Playtest - Extra PreGens

The State of things, and Negotiation Rules

Forgive me for the rambly nature of this post! I just have a few things I want to update everyone one on.

One question we get - a lot - that we can't quite answer is "When will it be ready?"

The unfortunate nature of the thing is that we can't be sure. We almost have a working draft, but then we have play-testing, editing, layout, etc: On top of which Grey and I have the extremely bad habit of giving the other more and more stuff to do.

We are reigning ourselves in a bit, at least. I'd say 6 months is a good guess. Prior to that we'll have a play-test download doc for you all. Of course, time makes fools and liars of us all, so we'll keep this at a cautiously optimistic "maybe".

At the moment we are actually working in tangent on the game's Negotiation system. What's odd is that it's not super long or even that intensive; it's just an important part of the game that has to be easy to grok, quick to use, but still present significant options and application for players. I honestly think we've nailed it, but Grey is the best at ironing out kinks which is kind of what we are doing now.

I'm also working on the Downtime activities for characters. Because it's not quite enough to that your characters can scour ancient ruins and broker deals with dead kings in forgotten tongues, sometimes they need to manage their Rune Bakery side-business.

Hopefully I can show you guys some of that really soon!

Gen Con 2015 OR How BREAK!! is not Ryuutama (And that's probably good for both)

So this year was my second Gen Con, and maybe my third or fourth big chance to shamelessly shill BREAK!! to a gaming audience. And shill I did, in the forms of running for Games on Demand. Well, when I could at least - I also ran Ryuutama, a great game that proved to be very popular.

Ryuutama is a lovely game. It is very linear, but in the best way possible - it's straightforward and honest in both theme and mechanics. I was nervous about writing my own scenario since I had never Gm-ed it before, so I used an example one from the website (though I added an encounter with a troublesome NPC styled after a famous green hat wearing video game hero to pad it out). 

It focuses on travel and party interaction in a very clever way: The mechanics for daily things like camping, overland movement and even just how you feel in the morning are very procedural, providing players the what while freeing up the why for them to play out to their heart's content. This led to a lot of complaining about Moogle cooking, tone deaf minstrels singing about raspberries and a particularly funny bit where a noble woman told the rest of the party that her refined interpretation of a camp site was simply too advanced for them to appreciate (She had failed her roll pretty miserably).

Very different from what I normally run - but still a lot of fun!

BREAK!! on the other hand, is very focused on location-based adventuring. I am quick to admit that it is structurally close to classic RPGs in that manner, but I don't think that's a bad thing. I think there is enough differences in style, tone, and specific mechanics that I can afford (hell, probably benefit) from a certain amount of familiarity.

Grey provided me with some choice props, huh?

Trouble in Sprocket seemed to work well for the groups I ran it for. I was nervous about how the game would handle what was essentially a whodunit style scenario (with a small dungeon attached, because I cannot help myself) but it turned out to be a lot of fun. The setup lead to a lot of choice moments, including:

• The Battle Princess using her Heart's Cry ability to discern the emotion currently motivating various NPCs and use that to assist investigation.
• The group's Factotum playing hardliner with the Battle Princess as her chipper foil during interrogation.
• The Mechanoid Champion slicing clean through one enemy, leading to the immediate surrender of another.
• "Did they teach you about horrific vivisection back in Happy Little Person Academy?" says the Mechanoid to the Chib.
• Another session where said Chib managed to take down an explosive wielding antagonist via kamikaze run with a Fireberry Grenade and miraculously surviving the aftermath. He had a minor wound and a broken right leg for his troubles, though.
• Pretty much everyone's reaction to the "Very Useful Cloud" and Burr the Puppymole.

I was surprised how much each group seemed to pity a particular figure in the adventure. I'm not sure if I made them too sympathetic or if I hit a sweet spot I shouldn't ruin.

Anyway, we plan on having Trouble in Sprocket along with some playtest rules available for you all soon! Then you can let me know if I'm being big-headed about it.

(One of the BREAK!! play-testers was a gentleman who is a member of the Off the Table podcast, though I don't remember which. His Mechanoid Champion voice was inspiring.)

Languages of the Outer World

Grey needed these for "Trouble in Sprocket" so I was like hey, why not a blog post?

Common
Low Speak
Created and woven into reality by God Kings who tired of addressing their subjects in different tongues, this language forces itself into the minds of all those who inhabit the Outer World. Most dislike speaking such an intrusive thing, thus its demeaning label. 

