Missive 10 - afterwords, epilogues, sequels
Early September 2023
Greetings Horizoners,
The nights are drawing in here and even on a clear day it’s dark by 9pm. I’m a fan of this time of year; in the last few years, it’s been warm and bright well into late September regardless of the progress of summer or the onset of Autumn. Wherever I go the meadows are being mown, the fields are being harvested, and the world is getting ready for the decline of the year. Of course, in the southern hemisphere, the opposite is happening, and it’s a ramp-up to the action of spring and summer. Wherever you are, I hope the weather and the landscape are treating you with kindness, and that you’re treating them with respect.
And by means of a clumsy segue, we’re ramping up to new things in the CoOp, too. Biggest of these (in my mind!) is Afterwords: The Far Horizons Guide to Death, our forthcoming anthology of short games and essays on the subject of death. As project lead I’m absolutely stoked about this project, which brings together some of the coolest and brightest names in the indie TTRPG space, and all facilitated by us chumps at the Far Horizons CoOp. I feel blessed to be surrounded by such talents as: Jessica Marcrum, Bastien Trotobas-Gibelin, Keith Asada, Poorna M, and Jeremy Borders, and all the CoOp staffers who are working on the project. A quick run-down of the games whilst I have your attention:
Farewell, My Heart by Jess Marcrum, a duet game with a deck of cards and a tumbling block tower about a terminally ill patient and their care-giver, and they’re in love with one another but don’t know how to say it yet. I’m in awe of the beauty and tragedy of this concept, and I can’t wait to share it with you.
Embracing Empathy and Diversity is Bastien Trotobas-Gibelin’s series of interviews with neurodivergent and academically gifted people on the subject of death: its tragedies, its rituals, and how we can improve mutual understanding between neurotypical and neurodivergent people. A wide-reaching and bold project, this essay contains the roots of the themes that the games around it explore, like tendrils looking for sun. This essay is at the heart of what Afterwords is about in many ways.
Charon Rails by Keith Asada is a whimsical but meaningful take on classical and neo-classical psychopomp myths. Back in the day when there were fewer people, we only needed one ferryman; but now, there are billions of lives. So we need a whole network of trains to ferry the dead from the land of the living to their afterlives. As psychopomps, you’ve got to deal with these lost souls, but also with your corporate bosses, and maybe even a few harpies along the way. In a book laced with gloom and serious topics, this one hits different, but it has heart: you can’t be a good psychopomp without being able to deal with emotion and grief effectively. A classic in the making, we’re sure of it.
Shadow Market by Poorna M is an exploration of a myth from eastern Europe, that of shadow burial and foundation sacrifice. It reframes the famous “trolley problem” by asking: if you could gain good fortune for your life at the cost of another, would you? and, if sacrificing your future health and life meant you could have riches in the present, would you go for it? and, could you negotiate the value in either direction? This kind of question of life vs value is a big one for the CoOp, and I think it’s something you’ll enjoy exploring.
Lastly, Upon the Digital Sea by Jeremy Borders is a game about memorials and grief in the digital age. When an online community loses a crucial member to death, their online friends meet for the first time at their funeral. Played through as a history of the rise and fall of an online community, with gameplay through changing words and phrases, this game looks at how we live now, and asks what it’ll be like to be remembered, or forgotten, by the places we hold dear. This concept gives me the chills, and I hope you’re as into it as a I am.
Please please please mash that NOTIFY ON LAUNCH button like it’s going out of fashion. We’re launching on September 13th, and running into the middle of October. My promise to you: Afterwords is going to be big, it’s going to be beautiful, and I know you’re going to love it.
News
The death of Twitter
Twitter is becoming shitter by the day. We feel like we have no choice but to stay for now, but we’re quickly opening up shop in a variety of places. Follow us wherever you are to keep up-to-date with whatever we’re up to:
Instagram: @farhorizonscoop is where we’ll share photos and stuff of forthcoming projects, and generally connect with other cool creators
Facebook: FarHorizonsCoop will gradually become more of a hub for us over time, but for now there’s a page to follow and cross-posts from Instagram
Bluesky: farhorizonscoop.bsky.social is our main Twitter alternative for now, where we’re posting our promotion, and where our follow-list is just creators and partners
Mastodon: dice.camp/@farhorizonscoop is the place where we might occasionally post longer-form design conversations
Discord: our Discord server has a place where you can chat to us (me!) regularly and easily
Fuck Elon Musk.
Roleplay Blast!
If you live in or near West Yorkshire, I (Marx Shepherd) will be at Left Bank Leeds on Wednesday 6th September at 7:30pm for Roleplay Blast!, a taster session for roleplaying games in general. I’m there with Eryk Sawicki of Peregrine Coast Press, and Chris Lowry of Beyond Cataclysm Games, and we’ll all be on hand to showcase cool games, meet new enthusiasts, and have a good time.
RAPID FIRE Project Updates
A Thousand Burning Stars season two is ramping up to publishing its first zine, and Nynphaiel is doing a stellar job. Watch this space.
We Dig Giant Robots is through editing and proofing and is into layout and illustration. It’s going to be good.
Kobolds: Work Until You Die is “imminent” and I promise I’ll have better news next time. Please don’t give up on us.
That’s all we’ve got for you this time. Until next time: make cool games. wage class war.
Regards,
— F.H.C.
The discord link seems to have expired. Would it be possible to get a new one?