Roadmap into Fall 2025

Or "Things Are Happening At Rapid Speed"

Behind the scenes over the last few weeks, I've been busily working to conclude Stage 1 of Iphigenia at Midnight's development and proceed to Stage 2, including contacting artists, designers, and developers, reaching out to seasoned stalwarts of the Lancer creator community, and getting my ducks in order all around.

As a result, at this point - with the planned content for the 0.5.0 release more or less finished and packaged for release included - I'm calling Stage 1 of development complete. I've been absolutely astounded by the positive reception of Iphigenia at Midnight and the interest from the Lancer community over this stage, and I'm looking forward to continuing this adventure towards the conclusion of development.

So, what was Stage 1?

Stage 1 of development, on my private roadmap, was early and mid-stage playtesting, writing the module, spreading community awareness and outreach, and getting down my own layout and editing until I was fundamentally happy with the look, feel, and playability of the module, and knew that the project had a reliable foundation and an interested community to proceed further with development.

That means we can now move into Stage 2 when 0.5.0 releases - which is building up towards the full release in terms of illustration, professional layout, professional editing, and map design. Once this stage begins, the project will be moving from a PWYW model to a "player-side content for free, a minimum price for GM-side content" model. From what I know, everyone who has made a purchase under the current PWYW model will retain access when models are changed.

When 0.5.0 releases, it will release alongside the GM-side .lcp and Iphigenia at Midnight's cover art, as well as any of the other art which is available by that date (expected to be before the beginning of August 2025); further updates will be matched to the arrival of commissioned illustrations, with continued playtesting and adjustments to mechanical and narrative content in between. When all of the art I have planned is available and integrated into the module's layout, which I expect to be before the end of August 2025, Iphigenia at Midnight 1.0.0 will release, and we'll move into Stage 3 of development.

Stage 3 of development is the Iphigenia at Midnight Kickstarter campaign - something I've alluded to a few times publicly, but never talked in overmuch detail about before. For the time being, I'll save details on this stage for when we're closer to it, but I will say that there will be a two-week pre-launch period leading into a thirty-day funding campaign, and that based on the schedule I have, I expect the campaign pre-launch to appear by mid-September 2025. A fully itemized budget and a draft page have been created, and as soon as I have the art and dates necessary to completely finish the draft, the pre-launch page will appear.

Playtesting and changes based on feedback will continue across Stage 3 development, ending on the end date for the funding campaign, and will be integrated in one chunk to be released as Iphigenia at Midnight 2.0.0. If the funding campaign is successful, this will be delivered fully illustrated and with plenty of other fantastic additions according to the dates laid out in the campaign, at which point this page will also transition to offering post-campaign full release copies at the backer campaign price; if unsuccessful, Iphigenia at Midnight 2.0.0 will be released to this page at the 1.0.0 price, and development will conclude.

I'm incredibly excited to see what's next for the project, and I hope you'll continue to follow me along this roadmap towards release!