Must Be a Dragon, a masterless RPG of explorers and dragons
Created by Sushi Role
A masterless tabletop role-playing game set in the 1800s Europe where dragons exist, and your purpose is to find them!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
#24 WHAT, WHEN, WHERE?
about 2 years ago
– Sun, Jan 21, 2024 at 07:10:11 AM
Hello Explorers, I'm Luca and I hope you're all well! Take a look at new updates!
Release date
As you have read in previous updates, I have given you ever-changing release dates over time. We have had many problems in this project due to the turnover of some people who worked on it. Our international team is on its first project and we have had replacement of some people, which has greatly delayed the work, as you well know. Very often, when problems arose, the Italian team solved everything, but this took a long time.
Today we have the completely revised text and all the artworks ready, the last part that we are missing, and on which we have had other slowdowns, is that of the layout. Now we have solved this problem too and we are 1/3 of completing the corebook layout. So I can give you a final and defined release date: the PDF will be sent to everyone by the end of February 2024, without other exceptions. One month after the release of the PDF, the printed copies will arrive in our warehouses and we will start contacting you via Backerkit to support shipments and start shipping.
We are well aware that there have been several delays but this is the final and definitive date, both because we have delayed too long and it is unrespectful for your trust and because we want to finish this work for all of you as soon as possible.
In the end of February 2024 you will all receive the PDF and in the end of March 2024 we will start shipping of the physical corebooks.
Explorer Sheets. Our graphic designer Giovanna created the 'Explorer Scenes Sheet' and the 'Explorer Tracks Sheet' in two version, the regular and the special one. The sheets with the regular graphic will be inserted in the corebook and will be downloadable by our website for free, in PDF with editable fields. The sheets with the special graphic will be printed and shipped (in a kit of 10 sheets of each type) to all the backers that chosen the pledges THE RETURN OF THE DRAGON, THE DRAGON'S TREASURE or to whom selected 'The explorer Kit' Add-on.
Tokens. Waiting to complete the inner pages of the corebook and discuss the typographical details with the printer (number of pages, paper weight, cover, etc.), we went ahead and have already commissioned the printing of the tokens. The tokens will be of two types, the Narrator Tokens and Scale Tokens. One Narrator Token will be shipped to to all the backers that chosen the pledges THE RETURN OF THE DRAGON, THE DRAGON'S TREASURE or to whom selected 'The explorer Kit' Add-on. Instead, 40 Scale Tokens will be shipped to to all the backers that chosen the pledges THE RETURN OF THE DRAGON, THE DRAGON'S TREASURE or to whom selected 'Set of 40 Scale Tokens' Add-on.
Red Dragon - 3d Printable Project. We found a wonderful 3d artist who is doing an amazing work, it will soon be ready and sent to the backers that chosen the pledges THE RETURN OF THE DRAGON and THE DRAGON'S TREASURE.
Thank you all for your attention, explorers, during this last month of work I will gradually show you the updates, in the meantime I thank you for your patience and trust. We are now close to completing the work. Thanks to each of you, for everything.
I remind you that if you have any questions you can always write to me, I am at your disposal.
- Luca
#23 DRAGONS, DRAGONS, DRAGONS!
over 2 years ago
– Sun, Oct 22, 2023 at 09:20:48 AM
Hello Explorers, I'm Luca and I hope you're all well! Take a look at new updates!
Dragon artworks
Sarah, our dragon artist is working on the design of the 15 dragons of Compendium Draconum that you will find inside your Must Be a Dragon copy. This section of the corebook is very important as it will contain all the details of the 15 dragons presented in the corebook as the result of research by professors and dragon scholars. In addition to their physical, behavioral and habitat characteristics each of them will be masterfully illustrated in a hand-drawn style. These dragons are important, because when you get to the point of having to define the dragon your explorer is looking for you will be able to choose from this rich list and to define the feature of this creature you will encounter with all the details offered by the Compendium Draconum.
I'll reveal a sketch of one of the first dragons Sarah is creating!
An excerpt from the Compendium Draconum description of this dragon:
[...] These Dragons are 25 feet long, with four legs with sharp talons and two wings that they usually keep furled against their bodies while wandering around the conifer forests, taking advantage of their scales' ability to absorb the natural light and refract colors that range from blue, to green, to black, something that allows them to camouflage perfectly among the trees. When these Dragons are found outside the forests, they stand out amid the snow due to the aquamarine hue of their body (hence their name), which becomes deeper near the upper membrane, a sort of ridge that grows around their neck, runs down their back along several interconnected spines and ends up in their tail, as a sort of webbed ramification. On their heads stand two horns, similar to a deer's antlers.
The ability to camouflage so perfectly in its environment makes this Dragon the apex predator of the areas where it lives. It feeds mainly on ungulates and small mammals and only rarely does it come close to inhabited areas or interact with humans. It is assumed that the growing presence of humans in the coastal regions of the taiga has pushed these Dragons more and more inland, something that might explain the decrease in their sightings and the rumors (if we can call them so) about its complete disappearance from the natural world. [...]
Do you like it? :D
Text and proofreading
The second revision of the second mothertongue professional proofreader has been completed, we are super satisfied avout the body text of the corebook! Soon you will be able to read and play it and this fills us with emotion and joy, we can't wait!!
