Expedition: The Future deliveries, writing contests, and more!

Greetings star-travelling adventurers!

We're happy to announce that Expedition: The Future + Deluxe Edition has begun delivery to Kickstarter backers.

Missed the Kickstarter? Copies are now available on the Expedition Store!

Writing Contest | Chronicles of the Cosmos

To kick off the delivery of our Sci-Fi expansion we're hosting a writing contest, Chronicles of the Cosmos! Any quests created before July 19th that includes The Future expansion in their quest will automatically qualify for this contest. All entrants will be rewarded with 100 loot points, while the winner will be rewarded 500 loot points total.

We can't wait to see what sort of adventures our writers will create with this contest! Please note your creations aren't limited to only a science fiction setting to qualify for the contest - they just have to use some of the new cards and mechanics

Quest Spotlight | Bounty on Laima Prime (Starstrider Tales)

As The Future starts to arrive, we wanted to recommend a quest for everyone's next game night: Bounty on Laima Prime (Starstrider Tales) by Josh K! This was the winner of our Stories of the Stars contest during the Kickstarter, and we loved the use of skills, synth enemies, persona, and science fiction theme. 

Happy adventuring!

Todd, Scott and the Expedition Team

If you're looking for some tips on creating quests, check out our Quest Crafter series and consider subscribing to our Quest Crafter newsletter.

Make sure to follow our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages for the latest updates, and join our community on Reddit and Discord for the latest announcements and to meet other players!

Expedition Writing Contest: Beware the Ides of March!

Welcome, Adventurers and Authors!

We just wrapped up our last contest, Beasts and Blizzards, and its been a couple of weeks. That means its time to sharpen those tongues and plot devices, as our next contest Beware the Ides of March is here!

Et tu, brute?

Whether its a political overthrow, manipulating or brokering peace/war between nations, or being stabbed in the back by one of your travelling companions at the end of your hard-fought adventure, intrigue and betrayal make for some captivating stories and plot twists.

Inspired by the words Julius Ceasar that he foolishly neglected, we want to see your best quest involving tales of intrigue or an element of betrayal. As you can see, we're taking a break from our dual-theme, but we'll still be rewarding participants with 100 points for entering a valid quest while the winner will be awarded 500 loot points total.

Just publish your best quest by March 31st at 11:59 PM (EST) to qualify! Your quest must be in English to qualify, but we do encourage quests of all languages to be made for, it just takes us too long to translate in a reasonable time to make a ruling on a winner. Finally, make sure your quests are marked for your audience accordingly, anything offensive will be taken down and the entrant disqualified. While we do reference some pop culture in our inspirations, make sure to not use anyone’s intellectual property other than your own!  

  To Participate:

• Create your quest and upload it by March 31st, 11:59 PM (EST).

• Entries must be in English.

Make sure to check out he master list of Vault and Forge entries for some blog posts that might help hone your quest crafting abilities! Keep an eye on our social media, as we'll have some posts to help our authors with any ideas throughout the next two months.

If you're looking for some tips on creating quests, check out our Quest Crafter series and consider subscribing to our Quest Crafter newsletter for more like the ones we referenced above! Make sure to follow our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages for the latest updates, and join our community on Reddit for the latest announcements, as some of our posts in the weeks to come might help you in your quest creation.

Best of luck to you, adventurers!

-Your Expedition Team

Expedition Writing Contest: Beasts and Blizzards!

Welcome, Adventurers!

After a successful Kickstarter and contest, Stories of the Stars, the team decided to hit the drawing board again. Now that we’re back in gear, we’re excited to unveil our next contest. Put on your best winter coats as its about to get chilly…Beasts and Blizzards will be our next writing contest!

Beasts and Blizzards will see the return of our popular dual-theme system, with the themes being beasts and winters respectively. In other words, we want to see you publish the best quest you can using either beast enemies, winter as a seasonal background, or both if you’re up for a challenge. This contest will run until January 15th at 11:59 (EST). The winner of Beasts and Blizzards will be rewarded with 500 loot points total. All other entries will be rewarded with 100 points for using either theme, or 200 for using both.

