Vellum News

Hail, Scribes - and happy New Year!

Welcome to the first update of the year, Interlude Patch: Author-ity! Wield an expensive new Spender Spell, express yourself with Emotes, test your damage with Endgame Review, relax in new Vignettes, and enjoy many smaller improvements!

Our next major chapter comes later this month- be sure to keep up with our progress with the in-game roadmap!

O hail the Sovereign Scribe - first of their fame, guardian of the Library, descendant of the first mend, collector of pages and chromatic wielder: INKBORN!

Overrule is the newest Spender in the Scribes' arsenal; Ascend and brandish a Sceptre for 2.5s to sentence foes to destruction!

The Torn are indeed difficult subjects - but this high-damage, single-target beam of power might just be the answer! As an expensive spell, make sure to keep 3 mana in your coffers to deal with the challenges throne your way.


Sometimes, in multiplayer games, jumping and pinging and random spells just isn't enough to really get your point across.

Sometimes, you just need the perfect gesture to Emote with! We've added a selection of emotes purchasable in the Illuminated Library with Gildings.

Equip your 4 favorite, most contextually-expressive actions and become the thespian you were meant to be!



To find oneself in strange times and stranger lands can be a wish come true.

To lose one's self in such reveries, however...


Tome? Mended. Boss? Defeated. But how?!

Enter the Endgame Review - after defeating a boss, Scribes can summon a set of training dummies to unleash and observe the power of their Pages and Ink.

Attacking these dummies records a rolling average of Damage Per Second on the back board - review your build or just practice, then head back to the Illuminated Library or brave the Appendices! (Speaking of reviews - if you're enjoying Vellum Early Access so far, let us know in the Steam Reviews; it helps us a ton!)

Interlude Patch: Author-ity has tons of goodies to kick off the year, lots of details and some quality of life improvements to accompany the content centerpieces. There's so much more to come as the 1 year mark of Early Access approaches on the horizon.

Thank you for your support!

- The Vellum Team


[h2]Features[/h2]
[h3]New Spender Spell: Overrule[/h3]
- Ascend and brandish a Sceptre for 2.5s to sentence foes to destruction.
- Damage: 40/s
- Mana Cost: 3 (invokes mana effects every 0.65s)
- A collection of Overrule Pages of Power may now be found in Tomes

[h3]Emotes[/h3]
- 11 New Emotes are now available in the Library in exchange for Gildings
- Scribes may equip up to 4 emotes at a time

[h3]New Vignettes[/h3]
- Distant Oasis and Timeless Alcove may now appear in Tomes
- New Lore Pages for these Vignettes

[h3]Endgame Review[/h3]
- Training Dummies can now be summoned after defeating a Boss
- Damage Per Second will appear on the back board, showing a rolling average of damage dealt by each Scribe

[h2]Gameplay[/h2]
- Scribes can now aim at higher and lower angles (Scribes can now look down at those directly beneath them)
- Inkling, while transformed, should get stuck less often
- Inklings will correctly benefit from multiple uses of Green Mana
- Generator Spell: Enkindle should now properly be invoked by other Pages of Power
- Spender Spell: Eclipse will now invoke mana effects every 2s
- Spender Spell: Passage will now invoke mana effects every 1s
- Page of Power: Expense Management now has reduced spread of extra projectiles
- Outlines around foes will now appear after 5s of being outside line of sight (was 6s)
- Torn Page: Darts and Boards should now properly reset Tangent attack speed
- Many Torn knockback effects have been reduced in intensity
- Adjusted Torn health in Tutorial
- Splice: Ogre should now appear more accurate in wind-up and attack direction
- Splice: Rattlespike ground line of spikes can no longer hit Scribes multiple times
- Binding: Lava Floor now has visual and audio feedback when damaging Scribes
- Binding: Explosive has enhanced sound and visuals
- Vignette: Skyline Belfry Bells should now behave more like bells, less like Torn
- Navigation fixes for many combat arenas (should result in fewer stuck Torn)
- Binding damage scaling for 0-10 has been adjusted (Torn were getting some unintended power)

