Winter 2020 Update

Hello! We hope you're enjoying Brindlewood Bay. If you've had a chance to read or play the game, we'd love to hear what you think. The Codex team has never put out a big, standalone game like that before, and they'd love to know if you want to see more stuff like it. 

In this post, we wanted to give you an update on how things are going in the various parts of The Gauntlet. There is a lot of information to get to, but before we dive-in, we want to give you a quick update on the Trophy Kickstarter campaign, which is entering its final days.

Roots of Old Kalduhr: The Trophy Gold Megadungeon

The Trophy Kickstarter campaign (linked in the image above) is nearly over and we have one last stretch goal to unlock. It's called Roots of Old Kalduhr: The Trophy Gold Megadungeon. That's right: in the tradition of Undermountain, The Emerald Spire, Anomalous Subsurface Environment, The Temple of Elemental Evil, and others, we are aiming to create a megadungeon for Trophy Gold. Here's the pitch:

In the deepest part of the fell woods outside Fort Duhrin lie the ruins of Old Kalduhr, remnants of the mighty, debauched people that used to dominate the land. Many treasure-hunters have set out for these ruins in the hopes of recovering their secrets and antiquities, but most never make it; the forest, watered with the malignant blood of Old Kalduhr, shatters them. But what about those few who manage to survive the woods, who manage to find Old Kalduhr? What’s waiting for them when they get there?

Roots of Old Kalduhr is a megadungeon for Trophy Gold. In it, you’ll explore the ruins of an ancient civilization and learn the truth about what caused its fall. The exploration begins on the surface, in the heart of a terrible forest, but quickly gives way to a dazzling, subterranean city deep below the ruins. Impossible magicks, wondrous treasures, and chthonic horrors await those brave enough to enter.

What truth can be found in the roots of the world? What secrets do Old Kalduhr have yet to whisper?

From the very beginning, the core lore of Trophy's world has revolved around two things: the forest and the lost civilization of Old Kalduhr. This megadungeon will allow your group to explore the rumors, history, and myths surrounding these aspects of the Trophy world, and we're dying to bring it to you. 

We have assembled an amazing team of writers to bring Roots of Old Kalduhr to life:

Natalie Ash, Litza Bronwyn, Mad Jay Brown, Aaron Burkett, Emily Care Boss, Linda Codega, Jason Cordova, Madeleine Ember, Cat Evans, Lowell Francis, Amanda Lee Franck, Fiona Geist, Cecil Howe, Oli Jeffery, Judd Karlman, Mike Martens, Kyle Maxwell, David Morrison, Epidiah Ravechol, Gerrit Reininghaus. Gabriel Robinson, Jesse Ross, Ramanan S, Fraser Simons, Skerples, Chris Stone-Bush, Jason Tocci, Sabine V, Michael Van Vleet, and Phil Vecchione. 

But we're running out of time to unlock this stretch goal, so please consider pledging today.

Codex 

The publishing team has been a little swamped with Trophy stuff, along with some big changes to the editing and layout team of Codex, but things are getting back on track.  Codex - Hell 2 should be out by early March. It's an amazing issue that includes:

• Jelly Hell, a solo-play horror larp. 
• That Hell-Bound Train, a short-form story game about the people you meet on the train to Hell. 
• The Pit, a new Western-themed incursion for Trophy Dark.
• Hester's Mill, the first official incursion for Trophy Gold.
• Three Dozen Wars (and How They Ended)

In-production issues of Codex include: Codex - Yellow 2, the sequel to our popular Carcosa-themed issue; Codex - Hearthfire, which, among other things, will have expanded rules for Trophy Gold; and Codex - Colossus, which will feature the third official game in the Trophy series: Trophy Colossus.

Podcasts

The Gauntlet Podcast, Fear of a Black Dragon, and +1 Forward are continuing with regular episodes in 2020. 

The Farrier's Bellows is no longer in production and has released its final episode. Zack and Diana are about to have their first child and can no longer commit to doing the show. We wish them the very best. 

Both Pocket-Sized Play and We Hunt the Keepers! are coming back a little later this year. Pocket-Sized Play will pick up the vaunted Mercy Falls saga with a series called Camp Mercy Falls. We Hunt the Keepers! picks up  the story with a series called The Road to Bellet Osc. 

We have TWO new podcasts in development. The first is a discussion/AP podcast focused on the Trophy RPG. Much as we did for Dungeon World with the Discern Realities podcast, this new podcast will highlight work from the Trophy creator community, give advice for playing the game, and explore deeper TTRPG topics through the lens of Trophy. There will also be regular actual play segments. Note: this podcast will simply continue the feed we started last year with The Flocculent Cathedral actual play. 

The other podcast in development is tentatively-titled I Know What You Did Last Session. This is a horror movie/TTRPG "double feature" podcast. Each episode, the hosts will do a short review of a horror movie and then discuss a TTRPG that can be used to tell a similar kind of story, or explore a TTRPG gameplay topic inspired by the movie. 

We're aiming to unleash these new podcasts in the late Spring/early Summer. 

Gauntlet Con 

We originally had plans to start doing Gauntlet Con twice a year, but that is no longer a realistic thing for us to explore. For starters, Gauntlet Con, while incredibly fun, is not hugely popular. That fact by itself wouldn't be a big deal (we're not necessarily trying to have a massive attendance) but Gauntlet Con is an extraordinary amount of work, and doing that work twice a year just doesn't make a lot of sense. This is especially the case since Gauntlet Hangouts exists—we're already doing loads of online gaming all year, and a second convention isn't going to help us do anymore. With all that said, we do want to give as many people as possible a chance to participate in Gauntlet Con, and so rather than have it twice a year, we're looking at making the existing con bigger by expanding the number of events and having it occur over the course of more days. As in previous years, Gauntlet Con 2020 will take place some time in October. 

Gantlet Hangouts 

Folks have been asking about when we are going to make more RSVP priority slots available on the Patreon. We're happy to let you know there will be a new $10 USD tier that gives you RSVP priority for Gauntlet Hangouts games. You also get Codex and Slack access. There will only be 35 of these spots for all of 2020. If you have been thinking about getting involved in Gauntlet Hangouts, this is one of your only chances if you don't want to wait until 2021. This new tier will go live on February 25th. 

The Gauntlet Forums

Everything is going steady on the Forums. We have been putting a new team of admins and moderators in place over the last few months. That team is set-up and keeping everything running smoothly over there. They have recently released a new code of conduct. 

That's it for the Winter 2020 update. If you have any questions, please let us know in the replies. Thanks for all your support!