The Distal Core Rules are here in digital form, and waiting in your inbox! The download is nested beneath the "Get your Digital Downloads" area there  on your survey (or in your email, if it showed up.) You can get a link to your survey here, if you're having a hard time tracking it down: https://distal.backerkit.com/

In the .zip, you'll find...

I've connected with a manufacturer here in the United States who has given me a good quote (and turnaround time) on the hardcovers, so I'm definitely seeing the books land on your doorstep here in March-ish if all goes according to plan.

I'm currently getting a new home for Distal put together at https://www.playDisRPG.com. Mostly to provide a place to get the game, free materials (when they become available,) as well as a Creator's Kit for folks looking to make their own homebrew or third-party content.

When the new website comes online, licensing for content creators will be available for anyone looking to build off of Distal. It'll also have creator resources you can use to stamp your creations with, as well as some helpful guidelines on building your own content in a way that jives with the game. The license is super lightweight, and there aren't any royalties attached. Just go out and make cool stuff.

Feel free to swing by the Development Discord to share your thoughts on the game, or find folks to play with!

Thank you all, folks! More to follow.
-Wrel

Hey all, I've been working through the split-book (prep/play) layout originally pitched, but it's not working out. For mostly technical reasons, I don't have confidence that I could deliver a version of the hardcover that wasn't also riddled with errors. I was really excited for the idea, and feel like it would have been a big improvement (or at least a novel one) on modern TTRPG books that got you to information quickly... but alas.

If you purchased a hardcover solely for the split-book concept, just send a support email and we'll get you sorted.

The silver lining is that I'm falling back to a style of book that is tried and true, as boring as that is. You'll get a solid hardcover with everything you'd expect in it. I'll be sending the full layout off to the printer later this week, and will keep you updated with how that's going.

I've been getting a new home for Distal sorted, and that's now available at https://www.playDisRPG.com. It's mainly to introduce new folks to the game, but there will be some (more) resources in the "Free Materials" section, with a Quickstart and Intro Adventure landing at some point.

If you want to show off the game to your friends, the website is a good place to start. There's also a one-click, 24-page Core Rules preview available on the site, too!

The biggest news is that there's now a license (and some branding assets) available for anyone interested in making their own content for Distal, and selling it royalty-free. I tried to keep the license as simple as possible, while protecting the IP. Ultimately, I just want you all to make amazing things, using Distal as a platform to build upon. You can find the Creator's Kit here: https://distalrpg.com/pages/creators

Yesterday I sent out an updated version of the Core Rules that has a smattering of grammatical fixes, as well as some balance touchups here and there (because I can't help myself.) I've also added tokens for the Falconer and their Raptor Companion, which were missing from my original batch.

If any further updates occur (even post-print,) you'll find them land as an updated version in your downloads section, per usual.

Thanks, folks!
-Wrel

Heya! I was originally planning to get the digital version of the game out here in December, but that will be landing here in January, instead. On the digital side, the game is basically done. There are some loose ends to wrap up, mostly pruning for grammar, but nothing too crazy. The real holdup to getting this thing out the door, however, is that I pulled the trigger on getting some new cover art really late in the process.

I wasn't originally convinced it was something I wanted to do, but as I got toward the end of the process, I felt like I wanted a stronger visual connection to the experiences you'll have from session to session. The idea is that, on the front cover, an adventuring party is leaving the safety of home, having gathered the supplies they'll need for the trip ahead. For the back cover, that same adventuring party has found some trouble.

Remember that the hardcover for Distal is basically split into two distinct halves.

I wanted the two sides to be identifiable in their function, and tell that short story of this specific party, as they set out into the world.

Like much of the art in the book, Graey Erb is taking a swing at the cover as well. Here are some of the earliest drafts, though we're already a bit past this stage now.
 

The next time you see this art will likely be in full-form, alongside the digital release .pdf!

Unfortunately, I've fallen a bit behind on the digests. I'm working toward getting a combined November/December digest out for this month. The original hope was to be coupled with the digital release of the book, so the information explicitly references what's within it, but we'll need to punt on that until January.

Most folks already have their surveys completed and paid for hardcover shipping, but there are a handful of stragglers out there who haven't (and whom I can't seem to contact via email.) Payments will be locked down just before the digital release heads out, in January, about a week prior.

Thanks, folks!
-Wrel

Whew, October flew by faster than I would have liked. I'm still in the process of wrapping up the final beta packet for Distal. After that, I'll be moving on to final layout for the book proper. Read on below for a breakdown.

Final Beta Release (Two Weeks-ish)
In the next couple of weeks, you'll get a whole new version of the beta. This one has the full level range, monsters for all tiers of play, expanded (and revised) rules, and looks pretty close to a final product, without the art and embellishments that will tighten the book up.

You'll receive an email when your downloads are ready, so be sure keep an eye out!

Full Digital Release (December)
It's looking like December for the full digital release, at this point. This is in line with earlier expectations, but I was really hoping to jam through it before then, since I had some momentum going into August/September. But, alas.

Full Hardcover Release (Q1/Q2 2025)
For the hardcover release, nothing new here. We're still on track to get books out in Q1 (Q2 at the very latest), same as the original schedule.

Given the backup on this final beta release, the October digest is going to come in a wee bit late, but it'll break down some of the changes that went into this final version of the beta, and discuss the Laithe lineage, which was one of the stretch goals we didn't quite hit during the BackerKit campaign.



I'll be sure to check in again once the beta lands.

Thanks, folks!
-Wrel