Active
Bright Speech
The language of the sun and all things Light. Its sound is powerful and direct when spoken properly, with every sentence sounding like a decree.

Dark Tongue
Used the dead, forsaken and duplicitous. Dark Tongue is generally soft spoken and discrete, though it makes even horrors from beyond seem tempting.

Fade Song
The melodious tongue of those who dwell and sail between night and day. Famous for it's lengthy methods of explaining even the simplest of things.

Under Warble
The language of the Buried Kingdoms is more malleable than most; it is guttural but pleasant when spoken traditionally but humorous and rapid coming from Goblin dialects.

Dream Call
Perhaps the first language (perhaps not) this haunting speech is closest to Fade Song, save for that it resembles poetry rather than music. Elves, Fairies and the Unshaped use it in various meter.

Dead
High Akenian
The language of old Akenia, it now sees use primarily when researching ancient tomes and occasionally within esoteric magical societies. It is a flowery, valorous speech and often mourned by linguists around the world.

Gleysian Code
This language is compromised of simple one and two syllable words that relay information with alarming efficiency. It makes it surprisingly easy to translate via manual, much to the relief of Junkers the world over.

Creator's Script (Written only)
An odd series of glyphs found only in documents left by the Creator. Unterkin Sages agree that it is likely a cipher of sorts, rather than a true language. Some sort of enchantment makes it impossible to utter aloud, save for those of the Heretic Calling.

Trouble in Sprocket - Dev sketches

Gobbo werks 'Grinder'



Pa & Poe's house boat

Trouble in Sprocket - Locations

The Village of Sprocket

Gobbo settlement

Droog's Weaponz store

Knightmare restoration site

Trouble in Sproket - PreGens

Trouble in Sprocket - Overview

So I should be running games at Gencon this year, which will be super fun. Of course, since I'm an ambitious and self-aggrandizing monster, I want to try and run BREAK!! if I can. Grey posted these little NPC portraits for an adventure I'm writing up.

We wanted it to be the sort of adventure that really shows off the versatility of the setting. It takes place on one of the oddest landmasses in BREAK!! which is saying something! It's a bit like if the California Gold-rush took place somewhere where a bunch of Megaman stages were dismantled and left to rust and instead of gold people are looking for robot parts. 

Oh yeah, a mecha from Five Star Stories crashed there at some point.

Click for details, and to truly appreciate the fact that Grey is drawing this stuff and not me.

Sprocket is a fun little town and would likely make a good place to start a long campaign around if you liked the Metal Continent. The adventure itself features a mystery, a short dungeon and no less than two sad Robots. The mystery probably isn't as hard to solve as it should be, but the players will need to do some cool stuff to fix the actual problem at hand.

Trouble in Sprocket - NPCs

Armors

Weapon and Armour Layouts

Weapons and armor will be split into broad categories. Everything within a set category (e.g Light Armor or Quick Weapon) will have similar properties. This allows plenty of scope for players to invent their own armor/weapons. A few examples of each type will be given for flavour.

Here are the early concepts for armor and weapons. Should I have characters wearing the armour like the original design? I had removed the 'model' because I wanted you to imagine your character in them (and to be consistent with weapon presentation)... but possibly the page has lost a little fun. Characters also allow me to bring back some variety in the poses. However, I do like the catalog feels of the new presentation. What do you think?

A Combat Survival Guide for the Martially Unready

Wumble

Good Day to you, fellow adventurers! Wumble Eveready here, and I'd like to address a grisly issue that my partner Dara has brought to my attention.

Yeah, mainly the fact that a lot of you are dying before you make it halfway through your second adventure.

She speaks tersely but honestly, I'm afraid. And at the heart of the issue is the fact that many dungeoneers and explorers approach conflict from an entirely erroneous angle.

Dara

If you're not a solider, samurai, murder princess or some other kind of blood thirsty lunatic, don't engage the chomp beast directly, stupid!

Again, harsh but true. Fret not, however! Tender greenhorn you may be, we can still gird you with something much sturdier than any shield or breastplate!

Don't oversell things, Wumble.

Oh come now, these are good! I like to call them:

The Meddling Chib's Combat Survival Guide for the Martially Unready!

1) Always bring some candy!

• The best fights are the ones that never happen! Nothing calms down an angry adversary like some Chib Toffees. Also, they will be way less likely to eat you if their mouths are sticking together a bit.

2) Assists are your friend!

• So maybe your not the best shot. Maybe your sword arm is a bit noodly. You can still back up your more fight-inclined buddies with the Assault Assist action! Be careful with this one though, it does mean you might still be in stomping range.

