Explore the spirit realm in D&D 5E. Cross the Veil, defeat dark manifestations, and reshape the world with your heroic spark.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Playtesting Continues! Art Reveals and Dev Updates
4 days ago
– Mon, Oct 14, 2024 at 06:12:19 AM
Hey Mist Hikers,
Your heartfelt replies in the Playtest Sign Up survey did not go unnoticed. We are truly grateful and honored to have this loving community! Thank you for making this project even better; we can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the playtest material next month!
You can Still Join the Playtest
There’s still time to join in and get the playtest pack! You can learn more about the playtest by reading our previous update. To join the playtest, fill-in this Google Form:
As of today, we have finished editing chapter 2 (The Everlast), and the work on chapter 4 (Everlast Adventures) is officially ongoing. We finalized the outline for two out of the three adventures planned for that chapter, and now the team begins writing the adventures in detail.
The work on chapter 3 has been slightly delayed in favor of a BIG push on the book’s art direction (see below). We have also spent (and still spend) time familiarizing ourselves with the new 2024 rules. So far, we believe full compatibility with both rule sets is very attainable, and we plan to handle it with tailored sidebars inside the book. This may change as we read further, we will keep you posted on that.
Art Reveals
The book will feature more than 100 pieces of commissioned art. Each requires careful planning and direction to achieve a cohesive aesthetic. We've learned a lot about art direction these past few months, and are happy to share more about that in tomorrow’s stream (see below). In the meantime, here are some tidbits!
Joy Enclave / Max Suleimanov
A joy enclave is a place of pure happiness, and we took it upon ourselves to visualize this with art. We asked ourselves what kind of imagery sparks joy and delight? After some research we have an answer: round objects (like pebbles or bubbles), abundance, rainbows, fireworks, and playful animals (like foxes, dolphins, dogs, and many others). Certain colors like yellows and natural greens also help. Of course, we cannot include all of these elements without it becoming a caricature, but we think Max got it just right with this piece.
Joy enclaves are just one of eight mist enclave variants you’ll find in the book. Each image is designed to make you feel a certain way. Let us know how you feel after looking at the one above!
Mist Hiker Field Notes (Page 3, Work in Progress) / Irene Aretia
The Mist Hiker Field Notes are now trickling in too. This process is truly joyous and creative, bringing much of Maeve’s cheeky personality to the limelight. The image above is a good example of the pages you’re going to get. This one is all about the special equipment that can help you navigate and survive the Everlast, although it only has placeholder text for the time being.
Join The Stream Tomorrow!
Join Aviad and Shay tomorrow, Tuesday, October 15th at 12 pm PT, to talk more about art direction, new developments, 2024 compatibility, and a new subclass we have not shared with you yet.
Click this link and ask YouTube to notify you when we go live:
Playtesting starts NOW! Try the Conduit, Empath and the Resonance system
about 1 month ago
– Thu, Sep 12, 2024 at 07:30:30 AM
Hey Mist Hikers,
Sharpen your pencils and pray to the dice gods, for the playtesting hour is upon us!
Join the Playtest
The playtest pack includes the first draft of the Empath class, the latest revision of the Conduit class, over a dozen new spells, and the full Resonance Rules. Try these mechanics in your home games and enjoy our brand of emotional storytelling.
To join the playtest and get the PDF, fill this Google Form:
After you submit this form, you will get the Playtest PDF directly to your email. In November 2024 you will receive a follow-up survey where you can provide us with feedback and let us know whether or not you want to be credited as a tester.
Alertness Animar // Gladys Domalaon
Dev Updates
We are almost finished with the development of chapter 2, which is all about the Everlast (the new name for the Spirit Realm).
So far we have developed:
Everlast Exploration Rules
Everlast Non-combat Encounters
10 Distorted Regions
4 Everlast Phenomena
Rules for Boons and Banes
Right now we are creating more boons and banes, refining the random tables with inspiring effects, and polishing the language and structure to be consistent and coherent.
In the next couple of weeks, we will complete chapter 2 and begin development of chapter 3, which is all about spirits, including 60 stat blocks! Moreover, chapter 4's adventure modules will begin development as soon as chapter 2 is completed, since they are not dependent on chapter 3.
Join the Next Dev Stream!
Join us this coming Tuesday to learn more about the Everlast from the game designers, and ask questions about the playtest!
The stream will go live on Tuesday, September 17th at 12 pm PT
Ask YouTube to notify you when we go live through this link:
Mist Hikers, which class are you most excited to try out, the empath or the conduit?
Dev Update, Streams, and Playtests!
2 months ago
– Thu, Aug 08, 2024 at 05:43:30 AM
Hey Mist Hikers,
We’ve Been Busy!
We are now well within the development phase of the book, taking all the concepts and polishing them up for September’s Community Playtest (more on that in the next update). So far we have drafted and developed:
A third conduit subclass: Code of the Furnace (see it on our Discord)
5 subclasses: Circle of Harmony druid, Oath of Eminence paladin, Veilward ranger, Wraith rogue, and Cernomancy wizard
Empath class with 3 subclasses: Mind Healer, Interrogator, and Percipient
Resonance rules clarifications
19 shiny spells for Conduit, Empath, and others
That means we are almost ready to send chapter 1 (the first of 4) to line editing. As you probably guessed, this chapter is all about player options, and it also includes a helpful guide on creating a character that promotes emotional storytelling.
Mercy Animar // Biagio d'Alessandro
Pre-Orders are Ongoing
The store will remain open until the Spring of 2025, just before we start printing everything. Although the Kickstarter exclusive prices and perks are now gone, it features attractive pre-order bundles at much lower prices than retail:
Be the first to see our evolving artworks and game mechanics. Ask the devs some questions and tell them how excited you are for Book of Spirits. They love hearing that, trust me.
