You are a hedgehog trying to mind your business and go about your day. Your goal: to enjoy a cup of tea and bask in the sun. The problem is, all your neighbors and friends are trying to get your attention and help for any number of tasks! Make your escape to your toadstool home before the neighborhood busybodies take up all your time and energy.

Tea & Toadstools is a solo GM-less journaling game in which you will document your experiences as a hedgehog in a twill vest who just wants to be left in peace, but other folks in the forest neighborhood have other plans. The game is intended to be silly and thought-provoking as you write out your hedgehog character’s story.

Tea & Toadstools is written using the Carta system, from Cat McDonald and Peach Garden Games. Throughout the game, you will move around the “board” made up of cards from a standard playing deck as you try to make your escape to reach your toadstool home (the Goal Card) and record your experiences based on the cards you turn over along the way in your journal for posterity.

Anya — Writer & Layout Anya (she/her) wrote two Indie TTRPGs in 2022, one inspired by the animals around her and the other her background as a lifelong skier and mountain-dweller. Tea & Toadstools is her latest venture, inspired by the sweet little hedgehog she spotted in someone's yard curled up next to a mushroom, as well as her love of tea and nature. Website: http://lalionnecosplay.carrd.co Itch.io: http://lalionnepublishing.itch.io

Natalie — Artist Natalie Chenard (she/they) is an illustrator with a focus on fantasy. She has previously worked and studied animation and video games, and has an ongoing career as an artist on TTRPGs. Natalie has a range of styles and inspirations but mainly works with bright, contrasting colours and whimsical scenes. When she isn’t an artist, you can catch Natalie playing in TTRPGs and being a variety streamer. Portfolio: http://ghostcandleart.com Social links: http://ghostlylinks.carrd.co

Jonathan — Editor Jonathan (they/them) is a nb latiné writer, editor, game designer, and voice actor. Their work has been featured in  Black Bough Poetry   and you can usually find them watching existential video essays with their cat Ser Arthur Conan Doyle. Twitter:https://twitter.com/JMBraceras Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/paptimusprime

Custom Dice

Anya is collaborating with RuneFable to create beautiful custom shard d6s to be used as the marker for Tea & Toadstools and any other games you play! As these dice are hand-poured, they are each unique and designs will vary, though the color scheme and general design will largely be the same!

Base Goal: $1,100

Cover Artwork — $250

The majority of funding will go towards Natalie creating the beautiful cover artwork. Additionally, there are stretch goals in place for spot artwork within the book to bring Hedgie's forest neighborhood to life! Natalie's artwork is stunning and this funding will pay in full the value of her time and skills.

Editing — $100

A project cannot be completed without the efforts of an editor! This part of the process is time-consuming and also brings with it playtesting and rewrites to ensure that the game is written in a way that is accessible to all who play it, and this portion of the funds will go towards Paptimus for their high-quality editing skills. They edited Anya's last game, Mountaintop Isolation, and she knows they will do a wonderful job with Tea & Toadstools as well.

Writing — $250

Of course, there is no game without its writer. This portion of the funds will go towards Anya's expertise and time with research and writing the game for you to love and enjoy as much as she does!

Print Copies — $100

As part of the project, there will be staple-bound zine-style copies published for backers as well as future sales.

Buffer — $400

As with all projects, there are unexpected costs and expenses that arise. This buffer will cover our bases to ensure this project will be a success!

Stretch Goal 1: $1,600

If we hit this stretch goal, we'll get five lovely illustrations of Hedgie's forest neighborhood and the creatures who live there, all drawn by Natalie!

Stretch Goal 2: $2,100-$3,100

Translations! The online TTRPG scene tends to be very English language-heavy, and I would love to get this project translated into at least one other language (Spanish). Each translator would be paid $500 for their work.

Stretch Goal 3: $3,600

You've done the impossible, amazing, and wonderful! At $3,600, Anya will convert Tea & Toadstools to be played in two-player mode! This means additional prompts, a larger board, and more complex mechanics, which will be released as their own SRD and available for free to be used by others in their own games!

February 17 - March 18

Crowdfunding for the game is live!

March - April

Finalizing the writing, artwork, and formatting of the game.

May

PDF of the game is complete! All backers will receive their PDF copy of the game a month before it is published on itch.io.

June - July

All physical products will ship to backers who ordered them, and the digital version of the game is published on itch.io, complete with all community copies purchased by backers.

Tea & Toadstools is a proud participant in ZiMo!

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