Black Market Guide to Immortality

Good day, all! It's day 2 of our campaign. Even after a whirlwind day 1, we have quite a bit still left in store. We have under 100 backers remaining for the early bird Jiang-shi sticker bonus! At this rate, today's the last day for it.



Getting right to it, we have a very fun opportunity:

We will be hosting on Discord a Q&A event with Shin Seul-ki! Everyone is invited to join our Discord server and submit a question to her to receive an answer from her in-character. While we'll endeavor to answer each question, the choicest questions and answers will be showcased up on our next BackerKit updates!

Ask the author of The Black Market Guide to Immortality anything you might want! We encourage you to ask your question in-character as well.

Thanks to you all, we've beaten the 30K stretch goal in record time! I'm very pleased to share with you a bit of what we have in store here.

Fighter: Gate Guardian (5e)

This subclass of Fighter was inspired broadly by stories in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Based on martial techniques devoted to protecting palaces and fortresses against sieges and invasions, you are the ultimate tank, combining both offense and defense. None shall pass and so long as you stand, you'll suffer no harm to come to your friends and liege. Sometimes, the best means of achieving immortality is to be very, very good at surviving.

Psychic: Unliving Spark (PF2e)



Due to the Gate Guardian being rather similar to the Bastion archetype and shield-based feats already existing, we thought it'd be best to create both a 5e exclusive and a PF2e exclusive.

You harness through your psychic potential the initial spark of life that first fired up your consciousness since your birth or creation. With but a jolt, your spark can again galvanize a corpse to walk yet again.

As part of the Unliving Spark, we're also pleased to introduce a new subconscious mind: the Collective Singularity where your connection runs deep into the sea of souls from which all life originates from. While others' connections weaken, yours remain as strong as ever, allowing you to protect your mind in a pool of a myriad others.

Ranger: Vaultrunner (5e)



The more you adventure, the keener you began to hear the voices of forlorn objects. You consider ruins or dungeons to be a separate environment called a "Vault", an enclosed, environmental ecosystem. Drawing power from spirits innate to the environment, you heed and find lost treasures to instill them with renewed purpose. At critical junctures, you can give these spirits an explosive send-off. It's their final sacrifice, one might say.

As you increase your connection to the souls of the vault's denizens, you gain the power to move your own soul between vessels. No longer are you limited to just one body.

Animist: Voyager of Forgotten Storerooms (PF2e)

Similar in concept except you stand more on the divine side of the magical spectrum. Heeding wayward spirits and even household gods left behind in abandoned places, you imbue their vessels with mobility. You're an expert user of household tools with knowledge of both architecture and, well, objects that others would consider junk. 

After listening to some feedback from readers and gamers, we thought this would be an excellent opportunity to work more with the classic, existing species/ancestries/heritages in 5e and PF2e. That's why we're very excited to introduce:

Korpokkur Gnome (5e)/Korpokkur Pixie (PF2e)



From Ainu folklore, korpokkurs are fairies that once coexisted with the Ainu people. They're little people that lived beneath the butterbur plants (which if I can be honest are quite tall) that crafted items to trade with people for. Very shy, however, they prefer not being looked at directly. In our world, they wear magical veils and garbs that shroud their true appearances.

Gnomes, having some degree of connection to fey and wilderness, seemed appropriate to associate with the korpokkur. Their culture centered around tinkering also fit well. In PF2e, we decided to lean more into the fairy aspect by making them a pixie heritage.

Ten OST tracks!!

We increase the number of tracks from 5 to 10!! I think as we update you guys on the progress of our OST, showing you samples of completed tracks, we will continue to poll you and see what people are interested in listening to. I'm personally very excited to commission more music based around the atmosphere set in Undying Corruption. The theme of the Society of Wailing Souls in particular I feel could inspire a great deal of tension.

15 new minis!

Our collection of 3D printable minis increases to 15! All of which can be voted on. I should mention, we plan on beginning tallying up votes once we can distribute everyone's surveys. That might be the easiest way to start polling people once we have everyone's stretch goals locked in. Anyway, keep your eyes peeled for new previews of monsters because you might get to make them into a new 3d printable mini!

Cleric: Emptiness Domain (5e)/Oracle: Awakening Mystery (PF2e)



The concepts of awakening and emptiness have a great deal of overlap. Accepting emptiness is to accept that all things lack intrinsic meaning and even pain can be overcome through a higher state of being. Yours is a path that seeks to undo the delusions plaguing the world which spark suffering, fear, and hatred, hence awakening. 

