Author: Sean Gomes

Far Beyond Humanity Weekly Update #3

Interesting week here in the community, lots of fun stories in Actual Play, and some excellent rules questions and discussions.

New Chapter: Species

Huzzah! Species! This has been a long time coming, and it’s been a difficult chapter in general. Adding a whole new layer to character creation was quite the balancing act. I ended up going with a cost of 1 career Skill for non-humanoid characters, because the species traits are more or less Skills in their own right. If you want to look at it another way:

Each character gets 1 Species skill, 1 Origin skill, and 2 Career skills. The Humanoid species skill is Gain a Career skill.

Still need to finish the section for Incorporeal which has been giving me a particular amount of grief (can’t quite get a grip on the subject matter).

What’s Next

Next week will be another revision/polish pass on the existing chapters. Reformatting the Characters chapter, tweaking skills, etc. I’ll also be implementing various feedback and suggestions thus-far (seriously, all of you, thank you so much for taking a look at the preview material and giving your feedback, it helps immensely).

One big thing I’ll have for next week is the new advancement/level up system. The old one was unfortunately… half baked? Not up to snuff. Entirely my fault, I’ve mostly played one-shots and short campaigns these past few years, so I really underestimated the impact of a year+ campaign. Fortunately there are a number of community members who have run year+ campaigns, so I’ll be leaning heavily on their experiences to help me make a better system.

Anywho, as always, you can find all the preview material in the folder linked in this post. I’d appreciate any comments, questions, etc.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/atd0ygpwhur5yp6/AAB140jz3usjE3imwUkkCTLia?dl=0

Far Beyond Humanity Weekly Update #2

Here we are again. This was a bit of a tweak/polish week for me. No new chapters to show, but some solid revisions. As always, the link below will take you to the FBH preview folder on Drop Box.

New Markets (Chapter 5 – Assets)

After last week’s update, there was a very spirited discussion surrounding the Unique Markets. I found myself agreeing that it was essentially 2 pages with no GM tools, just fluff. It’s the kind of thing that belonged in a campaign setting (like the eventual Carta Galaxia) rather than a rules expansion.

So I went back to the drawing board. At first I toyed with the idea of making Markets “big Assets”, in that they would have Class and have upgrades, just like a gun or suit or speeder. The big issue is that it created even more tags to remember, and ones that would often have to be applied on the fly as new markets were introduced.

I figured that there was a simpler way of approaching the new “Market Descriptors” that didn’t add new tags/words to the game system, but rather attached new context to existing terms.

And thus the new Unique Market system: each Market has an associated Origin, which creates a stylistic/narrative structure. When you say that this is a Privileged Market, you know you’re dealing with high-Class goods and absolute snobs. When you say that this is a Crowded Market, you can already smell the sweat of massed humanity/aliens, feel the shoulder-to-shoulder press of bodies.

It’s not a hard-and-fast mechanic, but I feel it does a much better job at inspiring variety in the markets the characters will encounter. You can check it out right at the beginning of Chapter 5 – Assets.

Re-formatting

One thing I’ve been correcting is the formatting of the documents. I really enjoy writing and doing layout at once, I like to see how my paragraphs will be spaced out, whether the text is too dense, whether a section could use a bit more verbiage to fill some blank space, etc. Not the most efficient way to write, but it’s my method and it keeps the writer chained up in my brain happy, so… eh.

Aaaaanywho. I started writing FBH on 8.5 by 11 with 1 inch margins… but that totally isn’t the formatting of Uncharted Worlds. While the initial release and kickstarter backers are getting a pdf, I do intend to offer Print on Demand. And it would rend my very soul asunder to think that my expansion book had different dimensions than the core book….

/shudder

Anyway, part of this week was spent reformatting and re-font-sizing Chapter 5 – Assets, to match the proper page scale and margins. I’ll probably be doing a pass on Chapter 6 – Characters later next week.

FBH playtest

Ran a one-shot playtest for some colleagues (didn’t get a group picture, argh, kicking myself). Got some excellent testing in for various skills from the Kinetic, Telepathic, Arcane, Augmented and Fanatic careers. Was an amazing game, despite repeated failures (I have never seen so many failed rolls, they were well below the probability curve.)

Updated a bunch of skills in Chapter 6 – Characters.

What’s Next

I’ve almost got a solid Species chapter finished, so that’ll be coming next week. I’m also strongly considering re-writing the Arcane career, fiction-wise. Feels like it currently can’t support enough popular archetypes, so it may need some re-branding.

Comments, questions, etc are always welcome!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/atd0ygpwhur5yp6/AAB140jz3usjE3imwUkkCTLia?dl=0

Far Beyond Humanity Weekly Update #1

Hello all! It’s been a long while since my last official post.

What I’ve been up to: Shipping a game in the triple-a video game industry kinda leaves you squeezed dry afterwards, which chained beautifully into a bout of emotional… stuff (don’t ask, it was Not Fun), followed through with a holiday season full of travel, and stuck the landing with a cold/flu that hit the entire family hard, especially the (now very cranky and bewildered) toddler.

I appreciate that many of you kept the conversation going while I was on brain-burned hiatus, sharing your experiences and questions and thoughts. It made me super happy, and I’d love for that to continue, even if it’s just “here’s a cool skill combo I’d like to try” or “how would I re-create this archetype from my favorite book/movie/anime”.

(Hope you folks had a wonderful, safe, and peaceful holiday season, by the way. And all the very best for 2017.)

