Whore’s Blade 20,000
El-Dazio Inc
Sethian Insurgency
Cults of the Powers of Darkness
Men’s Liberation Army
Priority
Movement
Engagement
Morale
Weapons
Features and Bugs
A Friendly Chat About
Psychic Powers
Missions
Other Kittiwake
Transported Update
Scandal Sheets Vol II Cover
YouTube
Whore’s Blade 20k Teaser 2
Loyalist Trailer
Dissident Trailer
Family
Punisher Warzone Review
This should help you find me at Indiecon and Dragonmeet, n’est pas?
Now all I need are some decent – portable – book stands.
Characters talents and level are worked out as per the normal T&T book but equipment and money work a little differently, given that we’re talking about science fiction here.
A character starts with 3d6x100 Quid (Short for Quid-Pro-Quo) which is a universal standard of electronic currency and is used to assign value to items even if you’re engaging in barter.
A Quid is divided into 100 Cents which are used for small transactions.
Small numbers of physical coins were issued by the old empire in both denominations and these are worth approximately double what the electronic version is worth.
Incompatibility between old electronic systems and the breakdown of galactic civilisation has lead to a plethora of different coinage systems both physical and electronic but the Quid/Cent is still a common term and point of reference.
All costs are for base-quality gear. Good quality gear costs x2, Bespoke x10 and Couture x100
Belt – 2q
Belt, weapon – 5q
Boots (work) – 15q
Boots (dress) – 10q
Boots, knee-high – 20q
Boots, thigh-high – 25q
Cap, workers – 5q
Cape – 20q
Cloak, heavy – 30q
Cloak, hooded – 40q
Cloak, light – 15q
Coat, short – 30q
Coat, long – 75q
Dress, short – 50q
Dress, long – 100q
Halter – 3q
Holster, shoulder – 5q
Jumpsuit/catsuit – 25q
Kilt – 25q
Kilt, utility – 30q
Rags – 1q
Shoes, practical – 5q
Shoes, dress – 10q
Shoes, fancy – 20q
Shirt, long sleeve – 10q
Shirt, short sleeve – 5q
Shirt, T, – 3q
Shorts – 10q
Skirt, short – 10q
Skirt, long – 20q
Trousers – 20q
Underwear, men’s – 5q
Underwear, women’s – 15q
Vest – 3q
Las-saw – 50q
First Aid Kit , 5 uses – 100q
Grapple Gun – 60q
B&E Kit – 150q
Hack Pad – 500q
Wrist Computer – 200q
Krank, pack lizard – 400q
Grum, heavy hauler/meat animal – 550q
Gork, two-legged riding bird – 300q
Bork, larger two-legged riding bird – 1200q
Rork, two-legged riding raptor – 3000q
Skash, six-legged felinoid – 4000q
Tack and harness included.
Backpack – 5q
Trunk – 200q
Lighter – 20q
Torch – 15q
Ammo belt, ten magazine – 25q
Climbing rope, fifty feet – 25q
Water bottle – 5q
Next time… weapons!
RAGE kind of came out of nowhere for me. I wasn’t keeping up with it in the release schedules and didn’t know what to expect from it particularly. I don’t think we’d have picked it up if my wife hadn’t played a little at a trade show. Generally speaking FPS shooters aren’t our cup of tea on consoles since we came up playing them on the PC and console controls just don’t feel as accurate or useful.
RAGE is a weird sort of game, it’s sort of on the opposite end of the FPS/RPG scale from Fallout. Where Fallout is an RPG with some FPS elements tacked on, RAGE is more of an FPS with a few RPG elements tacked on. It’s not as RPG oriented as – say – borderlands but that’s probably the game to which it bears the closest comparison.
You don’t have skills or levels but, with progress, you can upgrade your weapons and vehicles, gain access to new areas and unlock new recipes for junk-built gear.
StoryThe asteroid Apophis came spinning out of space towards the Earth and there was nothing that could be done to stop it. Rather than try and ward it off, civilisation hit upon a survival plan of burying a number of Arks in numerous locations around the globe, each equipped with cutting edge technology that would help jumpstart civilisation after the tumultuous effects of the asteroid strike had died down.
The Ark pioneers were the best of the best and fitted with experimental nanotechnology to help keep them alive and sustain them through their cryosleep. While Apophis came spinning in the Arks sank into the Earth with their cargo, to wait.
Something went wrong, not all the Arks emerged at once and time passed, much longer than was originally intended. Your Ark is one of these light risers and you find yourself facing a destroyed world that is not, quite as you might have expected.
The world is a wreck, a blasted wasteland dotted with scrap-built settlements and dominated by The Authority, a high technology empire, equipped with Ark technology and determined to stamp itself over the wasteland, across the globe, suppressing every other surviving town.
They also hunt Ark survivors…
GameplayWhile an FPS, RAGE is centred around mission-based play and exploration. You move around the wasteland on foot or by car from location to location completing missions to advance the plot, to unlock elements, to earn money (or certificates to improve your vehicles). Missions normally take place in their own sub-levels that you load into.
There are driving sections – races and in the wasteland – and FPS levels, interspersed with information gathering and listening in, playing gambling games and picking up the history and current state of affairs from the conversation around you.
ControlsSomehow Id have managed to make a smooth and controllable FPS control set that isn’t as horribly inaccurate as many and feels very playable, without the usual default of aim correction or dropping into a sub-game (as with Fallout). The driving controls in particular are easy to pick up and use, even for people that don’t normally like racing games. I can’t fault the controls.
