Send Thee to Perdition Proof of Concept Designs

The late 1500s TTRPG has been my white whale: an idea I keep circling, chasing, then pulling back from just when it feels close. Four times I’ve written rules. Four times I’ve walked away. The reasons? All ghosts I know too well.

There’s the fear of not getting the history right. Of making the sixteenth century feel flat or wrong on the page.

There’s the fear of creating gameplay that bores instead of breathes.

And of course, the old fear that no one will want to play it anyway.

It still spooks me, that part. I don’t like it. It’s frustrating when something you care about refuses to feel safe enough to build. But lately I’ve been pushing past that discomfort and working in smaller strokes: some mechanics here, some content there, some design work over this way, and compiling of notes for specific setting info (Antwerp c. 1576-1585) and general historical context.

Lately, it’s been focusing on art direction and proof of concept pages.

I’ve gone back and forth on page size and format with all my tabletop games (see my gaming blog for that): half-page zines or full US letter size pages? I tend towards the full pages as they are more practical to print at home and reference at the table.

But I began trying out the 5.5 x 8.5″ zine sized approach for this latest iteration of Send Thee to Perdition. Here’s a glimpse (also posted to Instagram):

The content had already drifted north of 100 pages.

And figuring out how to get that to the table, physically, was a challenge to do so easily and practically for playtesting. I didn’t want to tell my players they’d have to stay glued to phones or tablets.

So I’ve returned to the old standby of full-size US pages of 8.5×11″. I loved the intimacy of the smaller format, but full pages make layout and reference easier at the table. And it opens the door for bigger, punchier use of historic woodcuts and engravings, such as this 17th century engraving from Romeyn de Hooghe’s map of Haarlem.

IYKYK what he’s depicting here.

There’s no big launch plan yet. No email list. Just these quiet little steps forward.

I want to playtest with my home group in May and then… see how it goes.

I know I’ll want to bail out of the idea for all the reasons I stated at the beginning. I hope I don’t do that this time.