"Wayfinder" a Map-Making TTRPG in the Quill System

Created by Dungeon Artist

Tell a collaborative story about exploring unfamiliar lands in order to find safe passage for your tribe. Start with a blank map, or a pre-made one! Roll "Exploration Dice" to discover new terrain and encounters. Create your Field Notes, and more!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Playtest Finished, New Art, DICE!! And what's ahead!
3 months ago – Wed, Dec 10, 2025 at 09:21:28 PM

Delay and Progress

Firstly, I want to apologize for my lack of communication these past few months. It's been a busy convention season, and some unexpected complications(like a move, among other things) have delayed progress in ways I hadn't expected.

As far as progress, here is where we're at:
  • The book is mostly complete, and we're just waiting on writing to be completed for a few more scenarios, as well as to complete the "Solo Play" and "Map-Making 101" section of the book.
  • The scenarios are being finished by my wonderful collaborators, and will be included soon in the book.
  • Layout is complete on all of the completed chapters(How to Play, The Vast, Fundamentals of Roleplaying, The Quill RPG System, Creating a Character, etc.)
  • I'm currently finishing writing on the Solo Play section, and am excited to share it with you all!

Dice Have Arrived!!

After eagerly waiting, the Quill and Wayfinder Exploration Dice have arrived! Here they are:

Playtesting Update!

Playtesting has finalized, and the final version of the book is being buttoned up.

Thank you to all of you who provided feedback during this phase, and who had the chance to give your honest thoughts to me both on the server and in private. It has truly helped us to fine-tune this book into what it is now. Anyone who contributed to the playtesting will be credited as such in the final book.

New Art

With the addition of some truly wonderful artists, I'd love to share some of their incredible work!


What's On the Horizon?

This week, I will be finishing up the Bestiary and Solo Play sections and will be releasing Wayfinder V0.4 on my Discord to all backers. 

After that, final layout will finish up on the last few chapters, and we'll be off to printing! I have a goal of hitting the big red 'print' button in January. That should take a few weeks before they are shipped to the states. I estimate that fulfillment will complete in March, which does put us a few months behind schedule, unfortunately, but you will be getting your pledges soon!

Thank you for you support, and I'm excited to get this book in all of your hands! 

Happy gaming,

-Austin

Surveys, Playtests, and a SURPRISE ADDON!!!
9 months ago – Wed, Jun 11, 2025 at 05:49:04 AM

Howdy everybody!

First, I want to apologize for the delay in my communication here. It's been a hectic and busy few months, but I've finally caught up and we're on track for some amazing things for Wayfinder!

Surveys

Let's start by talking about Surveys. They should be heading out in the next few days!! I know this has been a long time coming, and I'm truly sorry for that. Unfortunately, due to uncertainty with trade and a lot of factors weighing heavily on my business at the moment, I had to prioritize the health of my finances before I committed to any additional spending on a surprise that I'll talk about later. And thankfully, due to some very successful wrangling on my part, I was able to bring down costs a bit on some key elements of Wayfinder, and have found enough funds myself to be able to provide a special addon. I'll talk more about that in a moment.

Booklet Sneak Peek

Available to everyone participating in the Playtest(see below for information) is the Beta Version PDF of Wayfinder: The Roleplaying Game. I'm so excited to have this out in the open for feedback from you all. Here is is a sneak peek at what is in store for playtesters, and for all backers once the book finally releases!



Playtesting

The Alpha internal playtests were a roaring success, and I've been able to finish the layout and writing for the Beta version. This means that you all will be able to participate in the Beta playtest, if you'd like!

In order to participate in the Beta Playtest of Wayfinder, and offer feedback BEFORE we go to print, please fill out this form, which is a basic NDA to ensure that the intellectual property of Wayfinder is kept safe while in this phase:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZPcZqQQnODze0OypEnwsGJcKc9EcDol-gZSbXihnGxFL-Nw/viewform

Once you fill out that form, you'll be able to join our Discord server here and request access to the Playtest Materials here:
https://discord.gg/gWmjm4KySb

Once you're given access through Discord, you'll have everything you need to start playing Wayfinder! Any and all feedback is crucial during this time. While we've fine tuned a lot over the past few months, even more feedback is needed to make sure this game is the best it can be! Thank you all for your consideration here, and I'm so excited to hear your thoughts!!