[h2]Visuals & Misc[/h2]
- Random Loadout function now requires holding Interact for 0.75s
- Endgame summary now also displays the Tome's icon
- Visual improvements to projectors (e.g. range indicator when hovering a Page of Power)
- There is new fanfare VFX and SFX when unlocking/equipping Spells in the Spellbook
- Enhanced VFX for Ink Level Up interface
- Various instances of "Ability" text changed to "Spell"
- New audio fanfare when unlocking/equipping Cosmetics
- Cosmetics locked behind achievements now have a trophy indicator
- Visual adjustment to Font Power interface
- Font Powers in the summary list will no longer overflow
- Font Power interface has text formatting adjustments
- Adjusted text location in Torn Page selection interface
- Library Tutorial process will no longer lock Scribes out of the Spellbook
- The Questboard now has indicators for "Back" keybinds

Good day, Scribes!

We close out the year with Chapter IX: The Book Club! Join your fellow Scribes in a rotating series of unique challenges, face the newest Torn foes, and enjoy a collection of gameplay, quality of life, and performance enhancements!

In the New Year, our Early Access journey continues with our next Interlude Patch on January 8th. Check out our abridged Roadmap below, or the full version in-game!





Where all Scribes start on the same page!

Tackle rotating challenges with a globally shared Loadout, Modifier Set, and Game Seed. Beware, Ink Levels and Inscriptions will not be applied!

The Book Club challenges will rotate every 3.5 days, introducing new thematic runs - each with a curated arrangement of our literary Spells, Tomes, Bindings, and starting Buffs!

Since we Book Club members are facing the same limited-time obstacles, Scribes will be able to review global stat Reports on Completion Time (defeating Ch6 Boss), Highest Appendix, and a Challenge-Specific Stat during each challenge period.

How much pet damage did you deal in The Lord of the Inklings? How fared your sword-play in Duelist's Fate? Join the Book Club and put your reading skills to the test!



The looming threat of the Torn continues to grow with new minor foes for Splices, Ravings, and Tangents.

Face off with the skittish ram-like Gruff, the indulgent Ruminator, and the distantly harrying Apostrophe.

And - upon a mighty wind sails the dreaded Howl - a bold and zephyrous Elite Splice.



Chapter IX is a great opportunity for us to highlight some more community-requested improvements to Vellum! More information follows in the patch notes, as always - but we wanted to highlight some hits!

Codex Search: Hunt for pages by name, keyword, or associated spell!

Manifest Update: Manifest can now be skillfully feathered to maintain some attack speed while avoiding "Going Overboard".

Swoop Adjustment: This spell can now be repeatedly cast by holding the button!

Inkling Behaviors: Transformed Inklings will now leap to their targets! Inklings in the Library will follow their Scribe's lead when dropping combat - it's polite to be mindful of others in the Library!



"What's your favorite Ink color?" became a far easier question for these Scribes - it was obvious from their Steam Profiles!

We've added a whole suite of new Steam Community Items to show off your all-time (or perhaps spur-the-moment) colorful Vellum favorites!


Around this time last year, we were in the early stages of Early Access launch prep. Over the 2023 Thanksgiving break, we had published our announcement trailer and were approaching the Steam Next Fest with a Vellum Demo that was very quickly taking on stronger, bolder shapes. Players would go hands-on with the game soon. Real soon.

We previewed Vellum for many of our friends and family - leaning on a wide range of truly generous folks who offered much of their time to hear about the book game.

Somewhere in the middle, our common refrain of "Could you try some new Vellum stuff?" transformed into something new and exciting of theirs:"So I've been playing a bit on my own and I think that..." -- Not only had our growing circle been kind with their time - but increasingly open with their imaginations and curiosity! To see that same generosity then carried on by our players has been truly inspiring.

Today, with our final chapter of 2024 hitting the magic shelves, we're extremely proud of the Vellum journey so far and the endless discoveries we've made together along the way.

Happy Holidays and thank you for playing Vellum!

