Ebb and Flow

Whew. I was absolutely crazy busy with game stuff for a month while I was doing the Kickstarter, and then I was crazy busy with school as the year started (and my Surface Pro started to die)... now I have a new Surface Pro, and I've got something of a routine going with school, so maybe I can get that work/life balance thing actually going for once. This weekend, I was able to get my backer surveys out, finalize and update the layout for the 48 page core rules (they're now up on DrivethruRPG), and get back to the layout for the Complete Rules. I got about six pages of layout done today (since I'm moving everything over to the new stat block, with new fonts throughout, so the process is actually a little labor-instensive). I'm also re-drawing images that are too small or just not quite up to what I want them to be for the final book. It all takes time, but the results are so much better looking. It's definitely worth the time and effort.

A Skye Drawing

For some reason, I felt like doing something that wasn't part of the Kickstarter, and which will probably never see print anywhere... I don't know. Regardless, here's a drawing of Skye Stalwart lifting a car. The perspective is totally wonky (she'd be carrying the car sideways, so she can only carry it like that if she's flying fast enough to 'push' it against gravity... the viewer is below her, but the car is sideways to us). Despite this, I still kind of like it.

  

KS Aftermath

Now that the Kickstarter has finished, I am transitioning into locking some things down and making some concrete decisions. One of the big upgrades that I plan to make (from my perspective), is a revised stat block. As you can see, I've worked up a stat block for Doc Stalwart (which will definitely need tweaking, but this gives you an idea of what I'm thinking of)... I'm a few weeks away from locking this in, so feedback is welcome.

 

Thoughts of KS and Marvel

The Kickstarter campaign is just about 3 days from the end, and we're nearing 250% of the funding goal, which is awesome. As we near the end, I'm reflecting a bit on some fundamental things about my aesthetic and approach, and how/why I am where I am.

I have had the wonderful opportunity to reconnect with some college friends and play the Marvel Multiverse RPG once a week. We're meeting again tonight, and I'll keep playing Skye Stalwart as adapted to a rank 2 hero in that game world. The game did a pretty good job of allowing me to play Skye as she is - her basic abilities are all about where I see them, and she's pretty capable. She lifted a car. She was able to knock out several bank robbers in a round. She can fly pretty quickly from one point to another. 

But... she's got a list of things she can do. When she attacks, she can use a few different very specific tactics that have very specific mechanical benefits and requirements. If and when she gets more powerful, she will unlock some new tactics and abilities that will give her more options. However, if I decide I want her to do something that isn't clearly delineated by one of those things - and they are pretty solid, so there are good strategic options each round - it is murky to me. Maybe it's not as murky as it feels right now.

Now, I'm only a session in, and I've only read the briefest selection of rules, but I can tell you how it feels to play. It feels like a game. Which it is. That's reasonable; it is a game that feels like a game and works like a game should work. It's a good game. Maybe it's a great game (I have no idea). But it is, first and foremost, a game set in the Marvel Universe. 

When I play Stalwart, I don't feel like I'm playing a game. I feel like I'm in a comic. Sometimes, I kind of forget that it's a game, because I don't have to look anything up and I just think of something I want to try and then roll the die for that thing (because there are only five options, it's pretty obvious most of the time which of the dice I should use), and then see if it worked, and how well. And then I keep going, moving through the comic. I don't pause to read about my strategic options and deliberate over whether to activate my 'haymaker' or 'hail of blows' or 'shock and awe' or whatever other title I decide to give this particular mechanical nuance. I just decide to do something cool - maybe something I've never thought of before - and just go for it.

The last few weeks have shown me, that out of everything about Stalwart as a game, I'm most proud of how intuitive it is, and how well it gets out of the way of the comic book story. I'm grateful that the Kickstarter has allowed me to share it with so many people.

Home Stretch

I have been slacking a little on the blog because I've been doing the bulk of my posts on the KS page (which makes sense)... but I thought I'd just do a little bit of a less formal check-in here... 

First of all, my focus has been on getting some high-resolution images done for key characters that appear on merchandise (that is now live to KS backers). Tonight, I did a re-draw for Moon Girl, and I really like how she turned out...

