The Story Engine: Lore Master's Deck

Created by The Story Engine

Lore Master's Deck is the ultimate creative jumpstarter for writers, game masters, and worldbuilders who want to fill their stories with rich, interconnected lore.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

The Big Pintopia Mega-Post
11 months ago – Thu, Mar 28, 2024 at 06:35:43 AM

Hello! This is Eric, the community manager for The Story Engine, here with another update!

Up first: we're moving full steam ahead with Lore Master's Deck production!
  • The digital proofs of the cards, boxes, and accessories are done and approved.
  • All deck and expansion PDFs have been released.
  • The next step is reviewing physical proofs from our manufacturer—we'll share that when it arrives!
  • We're still on pace to deliver physical decks on schedule!

Since everything is going so well, we hope you'll indulge us if we put a pin in it for just a moment - or several pins, in this particular case.

25 Pins for 25 Years of D&D

When he's not leading development for The Story Engine, our founder Peter Chiykowski still moonlights as his superhero alter ego Rock, Paper, Cynic - a creator of nerdy webcomics and hilarious tabletop RPG-themed apparel. He's also participating in Pintopia 2, a neat BackerKit pin project that features enamel pins from more than 125 BackerKit creators! Peter has put together a collection of 25 original pins to celebrate his 25th Anniversary of playing D&D (yes, he did the math), all of which are now available for pre-order because, oh yeah... Pintopia starts TODAY!
 


Head on over to rockpapercynic.com/pins to peruse the collection and pick up your favorite pins. The pins are based on the many half-baked plans, unlikely dice rolls, and ridiculous situations that happened around the gaming table - including those that improbably went well and those that ended in disaster.

The full lineup features more than a dozen original designs from Peter, as well as some returning favorites and guest designs from a slew of awesome artists, including:



There's something for every member of the party, whether you're rolling a Bard, a Cleric, or a Wizard - but especially if you're a Necromancer. (Note from Eric: It's hard to go wrong with R2D20. Also, I am definitely not a Mimic.)  


Pintopia 2 runs from March 28-April 18. You can also get up to 5 FREE BONUS PINS depending on how you pledge. All returning backers from Lore Master's Deck, Deck of Worlds, or Story Engine Deck get a free bonus pin, as do all early bird backers who pledge in the first 48 hours. There's also a pin for pledging $75 or more, and another two pins for anyone who backs the Pintopia campaign of David "Wondermark" Malki, Peter's collaboration partner for the event. 

Pledge today to lock in your freebies and set yourself up for more freebies on future campaigns, and join Peter as he livestreams the launch from 12:45pm ET onward!

Legacy Pricing for Story Engine Pins

Of course, we can't let Peter have all the fun. That's why we're bringing back legacy pricing for our pins to celebrate Pintopia.

Until April 18, you can get all of our pins for the same price that you could during our original campaign. Our Tell Your Story, Build Your World, and Weave Your Lore pins are back to $12 each (or $32 for the set), while The Story Engine Mini Logo Pin is back down to $8.

Get in touch with us though the contact form if you would like help adding a pin to your pledge as pledges are now locked. You can also preorder pins through the preorder store at any time.

Did we mention the pins are finished?

Because they are!

These collector's pins were developed exclusively for the BackerKit campaign, and we couldn't be happier with the way they've turned out!



Our manufacturer just sent us a first look at the sample pins, and we think they look absolutely incredible (we love the way the gold catches the light in this video). We're ready to put these pins into production - but we're only doing a limited run and the pins won't be coming back once supply runs out. 

Order yours before April 18 to get yours at the best price - and to make sure you get them before they disappear forever! 

IMPORTANT: Locking pledges now + charging cards in 48 hours + grand finale livestream!
12 months ago – Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 01:59:46 PM

Hi backers!

We've got a few exciting updates to share this week! Here's what we'll cover in this update:

  • Locking pledges now + charging cards in 48 hours (a little later than announced) + answering your questions about preorder early bird pricing
  • Launching the complete Lore Master's Deck PDFs during the grand finale stream this Thursday
  • Recap of Deities livestream
  • Quick poll on pin designs for an independent BackerKit project!

