From Concept to Form (Art)

An "Imbolc" class Martian patrol destroyer  in colored glory!  

Okay, lets talk about art development.  This, I have discovered, is one of my favorite parts about developing a game.  Its not cheap, but it is loads of fun to work with talented artists and feed off each other's visions.

I found Jeff Cram on an advert off of rpg.net.  I shot him a blind email saying I liked his stuff and inquired if he would be up to doing some SF work.  I told him I didn't need a lot of full color cover pages, mostly development art.  Many artists, for whatever reason, don't like to do development/concept work.  Probably because it doesn't pay the same as the really detailed stuff and doesn't add to a portfolio like the expensive stuff does.  That said, my budget cant handle a bunch of large pieces, so the initial prices Jeff quoted me were more than reasonable and clearly showed he understood what I was looking for.  The formalities fell into place.

Next up was a quick note from me to Jeff outlining what I was looking for -- an oneill-like torus in the center of the ship was one of the core concepts I wanted to see put to paper.

Below was the first draft - which was a lot of Jeff riffing and seeing what he came up with:

I liked the start, and it gave some stuff to work with.  I didn't like the bridge/tower thing and asked him to pull that off and assume the bridge is buried safely in the bowels of the ship.  I did like the guns on the side - which game me the idea that they shoot Jammers (for a lot of reasons  but one of them is that a gun that shoots Jammers is cool).  I also asked him to beef up the areas around the cylinder to make it a little less exposed. 

I also shared with Jeff some art I liked to point him in the right direction.   

Jeff went back to work.  

I think of this one as the "train ship" - for obvious reasons.  I really didn't like the front - a result of not being clear to Jeff what I was looking for.  I liked that Jeff was playing with lines and angles on this one more than the first iteration, so I wanted to encourage that.  But the cow-catcher had to go.  I made some other suggestions - mostly about the front and asked for more development around the engines.  This was also the first pic where Jeff started to get a feel for how much I like arrays as an aesthetic design choice.  I shot a concept picture of the Zumwalt class destroyer to Jeff and asked him to pull some design elements from there to add a bit of future-realism to the design.  

Ah, ha!  This is the pic where I knew we were really on the right track.  I specifically asked for the fins on the back, but a buddy of mine who saw the pic was adamant - "no fins!"  Okay, no fins.  Jeff did great with this one, lots of little details here and there that really make the ship come alive.  Jeff pulled in the Torp/Jammer cannons, and I much prefer this length for those guns.  He and I worked up the torpedoes in the front - which is what really pulls the pic together.  He also beefed up with habitat.  

I debated about asking to move the canon so it was more centered, but ultimately decided against it.  At this point, Jeff was sending me a bunch of iterations of the pic and, frankly, I didn't want to keep sending small changes when it looked like we were close to done.  Part of my decision not to ask had to do with this being the first art Jeff and I have worked on together - and I didn't want to annoy him too much with fiddly changes (though I am now sure he would have been cool with it).  The reality is that I am still not sold the ship would look any better centering the canon, so I let it go.  

And the final (after inks).  This is where Jeff brought it all together.  The blocky-things between the thrusters were originally supposed to be ejectable fuel supplies.  But when I saw them, they looked more like magnetic housings -- which sealed the deal that mil-spec ships in TDE use antimatter.  Thats part of the reason I like doing art this early in the design process, seeing the vehicles and making some intuitive jumps from what the artists come up with is another form of collaboration.  

Jeff did a great job.  We are on to our next design - the big brother of the Imbolc.  

As the System Turns (Content, Collaboration)

I love this picture.  

I had a skype session last night with a member of one of the boards I frequest (hi Alexander!) who had some thoughts on TDE.  The session was quite productive, and as I went to bed I made a couple of decisions that are going to shake up the setting as it stands.

First off, Alexander pushed me to think a bit more locally and figure out the level of tech and connectivity the average person has in TDE.  I thought this over last night and this morning and the more I think about it, the more I think that cybernetics, augmented reality, and biomods will all be fairly commonplace.  This gets us to a very wired society, but without having to push into transhumanism or the singularity.  I'm starting to get a feel that the technology of the setting is a bit like cyberpunk, without the 'punk or dystopia.

