AFFINITY: Three sci-fi/fantasy campaign settings for 5E
Created by Chris Dias
Affinity, from Dias Ex Machina (Apex, Ultramodern5, NeuroSpasta, Amethyst) offers 700+ pages of new 5E content set within three interconnected worlds (TORUS, CONESTOGA, and PARADISE).
Affinity offers the following:
--12 new races
--20 new backgrounds
--3 new classes
--3 new and distinct spellcasting systems
--Over 50 magic items
--Over 100 steampunk weapons
--A unique crafting system able to create 11,000 different items
--Rules on alchemy, potion brewing, and golem construction
--New armor including powered armor and mecha
--Over 30 vehicles including trains
--Over 120 monsters.
--A unique narrative experience with connecting themes between all three books.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
BOATS, BOOKS, &SECOND CHANCES
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Sep 17, 2022 at 02:37:10 AM
HEY EVERYONE
A couple spots of good news today!
I’M ON A BOAT!
The games are ON THEIR WAY!! I wish I could say that in a longer sentence, but YAY! The shipping time can vary, but this process will be slightly different that others. For one, the first two book runs to the U.S. landed in San Francisco, and then made a land journey across the whole of America. Naramata landed in Vancouver.
As we are with a new printer, this shipment is headed straight to Florida on its way to Atlanta. This likely means cutting through the Panama Canal. My gut tells me this will make it a faster trip than plopping it on a train or truck and rolling across the continent. THAT being said, we are still in the midst of a shipping crisis. Our load is smaller than most, so we’ll share space in a container. Naramata was supposed to take three weeks to cross the Atlantic, then it got stuck in Busan, Korea, for two months (I assume due to a zombie apocalypse—I’ve seen that movie). Hopefully, the process will be quick. Bridge, our new distribution channel, promises a faster turnaround than the previous company.
LOOKS GOOD
The second spot of good news involves the delayed PRINT-ON-DEMAND option for Affinity, which I know many people have been waiting on! Well, here it is!
Obviously, these books will lack the spot-UV and high-quality gloss paper of the production run, but it’s a great alternative to those that missed the Kickstarter (though another option is listed below).
Now, the PODs won’t be going live JUST YET. I am now pushing all the other books through certification and will express the proofs to me as soon as possible. But this is a good step forward!
AMETHYST & A SECOND CHANCE FOR AFFINITY
The current running campaign for Amethyst is inching towards $80,000 (60,000 US) and is still trending to be our most successful campaign yet.
Well, not THIS EXACT one, obviously--that's a sample that was sent to me.
Doesn’t that look cool?
It’s also important to note that recently, I amended the add-on page to allow backers to acquire the special editions of Ultramodern5 as well as both the standard and luxury versions of Affinity, so if you want to back Amethyst and want to sneak in Affinity, there is still one final chance.
CHRIS
PRINTING FINISHED (AND WAYYYY TOO MANY VIDEOS)!!
over 1 year ago
– Sun, Sep 04, 2022 at 03:43:41 PM
YUP ANOTHER UPDATE
Good news everyone!
Printing has concluded!
That’s right, Affinity is finished. Check out these videos!
Dems a lot of books. Get it? Dem...D-E-M. Dias Ex--oh never mind.
It's weird. I've had prototypes in my hands, but to see pallets full of books makes it feel more real than ever before.
This means that all that’s left is shipping to the US distribution center in Atlanta.
THANKFULLY, the worst of the shipping crisis has passed, so I am hoping we won’t get the three-month delay that Naramata suffered.
I know many of you will ask about a timetable, but I’ve seen boats take three weeks and, as I previously mentioned, three months to cross the ocean. Ultramodern5 took like three weeks.
The other good news is that our new distribution network promises a much faster turnaround. So, we won’t suffer some of the delays other companies have undergone.
AMETHYST
So, it’s been a hell of a first week for Amethyst. We raised over $45,000 in only the first three days and crossed a bunch of stretch goals, the fastest growing Kickstarter we've launched yet.
Unlike Affinity, Amethyst is being offered day-one in a leather set.
We got soundtracks, novels, and a few new surprises I can't mention yet.
I want to incorporate much of what I learned with Affinity into Amethyst. This includes offering variant fantasy classes and an all-new spellcasting system.
The Count Goes On...
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Aug 24, 2022 at 09:40:32 PM
HEY EVERYONE!
Printing does take time, and I’ve been told that all we have left are the slipcases and boxes as well as adding the metal corners to the luxury books, which you'll notice are absent.
This is the first time I’ve seen the standard editions, and I must admit they are looking cool.
We also got more images and videos on the leather editions.
In this one, I was able to confirm that the white marks on the outsides of the leather editions (which were found on the porotypes) are not present in the production run.
The recent announcement of a 5.5 edition of the greatest fantasy role-playing game was expected. We’ve been told and assumed this new edition would be fully compatible with previous 5E publications and is a rebuild of basic concepts to offer more freedom in character generation.