Let's get into it!

Locking pledges and charging cards

Originally we'd planned to lock pledges over the weekend and charge credit cards for any outstanding balances today. We realized that locking pledges over the weekend might be tricky, both with backers missing their chance to update their pledge and with support teams being less available should any issues arise.

Instead, we've initiated locking pledges today. This means you have 48 hours to make any changes to your pledge via your reward survey. On Wednesday, we'll process card payments for any outstanding charges (such as shipping, taxes, post-campaign add-ons, and pledge upgrades).

I also wanted to clarify how our early bird pricing works after getting some questions on our previous update. The early bird pricing being discussed was primarily for preorders through our BackerKit preorder store (sometimes called "late pledges"). We ended up extending early bird pricing for preorders by a week to March 15. Sorry for not making that clearer!

Lastly, please note that we've temporarily removed the print and play PDFs from the Digital Downloads on BackerKit as we prepare to launch the final PDFs during Thursday's livestream.

Grand Finale Livestream


This Thursday we'll be hosting our FINAL LIVESTREAM in the open beta series! Lore Master's Deck has achieved its final form, and we're ready to put the entire final PDF set in your hands (minus stretch goal PDFs)!



We'll be recapping the progression of our deck systems through the years and then cracking open all of our expansions at the same time to weave some lore, with votes and interpretations steered by the chat!

If you have any questions you'd like answered about Lore Master's Deck, The Story Engine Deck, Deck of Worlds, or their expansions, please let us know!

And please click "Notify Me" on the livestream page to make sure you get a notification when we go live.

In case you missed the Deities livestream

Thanks to everyone who tuned into the Deities Expansion launch livestream last week! We had an absolute blast creating what turned out to be a twisted love triangle pantheon of avian deities:

  • the reclusive Heron, god of stories, words, and history
  • the one-eyed Eagle, god of blood and might
  • the corvid Trickster, the god who has been pulling strings behind the scenes


Miroki also debuted her new opera metal single "Until The Last Planet Dies," which is out now across music platforms! Here's how you can find the Spotify version! You can catch the replay of the stream here!




Quick poll on pin designs for a personal BackerKit project

Outside of my work on The Story Engine, I'm the cartoonist behind the webcomic Rock Paper Cynic and a designer of nerdy tabletop RPG apparel! On March 28, I'm launching a non-Story Engine pin project!

If you're a TTRPG player, I'd love for you to vote on this poll to help me figure out which pin designs to prioritize. For larger images or to vote for "Another option," please see the launch page. Also, I'll be doing a returning backer bonus and an early bird bonus, so follow the page to make sure you get the notification!



Thanks so much, and don't hesitate to follow up in the comments with any questions you have!

The gods are coming... + early bird preorder pricing ends TODAY
about 1 year ago – Mon, Mar 04, 2024 at 07:32:00 AM

Hello backers,

Thanks everyone who came out to join us for the Bridge Expansion livestream! It was so much fun to bring all 3 of our deck systems into play and build some inspired stories, worlds, and lore! You can catch the replay here.

I'm looking forward to another livestream with you this week to launch the open beta of what is definitely the fan-favourite expansion of this deck: the Master of Gods: Deities Expansion!

Join us 3pm ET on Thursday as we live-release the PDFs on our most-anticipated expansion and walk you through the creative direction behind it—and how we solved the biggest design challenge that the expansion presented! And of course, we'll be building a lore web full of deities and demigods with the chat voting on every cue and sharing their interpretations.



You can RSVP by clicking "Notify Me" in the link.

These livestreams have been so much fun, and they've actually helped us pass 100,000 views on YouTube last week! Subscribe for more demo videos and deck tips coming later this year!

Remember that you can still add-on or preorder the Deities Expansion PDF and get full access to the open beta. You can also upgrade your pledge or preorder one of the Lore Master's Deck bundles, all of which come with open beta PDF and final PDF access to complement all the physical decks in the bundle.

And you might want to do that today!

