Critical Core

A peek into The Age of Green
over 3 years ago – Fri, Jan 22, 2021 at 10:02:08 AM

Greetings, backers!

This message comes to you from Adam Davis, the “other Adam” from Game to Grow and the Critical Core dev team.

I’m excited to share with you some of the third module included in the Critical Core starter set, titled “The Age of Green.” I first ran this story in RPG-based social skills groups before Game to Grow was even founded, back when Adam Johns and I were just a small two-person organization and I was still a full-time classroom teacher.

I particularly love this module because it expands the world of Toverus up way past the first two modules, both in terms of the distance the heroes travel in the story and because it reveals the expansive history and lore of the world. In the story the heroes learn that the current age, the Age of Tools, followed the Age of Dragons and the Age of Green. The storyline revolves around the heroes preventing the return of the Age of Green.

The inciting incident for the story occurs when the heroes discover that plants are starting to become sentient, and begin attacking settlements across the continent. As they explore and investigate this strange phenomenon, their path takes them onto an airship, face to face with an ancient dragon, and beneath the ocean to a legendary sunken city. Through their travels they will learn more about the history of the world and the events that shaped its current form.

This module also sparked one of my all-time favorite “aha moments,” a story I’ve told in many interviews, on panels at conventions, and I even use it in Game to Grow’s training program. During the adventure the heroes meet a Void Dragon, a twisted and corrupted dragon abomination created by the other dragons to defeat the plants during the original Age of Green. The original iteration of the Void Dragon was the last of its kind, and I’d designed the encounter to be a difficult social challenge of values clarification and self-advocacy. This creature wouldn’t help the heroes unless they could be VERY convincing.

When they tried to convince him to help, I replied in the deep and hoarse voice of the Void Dragon: “Why should I help you? Everyone I have known has betrayed me. No family. No friends. I am alone in this world.”

One player, who had previously shared with the group about their own struggles with depression, surprised me with their response. In their character’s voice, they said, “Wow, you’re a lot like me. That is exactly how I feel. I’m also alone and have no friends.”

I was momentarily speechless, but saw an opportunity to build empathy and follow the players’ lead. This Void Dragon character, who had originally been designed as a villain, became a sympathetic character. I did not want to shut down this opportunity for social empathy, so I improvised.

Instead of fighting him or coercing him, the players pledged to help him create more Void Dragons so he’d no longer have to be alone. The empathy with the intended enemy was so strong that in later sessions the players came to his rescue when he was being attacked, and even offered to help raise the Void Dragon Wyrmlings after they hatched from the corrupted dragon eggs!

I share this story with you to remind you of the surprise moments of insight, growth, and change that this game can provide. While of course a good game master has a plan for each session, few plans ever survive first contact with a group of players!

Thanks to everyone who has suggested donation locations! We still have some donated kits looking for good homes, so please make sure, if you have not done so, to recommend a place for us to send kits to a good cause.

Click here to submit a suggested donation location.

Thanks again, for all of your continued support!

Adam Davis

Game to Grow Executive Director

More Spell Cards
over 3 years ago – Fri, Jan 08, 2021 at 12:51:09 AM

Hello Everyone,

I have a quick update today with some cool images to share with you all. I’m excited to show you some of my favorite final spell cards that came out beautifully.

I mentioned some of the thought process behind the spell cards in a previous post, which you’re welcome to read through for extra insights. The designs of the cards have quite a lot of thought process put into them, and I’m so happy to share them with all of you.

Thank you all for your support.

Warmly,

Adam Johns

Game to Grow Executive Director

Holiday Eve Update and World Map
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 09:00:33 PM

Hello everyone,

As some of you may have been following, we were hoping to release the finalized digital critical core materials today. Unfortunately, I’m here with some bad news. We weren’t able to make the deadline.

So you may be asking, why is this getting delayed yet again? Ultimately, the reasons for the delays are that artwork and layout is taking longer than we expected, and the members of our team who have graciously volunteered their time to work on this project have had to attend to their important jobs and lives coming into the end of 2020. I should be super clear that the people who have been volunteering their help with the project have been exemplary, and have offered tremendous expertise, skill, and SO much time, because they believe in this mission and project.

If you’re feeling disappointed, then I’ll join you in that camp. I really wanted to make this deadline. I was looking forward to hearing stories from parents playing Critical Core with their kids over the break, or teachers who are excited to bring it into their classroom in January, or therapists who are looking to open a roleplaying game therapy group with the clients in their practice.

At the same time, I also know that the most important thing to me is that we make a product that lasts, and stands the test of time. Something that, years from now, I can be really proud of and can continue to point to as a preeminent starting place for people who are wanting to use roleplaying games for growth and change. Something that really demonstrates the way in which games can be good for you.

In the time that we’ve been working on Critical Core, I’ve watched it evolve from purely a concept into something that has real polish and potential for world impact. Obviously getting this product to all of you backers that paid for it SO long ago is of tremendous importance to us, but beyond that we want something that will continue to be sold in stores, or provided to teachers and therapists during trainings, for years to come. Even though I feel tremendously guilty with every comment and backer who is (understandably) angry that this project has taken too long, and who are worried that they will never actually receive their copy of Critical Core, I still maintain that the most important thing is to make something right, rather than make something on time. Though, ideally, it would have been both.

