3 days remaining: "Path of the Unbound" Barbarian Unlocked plus other news
about 2 years ago – Sun, Oct 23, 2022 at 04:47:41 PM

Good morning! The "Path of the Unbound" Barbarian has been unlocked! Let nothing stop you in the march of liberation! Your rage is a righteous one.

What's next on the horizon?

As mentioned in the previous update, we have coming over the horizon both the Bard and Monk archetypes! The "College of Ink" surrounds your ability to make paintings and calligraphy come to life while the "Way of the Dosa" centers the five elements of Taoism. You will harness the elements in your body and activate various states.

Beyond that, what have we missed?

Of course! Who can forget the Wizard?

The "School of Astromancy" revolves around not just the study of stars, but the manipulation of the boundless supply of ambient energy in the heavens. Once considered a mere offshoot of the school of Divination, Danguk mages' long study of the stars culminated in the means of drawing power from constellations to fuel your spells. The wizards who enter this field must possess iron discipline to become one with the cosmos, but also to resist the deceitful whispers of the entities that reside there.

Starting out, you can imbue your spells with "Nova Casting", giving them the radiant quality of the stars. This enables you to substitute your regular spell damage with radiant plus a chance to blind your enemy a number of times a day.

Your most heralded feature is "Stellar Realignment", a flexible ability that allows you to align the stars in the heavens to your favor. These new constellations you write with space as your parchment will empower your ability to cast spells from specific schools of magic with unique abilities. It's a flexible feature that goes in tandem with your spell preparations for the day.

Beyond that, we have our homebrew Tactician class available at 70k! With more goodies I hope we can unlock over the final days of our campaign! It's been a blast, everyone, and thank you so much for pushing us this far.

Oh, also! You can check out a review of our Jeoseung Saja patron made by the good people over at URGE TV! Check it out for a breakdown of our upcoming Warlock subclass!

UPDATE: Naraka Prosecutor Rogue Unlocked and Previews!
about 2 years ago – Sun, Oct 23, 2022 at 03:51:35 PM

Hello!! I come bearing good tidings:

Another batch of our archetypes has just been unlocked! Since the last update, now you have access to the "Deadeye" Fighter Archetype, "Circle of the Medium" Druid, and "Naraka Prosecutor" Rogue. Thank you once again and we really hope you enjoy all of them!

In addition, we would also like to share with you a preview design we're working on of the Noru ancestry:

As you can see, we've gone in a deer-like centaur direction with our messengers of the gods. This is a sketch, but we're excited to share with you what we have planned with regards to coloring since we've really been shooting back and forth with ideas on that. But for the time being, you can definitely see fey-like influences with their claws, antlers, and fur slicked back into like hair.

But now let's talk about what's over the horizon.

People in Danguk are bound by a restrictive social caste system, codifying their inequality. The Nobi of the Cheonmin caste for example are bound to the land and the lord that rules over it. A Barbarian that follows the "Path of the Unbound" bears the weight of their fellows' pain and rage inside of them and makes you able to endure a great deal more pain. You can push past your ordinary limits at the cost of health to deal mightier blows against the arrogant who look down on you. Having perfected your rage, you benefit from the effects of Freedom of Movement, allowing nothing to ever again hold you down. Lead your allies and compatriots to a better future as a liberator.

Bards stand alongside Wizards in holding great influence in the mageocracy of Danguk. Many poets have risen to prominence and in honing their craft, they've developed the "College of Ink" that emphasizes calligraphy and ink paintings. When you reach 3rd level, your progress in training has earned you access to the full power of the Virtuoso's Inkbrush. It's a magic item that you can use to draw anything and have your pieces come to life.

You can both cast Silent Image at will and Animate Inkpiece, creating a lifelike, living painting that you can either fight alongside with or use to deceive your foes with its hyper realism. In time, this Living Inkpiece becomes an extension of your magical ability, enabling you to cast spells through it. 

Dosa in Korean refers to Taoist monks in real life or in fantasy, Taoist lowercase w wizards. As monks following the "Way of the Dosa", you've learned to channel your Ki in such a way to tap into the mystic weave of the arcane that flows through the earth. By spending Ki points, you can enter into a state that corresponds with an element in the Five Phases: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood. You transform your body and take on the powers associated with the element. However, you also understand that in the course of achieving balance, for the great strengths you take on, you also gain a weakness to compensate.

This archetype was our way of trying to create an elemental monk that corresponded more with the five elements of eastern tradition. It's built around spending ki points to access transformations each with different powers, making flexibility part of your strength even with the potential debuff associated (each triggered with their unique conditions).

Shout-Outs

Hunter's Full Moon Trilogy 

This book by Midnight Tower (creators of An Unexpected Wedding Invitation (5e), a Jane Austen-inspired romance and mystery adventure!) on Kickstarter contains three adventures focused on traversing through the wilderness. The scenarios were designed for characters levels 1-3, but the encounters are scalable to suit any higher level adventurers. In the cold autumn nights, the people of Buckbridge count on you to save their small village and later, search for Queen Freja Swiftsteel's long-lost tomb.

