Nevermore Roleplaying Game

Nevermore - November Update
about 1 year ago – Fri, Nov 03, 2023 at 01:06:03 PM

Hey Folks!

Spooky season is past us, but I hope you all had a happy Hallowe'en. I'm running a little late on this update, but I wanted to make sure a few things were in place first. So, where do things stand?

Playtesting is essentially done. In addition to all of the previous playtesting, I just wrapped up a short campaign (a series of about six adventures) that I was super happy with. I guess they had a good time because some of the players are insisting that I publish some of the adventures. We'll see. 

The big news is that chapters 1 through 5 have been sent off to the editor. That leaves five chapters to complete, but as I said in my previous update, most of the actual writing is done. It's mostly a matter of cleaning things up and doing all of the development work. I'll be posting all of the edited chapters over on my Patreon as soon as they are done. Although nothing ever goes as fast as I'd like, I still expect I can get the PDF out to you all in Q1 2024. 

The Fortune/ Doom tokens are in, and they look awesome. The playing cards have been ordered, but they won't be in until the end of December or the beginning of January. That's about all I have for you now. Expect to hear from me again around the beginning of December, and hopefully, I'll have some more clarity.

Nevermore - August Update
over 1 year ago – Wed, Aug 02, 2023 at 01:29:39 PM

Greetings Friends,

I wish I could tell you that Nevermore was complete and that we are shipping. Sadly, that is not the case. What I can say is that we are fast closing in on completion. I could offer a bunch of reasons and excuses, but suffice it to say that life and work have not gone exactly as planned and things are not as far along as I had hoped. To be fair to all of you and myself, I'm setting a revised release date of January for the physical book, with PDFs coming in December.  I'm very sorry for the delay, but Nevermore is pretty much a one-person project (me).  I'm going to do my best to get books in your hands as soon as possible while also maintaining my commitment to creating a quality book. 

That said, I'm doing my best to get things back on track. The good news is that the extra time has allowed me to do more playtesting which will make for a much better game in the end. It's hard to count, but I can safely say that I have done over 100 hours of playtesting since the Kickstarter and a few other groups have also been running regular playtests as well. I'm really happy with how things are looking, and in the end, I believe the extra time will be worth it. 

So, where do we stand? The rules chapters for the book are 90% complete. Playtesting has led to some significant changes and finishing those revisions is about all that remains. The setting and narrating advice is about 75%. A few chapters have already gone through a first editing pass, and more will follow shortly.  The art is looking solid. In fact, think it looks amazing. There are a few final pieces in the works, but those should be coming in this month. 

I wish I had better news, but I'm excited about the final product, and I think you will be too. Thank you for your understanding. You can expect the next update when the book heads into layout (hopefully by October). At that time, I should be able to offer a solid final date. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

Ian Lemke

Nepenthe Games

Nevermore - May Update
over 1 year ago – Thu, May 25, 2023 at 11:58:15 AM

“I always lock the door when I creep by daylight.”

-Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper

Greeting Friends! 

We're heading into Summer, and Nevermore is well underway. We're still doing weekly playtesting, and the final writing is coming along. Next week a few chapters are going to be heading out the door for an initial editing pass, so that's exciting. Most rules changes and tweaks are done at this point, although, as I've said before, I'll be making tweaks to make the game as awesome as possible up until the last minute. I'm honestly really happy with the way things have fallen into place. There were a few rules issues that were plaguing me that I feel have been resolved nicely. 

New art continues to come in. The map for Baltimore City by Marc Hudgins is in its final review, and I have to say it looks smashing! Sorry, I'm not going to share that one today. You'll have to wait for the book. I've hired the wonderful artist Oliver Specht to do all of the half-page chapter openers for the book. I can't wait to see what horrors he brings to the page. 

And here's the usual reminder that Nevermore is now available on Backerkit for everyone including UK and EU customers, and you can still get Kickstarter pricing, so let your friends know! The Nepenthe Games Discord is now up and running.

And if you want to see EVERYTHING that is going on with Nevermore: art as it arrives, chapters as they are completed, and get invites to playtests, consider joining my Patreon. I'll be posting the latest drafts of chapters 1-4 up there really soon.  And Chapter Six: The Aethyr and Chapter Seven: Antagonists are coming soon.  I'm also planning on running a few more playtest/ demo games for Patrons over the next few weeks.

