Tombs, tentacles, and transcendence: 2024 in review
A masterpost of everything I did this year, and more
Welcome back to Sebastian Yūe’s Newsletter! It’s the end of the year, so I’m doing a recap of what I’ve been up to. I moved to a new role at work, saw the release of several projects I’m really proud of, contributed to official TTRPGs for beloved IPs, and worked with some of my favourite indie creators. I also played several new games, which is always fun.
Get comfortable; this is a long post. If you’re reading this via email, you’re going to want to click that “[Message clipped] View entire message” link.
A reintroduction: Publishing coordinator and community manager at Hit Point Press
I started a new role at Hit Point Press (HPP), the Canadian TTRPG publisher where I’ve worked full time since early 2022. After being involved with the publishing and community side of the company for a while, I moved from the content team to the operations team as the publishing coordinator and community manager. I’m already learning new skills such as how to run a crowdfunding campaign and how to produce a livestream.
As the publishing coordinator, I’m responsible for liaising with external creators who want to work with HPP in some capacity. If you’re interested in what publishers look for in a game, I’ve written about pitching your game to a publisher. As the community manager, I’m responsible for engaging friends and fans of HPP and supporting the customer service team. You can find me in the HPP Discord and occasionally behind HPP’s social accounts.
Right at the end of the year, I ran a game jam where creators designed World Sparks, microsettings compatible with the upcoming SHIFT RPG. The game jam was super fun; I’d organised one before in 2022 and it was rewarding to foster creativity with this new RPG. If you missed it, not to worry; you can still make your own SHIFT setting. I made a World Spark walkthrough on YouTube, which you can use to guide your designs.
This material will be familiar if you attended my Designing World Sparks with SHIFT RPG session at Big Bad Con this year, or if you played SHIFT with my colleagues at PAX Unplugged. The video walkthrough takes core information from these quick-build workshops and condenses it into a short video. Enjoy my not-quite-British-anymore narration and the sci-fi western background music, and be sure to download the game jam resources here.
New releases
Several books I worked on became available this year, some in physical form for the first time. I’m very proud of them all and I think they represent some of my strongest design, writing, and editing work to date.
Apocalypse Keys: Doomsday Delights (Evil Hat Productions)
I wrote and designed the Untethered playbook for Apocalypse Keys: Doomsday Delights. This was my first time writing character options for a Powered by the Apocalypse game and I had so much fun with the emotionally intense queer themes of Apocalypse Keys. As the Untethered, you’re a monster who has been kicked out of your community. You’re obsessed with the idea that you could earn back their affection one day—you just need to become perfect. You fantasize about alternate realities in which your community wants you, manifesting twisted versions of those realities to help you fight the apocalypse.
You’ll love this playbook if any of the following speak to you or a character you’d play:
You’ve wished, at one point or another, to be anything other than what you are
You’re a manipulative bastard who gets what they want
You’d rather tear yourself apart than fail in front of others
Given the chance, you’d fuck your doppelganger
If you want to know more about my design process for the Untethered, I sat down with Valiant Dorian on Dicey Banter to talk about how I designed the mechanics to support the emotional and narrative themes of the playbook. Check it out!
Where Evil Lives: The MCDM Book of Boss Battles (MCDM)
“Energising” is the word I’d use to describe my experience of editing and proofreading Where Evil Lives (and its sibling Flee, Mortals!). As I was reading it, I got so excited about the monsters that I kept pausing my work to note which ones to throw at my players. A few months later, my home group ran through the Terminal Excrescence lair and everyone loved it. Lord Syuul (pictured) was an outstanding boss and led some of the most memorable fights of our campaign so far.
These books are full of challenging encounters, slick mechanics, and enemies who are a joy to run in combat, and I’m glad to have given them the final polish. Also new this year, both Flee, Mortals! and Where Evil Lives are available on D&D Beyond, marking my first credits on that platform.
Subclasses Revivified (Dungeon Masters Guild)
With the release of D&D (2024), there wasn’t room to include every subclass in the new rules. I joined a group of designers to update the options that didn’t make the cut.