Feral beasts are often common foes in RPGs, but it takes a special writer or GM to make these foes real characters in a campaign. Maybe your story will feature an owl-bear hybrid monster? Perhaps a giant spider endangering an intrepid duo of halflings? Or even just that giant rat in your favorite innkeeper’s storage closet? There’s tons of examples in common stories, tropes, and adventures to give you inspiration!

Making your quest involve Winter as a seasonal background could mean a lot of things. Its easy enough to just write it in the background and have some talk of snowfall, but settings deserve just as much character as the leading hero! Seasons care not for the adventurers’ needs (unless you have a handy Druid that can change that) and can be cruel and unforgiving as a result. Whether its forcing heroes to take longer during their travels, endangering their food rations, or bombarding them with snow, hail, or avalanches, there’s a lot that can be done!

If you combine these stories, you can even create some festive quests and re-skin some enemies, such as the Troll, to a certain Germanic folk villain or even another creature, like the Ice Yeti. Maybe a Riftwalker could be utilized as Snow Elementals that sing tunes and narrates the adventure? We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

You can also check out these Vault entries for inspiration and help!

• Beastly (The Vault #20)

• Predatory Universe: Beast Plots (The Vault #21)

• The Storm (The Vault #29)

To enter, all you have to do is publish a quest by 11:59 PM (EST) on January 15th. Your quest must be in English to qualify, but we do encourage quests of all languages to be made for, it just takes us too long to translate in a reasonable time to make a ruling on a winner. Finally, make sure your quests are marked for your audience accordingly, anything offensive will be taken down and the entrant disqualified. While we do reference some pop culture in our inspirations, make sure to not use anyone’s intellectual property other than your own!

 To Participate:

• Create your quest and upload it by January 15th, 11:59 PM (EST).

• Entries must be in English.

If you're looking for some tips on creating quests, check out our Quest Crafter series and consider subscribing to our Quest Crafter newsletter for more like the ones we referenced above! Make sure to follow our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages for the latest updates, and join our community on Reddit for the latest announcements, as some of our posts in the weeks to come might help you in your quest creation.

Best of luck to you, adventurers!

-Your Expedition Team

Expedition Writing Contest: Stories of the Stars!

To celebrate our recent Kickstarter launch (and successful funding) we wanted to encourage our quest writers to take these new Expedition cards for a spin! Between the new Synth enemies, Skills, and Tech cards, this opens up a lot of possibilities for narration. Any quest that gets published requiring the Expedition: The Future expansion between now and October 28th will be eligible to win this contest.

The winner of this contest will receive a signed copy of the Deluxe Edition and 500 loot points! Your quest must be published by October 28th at midnight EST, and we’ll announce the winner on October 30th at 7:00 PM EST.

Good luck, adventurers. We can’t wait to see what you do with all these new tools at your disposal!

 To be eligible for any Expedition contest:

• You must write and publish a quest using the Expedition Quest Creator in English before the contest deadline.

• Quest must be accurately tagged with age level. Quests may not contain deeply offensive material, such as scenes that glorify sexual violence.

• Quests cannot infringe on other's intellectual property. Sorry, no Harry Potter fan fiction!

• Quests must be written in English. (non-English quests are still eligible for standard loot point bonuses)

• For prizes of $25 - $599: You must report your prize earnings on your local tax form as "other income" (such as a 1099 in the US). Entrants in all countries are eligible for prizes under $600!

• For prizes of $600 or more: Only those residing in or paying taxes in the United States are currently eligible. You must be age 18 or older by the end of the contest. If you win, we'll need a W-9 from you before we can issue payment.

Expedition: The Future launches on Kickstarter! (Funded within 24 hours!)

Adventurers,

Expedition: The Future & Deluxe Edition is now live on Kickstarter, and has already funded within the first day of launch! From here on, we’re working towards some awesome stretch goals (like some new quests.) While many of you probably know the details of the Kickstarter so far, we’ll go over them real quick here.

The Future is the second expansion to Expedition, bringing along new enemies, abilities, and loots cards inspired by science fiction. We’re also introducing a brand new skill check mechanic!

Skills allow for a new layer for roleplaying and combat! When you level up, you can choose to draft a card or level up a Skill, which helps you do better at checks both in combat and in the story. It also becomes a powerful, single-use ability that scales with the level of the card!

Tech abilities add a new combat style. You can use Tech with loot to help your team and get the best of your enemies, unlocking powerful synergies with the existing abilities.

