Pitch Day: The Great Forest
We’re taking pitches for our upcoming game, The Lands Remaining! Pitch Day will be December 6th, 2025. There will be three different Zoom calls you can join to make your pitch directly to Jason Cordova, creator of The Lands Remaining. They are at 10 AM Eastern, 3 PM Eastern, and 7 PM Eastern. Each call lasts one hour. Links to the Zoom calls will be posted on The Gauntlet Discord Server, in the Lands Remaining channel.
Project Overview
The Lands Remaining is Carved from Brindlewood game of elegiac fantasy about a group of characters, the Embers, who are exploring a world brought low by a catastrophic event called the Dimning. These characters, these Embers, are from the time of the Old Fire, the world before the Dimning, and are each icons or paragons of a particular order or ideal or belief system. They have been resurrected into this ruined world to explore its mysteries, to uncover the truth of the Dimning and why their own order or ideal fell to it. During this, they will have to face the so-called Lords of the Lands Remaining, who block the way to their ultimate goal: the Throne of the Old King. One of them will ascend the Throne of the Old King and light a new fire, which will burn across the world, remaking it in their image.
Our initial release will consist of two books (initially only available in digital format): The Lands Remaining: Elegy and The Lands Remaining: The Great Forest. The first is the core rulebook; we are not taking pitches for that. We are taking pitches for The Great Forest, which is the first campaign setting.
Folder (And What We’re Looking For)
Your pitch will be greatly aided by reading through the materials we have already drafted for the game, which can be found in this folder. If you look at the document called Table of Contents: The Great Forest, items highlighted yellow are what we are taking pitches for. Details for each type of pitch are to follow.
What You Can Expect During the Pitch Meetings
You can join the Zoom call at any point during the hour it is open; even if you join at the last minute, Jason will listen to your pitch. Each pitch should only last a few minutes, enough time for you to give Jason a sense of what you’re pitching, and for him to ask follow-up questions if needed. You can pitch multiple things. There are three possible outcomes:
Deadline and Payment Rates
If your pitch is accepted, your deadline to turn in a draft is January 17th, 2026 (but earlier is better—we’re moving quick on this project). The Gauntlet is paying a flat rate for each of the different draft types:
Pitching a Mystery
Your pitch should include information (at least at a high level) that matches the format of The Mouldering Court, found in the folder. In other words: what’s it about, what’s the mystery being solved, a general sense of Dangers and the Countdown, a general sense of Locations and Side Characters, any cool ideas you have for the Struggles or Supplicants. ALL mysteries have two Supplicants, so you should definitely think about those. Most mysteries have one or two Struggles. The Mouldering Court represents the outer edge of content length you’ll be expected to produce if your pitch is accepted. Both Elegy and The Mouldering Court are good examples of the level of creativity and detail you will be expected to produce if your pitch is accepted. Elegy, however, is a special starting mystery, and so structurally, it’s not what you’ll be expected to produce (look to The Mouldering Court for that).
Your pitch should fit the Great Forest setting. That doesn’t mean it has to be set in the forest, but it has to be something that might reasonably be found in a forest. So, a crumbling castle or cave system is fine; a frozen tundra or desert waste is not. Additionally, even though your pitch will be for The Great Forest, it doesn’t mean play groups will always use it in that setting. The mysteries are written so they can be used in other, future campaign settings. As such, they should not reference the Great Forest, nor its Lord, Noxilliax.
Jason is mostly interested in cool ideas. Because mysteries are more detailed and complex, he prefers to work with people he’s worked with in the past, or who he otherwise has a sense of how they write (because of past contest entries, smaller writing projects, or other publications he’s seen). That said, he’s interested in ideas that fit his vision of the project more than anything, and is willing to work with anyone who has a particularly great one. Ultimately, our editorial team will make sure your draft is publication-ready, so don’t worry too much about whether you think you’re a good writer. We prize ideas above writing talent (though writing talent helps).
