Structural pacing

How I learned to stop worrying and love the Clocks

This week's update introduces Clocks babyyyyyyyyyy

Or, well, I call them "Clocks" but really that's kind of a misnomer. I should find another name that makes more sense for the game. Issues? Arcs? Storylines? Maybe some kind of pun on exploration-related words? I don't know. What I do know is that their goal is to give structure, and wider issues to tackle, to this whole "survival through exploration" thing. I added a bunch of stuff to the GM Sheets to give rules for creating structure where there was none, and also ways to tackle this kind of overarching stuff without solving it all with a roll of the die. Now it's almost like those exploring trips have purposes and stuff! Woooo!

In the process of doing that, I've been trying to tackle "what, exactly, does coming from and coming back to the Colony looks like?" and while that's clear as heck in my head I've realized while writing that this wasn't necessarily the case. The Minutiae is the kind of narrative mechanic I absolutely love that I just had to include to tackle the fact that players will optimize the fun out of their own campaigns sometimes.

I'm wondering if I should re-include rules about FTL travel? I feel like it's already pretty crystal clear that you're not supposed to be going back and forth between systems and rather keep exploring, but... mh. Maybe I'm worrying too much and having an implied flow of play is okay sometimes? I'll see how I feel once I start really filling the GM Sheets.

I also worry that I might be getting into something too complicated again, but like. This time, it really feels like things are answering one another, and I can see a structure starting to form, like the skeleton of the game actually makes enough sense to start thinking about putting some meat on it .

A better playground

The Genesis part has been retooled, some options refined, there's an explanation at the beginning, etc... And I don't really have a lot to say about that, this will probably be one of the most iterative part of the game's design - it is kind of the campaign starter.

Oh, and I also renamed Team to Support, corrected some typos, tried to explain some options better in the Core Moves... You know. The works.

And I've also made a list of the 10 Playbooks I want to ship with the... wow, with the 1.0 release basically! Damn. Yeah this thing is getting structured - now if only I knew how to use any actual document-making software rather than LibreOffice Draw.

Anyway, the Playbooks list:

• The Frankeinstein. Their impetus for exploring is simple: they love changing themselves and want to find more ways to do that! [Grit + Knack]
• The Vagabond. They've spent their life going from place to place; it's just the first time they did so with purpose. [Grit + Charm]
• The Green Thumb. They were an unassuming farmer - until "growing food from alien worlds" suddenly became the #1 challenge to tackle. [Grit + Acumen]
• The Star Soul. They don't really have a choice: the Star has chosen them as a spokesperson, and the Star are ANGRY AND MADE OF FIRE. [Grit + Mystique]
• The Caravaneer. When you're kind of a jack-of-all-trades that's excellent at keeping things working and negotiating your way through things, there's not much for you to do than to strap yourself in a ship and go meet the galactic neighbors. [Charm + Knack]
• The Field Maven. It's not all engineers who specialize in jury-rigging devices from unknown things found on alien worlds. But this one does.
• The Weirdseeker. Look. Space is weird. And this guy? Oh this guys LOVES weird. [Mystique + Knack]
• The Encyclopedia. They've been studying and theorizing and they still have so much to learn, yet so much to publish! [Acumen + Charm]
• The Virtuoso. If there's one thing that travelling will get ya, it's inspiration. [Mystique + Charm]
• The Xenoarcheologist. Yeah, discovering new planets and phenomenon is great - but it's way more important to meet with other cultures and learn from them, whether past or present. [Mystique + Acumen]

What's next?

Well. As I'm writing this, I'm realizing that going "way back" with people when you've been stuck in your Colony since birth doesn't really work.

I also had people test the Genesis, and figured that the question about what the Colony looks like is felt as too restrictive. Which, it shouldn't, so there's that to retool.

In a broader sense, certainly expect more Clocks, and if I manage to make all of them (which is unlikely), maybe more generators to create stuff to explore, or the start of the Xenoarcheologist's GM Advice so I can actually start churning out Playbooks.

See ya next week!