Shirefolk Sneak Peek (Patreon)

Earlier this year I started working on a side project that I promised myself I would keep as a "for fun" project until For Small Creatures Such As We was finished and while I have been doing very well at keeping to that, today I spilled the beans that I have art for it and figured it was time to share!

Shirefolk is my not-so-secret project and it is a combination of DELVE, Apothecaria, and Apawthecaria in which you play as a Shireling building up their burrow home, growing their reputation, taking on odd jobs, and exploring the Shire and beyond.

The DELVE aspect comes from creating a "map" of your burrow as you build Rooms that a Shireling might need or want.

The Apothecaria aspect comes from the fact that it is a journalling game in which you draw cards to do things and build up your Reputation with the various villages.

And the Apawthecaria aspect comes from the inclusion of a travelable map that will feature the Shire, the Human lands, the Dwarven mountain, and the Elven woods with nodes and paths and such that anyone who has played Apawthecaria will be familiar with.

The big aspects of the game that I'm excited to explore are Trading and Jobs though. 

Jobs take the form of solo card games that you play, usually to a time limit, and are paid according to how well you performed. So far only the Pest Catcher Job is fully playable though Innkeeper is pretty much done as well.

Trading is still in its very early stages but I want to capture that feeling of travelling with a cart full of stuff, buying low and selling high, venturing down dodgy paths to hopefully get to your destination sooner and juggling the constant risk and reward.

Once I have more time to spare on this project, it will likely explode in size as I want to include tonnes of Events and Seasonal Events for each possible Location type & Settlement.

If there is anything you would really like to see in a Shireling RPG, please let me know. So far I'm considering a detailed Gardening system and a Gossip Generator.