Category: Uncharted Worlds: Far Beyond Humanity

Far Beyond Humanity Weekly Update #17

I’m looking for proof readers. See below.

Proof copy is done

I’ve done the layout, got a proof copy of the pdf that I’ve sent to the editor for a second pass. Just need to put the final bits of artwork and marginalia, and it’ll be as good as done. Soon my friends. Soon.

On that note:

I’m looking for proof readers to quickly skim the semi-almost-final document to find any glaring issues. Major spelling issues or missing words, wrong reference pages (the dreaded “see page xx” that has plagued tabletop roleplaying books since the dawn of Gygax), etc.

Obviously this self-imposed deadline coincides with crunch time at work, because of course it does.

I’m exhausted but kinda revved up.

Far Beyond Humanity Weekly Update #16

Not much to report, sadly. Got the edited chapters back, doing corrections and assembling the book.

Since I can’t afford InDesign again, I decided to go with Scribus, which led to a LOT of frustration, swearing, and rhetorical questions about the nature of reality. So I may be doing the bulk of the layout in Word in the end. Aside from a few minor tricks that I can’t do, it seems to be holding up (fingers crossed).

Some of my favorite comments from the editor:

– “We’re talking mass and inertia here, right? You say ‘fundamental forces of the universe’ but I’m not seeing electromagnetism or nuclear forces…” Kinetic Career

– “Ew. Do you have to feed them? Ew.” Living Weapons

– “Megalomaniac Combo: Take “Obsession about yourself (when you would gain a Data point about something, gain it about your chosen subject instead), then combine it with Nemesis (gain a Data Point about the cause of a failed roll) and Scapegoat (pass on failures to others). Fail at something, someone else suffers instead of you, you blame a third party for the failure, but really it’s all about you.”

Fanatic Career, editor getting political

Far Beyond Humanity Weekly Update #15

Hello folks! Two big announcements today:

All Chapters Complete!

The writing is officially done! All chapters are in the hands of the editor, who’s working diligently to get the corrections back to me. Meanwhile I’m wrastling with Scribus (Never Again with the InDesign Times) and getting ready to do the full layout this week. If all goes well, second-pass will be happening this weekend.

Uncharted Worlds is going to be at Montreal ComicCon!

I’ll have a booth in artist’s alley at Montreal ComicCon this July.

http://www.montrealcomiccon.com/

If you’re in the area feel free to drop by (I’ll post my table number when I get it). I’ll have the Lulu printed softcover and hardcover books for sale (the leftover high-quality prints from the Kickstarter), plus an associate of mine will be selling awesome pins with the career logos on them for the Industrial Scoundrel or the Academic Technocrat in your life.

Sadly, I had really wanted to have a small print run of FBH for ComicCon, but with all the delays and scrambling I fear that might not be possible. I’ll try my level best to get everything done and printed and available, but I can’t make any promises. So close!

http://www.montrealcomiccon.com/

Far Beyond Humanity Weekly Update #14

Feels like I’m finally in the home stretch. Got half a section to complete, and a few things to shuffle around, but it’s now into deep corrections and layout.

I’ve already got a couple of Chapters back from a preliminary editing pass, and hopefully the rest will be done by the weekend.

Chapter 3 – Arcana – Horror

Got a chance to playtest the final version of the Horror rules, ended up finding a few interesting corner-cases and clarifications that completely mess up my page layout (grumble grumble).

I’ll write more about it in a separate post, but it was a great stress-test of the Prompting for Horror (i.e.: the Horror manifested in the first few minutes of the story when someone managed to roll a 1 on 2d6.)

Chapter 4 – Characters

Ended up going over the skills, and tweaking a few of the more problematic or niche skills. I’d appreciate it if folks could take a look there, make sure nothing stands out as being boring or useless or whatever.

The big addition to this chapter are the Reference pages, detailing each of the ten original careers and origins to aid in character creation. Some flipping back and forth will be inevitable, but at least initial decision can be made with all the info fairly accessible.

Interior Art

Whuff. Yeah. You probably noticed that after posting the first two images several months ago, there was nothing more. This is the thing I mentioned that was really ripping me apart the past few weeks. I was terrified that I would have to publish without them, and I had to go to some uncomfortable lengths to finally get them.

Situation arose because I’m a trusting idiot. Pro Tip: Always sign a contract, never do it verbally. And don’t pay the whole amount up front. If I could I’d time-travel to a year ago and slap myself upside the head.

But good news, got the pieces, and that’s the end of it. Maybe I can stop popping antacids every night. Whuff.

Carta Galaxia

With the book coming to a close, I find myself looking ahead. I’ve still got Carta Galaxia to finish, though the year of FBH has given me new perspective on the whole thing.

I think people would be best served by smaller, more regular releases. Instead of a big book of campaigns like I originally planned, I’ll be dividing it into 3 smaller supplements, each of which will tackle a certain kind of setting. Dividing into 3 books will allow more leeway in the way each book is structured.

– The Core: Heavy population, multi-faction politics and strife. Cyberpunk-ish style.

– The Divide: Two monolithic factions fighting for dominance, with a third supernatural power lurking in the shadows between the stars.

– The Edge: Loosely connected frontier worlds adrift in wild, lawless unexplored expanses of space.

So that’s this week. Hopefully the next update will be all about layout. (Speaking of which, I may be calling on volunteers to take a look/proofread the edited version after I do the layout pass, will post more next week.)

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

Far Beyond Humanity Weekly Update #13

As much as I hate to have a light/almost non-existent update, I figured I should at least touch base with everyone.