Alexander asked about artificial intelligence.  On the whole, AI does not exist - its all augmented human brains and "smart" programs doing the heavy programatic lifting.  There will be one notable excpetion to this rule - another source of potential energy to break the setting.  We will get into that later.

Then Alexander noted that he felt Mars would be the jumping off point for colonization of the System, not Luna.  Thats fascinating.  I can see where the argument comes from - the major effort for getting to Luna is to escape the worst parts of Earth's gravity well and overcome the friction of the atmosphere.  Once you are to Luna, its mostly a matter of a little extra reaction mass and time and you are at Mars -- which has a lot more resources and a real atmosphere to play with.  The best Luna offers is proximity and some supplies of He3 and limited supplies of ice.

I'm really starting to lean towards Alexander's point on Mars vs Luna.  What I think I am going to do is pick the Commonwealth, whole hog, out of Luna and plop it onto Titan/Saturn.  Luna becomes a backwater for most of TDE's history - a place for military bases, mass drivers, and some He3 harvesting.  Mars was the jumping off point for colonization - which is why it was rapidly built up the way it was.  However, once Mars got its independance, Earth lost a lot of its infrastructure resources for maintaining its colonies and has embarked on a crash program to make Luna "the new Mars."  This adds a bit more tension to Mars/Earth and makes Luna a bit of a boomtown in 2191 - lots of construction and optimism.

The other historical conflict that came out of Alexander's points was the Jupiter/Saturn conflict.  Alexander felt that Saturn was a better location for mining volatiles back in TDE's past.  Again, I can see his point.  Distance is a problem for Saturn, but its radiation and gravity wells are siginficatly less onerous than Jupiters'.

So, building from that, I think there has been a historical economic rivalry between Jupiter and Saturn.  Both were settled in the relative early days of colonization with an eye to getting volatiles and rare elements back to Earth and Mars.  Different companies and different interests threw their lots in with Jupiter or Saturn depending on their priorities, processes, and resources.  In the end, Saturn "won" in the sense that the Commonwealth was formed with Saturnine entities at its core (the Commonwealth will still include stations and polities from around the System, but it is most populous and headquartered around Saturn).  Jupiter volatile interests have dwindled as fission and antimatter have become more commonplace - leaving the hundreds of colonies and stations around Jupiter balkanized.

Saturn is where people go to make money.

Jupiter is where people go to get away from everything else.  

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I really like these developments -it gives the System of TDE a bit of a dynamic history, while also providing some good ideas for campaigns.  Alexander's ideas are really good and pushed me to rethink some of my assumptions - merci.

An Earth Less Ordinary (Content)

Earth, like Mars and Ceres, has been difficult to write.  The vision I have for Earth is the anti-unified government.  I'm tired of seeing the fractious nature of humanity glossed over for a literary convenience.  Frankly, unified Earth governments are boring.  I want an Earth that barely hangs together, with myriad of competing interests driving the powers-that-be apart.  I want the things keeping the motley band of Hegemons and Corporations together is the bureaucratic inertia behind the UN and the fact that the one thing the Hegemons can agree upon is how much they hate the idea of colonial Independence.

The problem with such a wonderful complicated political and social landscape is that you actually have to define that complicated relationship and give a unique face to the various powers.

This is my lame attempt at a start.  This is supposed to be Earth - I need a lot more content and detail to do it justice.

Humanity’s Cradle -- Earth: Earth is the most developed and populated planet in known human space.  It is the cradle of humanity and boasts the largest, most affluent, and most educated population in the Solar System.  Currently, the planet hosts just under 50 billion people, a number closely regulated by strict laws about population growth.  It also boasts the most diverse, and some would say, Balkanized population in the System.  Earth is home to 71 independent countries, eight Trans-National/Hegemonic blocs, and 17 corporate entities that have secured a special independent status for themselves.  These varied interests are often at each others’ throats, both on earth and off.  

Earth is dominated by a number of large political and economic entities that span much of the globe.  The many Trans-National alliances create a club of hegemonic blocs that dominate much of the planet’s territory.  Land ownership by individuals is a rare right offered in only a few of the smaller countries, with the nation states, and by extension the hegemonic blocs owning and regulating most of the land resources of the world.  Thus, despite the relatively advanced state of political theory and identity politics, the nations of earth are still very much tied to the land they claim.  The blocs, along with their member states, operate the largest militaries on the planet, able to project power into humanity’s home like none other.  The nations and blocs have also been the traditional lead in the colonization effort, and many operate and maintain extensive off-Earth holdings.