We'll be ending early bird preorder pricing TONIGHT (March 4), locking pledges on March 9, and charging chards on March 11. 


Please see our previous update for all the details!

In other news...

Our multi-talented CEO Miroki Tong just released her first opera metal single! Until the Last Planet Dies by Mahjong Witch is now streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, or wherever else you get your music. Go ahead and give it a listen!



That's all for now!

IMPORTANT DETAILS: Deadlines, Locking Pledges, Charging Cards + Biggest Expansion Release Livestream
about 1 year ago – Tue, Feb 27, 2024 at 08:47:14 AM

Hello again backers!

I'm getting excited for our triple-feature Bridge Expansion launch livestream this Thursday! Here's the YouTube livestream link to RSVP (click "Notify Me"). This is going to be our biggest stream to date, and I'll get into the details further down in the update.

First I wanted to walk you through some important project milestones coming up!

Ending Early Bird Pricing + Locking Pledges + Charging Cards

🚨🚨 March 4 we will be ending early bird pricing for late pledges. 🚨🚨 If you haven't already added on items to your pledge, now is a good time to do so as this is your last chance to access the current pricing tier. You can still adjust your pledge or add-on items via your original survey link, or place new pledges via the preorder store.

March 9 we will begin locking pledges. When we initiate the locking process, BackerKit will send you a notification and you will have 48 hours to make any final changes to your pledge and add-ons. This is a good deadline for completing your reward survey. It is still possible to update your survey/pledge after this date, but you may have to contact us through customer service to do so.

Note that we will NOT be locking your address yet.

March 11 we will be charging cards for any outstanding balances on pledges. Please read this section carefully.

So far, we have only collected payment for the original base pledge and add-ons you committed to during the crowdfunding campaign in June-July last year. 

This payment did not include:
  • shipping charges
  • taxes (where applicable)
  • post-campaign add-ons
  • post-campaign pledge upgrades 

Last year, most of you completed your reward survey, which would have showed you the additional charges to expect and taken your credit card information. We did not actually charge cards at that point in time, except on request.

On March 11, we will be charging cards for all completed surveys for the amount you were shown when you completed that survey. If you did not complete your survey, you will not be charged.

If your payment fails, BackerKit will automatically notify you by email and provide instructions for updating your payment information. BackerKit will also periodically re-attempt to charge the provided card that failed.

If you run into any issues with payment, reach out via our contact form and please provide your BackerKit name and email so we can identify you in the system and work on solutions with you.

Please let us know in the comments if you have any questions about these next steps.

The Bridges: Our Biggest Expansion Release!


So far we've been releasing one expansion (60 cards) at a time.

This Thursday we're distributing all 3 Bridge Expansions live on air, explaining the updates we made between the alpha and beta copies, and then doing a live triple-demo as we combine cards from all 3 of our deck systems to create new kinds of prompts that would otherwise be impossible.




I'll also revealing the one "joke" card I snuck into Lore Master's Deck. When I'm editing new decks and expansions, I include some cards that are funny, as long as they also provide utility or inspiration to other deck users.

But there's one cue on one card in one of the Bridge Expansions that amused me so much I kept it in, even though I wasn't sure anyone else would "get" it. We'll find out what the reaction is during the livestream!

Also, in case you missed the live launch of the Emblems Expansion, I wanted to do a quick recap. More than any other expansion, I think this demo helped deck users discover how much utility, depth, and inspiration the Emblems Expansion has that isn't obvious on first glance. Not every lore-weaver or worldbuilder thinks about the symbols in their world, but the way different groups compete to shape or control the meaning of symbols can be rich ground to grow compelling stories.



We hope to see you on Thursday for the Bridge Expansions livestream!

The mistake we ALMOST made with the Emblems Expansion + livestream TODAY!
about 1 year ago – Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 06:06:09 AM

Hello backers!

I wanted to invite you all to join us live at 3pm today to launch the open beta PDF of the Emblems Expansion!



We'll be talking about the development process and reviewing design updates from the alpha, distributing PDFs live on YouTube, and then creating prompts in collaboration with the chat.

