Caliya’s Chronicle of Runes

January Update
about 1 year ago – Tue, Jan 21, 2025 at 08:04:21 PM

Hi folks! Monthly update here for Caliya's.

Woo, it's been a month. In terms of content, the book is getting super close to complete. (And rightly so, as I know many of you are anxiously awaiting the final release!)

A couple weeks ago I sent out Alpha v0.11—the first playtest PDF to include the transcriptions (i.e. letter-by-letter breakdowns) for each of the runic languages, barring a couple that are still being finished up. So go check that out if you haven't already!

In addition to tidying up some bits related to that, this next playtest update will include a good portion of the last major section of the book that hadn't yet been included: the Bestiary. I'm very excited for this, as in my mind it's sort of the culmination of how to tangibly implement these languages in your game in a way that players can interact with—usable monsters and NPCs. Really makes the languages feel more "alive."

Once the Bestiary is complete (along with a couple other odds and ends), I'll officially mark the playtest as in "Beta" phase—meaning all content is present in the book, and it's time for any final feedback and revisions before sending it off to print!

Stay tuned for that announcement so we can get all feedback in to make the best version of the book possible!

As always, feel free to reach out to me here on Kickstarter if you have any questions, email me at [email protected], or just come chat over on the Discord server. Thanks, friends!

– Tony

December Progress Update!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Dec 26, 2024 at 08:17:44 PM

Greetings folks! Hope everyone's having a Merry Christmas and happy holiday season! Apologies for sharing this update a few days later than my typical "monthly update on the 20th."

I sent out the latest PDF update (v0.10) a couple weeks ago (featuring the new, handy-dandy Table of Contents!), so if you haven't grabbed that yet, be sure to do so!

I also wanted to give a 'thank you' to everyone who has reached out to offer feedback, and a special shoutout to fellow backer Russell (aka Count Archos) for his extremely helpful review of the book's runes. Feedback like this—even for just one or two items—makes the book infinitely better for everyone, so it's always very exciting to see.

This next PDF update should be ready within a week or so, and we're really closing in on the final product, complete with the final set of runes: Serpentine! Importantly, this update will finally include the writing systems for (almost) all of the book's languages. I know lots of folks have been waiting on this for a long time, so that should be an exciting holiday treat!

These scripts are featured in an Appendix section at the end of the book and detail all of the letters, numbers, and punctuation for every language, as well as the special features unique to each language. This coming update will show how to read/write in the following languages:

• Abyssal
• Celestial
• Common
• Constellar
• Deep Speech
• Draconic
• Dwarvish
• Elvish
• Giant
• Gnomish
• Goblin
• Halfling
• Infernal
• Nodal
• Orcish
• Primordial
• Sahuagin
• Serpentine
• Sphinx
• Sylvan
• Undercommon

For those counting, that's 21 of the book's 25 languages. The ones yet to be added are Necril, Druidic, Thieves' Cant, and Wilderyn. The latter three are "logographic" languages, meaning they aren't written alphabetically, but rather where individual symbols represent entire words or phrases. These are notably more complex, so they'll take a bit more time to detail.

The only remaining section of the book that has yet to be included in some capacity is the monsters. Though most of the monsters are already created, it's been a challenge setting up a good format for the stat blocks in InDesign, so I'm currently having a layout specialist help me out in setting that up. Those should be included in the update after this one, later in January. That will likely be the start of "Beta" playtesting, which will sort of be a "last call" for feedback from folks before the book is finalized.

If you have any questions or notes for feedback, feel free to reach out to me here on Kickstarter, via email ([email protected]), or just send a message on the Discord server. Thanks, friends!

– Tony

November Update
over 1 year ago – Wed, Nov 20, 2024 at 06:39:35 PM

Hiya folks! Got a monthly update for you.

I've been making some solid progress on the book! If you haven't downloaded the latest Alpha Playtest yet, it was sent out a couple weeks ago. Let me know if you're not getting emails or if you're having trouble accessing your downloads. ([email protected], or just hop on over to the Discord server) Happy to help!

I wanted this next playtest release to be the first "Beta" playtest—which in my mind will be when all of the content is in the book, but not necessarily fully edited/revised/finalized yet. But I think I'm gonna take a lesson from the last release and just send out what I've got by the end of next week, rather than keeping you all waiting as I push to get to that "checkpoint."

