Getting Up To Speed
An Easy Guide to Donne Caestrum
You may have read my last two posts, or stumbled across Donne Caestrum on one of the many platforms I’m currently on, yet still find yourself wondering: what exactly is all this about?
Don’t worry - I’m here to make things clear. I have no interest in gatekeeping or leaving you feeling like an outsider. There’s something at Donne Caestrum for everyone! Maybe you’ve never played a game in your life. Maybe you’re curious how a game is made. Maybe you’ve always assumed (incorrectly) that games weren’t for you. I aim to give you all the answers you need.
And since many of our projects are inspired by real-world history, I would understand if some of our topics and themes are a little intimidating. Maybe you’ve never explored the history of the world or your country - and that’s okay, most don’t. Maybe it’s always seemed important to you, but never engaging - or maybe it actually did fascinate you, but was taught in a dry, boring way. I hope to make not just the games, but the topics and histories we explore as approachable, exciting and creative as possible.
I’d like to build a space where anyone, no prior knowledge or experience required, can join the club, and find something to enjoy, learn or be inspired by.
What kind of things do you do?
Donne Caestrum is a game design business. Unlike the massive “Triple-A” companies you may know, we are proudly an indie developer - it’s literally just me.
We develop all kinds of experiences: while Computer games are on the cards for the future, right now we specialise in the Tabletop world. Tabletop gaming includes anything that can play physically on a table: Board games, Card games, War games and Tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs).
TTRPGs are a bit of a unique concept, so let me explain. You might have heard of RPGs like Skyrim, GTA-V, Pokémon, or Zelda. These are the digital cousins of the Tabletop RPG, sharing a common idea. You are a character (role) within a larger world/setting, where you can level up, explore and complete quests. If you look for it, this basic format is everywhere.
At the table, that same concept can unfold, but with pencil and paper (to track player stats), a Games Master (to narrate the world, quest and action), dice (for randomness and possibility), and a whole lot of imagination. What starts as campfire storytelling can turn into a wildly entertaining adventure with no limits besides creativity.
More than games, you might find a whole manner of extra stuff from Donne Caestrum. I dabble in designs for:
Stories and Novels: the story and world are at the heart of our games, so I’ll always have a passion to pursue writing, whether it’s to share a short story or grand epic.
Puzzles and Trivia: from time to time, I like to come up with brainteasers, challenges and quizzes.
Art and Illustration: as an integral part of game design, I try and make works of art as much as possible, though I’m not exceptional at it. My art leans more into illustration, though I am constantly improving my skills and refining works to make something special.
Dynasty Charts, Timelines, History Blogs and Essays: with the focus on history that we have since my games are so history themed right now, I have tried to build a lot of interesting, educative content around the topics. The Dynasty Charts (showcasing entire historical ruling families) are particularly valuable.
Donne Caestrum is truly a big bag of everything! All of this is in the hope that someone out there will get to experience and enjoy it too.
Why the focus on History?
You may have noticed a lot of the content I post is history oriented. My focus at Donne Caestrum is on fulfilling what I believe to be a desperate need in society - the starvation of things that actually matter. A lot of our lives are dominated by endless consumption, and while we might be passively aware, we are not able to be intimately familiar with topics that enrapture us.
I believe that games should be vehicles for wonder and joy; learning and challenge; experience and storytelling. But not only that, we have a responsibility to not let the things that matter go unnoticed. Every one of us has a duty to create, and put our own thoughts and expressions into the world.
For me, history is one thing that really matters. It is a tapestry of human experiences, triumphs and tragedies. So many people think of history as distant, irrelevant or intimidating, but I’ve always held that history shouldn’t ever be considered boring. The stories found in history are worth telling - some are hidden gems found in the most obscure facts and outlandish theories, while others are the very bedrock of our world.
It is my hope that Donne Caestrum can make brilliant games. I want to meet my commitment to creating great and wonderful works, and through the unique craft of games, share the history I’ve learned and the stories I find thrilling.
