Realis is now live!
As teased for years and promised on Monday: Realis: Ashcan Edition is now live for purchase and play! I cannot wait to see what folks get up to with this game.
As for what we over at Friends at the Table got up to with it… here’s the plan, as laid out by our intrepid producer, Ali Acampora:
Realis is a game. Realis is a place. Realis is an upcoming season of Friends at the Table that will be (sort of) exclusive to our patreon at the $5 tier. The first episode will be released on both our patreon rss feed and our main rss feed, in addition to a debut stream for a group watch over at twitch.tv/friendsatthetable! The stream will be starting at 7 PM ET, [tonight] January 23rd.
The release schedule after that gets a little silly but is our attempt to repay all of our supporter's patience and manage the backlog best. Our 2nd episode of Realis will be on released Friday, January 24th on our patreon feed so our supporters will get a little double dip in debut week! Episodes will continue weekly on Wednesdays on patreon through the first six episodes and then switch to bi-weekly until our backlog is caught up.
And speaking of long quotes, here’s a link to the SECOND Rascal interview with me, all about the mechanics and inspirations for Realis. Chase Carter does a great job of setting up what makes Realis special. Here’s what he says:
Realis’ conflict, with a bullet, is a contest of willfully asserting one’s identity into reality. Characters comprise four key Sentences, two Bonds, a potent Dream, a Token, and a Band Sentence. These are called Means. During conflict, both the Actor and Counteractor bring one of their Means to bear on the other. Both compare how Realized their Means are, a ranking of +0 to +3, and ties are awarded to the Counter.
Sentences level up (or Realize) through failure to overcome a Counter’s Sentence, whether the player is scarpering down a treacherous landscape, arguing against locust royalty from the Imperial Empest, or denying the existential gravity of a Moon composed of living meat. Almost everything acts upon the world and its inhabitants through Sentences, which become more specific and powerful over time until they are retired into the past tense. Critically, Realization also adds conditional phrases to Sentences. The Peregrine’s +0 I always have the determination to continue is widely applicable but weak. They could achieve a +1 by modifying it to When bloodied, I always have the determination to continue at the cost of restricting the possibility space.
Thank you so much for all the support y’all have already shown me and the game. It’s been a long journey, and it feels especially good to finally release it given that last year around this time I was facing the impending cancelation of a game I’d worked so hard to build a world for. I couldn’t have finished this without the support of my loved ones and the constant encouragement from readers and listeners like you.
And remember: You will make Realis yours.