Almost $200k, Fragged Rule Flexibility Deep Dive.
about 4 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.

Let us take a look at Subcultures!
about 4 years ago – Sun, Mar 20, 2022 at 11:59:52 PM

G’day everyone.

For today’s update I want to post up some art on the new Subcultures for the various playable species in Fragged (and there will be even more in the final books than what are shown here). The various species have always been the primary draw of the FE setting to me, so I’ve really doubled down on making them as interesting as possible in 2nd edition.

Suits (65.93%, the hegemonic Corp culture), Socialites (1.52%, masters of the online Stream), Neon Hunters (7.89%, a counter culture who believe personal risk and new experiences are required for true capitalism to flourish), FLESH robots (NPCs, organic robots who may – or may not – have a problem with becoming sentient), Vargartians (14.66%, those left behind by the Corp on their home world of Varsphere).

Rascals (15.02%, freelancer ship crew and captains who seek out new opportunities and memories for their people), Watchers (38.14%, those Kaltorans who have remained to guard and support their homeworld while others go out into the wider galaxy), Pioneers (24.97%, settlers on new worlds), Vagabonds (4.35%, often pirates and scoundrels, these people dull their bad genetic memories with excesses and vices rather than new positive experiences), Dark Tribes (7.52%, cannibalistic and blind Kaltorans who have not yet returned to civilisation and the light).

Auxilias (22.82%, mercs under Legion high command who often work for the Corp), Exilias (9.91%, freelance mercs who do not work under Legion high command and often secretly send money back to their families), Nomads (6.25%, arctic tribes who have chosen to live outside civilisation), Cerbion Hounds (NPC, giant doggies!!)

Yet to be shown: Workers (highly respected Legion who do not fight for a living).

Genocrats (0.000001%, genetically ordained rulers of the Nephilim), Gargantuans (8.12%, massive former-foot soldiers), Tenebrous (5.03%, former assassins and scientist during the Great War), Sentient Munitions (32.862%, a wide variety of Nephilim who were given sentience but where never meant to be ‘people’), Emissaries (0.002%, recently created variant that were engineered to look less like monsters and to acclimatize the others to the Nephilim).

Sparks (the nature of a Palantor’s creation are generally reflected in the colour of their glow – Blue (Human made bodies, 5.07%), Purple (lesser Human tech, 8.32%), Pink (reclaimed Mechonid, 6.03%), Yellow (Corp tech, 3.42%), Green (salvaged misc-match tech, 2.28%)), MVPs (19.08%, former hardcore gamers), Puppeteers (9.08%, those waiting for bodies and have on accession been known to take on the body of a spacecraft).

All-Faith (69.01% , those who follow the All-Being god), Psion Mind (17.81%, see the All-Being as not a god and wish to create a rival All-Entity), All-Truth (3.19%, see the X’ion as the All-Being).

Not shown: Forsaken (NPC, are not protected by the All-Being and must live in sterile clean environments/suits to avoid dying of sickness).

Phoenix Symphony (28.02%, value freedom, exploration and life’s finer pleasures), Dragon Symphony (19.09, warriors and people of action), Efreeti Symphony (6.21%, those with a discordant/unstable relationship with their Faren spirit).

Not shown: Salamander Symphony (value skill and family. Scientists, engineers, creators, etc…), Seraphim Symphony (converts to the All-Faith), Lampad Symphony (Faren shepherds and match makers).

Organics (71.05%, traditional Zhou who have bodies made of materials like they would have back on their hidden home world of Praid), Chromes (6.82%, have embraced their new technological lives), Wilders (12.13%, wish to see the Zhou form their own social distinctives and push their physical nature to its limits, no longer bowing and bending to the fears and expectations of others).

We are now almost 1 week away from the end of the Kickstarter campaign, so lets see if we can do one final push to bring more people on board! If you're part of an online community or a local gaming group please give us a plug :) It will make the world of difference.

Also, let me know what you would like me to cover in the next KS update! I'm thinking about doing a deep dive into some of the more distinctive Fragged rules, a basic breakdown of what content will be included in the 3 books.

$175k+, star system maps
about 4 years ago – Tue, Mar 15, 2022 at 05:00:56 AM

G’day everyone.

It has been so encouraging for my team and I to see new backers joining the campaign every day. I’m still in a little shock that we’ve almost tripled our initial funding goal. If you're new to the Fragged community please feel free to reach out to me at any time (I like to make myself as available as possible) and join our very active Discord channel.

Over the past week I’ve been busy doing marketing for the campaign (podcast interviews, etc…) and putting plans in motion for the development of our new Location Guide book. Step one for this book has been to lock down the content, and a fun part of this process has been the creation of various Star System maps which will act as a framework and source of inspiration for the writing and for future planetary maps.

Here are some draft maps that I’ve been working on:

• I will be tweaking and adding to these as we write the lore.
• I am yet to create draft maps for the Remnant and Twi-Far home systems of Kumba and Prism.

The Legion home is surrounded by Ley Dust Storms due to its close proximity to a Ley Line; giving it a fantastic layer of defence (as special navigation beacons are required for safe passage) and swift (but slightly dangerous) access to the Haven system.

Major planets:

• Thanatos.
• Persephone and Nyx (two gas giants).
• Charon (a small planet that houses the Legion's and fleet).
• Cerberus Prime (Legion home world).
• Hypnos (a world that is perpetually caught in Ley Storms, disrupting both time and people's minds).

This guarded treasure trove of a system has long taunted and tempted the people of the galaxy, as it once sat within the pre-war Kaltoran nation and has never been explored due to its defences; 3 great planet-sized space stations that destroy any who enter. Pushing back Archon, Nephilim, and Mechonids.

