Camp Elementa: A Roleplaying Game for 1-6 Players

August Update!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Aug 31, 2023 at 04:15:59 PM

Hello, backers! Thank you all so much for being so kind and supportive after my last update, it really means the world to me!

I think I'm finally back to where I need to be mentally and emotionally to keep working hard on finishing Camp Elementa. I've also finally gotten in all the playtest feedback, and am currently working on clarifying the extended rules for the camp's final Victory Challenge. I've figured out all the math, but writing it down in an easy-to-follow manner in keeping with the tone of the rest of the book is tougher than I expected, as this bit is somewhat math-ier than the rest. 

I've also expanded the What Is Roleplaying? section a little more, to help novice roleplayers figure out what to do should the rules not cover a situation they find themselves in. I'm also thinking of expounding a bit on the different types of Void Elemental, but that might just be mission creep setting in, lol. 

As it is, the book is still hovering around the 50-page mark as I slash extra copies of playsheets from the back to accommodate more text. I need to finish writing and edits of said text, with appropriate examples; fill in page numbers and the Table of Contents, and then proofread it all before publishing digitally and sending to the printers. I think I'm done with all the graphics, tho you (I) never know when the urge will strike to add more pretty things. I promise I won't hold the book hostage to my impulses for more visual decoration tho.

I'm hoping I will be able to finish all this in September, tho the presence of my extended family for a long, long visit has been much more distracting than I expected. My younger brother is getting married next month, and in the tradition of Asian families, everyone is over-involved and it is all very dramatic.

Thank you, again and again, for your ongoing kindness, patience and support. I look forward to updating again in September, and am so grateful for the opportunity and time you've all given me to make this project the best it can be.

Delays & Apologies
over 1 year ago – Mon, Jul 31, 2023 at 03:39:36 PM

(CW: Death, Pet Death)

Hello, backers. I wish I had better news, but I have to admit that these last three weeks have been a struggle for me. The friend whose belief in me essentially launched my career as a book critic passed away in a freak accident, leaving me to figure out how best to keep her legacy and our website going. About a week later, a family friend who was practically family herself succumbed to cancer. I've been trying to be as supportive of her children and sisters as I can be since. Then just a few days after that, we learned that we had to put our beloved 16 year-old bichonpoo to sleep as his kidneys were finally giving way on him.

All of this has been Too Much. I've never had to deal with so much death in such a small amount of time, and it's been overwhelming. My grief feels like a physical weight dragging down my limbs as I attempt to run my household, keep up with my day job, and work on games. I'm managing a little progress on everything every day, but I'm currently way behind on the expectations that I've made of myself and previously communicated to you. I haven't finished the pdf, as I thought I would have by this point. I did complete some new graphics earlier this month, that I'll share here with you as hopefully proof that I've been making continual progress:

The bulk of the ongoing work has to do with clarifying the game rules and setting in the least complicated language possible, even as I design more tables and illustrations to go along with the expanded text. I want to be able to give you a new deadline for when everything will be ready but my brain can't even think of doing much more beyond getting through each day as it comes. So I apologize for not being able to give you the concrete publication information you deserve. And I thank you for your continuing patience as I try to get back to full energy and strength. I am still working as diligently as I can on Camp Elementa, but everything feels harder than it should be, and I'm so sorry that the road to publication is taking longer than it needs to.

I will post another update by the end of August, hopefully with the best of news regarding Camp Elementa's readiness. Thank you again and so much for your support and understanding during one of the hardest periods of my life so far.

Cover Reveal! And, alas, a delay.
over 1 year ago – Fri, Jun 30, 2023 at 08:59:41 PM

Hello, backers! First off, here's the brand new cover of Camp Elementa! momatoes' art really captures the joyful, diverse vibe I was going for, and I hope I've done it justice with the placement of my text.

I do have a bit of bad news tho. I thought I could get all the playtest feedback in and incorporated by the end of the month, but I was wrong. At the moment, I'm working on polishing NPC creation, which has proven surprisingly more complicated than in my previous games (where at most you rolled 6 dice and assigned them to stats, allowing the randomness to help you determine what you were up against.) Camp Elementa requires way more specificity than that, so I've been spending this last week trying to write out NPC creation guidelines in a manner that's elegant while still being user- and beginner-friendly.