Earth is also home to a number of Sovereign Corporate Entities (SCE) that have the same rights and responsibilities as their nation-contemporaries.  These 17 corporations are often more liquid than the nation-states.  They operate their own, usually small, security forces and have seats within the UN and its committees just as any traditional nation does.  The SCEs can also grant citizenship – usually to its employees and their families.  Like the Hegemonic Blocs, the SCEs maintain off-world colonial holdings.

The third pillar of the political and social sphere of Earth is the United Nations.   Despite numerous existential crises over the decades, the UN remains the premiere venue for multilateral affairs.  Over time, it has seen some of its powers grow, especially in regards to the colonies.  Similarly, in Earth affairs it has seen its role and scope retracted as the Blocs and SCEs have maneuvered the polity to serve more as their own tool for securing their interests.  However, the UN still maintains a sizable political influence on Earth, and while difficult, still does intervene on the behalf of the General Assembly or Security Council in Earth affairs.

Earth is a mess of conflicting goals and shifting alliances. The times they do come together is against Mars or to pool their exploitative resources off-world... and even then, there are a number of on-world interests that are ready to take advantage if the Hegemons drop their guard.  While the Hegemons dominate, they do not act with impunity.  Even small states have a vote in the UN’s General Assembly and the renaissance of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a direct result of failed attempts by the Hegemonic Blocs to bully countries like India, Argentina, and Nigeria.  In fact, many in the NAM are sympathetic to the anti-colonial movement off-world (if only because the successes of the colonies come at a cost of Hegemonic power), and a handful of independent aggressively advocate for increased colonial independence.  While much of this maneuvering is simply a balancing of powers, some nations really do believe in the morality of self-determination and are willing to make principled stands against the Hegemons and the subservient UN.  

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Next up will be some expansion of Earth, I think.  That or a redefining of the term "diaspora."

Agents of Violent Change (Content, Mechanics)

Getting back to what the PCs do (and building off THIS post),, one of the really good pieces of advice I got from a writing buddy of mine is that I need to keep the setting focused.  Rather than just present a detailed setting, there needs to be a clear "this is what you, the player, is supposed to do."  Obviously, the setting will allow for a whole lot of options for the PCs, but I think my friend is right.  I have been working on a setting element that can facilitate the type of play I think TDE is built for.  I want to highlight cinematic action set against the backdrop of a realistic (and dynamic) Solar System.  I want the PCs to affect change.  I want them to pilot kick-ass mecha in the form of Jammers.

Sorta like this guy.  But with a big ass robot   

To all those ends, I am planning on the default campaign style to be that of futuristic CIA-like operatives.  I recall a few years ago I watched a show on Discovery that was stroies about the Afghan and Iraq wars before hey became full-on wars.  In that series (whose name I cant remember) it followed a number of CIA  and special forces operators as they laid the ground work for the invasions or tracked down terrorists/insurgents.  It was fascinating stuff (and probably sensationalized quite a bit).  Thats what I want out of the PCs - to be the very tip of the spear of whatever is going to go down.  I want them to have all the cool toys of a full-on military, without the restrictive hierarchy.

Enter CAID (aka "Fatewatch")..

CAID is patterned a bit after the crisis analysis organization in Peter Watts brillant SF Rifters Saga.  As always, rough draft, spelling errors, blah, blah, blah... 

Vanguard Social Science -- The Complexity Analysis and Intelligence Directorate (CAID): CAID is an elite and very specialized Martian intelligence organization that works to anticipate the development of chaotic events by calculating and statistically analyzing the likelihood of natural disasters, social upheavals, conflicts, and other major events.  It is also empowered to eliminate those threats.  CAID pulls on the best and brightest of Mars, and aggressively recruits throughout the System.  CAID researchers, scientists, and engineers are provided with generous budgets and support staff to facilitate their projects.  However, the core mission of CAID remains the correct prediction of threats to Mars and its people - and an unsaid aspect of that prediction is to do so far enough in advance of a catastrophe to be able to enact meaningful change.  

