In Memoriam: The Adventurers Wake
We honor characters who passed beyond pen and paper by heroic sacrifice or just too many ones. Submit your character's tragic story & the most compelling ones will be eulogized by celebrity speakers. Is this an hour or laughs or sad goodbyes? The answer is yes.
Share your character’s tragic tale before GenCon and the most compelling characters will be eulogized by our team of celebrity speakers at the event. If you’ve ever lost a character—or if you just want to know that someone else had it worse than you did—this is the event for you.
Submissions for character stories open on June 1st 2023 right here on our website. Join our mailing list to get notified of this and other dates and locations for this event.
Illimat Learn & Play with One Shot!
Friday, 8pm EDT
llimat is our classic style witchy card game that feels like it’s been around for a century and can tell your fortune. Its mysteries inspired the One Shot networks Live Play RPG series SkyJacks and Couriers Call. Join us for fun, friendship, and giveaways Whether you’re an experienced member of the Society of Luminaries, a seasoned skyjack, or a novice who’s never heard of any of this. This your opportunity to play a round of Illimat with the creators of the game and some of the hosts and players from the One Shot Podcast Network! Rules will be taught and swag will be given out!
World Building With Keith Baker
What does it take to create a compelling fantasy world? Where do you start and how deep should you go? Whether you’re developing a setting for a novel or a TTRPG, whether you’re creating a world to share with your friends or a product for wide release, there are basic principles that can guide you on your journey. Join Keith Baker—creator of the Eberron Campaign Setting for Dungeons & Dragons—for a hands-on discussion of the process of creating a world.
Eberron & Beyond With Keith Baker
Keith Baker is a game designer and novelist known for creating the Eberron Campaign Setting for Dungeons & Dragons and the card game Gloom, as well as games such as Illimat, Phoenix Dawn Command, and The Adventure Zone: Bureau of Balance with his company Twogether Studios. Join Keith for a discussion of projects past and present, including behind the scenes tales of Eberron and a peek at what’s coming next from Twogether Studios!
]]>Guardian has some great drinks and bites in their little cafe to make it a celebration of leaving your house and being social. Looking forward to seeing you!
Guardian Games is centrally located in the SE Industrial Area of Portland, Oregon. Just a few blocks North of OMSI, at the corner of MLK and Taylor Street near the Morrison Bridge off-ramp. Portland Streetcar A Line, Taylor St stop. Tri-Met buses 6 & 15.
Two weeks ago we said it would take about two and half weeks for our shipping partner to get through all of the preorders for Illimat. As of today ( Saturday March 4th) we're 70% shipped and expecting to be complete by midweek this coming week if everything goes smoothly.
If at any time you are concerned about your order, please dont hesitate to reach out to us at info@twogetherstudios.com and either Chris or I (Jenn) will help.
]]>
We've got some fun things to add to this years celebration at the Twogether Studios booth #3636 at PAX Unplugged 2022:
Fantasy Costco: In addition to The Adventure Zone Game, Expansion, and Dice Sets we're teaming up with some amazing makers to share with you some special items only found at Fantasy Costco. We've got deals on Invisibility Cloaks, Pocket Spa's, Potions of Healing and More! Look for the Giant Fantasy Costco ( based on Hari Conner's illustration for the game) in booth #3636.
Illimat: Illimat has been a staple of PAX Unplugged, and although the second edition is only available for preorder, the fine folks at Shire Post Mint have made a small amount of Illimat Syzygy coins available for us to sell at the booth. We'll release some for sale on Friday and some on Saturday until they sell out. If you're on our newsletter list, you know that this coin has it's roots in the historic Philadelphia Society of Luminaries so this is really a coming home of sorts. Come by the booth, learn the story and get a demo of the new Luminaries and game rules.
Keith Baker Presents & The Lord of Blades: Keith has a new Eberron book coming soon on DM's guild and we're celebrating with some Keith Baker Merch (T-shirts!) and a signing on Saturday with special guest cosplay The Lord of Blades.
If you are press or a retailer and would like a private demo of any of our current or upcoming games please email info@twogetherstudios and we'll share our meeting calendar with you.
See you there?