If you don't already have the Emblems Expansion PDF as part of your pledge, you can still edit your pledge and add it on or buy it from the preorder store any time between now and March 9, when we'll be locking pledges.

Thanks to everyone who tuned in to watch us launch the Namesakes Expansion last week! Some of the highlights included:
  • Me sharing my biggest regret from Deck of Worlds (hint: I still get emails about it).
  • A behind-the-scenes look at the challenges and opportunities of adapting Namesakes from Deck of Worlds.
  • A walkthrough of the changes to the deck since the alpha demo during the BackerKit campaign.
  • A live prompting session where the chat helped us create the reckoning raven, also known as the woolly raven, a bird that grows thick plumage in response to sudden environmental changes.

You can watch the replay below!



How the Emblems Expansion changed during development


The Emblems Expansion began as an experiment for us, and grew into one of my favorite lore-weaving tools.

Our original plan was to release 60 Emblem cards that could be shuffled in with Modifiers. As with the Namesake cards, we realized that would flood the Modifiers draw pile with too many expansion cards. We also had a similar challenge to the one we faced with the Namesakes Expansion, where some cues worked well for particular card types, but not for others.

There was also the added challenge of showing new users the different ways they can use and interpret the emblems and icons we'd curated for the deck. Purely visual cues are new tools for us, and for many worldbuilders, and we wanted to balance:
  1. giving people guidance about how to think divergently about symbols and images in their worlds.
  2. giving people the freedom to interpret those symbols in a manner of their choosing.

Our solution involved a few changes:
  • We cut down from 60 to 32 Emblem cards, and we made them their own dedicated card type so we could be deliberate about how and when to use them.
  • We added 28 special variant lore cards of the 7 primary card types.
  • We used symbols in place of text cues on the the primary side of the expansion's lore cards.
  • To the secondary side of the lore cards, we added short cues that require players to draw Emblem cards to complete them. These offer a variety of ways to think about how symbols can connect to different elements of lore.

Here are a couple of examples!



You can also draw an Emblem instead of a Modifier card any time you expand a lore cluster.

The mistake we ALMOST made with the Emblems Expansion

I've talked before about why I think sensitivity readers are a crucial part of the development process. We worked with three reviewers on this project, all of whom offered a bounty of insight and editorial recommendations on the main deck and expansions. Their notes and perspective helped flag potentially sensitive material and provided guidance about how writers and worldbuilders can approach that material in thoughtful and respectful ways.

The review of the Emblems Expansion was particularly revealing. We sourced a wide variety of icons, symbols, glyphs, and images for this expansion, and were careful about our selection. This included a small number of runes, including some dwarven-style runes based on Elder Futhark.

It turns out that specific Elder Futhark runes have been co-opted by white nationalist groups as either coded or overt hate iconography. While these runes are authentic pieces of culture predating these groups by thousands of years, some are currently being weaponized by white supremacists to further a deeply damaging cause.

On the advice of one of our sensitivity reviewers who flagged the algiz rune during their review (along with a couple of other symbols), we did a careful cross-examination of our symbols with the Anti-Defamation League's database of hate symbols.

Philosophically, this process raised some interesting questions: who decides what a symbol means? What happens when the meaning of a symbol changes over time? These are the questions that made the Emblems Expansion so fascinating to work on in the first place.

Practically, we knew that philosophy takes a back seat to making sure people from targeted communities feel safe and ensuring we don't inadvertently empower hate groups by deploying symbols they also use.

We cut the small number of symbols that resembled anything in the ADL's database and overall reduced the number of Elder Futhark-inspired runes, introducing instead a wider variety of runic styles. This ended up bringing more variety to the deck and improved it as a resource!

Symbols are powerful. For good and for ill, they evoke an immediate response and become containers for so many different kinds of meaning. I'm grateful we had such diligent sensitivity reviewers to help us shape the final lineup of symbols and think about how to provide guidance on using symbols in lore-weaving.

I'm excited for you all to dig into the Emblems Expansion with us today, and I hope you'll join us for the livestream!