Basically, aside from fleshing out the aspects of Trauma, Horror and such, I’ve mostly been dealing with worrying issues with the publication of the book. I’ll probably be posting an update in the coming week, when things shake out (cryptic, I know.) Meanwhile I’m going to just keep popping antacids and trying to finish writing.

In a bit of good news, I’ve found a pleasing way to handle overcoming trauma. A character that suffers from physical or psychological trauma gains a new XP trigger choice in addition to their current career XP trigger: “A victory despite a trauma’s interference”. Every time a character overcomes their personal, inner foe, everyone gains xp.

-SG

Far Beyond Humanity Weekly Update #12

Eeep. It’s, uh, been a while, huh? Every weekend seemed to have something going on, and I just pushed things back.

But the worst thing I can do is let that become habit, or to wallow in it. No! I must get back on the writing horse and get this thing done. So close now. Really feeling the emotional diminishing returns as I get closer to the end.

I’ve already got a few chapters in the hands of my editor, so as soon as I finish, the first editing pass will begin.

Aaanywho, here’s what’s new in Chapter 3 – Arcana

Villains

This section is done! I ended up patterning the overall villain structure like the spaceship combat from UW; layered threats around a core.

To me it seems pretty straightforward, so I’m sure there are bits that I didn’t explain quite right because of my own blind spots and assumptions. I’d really appreciate it if folks (especially GMs) could take a look and tell me if it lines up will and fits with your understanding of the game.

Overwhelming Foe

Posted about this a couple of weeks ago, did a bit of tweaking on it. I’m quite happy with the way this came out. It’s kindof a countdown clock, but where each “tick” has a unique consequence. It’s supposed to represent the unavoidable costs and attrition when facing truly overwhelming odds.

As I mentioned in the other thread, with a bit more tooling this feels like it could be the central mechanic of a different game. A game I don’t have the time to write, sadly. Though I think some other designers are already eyeing the tech, which is super keen and I hope it shows up elsewhere.

Horror

Whoooooeeee. This was a tough one.

So Uncharted Worlds is a Space Opera. It has Space Opera tropes, and Space Opera primary colors. It has a soundtrack full of brass and synthesizer.

With the Horror section, I tried to condense an entire other genre (Sci Fi Horror) into 3 pages and adapt it to the current rules. And… I’m surprised and pleased with the results, to be honest.

The main design is to control the cadence and the build-release cycle of tension. Leaving the consequences purely to the GM in this instance would make the horror feel arbitrary. Instead, I wanted to capture a small amount of the dread of… well, Dread, when a player goes to pull a piece from the tower. There are also overtones of the Haunt roll from Betrayal at House on the Hill. I am not subtle with my inspirations. Such is life.

Basically, if I can illicit a hissing intake of breath when a character is called to make a Move during a “quiet” moment, then I’ve succeeded.

I’m particularly fond of the dark mirror of XP triggers found here: instead of earning XP, certain actions attract the Horror.

What’s next

I need to finish up the Horror section and the Trauma section (that was draining to write, constantly having to check myself, so to speak).

After that I need to go back over chapter 1 to make sure the “synthesis” of all the other chapter topics is covered.

And then: Editing and Layout!

Thanks for all your patience, folks. I know this thing is late out the door. I had hoped to be done months ago. But I’ll keep slogging at it, as much as I can between my day job, 2 year old son and fickle inspiration. I’m glad you’re here with me for this ride. I can’t express how much the community motivates me.

-SG

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

So I got particularly inspired by Alpo’s post about the custom Move he made for his Star Wars one-shot.

(https://plus.google.com/+AApolegre/posts/fYujSi1ccxe)

It got me thinking about alternate ways to approach combat against a truly unstoppable villain.

Ended up coming up with a one-page mechanic that I’ll most likely be integrating into Far Beyond Humanity (don’t worry, the “layered” approach will still be there).

Check it out! I’d love feedback, comments, gut feelings, etc.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7qr1sc2w4nkj55n/Unstoppable%20Foe.docx?dl=0

Far Beyond Humanity Weekly Update #11

Managed to get quite a bit done on the final chapter, despite the family visiting over the Easter weekend (Happy Easter/Paschal Greetings to you folks that celebrate it!)

The most important thing I managed to get was a solid grip on the Trauma section. Without it, I couldn’t advance.

Magic

Rewrote most of the Magic section to flow better and get the concept across with less fluff/story. Also clarified how stats interact with magic.

Villains

Putting together a GM section on how to run major villains, for those who want a more drawn out combat. It leverages the layered/multi-threat tech that was used for starship battles. A villain is a ball of threats that cover each other’s flanks, making it impossible to attack them from any front. Each defense has to be circumvented to have a shot at The Weak Spot for Massive Damage.

Trauma

I decided that I would represent Trauma as a personal villain, leveraging the Threats system to make an active, mindless Threat that was always vexing and disrupting the character. Trauma would need to be more than a mere injury, it would need to be an Antagonist, one that the character would have to heroically overcome again and again.

As a Threat, the Trauma repeatedly and regularly afflicts the character with varied minor debilities (aches, insomnia, dizziness, confusion, etc), depending on whether it’s a Physical Trauma or a Psychological Trauma. The minor debilities follow the usual debility/healing rules, and can be cured with a Patch Up, which represents medicating the symptoms (rather than treating the cause).

So far I’m quite happy about how well the mechanics are meshing with the existing mechanics of Threats, Debilities/Healing, etc. I invite you to take a look at Chapter 3 in the previews and tell me what you think. Especially if you see anything problematic in my phrasing or concepts.

What’s Next

I’m going to try to finish up the Villains and Trauma sections before moving on to more fantastical elements. Also, if anyone is a Sci-Fi Horror buff, ping me or post in this thread, I’d love to pick your brain. (grrr braaaaaaains).

-SG

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