Jenn
]]>
Luminaries are tarot-like cards in the game of Illimat that can cause dynamic changes in game play and delightful effects in players choices and scores. Illustrated by award winning artist Carson Ellis these luminary cards have inspired stories and characters in podcasts, LARPS, and more than a few tattoos. We’re pleased to add a new expansion of Illimat luminaries to the game: The False Barron Set.
]]>We’re pleased to add a new expansion of Illimat luminaries to the game: The False Barron Set. This new set of six luminaries can be played along with any of the official Illimat luminaries from the Illimat core game and The Crane Wife expansion.
Heres an excerpt from expansion:
This set of 6 Luminary cards is a faithful reproduction of the original FALSE BARON’S SET, based on the surviving records, lithographs, and other artifacts. It has been done with the full cooperation of the executors of Van De Grave estate; any extant lawsuits from distant family members are either totally without merit or are in the process of being settled out of court.
We trust this ongoing legal process will not prohibit us to share a preview of The False Baron's Set by next Wednesday, along with all of the other delights launching for preorder on November 1st.
In the meantime we have built an FAQ of the questions that many of you have kindly posed. We'll continue to add to it as questions arise so please continue to ask!.
Speaking of Luminary Cards….As new official luminaries enter the fold, The Society of Luminaries decided it was high time for a Luminary Rumble. This fat bear week style tournament crowns one of the current fourteen Luminary cards as the brightest star of the year. With that crown comes a prize in the form of a new delightful merch item in its honor unveiled on November 1st. Which luminary will win? It’s up to you. Vote each day in the daily bout posted on the social media platform of your choice : Illimat Instagram, Illimat Twitter, and Twogether Studios TikTok Stories. May the stars align with your favorite!
Next Wednesday: Preview of all items available in the November 1st preorder, including one we think you'll flip over.
All the best!
Jenn
We have a new game on Kickstarter for just 10 more days called "Cool Cool Cool". It's a fast, fun, affirmative card game that literally slaps. We're picking words in our game that started as one meaning and became popularized to mean something else. Words that are affirmations, roll off the tongue easily, and feel kind of great when you shout them or hear them
We have a new game on Kickstarter for just 10 more days called "Cool Cool Cool". It's a fast, fun, affirmative card game that literally slaps.
We're picking words in our game that started as one meaning and became popularized to mean something else. Words that are affirmations, roll off the tongue easily, and feel kind of great when you shout them or hear them. Words that are slang: in that they are coinages, arbitrarily changed words, and extravagant, facetious figures of speech, as Miriam Webster likes to say.
In the last blog post about the game we talked about the word Cool- now lets talk Wicked.
The word Wicked is an alteration of the Middle English wicke and is defined to mean morally bad, disgustingly unpleasant, causing or likely to cause harm- but if you live in New England, you most likely know it used in a much different way. There, wicked is a common regional slang word used as an intensifier; an example in this headline "John Kerry is Wicked psyched he found Dunkin Donuts in Moscow."
I love the illustration Mac Schubert did for this card, in that it's clearly the definition of Wicked, but also "we're just a coven having fun roasting marshmallows with our goat friend" vibe. Paired with this, one of the rule cards in the game is called "The Nor'Easter", which refers to the type of storm that forms along the east coast of North America. When this rule card is in effect, the first player to slap the card pile whenever Wicked and Cool are played wins the card pile. Wicked sweet.
If you look closely, you'll also see this coven and goat friends in the pattern design on the Wicked cool game mat. Hidden patterns can be viewed as Wicked but we think it's just Wicked sick.
How did this word evolve in this way? Well, Miriam Webster says this but it seems they dont entirely know for sure.
Wicked happens to be a regional slang word we know best, as both Keith and I went to college in Maine.
Do you have an affirmative slang word that's specific to your region? I wanna know! Tell me in comments!
-Jenn
We've got a new game on Kickstarter now called Cool Cool Cool. It's a slightly unhinged slap game of affirmative slang words for adults and families. We're picking words in our game that started as one meaning and became popularized to mean something else. Words that are affirmations, roll off the tongue easily, and feel kind of great when you shout them or hear them.
]]>We've got a new game on Kickstarter now called Cool Cool Cool. It's a slightly unhinged slap game of affirmative slang words for adults and families.