For those who have read Dias Ex Machina publications in the past (including Affinity, Ultramodern5, and previous iterations of Amethyst) know that this paradigm shift in philosophy is already being practiced.
The expansion of backgrounds, the implementation of a chart-based lifepath system, and the increased freedom in origin/race have been a mainstay in DEM publications since before the release of these new 5E and 5.5E books.
We will continue to embrace newer philosophies and incorporate them as required.
It’s important to remember that this revision of 5E is completely backwards compatible and thus won't require alterations to Affinity's rules.
THAT BEING SAID, once final versions of these 5.5E books are released, we'd like to release an update PDF that will offer alternate options that will fall inline with this new philosophy.
AMETHYST
As many of you already know, we pushed back the launch of the Amethyst Kickstarter to August 30th in order to accommodate some additional promotion. However, this also allowed us to incorporate some new ideas and offer potentially more rewards. This includes the Amethyst soundtrack and Roll20 support. If we are able to successfully incorporate Amethyst into ROll20, we will do so for Affinity as well.
I will be doing a livestream this SATURDAY at 12:00 pm PST. I will be fielding any questions regarding any topic you may have, though I will be discussing the upcoming launch of the Amethyst Kickstarter. You can pose any questions here as well, which I will address this weekend.
THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
PRESENT & THE FUTURE
almost 2 years ago
– Thu, Jul 28, 2022 at 07:43:07 AM
HEY EVERYONE!!
This week marks my last “creative” effort with Affinity…the novelization.
By now, hopefully everyone that had included the novel in their pledge either during the campaign or after will have received the coupon to download the PDF.
Of course, we still have the audiobook to produce and the books to ship, but both are aspects out of my control. The audiobook is being produced by Jon Fink, and the books are being printed in China.
Technically, the next step will be distribution. Even then, this part is handled by my bookkeeper, who is also my wife (I mean wife first, bookkeeper second—I just think it’s essential I indicate that).
Even as I typed up this update, I received a bunch of videos from my contact at Round Color showing off the production…
They are moving MUCH faster than previously estimated. But I guess this should be expected as the turnaround for Ultramodern5 in 2019 was also fast; maybe I was just burned as Naramata took a year from production to distribution (though that was during a pandemic and suffered from the power and shipping crisis in Asia).
THE FUTURE…
So, what’s in the future.
With Naramata finishing distribution this week, I can only think of the future, and I can finally officially announce our next project…
Like all previous projects, Amethyst will launch on Kickstarter.
I’m sure many of you may have concerns or questions, so let’s get them out of the way.
Why Amethyst?
Amethyst was my first major publication and remains my opus. It was our first Kickstarter (which I’m happy succeeded). After a slew of intermediary projects (NeuroSpasta, Apex, Ultramodern5, Affinity), I’m eager to return to this IP.
When does the Kickstarter launch?
The plan is to launch in mid-August.
Isn’t that too soon?
I believe in the spirit of Kickstarter, which is to support independent creators. DEM is not a large company employing the platform to gain pre-orders for a completed project. It has no full-time employees other than its owner, and despite our successes, our future is very much dependent on our next project. We don’t have the capital to either work on a project that may not succeed or wait for a previous one to deliver before we move on.
Why launch before Affinity delivers?
This is the big one. As someone that backs crowdfunding projects, I used to be annoyed when publishers would move on to the next project while an existing one was still pending delivery. As a creator now with multiple campaigns under his belt, I understand the situation. Naramata completely finishes delivery this week.
As stated, all the work on Affinity has been completed, with the only thing remaining step being the printing and distribution. It would be foolish to wait for aspects out of my control before moving on.
And truth be told, we did this before. While Ultramodern5 was being printed, we moved ahead with Naramata, and while that was printing, we moved on with Affinity. Most didn’t notice this as we discovered there’s little to no comingling between tabletop board gamers and tabletop role-players. However, I imagine most people who opted into Affinity may wish to do so with Amethyst. But as mentioned before, I want to keep creating.
But what if Affinity fails to deliver?
That would be unprecedented. For one, most of you already possess the PDFs from DriveThruRPG; for many, that was all they asked for. Second, this would be Dias Ex Machina’s fifth Kickstarter, with all previous campaigns under our name (Amethyst, Affinity, Naramata, and Ultramodern5) having succeeded. As we saw, Affinity is being printed as we speak. I could understand concerns if this was our first project, but it’s not.
What’s in the new Kickstarter?
We are modeling this project after earlier ones with a few changes and additions.
Firstly, we are not offering the luxury edition as a stretch goal: it will be offered on day one as a pledge level. This will include leather editions of all three Amethyst books.
This campaign is meant to fund not only book 3, Revelations, but also a third novel in the series, Hallowed Kingdom. The campaign will offer pledge levels to acquire the newest books on their own as well sets that include all three currents RPG or novels and sets that include all six.