Given the Void Domain exists in PF2e, we felt it would be more prudent to try our hand at creating an oracle mystery instead. 

New Chapter: Unmasking the Gods

On clearing this stretch goal, we will include in The Black Market Guide yet more forbidden secrets that will increasingly earn its spot in-world as one of the most illegal printed pieces in history. We'll delve into the cross-pollination of religions and the secret machinations of various different deities.

Community Poll: New Core Lineage/Heritage

Just as you might've seen with the Gnomish/Pixie Korpokkur, we're going to leave it to the readers to decide which of the core species/ancestries you'd like to see most given a unique lineage/heritage in the world. Orcs, Elves, Gnomes, you will be commissioning us to delve more into our research to tailor a new lineage/heritage by community demand.

This will be a community project and you'll be in on the creation process!

Wizard: School of Ceremonies (5e)/Yin-Yang Master Archetype (PF2e)



If you'd like to play something akin to a taoist master of cultivation fantasy or an onmyoji of Heian fiction, this will scratch that itch. You are not merely a spellcaster, but an officiant of the magical arts. You fashion your spells into rituals or you can imbue them on your person or a paper talisman, unlocking their powers at the proper time. All of this builds up to the Ritual of Eternity, allowing you to perform a ritual that extends particular spells' durations to states of permanency.

The PF2e side, given the presence of fulus and talismans, will draw more on those rules as we build up our archetype.

If you have any questions or comments, please reply here or email us at [email protected]. Otherwise, you can join our Discord server! Especially as the Seul-ki Q&A kicks off!

Good evening, folks!! And MAN, what an explosive start to this campaign! Over the course of the day, we unlocked a hell of a lot of stretch goals. That!! Bodes very well for this project and we're exceedingly eager to share with you all more of what we have planned.

For those of you who were able to join our morning inaugural livestream, thank you very much! Me and Charlie had a lot of fun chatting with all of you. In addition, a double thank you for those who caught the technical issue of being asked to provide your country for digital tiers. That has since been corrected.

Fixed Tech Issues w/ Digital Tiers: For those looking forward to your early bird and returning backer incentives, but only want digital add-ons otherwise, let me be clear: you're still entitled to them! We exempted them because of the tech problems, but please, please if you want to redeem them, let me know and I can manually add the items to your survey.

Now, for the fun part!

10K Stretch Goals:

The Guxiang is a survivor of a terrible curse that targets the spirit, removing it from the cycle of reincarnation. In body and heart, they've become one with the swarm, managing to largely maintain their sense of self. The "lucky" few. They've since found communities among cultivators and use their venomous magic to also create cures as herbalists and apothecaries.

The lootra is an otter-like people based in the shores and riverbanks of Danguk. When a yongwang fell ill and the medicine called for the heart of a pure creature, an otter offered theirs. The yongwang, moved by the otter's sacrifice, gave them a treasure heart. Since, the descendants of that otter came to be known as lootras, identifiable by their exposed hearts: gemstones able to detect treasure in the vicinity. While shy, they're also tough and loyal to their friends. Their civilizations get by in rural areas, selling and trading treasures they find with people.

Certain mice that evolved in the subterranean tunnels beneath the Kyougen Federation evolved, developing psionic powers from the psychic waves around monasteries and temples. They call themselves yidamice and they've awakened both mentally and spiritually. Nibbling on gentle thoughts sustains them and they've since based their society around the teachings of Moksaka, helping others connect with their enlightened mind through meditation. Of course, there are yidamice that can't stand such a stifling society and go on their own way, enduring the mental noise of towns and cities compared to their simple paradise.

15K Stretch Goals:

Also unlocked! The total number of 3D minis contained in our set increases to 10. You will have more to vote for to choose which monsters and creatures you'd most like to see made into a 3D Printable mini!



The Jiang-shi has been unlocked!! Because becoming a jiang-shi requires a process and not one is, usually, naturally born, we decided to make it a lineage in 5e and make it part of the dhampir heritage in PF2e. Like the revenant linage, anybody that died can become a jiang-shi so long as your body was animated in such a way. You're given the ability to sense creatures through the lifeforce in their breath. Your stiff limbs give you greater resistance against being knocked Prone and the fulu, or paper talisman, affixed to your forehead grants your body greater resistance against destruction.

