Colostle - A Solo RPG

GAMEPLAY VIDEO
about 3 years ago – Sun, Jan 31, 2021 at 08:47:46 PM

Hey guys! 

A few people have asked about getting a clearer sense of how the gameplay works and some idea of the sort of prompts they might see in the book, so I figured I would kill 2 Rooks with one stone (ha!) and make a video that shows what a typical Exploration phase and Combat phase look like in Colostle.

I apologise for the quality of the video, this was shot on webcams so that I could get that 2-angle magic to work! Hopefully it's good enough to understand what I'm going on about!

Feel free to ask any questions about the gameplay in the comments and I will try and reply to as many as I can. You can view the video on YouTube here or click on the image below:

In other news I have been drawing more Colostle art and thought I would share with you my character! You've already seen her, as she is on the cover of the book and also the covers to Oceans and Battlements, but I wanted to realise her fully, as a sort of face for Colostle.

Her name is Mere, and she is one of the Armed, having been attuned to a large Rook arm still carrying its huge sword. She is tough, a bit bullheaded but she has a heart of gold!

Ok, I promise that postage update is coming soon, and I have some additional exciting news coming too, so stay tuned!

Thanks team,

Nich x

Stretch Goal #2 - Battlements
about 3 years ago – Sun, Jan 31, 2021 at 11:40:24 AM

Well CRIKEY MALOY! Just as I finished the artwork for the Oceans module for Stretch Goal #1 and came here to post it, I see that we have crossed the £3,000 threshold for the NEXT stretch goal!! I can't keep up with you absolute legends! So, I'll get into that in a second... but first...

This full colour illustration will appear in the now upgraded base book.

Stretch Goal #2 - Battlements - What happens when you reach the mythical 'roof' of the Colostle? Well that is up to you, and your character certainly won't be getting there anytime soon, but when you make it and your story needs more advancement, then this is the section for you.

The Battlements module includes new prompt tables for what you might find exploring the rooftop battlements of the Colostle. It also includes rules for a new kind of Rook, Astrolithic Rooks. These behemoths seem to fall from the sky above, blazing with fire and smashing into the Colostle battlements. On top of that this module adds yet another class, The Within. (I won't explain the details yet but maybe you can guess!) This class isn't available when starting a new character and will only be available to seasoned and experienced adventurers who make it to the Battlements! So something to look forward to on your quest!

This module will add another 8-12 pages to the base book to add these new rules to the game and will include another new full colour full page illustration, and a few additional black and white ones!

Stretch Goal #3 will be the Blank journal for you to write your adventures. This will be added to all those backing at the Physical version of the book or higher. The threshold will be £5,000! We can do this team!

If we're still going strong after the Journal then I'll be back here with more Module ideas, don't you worry! I already have one in mind!!

Thanks again for your eye-watering support, I am over the moon! I cannot wait to bring this even bigger book to you all!

Nich x

BACKERKIT CONFIRMED + another Kickstarter you might be interested in!
about 3 years ago – Sat, Jan 30, 2021 at 01:06:18 PM

Hey guys! Me again!

I don't have any official news on the postage issue yet, but I can tell you it is looking promising. In the meantime however I can say that Colostle has teamed up with Backerkit which means add-ons post-campaign are now going to be possible! So if you want extra journals, decks of cards or even copies of the rulebook, every single reward will be available as an add-on when the Backerkit surveys come out after the campaign.

SO, set your pledge for now at the base level for what you want, safe in the knowledge that you will be able to add whatever extras you want when it comes to the survey at the end! Huzzah!

My wife is currently running a Kickstarter as well, so I thought I would drop a link here to her campaign as it only has a couple of days left!

She's come up with an awesome idea for a medal for creative endeavours! As a self-motivating tool, you can order one of these gorgeous looking medals as an incentive for you to get that big creative project done for this year! Medals are no longer just for sporting events, let's get some for creative projects too!

The medal is a gorgeous golden metal object on a ribbon, in the design of the image above, with enamel for those popping colours! Its the perfect motivator if you have a big creative project this year, or as a gift for a friend who could do with some friendly encouragement!

I hope you will check out her Kickstarter, she's SO close to her first stretch goal and it would be awesome to just pop over that on her first campaign! But act soon if you want one, there's only 2 DAYS LEFT!

You can see her campaign here!

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Right, now I must get back to sorting postage out!

More from me soon!

Nich x

NEW REWARD TIERS - Hardback + Deck of Custom Cards
about 3 years ago – Sat, Jan 30, 2021 at 05:32:00 AM

Ok, we're doing this. You guys have been amazing, so supportive, so passionate, its only right that I reward that fervour with some radical new reward tiers that enhance your Colostle experience so, without further ado... here we go....