Featured in Polygon and Destructoid, the Gold-bestselling Subclasses Revivified was such a fun project. I’m an arcane caster main who has been playing a wizard for the last three years, so it’s no surprise that I chose to rework five wizard subclasses: the Bladesinger, Chronomancer, Enchanter, Gravitist, and Leximancer. Not only did I update the existing rules to match 2024 style, I reconceptualised each subclasses with a fresh take on their themes and functions. The Chronomancer is my favourite; I’m pleased with how I made time loops and alternate timelines playable without breaking the game.
Shortly after the release of Subclasses Revivified, I wrote about my design process for each subclass. If you’re interested in seeing how I create thematic player-facing mechanics, read my post here.
LOOT (Gila RPGs)
When I joined the LOOT team, the first question I asked was, “Does the printing press exist in this setting?” If you don’t already know, I have a master’s degree in journalism and I’ll take any opportunity to play with media culture, bias, and the power of language. My first batch of baddies is themed around Efrina, the inventor of a cursed printing press. She summons devils to help her warp reality to match the stories she prints. Her faction can change the rules of the game and manipulate loot made of metal.
My second group is the cosmichrons, a species of time- and space-bending aliens. They are trying to reverse time to just before the fall of the archlich who once ruled the city so they can seize control. These eldritch horrors are a writhing mass of tentacles lined with eyes, who can move characters around the battlefield and restrict the number and types of actions available.
When the crowdfunding campaign ended, I joined Spencer on stream to design some Star Wars–themed loot, which you can watch here.
Blooming Blades (Wildmage Press)
I served as an editor for Blooming Blades, a collaboration between Wildmage Press and Paola’s Pixels. I’ll be in a position to make a new character soon and I’m eyeing the Poppy Longsword. It’s my favourite of the weapons for its appearance and its properties; it grants you a bonus to your attack rolls and damage rolls, and leans into the soporific effects of the flower.
I’d also love to wield the Jasmine Khopesh, which offers two buffs, one for combat and one for Charisma (Persuasion) checks. The Cherry Blossom Katana is another great option for me, as you can use your Charisma modifier for your attack rolls and damage rolls. (Can you tell which class I’m leaning towards?)
Fool’s Gold: Into the Bellowing Wilds (Hit Point Press)
On my first day at Hit Point Press in 2022, I started writing stat blocks for this book. Two years later, it is finishing fulfillment and the hardback is now available in the HPP store. I became a Fool’s Gold fan while working on this project; Dingo’s witty scripts, charming animation, and memorable character voices got me hooked. The shenanigans that Dingo’s group get up to remind me of my own games, and watching the videos informed my approach to balancing humour with emotional beats.
Fool’s Gold: Into the Bellowing Wilds first appeared at Gen Con this year and I took this debut as an excuse to write a blog post for work about my favourite things in the book (head to the “Fool’s Gold Preview” section). If I had to pick one thing from among those I mentioned, it would be the spell Wizardly’s arcane override, which lets you try to hijack another creature’s spell. I use it in my home game, where we’ve started calling it “Steal Your Fireball.” While I didn’t write this spell, you can find my contributions throughout the book in the form of quest hooks, NPCs, and monsters.
Pathfinder Lost Omens: Divine Mysteries (Paizo)
I wrote the entries for two core deities, Calistria and Irori, for Pathfinder Lost Omens: Divine Mysteries. This sourcebook contains my first-ever contribution to Pathfinder and it was an honour to write for the first TTRPG I ever played.
As I say in Paizo’s Authors So Divine! blog, I’m proud to have brought the themes of queer and trans self-expression to both gods. Though their churches play different societal roles, Calistria and Irori encourage their followers to be their authentic selves; Calistria champions personal freedom and living for pleasure, and Irori teaches compassionate self-awareness, encouraging his followers to become their perfect selves.
It was important to preserve the iconic characteristics and histories of the gods, but this book is as much an expansion as it is a remaster, so I added details to each. Calistria’s month-long celebrations and appeal to followers who desire sex with little to no romance are new, as are the structure of Irori’s monasteries and his “Transcendent” epithet.
Working with IP
I had the opportunity to work on some big properties this year. It’s been a privilege to be entrusted with these worlds and stories to build games where fans can play in settings they love.
