The Waiting Game
almost 3 years ago – Sat, Jul 10, 2021 at 11:19:33 PM

Hey folks, 

Just a monthly update on Sig: City of Blades. The printer has estimated that the books will be ready in early August. We will be shipping these copies to various distributors and fulfillers at that point, meaning that the very first backer copies should _hopefully_ begin to arrive by the end of August if everything works out. 

I am eager to put this beautiful book in your hands. Thank you for your patience as we bring this across the finish line!

Jason Pitre for Genesis of Legend Publishing Inc.

Printing Progress and FAQ's
almost 3 years ago – Sun, Jun 06, 2021 at 02:38:33 AM

Hey folks, 

Just a quick update on the status of Sig. The printer has notified me that the fancy printing plates used for offset printing are now ready. They have given me an estimated completion date of early August, after which point we will be shipping a large number of copies of the books to our fulfillment/distribution partners. 

Naturally enough, the moment the book went to press I was able to get some additional detailed questions by Paul Beakley of the Indie Game Reading Club who is currently running a campaign. He has identified a number of rules or explanations that could be clarified. I will be integrating these changes directly into the PDF, and producing a stand-alone errata that could go along with the printed books.  Here are some of the highlights! 

City of Blades Errata

Faction Organization: The Crew of Freebooters are effectively the leaders and chief actors of their respective factions. They are the ones dealing with politics,  seizing turf, and generally making a mess. There's a number of  "civilians" doing routine business and living their lives based on your  Tier.

Tier Differential: The relative difference in Tier between factions can radically impact action rolls. If a Tier 1 tries to act against a Tier 3, they automatically lose 2 levels of effect. A controlled position, superior equipment, and additional 6's can mitigate. Conversely, that Tier 3 faction hits you hard, getting +2 segments of effect automatically. Be careful when confronting the big wargs on their home territory.

Getting the Tether: The Tethers to the City of Blades change periodically, typically every  9-12 months. When a faction ascends in Tier, a relevant/associated plane may get the tether.  So long as a faction is at Tier 5, an associated plane will absolutely maintain the tether. Whenever a Tier 5 faction is downgraded, they also lose the Tether. Certain magical or religious rituals might force the tether to change.  Intentionally diverting the Great River to flood a neighborhood might lead the Plane of Waves or Destruction to get the tether for example. Tethers matter because they change the demographics of the city, shift  the relative balances of power, change who can access the city, and can strongly impact Planar (Devil's) Bargains.

The Job Hunt: Normally the Freebooters are expected to find their own jobs. The civilian members of the faction do the routine and notify the gang about anything messy. The freebooters are the were-tiger team and troubleshooters.

Gear on Loan: Your crew is tactical gear rich, cash poor. You are basically borrowing most of the equipment from your faction and they poured all of their resources into that. You better hustle if you want to grow your stash and retire in luxury.

Advancing Clocks: One of the normal consequences available is to advance negative clocks such as Peril Clocks. 1 segment for minor clocks, 2 for moderate clocks, or 3 for major clocks.

Thanks for your time and I can't wait to get these books in your hands!

Jason Pitre for Genesis of Legend Publishing Inc.

Deliveries and Revelations
almost 3 years ago – Thu, May 06, 2021 at 11:51:07 PM

Sig has been Released!

As of today, we have just officially released the digital version of Sig: City of Blades to all backers on both DriveThruRPG and Itch.io. Many of you have already downloaded your copies of the game and I am eager to listen to the stories you will tell. It has been a long journey but I think it’s been worth it.

We had four generous backers who provided proofreading feedback since our last backer update, and they have been included on the credits page. Thank you very much to Dane, Spencer, Iiori, and Ian for their kind assistance. I have been able to clarify how armour works mechanically, clean up some messy formatting, and generally improve the quality of the book.  I was also able to significantly improve the layered PDF character sheet though a bit of trial and error.

On Friday, April 30th, I send the printer files and have completed relevant paperwork today to get the presses going. My representative has estimated that the books are likely to be printed and ready for shipment in August, so I am hopeful that they will reach American backers the following month. It all depends on the postal service functioning and no more global calamities, so I am knocking on wood and crossing my fingers.

If anyone has not gotten their digital copies of the book, please contact me at [email protected] and I will be glad to fix things. 

Revelation Day

Now that PDFs are in hand and the printers are hard at work, I am turning my mind to the next project. I am very pleased to announce that I will be co-publishing a new, science-fiction RPG designed by Jamila R. Nedjadi of Sword Queen Games.

Once More Into The Void is based on the brilliant structure of MOBILE FRAME ZERO: FIREBRANDS by Meguey and Vincent Baker. This means you don't need to prepare a plot in advance or have a Game Moderator (GM). Instead, Once More Into The Void is made up of mini-games, each one guiding a single dramatic scene or a small group of them. The mini-games are easy to pick up and play, players make interesting choices for their characters and follow evocative prompts and laser-sharp questions. Everyone collaborates to tell an emotional and heroic story together. Everything culminates in one final mission, that may end in tragedy or triumph!

We will be launching a kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a print run and more gorgeous art next week. We would love it if you would join us over at www.kickstarter.games on May 11th. It’s going to be a blast.

Jason Pitre for Genesis of Legend Publishing

The Gate Opens: Digital Release
about 3 years ago – Fri, Apr 16, 2021 at 10:47:07 PM

Hello, fine backers and citizens of Sig!

I am extremely proud to announce that the digital version of Sig: City of Blades has been released to backers. You should receive an email to that effect via Backerkit shortly, which will allow you to download all of the associated files.

One important note is that the character sheet has a lot of extra functionality. Each Freebooter is comprised of three components (Culture, Lineage & Devotion). Each component presented in the book is included as a separate layer within the PDF. All you have to do is make one culture, one lineage, and one devotion visible, and most of your character sheet is done.

The ZIP file included here also offers five crew sheets, a claim sheet, a Reference Sheet, and a city map that you can use at your digital table.

We intend on sending the book to press at the beginning of May so that the physical books can be sent out to you fine folks. As any publisher can attest, minor errors are inevitable in the publishing process. If you find any typos, unclear phrases, or layout glitches, we would love to know before we print. Please just fill in this quick little form so we can make the fixes.

Thank you all for your patience and support. Happy reading and welcome to the City of Blades!

Jason Pitre for Genesis of Legend Publishing

Sig Gazetteer, March Edition
about 3 years ago – Wed, Mar 17, 2021 at 05:44:41 AM

Hey folks, 

I am happy to announce that our major revision for the layout is complete, and the draft has been handed off to our editor for proofreading last week. In the meantime, I am working with Quinn to finalize the missions which will make up the final chapter. 

Once we have the missions ready, I will have to update all of the pg. xx crossreferences, index the book, and generally apply the final polishing steps. My fervent hope is that I can get you folks the complete PDF by the end of April, if the publishing gods oblige. Once that's done, the book can go to press! 

Here are a few sample layout spreads to whet your appetite.

- Jason Pitre