And this... is a long time coming. (and still more time to go, but still...!)The Afterlifers is a project that I started working on at the beginning of 2024. For those who follow my game, Between, many of you will be familiar with another staple in the genre I dance within.
"Afterlife", by Novin.
This is not a continuation of it. This is not a remake of it. This is not a replacement for it or even a game on its own. This is my own personal take on something I consider heavily influential to my own journey. It is a reimagining.
For those of you not in the know, Afterlife is a TFTG RPG created by Novin. It followed a pair of people thrust into the titular afterlife together after being caught up in a supernatural struggle. The two face new challenges in the strange new world this (after)life provides them, from the strangely mundane to the fantastical. All created by the vast universe's postscript springing up within its boundaries.
In the midst of the Covid pandemic era, Novin went 'missing in action' in the community. I choose to not assume the worst, but whatever may have happened does mean that now - 5 years on since then - the chances of them returning to the project is next to zero.
Afterlife was a pivotal work in my own journey to game creation. It opened my eyes to what these games can be, and how they don't need to just be vehicles for transformation material to be delivered to a player. They can be engaging stories. They can be compelling settings. They can be good games.
I sincerely do not believe that a person can successfully take another's passion project and simply continue it from when discontinued. The biggest fan of any project will be that creator that nurtured it from the seed of an idea, and rarely is that enough passion to see projects to their finish line on its own. Without even factoring in the respect one should be owed for not having another dictate the fate of their creative vision, I sincerely do not think a fan of a project could ever just finish it.
And, despite those musings, I've had a desire to do something for this influential and unfinished work. Something to keep it alive in some small way, even if just via the spark of passion and creativity it offered me.
That's when, in late 2023, I came up with an idea... a comic. A comic that was my own personal original take on the concept.
New characters, a new take on the setting... but with an attempt to recapture the things that made the original special to me... all without trying to simply be the original. This isn't Afterlife. This is my tribute to it... The Afterlifers.
Since that thought came about, I've been slowly working with an artist to bring this idea to reality. Character designs, writing, and both me + the artist growing as we go. I've learned a lot about writing comics and I've yet to post one chapter. For those of you who have seen the Between minisodes and other efforts? Those were born out of an effort to learn more about writing comics before diving into this idea.
The Afterlifers is a reimagining of the Afterlife concept that attempts to capture what I thought made it special. It's setting, characters, and in particular the relationship between the two main leads.
This is ultimately a pure passion project as it stands. This may be not draw many readers and maybe I end up not being great at writing these. Its hard to tell, but it is absolutely something I want to do. And... it is something I want to do for myself.
For anyone worried about the cost of such an endeavor and how it may impact the asset fund this patreon has for Between and other projects of mine... That has not been touched to make this a reality so far.
If it draws eyes and new patrons enough to make it make sense, then perhaps some funding might start coming from the patreon, but until then it'll be a personal passion project that'll go at the pace I personally am comfortable with funding and working on it for.
To end this off, I'll outline some expectations and status updates for this.
Chapter one is a premium sized one, being 40+ pages. Normal chapters will be more like 12-14 pages. We are, in our progress, currently making chapter 3. Add to that, we want to go back and refine/redo a few things in chapter one and two before their release. I believe we've learned a lot.
Once we get through the revision, it'll go up on patreon. That might be in a month or two. Then it'll enter the same release cadence that Icarue's comics do for public releases (which itself will be refined and more transparent come the new year as well).
I'll likely try to post at least one pre-chapter one preview before it gets released. But, until then, I do hope you all will join me on this journey.
Its something near and dear to me. From the initial spark of the original's influence on me, and with what the tribute has grown into on its own, I want to see this to its end.