- The Vellum Team


[h2]Features[/h2]
[h3]The Book Club[/h3]
- New, rotating global challenge runs await Scribes at the Quest Board (after completing any Binding 10 run, no Attunement required)
- Book Club challenges cycle every 3.5 days, with a specific Loadout, Modifier Set, and Game Seed for all Scribes. Ink Levels and Inscriptions will not be applied during Book Club.
- Global Stats from successful Book Club runs will be displayed in the Book Club interface
- 3 New cosmetic rewards are available from completing unique Book Club challenges
- There are 25 unique Book Club challenges (on repeat appearances, Game Seeds will be altered from first appearances)

[h3]New Torn Enemies[/h3]
- The following new Torn Foes may now appear in Tomes and have entries in the Codex
- Elite Splice: Howl
- Splice: Ruminator
- Tangent: Apostrophe
- Raving: Gruff

[h3]Quality of Life and Highlight Changes[/h3]
- The Codex now has a Search function accommodating Keywords, Spells, etc.
- Generator Spell Manifest: Attack speed ramp now decays when released, allowing for feathering to avoid going "Overboard" while maintaining attack speed. (Previously fully reset on button release)
- Spender Spell Swoop: This spell can now be repeatedly cast by holding the button
- Green Inkling Behavior: Transformed Inkling will now leap to targets. Inklings will now stop attacking in Library unless their Scribe actively engages.

[h2]General, Library, Tome, and Good Guy Stuff[/h2]
- Main Menu now displays planned release date for the next upcoming update
- Global improvement in behavior with navigable surfaces (e.g. Flutterstep)
- Page Turn transition sketch effect has improved performance
- Homing Projectiles should no longer orbit dead targets
- Fixed visual issues when dying with Freeze or Weakened status effect
- Wolves will no longer apply weakened/marked to players from Font Powers
- Spell: Jot now has improved vfx when using Teal Ink
- Pink: Drafts gain overflow Outline more consistently from killed Torn
- Inscription: Rendered properly works with all Spells and Pink
- Page of Power: One Ton can now appear when using Wordsmith
- Page of Power: Natures Revenge now has no damage limit
- Page of Power: Echo of Twilight/Sunset/Sunrise repeat casts extend duration instead of summoning more wolves
- Page of Power: The Phantom is Here now drops a real, genuine chandelier!
- Page of Power: Brightstreak can now be offered even when out of mana
- Page of Power: Pretender to the Throne brought in line with associated pages
- Page of Power: Bounce Around now has reduced visual noise
- Page of Power: Blinding Light VFX will now properly expire
- Bonus Objective: Capture the Flag now has an increased turn in radius
- Bonus Objectives: Hungering Orb & Mana Bribe now have accurate progress indicators
- Vignette: Seaside Path now has improved collision
- Vignettes: Exit portals will now be delayed until start sequence completes

[h2]Bindings & Bad Guys[/h2]
- Current Binding Level is now displayed on the in-game Book Interface
- Binding: Explosive Orb damage scaling has been adjusted
- Binding: Lava Floor should now correctly do damage to Teal Scribes
- Binding: Night Strike improved projectile visibility and speed ramp
- Tome: Rivals fixed duplicate enemy page options
- Torn Page: Buckler fixed VFX when FSR setting is enabled
- Splices: Stalagmight & Ironclaw behave better with VFX additions
- Raving: Crab is now less accurate with Fissure attack
- Boss: Missra will now only appear in Tomes with 1+ Binding Level
- Boss: Missra now correctly shows Glob info in Codex
- Boss: Crombul fixed enrage VFX
- Boss: Crombul now correctly shows Enrage info in Codex
- Torn Parry effects now display the correct damage values (previously used info from Scribe Parry effects - ouch!)
- Minor AI performance improvements
- Fixed issue with AI status effects not updating
- All bosses can now spawn with a festive hat
- Fixed AI navigation on Desert Pit Boss Arena
- Fixed navigation in Atoll combat arena
- Mortar attacks (from Ghosts, for example) should now better match their preview location

Welcome, Scribes!

We've loved all the feedback and discussion after Chapter VIII: Hard Cover and the addition of the Teal Signature Ink! We continue to gather feedback and have been working on making improvements, with the next step being today's Interlude Patch: Feast.

