End of the Month Update: Manifest at Origins Game Fair?
over 2 years ago – Sat, Jul 31, 2021 at 11:57:57 PM

Y'all things are happening! With the full team together, July has been a whirlwind of activity. Not only are we finally in the final stages of development for a lot of the most interesting parts of the book, but we have officially signed up for our FIRST convention booth.

Many of you were able to play Manifest at Gen Con 2019, but for Origins 2021 we're not just signing up for events. We've secured ourselves a booth in the vendor hall!

Now, of course this announcement has implications as to the release window for the PDF and physical books. Origins 2021 takes place Sept. 30th - Oct. 3rd, which does in fact mean that we are THAT close to having the core book complete for all of you!

In our last production meeting, the Waypoint Game Designs team mapped out the rest of the year and we have a few VERY busy months ahead of us. If all goes according to plan we will have physical copies of the book available AT Origins. There will no doubt be many of you who would like to pick up your copies at the convention, and we are still hammering out the logistics for that while we press on full steam ahead to finish everything in the next couple of months. Be sure to keep an eye on our next few updates, the Discord server, and your personal inboxes as things progress.

While we'd LOVE to give you an exact release date for the first 100 pages, followed by the full PDF, and then finally the physical book. We learned in the throws of COVID that we should take caution when it comes to making promises about things outside our control. We hate hyping something up only to have the rug pulled out from under us and in turn: you. So know that over the next couple months, as things get set in stone and double confirmed, we will be peppering you with updates and messages to finally get this RPG into your collection.

This has been a wild and thorny road so far, and we've got a million obstacles to overcome between now and Origins, but we're finally at the point where we can see our destination on the Horizon and words cannot express how excited we are.

Thank you again to all of you for your continued support and positivity. We'll be in touch with more updates as we lock down more details.

End of the Month Update: What to Expect in the First 100 Pages
almost 3 years ago – Thu, Jul 01, 2021 at 09:06:04 AM

Hello y'all! We bring you this message as we prepare for the second phase of relocating the Manifest team under one roof for the first time! With Addie, Dan, Roman, and Tommy all together, we can more easily organize and coordinate production of both the core book and all future Manifest products/projects! It's an extremely exciting time, despite the normal stressors that come with moving in general!

June has very much been a transitional month for us, with Addie and Tommy making the move to a temporary living arrangement and the unexpected passing of our beloved Dag the Dog, the production team has had a LOT going on both within and outside of work on Manifest.

BUT that isn't to say we haven't made great progress in the reformatting and layout of the first 100 pages of the rulebook which we plan on sending to y'all soon. Without a full preview to show you, we wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the coolest parts of the beginning of this rulebook.

Character Creation Basics

The first 100 pages of the rulebook revolve around character creation in a big way. Two of the most important decisions you make when building a player character in Manifest is that Drifter's History and Path. A History is a window into the most formative time from your character's past before they took to Drifting, it colors how your character views the world of Manifest. A Path depicts how your character has chosen to interact with the world of Manifest, it informs your drifters the goals and aspirations.

The first 100 Pages includes the information and mechanics for ALL 16 Histories and all 16 Paths you can choose from when making your character, as well as the step by step rules for how you build your own drifter from the ground up!

Art by Andrew Thompson, Allen Panakal, and Jared Blando

To inspire the imagination and immerse you in the world of Manifest, each History and each Path comes with a unique piece of art. All the images associated with a History were created by Allen Panakal. All the images tied to a Path were created by Andrew Thompson (the brilliant artist behind our iconic cover art!). Additionally, the stunning world map of Manifest created by Jared Blando features prominently as you might imagine.

The art in this rulebook is our pride and joy. We sought out artists with unique and stylized techniques to bring the world of Manifest to life for you. Andrew Thompson's vibrant use of color helped inspire us when he drafted the cover art for this Kickstarter, and we can't be more pleased with how it set the stage for the visual aspects of the book!

So Much Lore!

The first 100 pages kicks off with a short story providing a glimpse at the experience the brave souls aboard the vessel known as the Vesperia who were the first to lay eyes on the planet that would later be known as Manifest. And if that wasn't enough to get you excited, each History and Path carries with it an abundance of lore. From the hallowed halls of Gunslinger Guilds to the secretive hide outs of The Family, the first 100 pages not only tells you how your History and Path can build a character, they give you the roadmap to the kinds of stories you can create in Manifest.

Given that the first 100 pages are only roughly a third of the full rulebook, you'll no doubt find references to aspects of the game to be revealed in the later pages. None-the-less, the sheer amount of lore and content we're jamming into the beginning of this book is definitely something to be excited about. 