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Things are going well, we are completing the layouts and inserting the revised texts, we will then add the new dragon artworks! We still have to work on these last details but we are very satisfied that everything is back on track and is going well! I'll update you as soon as I have important updates!
Thanks to everyone and see you very soon! I remind you that if you have any questions you can always write to me, I am at your disposal.
- Luca
#22 WORK IN PROGRESS
over 2 years ago
– Tue, Sep 26, 2023 at 12:13:28 AM
Hello Explorers, I'm Luca and I hope you're all well! I know I told you about a weekly update, but all my team is working hard on the missing tasks so we had no big update or result. But since you asked me, I'll update you on what we're doing. I will try to resume the weekly updates from Sunday.
Dragon artworks
We are waiting for the artist to complete the dragons, and we unfortunately don't have a sneak peak of the work he's creating, so, nothing is new on this side. BUT, we have some more art from our beloved Alida, and they get better and better: we have sketches from Irene and Celeste's journal, and the commissioned art. We don't want to spoil too much but you'll gonna love them.
Text and proofreading
As i said in previous updates, our text is quite refined at this point, but, as we are waiting for the missing artworks, we are refining the text even more thanks to a new English mothertongue proofreader.
Red Dragon - 3d printable project
We have a designer! Yey! The backers who supported the project with the pledges THE RETURN OF THE DRAGON and THE DRAGON'S TREASURE soon will have their 3d ready to print project. I'll be more specific in the next updates.
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It is important for me to say that the core of this project is already done: we have a beautiful setting, some solid rules, stunning arts and design. We are just waiting for the dragon's artworks, which are visually crucial for this sourcebook. So as soon we get there we'll send you the Pdf version and then straight to print!
Waiting for the next update, here you are a little sketch from Alida Pintus, our main artist.
Thank you so much for your attention, I'm at your disposal for anything, see you next Sunday explorers!
- Luca
#21 MUST BE A DRAGON IS COMING!
over 2 years ago
– Sun, Sep 10, 2023 at 10:10:18 AM
Hello Explorers, I'm Luca and I hope you're all well! I apologize for my absence, we have been overwhelmed by many projects and I needed some time to sort everything out, sorry for my absence.
CONTINUOUS UPDATES
I start this update confirming you that from today I am going to write an update every Sunday, so as to keep you updated on the developments of the project and never abandon you again!
ARTS AND DRAGONS
Where are we at? The corebook is almost ready and the body text is ready and revised. The internal artworks are ready, but the dragon arts are still missing, which will be 15 in total, one more beautiful than the other! Unfortunately, however, these art are not ready yet and we have had a further slowdown.
At the moment our artist has a deadline for the dragons arts for the November 12th. I know it's a long time, but there are a lot of artworks and they require the right amount of time to be created. As soon as we receive these last arts we insert them into the file and immediately create the PDF, sending it to all of you and then printing the file. In the coming weeks I will update you gradually, if necessary we could can also create an incomplete file to start making you read and play the game, we will see it in the coming weeks, but in the meantime you now know the timing and details.
So it seems we will have the digital file for November 13th and for the physical copies I estimate they will be delivered between mid-December and mid-January depending on your place of residence, but we will not go beyond this date.
STEP BY STEP
It's the first time we work on a project that has to cover so many countries and we've had more slowdowns than we should have. We are working hard to resolve everything and I will try to do everything as quickly and as well as possible, I just ask for a little more patience. For my part, I remain available for any questions or concerns and, as mentioned, I will continue to update you weekly on how the project is progressing.
A little gift: a page directly from the layout featuring two wonderful arts by our artist Alida: a family portrait of the main characters in the game's story and a dragon in background!
We are excited and happy that the game is in a good state of progress and we want to share it with you as soon as possible, a little more time and we will get there. I apologize again for the delay, I hope that my presence here through the weekly updates will give you the opportunity to be reassured about the quality of the product and the fact that you will receive it soon.
Thank you so much for your attention, I'm at your disposal for anything, see you next Sunday explorers!
- Luca
#20 IT'S A DRAGON!
almost 3 years ago
– Sun, May 14, 2023 at 02:48:30 AM
Hello Explorers, I'm Luca and I hope you're all well, because the dragons are out there waiting to be found thanks to your maps and explorations!
How is the project progressing?
The body text is concluded and finished, ready to be played!
However, we had a heavy slowdown on some artworks which forced us to slow down the roadmap, but we are back on track and we will have all the artworks by mid-June 2023. We will use this time to make a further refinement of the corebook and, by calculating the graphic layout work and a final revision, we will objectively be able to finish the digital corebook by mid-July 2023.
At that point we will send to all of you the digital copies so that you can play it right away and we will start the printing work with our printers in the EU and in the USA. Since August is a complex month, we estimate that by September we will have all the hardcover corebooks and all the backers that need to receive the hardcover corebooks and the other physical goodies will receive everything by the end of September 2023 at the latest.
The times could also shorten, depending on how these last steps evolve, but since I haven't updated you for a while, it seemed right to give you an estimate timing as objective as possible. Even if this small extension of a few months is boring, I assure you that it will help us improve the product and offer you a super-revised body text, lovely artworks and a tremendous layout!
I thank all of you for your patience and trust, and I'm here for every need or question!
Ah, and there is a little sneak peek for you: the study of the young Celeste, one of the characters you'll find in the setting of the corebook, made by our amazing artist Alida Pintus! :)