The leather edition will only be available as a set, but there will not be boxes or slipcases as this is not the end of Amethyst. As some of you know, Amethyst is based on an 11+ year campaign, with even this third book only taking us up to year three.
Stretch goals will include a combination of digital and physical rewards, mostly artwork and content, just as Affinity did. This may involve a bunch of new classes offered as variants of fantasy ones but working outside the traditional boxes imposed by 5E architecture.
Physical stretch goals will include upgrades to the books and add-on goals like an Amethyst-tied GM screen, sticker sheets, pins, and…well, let’s leave that as a surprise for now.
And like all previous projects, there will be digital-only pledge levels.
What is Amethyst?
Amethyst is a science fiction/fantasy setting involving the clash of magic and technology on a post-apocalyptic future Earth where the last vestiges of old man reside within walled enclaves, shielded against the outside world where myths have returned to reaffirm their dominance. Within this world, magic disrupts the capacity for even basic machines to function, creating conflict characters will often involve themselves in. The title refers to an ancient legend revolving around artifacts that may swing the world in either direction.
We indicated this Kickstarter is meant to fund its third book. It’s important to remember the two previous books have already been published, with the last released in 2019.
Wait…three books. I thought there were like, twenty.
In truth, within 5E Amethyst, there are only two, Quintessence and Factions. Amethyst D20, published in 2008, is no longer canon. All other books published under the Amethyst label are adaptations to other systems. The first, Foundations, was published for 4E in 2010. It was then followed by Evolutions, but thanks to our 2014 Kickstarter, both books were merged into the full-color Amethyst Compendium. We’ve also published Amethyst for Fate, 13th Age, Savage Worlds, and Pathfinder.
Will you be supporting the other systems with this Kickstarter?
Unfortunately, no. To be honest, while I love some of these other systems (I have a soft spot for 13th Age), they do not have a large enough market share to justify continued support at this time. It’s a sad truth. Plus, if I offered to adapt the other systems, it would take years to complete (as the 2014 campaign did), and the ultimate revenue would not be justified. In the case of Fate and Savage Worlds, these were both adapted by Christopher Stilson, so that would be entirely on him if he wanted to work on those.
Can I acquire the previous Amethyst books with this Kickstarter?
To limit the number of pledge levels and avoid confusion, we are not offering the first two books (whether RPGs or novels)
We will have more information with our next update, but I will leave it at that.
(here's a video recap)
SOME GOOD, GREAT, AND BAD NEWS
almost 2 years ago
– Tue, Jul 12, 2022 at 10:52:57 PM
Which first?
Well, my wife and I returned from our game tour, delivering Naramata: A Game of Wine & Tourism across the Okanagan, and a wonderful box was waiting for us from China. We couldn’t wait and dove straight in. You can find that video here…
…Then, on Monday, I took a moment to finally do a deep dive on everything included in that box, which you can watch here…
The high points of that extended video include the following:
-Paper quality looks better than even the UM5 REDUX books from 2019.
-The satin bookmarks are large.
-There are white marks along the edges of some pages, which I have been told was a by-product of the hand-made prototypes: production will not have these issues.
-There is a wave in the binding, which we also have been told was a by-product of the hand-made prototypes: production will not have these issues.
-Likewise, with the off-centered front cover. This will be fixed on China’s end, not ours.
-This luxury box set is heavy with a fantastic snap cover.
-The REDUX printing with this new publisher is slightly smaller than the previous printer and, despite the thicker paper quality, is slightly thinner. However, the page quality still feels overall better.
We can happily report that these books have been approved, and production will begin in haste.
We are also likewise finalizing the novel and GM screen.
THE OTHER BITS
In the above videos, I also noted several other bits and pieces production sent us: stickers, pins, large maps, and lenticular cards. These are not part of Affinity and were made available only recently, thanks to this new printer. We hope to include them as part of our next Kickstarter, which will involve our magnum opus, Amethyst. More information on that soon.
Unlike Affinity’s mass publishing, its print-on-demand side has been a nightmare. As some of you know, DriveThruRPG works with a company called Lightning Source to handle its POD books. To say the latter is a garbage company is putting it lightly. Lightning Source is notorious for having the worst quality control of any POD company most people in this industry deals with, and I have spent over $150 on proofs, which have all failed. And because Lightning Source doesn’t bother to check PDFs before printing, we have to wait weeks for a book to arrive, only to find massive issues requiring more time and money. Of course, the PDFs we send them all pass certification, so it becomes another crapshoot just to figure out what the problem actually is.
So, I was hoping to approve the PODs this week, but it looks like it will be at least another month.
At least most of the news in this update is good.
RESULTS
It was a tight race in the last update’s survey. Obviously, the one thing most of you agreed on is that you didn’t want the small corners indicated with the green book. It was neck and neck between purple and blue, but in the end, BLUE won. Thanks, everyone. This was the last bit we needed before finally moving on to printing.
