Early Access Rule & Setting PDFs are out!
about 2 years ago – Tue, Sep 13, 2022 at 11:59:09 AM

G’day everyone :D

As nearly all of your are now aware, the Early Access PDFs for the FE2 Rule and Setting Guide books were sent out a while ago, and I hope you are all having lots of fun reading and playing games with them.

• If you missed your email link, please check your “My Library” button on DriveThruRPG, or your spam email folder. If they are still missing, just send me a private message.
• The Early Access PDFs are also available on DriveThruRPG for the public. It would be a GREAT help if you could rate them and/or leave a review.
• If you want to chat about FE2 (or other Fragged settings), I highly recommend joining the Fragged Discord channel. I and other people from the Fragged community are on there everyday.

Work on the Location Guide book is also going well, especially with the art. We still have lots of work to do with the writing and maps, as I’m wanting to carefully fill out the lore of each system/planet and weave them into the wider setting.

Also, I've been working on new resin Fragged minis :) This fantastic Tethered (Fragged Aeternum) and Kaltoran ranger (Fragged Kingdom) will be available next month in limited numbers. Once they're ready for sale I will first announce them on Discord and then Facebook.

Please complete your BackerKit survey.
about 2 years ago – Mon, Aug 08, 2022 at 05:49:11 PM

G'day everyone, just a super quick update to remind everyone to please complete your BackerKit survey and to resolve any issues that you have with card/PayPal payments ASAP.

• I want to send out the early access PDFs for the Rule and Setting Guide books as soon as I can and I don't want anyone to miss out.
• The early access Location Guide PDF will be released at a later date.
• These early access PDFs will be updated via DriveThruRPG as I make tweaks, and insert some final art and lore. If you have feedback, best to let me know via the Fragged Discord group.
• A week or two after Backers have their early access PDFs I will be making them available to the general public (as holding off will just encourage piracy).
• Also, if you backed a "Patron" pledge level and want a different name than your listed name thanked in the back of the book(s), please send me a private message via Kickstarter.
• If you have any trouble or questions, please let me know :D

Fragged work continues :)
over 2 years ago – Tue, Jun 28, 2022 at 04:46:16 AM

G'day all.

I just wanted to give you a quick update on how production is going on the Fragged books, and to encourage everyone to finalize your rewards/address via the Pledge Manager (as I hope to lock things down later next month if all goes to plan). If you need any help with the Pledge Manager just send me a private message.

Ok, onto the book content!!

With the unlocking of the new Location Guide book I've had lots of room to flesh out new (and expand on existing) subcultures within the setting. New additions include: Legion Interior Branch (factory farmers, ship wreckers, parents, etc...), Palantor Green Sparks (they make their bodies out of any junk that they can find), Twi-Far Salamander Symphony (a returning faction from FE1 - colonists, scientists, workers), Twi-Far Seraphim Symphony (Twi-Far who have converted to the Remnant's All-Faith), Hunger Mad Zhou. I've also done some large expansions on the All-Faith holy texts and various Zhou tribes  ( from those on their home world of Praid and new ones in Haven).

Work on the Location Guide book is also coming along well, but a little slower as I'm focusing on the Setting Guide book atm. I'm especially happy with this above image showing how the Twilinger used to be industrial slaves for the Archons before the Great War.

Pledge Manager, Location Guide book and more!
over 2 years ago – Thu, May 19, 2022 at 05:51:21 AM

G’day all.

BackerKit Pledge Manager

You should have all received an email with a link to your BackerKit Pledge Manager, please fill this out with your postage details and Add-Ons of choice ASAP.

• You can alter your Pledge Level via the Pledge Manager if you want to increase your Pledge Level.
• If you missed the Kickstarter you can still pledge via the Pledge Manager: https://fraggedempire2.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders 
• Pledge manager will most likely be locked down in July.
• Please send me a private message if you need any help.

Early Access to PDFs

It is my plan to have early access versions of the Rule and Setting Guide PDFs out to you in July if all goes to plan. Please ensure you have your Pledge Managers all filled out in time to ensure you receive yours. These early-access PDFs will be sent our via DriveThruRPG.

• These early access PDFs will be updated to final versions as art and writing is completed, and rules tweaked.
• If you want to join the playtest right now, please join the Fragged Discord channel and send me a private message with your Kickstarter email address.

Location Guide Book

Work on the Location Guide book is going well. Having an entire book has given me lots of room to flesh out the various core Fragged Empire star systems, and throw in lots of unexplored (or loosely explored) systems to tempt GMs and PCs.

• These write ups will also include the distant home systems of the Legion, Remnant and Twi-Far – allowing an even deeper exploration of their cultures and histories.
• Please be sure to add a physical copy of the Location Guide Book to your pledge, it would be a great help to the project! 

Cover Art

The cover art for all 3 core books is now complete! These were an absolute joy to commission, and help to show all of the different angles of the Fragged setting; exploration, combat and social bonding :D For future FE2 books I am very unlikely to do this 'same location' approach, but I think it really works for the core books.

Almost $200k, Fragged Rule Flexibility Deep Dive.
over 2 years ago – Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 06:38:20 PM

G’day all.

It’s great to see that we’re so close to $200k, and with a bunch of days still to go!!

