2022 Roadmap
A long and interesting year has come to a close, and with it comes the reminder to look back on the year and take stock on what we've done.
The pandemic has made the passage of time strange, and we are already strange people. For us self-immolating perfectionists with bad object permanance and ghosts in our brain, this is a crucial step for maintaining sanity and motivation. Invariably, we look back at some of our best work and say "Wait, that was this year?"
This critical step puts fresh wind in our sails. We're going to need a good wind to complete our goals for 2022.
It's high time we gave y'all a game, and a setting. And with one million words on this Codex, we should be able to polish it up, trim it down, and give you both.
Come and see what we've wrought.
More is coming.
This has been a year to discover a lot of myself. I will remember 2021 as a hard year, but also a defining year. I learned how to work with myself better, and that's going to lead into more and more Ethnis in 2022.
Our 2021 Feats
Monolith: Path of Transcendance
Personal Accomplishments
New Narratives
In a similar vein to last year's Crucible of Cruelty, Jacklyn started in on Relic of the Past, a narrative about a group of prospectors and a Cyber Mantle mind from before the Melancholic Lacuna.
Life Changes
This was a year of great personal change us! Jacklyn began gender-affirming treatment, Tyler moved up in his job, and the two of them moved in together to create a proper central Ethnis HQ!
Project Jhoutai
With the intention of starting and finishing a personal project within Ethnis from start to finish, Tyler planned and wrote Project Jhoutai, a summary of Jhoutaioan georegions and ecosystems. Check out Kajh-Tai Region, Dar’ru, and Tel-Nege for the highlights!Best Of
Presented in no particular order, these are the articles which performed the best by likes, and which we are all very proud of. Reviewing these is always a reminder of how long a year really is. It feels like we wrote some of these a lifetime ago.
I'm getting into my grove with writing articles. Bonding Band was a personal challenge to me to write an entire narrative article start to finish. Did it in two weeks! Makes me excited to see what we got for 2022!
Honors
Best Introductory Article
As part of World Anvil's Best of 2021, the Ethnis Introduction won Best World Introduction!
I can promise you that that page is going to get really cool in 2022. It's our main page, and we have a lot planned that will spill over into a more sleek and, hopefully, more interactive edition of that page!
Growth
In 2021, Ethnis grew by 172,000 words. Some of them were even good. A solid chunk of this text was likely BBCode, and over half is Narrative content pending editing and cleanup. In 2022 we may shrink this number as we cut down and clean up the Codex. I'll tell you how that went a year from now.
Comments
594 (+73)
Likes
4243 (+683)
Articles
1408 (+259)
Followers
598 (+76)
New Music
Art Highlights
2022: Coming Attractions
Codex
You've watched us grow this Codex for years now, and at last the time has come to polish it. Our upcoming Codex updates will gear it towards being paired with E.Lite for play, with extended lore catered to those who love learning the setting's many detaiils.
The E.Lite RPG Engine
Some of you have been waiting a very long time to see what will come of our RPG engine, and to see what form it will take. While quietly tinkering with it last year, Jacklyn swapped out the engine of E.Lite. Stay tuned for the ruleset this year, as well as a guide on how to play your setting in it.
Ethnis Podcast
We're dipping our toes into podcasting! Stay tuned for an 8-episode pilot season about the Regions of Jhoutai. Episodes will be 15-20 minutes long, with an end segment for us to respond to comments and questions.
If you would like to be a part of the audience, join the Discord! All Patrons may listen to us recording on Discord Stages and respond in text channels.
Narrative Universe
There are many half-complete stories within Ethnis. Stories which we began, but haven't the time or clarity to finish.
Rather than allowing these tales to sit, unread, Jackie will break them up into clean, edited chapters and post them for Patrons to read and to encourage her to finish.
Jhoutai Phase 2 — E.Lite Module
This summer, Tyler is taking a sabbatical from his dayjob to spend time with Oscar, who will be visiting, and to work on a survival oneshot adapted from Tel-Nege, one of the locations in Project Jhoutai.
Our goal is to use it as a testbed and release candidate for an introductory E.Lite module. Playtesting will begin with Patrons. If it goes well, expect a physical publication to follow!
Timeline
January, February, March
Quarter 1
- January: Refine the Banners template with our Discord!
- January: Collate E.Lite notes into one document to missing rules
- February: Reveal the updated Hedon and Sorrow icons
- February: Draft missing E.Lite rules
- February: Begin recording Weekly Podcast
- March: Refactor the E.Lite RPG Setting Conversion Guide
- March: Art teasers of the upcoming Ethnis module
- March: Refresh Introduction to The Banners
April, May, June
Quarter 2
- April: Finish Human articles
- April: Coordinate conversion of 2-3 E.Lite worlds, including Ethnis
- May: Finish Unseen articles
- May: Continue conversion of 2-3 E.Lite worlds, including Ethnis
- June: Write the prototype of the E.Lite Module
- June: Writing any needed E.Lite rules for the next Module draft
- June: Finish Sophont article suite
July, August, September
Quarter 3
- July: SummerCamp!
- July: Create a bunch of Item and Technology articles
- August: Finish Meta articles
- August: Polish the E.Lite articles
- September: Release E.lite, the Module, and the Podcast
- September: Wrap-up the Codex refactor
October, November, December
Quarter 4
Our plans this far out are very tentative, but these last three months are typically very busy offline, and we are leaving them as buffer for if any other plans fall behind.
Special Thanks
We are eternally grateful to our followers, friends, and family.
Thank you for believing in us, supporting us, and exacerbating us.
You're the ones who encourage us to reach ever-higher.
Here's to a new year!
Guest Writers
Our Patrons
Ben Asaykwee
Nicko Tavers
Kaci Khaos
Jeremy Unitt
Stacie lawton
Elijah Orlando
You too can be a Patron and have access to exclusive articles and Discord channels.
The Hero's Journey challenge was THIS YEAR?! On a more serious note, I've been so proud to be there through the thick and thin of this year and I'm beyond hyped for the months to come! I'm looking at the new E.Lite rules with particular excitement as I can't wait to play the new set with y'all! Happy 2022!