Pitching a Journey, Shrine, or Struggle
Jason doesn’t need a lot of detail in your pitch. Just a quick sense of it; he’ll know if it will fit well into the overall scheme of things. Not every pitch needs to be “grand” or “weird;” Jason wants a range of things for the book, from the simple and mundane, to the epic and bizarre. So don’t be afraid to pitch a quieter or more pastoral idea.
These pitches are also great for new writers or writers Jason hasn’t worked with yet (though anyone can pitch something, obviously). That’s because they’re shorter and less involved, and so a good place to take chances.
For Journey pitches, check the Journeys document in the folder to get a sense of what they look like. Your Journey might trigger something bigger when it’s complete, as in The Three Faces. If so, we’re flexible on the pay rate; we’ll discuss that with you if your pitch is accepted. Your pitch should be something reasonably found in or near a forest. It should be usable in any future part of the game, not just the Great Forest, and so should not reference The Great Forest or Noxilliax.
For Shrine pitches, check the Mourning Tower: Hall of Remembrance document for what those look like.
Struggles are interesting. Generally-speaking, they’re contained within mysteries. But we also want to include some in the Keeper’s Codex in case the Keeper needs to hit their players with something big and bad out of nowhere, and that’s what these pitches are for. As such, you have a lot of freedom here. Jason’s advice is: think of epic monsters that might live in a big forest, epic encounters that reinforce one of the game’s themes, or epic encounters that are so weird and cool, they simply can’t be denied. For examples of Struggles, check:
We’re taking pitches for our upcoming game, The Lands Remaining! Pitch Day will be December 6th, 2025. There will be three different Zoom calls you can join to make your pitch directly to Jason Cordova, creator of The Lands Remaining. They are at 10 AM Eastern, 3 PM Eastern, and 7 PM Eastern. Each call lasts one hour. Links to the Zoom calls will be posted on The Gauntlet Discord Server, in the Lands Remaining channel.
Project Overview
The Lands Remaining is Carved from Brindlewood game of elegiac fantasy about a group of characters, the Embers, who are exploring a world brought low by a catastrophic event called the Dimning. These characters, these Embers, are from the time of the Old Fire, the world before the Dimning, and are each icons or paragons of a particular order or ideal or belief system. They have been resurrected into this ruined world to explore its mysteries, to uncover the truth of the Dimning and why their own order or ideal fell to it. During this, they will have to face the so-called Lords of the Lands Remaining, who block the way to their ultimate goal: the Throne of the Old King. One of them will ascend the Throne of the Old King and light a new fire, which will burn across the world, remaking it in their image.
Our initial release will consist of two books (initially only available in digital format): The Lands Remaining: Elegy and The Lands Remaining: The Great Forest. The first is the core rulebook; we are not taking pitches for that. We are taking pitches for The Great Forest, which is the first campaign setting.
Folder (And What We’re Looking For)
Your pitch will be greatly aided by reading through the materials we have already drafted for the game, which can be found in this folder. If you look at the document called Table of Contents: The Great Forest, items highlighted yellow are what we are taking pitches for. Details for each type of pitch are to follow.
What You Can Expect During the Pitch Meetings
You can join the Zoom call at any point during the hour it is open; even if you join at the last minute, Jason will listen to your pitch. Each pitch should only last a few minutes, enough time for you to give Jason a sense of what you’re pitching, and for him to ask follow-up questions if needed. You can pitch multiple things. There are three possible outcomes:
- Jason accepts the pitch, and will send you a contract later that day (or on the spot, if no one is waiting to pitch something). He’ll ask for your email so he can invite you to Basecamp.
- Jason needs time for further follow-up. This means there’s something interesting in your pitch, but Jason needs some time to think about how it might fit into the overall project, whether it can be adjusted in some way to fit better, or to counter-pitch something to you. This may still end up in the pitch not being accepted, but he won’t know until he’s had more time.
- Jason doesn’t accept the pitch. It’s nothing personal—your idea just might not fit the game as he envisions it. This will most likely be because it’s too close to something already done or planned, or it clashes with the game’s setting, tone, or genre. We strongly recommend you look over the materials in the folder.