CAID is colloquially known as the “Fatewatch” and usually referred to simply as “Core” by CAID’s field agents and paramilitary wing.  For most of CAID;s existence, it was simply referred to in official Martian government documents as “Antevortia” -- a simple placeholder for budgets and bookkeeping.  “Antevortia” is still used by many in the Burt administration, and “Antevortian” is a common pejorative term throughout the System to refer to anything that involves an unbelievable or complex conspiracy.  

The resources at CAID’s disposal are significant.  To aid in forecasting, the Directorate has over 200 supercomputers, most of which are integrated, running statistical analyses and regression techniques to identify threats at various points in the future and apply percentages to the likelihood of the threat’s outcome.  From there, CAID’s researchers and analysts review the data and work up reports that draw on history, social and physical sciences, and good old fashioned logical hunches.  The reports are used throughout the Martian government (and, in rare cases, its allies) to identify the threat, its severity and its possible outcomes.  Its not quite a science, but its damn close.  

CAID’s operations cell is particularly feared - rumored to both enact events that CAID predicted but have not come to pass as well as prematurely end any events CAID fears it cannot control.  This often leads to the Ops Cell eliminating seemingly innocuous politicians or destroying “random” space debris that forecasting identified as particularly problematic for the future foals of Mars.  Fatewatch’s forces are staffed by the best and more experienced that Mars has to offer.  CAID operates a sizable Jammer fleet.  Jammers have proven their utility time and time again for the diverse set of missions Core demands.  CAID also operates a number of interplaetary assets -- including a handful of spec ops cruisers, frigates, an extensive array of detection and comms gear spread throughout the system, and even a full-sized carrier.  

In those times a threat is too large to be dealt with by CAIDs elite, but small forces, it can request aid through the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of External Intelligence, Ministry of Home Affairs, or just about any government organization.  The fact that CAID operates under the Administrator’s office and is funded by a special line-item in the Martian budget means that it has considerable latitude and high-level support when it requests aid.  

The Directorate has had its fair share of notable successes and abysmal failures.  They did not successfully predict the dangers the Huns presented - only realizing the threat to Venus after astrophysicists in the public sector revealed their findings.  This oversight still serves as, a major black mark they are seeking to correct through enactment of the Erinyes Doctrine.  On the other end of the spectrum, CAID successfully anticipated the Jovian L4-L5 War as well as predicted the level of involvement of TORA and OCRI.  Its notable that while it is publically acknowledged that CAID predicted the L4-L5 War, what, if anything, it did clandestinely about the war is unknown.  Another feather in CAID’s cap was its prediction of the 2188 Martian executive election.  CAID’s leadership, at the orders of Administrator Sugiyama, worked up a detailed analysis of the likely outcomes - and noted their belief that Sugyama would narrowly lose the election (with a 65% likelihood).  Sugiyama ignored the analysis, believing that the data confidence was still quite high.  History proved him wrong when the analysis was later revealed in a bit of a scandal after Burt took office.  

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Truckin' right along.  We've done game theory  setting design, mechanics... its starting to fall into place.

A Diplomatic Tool (Art)

Concept art for TDE - by Jeff Cram.  This is likely a Martian patrol frigate (its def. a frigate, though not 100% sure this will stay with Mars or if it will shift over to one of the Hegemonic powers).  Jeff did a great job - I had a number of changes from the original draft, and he made each one of them work.  

When diplomacy fails...

The goal was to have something that establishes its own aesthetic, but also stands on its own and is able to portray its mission by its look and weapons loadout.  

I'll go into more discussion on how this particular ship came to be.  For the time being, just enjoy.  

Its nice to finally have some art.  

Tweaking the ORE for TDE. FTW! (Mechanics)

Its time to talk about the baseline mechanics.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I plan to use the One Roll Engine (ORE) for TDE.  Tehere are a lot of things to like about the ORE.  Its a dicepool mechanic, with an upper limit so the dice and thee math never get too crazy.  Its a tried and true system, applied to a number of setting and genres.  Its also tied to a couple games I dearly love -- Monsters and Other Childish Things and Godlike.  Its also the house engine (to some extent) for Arc Dream Publishing -- which is home to some of my favorite people int he gaming industry.  So, all in all, using the ORE just feels right.