 Major planets:

• Veil (a great gas giant that has been altered to cover the nature of the 6 inner worlds).
• Sanguis.
• Metam.
• Divinus, Machination Cubes and Ominous (defence space stations).
• Observatio (holds a single safe (and semi-mobile) space station on its dark side).

Despite being the first star system to be colonized by the newly formed Corporation, it is now little more than a truck stop and a smugglers den as it has been bypassed by the newly created Haven-Var jump gate. The Corp like to think they own this largely unclaimed system, but their neglect is already leading to increasing attention by other species who see its untapped potential.

 Major planets:

• Opportunity.
• Jewel.
• Forutune.
• ARK Holding - 45GH, Cheer Holding - 89QW and Pinnacle Holding - 29KL (3 planets that are claimed by their respective mega corporations, but have not been settled or named).
• Prosperity.
• Luminos (a world covered in massive glowing cube-shaped rock formations).

$135k+ and LOCATION GUIDE Book Unlocked!
about 4 years ago – Tue, Mar 08, 2022 at 07:18:04 PM

We could not have asked for a better start to this campaign, as we have now unlocked both of our Stretch Goals; including a 3rd big book!!!!

Location Guide book

Creating a Location Guide book and freeing up space within the Setting Guide book for more species subcultures was a lofty dream for this project, and now it will be a reality :D I’m still thinking through my plans about what content I’m going to include. But here are my current rough thoughts:

• Setting Guide book will contain a short write up on the Haven system (and its planets) and all of the homeworlds (Cerberus Prime, Kumba Prime, Praid), along with all 3 primary star system maps. This will allow people to place the various species into context, and give enough information to run a game.
• Setting Guide will have much more space for writing up the various species and their subcultures (ie: farmer Legion, maybe the Seraphim Twi-Far, deeper exploration of the various Palantor Sparks, more information on Mechonids, etc…).
• Location Guide book will contain full write ups of all of the major star systems, along with system and planet-wide maps, and maybe even a few isolated planets/moons/misc points of interest that are yet to be explored.
• Development of this 3rd book will take time, so physical fulfilment will be pushed back. But PDFs of the initial books will be made available ASAP (ie: as soon as the Kickstarter funds come through people should be able to just send me a private message and I will send the PDFs out).

New Pledge Levels and Add Ons

• I've created new Pledge Levels that include the new books.
• I've created Add-Ons for the 2 new Books. Location Guide (Physical: +$75aud, Digital: +$20aud) and Magician's Choice Adventure (Physical: +$12aud).
• Please keep in mind that all Pledges of $40 or more will receive a PDF of the Magician's Choice adventure.
• I've also created a new RPG Patron pledge level that includes physical copies of the new books and your name credited in the new Location Guide book (NOT the original two books). Backers of the original RPG Patron pledge level can get physical copies of the new books via Add-On (which brings them to the same price).

How will the extra money be spent?

While this Kickstarter does not have a large focus on Stretch Goals, I feel it would be encouraging for you to know how I hope to spend some of the additional funds that we’re raising. I look forward to expanding this list as plans develop.

• Additional padding to absorb unexpected postage/shipping expenses.
• Additional funding to increase production speed.
• Printed endpaper for all 3 hardcover books.
• Bare book backs – no barcodes, logos or sales blurbs. All of these will be printed on a separate piece of paper that will be placed under the books plastic wrap cover.
• Early development of the next Fragged projects (just how previous Fragged Kickstarters have allowed me to do so much early development on this project).
• Development of a Foundry VTT systems (we're already working on this).

Almost 200% funded, and new Adventure unlocked!!
about 4 years ago – Thu, Mar 03, 2022 at 02:40:20 AM

G’day all.

I can’t believe it’s only be 2 days since we launched, what a fantastic start! Your support for my passion project is humbling, almost 200% funded!

Adventure: Magician’s Choice.

While this campaign does not have a strong focus on Stretch Goals, it's great to see that we have already raised enough funds to unlock our first one (WAY earlier than I had dared to hope for).

• This adventure is designed to be an introductory one-shot for FE2.
• A PDF of this adventure will be added free of charge to all pledges of $40 (aud) or more.
• A physical copy of this adventure may be added to your pledge for $12 (aud).

I want to give a special thanks to Tony from Plus One Exp for his kind review of Fragged, it was a joy to do a Actual Play with him and his friends a while back. Plus One Exp is a fantastic channel and well worth looking at if you're into indie RPGs.

Actual Play with Plus One and myself.

•  SPOILER ALERT: please do not watch this adventure if you intend to play the Ghost Ship Carthage adventure in the future.

On a personal note, two of my Players in my regular weekly game of Fragged have volunteered to GM a bunch of game sessions for me, so I get to be a PC! Those of you who are forever GMs will appreciate how nice this will be!

I'm going to be playing a Kaltoran named Old Nathaniel Pipe; a faux-grumpy grandfather who is a keeper of secrets (as he is too old to have children and pass on these secrets via genetic memories) and regularly volunteers to complete dangerous missions (so that his children and grand children do not have to go on them) while his wife guards the family back in their multi-generational cave home. He is a Watcher Kaltoran, one of those who has chosen to remain behind on the planet Kadash so that others can go off to the stars and make new genetic memories for their people. He is armed with nothing but a much-repaired t-shirt and jeans, a smoking pipe, rusty metal walking staff, a dusty history book and a first aid kit (for when his grandkids hurt themselves). I look forward to seeing how this 'past-his-prime' unlikely hero fits into the story :D