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What’s next: Enough excuses! I feel terrible for having stumbled in producing FBH, and more importantly, in communicating with all of you. So I’m officially starting a once-a-week FBH Update, and re-committing myself to provide new updates to the book every week. The Weekly update will cover the work I’ve done on the book that week, talk about design decisions, playtests, issues and questions. I can’t guarantee a new Chapter every week, but I’ll try to have a few new pages written, or a section revisited and tweaked, or playtest-driven changes implemented, etc.

Also, I’m going to post a link to the FBH Preview Drop Box at the end of each of these posts, because that little community link up in the upper right is hard for folks to find. I’ll be putting each new chapter there, and any further changes to that chapter will be made live there.

(I’ll still be checking in regularly during the week, and will strive to be more active in the community.)

—

New to FBH this Week

– I uploaded (unfinished) Chapter 1: Intro. The chapter covers how to integrate the various components of FBH into a new or existing UW game, and offers a bunch of alternate stat and Move uses.

– Minor changes to Chapter 2: Assets and Chapter 6: Characters. Looking to do a second pass on them, but it might wait until I have more concrete stuff to show for the Technology and Arcana chapters, since those will provide me with more inspiration/reveal holes i nthe design.

As usual, I’d greatly appreciate any feedback, comments, questions, suggestions, etc. Especially about Chapter 1 so far. Is it useful? Interesting? Pointless? Inquiring minds want to know!

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/atd0ygpwhur5yp6/AAB140jz3usjE3imwUkkCTLia?dl=0

Hey folks. Very sorry there haven’t been many updates of late; been heads down with my day job, we’re at peak crunch time. Things look like they’re calming down, so expect new chapters soon. In the meanwhile, I have a question for the Cyberpunk fans (and those who are particularly interested in naming stuff in RPGs)

In the SectorNet section, two things are causing me trouble: the Asset that contains the programs used to access the SectorNet, and the various static and autonomous virtual defenses. I need names for these.

Neuromancer / Netrunner fans will point to Deck and ICE, respectively. I get that, and it’s definitely my fallback if I can’t come up with better terms. But I’m very open to other suggestions (especially since ICE is an outdated misnomer “Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics” refers to physical hardware, not software).

Any ideas would be very appreciated!

A new preview Chapter is up on the Dropbox. This time we’re looking at new technology: new Markets, new Asset upgrades and the all-new Biomods and Cybernetics.

A few things are still missing from this chapter: Attire, Crew and Vehicles still need to be added, and I haven’t started on the Mecha section just yet (I’ve got a good idea where I want to go with it, just need to get my ducks in a row and write it out).

As usual, I’d greatly appreciate any feedback or commentary. If you have a moment, feel free to put together a few random Assets, mixing new and old upgrades, seeing what holds, what breaks, what simply doesn’t work, etc.

I’ve also done a pretty big update pass on Chapter 6 (https://www.dropbox.com/s/4e18lle8gpw9dfv/Chapter%206%20-%20Careers.docx?dl=0) from last week.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gbi0gjatfg1b51w/Chapter%202%20-%20Technology.docx?dl=0

Here we are! Chapter 6, Careers. The first of the Preview Chapters. I’m hoping to release a new preview every week or two (depending on Life getting in the way).

I’m around 95% happy with the way things are right now, skill-wise. Still a couple that could be tighter.

I would greatly appreciate any feedback or comments about the content. Either post ’em here or make a Comment straight on the Doc itself!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4e18lle8gpw9dfv/Chapter%206%20-%20Careers.docx?dl=0

A couple of teasers of the new career chapter. Looking to have the full chapter and running this weekend.

Wisdom (Chosen)

When you are involved in Cramped Quarters (either directly or as a third party), up to one participant resolves a mental or emotional debility afterwards, no matter the result. You may choose yourself as the “other” subject of your own Cramped Quarters.

Compel (Telepath) (replaces “Suggestion”)

When your word compels another to perform a few brief, simple actions, Roll+Influence.

On a 10+, they obey.

On a 7-9 they obey. If they would act against their fundamental nature, they can choose to suffer mental/emotional harm instead.

Advise (Counsel) (formerly “Suggestion”, from Telepath)

When you steer someone towards a decision or desire, Roll+Influence.

On a 10+, they accept this completely, and will act on it if they can.

On a 7-9, they become conflicted and confused, no telling how they might act.

Mediate (Consul)

When you are involved in Cramped Quarters (either directly or as a third party), choose one:

• Change the roll to a 9.

• Each party gains a Data Point about one of the other participants (your choice).

I’ve been slightly unsatisfied with the theming of the Xenologist career, so I’m considering expanding it to be something of a bridge between Academic, Commercial, Personality and Starfarer. It’ll still deal with “Seek Out New Civilizations” kinda thing, and will play well with all things xeno. At the same time, I wanted something that pushed understanding of people, of societies and of cultures.

This career would give me an opportunity to explore the mental/emotional debilities introduced in this book (between the mental powers and the elder-god-esque arcana). We already have one career that resists these (the fearless Fanatic), but healing from trauma could fall under this umbrella.

Finally, I’d like a few skills that leverage Cramped Quarters, because it’s a strong area that has opportunities to grow. Something like:

Council

When you are involved in a Cramped Quarters, no matter the result, choose one:

– The result is 7-9 instead (can be subsequently changed by someone else’s Get Involved)

– Each party gains a Data Point about another party involved in the Cramped Quarters.

– One of the other participants resolves one of their mental or emotional debilities.

I just need to come up with a name for this new career.

Councilor? Diplomat? Ambassador? I’d like it to be usable as both a first and last word of an archetype (“____” Academic and Academic “_____”)

As always, thoughts/comments are very welcome.