I am about to jump into some very weedy stuff on the ORE and its background mechanics.  If you are familiar with the ORE and how it works, check it out HERE

Of course, I can't leave well enough alone.  While I feel that the ORE is a very solid mechanic, there are parts that I don't like.  I don't like that the quality of a success is the most random part of the roll.  The Height of a roll is the part the character has the least control over.  Improved stats and skills lead to things being done quicker, not really done better (thats note entirely true, but its safe to say that the speed of an action is improved faster than the quality as stat+skill improves).  I strongly feel that as a character gets better at something, they should reliably improve the quality of their successes.

This leads me to a fairly drastic rules change (its no longer a tweak) - switching Height and Width and what they mean to success.  What I am exploring is the idea that a longer width means the quality of the success is better, and the Height dictates the speed by which something is accomplished (10 being fastest).  I;ve floated this idea to some people smarter than me, and the switch seems mechanically sound.  It does play with the probabilities slightly, and modified how Hard Dice and Wiggle Dice play with the results, but I can live with that.

So, thats our baseline mechanic.  Stat + Skill dicepool.  No more than 10 dice rolled at a time.  The gal is to get a pair.  Anything beyond a pair gives the roller (GM or PC) the ability add "extras" to the result (stuff like extra damage, a particularly skillful result, making something enduring, gaining back an expended resource -- whatever the roller can come up with that is appropriate to that challenge).

If you get a pair, the task was successful.  If the player gets two pairs (or more) - they can choose which matching set they want to use.

From here , I have a lot of ideas.  Complex challenges will remove dice from the dicepool along something like this:

No Roll = Easy Task
+1 die for an Easy but Dramatic Task
No Modifier for a Difficult task (this is the baseline modifier and assumption of challenge)
-1 die for something hard
-2 die for something really hard
-3 die for something that only an expert can complete, and even then with a good change of failure
-4 die for something extremely difficult, even for a veteran
-5 Hail Mary!

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Other ideas I am kicking around is that the players can voluntarily remove dice from their pool before a roll to get other advantages (called "benefits" or just "benes").  Remove (or "sacrifice") a die to add +1 to the final Height (including pushing a result over 10 on the Height).  Remove a die to attempt multiple actions (in this case, you pull out a die for each action you want to attempt and hope you get more than one pair).  Remove 2 dice to get a free Savvy Die (SD) starting at 1.  Add more Savvy dice to add another die at 2... and so on (so, 6 dice spent on a roll can give three SD - one at 1, one at 2, and one at 3).  No more than one SD for each value.  You might also remove a die to improve your defensive stat.

...stuff like that.

Then, when its time for action, all the players and GM pick up their dice, secretly remove their dice they want to spend on "benes"

Oh yeah, the kicker to Benes?  You dont have to declare before hand what you are spending your sacrificed dice on.  You can see the result of the dice and then decide what you spent the sacrifices on.  If you sacrificed 3 dice and the results weren't what you were looking for, you can change your plans and use those three sacrifices any way you want.

So, f'rex:

I have a dicepool of 7.  I initially decide I want to buy my first SD (a value of 1).  I pull out two dice from my dice pool (the sacrifices) and set them aside.  When the GM calls it, I roll the remainder of my pool.  The results come up 2,2,5,8,9.

Okay, so I didn't get a 1 and so that SD I was planning on is useless.  Instead, I decide to use the two sacrifices to improve the Height of my pair - moving the pair's Height to a 4 (rolled a 2 + 1 sacrifice + another sacrifice).  The GM looks around the table, identifies the highest pair - and asks if anyone is going to beat that pair's Height with spent sacrifices... my 4 is no where close to that result  so I wait for my turn.

If I had rolled a 1,1,3,5,6.  Then we are talking!  The SD matches the 1s - not only giving me a pair, but a triple Width match.  Though slow, whatever I tried to do I did quite well.  When it comes to my turn I tell the GM I had two sacrifices and use them for a SD.

Of course, you dont have to use your sacrifices if you don't want.

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These changes are pretty significant and range from tweaks to outright punches in the face of the ORE.  There is still a lot to consider mechanically, but so far, the baseline of switching the Height and Width seem to make sense.

