Thursday 5 January 2023

Yoon-Suin 2nd Edition Kickstarter Pre-Launch


In the dark alleys and abandoned courtyards of Syr Darya, the news is whispered from breathless lips. In the clear, dry mountain air of the oligarchies, it is communicated with cowbells and the distant echoing rumour of gongs. Across Druk Yul, it is carried on the wind to what ears can hear it; in the crowded bazaars and temples of the Hundred Kingdoms it is the subject of conspiratorial muttering among vagrants, fakirs and zamindars alike. And even in the Yellow City itself, people take pause amidst the noise and hurriedness of their daily lives to savour a pot of tea with an associate and deliver the long-awaited gossip: yes, finally noisms has pulled his thumb out of his backside and put together a 2nd edition of Yoon-Suin!

The much-requested Kickstarter will launch later this month. For the time being, you can follow it here.

And here is the blurb:

Enter the Purple Land...

Yoon-Suin is a legendary campaign toolbox for fantasy games, giving you the equipment necessary to run a sandbox campaign in your own Yoon-Suin - a region of high adventure shrouded in ancient mysteries, opium smoke, great luxury and opulent cruelty. 

Originally published in 2014, it has long been out of print. This Kickstarter will launch its 2nd edition, containing all-new art by Matt Adams, new monsters, the entire original text, many new appendices and random encounter tables, and 12 fully-mapped adventure sites from across Yoon-Suin for PC groups of various levels.

Contents include:

  • A bestiary of unique monsters, including self-mummified monks, liquid golems, tiger-beetle men, figments, aphid-men, and dozens more
  • The crab-man character class
  • A chapter for each of the major regions of Yoon-Suin, filled with random generators to brainstorm map contents, social groups, and more
  • Extended rules for poisons, tea, opium, trade, deities and so on
  • Extended rules for exploring the Old Town of the Yellow City, and the haunted jungles of Lahag
  • Many random encounter tables
  • Well over 100 pre-written adventure locales to populate a regional map
  • Over 400 pages of content
  • Purple prose
Its 12 adventure sites (mapped by Tom Fitzgerald) are:

  • The Mourning Garden of the Unrequited Lover, a walled garden where the PCs will become entangled, literally and figuratively, with malevolent floral guardians
  • The Hornet's Sting, a desert island, Yoon-Suin style
  • The Museum of Relics Gathered by Wu-U the Brave and Magnificent on His Voyages to the Four Corners of the Earth, a gallery filled with dangerous wonders and wondrous danger
  • The Pit Near "______", where woodlouse-men copulate in orgiastic delight
  • The Ruin of the Dhole God's Temple, home to forgotten treasures and outcasts
  • The Fighting Pits at Hailakandpur, haunted by the beasts and gladiators who once fought and died there
  • The Falls of the Pale Naga, where a reptilian demigod rests in quiet repose
  • The Tors of the Petrified Fakirs, where mystics of immense wisdom and power become as one with the earth itself
  • The Tower of the Experimenter in Light and Glass, where mad apes tend to the arcane paraphernalia of a long-dead archmage 
  • The Mad Sorceress's Blessed Retreat, a floating palace on a remote mountain lake
  • The Fields of Poppies Standing Unharvested, whose owners were massacred by vile interlopers
  • The Dwarves Who Forgot Their Own Names and Faces, whose tunnels can be found high in the Mountains of the Moon
What people said about the first edition of Yoon-Suin:

'Probably one of the most impressive gaming supplements (let alone campaign settings) that I’ve ever come across' (Necrozius)

'My mind is blown. This artifact...is a labour of wonder' (Hack Slash Master)

'This might be my favorite setting. Ever.' (Joseph R.)

'This is one of the few RPG materials that can be read as one would read a novel.' (Stephen M.)

'This is an incredible product for sandbox games. There is enough area description to get a good idea of what the feel for the region is (like 1st edition AD&D Forgotten Realms grey box, before the supplements explored every single square mile), then there are tables to randomly generate your Yoon-Suin. Every Yoon-Suin will be different. Which is awesome.' (Allen H.)

'On first blush, this is one of the best setting supplements I have encountered in 35 years of gaming.' (Forrest A.)

22 comments:

  1. So...how's gonna be the shipping for the rest of the world? *Fingers crossed*

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    1. Short answer: it depends how much the package weighs, but, while I make no promises, I think the economy 6-8 week shipping option should be pretty affordable (£10 ish).

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    2. I'm in South America, I doubt that it would be that cheap.

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    3. Should be. International economy parcel (up to 1kg) is £10.45 from UK to anywhere in the world. For 1.5kg it's £12.85. I think it for those who want the slow option it should be in that price range.

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    4. Excellent news then. Can't wait!

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  2. Normal bookshelf size or random coffee table dimensions? Also thank you for reprinting it! Excited to get an offset hardcover print of it!

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    1. It will be in an annoying weird shape, don't you worry!

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  3. Love it. I am away for years and come back and you have a new Yoon Suin/.

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    1. The more things change the more they stay the same...

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  4. Isn't this a bad time to publish, given the OGL snafu and how its going to basically destroy all the OSR? You'll be forced to hand over the IP of Yoon-Suin to WOTC.

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    1. Nothing preventing anyone from *not* using any OGL as long as they don't copy any text verbatim or use trademark content. i.e. using AC and classes and saving throws are fine, but you'd have to swap "Mind Flayers* with "Brain Suckers" just like people have been doing for the past 20+ years. The OSR will be just fine.

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    2. Yeah, as Shahar says, this should only really worry people who are producing stuff using Wizards' IP. I think it's been established by now that this doesn't include any actual game rules.

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    3. I would add that it might impact 5e 3rd party content creators, such as EnWorld's "Level Up" - especially if WotC succeed in their scheme to somehow twist the language of the old OGL 1.a and claim (falsely) that they can retroactively revoke it, in which case they might be stupid enough to start threatening legal action (it would have an intimidating effect, but once someone actually drags WotC to court, WotC would lose as there is already ample proof of them admitting in the past the old OGL 1.a is irrevocable).

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    4. Hi Noisms. Sounds like you're fine if you don't use or need the OGL, which you shouldn't need for a unique campaign setting with unique monsters etc. Basic game mechanics per se are not protectable, as you say.

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  5. Hot dog! I can’t wait!

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  6. I'm so excited, I hope the OGL drama doesn't affect release. I love your work and it makes gaming fun for me!!

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