20K Stretch Goals:

Barbarian: Path of the Samadhi Furnace/Cultivator of Rage


The true Samadhi Furnace holds the power of the samadhi fire, an everburning divine flame. In an attempt to replicate the artifact, cultivators created a miniature-sized device that, while incomparable to the genuine article and unable to be used to craft legendary items, can hold and circulate intense heat and life force. Those who walk the Path of the Samadhi Furnace, Cultivators of Rage, become able to channel pure rage into regenerative power and a frightful, protective armor. 

Rogue: Immortalist

The Immortalist Rogue filches from others their life currency, be it blood, breath, or fragments of their spirit. Using their blade as a conduit, they channel the stolen life force into their own bodies, thus sustaining their own life. In a manner, this is a means of attaining vampirism without requiring the messiness of undeath. 

25K Stretch Goals:

New NPCs: The Thieves' Guild of Iseung

Our NPC Guide grows! We will include a thieves' guild, or overall quasi-legitimate organization founded on the bedrock of crime, based in each established country in the region of Iseung. We've already hinted at one: the Ayakashigumi is an organization of yokai led by a charismatic nurarihyon. By exacerbating the rot in Kyougen society, they wish to topple order and return the lands to a world of night. Not the friendliest of groups, but you also have the Jeguk Merchantry, or the JM Group, a clan-owned business in Danguk led by its dwarven Chairwoman Hae Iseul. It currently owns a monopoly of all production of common magic items in Danguk and organizes pirating crews to remove the competition.

We'll also finally be able to commission various NPCs that were named in Undying Corruption's Player's Guide!

Gozuspawn Tiefling



The Gozuspawn Tiefling/Nephilims is a reincarnation of the Gyuki, a fallen agricultural or mountain god. Though once revered, the god has been forgotten and in its rage, it transformed into the Gyuki. When a Gyuki is slain without its anger extinguished, its spirit reenters the cycle of reincarnation, grasping onto it. Gozuspawn Tieflings/Nephilims are inheritors of that great anger. With their evil eyes, they inflict terrible curses born from their ire.

A number of stretch goals are just around the corner. The Fighter: Gate Guardian/Psychic: Unliving Spark, Paladin: Oath of Directions/Lokapala Archetype, and Ranger: Vaultrunner/Animist: Voyager of Forgotten Storerooms are next.

The Fighter focuses on becoming sets of fortress gates, combining both offense and defense to become an unparalleled tank. It seemed similar to the Bastion archetype in PF2e, so we decided to make something a little different. The Unliving Spark enables psychics to rekindle life in a body by sending charges through its silent mind's synapses. Your psychic potential melds with the spiritual, mixing the intangible with ectoplasm and harnessing force from beyond the grave.

The Oath of Directions/Lokapala Archetype is based heavily on the concept of the directional deities. They protect seekers of enlightenment in all directions. More on this later, but expect a lot of teleporting and forced teleportation.

The Ranger: Vaultrunner and Animist: Voyager of Forgotten Storerooms require you to be in tune with the wayward spirits in abandoned objects and places. Using your natural or divine powers, you give them motion to borrow their powers, and should the time come when they're ready to transcend, you can make their departure.... explosive. 

All this and more coming up! Please stay tuned for more updates.

Hello, all!

Just wanted to send out a reminder for folks that the Q&A is this Sunday. I reckon we will stream on YouTube and connect it through Launch Party. StellalunaTV will ask a number of broad, basic questions I think people are interested in having answers for during the first half, after which we'll hand it over to the audience. We figure it'll be no longer than 1 hour and 30 minutes, but we can keep time flexible without issue.

It's just around the corner, folks!! Less than 2 weeks left. If you haven't yet, please do consider making a reservation for your free Gyuki pin with any order! We have early bird bonuses too with free stickers with each order. We also intend to livestream during the start of the crowdfunding campaign! More details on that forthcoming.

Set the date, folks, it's coming!

So the poll results thus far shows as follows: 1) for the content question, people are most interested in ancestries/heritages/species and worldbuilding/lore. We'll keep that under advisement as we put together the book! Subclasses and bestiary about came in second which isn't too much of a surprise either. 

2) for the soundtrack question, it's a healthy mix, but people seem a little more interested in having songs reflecting moments of tension and mystery unfolding. I'll pass that message along to the composer!

So a bit of preview into our worldbuilding! Here are some additional major deities across national boundaries.

The Four Heavenly Kings are major deities in Moksaka's pantheon (Buddhist inspired)! They were originally Primordial Beasts, the strongest exemplars of modern day animals and monsters, born from the flesh of their mother, Golden IMA. Each of the Four Heavenly Kings at one point or another became students of Moksaka or their incarnations. Being slaves to impulse or desires, their teacher liberated them and they repay their gratitude by protecting all those seeking enlightenment in the cardinal directions.