Donne Caestrum will not forever exclusively dwell on history though. Just because my ideas now are deeply rooted in a particular setting, does not mean I will not in future explore the realms of fantasy, myth, science-fiction, abstract concepts or even modernity in all it’s complexity and grandeur. So make use of me now to learn of the Dark Ages and the Roman Empire while you still can!
What are the games you're making?
Right now, Donne Caestrum has a variety of projects in the works. I’ve discussed these projects in greater detail in my first two posts (the second of which was a full roadmap for development), but here I’ll mention them again.
Caesariensis
Death of Constans
This is a TTRPG campaign. In a TTRPG, you can construct any world in your collective imagination for the games setting - for example, it could be a fantasy kingdom, the Star Wars universe, or a time and place from real history. When you play a game within a particular setting, this is called a campaign (much like how a military campaign refers to a series of battles in a particular part of the world).
Caesariensis is a campaign setting based in the Roman Empire (around the later part, 350 AD). Death of Constans is the first campaign “episode” in a longer series, which I refer to as the Uncivil Wars series, and follows the story of an Emperor’s assassination.
The product specifically will be centred around a Campaign Guide - a book full of details, from which a game could be played. In any TTRPG, you would be expected to have either spent a while building the details of a world or the plot of a story all by yourself, or have a vivid enough imagination to do so on the spot.
With a Campaign Guide, all of that is simplified. You don’t need to come up with the objectives, as the guide can walk you through a plot. You don’t need to design a world, as the guide will have a plethora of ideas to use. You don’t need to worry about researching history even - of course it would be worth your while, but the guide has all the answers you need.
On top of the Campaign Guide, keep your eyes peeled, as many helpful RPG tools, resources, expansion packs, adventure modules and even some standalone print-and-play games, are on their way. If getting into Tabletop still seems daunting, or the setting seems too challenging for you, I aim to provide a wealth of useful kits to make things easier for you.
Realms Warriors TCG
Realms Warriors began as just a small side-project, but quickly grew to dominate my plans for a time. It’s a Trading Card Game (TCG), using a selection of 118 historical (a few mythological) military units, from the Dark Ages of British history.
If you’re unfamiliar, a TCG is a type of card game where players collect cards - often through randomized packs - and use them to build personalized decks for competitive or casual play. You might have played something like Top Trumps before, where stat-matching leads to cards being traded back and forth until one player triumphs with the entire deck.
Realms Warriors takes this basic idea, but we are experimenting with ability and resource systems to provide many different ways to play.
Realms Reckoning
Realms Reckoning is a project that has been with me for a long time - it first took shape back in 2018. It’s a Strategy Board Game set in Anglo-Saxon Britain, where players take control of kingdoms and strive to conquer as much territory as possible.
Map-based Strategy games, often called Map Painters or 4X games (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate), are a staple in the world of computer games. However, they’re less common in the board game scene due to the inherent limitations of physical components.
With Realms Reckoning, I set out to design a game for this fascinating historical setting with a fresh perspective on the genre. Every design decision has been made from the ground up, and that has meant countless iterations and rigorous playtesting to refine the mechanics, and capture the essence of the era.
How Can I Help?
Running an indie business is a constant juggling act, and while we have tools like social media to help our ideas grow, I am reliant on your support far more than you know. Here’s what you can do to help:
You can Subscribe to this Newsletter - stay updated on my progress, learn more about the projects, and join the journey. You’ll get fantastic reads along the way, straight to your inbox.
Follow and Share - if you see something you like, share it with your friends! Word of mouth is important for any business, but is super powerful for a small creator like me.
Engage with the content - likes, comments and shares show people that you found something valuable, and can help my work reach more people.
Support on Patreon - you can subscribe entirely for free, and there is also the option to support me financially with a membership tier, or purchase some of our exclusive content from the shop!
Give Feedback - if you have ideas, thoughts on a post, a heads-up that a link might be broken, something to share, or just encouragement, I’d love to hear from you.
Every little action helps build this dream into a reality. You just have to be here and keep coming back to see how things are going. Thank you for reading and being a part of this journey. I hope I’ve managed to answer some questions and clear some things up.