Nomnivore Games was hit hard by the COVID-19 lockdown, the Canadian publisher got their RPG development budget mainly from convention sales. There’s been hardly any conventions in 2020.
However, the indie studio has kept going and continued to work on their Emberwind RPG which they crowdfunded at the end of 2018.
Emberwind is a GM-optional game that makes use of the RISE system. RISE itself is setting-independent and has a focus on player agency, character flexibility and agile combat.
You can get a free to download demo of the hero manual (PDF Link) from the publisher’s site and check out the modules Skies of Axia, The Songweave Tapestry, Wailing Song and Empire of Shattered Glass.
The Emberwind team are inviting a conversion and feedback on their Discord server for a content creation suite that they are planning to launch.
What is Emberwind’s Nexus?
Emberwind’s lead developer, Derek Chung, describes Nexus as a digital content creation suite that will make it easier to design your own content for the game.
That content includes the likes of custom foes, heroes and anything else you need to play the game.
Nexus is also a hub for the community to build around, share ideas and come together.
The plan is to launch Nexus in phases, with feedback collected after each one. The first beta opens on August 17th and will run to the end of the month.
If you’re able to take part in that first phase, then you’ll get access to the new Bestiary and Foe Creator.
The sign up form can be found here, if you wish to apply for access.
Why Nexus?
In a post Derek explained why the Nexus project was happening.
By this point, it’s no surprise that most in-person conventions have been cancelled. Tabletop gamers have needed to find ways to navigate these difficult times and adapt to continue to reach one another. We needed to find a way to adapt too if we wanted to continue to reach and support our small, but growing community.
While gamers have had to adapt rapidly to virtual environments, I feel as though the developers behind the games that they play haven’t really kept up with their respective player bases or the ingenuity of the RPG community as a whole during the pandemic. In their defence, there is plenty of difficulties for any developer to overcome to be able to provide that online support, and we know many that have had to move mountains or are in the process of doing so to bring their game to a virtual space. We’ve faced our fair share of struggles too, (especially as a small indie), but we wanted to bring EMBERWIND to a digital state beyond just converting our materials into free asset packs for Roll20 or Tabletop Simulator.
Curious? In addition to to the Discord server, there is a Nomnivore Games Facebook page, Twitter and an Emberwind Reddit.
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