One thing of note: Until now, I've just relied on built-in Bookmarks for folks to navigate the PDF. So the thing I'm most excited about that will be in the Alpha v0.10 PDF (and I'm sure quite a few folks will be happy to see it as well) is... drum roll please... the Table of Contents! People have been asking about it for a while, but I wanted to make sure I had the layout/structure for the book fairly solidified before putting it together.

This next release will also feature the "Rune Variant Rules." These are optional ways to implement the rune system other than the standard assumption of the book (acquiring discrete "magic item"-like runes and transferring them to various objects). These variants include implementing runes as:

• Runic tattoos (for folks who want to transfer runes to their body, rather than objects)
• Enchantments imbued directly into objects by specialized magic-users (for folks who want all the mechanics without the runic flavor)
• Data chips (for folks looking to implement the runes in a modern/sci-fi setting)

I think that's all I've got for now. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions!

– Tony

October Update!
over 1 year ago – Mon, Oct 21, 2024 at 11:18:08 AM

Greetings, folks! I hope all is going well for you.

Progress on the book is continuing to chug along! I probably should've sent out another playtest in between the last one (Alpha v0.8) and this next one I've been working on to continue getting new stuff out to you all. It just wasn't quite where I wanted it to be yet—and then I kept getting hit with hurricanes and other life events delaying things. (We made it through fine, thankfully!) So apologies for that.

That being said, the next playtest doc is nearly ready! In addition to the previously promised content that will be included, there have been two notable changes:

• The Kobold Viper race has been moved to the Ascension of the Behidra companion adventure book. In its place is now a collection of Dragonborn Variants giving expanded traits unique to each draconic ancestry. (I elaborated on this a bit more in last month's update.)
• The Command language has been renamed to "Wilderyn." The concept is still the same: an umbrella language collecting all the languages—or rather "dialects"—of intelligent beasts (e.g. Winter Wolves, Blink Dogs, Giant Eagles, etc.). The reason for this change was just that "Command" made it feel like the person speaking/communicating via the language is in charge and the intelligent beast is subordinate to them, which has never really been the intent considering, well...the fact that they're intelligent, and it's really their language first and foremost. I think Wilderyn much better reflects the spirit of the language.

Last week, I also sent out all the latest fonts that have been finished up (the new ones included are Abyssal, Goblin, Sahuagin, and Sylvan). So if you ordered all the fonts, or any of those individually, you can go grab them via your BackerKit downloads for the project. And if you still want to get any of the fonts for the book's runic languages, you can do so under the "Digital Loot" section on the Pre-Order Store.

I expect to have Alpha Playtest v0.9 sent out by early next week. And thanks for your patience since the last release. Until then, here's some fun new art that will be included for the Rivener lineage!

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out here on Kickstarter, by emailing [email protected], or just chatting on the Discord server. Thanks, friends!

– Tony

September Update
over 1 year ago – Sat, Sep 21, 2024 at 08:28:24 PM

Hey folks!

Not much new to share, but I wanted to give a monthly update as usual. I know this next playtest release (Alpha v0.9) has taken a bit. Doing my best to get it out ASAP!

One notable update is that the Kobold Viper race is being moved to the companion adventure: Ascension of the Behidra. (You can still pre-order that over on the BackerKit store if you didn't before.) Of course, the race is still perfectly accessible to everyone and usable via all the playtest PDFs to date, and it's already been reviewed and edited so it shouldn't be changing.

The reason for the change is that it had been bothering me that, technically, Kobold Vipers (which are related to Behirs, rather than Dragons) are really more tied to the Serpentine dialect than the Draconic language, but the book already has the Nagaran race for Serpentine. So since the adventure book will feature Behirs and Kobold Vipers heavily, I've decided to bring the race over there instead. (Which will also feature two subclasses and a group patron for other player options.)

In their place for Caliya's, I've added "Dragonborn Variants" for each draconic ancestry. These are essentially a few additional thematic traits unique to each kind of Metallic and Chromatic Dragonborn (Black, Blue, Green, Red, White, Brass, Bronze, Copper, Gold, and Silver) and help bring the Dragonborn race up to snuff with other 5e race options—since it's always been rather lacking. Much more fitting as a true "Draconic" race option for the book. I think you all will love it.

I always like sharing art in these updates, so here's the Gravekeeper Ranger subclass!

As always, let me know if you have any questions. You can reach out here on Kickstarter, by emailing [email protected], or just chatting on the Discord server. Hopefully should have the next playtest out by the end of the month. Thanks, friends!

– Tony