We're picking words in our game that started as one meaning and became popularized to mean something else. Words that are affirmations, roll off the tongue easily, and feel kind of great when you shout them or hear them. Words that are slang: in that they are coinages, arbitrarily changed words, and extravagant, facetious figures of speech, as Miriam Webster likes to say.
Let's talk about the words in the game starting with the word : Cool.
The word Cool is of Germanic origins, related to the dutch word koel. Its first known use was before the 12th century and is defined to mean moderately cold and lacking in warmth. Today, most of us use this word in so many different ways, which inspired the game.
Cool has so many different meanings that In the game there are three different cards: Cool, Cool Cool and Cool Cool Cool. I love the illustrations Mac Schubert did for this series of cards. We talked about temperature, different uses of the word, and archetypes to play with. Cool: Temperature and sereneness, Cool Cool: the risk-taking and steady dispassionate attitude of ripping a trail right through a flock of birds, and Cool Cool Cool: all the wonderful cant put your finger on aspects of being cool along with the trope of sunglasses for good measure.
How did this word evolve to mean something other than temperature?
Cool is a commonly used part of African American Vernacular English (AAVE). The way we use Cool as a coinage today originated in it's use by African Americans as early as in 1884. We're not linguists, but game designers who became a little fascinated with words. Research is one of my favorite aspects of game design, so here's a few articles I found interesting and informative: The Birth of Cool, How Did Cool Become Such a Big Deal
What is it that you find cool?
-Jenn
In the second edition of Illimat, we had a chance to revise some of the Illimat rules and incorporate what we’ve learned demoing it as well as hand it over to someone with a fresh perspective. Leading this effort was our kind and succinct rules editor Chris Butterfield. Chris joined our team last year from many years in the tabletop game industry. He’s also a technical writer and leads our customer success efforts.
The last detail we added came to Keith and I while on a train with a very tiny table between us. We really wanted to play a game but there just wasn't the room. The second edition rules booklet back cover can now be used as an illimat. This allows you to use the rules book in place of the game mat and illimat box for playing a game in a tight situation.
-Jenn
In the fall of 2019 I started the process of looking for a new printer for Illimat. I was lucky enough to even tour the factory in November 2019 and meet the people who physically make the games. I even met the factory’s pet chicken.
For the base game of Illimat the hardest part was not changing things. Things like making sure the luminary finish is exactly the same pattern as in previous printings so new expansions match the old finish; believe it or not, this requires new molds of the finish to be made custom for the game. Here are the two things that are changing in the base game:
For the expansions, we’re changing those a little more. With the high costs of sea freight and shipments as well as the environmental impact- we looked at all of our games to see where we could make them smaller or use less packaging and plastic. For the Illimat expansions, we’re packing them in flat boxes with just the luminaries. This allows us to pass on the savings to you while still delivering the core of what they are about- new luminaries! Not including okus tokens also allows us to get new expansions to market more quickly in the future.
-Jenn
Next week: Changes to the rule book including a PDF preview
]]>
If you have played Illimat with some regularity, chances are your playing card deck looks something like ours. A five suited deck of lovingly worn cards - except for the almost pristine stars suit glaring back at you.
This is, of course, because in the first edition rules of Illimat the stars suit is only used in four player games; and for many of us, Illimat is a two player staple.
Friends, it's time for the star suits to shine.
]]>This is, of course, because in the first edition rules of Illimat the stars suit is only used in four player games; and for many of us, Illimat is a two player staple.
Friends, it's time for the star suits to shine. Starting in Illimat second edition (launching for preorder on Nov 1st) the official rules of Illimat are that the stars suit is always in play. Yes, even for solo play.
Why did we make this change? The original design intent of the star suit was to lengthen the game and add little more strategic choices in a four player game. What we've heard from players is that adding the fifth suit for two or three players is beneficial for them as well. The additional play time is offset by the increased amount of choices and opportunities to change seasons.
We've added five more minutes to the playtime estimate on the box because of this change, and it's one less thing new players have to think about when they are setting up the game for the first time.
As an extra bonus, the illustrations Carson Ellis did on the star suit are among my very favorites and Im glad they will see more play. I mean, check out the beard on the King of Stars. Epic!
If you've got a copy of Illimat—break it out this week and give this new rule change a try and let us know what you think!
-Jenn
Next Wednesday: Game Component Changes in Second Edition
]]>