November Update
8 days ago
– Mon, Nov 25, 2024 at 10:02:20 AM
Hi all!
Sorry for the late update, there's been a lot of non-Koboa related stuff going on in my life and in the life of a bunch of our team!
Layout goes well, and the gazeteers (which were the last bit of unfinalized text) have fully gone through editing. Our sensitivity consultant will take a last look at them and then hopefully we'll be able to finalize them, thus finalizing all our text.
Layouting is going well too, and we're hoping to have some great previews for you next month with some finalized spreads.
Thanks, and happy November/December!
Adrián Mejía
September Update
2 months ago
– Fri, Sep 20, 2024 at 05:23:33 AM
Hello hello!
Adrián here. This is your monthly Koboa progress update.
First off, developmental editing is done for the 5e english book, and copy editing is 95% done. This means 95% of our text is finalized at this very moment. We've started the layout process. It is possible we will not be done with layout by this time in October, so possibly we won't be getting PDF's out until early/mid November. We'll see! Either way, it feels like the PDFs are coming soon and the whole team is so excited!
For the Portuguese localization of the book, we've almost finalized a licensing deal with a Brazilian publisher. The tentative plan right now is to do crowdfunding through a brazilian platform sometime in the first half of 2025 to help reach more people in Brazil (not everyone in Brazil uses Kickstarter) and then get the localization and printing going.
For the Spanish localization of the book, we've decided to do it in-house. Once the text for the English version is locked in, we will start the Spanish localization.
Black Flag conversion is chugging along. We have converted forms and backgrounds and are now working on magic items. So far we've created one new heritage (5 of the backgrounds translated well to Black Flag backgrounds, while the sixth we found worked much better as a heritage). We are hoping to get the editing process on the conversions started soon, as a first round of conversions gets through editing we'll be putting it to you all for playtesting.
PF2e conversions is also chugging along, but the process is proving to be more work-intensive, since PF2 has a lot more differences from 5e than BF does. Currently we are focusing on forms and hope to get a preview out in the next month or two.
Finally, our layout artist, Manchae, wanted to share his experience playtesting Koboa at an event!
*********************************************
Hey peeps! Manchae here. Today, I want to talk with you about a playtest run of Koboa I DM’ed at an event a while ago, how players received it and what surprised me the most about the material we have so far.
For starters, Adrián and I prepared a character sheet for each new subclass we have in Koboa, using our new forms. From the School of Sun and Moon Wizard Guveng to the Ranger of The Sacred Below Ghintak, we were very confident that we had an amazing roster of characters for players to choose from.
I had time to DM the sample adventure 4 times, and the first thing that engaged people were their unique forms. People loved to describe how their backwards feet and fiery hair looked like as a Ghintak, and what sort of insect swarm their Guvengs were. A young girl was amazed that she could be a bunch of fireflies, lighting up in constellation shapes as she moved.
After the initial amazement at the new forms, the adventure went on and our party of Stoneseekers discovered the threat of Neo-conquistadores at the border, and how they steal lives, land and culture. It was an amazing moment to see them rally up to help villagers and their kidnapped pet (a cute capybara) from the scouting party of the enemy army.
A surprise battle ensued, players getting the higher ground, and I made sure to throw an atrocious line with each Neo-conquistador counterattack. “Why can’t you be conquered in peace?” and “You’re rejecting progress! We are the progress!” were the ones that made players the angriest. They were so engaged in combat that they were describing their attacks and actions without me even needing to prompt them.
After combat, characters reunite the village with their pet and learn that the capybara is the holder of the sacred amulet that makes the town invisible and protects the border. I gifted each player the character sheet and handout of the character they played, so that they can use them on their home games.
Talks after the game session revolved around how amazing the character options are (both the form powers and new subclass abilities) and how engaging the world seems to them. Players compared it a lot to Brazilian folklore “but presented in an epic way, like Greek mythology”, and had the most fun punching Neo-conquistadores in the face, which granted them a “feeling of overcoming powerlessness in the face of oppression."
What amazed me the most were how they were easily pushed to working as a team and how eager they were to interact with the world. Also, how mad they got when the Neo-conquistadores revealed their plan to colonize Koboa once more. All in all, I’m super happy with the results, and how easy it was to get players to engage with our stuff.
Can’t wait to hear from y’all how your playtests go!
Manchae
August Udate!
4 months ago
– Tue, Aug 20, 2024 at 06:24:09 AM
Hello everyone!
Here is our August update! Editing continues at a good pace. I'd estimate we have about 80% of the book's text finalized and ready for layout. This includes all classes, subclasses, spells, magic items, and two of the five gazetteers. Hopefully by next month or by October we'll be well within the layout process!
On another note, we made t-shirts for some of the team members to wear at cons and what-not. The site we used made it easy to put the designs into a digital print-on-demand store, so we did just that! If any of you would be interested in Koboa shirts, you can check them out here.
Conversion for PF2 and BF goes well. We've got our first draft of conversions for all forms and subclasses in BF and are working on our conversion for forms in PF2. We'll send you playtest docs as soon as they are in a good state.
That's all for now friends, thank you so much for your support!
Adrián Mejía
