make the game look slick AF. In a way, this meant that the whole process would come at a pretty big personal cost (like pulling seven day weekdays for months, working 2 jobs, etc), which I would've not been able to do if I was in a more dire situation or had a family to maintain. Mind you, most indie creators in the industry cannot afford to do this.
Given that, I'm super happy to see that a lot of you have taken the chance to delve into and even become part of indie projects :) it means a lot, to know that this game has been, at least to some, a gateway into indie games, and that the success of it can in a way spread to other games and other marginalized creators while enriching your experience, letting you try new and exciting ideas in games design.
To finalize, I wanted to recommend three indie games that I think you'll probably really like if you've liked the vision and style of Nibiru.
The first one is #iHunt, by Olivia Hill and Filamena Young. It's a game about struggling millenials hunting monsters via an Uber-like app to make ends meet. It's probably one of the only straight-up economic horror games out there, and it's been making quite the buzz lately: its approach to prose, style and theme is bound to knock your teeth out. Olivia is also Nibiru's editor! Yay!
The second one is Dialect: A Game About Language, And How It Dies. Dialect is by Thorny Games, and it's probably the coolest game mechanics-wise I've played in 2019. It's a GM-less RPG that has the players taking scenes and playing characters across several ages, within chosen setting, to see their community's language evolving and eventually dying.
The third and final one is Ryuutama, designed by Atsuhiro Okada. This one has been out for a while, but I always come back to it because of how it frames struggle not through combat or violence but via the trials and tribulations of journeying. It stems from a pretty well known mechanical framework (skills, attributes and such) but diverts in really simple ways, bringing new things into the fold (like the fact that the GM has a sort of "spirit dragon" character that can aid the group) while giving a traditional RPG feeling at the same time.
I think that's a good note to leave it on. Sorry for the long post! It's awesome to see people finally have the game in their hands. Next update I'll finally talk about the future of Araukana, Nibiru, and what we have in store :)
See ya later Vagabonds,
Federico
Nibiru Update #51 - New Year Update
over 4 years ago
– Wed, Jan 01, 2020 at 10:24:39 PM
Hi Vagabonds!
I wanted to quickly check in with you to wish you a happy new year, and to let you know that Nibiru will be shipping out tomorrow, with all packages expected to be shipped by Friday :) the warehouse has confirmed that, from today, people should start receiving their packages in about 4-5 business days (for those closer to the UK!).
I hope you are having a great time through the holiday season, and take good care of yourselves :) I'm super looking forward to knowing that you're happy with the game, and will update you close to the 20th of the month for another monthly update and views on the future of the game. I'm also prepping to release the game to the wider public within the next weeks, so if you didn't have a chance to hop in and you are reading this, make sure to follow us!
Many hugs far and wide, and best wishes for 2020,
Federico