Deadline and Payment Rates
If your pitch is accepted, your deadline to turn in a draft is January 17th, 2026 (but earlier is better—we’re moving quick on this project). The Gauntlet is paying a flat rate for each of the different draft types:
- Mysteries (including any associated Struggles and Supplicants): $600 USD. Please note we’ll also eventually need a W-9 from you (if you're in the U.S.)
- Journeys: $50 USD (flex to higher if something like a Struggle is included)
- Shrines of Remembrance: $50 USD
- Struggles: $75 USD
Pitching a Mystery
Your pitch should include information (at least at a high level) that matches the format of The Mouldering Court, found in the folder. In other words: what’s it about, what’s the mystery being solved, a general sense of Dangers and the Countdown, a general sense of Locations and Side Characters, any cool ideas you have for the Struggles or Supplicants. ALL mysteries have two Supplicants, so you should definitely think about those. Most mysteries have one or two Struggles. The Mouldering Court represents the outer edge of content length you’ll be expected to produce if your pitch is accepted. Both Elegy and The Mouldering Court are good examples of the level of creativity and detail you will be expected to produce if your pitch is accepted. Elegy, however, is a special starting mystery, and so structurally, it’s not what you’ll be expected to produce (look to The Mouldering Court for that).
Your pitch should fit the Great Forest setting. That doesn’t mean it has to be set in the forest, but it has to be something that might reasonably be found in a forest. So, a crumbling castle or cave system is fine; a frozen tundra or desert waste is not. Additionally, even though your pitch will be for The Great Forest, it doesn’t mean play groups will always use it in that setting. The mysteries are written so they can be used in other, future campaign settings. As such, they should not reference the Great Forest, nor its Lord, Noxilliax.
Jason is mostly interested in cool ideas. Because mysteries are more detailed and complex, he prefers to work with people he’s worked with in the past, or who he otherwise has a sense of how they write (because of past contest entries, smaller writing projects, or other publications he’s seen). That said, he’s interested in ideas that fit his vision of the project more than anything, and is willing to work with anyone who has a particularly great one. Ultimately, our editorial team will make sure your draft is publication-ready, so don’t worry too much about whether you think you’re a good writer. We prize ideas above writing talent (though writing talent helps).
Pitching a Journey, Shrine, or Struggle
Jason doesn’t need a lot of detail in your pitch. Just a quick sense of it; he’ll know if it will fit well into the overall scheme of things. Not every pitch needs to be “grand” or “weird;” Jason wants a range of things for the book, from the simple and mundane, to the epic and bizarre. So don’t be afraid to pitch a quieter or more pastoral idea.
These pitches are also great for new writers or writers Jason hasn’t worked with yet (though anyone can pitch something, obviously). That’s because they’re shorter and less involved, and so a good place to take chances.
For Journey pitches, check the Journeys document in the folder to get a sense of what they look like. Your Journey might trigger something bigger when it’s complete, as in The Three Faces. If so, we’re flexible on the pay rate; we’ll discuss that with you if your pitch is accepted. Your pitch should be something reasonably found in or near a forest. It should be usable in any future part of the game, not just the Great Forest, and so should not reference The Great Forest or Noxilliax.
For Shrine pitches, check the Mourning Tower: Hall of Remembrance document for what those look like.
Struggles are interesting. Generally-speaking, they’re contained within mysteries. But we also want to include some in the Keeper’s Codex in case the Keeper needs to hit their players with something big and bad out of nowhere, and that’s what these pitches are for. As such, you have a lot of freedom here. Jason’s advice is: think of epic monsters that might live in a big forest, epic encounters that reinforce one of the game’s themes, or epic encounters that are so weird and cool, they simply can’t be denied. For examples of Struggles, check:
- Noxilliax, the Emerald Nightmare (found in his own document in the folder)
- The Boatman (Elegy)
- The Pall-Bearer (Elegy)
- The Putrescent Queen (The Mouldering Court)
- Chevalier Scarabain (The Mouldering Court)
- Tristell, the Three-Tailed Comet (Journeys)
