The Road to Journeylands

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while you may remember Journeylands, my small ruleset about roadtripping a post-post-post-post apocalypse in custom vehicles.

It’s back, baby.

Art by Krzysztof Maziarz
Done for the original version of the game, way back when
Doesn’t fully work with the new version of the setting but I’ll probably still use it because LOOK AT IT

The new Journeylands will be a completely new system with accompanying anticanon setting, delivered in the form of a magazine. Each issue will be completely playable on its own, with a “vertical slice” of game materials, or you can of course combine, collect, mix and match and - hopefully - homebrew.

The new system is modular - each widget on your dashboard (read: each bit of the character sheet) is a diegetic part of your vehicle that can function independently. So these are rules and tools, mechanics that you can piece together into your own game. Every issue will have its own “finished” sheet, plus some extras to swap in and out. Then you can get another issue for more widgets, or make your own and share them.

While each widget is independent, they will of course interact in some ways and function differently depending on how they’re assembled as a whole! I hope this facilitates play through design and allows people to build games the way they want to play them. (Ha! I just tricked you into acknowledging and engaging with the GM’s role as game designer >:D)

Journeylands is also playable solo. Solo play differs pretty heavily to group play due to the absence of the classic GM role, but I hope it will be a welcome take on the ruleset for people who want to experience it that way. You can read the magazine, play a little game for yourself, have a nice time, lovely jubbly. I know last year made getting together for games hard for most of us, so hopefully this helps.

What else to say...?

Ah yes, Journeylands #1: Coral Canyons will launch on Kickstarter as part of ZineQuest 2021!

I don’t know if ZineQuest is happening this year, but, uh... well, it is now, I guess. The real ZineQuest is the friends we made along the way etc. I hope those of you who’re able to will stick around and back this project (and any other zines folks put out for ZineQuest!), and if you’re not that’s fine - share it with your friends and get excited anyway. I want to pay cool artists to make cool art. I might even contact writers I like to contribute for stretch goals if that doesn’t prove too scary for me 😬

Journeylands is a weird place that’s very personal for me. I’ve said before that I have an easier time writing J’lands content than for anything else - that’s because a lot of it is just natural, unfiltered “me”. It’s very silly, cool and hopeful. I hope it resonates with someone.

You can keep up to date with progress on the project, yell at me about it, and find out when it launches on Twitter. I’ve started a #TheRoadToJourneylands hashtag to talk about the game’s development. So, follow me for that. Or follow me and mute it, haha.

Here’s to 2021.