Richter: The Rotting City

Created by Ember + Ash

A system-agnostic city, Richter: The Rotting City, for tabletop-role-playing games.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

August 2022, We Never Thought We'd Be Here
over 1 year ago – Wed, Aug 24, 2022 at 04:20:13 AM

Hey all, this is Madeleine.

So Richter was our first, most ambitious project - really only second to our marriage and surviving the pandemic. Let me share some things with you.  

Since beginning Richter: We've both caught and weathered covid twice. I got a new fulltime job. We've transitioned healthcare which means we are both on the cusp of finally having our meds on a regular basis. We have had massive ups and downs, and a few (more reasonable, less ambitious) problems.  

We both still think on and WORK on Richter, and a lot of anxiety and shame is bound up in it. We are so sorry for how it's dragged on with little in the way of posts or updates. We feel such intense regret over the missed expectations. It is still our intention to finish the project and it would be easier to do with kindness and encouragement. That said, we understand your disappointment and frustration. Truly. We really really do, so intensely it makes us just want to shut our eyes and bury ourselves.

But I want to finish it. I don't quit easy. If any of you can find it in you to continue to believe in Richter and the stories we can tell there, please do.  

If you can't, if you want your money back, we super don't have it. We are two women on the poverty line living in my mom's house and only now finally finding our feet again. That said, please, if it is the only way forward, we will do what we can a little at a time as necessary. I only make enough to cover my bills, our meds, and our groceries (yeah, that's how fulltime in the US works a lot of the time) but I'm putting away a little from each paycheck. And i will make the remaining writing happen, as will Natalie.  

Again, we have heard your frustration and disappointment and frustration. You have every right to your feelings. I want to and am working to finish our side of things, to the very best of my ability. It's a huge amount to ask, but a tiny bit of kindness and encouragement could go a long way because it is such a bad feels thing for us too at this point and that is HARD to make with.  

Those who still engage, thank you. We are new creators, and this is and was our very first project together, and it suffered from every pitfall. But I AM doing it. We are.

If you're mad, if you're kind, if you're sad, you can email me direct and if you have questions, I will try to answer them. My email is [email protected] and I'm changing the associated email address for Richter to it. I hope to have something to show, a finished adventure, by the middle of September for The Kennels neighborhood.  

We've all been through a lot, please, try to be kind if you can.

Hi! It's July!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Jul 06, 2021 at 01:40:36 AM

Beloved backers, Richter is a rotting metropolis, its borders swelled all beyond proportion, crumbling into a hungry sea. I love what I have written for you in Bone & Ash - the fiction is that of The Bottles; stories of revolution, oppression, the senseless crush of capitalism, and those determined to survive it. Here's a little recent excerpt:


" Highly compact, chaotic living. Bottlefolk society is intentionally obstructed in these super-cheap housing options. They are maintained by the bosses of local corporations. Here is the worst of The Bottles - no gardens, centralizing “work culture” and the demise of individual liberties. Housing developments designed to be “humane” and “edifying” built by rich, maudlin nobles are now packed 3 or 4 to a space, crumbling walls, unmaintained and allowed to be ground into dust. Collapses of these flats are common. They sprawl toward the center of the district, clustering around the factories and furnaces as though trying to keep warm."

There are beautiful underground gardens, secret societies, and so many hidden horrors if one can look. YOU WILL! <3 My progress is picking up and I hope to have my portion of the writing complete by the end of the month. Natalie is making similiar progress on her part - The Porphyry Archive. 


Here's a tasty excerpt from her work:

"This series of linked chambers in enfilade, though each linking set of doors is shut, preventing visibility into the further rooms. The center of each room holds a glass pillar, filled with some preservative fluid, and a single human liver floating at head height in each one. There is little furniture or decor, but someone has nailed livers to walls, often butterflied, and written cryptic phrases on the walls in blood. Some of these are old — nearly powder — and some are new, the blood still red and thick."

There is a swamp filled with ink, prophesies, revelations, and an archive containing as much horror as knowledge.