Hardback Edition - Premium A4 hardback edition of Colostle, containing all base book rules PLUS all stretch goal modules (64 pages approx). It will be bigger than the A5 floppy version, with the internal artwork re-laid to the new format. On top of that it will include new full-page full-colour artworks, a world map and an illustrated items library to even further enhance your adventures!

Deck of Custom Cards - A pack of 54 standard playing cards (4 suits and 2 Jokers), with fully artworked deckbox and card backs. The cards will have the suit, colour and number in the corners (like classic playing cards) but will have new Colostle artwork in the centre of the front sides of the cards as well. (Mockup image to follow shortly)

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The new rewards are structured as follows:

Hardback Print Edition - £20 - Hardback copy of Colostle + Blank Journal + PDF version

Paperback Print Edition + Card Deck - £26 - Colostle base book + Expansions book + Blank Journal + Deck of Cards + PDF

Hardback Print Edition + Card Deck - £40 - Hardback copy of Colostle + Blank Journal + Deck of Cards + PDF

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Note about postage costs:

I've done a lot of research and maths to try and get the international postage costs down lower, but sadly I think due to Brexit, they are a little higher now than on previous campaigns I have run in the recent past. As such, I have brought the Reward Tier costs down as low as I can to compensate for that. I hope they will be acceptable to you guys, but please know I have done everything I can!

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Estimated Delivery:

You will notice that the estimated delivery for these new reward tiers is later, set to June. This is to give me time to do all the new artwork required for the cards and the hardback, and also all the gameplay design for the new modules.

This means that even the lower tiers (paperback and PDF) will also be delayed to this new timescale as they will also be receiving all the new content for the stretch goals, and I am not in a position to be able to do multiple waves of postage.

I am over the moon that this campaign has grown so far beyond my initial expectations, but with that comes some costs for making all this exciting new content. I hope that my transparency on this is enough to compensate for the delay. I will as always reply to all your comments and messages and keep you updated throughout.

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I am SO excited to be able to offer these new, more luxurious tiers to the campaign. The book will be a proper object now that will have an ISBN and everything. This means it could become a product that ends up in game stores and everything, along with the deck of cards. This is more than just a fun little project now, it's a real living breathing product and I love that. This is the power of Kickstarter!

If you want to partake of these new rewards, all you have to do is go to the campaign page and click 'Manage Pledge' at the top, and you can select one of these new tiers instead, and as simple as that, you will have upgraded!

I hope you are all as excited as I am about these new tiers. Let me know in the comments below, and you will hear from me very soon with some new artwork, once I've got it drawn!

thanks!

Nich x

WORKING ON MORE STRETCH GOALS! - Nearly 1000 Backers!
about 3 years ago – Fri, Jan 29, 2021 at 08:31:35 AM

Wow wow wow! This is incredible. I can't believe we are nearing a thousand backers on a campaign I was expecting to get 30 or 40 on! You guys are so awesome for rallying around this little project! And it's becoming bigger and better because of you, so thank you.

First up, Battlements artwork:

I will do the design for the cover of the Journal next and then Cities... but before all that. Points to discuss!

2 Books or Spiral - I have made a decision. Thank you so much for all your feedback. I have gone through and read every comment and I really appreciate all of them. I have decided to go with 2 books. This is partly because of the majority and partly because it's the one that excites me more. Spiral fans, I hope this is ok. You have my word, they will be pretty!

Dot grid or Lines - After a couple of comments advocating dot-grid, and having a think myself, I think dot grid sounds like the way to go. It means you can do sketches and make maps, AND ALSO have guidance for writing the journal entries. I think it's the best option. So that is my decision on that too.

Further Stretch Goals - So, i've been having a think on this, and based on a few comments I think I want to add a couple more stretch goals. However, rather than just coming as bonuses on the £6 tier as all the previous ones have, these are going to be new tiers when they unlock, because my ideas for them are pretty big! A few of you have said you'd be prepared to pledge a little more if it gets you some really rad stuff, and I really want to be able to give you that, so thats the plan.

I am still waiting for some quotes from some suppliers on some of these so I won't announce what they are or what the thresholds are until I have done all the maths and I know for sure. This campaign has grown so much that i'm looking at fulfilment companies now, which I had not initially factored in, so there is a good amount of sums to work through!

I hope to have the new goals, and what they will get you, announced before we reach the halfway point of the campaign, so you won't have long to wait. I can tell you now though, they are VERY exciting! I can't wait to be able to tell you!

Ok, more from me very soon. Until then, tell your friends and thank you so much. You all rule.

Nich x