In the process of this project I’ve learned a lot about project management, about team management over multiple time zones, and about the step by step phases of creating a physical product from scratch. I’ve learned just how arduous the review and editing process can be, and that when we take something back to the drawing board to start it over, how much of a setback that can cause. I’ve grown closer to everyone on this team over the course of this project, and have had the tremendous opportunity to call them friends. It has been a tremendous experience, and I’m not done yet.

I’m not completely empty handed, today. I do have something exciting to share with you. We have the (basically complete) Toverus world map, and I want to make sure that you can all take a look.

If you paid attention during the beta test you’ll be able to find the town of Tusk, Myren, and Paloway from those modules. You’ll notice that this map is both WAY more expansive than just those modules cover, and also is not a complete world map.

The philosophy behind our work is that we want to give game master’s enough framework and pieces to allow them to make up the story, without having to create from a blank slate. Like handing someone a house with all of the walls, appliances, and most important furniture that needs to be there, but lots of empty space so that they can decorate it on their own, too. The map is designed with the same philosophy.

So we created a bunch of stuff on the map that sounds interesting, and WE have some stories in mind for them, but YOU can do whatever you want with it. The point of all of these cities, location names, and interesting landscapes is to help you fill in your own stories and create your own interesting plots along with your players. So if you finish the Festival of the Birds (or the third module, The Age of Green) and you want to keep playing, you can ask your players where they want to go on the map and make up the story from there. You could even take the same character, remake them in another roleplaying game, and use this map to help have interesting locations and places to go to.

Lastly, the ‘world map’ is also incomplete in the sense that it is basically only a single continent, and clearly stretches out in other directions. This is so that, if you want to, you can have your players sail away to another continent entirely, or travel north to brand new lands. Leaving you open to make the world as you wish.

Obviously I’ll continue to share more information as things move forward, and hopefully will have an update very early in the new year with information about how you can get your completed digital version. But, in the interest of myself and of my own family, I will not be making an update again until January.

In the meantime, I want to wish everyone a very happy holiday season, and a spectacular new year. Thank you all for your continued support, and above all, your continued patience.

Warmly,

Adam Johns

Game to Grow Executive Director

Box Design Checklist
almost 4 years ago – Sun, Dec 13, 2020 at 03:55:43 AM

Hello Everyone,

I'm sorry for the delays with the update. The holidays have made my schedule very wonky. But I'm determined to continue to provide updates as promised! 

I’ve been working on outlining our box design this week. It is amazing how much stuff we had to adjust in the box design when we realized that we were going to be selling the box in retail stores. Here is the short list of things that go into each side of the box.

Front of Box:

• Name
• Graphical Hexagon Logo with scenery
• As seen on Kickstarter banner? Funded in 8 hours?
  

Back of Box:

• Logo
• “Story” description of world
• Product Description
• Product Example Pictures
• Game Kit Contents list
• Author?
• Cover Art by
• Legal Section
  • Copyright and trademark information
  • Made In China
  • Game to Grow Company name and Address
• CE Safety Testing Symbol
• Barcode
• Publisher Logo (Game to Grow Logo)
• Play Information Box
  • Number of players
  • Duration of Play per session
  • Suggested Age
• Age recommendation for choking hazards
  

Side of Box 1&3:

• CC Logo
• Side of Box Graphic
• Smaller sized sponsors/collaborators logo Bar
• Publisher Logo (Game to Grow Logo)
  

Side of Box 2:

• CC Logo
• Side of Box Graphic
• Play Information Box
  • Number of players
  • Duration of Play per session
  • Suggested Age
• Age recommendation for choking hazards
  

Side of Box 4:

• CC Logo
• Side of Box Graphic
• Barcode
• Publisher Logo (Game to Grow Logo)
• Legal Section
  • Made In China
  • Game to Grow Company name and Address
• CE Safety Testing Symbol

To finish up, we’re making a few adjustments to the graphic artwork on the box, figuring out what should go where. Also, I had to do LOTS of research to figure out how to properly do barcodes. Who knew it could be so complicated!?

We’re still working on getting the digital material out to everyone by Christmas (sorry fellow Hanukkah celebrators, we won’t make that deadline). I'm excited for the chance for people to play over the break!

Warmly,

Adam Johns

Game to Grow Executive Director

Digital Copies and Alternate Character Artwork
almost 4 years ago – Sat, Nov 28, 2020 at 04:58:03 PM

Hello everyone,

Things are trucking along. We’re still on target for our March/April deadline. I hope that everyone has had a wonderful holiday.

In addition to meeting the physical kit deadline, we’re also working hard to get the digital materials to each of you before December 24th this year. My hope is that all of you will have digital material that you can play during the holidays.

As a quick reminder, everyone who backed at the digital level and above will be receiving a digital copy of the game. Once the files for physical material are given to the manufacturer, we’ll just need to make some adjustments to that material for digital distribution. This means getting bookmarks for the pdfs, making sure print requirements are trimmed from the material (like alignment marks and bleed sidings), as well as creating printer-friendly versions of some of the material, like the character sheets. When we have those extra pieces completed, we’ll send the digital copies of Critical Core to all of you.

Lastly, some people had requested some alternate artworks for the player character models. I’m very happy to announce that we’ll be making a second round of character artwork for each character, to be represented slightly differently and provide more options for players to choose from the artwork that they see.

Alternate artwork character sheets won’t be included in the physical kit, as we won’t be able to get those together until closer to April or May, but we’ll be releasing them for all of you with download links once they are completed.

Thank you so much for the support, everyone! Getting closer!

Warmly,

Adam Johns

Game to Grow Executive Director