Nevermore Roleplaying Game

Nevermore - May Update
almost 3 years 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
about 3 years 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
about 3 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

November Update - Pre-Orders Now Available
over 3 years ago – Thu, Nov 17, 2022 at 11:35:02 PM

Hey Folks!

First, thanks again for helping to make the Nevermore Kickstarter a success! I plan on keeping updates to about once a month or so. That should be enough to keep you all up to date but not flood your inbox. 

We won't be sending out surveys until we get closer to publication, so you don't need to worry about that yet. The game is now available for late pledges and pre-orders on Backerkit. So, if you have any friends who were interested in pledging but missed the Kickstarter they can still get the Kickstarter pricing and save a little cash. 

Contracts have been sent out to Nicky Rae and Rich Dansky and I'm working on hiring artists for the remaining artwork. I'm also working with the amazing Marc Hudgins on the map of Baltimore City and I've hired the talented Yulia Zhuchkova to do two full-page color illustrations for the interior that will be openers for the Protagonist and Narrator sections of the book. Yulia also did the cover and she is a Ukranian artist who is currently living in Poland so it makes me super happy to be able to hire her again. I'll have more art details in the December update. 

Other than that, I've begun my final re-write and development of the game systems as well as writing the setting material. We'll also be doing more playtests over the coming months. 

Now back to work! Lots to do!

Quote the Raven, "We did it!"
over 3 years ago – Fri, Nov 04, 2022 at 04:45:27 PM

Hey Folks, 

Thanks to all of you wonderful people we did it! Not only did we meet the Kickstarter goal, but we surpassed it. Our final tally is 382 backers for $22,394. Not bad for our first Kickstarter! I also want to give a special shout-out to the folks on my Patreon who were instrumental in making this all possible.  Their donations went to things like artwork (both the cover and interior), a new printer,  and an occasional cup of coffee... all the things a writer/designer needs to keep going. 

I was so excited to see us hit the 22k stretch goal in the last minutes. I'm really looking forward to working on those new cabals.  Speaking of which, it's time to get to work. I've got art orders to place, a map to order, contracts to write for Nicky Rae and Richard Dansky, and much more. 

I can't even say how thrilled I am that after two years of working on this thing it's going to become a reality and you all are a part of that. But before I dive back in I'm going to take the weekend to rest up and celebrate a little.  Have a wonderful weekend!

--Ian