Pico is a tabletop roleplaying game where you play as tiny bugs going on small adventures in a big world.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
60k Raised, Stretch Goal Hit, and 1000 Backers - What A Day!
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Nov 23, 2024 at 08:16:12 AM
Welcome piconauts, and do I have a slew of good news for you!
We hit two major milestones recently, one last night and one early this morning. I'm not going to go on about them - they're up in the title, after all - but I'm blown away by the support. I say it a lot, but I'm going to say it again... thank you, everyone.
So if I'm doing a celebratory update anyway, I might as well throw some fun stuff your way as well!
THE NEWLY-UNLOCKED SKYGLASS DOME
I'll save the froglin bonus we just unlocked for later, but I will give you a few details of the now-funded Skyglass Dome. It is, as some had guessed, an abandoned and overgrown greenhouse/hothouse area. That means you're in for a bugly version of localized tropical weather, complete with intense heat and indoor sprinkler-storms, and an array of new vegetative hazards to suit the overly lush landscape. New factions too, and even a brand new local titan to run wailing from!
And for some bug, running and wailing is a specialty! Art by the ever-bugly zkarab
MORE STRETCH GOALS
Now that we've only got one of the original stretch goals left, it's time to add a couple more! You'll see these officially up on the page in a day or two, but I thought I'd reveal them here first...
That's right - if we get to 80k, you've got a new Realm for the core book (something decidedly more urban than the majority of PICO's wildernesses) AND an adventure for the Picodex, a pre-made starter scenario where your bugs are tasked with dealing with a rampaging, water-spewing 'dragon'.
... Those air quotes may be important, but likely not in the way you're thinking.
MORE PREMIUM SPACES
And hot on the heels of all that, we've had quite a few requests to increase the amount of slots for backer-based bugs and picotitan pets. We want to keep these low, as adding too many would unbalance the art in the book (and if you're a Wildsea fan, you know I take the art and presentation seriously for these projects).
BUT
I'm also willing to add a couple more spaces if people want to upgrade, and it seems very much like some do. I won't do it right now though - I'll give everyone a day or so of warning before they go up, and a schedule of when these new spaces will be live and ready to take. So keep your eyes on these updates and you'll get a bit of warning, if you're one of those that wants to see a little bit of themselves (or their pet!) on the page.
Next update - announcement of new premium space timeline!
... Oh, and character creation beta testing!
See you there!
Felix
150% Funded!
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Nov 19, 2024 at 04:02:27 PM
Funding Update
Evening piconauts, a quick update before I sleep - we've not only hit our second stretch goal, we're already a quarter of the way to our third! This next stretch goal coming adds...
A new Realm to the core book, the Skyglass Dome, and...
The opportunity to play as a Froglin, with these new character options added to the picodex.
That, through happy happenstance, also means that we're 150% funded! Thank you all again, so much, for the support - somewhere in the mists of time, ten year old bug-obsessed me would be jumping for joy (as it, 37 year old me tries not to jump too much anymore - these old bones are creaking).
Mount Suggestions
There were some excellent mount suggestions in the comments of the previous update post, some of which will definitely find themselves represented in the core book. I'd like to call out hummingbirds in particular as an idea that really caught the imagination - the idea of a little bug warrior astride their trusty flitting steed is extremely cute, and very much fits the world of PICO.
But about that world, and those ideas... sometimes one thing sparks another. Tremble in fear, for the addition of mounts for player-created bugs also means the inclusion of a new, saddled-up hazard for you to face once the rubber hits the road. I won't spoil too much here - I want the core book to have as many little surprises as possible - but you're probably going to want to strap in and make sure you're wearing some protective padding before you go toe to toe with our new tiny danger.
I'll end this brief update with a shout-out for a game I think deserves more attention! Now in the last 48 hours of funding, Fox and Shadow is created by BlueTwoDays (a name that you might recognise from the pages of the Wildsea, as Blue was instrumental in the layout of that first project). An incredible artist, writer, and now video game producer, Blue has so many feathers in their cap they have to duck when they enter a room.
As for what the game is, I'll let it speak for itself...
"Fox and Shadow is a dual deckbuilding roguelike set in a scifiworld where people are isolated and only connect with the world through metalic shells.
