I have big news for the future of Through Ultan’s Door. As I spoke about last time, I’ve been trying to solve several problems so that I could break the log jam and move forward with publishing future issues. So, the big announcement is that I am launching an Ultan’s Door Patreon. Check it out here!
Patrons will help fund layout, editing, and art for future issues. In return, for the first time ever, I will open my library and share never before published draft material. In the coming months Patrons can expect to at long last travel to the inverted White Jungle that hangs from the bottom of the flying island on which Zyan rests. The first Patron exclusive post—which is already up!—takes us to the pavilions of the hanging merchants, a basecamp for exploration of this vertical sandbox, full of dubious, jostling Vancian npcs, looming threats, dangling hooks, and exquisite wares for sale.
In the next installment, I will provide a robust table of campaign events designed to keep the pavilions constantly in motion, guidelines for integrating this basecamp with the system of Downtime Activities presented in Downtime in Zyan, and a section on visitors to the pavilions. Together they will show you how I integrate a homebase, campaign events, and downtime with sandbox exploration. Later, Patrons will descend into the jungle , first encountering the nighted Brambles, then penetrating deeper still to the Depths, beating heart of the White Jungle. Who knows what else lies on the horizon? One day we may even ascend to Zyan Above to explore that cursed city of the dreamlands in its falling down splendor.
At present, there are three tiers of support for the Patreon, marking one’s progression in service to MĀNA YOOD-SUSHĀĪ, the slumbering God whose dreams sustain reality. They give access to PDFs of draft material from future issues (with art or art free), and previews of commissioned artwork for future issues. Of interest to many fans of the zine, the highest tier also receives a quarterly Patreon exclusive mini-zine, The Oneironaut, that I will hand assemble, and mail domestically or internationally in a 6x9 plain manilla envelope. This zine presents supplementary material for use with past issues of Through Ultan's Door or with the newly released draft material from future issues. It will never go on sale, and is only available to Patrons. It may sound strange, but I really look forward to lovingly assembling a (smaller number) of zines by hand, which I haven’t done since 2018!
Becoming a Patron at any of these levels is a perfect way for those who want to run a campaign in Zyan to get an advance look at much more material. It may slake the thirst of parched travelers who wander the desert lying between the release of each issue of the zine. Finally, it's a great way to provide much appreciated and needed support financing the production of future issues of this lavishly illustrated, painstakingly written, and physically constructed zine. I want to continue the line and resume publishing new issues at a quicker pace. But this is only possible with your generous support.
For those who cannot afford to offer support, or those with greater patience, this will be of benefit to you as well. The Patreon will not change anything, except to speed the release of future issues of the zine. In the meantime, you can continue to purchase physical copies of my zine at my webstore here and digital copies at DTRPG or Itch. I will continue my newsletter, and this blog as I always have. And if I don’t see you over at the Patreon, I’ll see you in slumberland instead!