Campaign Play Style

For today’s update I want to dive a little deeper into the flexibility of the Fragged rules, but I’m not wanting to start with Traits, Weapon options, equipment, etc... I want to take a special look at campaign flexibility, ie: how a GM can modify the PC progression tracks and add in a few optional rules to allow FE2 to be used for a wide range of campaigns. IMO this flexibility is one of Fragged greatest (and easiest to overlook) features.

Let’s take a look at the 6 example Campaign styles that are presented in the FE2 GM Guide section of the rule book.

Standard Fragged

“A ragtag band of misfits making their way through the galaxy doing what jobs they can in their dinky spacecraft.”

No Special Rules, and standard reward rates.

Reward Rates:

• 1 Level per 3 sessions.
• 2 Trade Good or Networking units per session.
• 1 Spare Time Point per session.
• 1 item with Modifications, Misc item or free Research Acquisition Roll without a Workshop per 3 sessions. This may replace a Trade Good or Networking unit reward.

Space Marines

“Big guns and bigger armour. This oversized shoulder pad-infested adventure will see you mow down hordes of enemies as you unload a barrage of puns, one-liners and explosions.”

Special Rules:

• +2 max Resources.
• 0 max Influence and is never increased.

Reward Rates:

• 1 Level per 3 sessions.
• 2 Money Trade Goods per session.
• 2 Spare Time Points per session.

Survival Horror

“All of the Players best have a back-up PC ready because they won’t all survive this jump-scare ridden adventure against a seemingly unstoppable foe that you can never quite get a good look at.”

Special Rules:

• Max Resources do not increase with your Level.
• +0 max Influence per Level.
• All NPCs gain +1 Crit Dmg.
• PCs die when any of their Attributes are reduced to -2.

Reward Rates:

• 1 Level per 3 sessions.
• 1 Spare Time Point per 3 sessions.
• 1 item with Modifications, Misc item or free Research Acquisition Roll without a Workshop per 3 sessions.

Detective

“Embrace your inner noire as you journey through overpopulated and dangerous rainy streets with your trench coat and trusty pistol.”

Special Rules:

• +1 max Resources and Influence per 3 Levels.

Reward Rates:

• 1 Level per 3 sessions.
• 1 Money Trade Goods per 2 sessions.
• 1 Spare Time Point per 3 sessions.

Space Explorers

“Jump in your big ship with a large crew and trek across the galaxy to encounter strange entities and stranger environments.”

Special Rules:

• +0 max Resources per Level.
• +2 max Influence per Level.
• 4 Research units may be exchanged for +1 current Influence.

Reward Rates:

• 1 Level per 3 sessions.
• 2 Trade Good or Networking units per session.
• 2 Spare Time Points per session.
• 1 free Research Acquisition Roll with a Workshop per 2 sessions.

Grand Space Opera

“The PCs are powerful people of influence and will be involved in large factional wars, melodramatic politics, passionate romances and dramatic risk-taking. Their choices will re-shape the nations.”

Special Rules:

• +2 max Influence per Level.
• Companion Weapons cost -2 Resources.

Reward Rates:

• 1 Level per 3 sessions.
• 2 Networking units per session.
• 3 Spare Time Points per 2 sessions.
• 1 free Research Acquisition Roll without a Workshop per 3 sessions. This may replace a Networking unit reward.

To alter the feel of your campaign Fragged gives the GM 3 primary PC progression dials to alter if they’re wanting something a little more unique: Spare Time Points (how easy/gritty a game is), Resources (personal combat power and flexibility) and Influence (spacecraft power and flexibility). With a little experience and experimentation a GM will be able to use the Fragged rules to run almost any kind of sci-fi campaign.

Player Play Style

Another deeper feature of the Fragged rules is the ability for Players to tweak the feel of their character and how they interact with the game’s rules to fit their play-style without negatively impacting the experience of other people at the table. I want the narrative-focused, the power-gamer, and the rules-light beers and pretzel Player to all be able to sit and game together.

Nearly all options (Species, Traits, Weapons, etc…) within the Fragged rules have a Play Style icon next to them, letting people know that this option generally fits into one of 4 play styles.

Rules Light

An ideal choice for a GM or Player who prefers fewer game mechanics, or who are new to the Fragged rules. These options are often simplistic, and may on occasion reduce the number of rules that a character has to interact with.

Combo

A good choice for GMs and Players who enjoy game mechanics and maths. Understanding the full potential in these choices can be complicated, but when used well they may have impressive results.

Be careful to not take too many of these options as they can make for a very complicated (and on occasion, underwhelming) character.

Narrative

An ideal choice for a GM or Player who enjoys the story side of RPGs. These options commonly grant additional information, give the Player more narrative control, or are just very flavoursome.

More than other options these will affect the play experience of other people in the game. Players should be careful to not monopolize their game’s playtime and to be mindful of increasing their GMs workload (GMs may want to reduce their workload by granting these Players some narrative control over minor details).

Mix it Up

These options are great for GMs and Players who want to mix up the Fragged rules or create characters that interact with the game’s lore in odd ways. They are a good way of adding some spice to a game.

The beauty of all of the above information is that they can be embraced or ignored by any GM or Player. You can just use the standard rules and select options that you think are cool, but if you do decide to learn the above systems you will be empowered to draw even more from the Fragged rules as both a GM and a Player.