SURPRISE NEW ADDON (INCLUDED IN ALL LEGEND TIER ORDERS)

As I eluded to earlier, I've been able to reallign some finances on my end to make something truly special happen. That is, I am now offering a NEW ADDON that will be available to all backers!! THIS IS ALREADY ADDED TO ANY LEGEND TIER ORDERS AUTOMATICALLY AND FREE OF CHARGE!!



You can choose to add this Addon to your order through your Survey! It costs $20 to upgrade to the Leather Edition book for Wayfinder(IF you already have a physical copy of Wayfinder purchased). Which is truly a steal, since the final price will be somewhere around $55-$60 for the Leatherbound Edition.

I'm so excited I was able to make this happen, and I'm SOO excited to see these on your bookshelves!

Thank you all for everything, and for making this campaign such a huge success. Until next time,

Austin

LAST CHANCE for FREE rewards, and New Art Reveals!
11 months ago – Wed, Apr 02, 2025 at 07:41:30 AM

We're in the final stretch here now, and WOW. This campaign has gone so much further than I expected. I want to thank you all once more for your support, and as a thank you in this final moment of the campaign, I want to share some new artwork for the game that was just finished by two of our collaborating artists.

Last Chance for FREE Rewards
As we near the close of the campaign here, I wanted to call out one final time that this is your LAST CHANCE to get the FREE rewards if you back both my campaign AND Familiar Tales. If you have not backed their campaign yet, please consider doing so, as you will get a FREE Quill Pin, and set of Quill dice.



Zi Xu

First, some stunning work from the award winning and absolutely amazing and prolific Zi Xu. Please check out their work here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ziqqix/
Website/Portfolio: https://www.zixu.art/
Thank you so much for your stunning work, Zi. There are many more pieces that I'm excited for you to see in the final book as well!

Motolog

Next I want to share some work from the incredibly skillful and Motolog.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mo_tolog/

Moto, thank you for your amazing work! There are many more pieces that I'm excited for you to see in the final book as well!


I hope you've all enjoyed this update, and let's finish off these last few days well!

FINAL Stretch Goals!!! - Leatherbound Upgrade!
11 months ago – Sun, Mar 30, 2025 at 07:19:10 AM

Ok folks, I've been holding off on announcing this, because I have been unsure if we'd be able to make it happen. But as we near the end, where there's usually a bit of an end-of-campaign rally, I wanted to finally release the last of the stretch goals for this campaign, including one that I am particularly excited about!

So without further ado, here's the final stretch goals to take us to the finish line!


Leatherbound Edition!?

Yep. I'm very excited about this, and i'm really hoping that we can end up making this one work. If we hit our FINAL stretch goal, and break the monumental $10K threshold, I will be upgrading ALL Legend Tier pledges to a Leatherbound Edition!!

So if you want to upgrade your book, and make it into a true showcase on your shelf, then consider switching your pledge to a Legend Tier if you haven't already. This Tier is already PACKED full of value, and the final Leatherbound Edition of the game will retail for significantly more than the standard edition, so this is your chance to save a TON of $$$ by getting in early!

One again, thank you so much for all of your support, and I'm so excited to make this game a reality. It's thanks to all of you that we've come this far, and we're in the final push now! Let's make it happen!

Playtests, Two More Stretch Goals Achieved, and More on the Horizon!
11 months ago – Thu, Mar 27, 2025 at 07:41:38 AM

Wow! We still have a week left, and we're over 550% funded! I cannot thank you all enough for your support that you've shown Wayfinder I'm truly humbled, and I'm so excited to get this printed and in your hands!

I have some wonderful news!

Gary Con Playtests

Gary Con was this past weekend, and for the first time EVER Wayfinder and Quill were out in the wild, having it's early iterations tested and gamed! We got some amazing feedback from our GMs and players, and we're working hard to make alterations and improve on the core functionality of the game systems!

Thank you all who joined us at Gary Con! Here's some photos of the maps that people made while journeying through The Vast!


Future Playtests

One key takeaway from these playtests is that I still would like some more feedback from you all before we hit that big red print button! I would like to invite anyone who is apart of this campaign to playtest Wayfinder after the campaign ends. I will be sending out invites to participate in helping make Wayfinder into the best exploration RPG out there! Stay tuned for more information.

Stretch Goals!!

We're nearing our final stretch goal that we've announced so far, so I wanted to unveil one more on the horizon! Say hello to the Wayfinder Scribe Screen! This 8.5x11 quad-fold GM screen is designed specifically with Wayfinder in mind. Complete with Tables, map-making tips, encounter rules, and more!



Once again, thank you all so much for your continued support, and if we can smash these next few goals, I have something truly special in mind next :)