The month of June comes to a close, having continued the trend of new challenges emerging during the production process, and while weren't able to get a confirmed quote from our layout team on when we'll be able to share these first 100 pages: We're excited to say it's very close. Who knows, maybe July will come with more than just an 'End of the Month' update?

End of the Month Update: Second QSG Adventure!
almost 3 years ago – Tue, Jun 01, 2021 at 01:19:36 AM

Howdy, howdy! Phase one of relocating Waypoint Game Designs is complete as Addie and Tommy have moved to the new digs. Dan and Roman will also be relocating at the beginning of July, and then we'll have the entire creative team under one roof for the first time! But for now we have a second Quick Start Guide Adventure for y'all to play! This is another gem from our demo tables last Gen Con. It's quite the challenge, and while it can be completed by Level 1 characters, we recommend Drifters to be at least level 3 before taking this job...

You'll find the full adventure on the same private page containing the Quick Start Guide, the Pre-Made Characters, and the previously published Adventure Module! If you've lost that link, or haven't yet downloaded the Quick Start Guide, shoot us a message and we'll tell you how to get there!

Have fun in the Sulfur Dunes, y'all! Try not to get burned too badly! And get excited for our June update which will be all about the long awaited First 100 Pages!

End of the Month Update: New Quick Start Guide Adventure!
almost 3 years ago – Sat, May 01, 2021 at 12:03:26 AM

Hello to all! We here at Waypoint are fully in the throws of moving across the country, but that hasn't stopped us from continuing to work with our layout artists to bring you the first 100 pages of the rulebook as promised in a recent update! We had planned to end this month with at least a preview of the layout, but the first design draft had both thematic and functional issues that required a total rework.  We didn't want to showcase a preview that was not representative of the final product, so our artists have begun work on the second draft. We're so excited to show it off once it's locked in.

In the meantime, we've heard from many of you that the Quick Start Guide and Pre-Made Characters have made for some exceptionally fun campaigns and one-shots. We absolutely love that people are making good use of the QSG, and we wanted to give you even more to play with at home, so we've published one of the adventures we ran at Gen Con in 2019! (do y'all remember when conventions were a thing??)

You'll find the full adventure by using the same link you used to download the Quick Start Guide. If you've lost that link, or haven't yet downloaded the Quick Start Guide, shoot us a message and we'll tell you how to get there! The Quick Start Guide is available to anyone who backed the project or who pre-ordered since the Kickstarter Campaign came to an end. It comes with several pre-made characters that you can play all the way up to Level 9, and this adventure is the perfect way to introduce your table to the world of Manifest!

We'll continue to keep y'all updated on the progress of the first 100 pages as we finish our move and our artists finalize the second draft! We hope you enjoy the adventure because there's another Gen Con Exclusive we'll be making available with the next update!

End of the Month Update: Expanding the Development Team!
about 3 years ago – Wed, Mar 31, 2021 at 05:02:04 PM

We're happy to officially announce that the Waypoint Game Designs development team has doubled its ranks! Until now the team has consisted solely of Tommy Cottin and Addie Gia, but this year we added two more talented individuals to the crew. Those of you who watch the Manifest Actual Play Livestream and/or were fans of the Essential NPCs Podcast will be familiar with these fine gentlemen.

Daniel Baron

As one of the Manifest's premiere playtesters, Dan helped shape Manifest's rules long before officially joining the development team.  Dan has a mind for rules, with both the ability to recall them with almost photographic clarity and the ability to mercilessly bend them to their breaking points. As part of the Waypoint development team, Dan will insure the continuity of the rules throughout the core book and future products and identify/correct any game-breaking design flaws therein.

Roman Milan

Roman joined the original Manifest playtest team pretty late into the game's development. However, without his love of close combat focused characters, the options available to melee combatants in the core rules would still be woefully underwhelming. Experienced in the world of advertising and media, Roman's as much a businessman as he is a gamer. Within Waypoint Game Designs, Roman will help manage internal organization and spearhead our future foray into the convention scene.

In addition to bolstering our ranks, Waypoint Game Designs will be relocating! As detailed in previous updates, a contributing factor to the ongoing complications for the game's release has been a struggle with the financial realities of living in a major city. Moving our place of work and home will allow all four members of the development team to focus the necessary time and energy into bringing Waypoint Game Designs closer to what we envisioned when we began this project.  PSA: those of you who chose to pick up your core rulebook at Chicagoland Games: Dice Dojo, will still be able to do so!

We're thrilled to welcome these new members to the team, and to make the changes necessary in our lives to facilitate achieving our vision for Waypoint Game Designs and Manifest the RPG. And we appreciate every one of you joining us on this journey.