It’s almost like I’ve dropped into stealth mode and failed to report any progress. But fear not, plenty of progress is being made 
TLDR
- rules updates
- knock-on content updates
- content addition; 18 new encounters and a new quest underway
- loot card overhaul; mastery options and boosted attacks
- graphic design re-prioritising card content
- physical map prototypes ongoing
- map illustrations ongoing
- improved keyword taxonomies for memory, mastery, denizen spawning and loot
- learn to play doc… 20 pages in
Just when you think you might be close to a new prototype, you discover a bunch of things that should really be tinkered with first. There have been quite a few subtle rule changes, and a significant effort to develop a vocabulary for better describing encounters so that we can lean on the rules, rather than having too many bespoke descriptions of scenarios the Hero finds themselves in.
Location Encounters
I’m reducing the number of map tiles from 20 to 18 which makes life easier to fit everything into a set number of “slugs” for the laser-cut production of these tiles and tokens. And I’ve decided to settle on 3 general encounters per map location for the base game.
So I’ve started re-wording the Encounters to incorporate the new rules language. That’s 36 general encounters to be edited and 18 more encounters to create.
Probably about 85% of the way there – just one encounter to go, and then plenty of playtesting.
Quests
Am distilling quests for the base game down to the following:
- Monolith (95%); where it all began (tutorial mini-quest)
- Viviomancer (95%); the gate falls (tutorial mini-quest)
- Bounty (95%); infiltrate the cultists and save a damsel in distress
- Lich King (45%); recover an ancient relic and destroy an ill fated nemesis
- Reliquary (85%): lead a band of heretics to re-establish world order
(codewords and misleading rumours may have been used to protect the innocent. % completion a fair representation)
As with the Location Encounters, I’ve been backtracking through the Quest content trying to bring it in line with a more consistent vocabulary.