You can get the Stillfleet quickstart rules for however much money you want to pay. That’s not the usual capitalist way of doing things, but it’s not uncommon in indie RPGs.
Wythe Marschall is all about subverting capitalism in the howling void of space, and this tabletop RPG is politically charged. The Kickstarter community loves it, the project has smashed the $7,000 target in hours, and you can join in from the pitch page.
As an example of how strong the Stillfleet community is there’s even a Brazillian Portuguese translation of the quickstart, also a pay what you want.
The actual play group Fun City has been involved, helping with the playtest. I’ve a quote from Mike Rugnetta, former Idea Channel Host and co-GM of Fun City.
Stillfleet strikes a perfect balance that eludes the vast majority of TTRPGs: the system is quick and easy to pick up, but the setting possesses a thoughtfulness and depth – at the first edition! – that rivals any other game, even those which have been around for decades. It’s a super-future spacefaring game on its surface, but it succeeds at helping tell stories of political intrigue, cloak and dagger mystery, large-scale geopolitical conflict, cyberpunk noir, and intimate interpersonal drama. If there is a bottom to the depth stories it can help tell, I have not seen it!
The game is described as a paradox, a mixture of that political tension already mentioned, with medieval market-worlds all hurled together in an “acid-trip of a good time”.
Player characters are voidminers, working hard to fulfil the unequal trade agreements of the provinces or perhaps turning their back on that to fight xenos or the system.
The much-awaited full rules for Stillfleet, professionally designed and illustrated, are bound in one gorgeous hardback book of more than 300 pages! The game rules only take minutes to learn, but the book offers ten classes of Co. voidminer, twenty-two playable sapient species, hundreds of advanced powers + nanotech “blooder” powers + deeply Weird hell science powers, an entire chapter full of strange archaetech (weapons, cooking utensils, nanotech body modifications…), settings on major and minor provinces as well as the floating hulks of dead spaceships, twenty full encounters with dangerous aliens, and more.
You don’t need money to support the game. You can spread it on social media or even download the quickstart rules, pay nothing, teach it to others and spread the word. For just $1, though, you’ll get a credit in the rules.
If you can stretch your support to $19 monies then there’s a PDF of the book promised to you as a reward. The retail price is expected to be $25.
At $30, which is about £25, you’ll get a copy of Venture 02: The Rain Thieves.
Temptingly, at $39 there’s a t-shirt or pin badge with the two PDFs mentioned above.
The core rules are available as a hardback at $47 and both as physical offerings at $61. then, $69 gets you that tee or pin choice with both physical books, complete with PDF extras.
The tiers eventually top out at $1,997, including a gaming session and the chance to influence the game.
The bulk of the delivery is slated for March, but the PDF-only options are due before the end of the year.
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