Check it out!

Stretch Goal 3 and 4 Unlocked!! Plus coming previews
about 2 years ago – Sun, Oct 23, 2022 at 09:21:08 AM

Good morning to all of you!

Just letting you know that you've all unlocked the plague-eating "Circle of the Medium" Archetype for Druids and our "Village Guardian Deity" Jangseung and "Messenger of the Gods in Deer Centaur Form" Noru ancestries! Also, each Mudang Tier and above backer gains free access to our upcoming module on Alchemy RPG!

For those who would only like the module through Alchemy, we are also offering it as an add-on at $15 (half off for what modules of this size usually cost on their platform). 

As of now, we are just a short way's away from clearing 63K: the "Deadeye" Fighter Archetype! So let's share some upcoming previews.

At the Olympics, archery is a game Korea consistently sweeps gold medals at. Our tradition of archery goes all the way back to before 37 BC with the founding of Goguryeo by King Jumong, a legendary archer. In honor of this history of pure skill, we present to you the "Deadeye" Martial Archetype for Fighters whose magnificent aim does not require trick or magic arrows.

You declare "Called Shots" that enable you to aim at a specific body part or weak point on a creature. On a hit, you can inflict a debilitating debuff that weakens them in unique ways. Go for the headshot and really do a number on your foes!

As a Cleric of the "Hearth" Domain, you oversee the iron-clad laws of hospitality. In Danguk, you would normally be a priest of Jowangshin, the goddess of both the kitchen and fire. Your cooking skills benefit from the guiding hand of providence and your divine gifts can protect and nourish you and all your guests during rests. But make no mistake, you are not at all incapable of combat.

The deities of the Hearth command you to deliver retribution against ill-mannered intruders who would abuse or break your hospitality. For those brutes, you have spells like Fireball to punish. Make your friends and family unforgettable meals while blasting the hell out of all those who would interrupt this sacred time of rest!

The term "Naraka" refers to the plane of hell in Indian religions, but we're using it in the context of Buddhism. You're familiar with "Jeoseung Saja" Warlocks who are charged by the psychopomps of the underworld to capture those who would subvert the natural order. Rogues who serve as Naraka Prosecutors share a similar mission, but they are in no ways bound to any code of neutrality for life and death. Directly appointed by the Ten Narakwang, the divine judges of the underworld, they act where the reapers fail and drag lawbreakers or those with the potential to break the law for judgment.

These Rogues are Karmic Mediators that can sense the ebb and flow of karma like second nature. As part of their Cunning Action, they can freely Ready a full action. This archetype is all about preempting your enemies with your reactions. Eventually, you receive the secret techniques of the fiendish wardens that dole out torture for compiled, negative karma and you can deliver certain debuffs for which enemy action you're preempting.

You exist outside the laws that the underworld must abide by to punish the greater evil. 

Shout-Outs

Also I highly encourage you to check out Elementara, the sourcebook by our friends at Plus Three Press that contains a whole setting built around archetypes and spells based on elemental manipulation! They JUST unlocked some rad Boss Elemancer NPCs and they're on their way to unlocking some more sweet Archetypes! As of now, they only have a little over a day left, so get in on the ground floor!

Stretch Goal 2 Unlocked!!: "Nine-Tailed Soul" Sorcerer and other news
about 2 years ago – Tue, Oct 18, 2022 at 01:58:59 PM

Hello, everyone, thank you so much for all your support!!

With all your generosity, we've finally unlocked the "Nine-Tailed Soul"! We hope you enjoy chowing down on enemy mages' magic and b e c o m i n g a s g o d s as is the way of the sly fox. 

What's next on the docket?

As of this update, we have 8 days left until the KS ends, so we're entering the final stretch. Given that we'd really, truly like to release all of our wonderful new archetypes, we've again recalculated our stretch goals to see what's possible. Most goals are now 1k apart from each other!

Crucially, here are some big changes you won't wanna miss:

At the 61k Stretch Goal, we have both our plague-eating "Medium" Druid to be cleared AND!!! We've partnered with Alchemy RPG to bring you a digital experience through a module on their platform! You will be able to experience Undying Corruption as an immersive roleplaying experience based around theater of the mind. 

At 70K, we will introduce our totally homebrewed Tactician class! The Tactician class is designed to be a "Mounted Support-oriented Martial". You'll be able to ride one of several creatures into battle including an Imoogi wyrmling and a Cheonma (a Korean winged horse)! 

