Hello peeps.
Over the last few months I've been working on the public alpha of
Lands of Plenty, a pseudo-Mediaeval gameworld and RPG I've been designing on and off for the last year a bit, and that document is now ready to be released into the wild.
'Why a public alpha?', or 'What is a public alpha?', you may be thinking. Well, I will of course be doing my utmost to get it playtested by gamers I know locally, or those I might meet at cons; however, it is in the expectation of said utmost being nowhere near ut enough that I have decided to open up the process to, well, anyone who fancies getting in on the ground floor of an exciting new game. Nowadays, people are so interconnected via the Internet and social media that thinking of the whole roleplaying community as potential alpha playtesters is by no means bizarre IMO, hence this announcement.
So, what's involved, how will the playtests work, how and when will feedback be incorporated into the document, is there a book (and if so do we have to buy it), and how will all this be coordinated? Very good questions all. Here are my answers:
What's involved?1. A series of full run-throughs (lasting about 4-6 hours), for GMs to familiarise themselves with the gameworld, and see how it all fits together.
2. A series of shorter sessions to test specific parts of the system, forex
a. Combat.
b. Spotlight scenes and character development.
c. Social combat, opposed rolls and duels.
3. Editing of the document following feedback
4. Rinse and repeat until there is a consensus that the rules are solid.
5. Go to beta.
How will the playtests work?1. Anybody is free to run a playtest anytime anywhere, including online (although I personally don't feel the system can be adequately tested that way, but it's ok for getting used to the gameworld and the system in outline).
2. There will be some way of recording the sessions: how many players; how long did the game take; what sort of game and what play mode was it? Etc.
3. A feedback form will be provided, but feedback in any form will be welcome.
Is there a book (and if so do we have to buy it)?Nope. It will be a free pdf always, but at some stage I may print a limited-edition commemorative issue, available at cost to playtesters. However, folks may print off the document for their personal use at any time (see below).
How and when will feedback be incorporated into the document?1. The doc will be a continuously evolving one. Every so often, I'll pull together folks' thoughts and update it to incorporate changes that seem logical and command widespread support. This will then become the Status Quo Document (SQD), which games will be based on from thenceforward. I will endeavour to strike a balance between amending the doc to include logical and agreed changes as above and ensuring all player groups have enough time to test the current draft.
2. Throughout the alpha stage there will be an outward facing SQD and an inward facing working document that I will continually update and amend behind the scenes until it's ready to become the new SQD.
3. Playtesters are free to print off the SQD or work from the PDF, whichever is easier.
How will all this be coordinated?There will be either a dedicated website or forum, and/or a social media group for GMs and playtesters to compare notes, possibly a meetup group to arrange sessions and recruit playtesters, and maybe a Discord if I ever get the hang of it. I'm happy for GMs to run games on any platform they see fit, so long as they record the data on a shared site as above.
You'll note that the cartography is just a down and dirty Word-confected affair. Professional cartography is coming later, but for now I just want to get it out there, plus I'm reluctant to fork out for a professional cartographer until there's enough traction to justify it. However, once things get going, I'll look into costs and so forth, and start working on it on an ongoing basis.
I've mentioned throughout the doc that there are as yet no travel rules. This is because I'm testing the basic rules here, and I don't want to add another layer of complexity at this stage. In the area of the gameworld covered by this doc, no journey will be more than a three-day ride, so IMO there's no burning necessity for specific travel rules; GMs can just throw in an obstacle every so often, or come up with a rudimentary set of encounter tables for wild animals, bandits and/or weather to challenge the PCs on a journey.
However, rules for travel and exploration will probably be the next thing I will look at once the basic rules have been more or less fixed, and this is likely to coincide with an expansion of the map to the South and West.
There you have it. I will be at #ukgamesexpo this weekend if anyone wants to have a chat in convivial (albeit slightly hectic) surroundings. Otherwise, interested parties can contact me via PM here, or on FB, Twitter, MeWe or Pluspora. On FB I'm Cattinald Bigg, everywhere else I'm catty_big.
So, who's with me?