From a professional standpoint, one of my favourite things about working on projects with large scopes and a core team is the capacity for mentorship and learning. I’m immensely grateful for the experience and kindness of my coworkers, and I’ll be highlighting the people with whom I worked most closely on each project.
Cosmere RPG (Brotherwise Games)
I’m an editor for the record-breaking Cosmere RPG. It’s surreal that I can type that sentence. Specifically, I’m editing the Stonewalkers Adventure and other supplement content. When the Kickstarter campaign launched, it came with robust digital support for the beta rules and the Bridge Nine Adventure, which you can play for free now. It was incredible to see so many people jump in right away, and I’d love to hear about how your game went if you had the chance to play it.
The entire Cosmere RPG team is fantastic and I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with project lead Lyla Fujiwara and lead editor Laura Hirsbrunner. Lyla is an amazing project manager; she’s transparent, organised, and compassionate. Thanks to Lyla’s efforts, my experience on the team has been one of the smoothest I’ve ever had. Laura is an excellent communicator and a top-notch editor who gave me the confidence and tools to take on leadership roles of my own. Bridge Nine is my first-ever “lead” credit.
The Cosmere RPG releases in September 2025.
Tomb Raider: Shadows of Truth (Evil Hat Productions)
I’m a contributing designer for Tomb Raider: Shadows of Truth, responsible for the Changed playbook and the Cursed Dragon King adventure set along the Yangtze in China. I put my juiciest, darkest ideas into the Changed, a playbook inspired by Amanda Evert’s relationship with the Wraith Stone. The Cursed Dragon King draws from Chinese mythology and my experiences with my heritage.
I collaborated most closely with lead designer Rae Nedjadi, system consultant Josh Hittie, and contributing designer and cultural consultant Agatha Cheng. It was great to work with Rae again (he’s also the creator of Apocalypse Keys); they are a phenomenal designer who maximises emotional impact with every mechanic and word. Under Rae’s leadership, I learned how to create adventures for a modular game, communicate strong themes, and implement anticolonial design frameworks.
Josh and I co-designed the Survivors of a Tragedy team playbook in a series of workshop sessions and it was refreshing to have face time with such a brilliant creator. I’d love more opportunities to talk through design stuff through voice and video, I find it much easier to iterate on ideas and implement feedback. Agatha is deeply knowledgeable and brings their design experience to her consultation work. Working with her gave me helpful insight into Chinese history, culture, and language that I didn’t know about.
Tomb Raider: Shadows of Truth awaits a release date.
Daggerheart (Darrington Press)
I’m a copyeditor for Daggerheart, a charming TTRPG with diverse player options and a d12 resolution system (the d12 is my favourite die and I’m excited to see engines that use it). I’m proud to have created the style guide for the system. This project had me working with some familiar faces: developmental editor Laura Hirsbrunner and senior producer Elise Rezendes (for whom I also edited the Silver ENNIE award–winning Session Zero System).
Working concurrently with Laura on Daggerheart and the Cosmere RPG was incredible; she gave me tips on style guide creation and I learned a lot from the logical structure and the editorial decisions in the one she built for the Cosmere RPG. I’m forever grateful for Laura’s expertise and generosity. Elise is a fantastic producer; she onboarded me to the project, checked in regularly, and arranged a playtest. Getting to play Daggerheart helped me better understand the goals of the game and greatly informed my editing.
Daggerheart releases in spring 2025.
Confluence: The Living Archive (Publishing Goblin)
I’m a developmental editor for Confluence: The Living Archive, an asymmetrical system designed for Seven Dane Asmund’s vibrant Ajurea setting. This year, I developed a design guide (not a style guide, though I did that as well) for the team, which outlines how to create mechanics for the Confluence RPG. The bones of that document will be used for the So You Want To Build It? zine so you, too, can create for it.
Primarily, I worked with project lead Laya Liebeseller and writer Kienna Shaw. Laya is a great project manager who has grown a skilled team, coordinated several rounds of playtesting, and steered us through crowdfunding. They are attentive and I know I can always go to them with questions. Kienna and I have worked on something like six or seven projects together in the past and it was nice to collaborate with them directly on a forthcoming adventure. Kienna is a brilliant writer and designer, and reading her work taught me a lot about adventure framework and structure, and narrative design with consideration for convention and introductory play.
