Subversion is an RPG about community and rebellion in the cyberpunk fantasy city of Neo Babylon. Subversion is set to come out by December, 2023. Take a look at the cool Subversion-related stuff you can get!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Week One Is In The Bag!
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Feb 28, 2023 at 01:57:18 PM
Amazing friends!
We're kicking butt!
And while all kickstarter campaigns seem to stall out or hit a lull after the first 3 days, we are still seeing forward momentum!
Quick Q&A
We've got some questions rolling in, so I'll answer some here and then put them up on the FAQ.
Q: Where can I learn more about the lore of Subversion/Neo Babylon?
A: There are a few ways! First, you can grab another book of ours, Gangs of the Undercity. It isn't an RPG, but a minis game, but you can glean some lore if you like. There's both free FREE and paid versions on DriveThruRPG (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/4407/Fragging-Unicorns-Games?term=fragging+unicorns). Second, we have a fiction anthology you can read if you like vignettes of action, romance, loss, and hope. It's called Neo Babylon Nights and you can find it on the previous DriveThru link or on Amazon. You can also grab the Undercity cookbook, which is technically a lore book, but only if you wanna cook Neo Babylonian dishes... Third, you can download the free Subversion beta document and read about the lore in those pages. You can grab that in Update #2 or right here: https://fraggingunicorns.com/s/Subversion-Beta-Rules-Document.pdf . Fourth, if you go to our youtube channel, you'll find an early set of videos called Subversive Arcana which highlight various parts of the lore. They're a bit dated, but we still like them.
Q: How can we help spread the word about Subversion?
A: While it is nice of some of you to ask, the answer is tricky. Some of you are just going at it, contacting influencers, reaching out to folks on your socials (and in real life), and talking to your FLGS stores about us. That stuff is awesome! But I also don't want anyone to feel like they aren't doing their part if they don't do those things. So, do what you can, what feels good to you, and don't try to force anything. :)
Q: Can you explain the Obsidian Portal and Roll20 rewards a bit more?
A: Yes! Great idea. We'll be making an update about those soon!
Community Spotlight
Because we love promoting other folks, we want to point your attention to our friends at Giants of the North who just launched a project of their own. Phaylen's Journal of Extraordinary Items gives players a fresh new way to craft magic items, and gives them control over each aspect of the process. Forage throughout the biomes of the world, following adventure hooks that lead to unique components. Work alone, as a team, or with a Master Artisan to craft 101+ extraordinary magic items, and build your crafting potential with expanded toolkits. Short on time? Our drop-in ready, individually priced magic items are made to be sold and won’t break the economy.
I'll be back with more interesting tidbits over the next few days so stay tuned!
Thanks!
New Stretch Goal Unlocked!
over 1 year ago
– Sun, Feb 26, 2023 at 05:02:16 PM
Yes yes yes yes yes! We've made $40,000! Still pulling in about a thousand per day, so I believe we can still hit more stretch goals - we have three more weeks!
Stretch Goal #3 - Second PDF Adventure
I'm excited that now we will not only have the adventure that comes in the core book, not only the free adventure PDF that every Kickstarter backer gets, but now we will launch with a third adventure PDF! Our Subversion adventures are called episodes, and these first two episodes will likely be release in print in the future, but you'll all have them as soon as they're done! This one, the one unlocked with the third stretch goal, is written by our own JustinTiemeyer (Koala Bear Swamp, FUG Editor) and is called Diviner. That story begins when a Fairy Wars veteran is left for dead and it is up to the envoys to prevent further violence. The murder awakens decades old conspiracy theories that most had put to rest. What awaits you at the end of the trail of clues? You're about to find out.
Thanks for helping this come to life!
More Medias
Since our last post, hitting 40k (where have I heard that before?) wasn't the only cool thing to happen.
I have some neat news coming up soon, but I can't share yet. Stuff needs to happen first. But it is nice.
Until next time, let's keep sharing, download the rules (in Update #2) and play Subversion, join our discord and join the (growing very fast) community, and I'll see you next update!
- Opti
Looking SO Good 5 Days In
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Feb 25, 2023 at 10:40:15 AM
We are super proud to have gained enough of your trust to back Subversion at nearly 400% in the first 5 days, everybody. It really makes our heart swell with joy.
There are a few things that have been happening behind the kickstarter scene, so I wanted to give an update on a few of them.
Foundry Integration
Many of you have expressed interest in Subversion being on Foundry, and so we reached out to them, got a response that made us comfortable, and then realized we already had some friends on the Foundry team, so we can definitely say that yes, alongside Roll20, we will also have Foundry VTT support for Subversion and all its books and assets that release alongside the core book, including the adventure episodes. We haven't worked up an agreement regarding how Foundry monetizes things and how it might or might not work with the kickstarter, but keep your ears peeled and we might have an update on that as well in the future.
