Happy New Year !

Hello everyone!
First, we would like to wish you a very happy year 2014! 2013 was a big year for the Esteren adventure: several Ennies, a smashing symphonic concert in France, great success for the Kickstarter campaigns... We look forward to seeing what 2014 has in store for us!

We would also like to take this opportunity to take stock of the production of the various books and add-ons funded thanks to the last kickstarter:
  • Book 2 Travels: Done
  • A Life Choice - Game Aids: Done
  • Travel Journal: Done
  • Esteren Interactive Maps Software : Ongoing... A lot of work has been done on the engine and basic features. A new map is currently being drawn.
  • Monastery of Tuath PDF. Ongoing... Translation and proofreading are done. The book is currently being laid out. Would some among you be interested in proofreading the layout? We'll send you the current version of the PDF, and it will be up to you to point out any mistake you notice.
  • Ghost Stores: Ongoing... All the texts for this supplement have been written. We are currently going through the copy editing phase, and the translation has begun. There is still much to be done, but we are progressing at a good pace!
  • Voting for the next Book for Shadows of Esteren: Done! With this threshold, the backers (both from the Kickstarter and the Ulule) got to vote for the next book. In the end, the Peoples book won, with Clans & Families and Magience in tow. The next book will therefore be Book 5 – Peoples!
  • Esteren video game BETA access : Ongoing... That's a big one! Our latest step was to design the menu and saving system. There is still some way to go before the BETA, but we are getting there!
  • Esteren “Blue Box” Kickstarer Edition: Done! The box has been printed and is now on its way to the backers! If you have been to Gen Con this summer and could not take it with you then, you should get it now.
  • Maps of Tri-Kazel: Ongoing... Five large maps for the great cities of Tri-Kazel. Two of them are almost done (Tulg Naomh and Osta-Baille), and the illustrator in charge is getting to the third one (Ard-Amrach, the capital of Gwidre).
  • Cave Tiles: To be done. We have not made much progress on them... but we will get to them soon! We are going to make several boards of tiles especially sized for standard figurines (as we have done for the Loch Varn Tiles).
  • T-Shirt: Done! These gave us a lot of trouble, but they are now done, and we even have a few extra ones for the backers of Book 0 Prologue (we did not have enough of some sizes)! Every time, the t-shirts have been a big hit... but having them made requires a lot of work. Therefore, we are sorry to announce that we will not do any more of them. There are too few of us to take care of such a production on a regular basis. In the end, we'd rather focus on the books than on t-shirt stocks! So those who have them are now definitely the proud owners of collector's items! The remaining ones we have will be put on sale. More on the subject at a later date.
  • Adeliane mini: Ongoing... The figurine has been sculpted, and it is gorgeous. We are now getting busy with the boxes and a few add-ons to be included with it.

There you have it! All in all, things are going pretty well, and the whole team is giving their all! And I can tell you we are working on a wonderful limited edition for the next book: “The Monastery of Tuath.” Several great surprises will be included, which we will be glad to reveal... in due time!

Once more, we wish you all kinds of awesome things for 2014.

See you very soon for the next chapter of our beautiful adventure!

Yours sincerely,
The Shadows Team

ENnies, GenCon... some news from the US!

Hi everyone,

GenCon is over now, it was pure madness..! Esteren won three Ennies and the show was a huge success. It was so moving to receive those rewards..!




The warm welcome and very brotherhood feels was also very moving. Receive congrats and hugs from the best RPG compagnies is something very special.

Chris Birch (Achtung! Cthulhu), Nel and and Lisa Stevens


When Lisa Stevens says to you "you remind me our beginnings" or something like that, you know it is a very special moment...!!! Thank you to everyone who came to see us!! A special thanks to all the backers who came, it was so great to meet you all!

Richard (backer and great volunteer), Gawain (illustrator) and Franck (proofreader)

FFG staff with Amanda (retailer in Chicago and so nice volunteer) and Valentin from Agate RPG

A GREAT and so nice Osta-Baille backers with Gawain 

Nel, Gregory (cheers Becky!!!!) Richard, Clovis and Robert!

Val, Clovis, Daniel, Richard, Franck, Nel and Gawain

Nel and Brom... another crazy moment....!!!

You can check more pictures here and here.

In fact, all this would NEVER have happened without you. So THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

You are an awesome community, we are so proud of you. Esteren is an universe, a game but it is also a community. We will always try to do our best for you !

Kickstarter for Book 2 Travels is Live!

Only two hours and you smashed the initial goal. Two days and we are beyond $40.000... This is truly amazing ! THANK YOU!