If you want to learn more about the design guide I created, I did a stream about it on the Publishing Goblin YouTube channel.
Confluence: The Living Archive releases in September 2025.
Indie projects
As exhilarating as it is to be on high-profile projects, some of my favourite creative work this year has been for indie games. Here are those for which my final draft has been accepted.
How to GM Romance (Metal Weave Games)
I’m a system designer for How to GM Romance, a book designed to teach GMs to introduce romance to their tables. I wrote the first chapter of the book, which includes a romance tracking system. This system is inspired by dating sim trackers and approval mechanics in RPGs where you can romance your companions. It’s intended for GMs who want to play with romance but don’t know where to start. I also offer guidance for when the GM and players get comfortable with romance at the table and the players deepen their characters; they can move away from mechanics in favour of roleplay with a more natural feel.
Project lead Friday Strout and I guested on a couple of podcasts where we chatted about the book’s audience, our design goals, and our experience with romance at the table. Give these a listen:
Adding Romance to Games with Friday Strout and Sebastian Yūe, Mage: The Podcast
How to GM Romance with Sebastian Yūe and Friday Strout, RPGBOT.Podcast
How to GM Romance releases in May 2025.
Warrenguard (Luck of the Harbor)
I’m a game designer and writer for Warrenguard, a heartwarming game that uses a unique blend of FATE and Belonging Outside Belonging. I created the Nobody playbook, where you work thankless jobs and are constantly underestimated by everyone around you. But you’ll make them see how great you are when you unleash your true power. The Nobody deals with themes of perfection, inadequacy, and resentment. If you want to break the rules, push your limits, or make a name for yourself, this playbook is for you.
Each playbook comes with a themed chapter, for which I wrote an adventure in fewer than 150 words. You encounter an entity who promises you power, and you can take or refuse the entity’s bargain. Either way, your true power is yours to define.
Warrenguard releases in early 2025.
Tangled Blessings: Echoes of Lost Electives (Mothwin Productions)
I’m a writer for Tangled Blessings: Echoes of Lost Electives, a deliciously dark expansion for Tangled Blessings. I’m a huge fan of dark academia and I got to work with the themes of cleverness, hunger, and negligence—marks of students from the House of Elements. I wrote seven prompts for years 1–2, which lean into the university setting to build tension and foreshadow the horrors to come. You’ll find tentacles, doppelgangers, hedonism, and more in my prompts, and I hope you indulge yourself when playing with them.
Tangled Blessings: Echoes of Lost Electives releases in February 2025.
Personal accomplishments
I’m calling these “accomplishments” because they made me happy and fulfilled.
Travel. I visited my HPP colleagues in Ottawa at the start of the year; I ate a lot of great shawarma and went thrift shopping while I was there. I also went hiking and canoeing a few times over the summer, which was really nice. I took two trips to Toronto to visit friends, and I spent some time in the USA; San Francisco for Big Bad Con, and Detroit for the galleries and museums.
Fashion and style. I tried something new and chose a colour palette for my outfits at Big Bad Con. I dressed impeccably every day of the convention. I also tried to dye my naturally black hair silver. The attempt yielded mixed results; some areas took to the colour better than others and it ended up more like a very pale blonde. Still, I’m not unhappy with it and it grows back anyway.
Roads Uncharted actual play podcast. If you don’t already know, I’m a main cast member on Roads Uncharted, an actual play podcast for nerds by nerds. We use the Genesys RPG system and are heading into our sixth season. I play a roguish character called Novatrix who wants to eat the rich. We were selected for the New Jersey Web Fest this year, hit 8,000 downloads, and went onto Chaotic Wholesome’s YouTube channel to talk about the show.
Home tabletop games. I finished my run as DM for the Defiant Fallen, the D&D campaign that I’ve been playing since 2018. One of my players took over (it was her campaign to start with) and we’re wrapping it up next year. I’m looking forward to giving my wizard the send-off she deserves.
