The Final Piece Is in Place: The Cypher Open License Has Arrived
This is the update we have been waiting to share.
The new Cypher Open License (COL) has officially been released!
For those unfamiliar with the publishing side of tabletop roleplaying games, the COL is the open license that allows independent creators and publishers to produce compatible content using the new edition of the Cypher System. Its release provides the final framework we need to complete and publish the Chaos Uncovered Saga under the updated rules.
In other words, the last major piece of the puzzle has finally fallen into place.
What This Means for Chaos Uncovered
Over the past several months, we have continued developing, editing, playtesting, and refining the three adventures that make up the Chaos Uncovered Saga:
The Hands of Chaos
The Eyes of Raja
Cult of the Rat Lord
We have also been carefully comparing the adventures against the new Cypher Character Rulebook and Cypher GM Guide, checking terminology, mechanics, character options, creature presentations, and GM-facing material for compatibility with the updated system.
Until now, however, the absence of the new open license prevented us from completing some of the final publishing details. With the COL now available, we can move forward with those remaining steps.
That work is already underway.
We are currently making the necessary licensing updates, performing final rules checks, reviewing product files, and preparing each adventure for release. These are the finishing touches…the careful, behind-the-scenes details required to turn a completed manuscript into a polished product ready for the gaming table.
One Final Physical Review
Once those updates are complete, we will order what we hope will be the final physical proof copies of the books.
Digital files can tell us a great deal, but there are some details that can only be properly evaluated with the finished book in hand. The proofing process allows us to examine the printed colors, image quality, page alignment, margins, binding, cover placement, readability, and the overall feel of the final product.
We want to make certain that the books arriving at your door look and feel the way they are supposed to. If the new proofs meet our expectations, they will become the final approved versions used for fulfillment and public release. If we discover anything that still needs attention, we will make those corrections before the books go out.
We are optimistic that these will be the last proof copies needed.
Entering the Final Stretch
Our goal is to have the Chaos Uncovered Saga available for purchase through DriveThruRPG by the end of August and to begin fulfilling existing preorders within that same timeframe.
That target will depend on the final production work and our review of the new proof copies. We do not want to rush the books across the finish line at the expense of quality, but we are working hard toward an end-of-the-month release and are extremely excited to be this close.
After so much writing, revising, illustrating, playtesting, rules-checking, and waiting, Chaos Uncovered is no longer simply “in development.” It is approaching release!
A City on the Edge of Chaos
The Chaos Uncovered Saga is a connected series of three urban-fantasy adventures in which the player characters become entangled in the growing instability of the City With No Name.
What begins with a public kidnapping in a crowded market expands into a struggle involving rival fortune hunters, criminal factions, dangerous relics, Rat-kin outcasts, and a cult awakening something ancient beneath the city streets.
Each adventure can be played on its own, but together they create an escalating campaign in which choices matter, factions react, and consequences carry forward. The city changes in response to what the characters do and to the threats they choose to ignore.
The saga has been designed to give GMs a flexible, atmospheric framework filled with investigation, difficult decisions, memorable characters, and multiple paths through the story. It can stand as its own campaign setting or be adapted to an existing fantasy city.
Thank You for Helping Us Reach This Point
We want to sincerely thank everyone who has supported the project, followed its development, shared our posts, offered feedback, participated in playtesting, or placed a preorder.
Independent publishing is a long road, and every bit of encouragement has helped keep the project moving forward.
The release of the Cypher Open License marks an important milestone, not only for Red River RPG, but for the wider community of creators preparing to support the new Cypher System. We are proud and excited to be among them.
The license has arrived. The final updates are underway. The proof copies are coming next.
And before long, the streets of the City With No Name will be open.
Chaos is coming!
