[Pugmire] February Update!

Hello wonderful Pugmire supporters! Things are kicking into a new gear, so let’s dive into the update!

PUGMIRE CORE RULEBOOK

As I hope you’ve already seen, we’ll have a Backer PDF for folks on Wednesday! It’s a week later than our planned release date, but we wanted to give folks time to adjust their pledges before we lock things down. Rich posted details about this release and why we do Backer PDFs in update 50. This is the first time we’ve used BackerKit to deliver a book PDF, so please bear with us if there are hiccups! Check out Rich’s update if you haven’t already.

MONARCHIES OF MAU

I ran a couple playtests of Mau at Midwinter last month, and reception was positive. The playtests helped me identify areas that need work, and solidify areas that are working well. Players said the game made them feel like cats in the same way that Pugmire makes them feel like dogs. They also helped me identify some specific areas that I needed to improve. Based on that, I’m revising and finalizing the first draft of Monarchies of Mau Early Access, so more people can kick the tires. (Or, in the case of the Midwinter playtests, kick the cultist rats off of a roof.)

Last month I mentioned art direction for Mau. Since then, Rich nailed down the look of the iconic characters (including a few Kickstarter backer characters)! He brought them to Midwinter to get feedback as well, but they’re already looking great!

FICTION ANTHOLOGY

Jim and I reconnected on the pitches, and we agreed on which ones worked and which ones didn’t. I’m also getting first drafts to review for world-building details and continuity.

As for the story I’m submitting, I decided that a new-to-you story rather than a reprint was better. So, I’ll be reworking an unpublished Pugmire story titled “Thank You, Darcy Cat.” It features Darcy Cat and Alistair Afghan, two characters that show up a few times in the Pugmire game. In fact, a small section of the story is the opening fiction of the Guide section.

This will also be the story that gets converted into a non-interactive audio drama. I love the banter between Alistair and Darcy, which will translate well to audio. But the story rewrite and the audio script are a bit further down the road.

PAN’S GUIDE

The Pan’s Guide team is working hard on a first draft. Now that I’ve answered initial questions about the world and the project, I’ve stepped back to let the inestimable Matthew Dawkins spearhead the project. I have every faith that he’ll do a wonderful job!

EARPLAY

We finalized the scripts, and then I got them all into the software we use. There I found more problems I had to revise, and locked the script down right before I got on the plane to Midwinter. Recording started a few days after that (in fact, I listened in to the first session from a meeting room at Midwinter!). Now we’re all done with recording aside from my bits, which I’m going to do tonight. The actors were all great and very efficient, so a few parts we recorded with different actors to give us alternatives. Once we listen to how they sound together and decide on the final performances, I’ll announce the final cast list.

Meanwhile, the audio team has picked up the baton and started running with it. I’ve listened to some amazing music compositions, and the treatment on one of the monster voices is chilling!

FETCH QUEST CARD GAME

I’m also thinking about the future of Pugmire. Monarchies of Mau is the next big step, but I’m also working on a cooperative card game tentatively titled “Fetch Quest” (thanks to Rose for the title). I ran a game of it at Midwinter, and I was surprised at how well the very first game ran. There are a lot of areas I need to polish, but the core gameplay kept all six players engaged for an hour and a half, and near the end they were furiously strategize and balance all their resources to defeat the game. I plan to talk more about Fetch Quest after the Monarchies of Mau Kickstarter.

AND MORE

And with that, I’m off to get some more work done. Hope you enjoy the PDF release on Wednesday!