scratchpadpub.bsky.social
Independent publisher of tabletop games created and operated by Rodney Thompson. Publisher of Dusk City Outlaws, Spectaculars, and Neon City Outlaws.
scratchpadpublishing.com
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And, of course, just a reminder that the Kickstarter is live and still needs your support to reach its funding goal.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/scr...
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Spectaculars, by @scratchpadpub.bsky.social, is another game I've seen first-time GM's pick up and run with gusto. I love how it feels like an entire game-in-a-box, even if you're running online. Character creation feels full of possibility, but it gives you helpful limitations - a great balance!
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They occupy synthetic bodies that are required, by law, to have subtle but noticeable differences from humans so that they can always be identified as synthetics. For them, the uncanny valley is a legal requirement.
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Yeah, I mean, it's not been great for solo publishers, but on the other hand this lets me spend some time experimenting with traditional formats and see how I can take the principles of DCO/Spectaculars and apply them to a more traditional game.
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Thanks to everyone for your patience, and I'm excited to get the game into folks' hands!
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I still plan to launch the Kickstarter next month, and expect that I'll have print-on-demand card decks and other accessories available when the game launches for anyone who wants them.
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While this means some redesign is necessary, it also gives some of the concepts in the game more room to breathe, like advice for running the game, building out your setting, etc. Additionally, it means shorter timelines for editing, timelines, and production, so there should be no delay.
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This means that certain things that previously relied on components, like the Deck of Time, will be redesigned to be less component-driven. The game will still use the 100AC System, with clear instructions for using standard d8s and d10s for advantage and challenge dice.
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The good news is that a more traditional format--hardcover and softcover books--is likely more realistic. So, after some hard thinking and conversations with manufacturers, #neoncityoutlaws will be switching to book format.
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I have a Discord server, which is probably the best place to hash out rules questions: discord.gg/BKDUS5P
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I use em dashes so much that once one of my editors told me that she could identify the passages of RPG books that I wrote by the number of em dashes. 😬
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Spectaculars initiative bot: discord.com/api/oauth2/a...
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100AC System Dice bot: discord.com/api/oauth2/a...
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If you use Discord at all, I wrote a Discord bot for tracking initiative, as well as a separate bot for dice rolling.
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Feel free to spread this around wherever you think potential playtesters might be found -- I'd love to have as many folks sign up as are interested!
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Now I want to return the favor a bit and point people at his game. If you like low-intensity city-builders, I highly recommend Dystopika!
dystopika.com
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So, when I started thinking about hyping people up for #neoncityoutlaws I reached out to the creator of Dystopika to see if we could collab. He was gracious enough to agree to let me use cities I create using Dystopika in some of my promo materials.
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I've been using it to create intro videos/background videos and putting the names of corporations that we create for the game on the buildings to sort of reinforce the setting we are creating.
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I'm hoping that this is one of those cases where physical components (or a digital analogue on a VTT) can take something that could otherwise be really tedious and make it a toy you can play with without being concerned about slowing down the game.
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I'm imagining that the players can then treat these bodies like resources to use in the course of the job. Need your crew's bruiser to be quiet, nimble, and vicious when the job goes down? Load them into the gene-spliced werewolf before the heist takes place to give them a boost in effectiveness?
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The current method we're playtesting involves a character sheet that is divided into halves, with one half representing your physical body. The game would then come with a bunch of archetypal bodies (like the gene-spliced werewolf) on half-sheet-sized cards that you can lay on top of your sheet.
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But that's also tricky to pull off in a game that wants to be very off-the-shelf easy to play. Gotta make sure all (or, at least, most) of the jobs are totally standalone if they need to be used that way.
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I'm also looking to weave the scenarios that come in the base game together to form a campaign. That really helps Spectaculars feel like it has forward momentum, and in a game like Neon City Outlaws where there's more assumption of character advancement that could be a big boon.
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Yes! Reprints will be a part of the crowdfunding for Neon City Outlaws, the cyberpunk followup to Dusk City Outlaws. And thanks for the tip!
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My hometown!
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This one's subtle, and it's supposed to be; glowing eyes, i/o ports on the neck are the only indicators, but if you know what to look for, they are there.