AtmosphereThe chief source of the atmosphere in the game is the graphics, the wasteland and the townships are brought to life very well and the quality of the imagery is fantastic. Being a ‘silent protagonist’ you feel a bit left out and unable to role-play or make any meaningful character decisions. That removes you from the action somewhat and there are elements that are missing. The Authority remains a faceless enemy without anything to really grasp hold of or an enemy to confront. Many of the characters don’t really spring to life – though the voice acting is good. There’s just not quite enough development of characters for them to really make a proper impact on you.
GraphicsAs mentioned before, the graphics are where the atmosphere really comes through and the graphics are utterly fantastic, blowing away a lot of other games completely and immersing you in the wasteland and its industrial wreckage. There can be a lag between the graphics that load at a distance and the more detailed graphics that load in after but that’s completely forgiveable.
A well thought out world and a different take on the apocalypse than a nuclear holocaust. It’s wonderfully executed graphically and in terms of controls and the only way it really lacks is in true depth to the various characters you meet around the wasteland and providing more information and more of a ‘face’ to the enemy. A game well worth getting and a star in the genre.
Style: 5
Substance: 3
Overall: 4
The Jerkian Empire is ruled with a brutal and needlessly cruel fist. This is why the rest of the universe thinks they’re a bunch of dicks. There’s nothing Jerkians like more than beating the crap out of other defenceless species and subjugating them.
The problem arises when these slave races inevitably get it into their heads that they must revolt and fight for their FREEEEDOM, putting at risk all the benefits of being part of the Jerkian Empire, full employment, regular meals, sometimes even both at the same time. Regular beatings, torture and medical experiments are just a bonus.
All these revolts and resistance movements are hugely tiresome and the Jerkian military is looking for a more effective means to control these revolts and they think they’ve found their solution amongst the filthy, stupid Earthlings.
In examining the Earthian media and history the Jerkians have stumbled upon the idea of ‘Non violent protest’. In examining the records the Jerkians are mystified as to why the Earthian security forces don’t just ‘Stamp on their heads, they’re non violent, they’re not going to fight back’.
Jerkian intelligence wants this idea of non-violent, public resistance to spread through the Jerkian Empire and, as such, they need footage of it succeeding in Earthian society. The team are sent to observe a non-violent protest, to gather footage and to ensure that it works.
Secret Weapons: Love Gun – Anyone zapped by the Love Gun becomes full of peace and love and completely pacifistic. If it goes wrong they are driven into a killing frenzy.
Sleep Bomb: A grenade with a 50 ft radius that puts all earth life within that radius to sleep. If it goes wrong they all have the screaming night terrors and run around in their sleep.
Other suggested equipment includes disguises and camera equipment.
Hey everybody, just to give you a quick update.
I’m wrapping up work on Outbreak which has been taking all my time. I should finish that this week.
Then I need to finish prep work for Dragonmeet & Indiecon.
Between those conventions I hope to get a bunch of small projects done and dusted that includes:
And to recommence work on PROJECT and Gilder, which have been derailed by illness, business, cons and so on.
I’m taking December off other than acts of wanton bloggery and formulating a PLAN for 2012.
I’ll keep you posted.
This system, curated by The Crazy GM uses some of the basics from the Beer & Crisps system and is open for anyone to use, adapt or get involved with. You can find it HERE.
Kittiwake
WW Books for sale
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Whore’s Blade 20,000
Allegiances
The Empress’ Guardians
The Empress’ Fleet
The Church of the Goddess Empress
General Update
The Union of Privateers
Teaser
Department of Administration
Drafted
Psidivision
The Divine Order of Quizzers
YouTube
Over the Hills and Far Away
Constitutions
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Shadow World
Doxy
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Whore’s Blade 20,000
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Ian
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WB20k Warriors
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Doxy
Transported Switched to Kittiwake
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Kittiwake Support
YouTube
Anti Natalism
Fighting Shadows With Cruise Missiles
Facebook Links
Kittiwake
Shadow World
Doxy
Courtesans
Tough Justice
Random Insane Side Projects
Whore’s Blade 20,000
Scandal Sheets
Ian
Like I don’t have enough on my plate I’m still keen to get on with Blood!: Hell on Earth which is the witch-hunting and demon-fighting setting playable from the 1400s to the 1700s but set, by default, in the Annus Mirablis of 1666 in Britain.
The setting is all there in notes and various spaces in my brain but I’m weighing up whether to deviate further in the rules than I have in the errata and options I’ve already put out there.
Blood! wouldn’t be Blood! without the complexity and the grit which informs its deadliness and makes it what it is. At the same time the complaints and requests that I have had are about the complexity and there are some ways it might be slimmed down a bit and simplified.
Character creation is the big slowdown in the system at the moment and could very well be simplified though some fidelity and individuality might be lost in the process. This would entail getting rid of some of the modifiers and tying bonuses to singular statistics rather than lots of totalling up and divisions.
Assigning skills and skill points could also be slimmed down while leaving the main system intact. A base amount of points to spend and a bonus without, necessarily, being channelled into templates.
Otherwise, with the modifications and errata, everything’s pretty much good to go. It may be worth doing a playtest at Indiecon to see if it all works OK.
Postmortem Studios 