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2 Years of Drier Deserts, Hotter Suns

Two years ago today I released the first public version of Drier Deserts, Hotter Suns.

Immediately after that, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Vancouver, where I was living at the time.

As I had been working on the project on and off for about eight years at that point (making 2022 now year ten!), it was awful timing. It really killed my motivation to work on games. A bit of playtesting has happened, but not nearly as much as I had hoped. You see, I came to learn very early on during those days that I absolutely hated running games online. As a referee, I am very active. I love to stand up, walk around the table, make big gestures etc. That really doesn't work online. It was also hard gauging people's reactions to the new awesome rules I had just written. These might sound like excuses but there's no denying the fact that I was having a whole lot less fun playing RPGs and making them. It really hurt the project and my playtesting efforts.

It's not all bad though! The playtesting that I have done has been extremely rewarding in terms of making the game better. Over the past two years I've released a few smaller updates to the game and today I'm releasing the biggest update thus far. Version 0.6 is out now and features a major re-organization of the rules, improved roles, and most importantly, Across the Rosmarus Sector: small intro adventure. Go download it now! It really is a lot better. You can read the full devlog on itch.io.


In the meantime, I've been working on a number of other sci-fi projects. My goal all along with DDHS has been to make sci-fi games easier to run and more fun to play. DDHS obviously represents the mechanical side of that. The other side to that however is content, and in the past year I have released two new Sci-Fi TRPG projects:

  • WASTExWORLD, a trash planet micro-setting.
  • Exoplanet Index, a collection of totally unique planets to add to your sci-fi games. Like a planetary "monster manual" of sorts.

To celebrate this update, I've put WASTExWORLD on sale for $0.00. GO GET IT!!! And keep your eyes posted on Exoplanet Index (which is also free for now btw), I intend to update it constantly with new worlds for you to explore.

I'm super excited for this release. My original plan, had there not been a pandemic, was to have a rules-complete version of DDHS done by 2021 so I could focus on layout, art, and promoting the game. Obviously that did not happen, but I feel now like I am in a similar place to where I was then. Ready to finish the game and get it out of the play test phase. Fingers crossed that happens this year!

The next version of DDHS will be a much needed cleanup of a couple of the larger, more confusing mechanics. A better layout and more content should come with that too. Also, I'm planning on releasing another adventure for DDHS entitled "White Dwarf Millionaire", so go follow me on itch.io to be kept in the loop on that.

Lastly, I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped me on DDHS. All my friends who I've playtested with, my girlfriend for her support, and everyone online who has championed my work. Thank you all so much. And of course, thank you to everyone who has downloaded it, read it, and especially those who have played it. It means a lot to me.

P.S, if you hadn't noticed, I have rebranded. The short: all my content is being posted under the moniker of "Robotic Topologist". I also have a new twitter page, @robotopologist.

P.P.S. Please leave a review on itch. It really does help.


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