Synth enemies are mechanized creatures that you will encounter in many future quests. From the lowly Repulsor Probe to the heavily-armored and ever-hungry Cyclonic Digger, the selection of new enemies offer loads of exciting new storytelling directions.

Alongside The Future, we’re introducing Expedition Deluxe Edition! This package includes Expedition, The Horror, and The Future — allowing for a complete collection in one convenient box.

We took your feedback to heart, and have added art to all the previous enemy cards, upgraded cardstock quality, and designed new (and improved) clips that protect the cards. There’s even room for sleeved cards within this box and future cards/expansions!

We’re very excited for this Kickstarter, and we hope you are too! Our backers are doing an amazing job of sharing on our social media, and if everyone keeps it up, we might be able to unlock some sweet, sweet stretch goals. So keep posting, tweeting, and telling your friends all about Expedition!

Here’s to The Future!

-Your Expedition Team

Expedition: The Future launches on Kickstarter on October 2nd!

Expedition: The Future | What's it about?

Expedition: The Future will feature the new skill mechanic, synth enemies, as well as tech abilities! We'll be highlighting these new cards over on our social media, found at the bottom of this newsletter, over the course of the next month. (here's the link)

'What does Tech do?' 

Tech abilities use loot to help your team and get the best of your enemies. You can also look forward to new adventurers that enable awesome synergies with the existing ability types.

'What threats do Synths pose?' 

Synth enemies are new robotic foes that can be used in a variety of settings with mechanics that center around loot and persona. Whether they're storing loot or running down your moral, these enemies will be a fearsome addition to the enemy lineup.

'This new Skill mechanic, what's so cool about it?'

Skill checks are a staple of D20 systems. Many quest writers have built their own skill systems to fill the void... but now we’re building them into the system. Players can level up and learn skills to do better at checks both in combat and in the story - or use their skills’ powerful single-use ability to get out of a tight spot.

These new cards will be sure to add a lot to your games of Expedition, so keep your eye out for the Kickstarter on October 2nd!

Expedition: Deluxe Edition | New & Improved

We'll be offering the Deluxe Edition of Expedition alongside The Future! This will allow newcomers to jump in on Expedition to get Expedition, Expedition: The Horror, and Expedition: The Future - including art on all base game enemies. The Deluxe Edition and The Future will also include upgraded card stock and custom-designed Expedition clips so that your new cards won't get scratched up!

'I already own Expedition, but I want the storage box and clips!'

Worry not! The larger box and custom clips will also be available as add-ons. These are just some of the things you can look forward to our Kickstarter launching on October 2nd!

If you're looking for some tips on creating quests, check out our Quest Crafter series and consider subscribing to our Quest Crafter newsletter.

Make sure to follow our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages for the latest updates, and join our community on Reddit and Discord for the latest announcements and to meet other players!

Expedition Writing Contest: Thespians and Thieves

Welcome, Adventurers!

We hope everyone has enjoyed everything Expedition has had going on, between things like the June update featuring some new art from our Sci-Fi expansion and the community-made character sheets. However, some might notice we don't have a writing contest going on in the past month! We decided to give our quest crafters a bit of a break, but we're excited to come back and talk about the next writing contest for Expedition.

Hopefully everyone's ready to write their best script, as we're ready to pull back the curtain on our next contest... Thespians and Thieves!

Someday we won't force those awful puns, but today is not that day! Thespians and Thieves will see the return of our dual-theme system, but one might notice, this contest will take place over two months instead of the usual one. 

The themes for this contest will be bandits and drama. In other words, we want to see you publish the best quest you can using bandit enemies, a drama-filled plot, or both if you're up for a challenge. This contest will run until September 30th at 11:59 (EST). The winner of Thespians and Thieves will earn 500 loot points. All entries will be rewarded with 100 points for using either theme, or 200 points upon using both.

The term bandit can be a broad term, so take advantage of that! Maybe you want to write a story involving two powerful, rival families with star-crossed lovers that ends in tragedy? A thrilling fantasy tale, set on a continent full of family houses striving for political power and control of a throne? Or perhaps an adventure featuring a fedora-wearing archaeologist fighting against some nasty villains for a powerful artifact. Show us what you can come up with!

