Vergebound — News

The First Two Stories Are Almost Ready - Serialization Starts Soon

J.D. Stanton — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The first two stories are almost ready to be serialized, and the rest of the content - Codex entries and the stories behind them - continues to come along.

Mid-September was the original target but I’d rather start a little late with enough written to keep going than start on time and stall a few weeks in. The goal is still a weekly rhythm that we can maintain.

We’ll start releasing in the next week or two. When it starts, the stories will arrive in installments here on the site, with new entries following on a regular schedule. If you’d like to know the moment it begins, the RSS feeds are the easiest way to follow along.

Only the written shall remain.

Building the Buffer - Weekly Erdaheim Starts Mid-September

J.D. Stanton — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Since stepping back from the podcast, Dan and I have been doing exactly what I said we would: putting that time back into Erda. Right now that means building a buffer - Codex entries, stories, the kind of steady written material this site was always supposed to run on, rather than something we scramble to produce week to week.

We’re not switching that on the moment it’s ready, either. We’re building enough of a lead that weekly publishing can actually hold once it starts. That start date is mid-September.

Less Talk, More Game

J.D. Stanton — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The digital prototype taught me something I needed to actually test to believe: Vergebound works best when the time and energy behind it goes straight into the game and the world, not into everything orbiting it. Long-form podcasting has been a good creative outlet, and we’ve learned a ton (thanks to all the guests so far) but it’s also been quietly expensive - in time, in energy, and in cost - relative to what it’s given back. So we’re pausing it for the moment.

That time is going two places instead: back into Vergebound itself, and into getting Erdaheim written and published on a real, weekly rhythm again. More on what that looks like soon.

Vergebound Goes Digital - A First Look, and First Feedback

J.D. Stanton — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

After months of paper, pencil, and print runs, Vergebound has its first playable digital build online in a test sandbox. It’s not a replacement for the tabletop game but an experiment to see if the evolving mechanics work without the lift to arrange everyone’s schedules for in-person play tests.

We kept the first look small and internal on purpose. Krzystof gave us thirteen points of feedback within a day of getting access. Much much faster than the paper and pen feedback loops so far. There’s more testing ahead before this is ready for a wider audience, but this is an interesting start to finding out what Vergebound could be beyond the table.

Away From the Desk - I Got Married

J.D. Stanton — Tue, 26 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

If you’ve noticed things went quiet around here for a while, there’s a good reason: I got married. Between the wedding itself and the honeymoon that followed, I stepped fully away from Vergebound for a few months. Erdaheim has waited this long to be finished properly; it could wait a season longer while I took care of something just as important.

I’m hands on keyboard again. Thank you for your patience during the gap - there’s a lot to catch you up on, and more coming soon.

Who We've Actually Talked To - The Into the Verge Guest List So Far

J.D. Stanton — Mon, 18 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

After the last update about our podcast backlog, I got a fair question back: is there actually anything in that backlog, or are we just behind? So here’s a full list of who we’ve actually sat down with for Into the Verge so far, recorded and real, whether or not it’s made it out the door.

Sean Ryan, Story/Setting Developer at Asmodee - recorded and edited, ready for release.
Mark Goldman (aka Markus Goldman), rock-and-roll podcaster with his own show pulling around 100k listeners a month at its peak - recorded back in early February.
Andrew Frinkle, world builder and published author working in serial fiction - recorded the same week as Mark.
Jason Brandon, a DM and creative collaborator with Mark Rein-Hagen on his “Lostlorn” project - recorded in late February.
Frank Perkins, a DM, recorded alongside Sean Ryan.
Jeff Smith, who by day commands a Pacific Fleet nuclear submarine group and by hobby has been a college DM for years - recorded in early March.
Mark Rein-Hagen, creator of Vampire: The Masquerade and creative director on Lostlorn - recorded in mid-March, not yet released.
Kelly Williams, writer, DM, and a genuine connector in the TTRPG industry - recorded in late March, still raw and waiting on an edit.

That’s eight waiting on exactly the editing help I asked for last time. We’ve been stacking up material faster than we can finish it. More of these are coming out as soon as we’ve got the help to cut them.