I've been amazed at how enthused and engaged people are, and I apologize if I haven't followed up with you quickly. On the one hand, I'm doing this entire Kickstarter on my own, but on the other hand we're all kind of doing this together. I have several emails (special thanks to Aldo!) with suggestions, edits, the side projects you guys are working on, and all sorts of amazing stuff. I'm SO grateful to the community that is coming together to support this project, and I am working on keeping up with all of you.

Personally, I got back to teaching this week (our first day with students was yesterday), and I've lost my voice (like I do the first week every year), but I'm meeting some really great kids that I'm lucky to work with this year. I'm not sure why, but everything in my life right now seems to be touched by magic. This Kickstarter, my classroom, my students... I'm lucky that some really special things are happening in my life right now, and I think I'm even more lucky to realize that something special is happening, and to appreciate it for what it is. The dream of every teacher is to have students who want to learn and are excited to be there; it is the dream of every designer/creator to have people excited about and engaged with their work. I'm (literally) living the dream right now. Whatever you've contributed to that, I'm truly, truly grateful.

Seven days to go, and I think we could still hit another stretch goal (or two!)

Turning the Page

I've gone through my page on DriveThruRPG (and will hit itch in a hot minute), and I've taken down the books for Stalwart, and replaced them with the new, improved, super snazzy core rules for Stalwart '85! Thanks to the Kickstarter backers, this book is a pay-what-you-want release, and includes everything you need for ongoing play. The Kickstarter continues until September 11, and you can get you copy of the full rules (160+ pages) in pdf and print, as well as a number of cool, exlusive add-ons and nifttiness. 

Thanks SO MUCH to the backers of the Kickstarter whose support made this project possible. We still have two weeks to go! 

Look... What You Made Me Do

My daughter is a Taylor Swift fan (a ‘Swiftie’), and I have a running joke where I sing “Look… what you made me do” as a lounge singer. I was thinking of all y’all this morning, and that song came into my head… because you need to look… at what you made me do.

Stalwart has had a few knocks against it, and I have accepted those as functions of the system. It doesn’t do street-level supers all that well. It doesn’t have a lot of granularity. The dice get swingy (especially at the higher end).

This change addresses all those concerns.

In my proposed change, there are two ‘types’ of tiers: human and superhuman. The human tiers roll 1 die, and have SVs of half the die rating +1. Human dice range from D4 to D10 (I go back and forth on the D12, but for right now it's not there)… So if you are an enhanced human who has been given a dose of the Freedom Formula, you have D10 Might and Reflex. However, the moment you cross the line from ‘human’ to ‘better than human’, you now roll two dice, starting at 2D6 and peaking at 2D12 (with 2D20 reserved for cosmic entities). However, there are also places between these tiers where we can mix and match dice to create more granularity… For example, at the Meta tier, you roll D6+D8… for these tiers, the SV is the average of the two dice, which creates a nice, smooth scale.

Human Tiers

• Normal (D4; SV 3/1)
• Trained (D6; SV 4/2)
• Expert (D8; SV 5/2)
• Paragon (D10; SV 6/3)

Superhuman Tiers

• Super (2D6; SV 6/3)
• Meta (D6/8; SV 7/3)
• Legendary (2D8; SV 8/4)
• Colossal (D8/10; SV 9/4)
• Titanic (2D10; SV 10/5)
• Supreme (D10/12; SV 11/5)
• Ultimate (2D12; SV 12/6)

This would also change dice shifts a bit, since you would shift your lowest die up +1… so you would shift down from 2D6 to D4/6, then down one more to 2D4… you would shift up from 2D6 to D6/8, then to 2D8, then to D8/10… this mechanically distinguishes humans from superhumans, and creates a remarkable amount of granularity. I am not too concerned about balance… as a quick thought through this, Arrow is an Expert human (so he attacks with D8), but he also has Aim +3, so he’s averaging 7 to hit (max 11), which means that he can reasonably use his bow against someone with Titanic Evade (10). The numbers don’t scale to the point where they are impossible. I plan to play test the HECK out of this before making edits, but I’m seriously considering this change to the core mechanic.