To address some concerns voiced in the comments: 

* Yes, we're still writing, it's looking really awesome but it's still not done. We're sorry for that, but it's still the same story - we're poor, it's dense, we've learned a lot through this kickstarter and are still committed to seeing these books in your hands. It has been a long, drawn out labor. We will see this through together.

* Setting hard deadlines is impossible, becuase of so, SO many factors outside our control. But we are trying. I'd like to get all the writing for the remaining books finished before the end of the summer, even within a 6 weeks or so. It's a goal. After that, there is publishing physical books and fulfillment. 

* We know how frustrating this is, and we want to keep encouraging engagement with our backers and provide frequent updates. I will do all in my power to see that happen, and keep delivering little snippets of our curious fictions.


Thank you, as always,

- Natalie + Madeleine

June 2021 Update
almost 3 years ago – Wed, Jun 23, 2021 at 07:37:58 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

The Great Richtering Endevour - 5.19.21
almost 3 years ago – Thu, May 20, 2021 at 02:16:50 AM

Hi Backers! Here's week 2 of our new forward thrust, now to be ralleyed around as "The Great Richtering". We got some good writing done; I have written a good rough of the book text and the first adventure. Natalie has done a similiar load, although her first adventure is further along than mine I think. :p It was a bit of a hard week - i went to the hospital with chest pains and trouble breathing. I've been dealing with this constant breathlessness that is a real pain. Today I had a dr appt and now they've got a bunch of my blood, so I hope they can figure it out. :shrug: Despite health trouble, we're both continuing to make progress and personally...I'm really liking what I'm writing, and what I'll get to share with you all. 


As promised, here are two little excerpts that were written this week! More to come next week. :)


Madeleine's excerpt from Bone and Ash: 

Set - The inventor's cellar

 The inventor's d really inspire a “this is it?” feeling in the treasure seekers on first glance. It initially seems a very ordinary space, filled with tools - hammer, chisels, dentistry tools, carpentry tools, jars full of glaze powder and experimental additives. Saddest of all are the many cages containing the long, long dead remains of all sorts of animals - most of them obviously deformed by rot before their death. They have clay caked to their bones.


Natalie's excerpt from The Porphyry Archive: 

Set: The Haruspexis

A scene every bit as fleshy and terrible as an abattoir full of rotting meat, which, in many ways, it is.

Description

  • This series of linked chambers in enfilade, though each linking set of doors is shut, preventing visibility into the further rooms. The center of each room holds a glass pillar, filled with some preservative fluid, and a single human liver floating at head height in each one. There is little furniture or decor, but someone has nailed livers to walls, often butterflied, and written cryptic phrases on the walls in blood. Some of these are old — nearly powder — and some are new, the blood still red and thick.

I'd like to set a deadline for getting things published, but that's really hard to do with so much in the air. We really don't want to fail another timeline until we can definitely make it stick. We appreciate your continued support and encouragement! Stay safe out there.


 - Madeleine and Natalie

5/11 update - fleshing out Bone&Ash and The Porphyry Archive
almost 3 years ago – Thu, May 13, 2021 at 01:32:14 PM

Hello Richter backers! 


I've been working hard on Bone&Ash, and (writing wise) primarily need to finish the adventures to accompanying the book's exposition. Doing so has reminded me what I like best about Richter - creating fiction that I find engaging and exploring themes I'm personally passionate about. 


Something that is quickly apparent to those reading Bone&Ash will the focus it has on class inequality and worker rights. Bone&Ash is situated in The Bottles - an area of Richter dominated by porcelain bottle kilns and blast furnaces. It might sound a little dry, but the people of The Bottles are really such a diverse, fascinating people with unique celebrations and culture. I can't wait for more people to experience it. I'm probably about half done with the writing (before including the adventures), and then Natalie will lay it out, and i'll do illustrations for everything. 


Porphyry Archive is more than bones as well - Natalie has been working primarily on the adventures first, and the imagery she's choosing is so evocative. An ink marsh; a building with black words crawling up the walls; prophets trapped, unable to die. 


I feel we're making really good progress, and so much has been written over this last week. Here's to another week of similar productivity! In future updates, look forward to some teaser samples of what we've been writing. We can't wait to share more of Richter with you, and are determined to continue our forward momentum. 


- Natalie and Madeleine