On today's menu: some community requests in the form of Page Omission, dramatically improved enemy Hit Reactions, and major strides in Game Performance! We've also continued to expand content to add variety to your adventures with new Vignettes and Player Pages.

As always, you can check the in-game roadmap to see what's coming up. But for now, let's jump into the additions!


Like the Scribes and Torn - Performance is an evolving battle. Little wins here and there get pushed back by crazier combos and new features. Interlude Patch: Feast makes huge strides in winning back framerate with two major areas.

The first is a new way of handling game actions (projectiles, explosions, arrow rains, etc.) by re-using old copies so we don't need to create or destroy effects each time they're used. This should give a sizable performance boost, particularly later in Tomes within the Appendices when hundreds of effects are happening every second.

The second big improvement is in how we handle the Torn and their stats and behavior. With some aggressive data caching, multi-threaded logic, and more optimized code flow - we've seen huge performance gains when there are many enemies on the battlefield.

While there is still plenty of room for improvement, these two major performance overhauls have increased performance in general combat by a significant degree. And in late game runs, we've easily seen 100x improvements, going from 'seconds-per-frame' to 60fps in many cases!


Deep within the Tomes, Scribes can find themselves in three new Vignettes! Scale the fungal depths of Mycellum Quarry, take in the view in Overlook, and dance with Radiance.

New Lore pages have appeared in the Vignettes of Pride and Profit, further detailing the paths of Myriad, Verse, and Horizon.


Another element of feedback we've seen echoed a number of times is wanting more feedback when you deal damage to the Torn.

This update adds two new interactions - Damage Animations and Hit Flash. Now, Torn will physically react to the damage they take, giving better feedback and making damage feel more impactful. Additionally, Torn you damage will flash the color of your Signature Ink, for some visible, thematic interaction.

If you find the Hit Flash distracting, you can disable it in the General Settings menu!


This update expands the Codex with over 20 new Pages of Power to help you push back the Torn! This time, we're focusing on build expansion and collaboration, with new interactions between your spells, as well as a bunch of new multiplayer Ink Combinations (for example: your Orange Atlas might apply Blot if a Blue Scribe is standing nearby)!


Sometimes, you might pick up a page that doesn't quite cooperate with your build - now you can do something about it! By popular request, we've added the ability to Remove Pages of Power you pick up during your run - just hold right click on the page in the Tab menu, and you can Omit it from your book!

There might be a couple of odd interactions that need ironing out (omitting pages that give you stacking stats doesn't remove what you've already built up, etc.) - but we'll resolve them as we go, and we definitely think it's better to have the feature with a few quirks than not at all!

Interlude Patch: Feast also brings a smattering of bug fixes, adjustments, and some light tuning! We called this update 'Feast' for a few reasons: to allude to the sheer amount of stuff, the Thanksgiving holiday, but more importantly - the communal nature of this update!

In each post here, we make a point to write out how thankful we are for the enthusiasm and generosity of our players. Today's patch truly embodies the joy of our Early Access process; nearly every aspect of Feast has been directly influenced by feedback and discussions in the community.

For those who celebrate it, have a superb Thanksgiving!
For everybody, thank you for making Vellum better with us!
- The Vellum Team


[h2]Features[/h2]
[h3]Performance Improvements[/h3]
- Action Pooling: Massive improvements to performance of long games
- Improved AI animation cost
- Improved AI targeting and vision costs
- Improved AI power scaling cost
- Improved Status Effect costs

[h3]Page Omission[/h3]
- You may now discard selected Pages from the Tab menu
- Some Pages may not applicable

[h3]3 New Vignettes[/h3]
- Mycellum Quarry, Overlook, Radiance my now appear in Tomes
- New Lore Pages for these Vignettes (also added Lore Pages to Pride and Profit)

[h3]Hit Reactions and Feedback[/h3]
- Torn should now be more expressive when taking damage
- Torn hit flashes now match the Signature Ink color of the attacking Scribe
- Hit flashes may be toggled in Settings Menu