Tbh, the main thing I've learned this month is that Camp Elementa needed more rules and details overall than I'd anticipated. This is partly (and ironically) due to my commitment to having it be a great pick-up-and-play game, particularly for people new to RPGs. There were lots of things I thought I wouldn't have to explain when I was first writing it, especially since I didn't want to overwhelm new players and groups with a lot of finicky info. The feedback I've gotten since has shown me that so many of the "ground rules" of group RPGs that I take for granted are completely alien to novice players, and that writing more about the basics is actually incredibly helpful for them. 

So here is an incomplete list of all the extra stuff I've added and/or am continuing to work on to make a seamless final product for everyone:

• setting details
• Elementals, what they are and what they can do
• weather charts
• daily schedule 
• randomization based exclusively on cards
• attribute effects
• reworking damage and adding overexertion rules
• changes to Daily Elemental Point recovery
• an entire section on roleplaying, including how to use failure to advance your story
• gameplay examples
• optional camp rules and roleplaying opportunities
• additional graphics and aids

As you can see, this is a lot more than just the resizing and polishing I had in mind when I first Kickstarted this project! However, I'm pretty confident that all this work will make for a better game overall once I'm done. Unfortunately, because the scope of the project has expanded so greatly, I haven't been able to finish it all by the end of June as I'd originally expected. I estimate that I'll need another month to complete this. I am so sorry to disappoint anyone who anticipated having their digital copy by now, as well as the delays this will mean for the physical copies. I am, however, deeply grateful for your continued patience and support while I keep working on making this an even better game than we'd first imagined!

I'll write here again at the end of July, hopefully with the best of news regarding completion and production. If you'd like more frequent updates (as well as book and game recommendations,) do check out my weekly newsletter. Thanks again, dear backers, and chat with you soon!

Big updates!
over 1 year ago – Tue, May 30, 2023 at 04:36:43 PM

Hello, backers! I apparently hallucinated posting about only updating again in June, so I apologize profusely for the delay and thank everyone who's checked in on me!

I've made a lot of progress with Camp Elementa since I last wrote here. The original text, graphics, character sheet and player aids have all been manually and completely reformatted from A4 to A5. The cover art is also thisclose to finalization. I've been playtesting the game extensively with friends, and can't get over how much fun it is to play (if I do say so myself. ) Playtesting has actually opened up a lot of new areas for me to keep writing rules and clarifications -- "Roleplaying Best Practices", "What Is An Elemental?" and "How To Use Advantages" are only a few of the additions -- and designing new graphics and aids. I'm really excited about bringing the best version of this game into your hands.

I'm also glad I set June as the target for completion, because health issues really slowed me down in May. I had been hoping to have digital files ready for you near the beginning of the month, but closer towards the end is looking more likely now. Unfortunately, I've been undergoing some vision trouble that's making it difficult to work on digital screens for extended periods of time. Since I do need to prioritize my day job which relies heavily on computer work, I'm trying to get as much done on Camp Elementa in small but hopefully productive chunks that don't overtax my eyes. Please do wish me a speedy recovery.

And thank you so much for your continued patience and support! You'll definitely be hearing from me again in June, hopefully with digital distribution news!

Thank you, backers! And what comes next.
almost 2 years ago – Mon, Mar 27, 2023 at 03:21:19 PM

Thank you so much for helping me well exceed my goal for this project! At the moment, I'm busy working on the cover art with momatoes, and will post that as an exclusive for backers once we've finalized it.

My next step is to finish reformatting the current game from A4 to A5, in addition to writing more content. Happiest Camper backers will get surveys via Kickstarter within the week to ascertain how you'd like to be commemorated in the book. I've given myself two months to complete the writing/creating process (during which time my day job schedule will hopefully calm down a lot) so expect to be able to deliver the digital files to you as promised in June via itch.io. I'll send the digital files to Mixam for printing then as well, in addition to BackerKit surveys to you for the purpose of collecting shipping information and fees. If everything goes smoothly, physical copies will start shipping in August.

I'll be posting progress updates here at least once a month. For weekly updates on what I'm up to with both Camp Elementa and other game and book projects, please do consider signing up for my newsletter.

Thanks again, dear backers! Let's make this a summer to remember!