We Need an Editor - the Podcast Queue Is Piling Up

J.D. Stanton — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

So… we’re better at booking guests than we are at getting episodes out the door. Between Mark Rein-Hagen and a few other conversations recorded over the last couple of months, we’ve got a real backlog sitting in raw footage - good material that nobody’s heard yet because it hasn’t been edited.

Recording a conversation is the fun part; cutting it down into something worth someone’s time is a completely different skill and a real time sink, and right now it’s the bottleneck. We’re looking for an editor to help us clear the queue and keep pace with it going forward. If that’s you, or you know someone who might be a fit, get in touch - there’s already plenty of material waiting.

The First Faces of Erdaheim, and a Big Name Coming to the Podcast

J.D. Stanton — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

For years, Erdaheim has existed as simply lore and rules notes - which is fine for playtesting, but it’s not how a world becomes real to people. That’s finally changing. Over the last couple of months, commissioned art has started arriving for the game’s races and classes, and I got to see some of them rendered by hands other than mine for the first time. It’s a strange, wonderful thing to see others weave visible skin over your world’s bones.

The Vergewalker (class), by Heitor Aquino.

Orosi (human subrace), by Tam Tran Thi.

Nythrim (race), by Tiago Barcelos.

The Glass Widow (Verge-mutated giant spider), by Johnrev Rodrigueza.

And one still in progress: Dravenka (race), being worked on by Creative Caviar. This one isn’t finished yet - what we have so far is a rough sketch and a speedpaint recording, not a final piece, so consider it a work-in-progress preview rather than a reveal.

Separately, on the podcast side: we just booked Mark Rein-Hagen - creator of Vampire: The Masquerade - for a conversation about building worlds that outlast their creators. Landing him was a genuine coup, and I’m looking forward to sharing the conversation once we’ve actually recorded it - more on that soon.

Growing Erdaheim - Level 5 Skill Trees, and a Call for Artists

J.D. Stanton — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Since PAX, I’ve been heads-down on the one thing every playtester asked about most: what happens after the early levels? The Playtest Packet now covers the Gearmaster and Vergewalker skill trees all the way through level 5, so adventurers have a real path to grow into instead of hitting a wall a few sessions in. It’s a meatier document than the one I was handing out a few weeks ago, and it’s already changing how people build characters at the table.

The other big shift this month: I’m opening Vergebound up to outside artists. Erdaheim has lived in our heada - and in a lot of rules text - for a long time, and it’s time for other eyes and hands to help shape what it actually looks like. We’ve put together a call for illustrators to submit test pieces, with a shot at defining the visual identity of the game’s first chapter. If you know an artist who might want in on that, send them our way.

You can find the post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/intotheverge/

Vergebound Heads to PAX - Meet J.D. This Friday

J.D. Stanton — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

This Friday, J.D. will be attending PAX to personally share early print copies of the Vergebound Playtest Packet, connect with tabletop fans, and introduce new players to the emerging world of Erdaheim. If you’re attending, keep an eye out - he’ll be handing out packets, directing people to our digital links, answering questions, and generally doing the dangerous work of talking about a project he loves far too much.

PAX marks our first in-person effort to introduce Vergebound to the wider TTRPG community, and we couldn’t be more excited. If you spot J.D., say hello, grab a packet, and help shape the next iteration of the game. This is only the beginning.

Playtest Packet Complete - And Ready for Adventurers

J.D. Stanton — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

After months of drafting, refining, rewriting, and testing, the Vergebound Playtest Packet is officially complete. This first-look package captures the core mechanics, tone, and world pillars of the Erdaheim setting, offering a fully playable slice of what we’ve been building for the last several years. It includes class previews, encounter structures, lore foundations, and a guided introduction to the collapsing histories and mythic dread that define the world.

Now the real work begins. Over the coming weeks we’ll be placing this packet into the hands of early testers, GMs, designers, and curious wanderers to gather feedback that will help shape the next phase of development. Vergebound was built to be played, broken, questioned, and remade - and we can’t wait to see what you do with it.