Neithernor RPG Release & Big Update News

THE NEITHERNOR ALPHA IS OUT NOW

If you didn’t know, the alpha for the Neithernor roleplaying handbook is out now, and I’m so grateful for the response it’s received, even in its current alpha version. It’s the best-selling Book Shop-only book, and that fact alone makes me so happy.

I can’t wait to hear your thoughts, feedback, and to read all the shenanigans you and your friends get up to in your own Briarverses!

CHANGES & UPDATES

If you’ve purchased the complete digital edition or pre-ordered either of the physical versions of the book, you’ll receive regular updates to the handbook as we continue to edit, fine-tune, and playtest the game!

We’ll also be adding a change log to the game’s landing page at www.neithernorrpg.com so you can keep track of fixes and updates.

Some of the things we’re planning on tackling in the next few months are:

• Condense: We want to further condense the mechanical explanations so that it’s easier to understand and jump right into play. We’ll be doing that by adopting more of Fate Core’s new Fate Condensed ruleset.
• Levels: We want to continue adjusting the guild-bearings and their respective affinities so that each bearing and spell feels well-balanced and properly powered (there are a few guild-bearings that feel like omega-level mutants right out of the box and adjusting them to be just as fun but also on track with the other bearings is a big goal for the next few months. Looking at you Phantorist and Lunivox.)
• Clarity and Cohesiveness: We want to continue melding Fate’s content and Neithernor’s content so that the entire handbook feels like a clear and cohesive document born straight from the Briarverse.
• Imagery: Once we nail down the structure and format, we’re going to start working with one or more illustrators to bring the handbook to life with tables, graphics, and illustrations.
• Spelling & Grammar: The handbook is still an alpha product, and though it’s fully playable and mechanically complete, there are bound to be spelling, grammar, and formatting mistakes we’ll need to correct. @Mike and I will tweak what we find as we continue to fine-tune the manuscript, but we would love your help finding anything we miss, so I’ve created an Errata Super topic for readers to submit errors they find in all the Briar Archive books, including the Neithernor handbook.

The book’s final edition will also have a big ol’ thank you page with the names of everyone who helped with mechanics, edits, and spells! It’s not in yet because I want to make sure I thank everyone who helps as we get closer to the handbook’s final version.

THE STONY HARBOR CAMPAIGN

The community leaders helped us playtest a lot of the changes we made to transform Fate into Neithernor. In a handful of video chats in February and March, Mike acted as Narrator, and leaders created characters, tried out spells, and helped us figure out where things bumped, didn’t make sense, and how best to integrate the Briarverse into the base mechanics of Fate.

It was A LOT of fun. So fun, in fact, that we’re officially making the story they created together a monthly campaign that we’ll record/live stream and make available here on the forum! It’s about a sleepy New England town called Stony Harbor which has its own massive magimystic well just offshore! The leaders and Mike will be rebooting the story from the beginning when the campaign launches, and we’ll record on the last Friday of every month! It will be a lot of fun, will help with continued play testing, and will also be a helpful resource for learning how to play Neithernor!

The Stony Harbor campaign and character sheets will be up soon in the Neithernor category! Speaking of—

THE NEITHERNOR CATEGORY IS LIVE

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE reading about other people’s RPG campaigns and characters. They’re not only fun fantasy reads, but they also inspire my own campaigns and characters, and I would love if you’d share your Neithernor gameplay stories with the community. My dream is to include Easter eggs and subtle nods of your campaigns in the canon Briarverse narrative (with your permission, of course), but really, I just want to read about what you and your coven get up to! It’s like fanfic with dice!

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS

Have questions about Neithernor, either mechanically, narratively, or about future plans? Ask away, and @Mike and I will answer everything we can!

And again, thank you so much for helping bring this book to life. Five years ago, a roleplaying game based on something I created seemed like a fantasy, and you helped make it real.