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Portent - A Solo Journaling RPG

Created by Natasja van Gestel

In this solo game, you were born with a curse of misfortune that follows you wherever you go. You are also a suitable vessel for the deities—kami—living all around you. Help them overcome their challenges and gain their aid as you face your fate.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Portent - July update
16 days ago – Fri, Jul 10, 2026 at 04:09:23 AM

Hi everyone!

We've reached July, the period of heatwaves and holidays. For this creator, it also means there is finally time to focus on Portent <3

I have already started improving the content of the game, cutting down excess in the text for clarity and improving what is there, optimizing the rules, and getting everything ready for playtesting. It should be ready by the end of the month. I also started working on some character sheet templates for journaling; just very basic ones, definitely not like D&D or other TTRPGs. You can copy these into your journal when you play the game. I'm still debating on whether to make a pretty and fully illustrated printable version, we'll see how it goes!

Here's a preview of the character essentials sheet template as it is right now, and the character story sheet. It's all super basic still, it will of course be much nicer in the final version!




Of course, the illustrations of the kami are the part I look forward to the most, but my first priority is making everything perfectly playable without them. Which is making good progress :D

Next Monday, I will also be visiting the Speechless Bard at their workshop to compare leathers and finishings for the Wanderer's Pouch. Four designs have been worked out, and we will be going over how feasible all of them are, or if tweaks need to be made. When the designs are final, it's definitely poll time again :D




From here on, I'll keep you posted on Portent once a month so as not to swamp you with update emails (the poll might be in your inbox faster than that, though). But if you ever have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out in a comment or a DM!

Cheers and wishing you the best July summer <3
Natasja

Surveys are good again <3
about 1 month ago – Thu, Jun 18, 2026 at 01:29:37 AM

Hi everyone,

Last weekend, the Portent surveys were opened to everyone, and I was promptly poked on Instagram by a friend (thank you, LaLionne!) about shipping suddenly being asked for a digital-only order. I dug around, talked to Backerkit Customer Support (thank you, Ngoc!), and we were able to solve the issue.

This was 100% my fault; I accidentally had the physical art print and the digital art print swapped for 95 people ;^; I feel really bad for the confusion and the jumpscare. My sincere apologies!

After having checked all 95 backers affected to make sure nobody is charged shipping unduly anymore, I can now safely say everything is back in order. So surveys are safe and open for business again!

If you still have any questions (related or otherwise), don't hesitate to poke me.

Thanks so much for the wait <3
Natasja

Survey info: Read if you are a pre-follower of Portent
about 1 month ago – Sun, Jun 14, 2026 at 02:08:08 AM

Hi everyone,

If you are a pre-follower, please wait a bit with sending out your survey!

The smoke test did not catch it, but a backer pointed out almost immediately after sending out the full survey that it seems like pre-launch follower rewards are not allocated correctly. You are meant to receive a digital version of the art print as a digital-only backer, and a physical copy when I can add it to a physical package. But it doesn't appear to work that way in the current setup.

I am investigating it with Backerkit Support right now. If you can, please wait a bit with sending out your survey. I will send an update when everything is sorted.

Of course, if you already completed the survey, I'll make sure that none of this will be an issue in the end <3 We'll get it all sorted, one way or another.

Cheers,
Natasja

Portent surveys are out
about 1 month ago – Sun, Jun 14, 2026 at 01:35:22 AM

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the wait. I initially meant to send you the survey on Friday already, and it was all ready to go at that time too, but I unexpectedly had to say farewell to a beloved pet and I spent some days offline instead.

The smoke test survey has already been sent out a few days ago, and I checked how the smoke test surveys look just now. Based on that, it all looks good to go. And so I am sending out the Portent survey right before I hit send on this notification.

Should you have any questions about the survey, don't hesitate to send me a message. There is a way to contact me through the survey, but you are also free to send me a DM on my Instagram if you have a few questions and need a faster back-and-forth.

Cheers,
Natasja

PS. Should you come across a black cat or something referring to a little bear somewhere in Portent when it's all finished and sent out; yes, that'll be my little one <3

Preorder store open + survey progress update
about 2 months ago – Thu, Jun 04, 2026 at 07:30:39 AM

Hi everyone,

Since Portent wrapped, a week ago, I have taken a short breather over the weekend and then gotten down to working on the survey and the preorder store. And I'm happy to say they are coming along nicely :D




The preorder store is now open for anyone who missed out on pledging, and will be until July 31st: https://portent.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

The survey

The survey is also currently in review with the Backerkit team! I am aiming to send the survey out officially on Friday June 12, with a few people already receiving them earlier in a smoke test. The survey is a pretty complex undertaking on my part, so I'm happy to have the help of the team to make sure everyone gets the rewards they selected <3

After it opens, the survey will be open for a while (with a hard cutoff at November 31st) to allow backers with changing addresses over the year to still put in their new shipping details closer to the actual shipping date. I will not be adding anything new except the finalized designs for the pouches over the course of that time, so I'll definitely recommend not to wait unless you're still figuring out if you want those. Stay tuned for the polls, in that case ;)

After November 31st, everything is getting ready for production, with only the first print run of Portent's hardcover having all the fancy stretch goal upgrades. Completed surveys are counted for that first print run; incomplete ones are not. Backerkit will remind you regularly well before that, though, and otherwise I probably will <3

For backers of the Three of Cups tier: all shipping pricing is based somewhere between letterbox and parcel shipping, but I don't think that's fair if you supported the stickers-only tier. That's why everyone who backed the Three of Cups tier receives a €5 complimentary credit to offset that.

If at any time, you wonder how things are coming along, don't hesitate to send me a message by commenting here or on another update, poke me through the contact option in the survey, or send me a message on Instagram!

Cheers,
Natasja