Stay tuned, I got some more ideas up my sleeve.

Antimatter Matters (Development)

In one of the comments on an earlier post, Cutnose asked about the role of antimatter and matter in the game - specifically as a source of thrust.  My answer, frankly, wasn't the best and mostly danced around the question of the prominence/role of exotic power sources.  It something I have thought a lot about - especially today (Cutnose's question pushed the issue to the fore).  I'm still not sure how I want to deal with propellants and power sources.  Spaceships are going to play a critical role in how the setting is going to function as well as how the worlds are going to look.  The type of power source is going to dictate how fast ships move, how far they can go, what they will look like, and even how destructive their weapons can be -- all important stuff for a game that has aspirations of focusing on military-style campaigns.

I need to hash out what, if any, role antimatter will play in TDE.


The Case For Volatiles (aka Chemical propulsion):

Volatiles are the safe way to go (and BTW, "volatiles" is code for chemical propulsion right now).  They are what we use today to propel spacecraft -- and pretty much all other vehicles save for some navy ships.  Its a common and understandable technology.  Its plausible and easy to understand.  Its cheap.  Volatiles and the like are great economic macguffins.  If TDE is going to have a plausible economic view of the setting, and Volatiles will play an important role -- especially if they are the primary (or sole) way to move interplanetary ships.  Plus, Volatiles are found in a lot of interesting places int he solar system - providing a useful excuse as to why there are colonies in the proverbial ass-end of space (especially for Venus, Jupiter and the Belt).  Volatiles would also be useful as radiation shields - serving double duty of protecting the crew as well as providing delta-V.

The Case Against Volatiles:  

Volatiles as a power source are inelegant and a little boring.  The tech, by 2191 is going to be ancient and implies a level of technological stagnation I am not sure I am comfortable with.  Ships that rely exclusively on volatiles for delta-V will require some very bulky structures to make sure there is some plausibility to how much reaction mass is available to move some big ships.  I'll admit that I am not a big fan of the modern NASA aesthetic... and the realistic ships that build off that aesthetic aren't very appealing.

Boooring.  

The Case For Antimatter:

Antimatter is sexy.  Its plausible for the timeperiod -- more than 150 years in the future (especially since we can already manipulate small quantities today).  Giving Antimattter a prominent role in powering ships (and maybe more) frees up a lot of physical and aesthetic/design space.  Ships wont need those bulky fuel tanks since antimatter (AM) supposedly can yield upwards of 90% energy dividends when smashed against matter.  It gives ships longer legs and faster speeds as well.  Oh, and it makes for a good reason to get out to Jupiter and Mercury.

The Case Against Antimatter: 

Its expensive.  Antimatter may be a little too sexy in that it pushes some boundaries of plausibility.  If volatiles are somewhat implausible to still be the primary fuel source 150+ years from now, antimatter is somewhat implausible for only being 150+ years int he future.  I also dont fully understand the dangers and benefits AM presents -- which requires more research (what happens if a ship gets the crap blown out of it and it has an antimatter drive?  A big boom, most likely... but how big?  What about other commercial uses?).

Suck it Earth!  This is my playgorund!  

...and the Nuclear Darkhorse:

I also need to consider nuclear fusion and fission.  Its a known technology (fission moreso than fusion).  Its speculated to be quite efficient (though not as efficient as AM).  I think its plausible we could safely create and harness fusion as a power source.  They provide a nice medium between archaic chemical propulsion relying on volatiles and the Star Treky antimatter option.  Nukes really aren't a dark horse -- they will be a core propellant, but I thought the title for the section suitably dramatic, so I kept it.

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Right now I am leaning towards major military ships and some very advanced private/corporate ships using AM.  Most civilian ships use a combination of volatiles and nukes.  Jammers?  Jammers I am not sure of yet -- though I am leaning towards managed fusion.

Whatever the decision - the final setting will involve a number of different options.  Volatiles, AM and fusion/fission will all have their places - its just a matter of percentages and what mil spec ships will use (and Jammers, for that matter .  Likewise solar and magnetic sails will have a role to play.

The devil, as always, is in the details.

If anyone out there has a strong opionion one way or the other, please let me know.