With this post I want to celebrate tomorrow the first anniversary of VI·VIII·X! On Dec 15th 2022 the first copy of the game was sold on DrivethruRPG! This year has seen lights and shadows, some very positive feedback from the playtest as well as delays and roadblocks in the development of the whole project. I am in any case extremely satisfied for the simple reason that I am still here with more and more ideas and enthusiasm!
So, let me grab this opportunity to have an overall update of what is in the pipeline… (there’s nothing shocking since I have already provided updates on nearly all the ‘sub-projects’)
Let’s start with the core rules then: the main book will actually be two books. The main one will still be the core rules as in the playtest edition. It has been revised (basically with all the errata corrige entries and some minor amendments) and it will contain the game design notes. I will likely review the paging and make it with less pages than the playtest edition. Just to differentiate the products, this book will have a subtitle: The ‘ verbose’ edition. I am also thinking to add a new chapter in the core rules: the magic items. I find it useful but I am still in doubt whether or not the core rules is the right place… so far I planned to write it within the setting.
Along with the original rules, I am currently editing a new version of the core rules: the so called ‘dry’ edition; this is a book which will likely be approx one third in length of the ‘verbose’ edition with no leaks in contents. I am editing the rules of the original book in a more concise form, trying to save room as much as possible and without game design notes. The target is to provide the players with a slim version (I’d like to call it a light-rules book but I feel I will never get to that point…) to have a fast adoption of the game. For the time being I have done 6 chapters out of 9: it is not done but I am close to complete it!
Last book of this ‘family’ is the quickstart: ‘In a nutshell’ has already been written and I planned to publish it within the playtest context, however I am more and more convinced to issue it along with the publication of the final core rules. I have already posted about it and its contents… in a nutshell ‘In a nutshell’ (I do apologize for the pun) has a part of the core rules and a one-shot adventure to be played in a couple of hours. I trust this will help players to try the KUP model despite the fact that it could be misleading (a 2-hour experience can hardly transfer the ‘taste’ of this approach which fully exploits in the long term).
The second group of books is composed by those manuals which are not close to the completion… they all are supplements to the core rules: the first one is ‘Personae’. This is a development of the same volume published for the playtest: the first part is similar to the published version (duly amended with playtest feedback) while the second part will present some rules about how to build a non-playing character with some pre-generated NPCs. I have the second part still on my handwritten notes and I need time to write them down.
The second supplement is ‘Ferae’ and it is completed: I have done some minor changes (in particular in the rules for the quick generation) and nothing else…
The last supplement is a new book: ‘Foeditates’ and it is the sibling of ‘Ferae’ dedicated to the magical/mystical/supernatural creatures. The contents lay on my notepad and I need to transform my handwritten notes in bytes for the publication. What is relevant is the approach adopted here: like for Ferae, this is not an ordinary monster manual; it helps the GM to build a creature from the scratch. The KUP model here is highly perceivable as there won’t be any monster a player will say “I have already encountered this monster in the past”. The approach is based on some concepts I have developed in the setting: there are two types of creatures which are not animals, the first one is a creature coming from another plane of existence and the second one is a creation by means of magic. In both cases these creatures could be considered as ‘unique exemplars’ and turn the gaming experience in a unique situation. I plan, along with these rules, to provide some pre-generated examples to be used on-the-fly by the GM in an unscheduled event. The book is not completed in my notes however I have everything already clear and I only miss the time to dedicate to it. If we want to give a synthetic index: ‘Personae’ is a full Harvey ball, ‘Ferae’ is at ¾ and ‘Foeditates’ is at ¼ only.
The last ‘trilogy’ is a group of books which is the most distant in terms of publication. This doesn’t mean that there is nothing in terms of contents, but it simply follows a logic of priority… and every time I say/write about a schedule or priorities, then these melts away like snow under the sun… (it is then possible to see first one of these books rather than the previous ones!)
The first is VIII·XII·XX expanded rules where I introduce some concepts or I broaden what is already present in the core rules. As a matter of fact, some rules are intended as add-ons, while others are alternatives to the ones of the core rules… The book is nearly done, a part is already in a file, another I need to type it down… then there’s the ‘How to run a KUP game’ which needs to be completed (and it will be posted here before!).
The setting is entitled ‘Imago mundi’ and it is probably the most scaring sub-project on my table… I see it as wide as all the others grouped together! There is so much I noted down and there is at least another equivalent amount of ideas I would like to add… I need to find the proper way to be concise and complete… for the time being the largest part of my notes is referred to the setting and I am not yet done… however I am happy to face this job and I am looking forward to writing a good product! That is the real challenge but I think I found a good way to propose the game setting (more details in the next future!).
Last of this group is a rulebook for any RPG, a kind of engine with universal game mechanics and possible applications to several type of games (like horror, modern, sci-fi and so forth): this is ‘Out of the blue’. I have started writing it but the largest part is still to be completed. I will do that once the core rules ‘dry’ edition will be done as I will leverage mainly on that text for the completion of the part of rules. Then the part of application to a specific RPG genre will follow! We’re really on the only ‘embryonal’ sub-project of those listed here however I felt fair to disclose it for the sake of completeness.
I hope to come back to you with good news and a publication schedule in 2024, in the meanwhile happy (first) birthday!!!