Relatedly, my friend Morgan (also the aforementioned DM) and I added five stories to the series we’re writing about our characters. It’s an 18+ wizard x cleric romance and everything is tagged. Some of the stories even have pictures from artists that we’ve commissioned. If you enjoy unhinged time magic, tragic backstories, and hot sex scenes, you’ll like the series.
In my Barovian Rhapsody (Curse of Strahd) game, I’m partaking in the time-old tradition of romancing Strahd. He has offered me his immortal gift and I’ve befriended his brides and also Escher. I’m playing a divine soul sorcerer who told her party that she’s a cleric; if pressed, their plan is to claim they are an arcana cleric. The players know she’s not, and so far only the paladin has figured it out. Knilly, one of the players, has kindly been drawing art for the campaign and made the most amazing anime opening storyboard for it.
I’m also in a Heart campaign and I shockingly managed to retire a character peacefully (though the Heart will get him in the end). He was a Vermissian knight and just wanted to nerd out about trains. I’m now playing an enlightened junk mage whose ambition is to map the Heart.
I had the privilege of playing several new games with many great people. These get their own post.
Non-tabletop games. After around 400 hours, I beat Baldur’s Gate 3 on Honour mode and got all the achievements. I had a lot of fun with the game and I’ll probably pick it back up when the new subclasses are available next year. I also finished Dragon Age: The Veilguard, likewise getting all the achievements and enjoying the story. I also learned how to play Magic: The Gathering and my friends helped me put together a couple of starter decks. As a Yu-Gi-Oh! player, it’s been fun learning the rules and embracing the anarchy of no card zones.
Television. Most weekends, I watch TV with my friend Anna. We watched The Acolyte, House of the Dragon, Blue Eye Samurai, and the final season of Star Trek: Discovery together. Star Trek in particular was a bittersweet moment; I was introduced to the show with this series. I couldn’t have asked for a more fitting end. We also started Dungeon Meshi, which I’m eager to finish.
Books. I read Supplication by Nour Abi-Nakhoul, a hallucinatory horror novel. I also went to a book launch for ANOMIA by local author Jade Wallace at a nearby indie bookshop. It turns out that my city has a thriving literary scene and the bookshop hosts all sorts of readings and launches, and I’m going to try to go to more of them next year. I also picked up In the Key of Decay, a poetry collection by Em Dial.
Health. I did an amazing job of preventing burnout this year. I’m serious about this one, this is a huge accomplishment. I’ve figured out what works for me and I’m more confident than ever that I can balance everything and stay well.
What’s next?
Projects. Most of the work I’ve lined up for 2025 is either unannounced or under NDA, but I can share that I’m the editor for GAST, a horror zine collection using the Carta system by Hatched Games. I love horror and the first solo game I ever played used the Carta system, so I’m stoked to get cracking on this.
Workwise, I’m open for collaborations/contracts starting in Q2, 2025. I’m interested in the themes and motifs discussed throughout this post (shame, perfection, alternate realities, etc.) and I love to design mechanics with an emotional core. As an editor, I’d love to create a style guide and/or a design guide for your game. Find my portfolio and rates on my website.
Travel. I’m planning to go back to the UK for a bit. I haven’t nailed down the exact dates, but it’s either going to be at the end of May, or early December. I’m probably going to spend some time in my seaside hometown then head up north to visit family.
This newsletter. I’d like to post more frequently next year (not least so I don’t end up writing over 4,500 words of updates all at once). I’ve got a number of draft posts in various stages of completion, but if there’s anything in particular you’d like my take or advice on, please tell me in the comments and I can prioritise those topics.
I also want to share more about my design process, the thoughts and ideas that go into all the things I make. I can do some of that here, but if you run a TTRPG podcast or talk show and are looking for guests, I’d love to talk to you.
By all measures, 2024 has been an amazing year for me. I’m grateful for every single person who believed in my ambitions, who trusted me with their words, who invited me into their settings, and who welcomed me at their game tables.
Thank you for your support this past year; I hope you have a restful break, and I’ll see you in 2025!
P.S. If you make a character using a playbook or subclass I designed, I’d love to hear all about them!
Wow!! What an impressive year you had Sebastian!! Looking forward to working with you on Gast, and hopefully some other projects in 2025!