Scavenge for resources in a broken city to maintain your crumbling bunker. Create a deck that combines your pilot's emitons and your drones logic to destroy defective robots for parts.
Did I really need a whole section to sign off? Probably not, but you've got one anyway!
Thanks again, new fans and old - PICO is going from strength to strength, and I can't wait for you to have the next playtest in hand. Which will be... Well, you'll have to wait for at least the next update for that kind of info.
Scuttle safe, people. You're all stars.
Felix
First Stretch Goal Hit, Tiny Mounts Coming To PICO (+ livestream catch-up)!
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Nov 16, 2024 at 02:57:12 AM
Morning Piconauts,
A short update with nothing but good news - after just four days of funding PICO has hit the first stretch goal, and tiny mounts have been added to the core book!
TINY MOUNTS
These tiny mounts aren't picotitans - those are huge (compared to a bug, anyway). Instead it represents things that are about the size of a mouse, the kind of thing you can saddle up and ride off into the sunset with if you feel so inclined.
Pictured: A bug riding a mouse, courtesy of PICO artist zkarab
Tiny mounts in PICO don't add a lot of complex additional rules, they work just like another aspect - you can take them and augment them as you like! What would be useful for me is any suggestions of what particular tiny mounts people would like to see - I've got a few essentials done, like mice, predatory plants, and little snakes, but if there's a particular small beast you'd really like your bugs to ride, now's the time to let me know!
PICO LIVESTREAM CATCH-UP!
And if you missed the livestream yesterday, the Pocket Dragon Pub ran an excellent game of PICO over on twitch. It's a good chance to see a group of new players take on PICO for the first time, and I'm really happy with how quickly they grasped the rules and how well they embodied the playtest characters. The recording is currently available for viewing on their twitch channel, which I'll link right here - if you want to see Ray Chou, of Mythworks fame, throw polite little cordychaps cultists against some unexpecting insectile travellers, you know what to do!
Lady Larket Colton, Janine, and Dunf - what a powerhouse of a team!
EXTRA SLOTS
Mythworks and I are also in conversation about adding a few new slots to the high-tier campaign rewards, for having your pet turned into a picotitan and for having your own bug on the pages of the book. We'll have more news about if and when these open up in the future, we don't want to take anybody by surprise - if anything, it's actually lovely to have had multiple people reach out and say 'let me give you more money, I really want to see Mittens there on the page'! Your response to PICO as a whole, backers, has been brilliant - thank you all so much.
Anyway, that's all from me for a bit, I've got mounts to make. I'll reach out again soon, piconauts - scamper safe!
Felix
Fully Funded In Less Than Two Days!
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Nov 14, 2024 at 10:12:32 AM
Morning people, Felix here!
First of all, thank you all so much for giving us the level of support and appreciation you have so far - launching a new project is always a nail-biting experience, but you've made it a wonderful one. To be fully funded before the 48 hour mark is absolutely incredible, and with minimum viability hit that means the road from here on is nothing but juicy, juicy stretch goals!
Try to imagine that the cable is a stretch goal, and the electricity is... crowdfunding power? I really just wanted to show off this little chompy guy that zkarab made, to be honest.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
Well, I've still got some writing to do! Not as much as you might think, as the Hogwild playtest that's available for free with this campaign was polished up a couple of months ago, and a whole lot of words have hit the page since then. They all need polishing and editing, and some of them need art sticking alongside them and some layout love, but the important thing is that they're on the page.
I also need to play more, and to hear the experiences of players. Wild Words games are easier than many to 'balance', but perfecting the flow of gameplay as laid out in the book can be tough. PICO has more guidance on a lot of topics than the Wildsea had, as a direct response to some of the feedback I've gotten over the years, but I need to make sure that guidance is a) helpful and b) accurate! And there's no better way of doing that than by playing the game as it's written, as much as possible, and hoping that everyone else does too.
The next milestone for me is the release of the character creation playtest, which I'm hoping to have ready for the world in a week or two (well before the end of the campaign), a chance for budding piconauts to start putting together their own little bugs. Stress-testing character creation is an important job, and from the level of enthusiasm I've seen from potential bugologists I think it's one we'll get a lot of useful feedback on.
And then there's the art!
