Echo Walkers Kickoff, Goals, Timeline
“Nothing truly dies until it’s forgotten.”
Hi all — today we’re opening the door on how we’ll build Echo Walkers in public over the next 12 weeks.
As we have previously teased, Echo Walkers is a horror RPG where players’ characters are investigators who step into collapsing timelines to preserve what the world is being forced to misremember or forget. As we have built this out, we have decided on moving the system onto Saga Machine so consequences are clear, identity matters at the table, and choices have visible cost — then packaging a Core Draft for a closed play test at the end of 12 weeks.
What we’re building (North‑stars)
System fit: Tempting the Echo (push), Anchors‑as‑Traits, Consequences (Minor → Severe → Catastrophic), Entropy Events
Setting clarity: 2–3 page primer, 10–15 lore shards, adversary portfolio, the Hollow Archive
Playtestable package: Quickstart, 3–4 pregens, and a Saga Machine version of The Name Forgotten
The 12‑week roadmap (high level)
Week 1: Kickoff, lock outline and section owners
Week 2: Systems alpha — write Consequences, Anchors, Tempting the Echo with examples
Week 3: Setting primer v1 + adversaries index
Week 4: Quickstart v1 + update The Name Forgotten
Week 5: Pregens v1 + internal read‑through and gap list
Week 6: Systems beta harmonised
Week 7: Lore shards & vignettes; art prompt list
Week 8: Quickstart v2 + internal table test
Week 9: Assemble Core Draft v0.7; editorial pass
Week 10: Close gaps; GM guidance and procedures
Week 11: Core Draft v0.9 packaged
Week 12: Buffer; playtest plan and survey
This week’s focus
Freeze Core Book outline and assign section owners
Finalise terms and write first example blocks for Consequences and Tempting the Echo
Announce the plan and invite questions
Spotlight: Why Saga Machine?
Not to make the game “harder,” but to make it fairer to the story we’re telling. We want costs and bargains in the open so courage means something at the table: push your luck (Tempting the Echo), risk visible ‘Consequences’, and let ‘Anchors’ keep identity grounded when the world tilts.
How you can help
If you’re interested, tell us what you want to see most: more on the Echo’s metaphysics, the Hollow Archive, or adversaries that “uninvent” things?
Share a question you’d like the Quickstart to answer clearly.
If you’d like to join the closed playtest, watch for the survey around Week 11.
What’s next
Next week we’ll share Systems Alpha highlights: the Consequences ladder, examples of Tempting the Echo, and how Anchors‑as‑Traits show up in play.
And, more importantly, If this world speaks to you, subscribe to the Black Dog Tavern blog and join the Substack — we’re sharing devlogs, lore drops, and early play materials as we go.