In battle, they employ class-unique actions called Strategems to grant allies bonuses. Charisma will be an important secondary ability to boost your Strategem DC to sow disinformation and confusion into enemy ranks. At Level 3, you can pick up one of three Military Arts:

•  Art of the General: You guide your comrades in the front lines. As a General, your techniques prioritize a strong defense. In addition, you've become versatile with giving orders in the midst of heated moments, and you can strike as part of using your Strategem.
•  Art of the Hwarang: Both the Dangukese courts and military prize poetry and the ability to inspire people by capturing the essence of the moment. As a Hwarang, you are a warrior poet with the ability to cast a limited amount of spells on the Bardic spell list. Your experience and skill with language gives you additional bonuses on certain verbal Strategems. Being a student of the arcane arts, you've found a way to weave your magic and bolster your allies' spellcasting as well.
•  Art of the Monster Slayer: The Dangukese military employs a special force focused on combating extraordinary creatures threatening the realm. These tacticians focused on slaying monsters have unique means of combating any type of creature so long as they prepare in advance. Your bread and better is making advance preparations and winning fights before they even begin, creating advantages against even the most legendary of creatures.

We're excited for this one in particular. Upon clearing 73K, we will partner with writers and researchers who have lived experience in their respective cultures to expand the world with lands surrounding Danguk. This includes lands inspired by China and Japan, but other Asian countries the Joseon Dynasty had relationships with including Thailand and Indonesia.

While I can speak on Korean culture with a modicum of authority, I think collaborating with different writers who have unique lived experiences with their individual cultures will help make this truly meaningful.

Upon clearing this stretch goal, once the main 5e version of our book has been finalized, we will begin efforts to convert mechanics into Pathfinder 2e. I've been running and playing in PF2e games, so I'm really excited to work with this system's mechanics. When we reach the conversion stretch goal, everyone who got our 5e PDF/book through Kickstarter will also receive the PF2e PDF as well when it launches!

To make sure we get the mechanics just right, we've teamed up with James Beck of Eldritch Osiris Games, a worker's co-op with a focus on Pathfinder 2e. James Beck is a Jewish LGBT writer and one of the founders of Eldritch Osiris Games, a worker's co-op. He's also worked with a bunch of pathfinder 2e projects such as Lost Omens: Firebrands, Sinclair's Library, Deadly D8, and plenty more!

On reviewing what's possible, I think we should be able to begin translating the game into Korean with this new stretch goal level. Again, it is of the utmost importance for us to be able to return to our roots with Undying Corruption. Not as a matter of "if we clear this", but as a question of "sooner or later". 

Please help us! And of course, everyone who bought a PDF or book through Kickstarter will receive a Korean language copy of Undying Corruption 5e.

Stretch Goal Unlocked: More Illustrations + Matchmakers' Zeal One-Shot
about 2 years ago – Thu, Oct 13, 2022 at 07:16:27 PM

Hello, hello, everyone!!

We just reached our $55k stretch goal for additional monster illustrations!! This means you'll be able to see MORE illustrations accompanying our monsters inspired by Korean mythology! As a treat for all your generosity, we'd like to present a sketch of the Demon of Greed, Geumdwaeji:

The Geumdwaeji/금돼지 (literally meaning Gold Pig) represents the greed in the hearts of humanoids. They don't just hoard wealth like dragons; they "create" wealth. They lure people with the promise of gold, trap them inside the demiplane through its belly, and it turns them into solid gold. Vain as they are, their carapace is made out of solid gold while they adorn themselves with all manners of elaborate and exaggerated garbs and accessories. 

With your help, we'll be able to design more creatures like the Geumdwaeji!

Also:

Matchmakers' Zeal

Love is in the air! 

The one-shot written by Theta Chun will feature the Samshin Halmoni/三神 할머니, a trio of goddesses that govern fate and childbirth within the pantheon of Korea's household gods. As of late, the Samshin Halmoni have been butting into people's love lives, trying to people up together! But something appears to be off about these relationships.

As adventurers, you're going to have to investigate this curious instance of divine intervention. And maybe, hopefully, end it with a nice cutie to share your love with??

What's Next?

As mentioned in our previous update, we have the magic-eating Nine-Tailed Soul Sorcerer and plague-eating "Circle of the Medium" Druid to unlock! But beyond that, what's this?

Jangseungs or Village Guardians are carved structures traditionally crafted at the edge of rural villages in Korea. They're placed to frighten away evil creatures and the spirits within are worshiped as minor deities. In our setting of Danguk, these Jangseungs hold tremendous spiritual power. If maintained and treated well, they emit a warding presence that weaken creatures like aberrations, fiends, and undead.

Sometimes, these Jangseung can take mobile form (often as a humanoid), allowing the spirit inside a new lease on life in their wooden form. Upon birth, they have a broad purpose ingrained in them that they seek to live up to (for example: inspire hope, protect the good, help the needy). They will die when they feel they have accomplished this task and no sooner, unless destroyed by an external force.

We'll have more info about the Noru in the next update! Once again, thank you so, so much for your support! If you've got any questions, you can email me at [email protected] or hit up our Discord server!