For some reason I really wanted to write 'Pictured: Art', but it seems a bit reductive.
When we made the Wildsea there were a whole bundle of artists involved, many of whom stayed on for two whole books (and who have already contributed art for the third, too). But as you might have noticed, PICO is a different beast - there's just one artist, zkarab, working on the entire book. If you see art for PICO, it's come from zkarab's very own hands.
And while we have art for about 70% of the book so far, that means there's still 30% to go! My goal is to be finished with the writing just as zkarab finishes up the art, allowing us both to make any tweaks necessary as the entire manuscript goes into the editing phase. Daunting? Yeah, just a bit - but we've got this.
SPREADING THE WORD
Now that we're funded, our stretch goals will add more content to both the book and accompanying picodex. The best way you can help with that is by spreading the word - word of mouth and community action were a huge contributing factor to the success of the Wildsea, and if I'm lucky PICO will be no different in that regard. I've already seen bug-based fanart and posts on social media, so keep them coming! Tell your friends, tell your family, tell that guy down the park who looks suspiciously like a hundred thousand caterpillars in a trench coat. Got a dog, or a cat? Tell them too. Maybe they'll be a picotitan one day.
Oh, and I'm really looking forward to getting the picotitan rules out there, but character creation testing and polishing comes first.
Anyway, I should get back to work soon, so let's wrap this up with some other good stuff!
To round this first update off, let me spread a bit of the love around. One of the things that naturaly happens while running a crowdfunding campaign is that you pay even more attention than usual to other campaigns running at the same time. So here are two suggestions that might sneak a couple of dollars out of your wallets, if you're so inclined...
Created by one of PICO's very own (and the host of My First Dungeon) Elliot Davis, The Time We Have is (and I'll take this directly from their own description)...
"... a game about what it means to be a brother - about all the complexity, vulnerability, and joy that comes with it. This is a storytelling card game played on opposite sides of a closed door and a conversation about saying goodbye.
This two-player zombie TTRPG will guide you through the tragic and intimate story of two brothers and the final days before one of you turns. You will take turns drawing cards, asking questions, and processing this change together.
Once the door is closed, your story begins. In the end, it is up to the surviving brother: do you open the door?"
If you look down at the stretch goals, which they're almost at the first one of already, you might even see a familiar name (hint: it's me) pegged to do a little writing for them. So if you want more Felixish things in the world, give them a look!
Herd is a semi-cooperative card game by our friends at Wet Ink Games, publishers of Jiangshi and Never Going Home. It's about dinosaurs, features a sweet silhouette artstyle, and just looks pretty dang cool!
"The goal of HERD is to survive until the end of the game, which is played over five turns. There are three types of cards: Herds, Predators, and Prey.
Your Herd is your responsibility - sacrificing weaker Prey to survive attacks by Predators. Prey cards represent smaller dinosaur species in the vicinity that can distract a Predator or invoke specially evolved defenses and behaviors to protect the Herd from harm.
Whether your Herd survives to the end of the game is dependent upon your tactics, but HERD is also a semi-cooperative game - if you want to have a chance to win, all Herds have to survive!"
This is one I have nothing to do with personally, I just found it while stumbling through the crowdfunding fields and ended up backing it before I'd read half the page. It spoke to the same part of me that loves the world of the Wildsea - weird fantasy, vibrant colours, and original character options.
And I'm in love with their chosen art style, too.
They probably describe their work better than I can, so I'll let them do just that...
"Confluence is a genre-blending TTRPG of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror, built to tell character and place-driven stories. In the rich setting of Ajurea, strange phenomena called Confluxes bring together people of many worlds from across time and space. From the kaleidoscopic coast, to the underwater labyrinths, to the floating forest-cities, everything here is constantly changing. Prepare to change with it.
Confluence uses an original base d6 dice pool engine, unique narrative tools, and a wide range of options for character customization and mechanical variety. Players and Story Leaders work together to weave their characters into the world of Ajurea, building relationships with the people and places they meet. Along the way, characters will encounter peculiar anomalies, strange and wonderful vistas, and a cast of colorful and unique NPCs."
I'm a sucker for a book that lets the artists run wild and free!
So there you go, some PICO news, a look to the future, and a couple of shout-outs as we crash into the crowdfunding chasm of November!