Hello, everyone! Hope your week has been going well so far.

This week's update is equal parts special and different: we're proud to present to you a battle theme in our upcoming add-on soundtrack. The tone is set to fit with the Undying Corruption adventure. It very much has the tone fitting of combat brewing in a strategy-based RPG with the bells reminiscent of an exorcism underway.

Our composer, Dale North, did a wonderful job on the piece. He works in video games and I'm particularly excited to play Threads of Time, a beautiful, time-traveling RPG that he's writing the music for.

We've dropped the music file in the playtest drive for project followers to listen to. Do comment and let us know what you think! And please participate in our new poll to help us gauge what sort of music would best fit your campaigns. We will of course include the track in any VTT module that we put out as part of the campaign.

We're set to start this tentatively on the 24th at 9AM Pacific. You'll see us finalize this date hopefully in the next update when we produce a graphic for it. The way this will be structured is that Stella, who has graciously volunteered her time to facilitate the stream, will ask me and Charlie broad, basic questions about the book, about the general work process perhaps, and some specific cultural and story questions.

We'll then field any specific questions you might have yourselves while in the audience! Depending on the questions, this will very much help us set up and finalize our FAQ section as well, so we hope to see you there!

Aside from this, EP 9 of Stellaluna's Undying Corruption stream will take place this Saturday at 5PM Pacific on Twitch (also streamed here on BackerKit)! It ended up canceled last Saturday due to health reasons, but we're excited to finally delve deep into the last dungeon of Arc 1!

If you have any specific questions or comments, please feel free to let me know here or contact us at [email protected]. If you'd like, we also encourage you to join our Discord server!

Hello everyone! 

We have EP 9 of Stellaluna's Actual Play stream of Undying Corruption coming up Saturday 8/9 at 3PM Pacific! Watch for a good preview of our worldbuilding.

Got a hefty update coming up for all of you here. First thing's first, a number of eagle-eyed followers have already noticed that we've postponed the start of the campaign. With GenCon last week, our efforts to get the word out stalled somewhat unexpectedly. We're hoping to recover some time to ensure that we have the biggest first day launch possible on September 2nd. The additional time of course will be used to fine-tune and add more stretch goals. Speaking of which!

The Guxiang are insectoid people in Long Xin who were inflicted with a particularly cruel curse. In this world, the gu curse afflicts the soul, even those of the caster or counteractor. It infuses the soul with a debilitating poison so deeply that even reincarnation can't rid one of it. The lucky few that survive are transformed. As their soul conflicts or finds harmony with the insects and creatures used as spell components, their body also inherits their traits. Many guxiang embark on the path of cultivation in order to come to terms with their curse and find a sympathetic community.



You can expect more of the Guxiang species/heritage as one of our upcoming stretch goals! We're taking this time to concoct and add more additional goodies up to unlock especially as we delve deeper into our cultural research.

On the FoundryVTT end, I've updated the module with an additional compendium including ancestries and heritages from Undying Corruption! Class feats are still in progress and we're taking this time to give what we have a good look and see where we can improve post-remaster. Keep an eye on that drive over the weekend also. Now that I have several days off from work, I'm planning on doing more with setting up digitally playable content. 

All that said, we will make these extra two weeks worth your while. We're planning to announce a live Q&A session between me, Stellaluna, and our layout artist, Charlie. Everyone is encouraged to participate! I'm eager to see what people are most curious about "The Black Market Guide" and I'm hoping the event will inspire us to pursue different creative directions. You can expect more news on this hopefully by next week's update.

We'll take this opportunity also to fine-tune our stretch goals. In fact, we've taken the time to add several more ancestries/heritages/species to our stretch goals, one of which we're delighted to preview here.

Finally, last week's poll showed us that most gamers still either play exclusively 2014 or mix and match whatever they feel is good about both editions. That's about what we expected, but it's great to get confirmation on that. We'll proceed with tailoring our book to 2014 players with additional documents or sidebars that assist with 2024 conversion.

This week, we have a poll for everyone. We want to get your opinion on what you're most excited for in the book. This will help us fine-tune our stretch goals and improve our crowdfunding campaign with this additional time! We look forward to everyone's thoughts again.

If you have any comments or questions, please comment here or email us at [email protected].

We also encourage you to join our server in Discord!

Just a reminder also, reservations are still available! You can do so to get a free Gyuki enamel pin with your pledge.