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This past year I began work on the next game from Robot Claw. Afterworlds is about people trying to save the world from ghosts of the subconscious. Everything people do leaves marks on our collective minds – Echoes. Though most are passing thoughts and fading memories, especially strong feelings can hang on and negative emotions can fester. As Echoes linger they grow stronger until they’re hungry, jealous, angry ghosts that try to reach into the world of the Here and Now.
It’s the job of Pandoras to fight back. Pandoras have faced their Echoes; they have seen their negativity but accept it. They have turned their Echoes into Avatars, wells of psychic power that make them strong enough to face dangerous Echoes.
There’s more to fighting Echoes than just conjuring up psychic power and hitting them with it. Helping others with their troubles, building friendships, and bonding in close relationships can protect people or even save them from their Echoes. To be a Pandora you need to be a good friend as well as a good fighter.
The game is still early in development but I’m planning to have it ready for a 2017 kickstarter funding campaign. You can see a first play test on my YouTube page. Subscribe to the robotclaw blog or follow me on Google Plus or twitter (@robotclaw) for updates. Afterworlds. To know thy enemy, know thyself.
A new way to get Tears of a Machine; I’m writing for someone else’s book; and the next game for Robot Claw is play testing at Dexcon 18. This past spring was busy but it’s all starting to pay off now.
First, Tears of a Machine will soon be available through Indie Press Revolution! I’ve uploaded the digital files and a box full of hard copy books is on the way to their warehouse now. Soon you can order your own copy from their friendly storefront. If your friendly local game store orders their stock through IPR then you’ll have another option to purchase a print copy of Tears, and I’ll make the arrangements with Bits ‘n Mortar to get you the PDF as well.
The fine folks at Onyx Path publishing were kind and/or crazy enough to let me be a contributing author for one of their upcoming releases. I’ll be sure to post more about it as the book is ready for publication. I’m very thankful for the opportunity. Hour for hour, I think I’ve spent most of my gaming life in the world of White Wolf’s games and it feels great to be able to add to that body of work. Project Wingspan. I’ve quietly announced this new design through discussions on Google+ and with a few people on hangouts but it’s time to declare this to be a real thing. Project Wingspan is a variation on the themes of Tears of a Machine, moving the setting to a world of international wafare and cyborg secret weapons, streamlining and strengthening the structure of the rules, and shifting the focus to be nearly all player driven so that it could even be a GMless game.
Each Project Wingspan player is a weapon, a person with a secret arsenal of microbots in their bloodstream. When the enemy troops attack with robot tanks and fightercraft, you transform into the ultimate weapon of your homeland and fight back to repel the invaders. Every weapon however can be just as dangerous to the one wielding it as it is to the target. You’ll need to use your downtime to keep yourself sane, normal, and happy or the next time you activate you just might O-V-E-R-L-O-A-D.
The first live play tests will take place at Dexon 18, this coming 4th of July weekend! Go to the Dexcon homepage to learn more about the convention. I hope to see you there.
All of this, and probably more, is coming soon so thank you for reading, be sure to subscribe to this blog and track me down on Google+. May the SAInts preserve us.