[h3]Pages, Inks, Players[/h3]
- Signature Ink: Orange should no longer improperly override Signature Spells after dealing with Dark Wall
- Signature Ink: Teal now generates 3 Barrier from attacks (was 4)
- Signature Ink: Teal now has an associated Steam Achievement
- Scriptorium: Teal now shows the correct bonuses from Resolved
- Spell: Eclipse should spawn the correct number of Drafts
- Font Power: Sense of Urgency will properly work again
- Page of Power: I'm Rubber should now only damage enemies
- Page of Power: The New Author will no longer trigger unintended effects
- Page of Power: Nuclear Meltdown will no longer trigger unintended effects
- Page of Power: Knockoff will no longer appear when using Weave
- Page of Power: Deep Breaths progress will now persist through death
- Page of Power: Pick 6 should only activate in combat
- Page of Power: Father of Quill no longer has a cooldown and should properly function for the intended duration
- Page of Power: Best Offense now reflects scaling on "Max Barrier"
- Page of Power: Check and Recheck text now indicates that Natural 1 rolls are unaffected
- Page of Power: Copper Coating II now generates Barrier equal to 3% of damage done (was 5%)
- Page of Powers: Dirty 20 text now indicates that Natural 1 rolls are unaffected
- Bonus Objective: Escort will now spawn at more reasonably-completable distances from The Font
- Teal Mana now has the appropriate tooltip
- Spell Selection interface will now indicate the tab that contains the Spell with a Recommended bonus
- Blot should no longer affect Scribes. Please.
- Yellow's "Biggest Flourish" stat no longer requires 2500+ damage before appearing
- In Solo Play, the correct prompt should appear when waiting for a Font Power pick
- In Appendices, the Font Power interface will be skipped more smoothly
- Fixed a bug allowing Rewrites to grant extra Pages

[h3]Tomes, Torn, Misc[/h3]
- Tome: Rivals will now display a visual effect around Elites while they still have damage reduction
- Tome: Rivals now has additional unique Font Powers
- Tome: Rivals should no longer reduce damage dealt in Vignettes
- Vignette: Crystal Divination should now sync results better in Multiplayer
- Binding: I Have The Power text has been slightly adjusted
- Binding: Explosive explosion size will once again match the visual indicator
- Elite: The Wringer now ha a limit to how much attack speed benefits Erupt (rings and rings and rings)
- Torn: Crab will now be properly named in Death Recaps and tracked in the Codex
- Codex: Run Records should now properly continue to update
- Codex: Run Records will now properly show Teal
- Parry effects from the Torn are now more accurately displayed and appear in the Death Log
- Reworked Binding & Appendix scaling (Dev Note: this is internal, but please tell us about any difficulty areas that feel off)
- Tomes will no longer continue to drop after being unlocked
- Various typo fixes

Welcome, Scribes!

Last week, we celebrated Early Access with a video showcase and teased the new Ink! This week - go hands-on and fill your inkwells with Teal! Also... check out the ever-expanding roadmap below. It's wide.

Use this new, Barrier-focused Signature Ink to endure a Tangent Boss and new Torn Pages across fresh Arenas!

Steel yourselves and put your resolve to the test in Chapter VIII: Hard Cover!



Weave together Plot Threads to craft your very own Plot Armor; Teal trades the standard of Health for the fluid and resilient strength of Barrier!

Throughout combat, a Teal Scribe will gradually forge up to 5 pieces of Plot Armor - granting an increase to Maximum Barrier and a reduction of Damage Taken.

When the time is right, using the Teal Signature Spell will start converting Plot Armor into deadly, Torn-seeking Plot Twists! The more Plot Armor pieces you transform, the more agile you'll become - for a time!

Teal brings the first "Toggle" Signature Spell, allowing you to economize your built up offensive and defensive capabilities.



From the depths of the Torn ranks comes the manipulative and garrulous Czar Khasm! Ruthless, relentless, and pompous in equal measure - this new Tangent Boss will surely be a test for the mettle of Scribes...


Deep in the Tomes, new settings have been revealed! Today, three new Arenas have been added - including a new Boss Arena.