3) A well stocked inventory is your arsenal!

• Just like a Warrior has to bring the right weapon to battle, you have to make sure you have the right stuff to make a difference. Flame Grenades for Ice Beasts, Star Gem light to ward of Spirits and maybe a bit of Shadow Stuff if you find yourself on the wrong side of a Deva. Oh, and you can never go wrong with some Healing Potions!

4) Pride is for the stabby!

• Look, Brave Dame Whats-Her-Name has plenty to prove, but you don't! Hide, play dirty, beg, do what you need to do to keep yourself around. If all else fails, run as fast as your feet allow. Just keep the last step in mind...

5) Don't leave anyone behind if you can help it!

• So this may sound like it counters the last one, but it doesn't, I swear. When all your clever plans fall apart or when all your cool stuff fails you, what's going to save your butt? Your buddies. You know who may need to take a hit to make sure they are around to do that? You guessed it. Suck it up, buttercup.

Before Wumble-Bumble takes all the credit, I have to say #2 and #4 are mine. But he's not as good a shot as I am so he needed to make up more~

AHEM. Anyway! These should keep you alive long enough to keep make it to Rank 2. If not - well, you won't be around to yell at me for it, now will you?

Equipment - Layout

Thoughts...

• Using a three column grid for equipment for a denser texture.
• Have experimented with a icon system for coins, stones, gems but felt messy (I still want to get this to work!).
• Inventory slot system needs definition.
• Rules/mechanics elsewhere in the rulebook are visually differentiated (in a grey box) but feels  like overkill here. Not happy with the inconsistency that creates. Might revisit.
• Item types to cater for: Unique items (Torch), Items with multiple options/levels but are mechanical identical (Tome), Categories s that suggest a list of examples but allows the GM to add items of a similar ilk (Adventuring Gear)

Had tried illustrating the object in isolation but felt this wasted a world building opportunity so opted to put the objects in context.

Character Sheet ++ update ++

Back page

First Page

Black & White

Champions - "HA-HA!"

So a couple of months ago Break!! had something of a massive paradigm shift - I abandoned the idea of isolated Spell Paths and decided that specialized Callings with unique Abilities were the way to go for this game. I liked it because it meant every character type was packed full of flavor as well as options. There was no generic "wizard" that got stronger every time I decided I wanted to make a new sort of magic.

Of course, this rippled into the non-magic using Callings I'd already written up. They had been designed to cover a wide spectrum: The Warrior could be a berserker or an archer, the Specialist a pick pocket or blacksmith. This is all well and good when all your character types are broad like that, but frankly it made them seem really boring in comparison with the new caster types.

So after much consideration - and a bit of grousing - we opted to split those two generalized Callings in half to make four distinct ones. Rather than base them entirely within the mechanics, I figured it'd be more fun to build them around themes and play style.

So no longer are there Warriors and Specialists. Now there are Champions, Raiders, Factotums and Sneaks. Today I am going to talk about that first one.

Champions are all about the application of power and force. They are extremely lateral - if given the options of "over" or "under" they will choose "through". At their best they are brave stalwarts who stay their hand until absolutely necessary, at worst they are sadistic bullies who revel in their might.

• Champions are the best fighters in Break!! - no one hits harder or better than they do.
• Armor is awesome. So is not having Armor, if you wanna give that a go.
• No weapons is beyond their ken! Buster Swords? No Sweat! Combo Weapons? Piece of Cake! Techno Relics? OK, they'll need a bit for that one.
• Besides being masters of combat, Champions make great leaders, orators, and...butchers?

A few inspirations for the Champion from the realm of fiction: Guts from Berserk, Red Sonja from Gail Simone's run on the comic, Corum from The Chronicles of Corum, Caim from Drakengard.

I leave you with this relevant clip from Yotube.

Character Sheet - 2nd pass

Wow! It's been nearly a year since I last looked at the BREAK!! character sheet. The system is still maturing but mechanics are stabilising so I thought I'd have another look at them.

