The die is cast

Merry Monday folks!

Hugs and best wishes from all of us at Rusty Towers – it’s a bank holiday here in the UK and the sun is shining. Things rumble on in the background here – and I’m pleased to say that our shows are running as well as can be expected. We’re aware that governments are presently looking at ways to ease national lockdowns, but I can assure you that, as convenient as it might be, we’re not going to be rushing to get people back into studio – we have no intention of risking the health of any of the crew or guests just for the sake of convenience.

We held our company AGM over weekend, via full teleconferencing for the first time, and it was great to bring the crew together from across the UK and USA. Whilst I can’t go into much of what we talked about at present (though I will loudly shout about things when I can), suffice to say that RQ is weathering the current situation well, thanks in large part to the fantastic efforts of the crew and to all of your continued support in all the various fashions. Your ongoing enthusiasm for the things that we make is a huge boost to us as creators and performers, particularly in these more difficult times. And it wasn’t all work, I can assure you – we did make time for an after-party with convivial chat, Jackbox games and some rather chaotic starting adventures in a Minecraft server (which you might say was a test of sorts ;-) )

Now, it won’t have escaped folks’ notice that we reach the conclusion of Stellar Firma Season 2 this week! With Trexel and David 7 navigating the vents, who can say where they are heading? Will we end up with some kind of cliffhanger (figurative and/or literal)? Can David 7 continue to defy the odds and survive a 50th episode?!

Alongside that, I am happy to say that the mailbag for Season 2 questions is now open! If you have any queries that you wish to put to Tim and/or Ben, you can submit them HERE. Usual caveats about spoilers and plot-related questions apply, as well as the fact that we may not be able to answer everyone’s questions due to time constraints. The mailbag will close at 8am BST on Monday 8th June.

As for what the break will bring, well, we will be taking a few weeks off, and then return with bonus content on the public feed (and early access as usual) on the same fortnightly basis that was done during the Season 1-2 break, starting Friday June 19th. Stay tuned for more outtakes, a return visit from Bryn Monroe, a behind-the-scenes chat with Katie & Maddie (the show’s producer and editor, respectively), music, and more in the run-up to its return later this year!

And after the emotional rollercoaster that was last week’s Rusty Quill Gaming episode, we have one more episode in the main story before we break for something a little more light-hearted. As we said previously, this run of episodes touches on some rather heavy and dark themes, with unintended parallels to current real-world issues, so we thank you for sticking with the show through that. But starting next week, we have a three part special to bring the mood up, as we head back to Ancient Rome… and check-in with Sasha and her band of students, including a special guest return appearance from none other than James Ross!

A few updates about milestones as well. We’ve managed to sort out some of the production logistics of expanding the RQ Streams project, so as of early June you can expect to see some new faces (and new art) on our Twitch channel, starting with the Sandbox Sunday slot each week. From there we will monitor how things are going and see how we can further expand things. We want a structured ramp-up of programming that is sustainable, rather than simply overwhelming both us and you, the audience, with new stuff.

And, in some longer awaited news, I am very pleased to be able to say that the TRPG project, Ensemble, is nearing the point where we feel it’s ready for beta-testing of the main mechanics. For those unaware, way back in the distant past, we set a milestone at $2000/month to design our own Tabletop Roleplaying Game. A design team of Ben Meredith, Sasha Sienna, Jonny Sims and myself, have been steadily working away and have come up with a brand new game system, not tied to any particular setting, designed to capture the feeling of an episodic drama show - think Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Veronica Mars or Warehouse 13. More on this nearer the time, but – if you are a Rusty Knight or Noble – you will be able to playtest the basic system and offer feedback on the work to inform how we proceed. Barring anything serious cropping up, we are planning this release for mid-to-late June.

 In associated appearances this week:
- On Saturday 30th May, PodUK Goes Digital is running a free day of panels, shows and workshops, hosted on their Twitch channel, including a live Q&A with our own Ben Meredith and Maddy Searle.
- Also on Saturday, at 7.30pm BST, Helen Gould joins a panel on Sensitivity Reading in writing and game design, over on the Welcome to the Party Twitch channel!

And, here's what you can expect from us this week (all shows release at 4pm UK time, unless otherwise stated):

Tue 26th May
RQG157 – The Big Picture (Patreon)

Wed 27th May
MAG169 – Fire Escape (Patreon)
RQG157 – The Big Picture (Public)
RQ Streams – Anil plays… Donut County (5pm) 

Thu 28th May
STL050 – Foreshadows and Filing (Patreon)
MAG169 – Fire Escape (Public)

Fri 29th May
Knight/Noble Bonus – TMA Fluff Competition #2 - Expenses
STL050 – Foreshadows and Filing (Public)

Sat 30th May
RQ Streams – Mike plays… Partisans (3pm)

Sun 31st May
RQ Streams – Mike & Anil play… Minecraft (2pm)

Have a great week all!

Anil
Community Manager