July 11 2023 - Shatterkin - Refuge Update!

Two years, to the day, since my last update to Shatterkin — at long last we have another major update!

Introducing the Shatterkin Refuge update!

This update adds a major new component to the gameplay cycle — the development of your own Shatterkin Refuge. A major feature of all adventures in Shatterkin, now, is the opportunity to rescue the shatterkin you encounter — whether as imperiled shatterkin you rescue from harm, or perhaps as shatterkin forced by the vile Syndicates to do battle with you — and bring them back to your Refuge. As your Refuge grows, you'll be able to upgrade it with new facilities, or give special roles to the rescued shatterkin.  Before long, you'll have a thriving community of rescued shatterkin!

Your Shatterkin Refuge also functions as a form of progression for the whole party — as the Refuge grows and gains upgrades, it provides special abilities for the whole party. Refuge upgrades are unlocked with Badges, a system sort of like unlocking "achievements" in a video game, focused on populating your Refuge with a diverse array of shatterkin. Furthermore, it replaces Growth XP as a component in the game, and unlocking new evolution forms is now tied to your Refuge Tier.

The Refuge update includes:

• Shatterkin - Refuge - Rules v1: A short document outlining the rules for the Shatterkin Refuge (including full graphic layout and artwork - a preview of the style and look that the core rulebook will have, when complete).
• Shatterkin - Refuge - Refuge Sheet & Upgrades: A sheet used to track the progress and details of your Refuge, including a comprehensive list of the upgrade abilities available.. Consider it a Playbook for your Shatterkin Refuge.
• Shatterkin -Refuge - Rescue Cards v1: A series of sheets of cards on which you can record the details of the shatterkin you rescue.
• Shatterkin - Refuge - The Barnyard v1: An isometric gridded map of the default Shatterkin Refuge, an abandoned barn on the outskirts of town. Use it to visually represent the upgrades you build onto it.
• Shatterkin - Refuge - Refuge Facilities Graphics: A sheet of graphics for each possible Refuge Facility that can be built, for you to print out and cut out to paste onto your Refuge map, if you'd like (I'm also considering making this available as a sheet of stickers, sometime soon).
• Refuge Facilities PNGs - Individual PNG files for the Refuge Facilities Graphics, for use in any online virtual tabeltop service. Includes variants with a transparent base, so the ground can match whatever part of the Refuge you place it on.

In addition to the Refuge Update materials, I've made minor updates to the following materials:

• Shatterkin Sheets - v1.08 : Shatterkin Playbooks have been updated with a few minor changes, including the introduction of "Signature Move" and "Favorite Food" fields. The Kid and Friends sheets have been modified as well.
• Shatterkin Cards - v1.01: A few cards have received minor adjustments, and the Tortannos evolution has been changed to the Carcharnos evolution (which allows for more flexibility, and doesn't locking it into being a turtle-monster every time).

I hope you enjoy this update — I've been very excited about seeing it come to fruition. If you'd like to talk more about it, I've also just opened up a Scribbles & Dice Games Discord server, which I hope will act as a good community for discussing this and my other games.

There are a few more updates on the horizon. Stay tuned for —

• The Syndicates Update - Including an overhaul of the three nefarious Syndicates, giving them a comprehensive roster of forces to deploy against the Kids and their Companion Shatterkin, as well as Schemes they can unlock to push their evil agendas and bolster their forces.
• The Adventure Update - Including an overhaul of the basic gameplay cycle, which replaces the Crisis system with more flexible Adventures. Expect more support material for adventure ideas.
• The Graphic Layout Update - The core rulebook needs to level up past just being a pdf exported from a Google Doc. The graphic styles used in the Refuge Update will be used throughout the whole book, and more artwork and visual aids will be incorporated.

Thank you so much for your patience — development of Shatterkin has been slow and sporadic — but it's your encouraging words and excitement for the game that keeps bringing me back to it.