Random thoughts on character sheets

• Is a brand opportunity. Does it represent the the game verbally and visually. Take design cues from rulebook (circles, icons, fonts)
• Complexity/Rigidity vs. Simplicity/Flexibility. Initial reaction is that clean sheet with white boxes where you can sy anything is the way to go BUT its not fun to fill in (uncertainty) and doesn't help you understand the mechanics. So...
• Should tightly match the mechanics. Leave no ambiguity in terms of where put data and have enough room a worst case scenarios (a fully encumbered Rank 10 Champion)
• Personalisation. I've (inconsistently) used first person on sheet. I can... My name is... (Is this annoying or engaging?) Does it help you understand. Abstracted simple labels don't inspire. 
• I also like piclists/tags for things like name, personality. They give ideas (not on this version!)
• Profile pics. Creative types happy to draw amazing bespoke characters sheets from scratch what about those that cant!? Faded (easily ignored) face template to trace over customise. Could provide a set for gender/species!
• Colour can add 'fun' also useful for information design. This design easily put in black and white!
• Need continuation sheet for adventure log, experience points, followers (coming soon)
• Ability sheets for callings - Writing down ability names and benefits is a drag and time consuming. Just tick a box on a separate sheet (if not certain the information that is written succinct so it is quick/fits). See below.
• Character Sheet PDF download to include creation funnel, filling in help and core stats. No use of rulebook minimised (Thanks Scrap Princess)
• I left a central margin as I was thinking about a multi-leaf folded character sheet. I kinda like that notion but may get dropped, is not that practical.
• Digital character creation is something I am keen to explore.  Your characters on your smart phone!
• A blank piece of paper is still a good option!

Aptitude experiments

• Give examples of checks related to this Aptitude to help player. (smash, crush, lift). 
• Rather than just have Trait (aptitude bonus) as +1 use words (feeble, strong). Your actually supposed to come up with your own (second option)
• Bar chart fun or a chore to fill in?

Calling ability sheet

• All the options are here. Just tick a box rather than jam the information into a tiny text area.
• Also Rey... I subbed this down hard to fit.

Anyway, more dev needed...

The Battlefield: Areas & Conditions (Layout ideas)

Layout talking about 2 key concepts of a 'Battlefield': Areas (physical spaces) and Conditions (environmental effects)

Note: Copy is early draft (and has already changed/improved)

Two human species.... Wha!?

The native humans of Outer World a tough and resilient bunch...


Where as humans from Other World...


All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Updated Calling table

Bit of a paradigm shift and update to the Callings. The basic idea is to tighten some broad fiction around various mechanical approaches to in-game solutions and responses to conflict.

That probably makes more sense in my head than on paper, but I really do think it's working better. What we have already done can be easily re-organized to fit these as well, so we aren't losing work.

Don't worry too much if something you liked from prior updates has vanished from the table. Most, if not all will get in the game in some capacity.For example, War-Mechanoids are now a Species instead of a Calling, and Rune Bladers should pop up again at a future date.

Oh, and here's a bit on "Types" before we get to the table.

Specialists - Callings that focus on constructive or circumventive skills.

Warriors - Callings that focus on martial ability and force.

Casters - Callings that focus an a broad form of Magic.

Gestalts - Callings that combine a specific sort of magic with martial ability or other skills.

Genus - Callings that represent both a specific species and suite of abilities.

Calling

d10 Result	Calling	Type	Description
1	Factotum	Specialist	Individuals who take mundane skills to an exceptional level (x.x).
2	Sneak	Specialist	Clever rogues who get by using stealth, acrobatics, and dirty tricks. (x.x)
3	Champion	Warrior	Valiant fighters who are at home in the thick of just about any conflict. (x.x)
4	Raider	Warrior	Warriors who find victory through speed and precision. (x.x)
5	Battle Princess	Gestalt	Wielders of Heart Magic and stalwart defenders of things they hold dear. (x.x)
6	Murder Princess	Gestalt	Avengers that use martial ability and Wrath Magic to destroy what they hate most. (x.x)
7	Sage	Caster	Learned researchers and practitioners of the magical art of Wizardry. (x.x)
8	Heretic	Caster	Acolytes of the Blasphemer’s Script, who call forth the forbidden and forsaken. (x.x)
9	Fairy	Genus*	Diminutive creatures born from magic, with abilities tied closely to harmony and fate. (x.x).
10	Immortal	Genus*	Earthbound godlings and other ageless humanoids with strange and terrible powers. (x.x).

Sage - Calling template

Each  calling (character class) page will start with a page that currently looks like this. The aim is to communicate  the essence of the calling as efficiently as possibly so gamers might quickly decide what to play.

The ensemble image expresses the breadth of character possibilities visually, followed by some short flavour text builds on this message and elaborates further.

Next comes a bulleted overview that succinctly lists: the callings strength, progression path, base aptitudes and combat gear allowance. Finally a description of the type gamer that might enjoy playing the calling.

What information do you want to know before choosing a character class for a new RPG? How do you decide?