To enter, we're going to ask you to fill out this Google Form with your name and quest title, which will allow us to filter through quests and pick a winner. Your quest must be in English to qualify, but we do encourage quests of all languages to be made for, it just takes us too long to translate in a reasonable time to make a ruling on a winner. Finally, make sure your quests are marked for your audience accordingly, anything offensive will be taken down and the entrant disqualified.

To Participate:

• Create your quest and upload it by September 30th, 11:59 PM (EST).
• Fill out the Google Form with your name and quest title.
• Entries must be in English.

If you're looking for some tips on creating quests, check out our Quest Crafter series and consider subscribing to our Quest Crafter newsletter.

Make sure to follow our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages for the latest updates, and join our community on Reddit for the latest announcements!

Time to write your best screenplay, adventurers. Break a leg!

-Your Expedition Team

Expedition July 2018 Update!

Adventurers, 

Expedition has a whole slew of announcements for July, from more details about our sci-fi expansion to the launch of online multiplayer in Expedition, there'll sure to be something for everyone. We hope you're excited for the future of Expedition as much as we are!

Origins Game Fair 2018 - Recap

Last month the Expedition team (Todd, Scott, Logan, Greg, and Gabbie) were at Origins Game Fair 2018 in Columbus, Ohio! We kept ourselves busy with plenty of demos during the day, and even playtested some of the sci-fi expansion in the evening.

In addition to that, we're excited to announce that our Sci-Fi expansion is planned to come to Kickstarter this fall. There also might be a piece of art tucked away at the bottom of this newsletter.

Origins was an amazing show for us, and will be coming back in 2019. We'll be looking forward to seeing more of you next year!

The Expedition team at Origins Game Fair 2018, from left to right: Todd, Greg, Gabbie, and Scott! (Not shown: Logan, as he's taking the photo.)

Writing Contest - Adventures in Academia

A little over a month ago, we asked our quest creators to create the best contest using progression through character, mechanical, or storytelling elements, and/or have the adventure take place in an educational institute of some variety for our writing contest, Adventures in Academia.

Without further ado, we want to announce the winner of Adventures in Academia to be...The Illyrie Academy for the Arcane by Josh K! 

Thank you to all our participants, once again. Keep an eye on our website and social media, as we plan on announcing the next contest soon!

Online Multiplayer & New Features!

We've fixed a couple of bugs, and even added some new features to the app. Which also Includes the huge announcement that Expedition's Online Multiplayer feature is live!

• Online Multiplayer (previously "Remote Play") out of experimental! Check it out in the Tools section.
• At the start of the combat timer, flash the class icon of one of the enemies in the fight to increase immersion.
• Added an "official" label to official quests in search results, denoted by the Expedition icon in the top right of their result card. (*)
• Added an "awarded" label to quests that have won a quest writing awarded, denoted by a star icon in the top right of their result card. (*)
• Added a "requires pen & paper" field for quests to indicate if they require pen & paper, including the ability to filter search results by quests that specifically do or don't require this. (*)
• We made a big upgrade to our underlying code libraries to keep things as fast and stable as possible (for the programmers out there, we upgraded from Material UI 0.20 to 1.0)

(*) We wanted to take a moment to make a shoutout to Eric Zittel, for all he's done for the Expedition app! If you've been using the search engine in the Expedition app or have seen the official and award-winning icons next to quests, he's the one who helped make it happen.

If you want to contribute like Eric, you can always check out our GitHub.

Discord Server Announcement!

With the recent introduction of Multiplayer in Expedition, we figured our players might want a place to meet other Expedition players and creators. Whether you're looking to game with others, talk about quest crafting, or just chat about all things Expedition, come join the Expedition RPG Discord Server!

Don't scuttle past this part, our first baddie for Expedition's Sci-Fi expansion is ready to make his debut!

Our chief illustrator, Chris, has been drawing the Expedition art on a few livestreams over the past couple of weeks. If you're interested in seeing enemies like the Scuttler get drawn, go ahead and give him a follow on Twitch and Twitter.

If you're looking for some tips on creating quests, check out our Quest Crafter series and consider subscribing to our Quest Crafter newsletter.

Make sure to follow our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages for the latest updates, and join our community on Reddit for the latest announcements!