I wish I had more to share, but right now, it's late night writing by candlelight to get this thing out to you all on time.  Oh... and before I go, I'll share one more piece of art by the amazing Amanda Khal. 

Until next time, 

Ian Lemke

Nepenthe Games

Nevermore - March Update
over 1 year ago – Thu, Mar 30, 2023 at 04:43:44 PM

"Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality."

-E.A. Poe

Hey Folks!

I wanted to drop in and update you on how Nevermore is coming along. I'm currently running an ongoing campaign of Nevermore to shake out any remaining rules issues and to see how protagonist advancement and the experience system holds up. Most of the revisions at this point are focused on simplification - making the game easier to understand, play, and run.  I'm feeling really good about the direction the is going, and I hope you all agree. 

All of the outside writing from Nicky Rea and Rich Dansky are done and ready for development. I've also been doing a deep dive into American history during the Gilded Age and specifically the core setting, Baltimore City. Although the world of Nevermore is not our own, I want it to feel as authentic as possible. And who knows, you might even learn something. 

Art is coming along nicely as well. Marc Hudgins hard at work on the map of Baltimore City, and so far his prototypes are looking amazing. I've also received two full-color, full-page section dividers from Yulia Zhuchkova. I also got in a number of quarter-page pieces from Amanda Khal and Don Higgins. All of them are, hands down, amazing! I hope you agree. 

Although I'm only giving Patreon members advance peeks at most of the art, I'm going to preview a couple of pieces here.  I wish I had more to say, but for now, it's just a matter of finishing the final writing and getting it all together. The first is one of Yulia's full-page pieces, and the other is a 1/4-page b&w piece by Amanda.

Just a reminder that Nevermore is now available on Backerkit for everyone including UK and EU customers and you can still get Kickstarter pricing, so let your friends know! The Nepenthe Games Discord is now up and running, so feel free to pop by and say hi.

And if you want to see EVERYTHING that is going on with Nevermore: art as it arrives, chapters as they are completed, and get invites to playtests, consider joining my Patreon.

Now I must return to fiendishly writing.  If you have any specific questions about Nevermore please feel free to reach out directly. I'm always happy to answer questions. 

Happy April Fools Day! (Be kind.)

Ian Lemke

Nepenthe Games

Nevermore - January Update
almost 2 years ago – Sat, Jan 14, 2023 at 12:43:48 PM

Hey Folks, 

It's been a couple of months since I made an update so I figured I'd poke my head up from the computer to fill you in on what's going on. 

Text and rules-wise I am in the middle of making revisions and updates as well as writing the setting material that is still needed. I'm going to be running a few playtests in February and March to test out the revisions and make sure things are going in the direction we want to go. Most of the revisions involve simplifying things to make gameplay easier and faster. As soon as the rules are finalized, I will be working to update the free QuickStart. Nicky Rea is hard at work on the section of the book dealing with the Appalachians and First Nations. I've received some outlines from her and things are looking good. I've received the final draft of the short story for the book opening from Rich Dansky and it does not disappoint! The title is Green Eyes in the Dark and it tangentially involves a story by Ambrose Bierce. 

The art for the book is coming together. I decide to spend a chunk of Patreon money I've saved up to order two full-page pieces from the cover artist, Yulia Zhuchkova. There are going to be placed in the book as section openers for the player's section and the narrator's section.  I already have the final of one of them and just went through some possible sketches for the second.  They are both going to be amazing! Yulia is a Ukrainian artist, currently living in Poland while her husband fights in Ukraine, and it has been an honor to be able to work with her.  I've also contracted several new pieces from the talented Amanda Khal and I'm working with another artist on the chapter openers. Finally, Marc Hudgins has agreed to do the map of Baltimore city which was one of the stretch goals. Marc is an art director for Elder Scrolls Online as well as an all-around amazing artist (and person) and has a deep love of maps. 

Nevermore is now available on Backerkit for UK and EU customers and you can still get Kickstarter pricing, so let your friends know! The Nepenthe Games Discord is now up and running so feel free to pop by and say hi. 

And if you want to see EVERYTHING that is going on with Nevermore: art as it arrives, chapters as they are completed, and get invites to playtests, consider joining my Patreon. 

That's about all for now. I don't want to spam folks with emails so unless something big happens you can expect to hear from me every 6-8 weeks until release. Of course, feel free to reach out at any time with your questions or comments. I love to hear from folks! 

Have a great weekend and MLK Day!

Ian Lemke

Nepenthe Games