Beta Rulebook Feedback
The discord has been absolutely buzzing with feedback from y'all about our rules. Lots of positive things alongside pointing out copy errors, imbalances among various options, odd places where the rules aren't clear, and WE LOVE IT! This is the sort of feedback that will make Subversion's final form not only a much better game, but also will prevent us from having to extensively edit, redact, or errata the game after it has gone to print. Making the best game we can and getting as much feedback as we can BEFORE it goes to print is defeinately a major goal of ours and we are taking feedback, learning what you love and don't, and integrating that into the game up until the very last minute! So please, keep that feedback rolling in. The best place for that feedback is our discord channel in the #beta-rules-feedback channel of our Subversion category, The link for our discord is here: https://discord.gg/vcxXHW5 (keep in mind you have to choose a role in the welcome section or you'll get booted when you leave).
Interviews and Reviews Galore
Here's a few interviews about Subversion that have come out lately, and a few quotes from you all that have started playing the game....
"The “jill-of-all-trades in me loves that the paradigm system doesn’t lock me in to a single class and set of abilities. It definitely lends itself to a more well-rounded character creation!" - Aegis of Aegis_and_Pred
"This ttrpg is truly one of a kind! The idea of not having to going adventuring around the world to find your adventure and the statement of 'everyone is people' - true to life down to the core!" TellulahandChill
"High tech society built on magic…check Societal and personal stories woven together… Babylonian mythos… Story drives the mechanics not the mechanics driving story…check Cyberpunk themes retold…check Subversion challenged me to rethink, re-explore, and rediscover what I love about tabletop roleplaying, it subverted me into wanting to game more." -Nursewratchet
"The rules were intuitive and easy to understand, love the focus on the community and bringing folks together!" - Rhoe
Thank you all so very much for supporting us. If you have a stream, podcast, or actual play that you want some Subversion action on, let us know how we can support you!
- Opti
300% funded and 2nd Stretch Goal Unlocked!
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Feb 22, 2023 at 03:05:19 PM
Friends, friends, I am so excited! We've hit over $31,000 on day two and that means we're still on a good pace AND we've met our second stretch goal!
Stretch Goal #2 - PDF Adventure
With this stretch goal comes an adventure for everyone! Our first of our Subversion adventures, which we are calling episodes, will come included in the core rulebook. So everyone will get it. That one will allow you to learn the rules, play with and learn about the characters that appear in our artwork, and give new people a fun and easy way into Subversion. But this one, the one just unlocked, is written by our own James Palmer (Radio Free Detroit podcast, Worlds Without End podcast, author of our two audio dramas, and co-developer of Subversion lore) and is called Nobody's Vault But Mine. Players will find themselves starting in Neo Babylon, but venturing outside it as well, searching for a piece of lost tech that could bring great help or harm depending on who ends up with it!
This adventure will eventually make its way into print in some form or another, but the PDF will be availablefor free, as soon as it is finished, to everyone who has backed Subversion at any level. That's what you get for being awesome!
Medias
Here are some interviews and reviews happening about Subversion around the net.
Please share the campaign with others on socials and with your real, live mouth! Play the game (You can find the rules in the second update) and stream it (invite us and we'll come watch) and we'll advertise for you. Give the rules out like candy. We believe its awesome and we're not afraid of it getting out. We think the more people see it, the more people appreciate that we aren't trying to scam them or keep secrets, the better everyone will be. And we believe with our whole throat that when we act awesome and make a great game, people will wanna support us.
Bam! *smoke obscures Opti's exit* I'm out until next time...
- Opti
Hey! Y'all did great! 250% funded and 1st stretch goal unlocked!
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 07:14:10 PM
Friends,
You've surpassed our expectations once more! 10 hours in and we've hit 250% funded!
Beta Rulebook Download
First, a correction of an issue. In the first update, we included a link to download the WIP rulebook PDF. Unfortunately, one of our devs altered the PDF and changed the download link, so it no longer works (and you can't edit updates). There is a corrected link in the comments of Update #1, but I'm also including it here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/d88nuaijlch51zr/Subversion%20v0.49.pdf?dl=0
Stretch Goal #1
And since that pushed us past the $20,000 mark, our first stretch goal is unlocked! That means we get to get more art for the core rulebook. The first thing this means, is Willow, one of our artists, is going to be able to draw pieces for each of our origin options. You may have seen a picture on our socials of two goblins in the foreground of a quaint looking city? That was Willow. We wanted to have her do a piece for each of our major cultures so readers could get a sense of that culture at a glance that is deeper than just words. And now, we will! Here's a sneak peak of the two pieces she had done for us before. This is the Churuqian culture piece and the Ghassulian culture piece. They represent cultures outside Neo Babylon, but since Neo Babylon is a melting pot of culture and peoples, you will find that there are plenty of folks from every culture who live there. So now, we'll get pieces made for Chaldani culture, Neo Babylon, Neo Babylon Undercity, and Altaipheran!
In addition, We would very much like to allow Marco Gonzalez, who has done our cover art and the pantheon art, to come back for another piece or two. His work really encapsulates the looks and feel we're going for with Neo Babylon, and he does amazing work.
Folks, if this is what you can do with only 10 hours, I can't wait to see where we go before March 20.