The stream will go live on Tuesday, August 20th at 12 pm PT, and will showcase much of our work on the first chapter.
See you there? Excellent! Click this link and ask YouTube to notify you when we go live:
Mist Hikers, are you ready to playtest the Conduit, Empath, and the Resonance system next month? What would make it easier for you to test them?
Surveys Lock Tomorrow, Subclass Reveal, and Live Stream
3 months ago
– Thu, Jul 11, 2024 at 08:08:56 AM
Hey Mist Hikers,
Last Call for Backer Surveys and Late Pledges
Tomorrow (July 12th) at 10am PT all completed surveys will be locked and your credit cards (if not PayPal) will be charged on July 13th to pay for shipping, VAT, and any add-ons not paid for on Kickstarter.
If you can’t find your survey, you can recover it here:
Tomorrow also marks the end of the late pledge period. Those of you still interested in pre-ordering the game will be able to do so through the same link, but some of the original Kickstarter prices and bundles will no longer be available.
We are already knees deep in development, and about 70% done with the game design of the Players Options chapter (the first of four planned chapters). This part of the book includes all of the new classes, subclasses, and species. It also features the full Resonance rules. After the initial design of the chapter is done, it’ll move over to development and editing, in preparation for September’s community playtesting.
To give you a little more than just dry numbers and plans, we’d like to share some of the early concepts for the Cernomancer, the new subclass for the Wizard.
A cernomancer using her power to temporarily reconstruct a broken object
The Spirit Realm remembers every emotion and memory ever experienced, but for most creatures, those are inaccessible. Cernomancers are wizards adept at perceiving these memories and manifesting them into the world. They research the metaphysical principles that produce Ethereal Memories, and eventually learn to master them.
When picking this subclass at 2nd level you gain two main features. The first allows you to restore a semblance of vitality to injured allies as a reaction, providing them with some temporary hit points. The second feature grants you the ability to see the past of an object that you touch, appearing like an ethereal illusion that overlays it. For example, you can use this power to uncover text that was scrubbed off a wall, or even read pages from a burned diary, assuming that at least a part of it survived.
The 6th level feature gives you the power to temporarily restore objects to an older form, potentially repairing or dismantling them. The size of the object is limited, but grows when you reach higher levels in this class.
The 10th level feature allows you to capture a memory of your own for later use. This allows you to cast spells that you see other creatures casting. This power is limited to spells of a level you can cast, and you can only store one such memory at a time.
At 14th level, you can truly unveil the secrets of any location. You can manifest an illusion of the entire area around you, featuring a significant event that took place there. With this power, you can see exactly what happened as if you were a spectator at the time. Finally, you can imbue one ‘actor’ in this illusion with limited sapience (this is how the Spirit Realm remembers them). This allows the cernomancer to ask three questions of a centuries-old echo and glean new insights. Although, nothing compels these echoes to answer truthfully.
Fun Fact: The word Cernomancy stems from the latin word ‘cerno’ which is the etymological predecessor of the English word ‘discern’. However, in origin, it had another meaning which is to sift, choose, and distinguish. Just like one would sift through a river to find gold, so do cernomancers scan the flow of time for specific memories of a given location.
Join the Book of Spirits Dev Stream!
Want to learn more about our design process, progress, and challenges? Join us on Tuesday, July 16th at 12 pm PT for a live stream with Aviad Tal, the lead designer of the studio. In the stream you will also meet our new community manager, Shay, AND have a chance to ask questions, learn more about our sources of inspiration, and get an early glimpse of Book of Spirits mechanics before anyone else.
By entering the link below, you can ask YouTube to notify you about the stream, so you get an alert when we go live:
Mist Hikers, what are some cool ways to use the Cernomancer's powers in a game?
Orders Locking & Charging July 12th
3 months ago
– Fri, Jul 05, 2024 at 07:51:36 AM
Hey Mist Hikers, we are here with some updates!
Important Notice: Pledge Manager Ends on July 12th
As we mentioned in our previous update, your completed BackerKit pledge manager surveys will be locked and your credit cards (unless you paid via PayPal) will be charged on July 12th to pay for shipping, VAT, and any add-ons not paid for on Kickstarter.
Hurry up and complete your survey to ensure smooth delivery. If you lost your invite email, you can find your survey here:
All backer-only digital files we'll be sharing during development will only be shared with backers who have completed their surveys.
Stretch Goals
We are so excited to have unlocked the Empath and our team is already working on its development. The campaign's current funding is a stellar $235,510! Some of you may notice it’s slightly lower than the number we shared in the last update, as we had accidentally included some shipping fees in our calculation, but this new number is 100% correct!
Can we unlock these stretch goals in the final week?
$250,000 - More Miniatures. Two new spirit models will be sculpted by Dragon Trappers Lodge: spirit of self loathing and spirit of terror. These two will expand your digital STL collection (available on Digital Deluxe+ or the STL add-on). The miniatures will also be printed and included with every Deluxe Box pledge!
$275,000 - More Spells. Let's expand your magical arsenal! If we hit this milestone, the book will include 15 more spells for the Conduit and the Empath classes.
Final Week of Late Pledges
As of July 12th, we will conclude the late pledge period and stop tracking funds for the purpose of unlocking stretch goals.
Those of you still interested in pre-ordering the game will be able to do so through the same link, but some of the original Kickstarter prices and bundles will no longer be available.
We still have a full week to go, so let your friends know it’s their final chance to grab the jam-packed Game-Ready bundle at $80!
You can also chime in by joining Beyond the Screen on Patreon, every subscription before July 12th contributes to the stretch goal fund, and aside from unlocking 31 PDFs, you’ll get to see all of the early development we made building up to Book of Spirits in the past 3 years.
