Cursed Capuchin Monk, my Lost Bay adventure, & reprint improvements

Life & Death Kickstarter less than a month away

We’re less than a month away from the Cloud Empress: Life & Death Kickstarter launch on Tuesday, April 2nd. I have big hopes! The Land of the Living and Land of the Dead books push the world in drastically new directions while advancing Cloud, Prince Bug, and Spike Head’s travels. With some success in the second project, we can solidify Cloud Empress’ future for years to come.

Follow Cloud Empress Life & Death on Kickstarter to show your support!

Rulebook and Land of Cicadas reprint improvements

With a second CE crowdfunding project, I’ve been reviewing community feedback from the first Kickstarter looking for ways to improve the game. Last month I announced a Cloud Empress storage box (included in every Life & Death physical pledge) to hold your collection in a place of pride on your shelf.

Today, I wanted to talk through a few other tweaks I’m planning to make during the reprint of the Cloud Empress: Rulebook and Cloud Empress: Land of Cicadas.

First, I’m reworking the character sheet so the full character sheet can fit on a single spread in the Rulebook. Folks love the option of photocopying character sheets directly from rulebooks and the new version should make the game more useable in the event cloudempress.com ever goes down.

The reworked character sheet needs some polish, but I’ve proven to myself that everything can fit on a half page at least!

Second, I’ll be taking a new approach to upcoming hex and adventure maps in the new books. For consistency’s sake, I’ll also update the hex and adventure maps in Last Voyage of the Bean Barge and Cloud Empress: Land of Cicadas.

Why am I changing Cloud Empress’ maps? First, one of the biggest critiques in the first release was the perceived style mismatch between the pixel art maps and the rest of the books. Second, the previous maps were created in playscii and we had some limitations on text clarity and overall readability, especially in the printed hex map. I'm still happy with the maps in the first books and the choice we made, but I think there's room for improvement.

My goals for the redesigned maps are to:

• Increase visual clarity

• Increase cohesion between maps and the overall Cloud Empress aesthetic

• Create a visually unique style compared to other other games’ hex maps/maps

• Ideally create the maps myself for increased flexibility in workflow and control over printing quality

I've worked up some very early drafts of what a new style might look like, which you can take a look at below. The first image shows an example of an adventure location. The image is an exploratory design for what a revised hex map might look like.

If you’d like to share your feedback on upcoming design choices, join the Cloud Empress Discord!

I know there’s no way I can please everyone with a big change like this, but I feel like I’m getting closer to an aesthetic that meets my design goals. Do you think I’m headed in the right direction with these designs? Let me know in the comments!

Beloo, the Cursed Capuchin Monk

Here’s this months monthly expansion and a link to Beloo’s PDF and all previous newsletter expansions

“While it’s true enough that Beloo left the Brood Monk village on good terms, both Beloo and the monks knew it was only a matter of time before he was asked to leave. Beloo was cursed when he died climbing a tree. As a monkey, Beloo was the same and Beloo was no longer the same.

Of course, Beloo’s tragic treetop fall saddened his spiritual siblings. For weeks they adorned Beloo with kind words, gentle touches, and small gifts of flowers collected while foraging.

All things become familiar with time though. Eventually, everything familiar becomes irritating.

The rash of fresh fruit stolen from Imago shrines raised suspicions. Beloo’s disregard for proper feces disposal led to unending gossip. Beloo’s nervous shrieks lost Beloo his last allies. What started as unspoken tension turned into a community crisis. Beloo is not a fool. He announced his departure and wiped away tears when not one of his siblings urged him to reconsider.

Beloo traveled deep into the Thickwood to find death or enlightenment – neither experience arrived. In isolation, Beloo rattles through the old woods spitting, swearing, and shitting wherever he wants. Beloo’s spent enough time wasted on human wisdom.

Beloo only trusts what he eats. He imitates the big bugs of the forest – equally driven by his huge hungers. Crack a melon to capture Beloo’s total attention. To feast is to find the Earth in the green rind, a galaxy in the fruit’s red flesh, and stars among its white seeds.”

The Lost Bay: Heterogony of Ends

I’ve been an admirer of Iko and the suburban gothic horror game The Lost Bay for at least a year now. This game is going to be awesome! As someone who grew up in the Midwest American suburbs, I’ve always been haunted by silent and abandoned suburban streets at midnight. I’m thrilled to write what I’m calling a “subplot module” for the upcoming Lost Bay Kickstarter. My module, Heterogony of Ends, explores the strange pod children lurking just beyond the threshold of the closet door or leaking fluids down the hallway. Follow the Lost Bay Kickstarter to grab your copy when the project launches!

What I’m Reading & Playing

This last month I’ve been digging into:

• Helldivers 2 (PS5) - addictive teamwork mayhem, but too many guns for my taste

• Succession (TV) - horrible people are sad

• Rascal.news - a breath of fresh air for ttrpg journalism

• Game Genie Apocalypse by Aaron King - heartfelt referential nostalgia in an innovative form

That’s another month! I’ll be back in early April with Cloud Empress: Life and Death. Wish us luck!