Hey folks! 

I am super excited to announce the next update to War of the Pips! This is a pretty significant update on the core book design, along with some rule tweaking and worldbuilding. Some main principles to this update was to combine visual elements to facilitate understanding the rules. Mid-way through the process, I was inspired to rework some of the rules, then tinker with the world... you get the idea. What was meant to take one or two weeks, ended up taking much longer. But, I think it was worth it and hope you enjoy the progress! 

So, without further ado, this is World Reforged V3.0! 

Most of my efforts in this update went into revamping the core rulebook. First came the front covers. I wanted to find something that fit a more fantastical/mysterious mood. I ended up finding a painting by Ludwig Richter that I absolutely adored. It had gentle colours, with a wonderfully rustic feel. Using it as my background, I turned my attention to the War of the Pips Logo. 

For that, I decided to try adding some shaders to bring out the dimensionality. The shield with suits motif is inspired by The Legend of Zelda's box art and adding the 3d look to it felt like the right direction. 

Within the book, a lot of care and attention has gone into upgrading the visuals. From a small fold at the top of the Ace of Heart's hat, to updating treasure icons, creating phase diagrams, and increasing the size of numbers in steps; these steps aim to make the book more captivating to read and easier to understand. 

I decided to use more of the title font inside for a more cohesive identity.

There were also a number of rule adjustments and clarifications to look out for.

MIGHT, VIGOR, & WIT 

Gone are Strike, Move, and Speak! I felt that the old actions felt too restrictive, making me devolve into a little gremlin striking everything. By using attributes instead of actions, I feel the abstraction enables players a better space to be imaginative and come up with something cool. 

ACE OF SPADES: STALWART DEFENSE

For the Ace of Spades, I've updated their special skill as I felt the old version didn't promote the idea of tanking an NPC for the rest of the team. By tying a more defensive buff to the skill, instead of an offensive one, I feel it will provide Spade players more confidence in taking on an NPC. 

UPDATED PHASES 

Phases have been refined down to Quest, Journey, Reward, and Sidequest. 

Another area that received a major update was the world of Tavolo itself! I recently had a chance to go to Essen Spiel, which is an amazing boardgame convention over in Germany. Over there, I met a cool croation mapmaker named Endi. His work was truly inspiring, making me think about ways for me to improve my own work for Pips. 

For the map, I ended up redrawing quite a few elements. From adding lines to the ocean, to adjusting the roads, I spent a long time trying to make sure every corner was clear and easy to find. I changed the font from IM Fell to the fonts I use in the rulebook so that they feel part of the work. I also moved some locations, added an extra flare to the capitals, and decided to make Mt. Redflame erupt. 

This final tweak was cool because it changed the region, meaning I had to update the lore in the book to reflect this change. I decided to go through all the NPCs, quests, and landmarks; adjusting and tweaking so that the world matched what was going on on the map. 

In the end, I got to a point where I feel it's improved, but feel there is still some ways to go before I can say it's truly finished. 

Pipsburg Academy and the Interactive Character Sheets have also been updated to reflect the new changes to the book. 

I do intend to go in and update the Player Aids and the Beyond Tavolo content, but not sure exactly when these will drop. 

Last, but not least, we now have a Virtual Tabletop! Woot! This was something I've been working for quite some time that I've finally completed. It is an excel document with player sheets, the map, some tables, and GM space. Hopefully, this will make playing the game a little bit easier for everyone! 

There is a randomiser for NPCs and Jester NPCs, but I am still figuring out how to make it work exactly. I am able to use it myself, but because it's tied to my google account, I don't think the scripts used can be shared. If anyone knows a solution, I'd love to get your thoughts! 

At any rate, the rest of it works just fine and can be found on the main page of the game. All you have to do is click the box below to get access. Download the document to your drive and use it to your hearts content. 

That's it for the update! 

Thanks so much for all of you who have supported and downloaded this game. 

Till next time, stay safe out there!

- Vinny