Keen-eyed Scribes will also notice new details on some existing arenas to color in some more island feel!


The Torn Hunger... 20 new Torn Pages have found their way into the Tomes! These deadly new enemy selections have dangerous interactions with both Bindings and Bosses!

What better time for a defense-focused new Ink?


This is a huge update for us, during a series of busy and intense times, so we couldn't be more excited or relieved to release Chapter VIII: Hard Cover! A new Signature Ink, a Boss, new Arenas, Torn Pages, bug fixes... we're putting a large amount of work into the evolving Early Access journey (and sticking to our cadence best we can) and continue to be thankful for all the help along the way.

A reminder that Vellum will be 30% off until November 22 - we're also thrilled to be seeing and hearing from so many new players!

Amidst these new strengths and challenges - thank you for playing!

- The Vellum Team


[h2]Features[/h2]
[h3]Teal Signature Ink[/h3]
- Teal starts with 5 Health and builds increasing Maximum Barrier through Plot Armor.
- Plot Thread: Damage from Generators and Teal Mana Spenders generates Plot Threads, restoring and increasing Barrier. 10 Plot Threads will form Plot Armor.
- Plot Armor: Through combat, fabricate up to 5 Plot Armor, each granting +20 Barrier and -2% Damage Taken.
- Teal Signature Spell: Toggle & Cancel: Dissolve 1 Plot Armor every 0.75s, launching enemy-seeking Plot Twists and becoming Resolved for 8s. Each Resolved stack grants +5% Attack Speed, Movement Speed, and Jump Height.
- Features Signature Challenges & Cosmetic Rewards
- Features a full set of Inscriptions and Pages of Power

[h3]Tangent Boss: Czar Khasm[/h3]
- Will now appear in the Tomes
- New Codex Entry

[h3]New Combat Arenas[/h3]
- Snowy Overpass
- Atoll
- Boss Arena: Pit

[h3]New Torn Pages[/h3]
- 20 New Binding and Boss related Torn Pages

[h2]Gameplay & Fixes[/h2]
- Spell: Clatter now properly generates mana from explosions
- Adjusted and Fixed some Mana Infusion interactions with Spell: Eclipse
- Adjusted and Fixed Pink interactions with Eclipse
- Page of Power: Plot Armor has been renamed to Deus Ex Machina
- Page of Power: Chorus will no longer appear when using Spell: Foil
- Binding: "I Have the Power" should no longer be incorrectly applied
- Tome: Quests and Trials will no longer incorrectly show the Font tutorial
- Vignette: The Day's Rest has a slight Font location adjustment
- Vignette: Seaside Path navigation improvements
- Vignette: Black Market out of bounds improvements
- Blot can no longer be applied to Scribes
- Blot will now correctly stack indefinitely (had been capping at 99 stacks)
- Codex controller navigation can now reach the Torn section
- Fixed an issue where Chapters could get stuck not spawning any enemies (mission accomplished?)
- Fixed an error that broke the Ascendant sequence from old Save Data
- Beam performance improvements

We're taking a moment to celebrate our shared Early Access journey so far!

Since launch in March, Vellum has seen FIFTEEN substantial updates. We haven't done it alone; every new chapter - from fantastic spells to dangerous new enemies - has been augmented by the enthusiasm and feedback of our community!

Whether you've been here from our February Demo, joined up during an intriguing Chapter, or have just been keeping an eye on Vellum from afar - we offer you our sincerest thanks!


[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Relive the excitement of a stunning amount of content and see how far we've come together! Not only has Early Access been jam-packed (you'll have to play the game yourself to see the very latest updates!), but there's plenty more Vellum on the horizon.

Our next update - Chapter VIII: Hard Cover - brings a brand new Signature Ink: Teal!


Now is a great time to dive into the Tomes! For the next two weeks, Vellum is 30% off!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/917950/Vellum/

Come play, make discoveries, and tell us all about them in Discord! We thrive on hearing about your personal experiences playing Vellum - it truly helps us make the game better.

Happy reading, Scribes - on to the next Chapters!

- The Vellum Team