Got Here, Now Go There

So the inner core rules are out at DriveThruRPG.com. There were steps to take to get there, play testing, testing on people that never did RPG before, setting up this web site, making the pdf and negotiating the artwork, working out how to publish at DriveThru, setting up a Facebook page and group and finally getting things set up at RPGGeek.

Now what?

Well the inner core is just a start. The outer core awaits. I intend to put the outer core out as a “pay what you want” set of pdf publications. There will be a section about character that covers defining character abilities, and growing through both training and adventure experiences. There will be another about conflict actions, or what I call struggles.

However to get there Cup of Tea needs some funds, so its time to look at building a Kickstarter campaign as a way of putting the cap out for some coins by those interested. However I don’t think of the outer core as an interesting project in its own right, its a growing set of universal rules, but I want to put some exciting adventures out there as the real focus.

So I’m pulling together designs for some major world settings. Each will require the creation of different parts of the outer core to support them, and its those world settings the Kickstarter campaigns will be for. There’s a zombie one, a far future galactic adventure and a time travel setting in the works.

The zombies need to be the first cab off the rank, since such a campaign draws on the struggle mechanism and the character expansion. The setting itself has multiple rule sets.

The first rule set will be for the first day when the players find themselves in a city with infected, rabid humans showing up everywhere. That first day will be hectic and need play structures for tracking time in detail, and having encounter after encounter while trying to survive.

Then there will be the following week, where survivors begin to find one another and try to gather supplies, with the introduction of an additional time tracking method where half a day at a time might pass by.

Then a section for the following month, where the mix of zombie types changes, and the players and their survivor group are finding other survivor groups that can be potential allies or a threat. During this time things start to break down as power and ready supplies dwindle.

Finally the rules for the following year (and beyond?) which allows for broader time passages and a mix of politics, down time tracking, changes to the nature of the threats faced and maybe a second zombie wave.

Each of these will be its own production, although it may all also get bundled into a print book. Maybe the extra sets become stretch goals for the Kickstarter. I’ll know more what the plan is in the new year. Stay tuned!