Shadows of Esteren - A Medieval Horror RPG: Travels -- Kicktraq Mini

This is Kickstarter!

Some of you have started to receive their rewards for the Book 0 Prologue ... all of them should be shipped before the end of the month.

Today, a small post and two photos!

Initially, the Book 0 Prologue is a soft cover book. Here's how it came out in France, funded by our editor:



Not bad: 80 pages full color book.

But feel the difference. Here is the version funded by this Kickstarter, by YOU :





It's really magical. We were able to go beyond what we wanted for this book. It is a great pleasure for authors to see their work highlighted this way.

THANK YOU all for this great adventure.

Enjoy your trip in Tri-Kazel! And please share with us your feedbacks!

The Esteren Team

Some news and 2013 schedule for Esteren

Here is an update from Kickstarter, it will give you some news about the project and our schedule for 2013.. let's go:

Hello everyone!

Well, it is quite late but... Happy New Year 2013! We hope it started well for you!

As January comes to an end, it is time to take stock on the evolution of the production of the contents for Book 0 Prologue. The success of the campaign meant a massive increase of work for us... which is obviously a good thing!

Actually, since the end of the campaign at the end of November, we have worked a lot, and I am glad to announce that most of the additional contents are ready. For example, all of the tile boards are done (just above a sample, you can click to enlarge).

The PDF with the clues for Loch Varn is also complete. For this occasion, we have revamped the visuals of the original version to create new layouts. As soon as we are done, we will send the PDF file to the backers who have pledged for it. Here are a few samples:



Also, we are still working on the portraits and characters of the Lords of Shadows, and of our faithful Seòl Patrons. Here are some of them on your left (click to enlarge).


An Expected Time of Arrival?


Regarding the delivery date, it had been announced for March. As things are, we are going to be a bit late and will only be able to send the packages in April. We are sorry for the delay; we are going as fast as we can, but the success of the campaign did add a lot of work! All of the products will be printed at the same time, so we must finish the last elements before the printing can begin.

Also, take note that our colleagues from Studio 2 Publishing have had a lot of logistic matters to deal with recently. If Jim Searcy has not answered all of your messages yet, rest assured that it will be done as soon as possible. If there is a problem with your rewards, do not hesitate to inform us by sending us a new message or by posting a comment here. These matters will be given due attention.

Meanwhile, in France...


In parallel with all of this, we are also working on the next opuses of the series in France! We have also issued our schedule for 2013: we plan to release the official campaign for Shadows of Esteren, but also a new album and–hopefully–the point'n'click video game. We have been working on it for several years, and soon, it will be possible to start an Alpha testing session.

 

I am telling you about it because we intend to make an English version of the game available as quickly as possible! Also, in February, we are going to start a fundraiser in France, through Ulule (Kickstarter's French little sibling for French projects), for the campaign. And we are probably going to make something available for you too... stay tuned!

The 2013 schedule for the English version of Shadows of Esteren


For 2013, we plan to release Book 2 Travels in English. Compared to the original version, it will be twice as big, with 160 pages instead of the original 80! It will be a nice full-color hardcover book, like Book 1 Universe. We intend to launch a Kickstarter campaign at the end of spring to finance a limited edition and all sorts of game aids and bonuses we are currently designing. Feel free to come on the forum and share your ideas!

The other project for 2013 is the translation of the Monastery of Tuath. This small supplement will be sold with the music album “Of Men and Obscurities”. The Kickstarter campaign will also be the opportunity to get this supplement without the album, for those who have already gotten it...

More about all of this soon! Oh! And let's end with something that truly thrilled us: Esteren won three "Tabletop Gaming Awards" for the year 2012!
The awards are: Best Art, Best New Game and Best New Core Rulebook. These awards are given by Diehard GameFAN. This year is really starting off on a good note!

Until next time, once more, have a Happy New Year 2013. See you soon!

Nel & The Esteren Team

Three Gaming Awards for Esteren!

"Sometimes a game just comes along and blows you away in all respects. This year, that game was Shadows of Esteren."

Esteren won three "Tabletop Gaming Awards" for the year 2012!
The awards are : Best Art, Best New Game and Best New Core Rulebook.

 These awards are given by Diehard GameFAN: http://diehardgamefan.com/2013/01/11/diehard-gamefans-2012-tabletop-gaming-awards/

 We are very happy and honored!

ESTEREN - GENCON 2012: The Video is Online!

Video of our trip to the GEN CON for the launch of Esteren in the USA! Unforgettable moments ...!