See Issue X [$15.00]

See Issue X [$15.00]:

Telling superhero stories is easy, right? Just come up with a name, some powers, a personal hook or two, and you're good to go!

Sure. But what about twelve issues in? Or fifty? Or two hundred issues, three alternate timelines, one death-and-rebirth, and a handful of holiday specials which may or may not be canon? How easy is it then?

See Issue X is a tabletop roleplaying game where you will both tell the story of a superhero (or several) and also stand in the shoes of the writer as you struggle with their ever-more-unwieldy backstory. When the grey aliens threaten the Earth, that's one thing. When they kidnap Aunt Harriet's dog, that's... a little odd, but you can sell it. When they bring the hero back from the grave because of their shared love of board games, you know you're working with real comic book nonsense.

Luckily, this is cape comics: the nonsense is the bit we love best!

See Issue X can be played as a solo journalling game or as part of a group where everyone has their own character. Even better: you can play solo, take your character to join a group for a team-up event, then go back to playing them solo -- or knock out a few solo adventures between regular group sessions as part of your own continuity!

You will need the game pdf, a regular deck of playing cards you don't mind defacing (or 52 blank index cards), and a good pen for defacing playing cards with. If you don't want to deface playing cards you can use a normal deck, card sleeves, and scrap paper. Or you can use the macro-enabled Excel file bundled with the pdf and whatever computer-based writing tools you like, because I'm a huge nerd.

(As a note, the Excel file hasn't been rigorously tested and so is likely buggy as hell. I will be available for technical support on a 'when I get a moment' basis.)

See Issue X is a complete game with 19 playable arcs and an assistant spreadsheet if you don't feel like writing on playing cards -- which, to be fair, can be a little tricky, especially with face cards. Pay the money, get the game, play the game, enjoy.

What it does not have, is interior art.

I would like it to have interior art.

I would also like to pay myself for the work I've done on game design, writing, and layout.

So here's my plan: As of launch, See Issue X is about $600 in the hole -- the cover art is most of that, plus some other assets I used in the layout, plus itch's cut, plus some rounding up just in case. Once that $600 is cleared, which will take 40 sales at the base price, I'll start splitting the takings between money for me and money for art.