Hi all,

I am currently preparing a long-time project for a KickStarter launch, probably in late September or early October which may be of interest to anyone who likes Twilight: 2000 or books such as Lest Darkness Fall (L Sprague De Camp), the Tran series (Jerry Pournelle) or any of those from the 1632verse (Eric Flint et al)

The project is Road to Armageddon and a short form version has been available for some years on RPGNow (see Phalanx Games Design) as a Campaign Background for Greg Porter's EABA (BTRC) game system ... and some of you may have come across it (or not).

The basic premise is one of one-way time travel 25000 years into the future, dropping a quite substantial military and civilian force from the 20th and 21st centuries into a Science Fiction/Fantasy world and seeing how they cope with the situation, develop local technology etc.

The current KS project, however, doesn't include the SF/F components - it is entirely about a WW3 in the near future and is intended to provide a long introductory background and campaign leading up to the PCs involved being caught up in the transference into the future ...

The KS will launch at least seven books ... D10 System Core Rules (~180 pages, character creation and game system, based on a D10 pool mechanic), Equipment Book (~180 pages. Guns, Gear and Vehicles), Modern Encounters (~200 pages. Encounter Tables. Encounter Descriptions. Special Encounters etc. Detailed enough to allow for the creation of a complete post-nuclear exchange campaign pretty much anywhere), In the Beginning/False Dawn (~48-64 pages. Introductory adventure to get the PCs connected, set in the USA somewhat before WW3), Jungle Traveller (~180 pages. Campaign Book #1 - slightly pre-WW3 mercenary campaign in West Africa ... Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Nigeria-Biafra), Short Days Ago (~180 pages. Campaign Book #2. West Africa - Nigerian Civil War. Federal Nigeria vs Islamic Republic of Nigeria (Boko Haram) vs Biafran Republic), Let them Laugh at Fate (~180 pages. West and West Central Africa. The war expands - into Cameroon and Chad).

Depending on how successful the KS is, there may be other books as well and a second KS (in 2016) will cover (tentatively) post nuclear exchange operations, possibly in Cuba, the US and (certainly) Europe leading, eventually, to the PCs being 'transferred' into the far future, but certainly usable as a standalone modern military campaign up to that point!

This is the first KickStarter that I have ever done, but I do have something of a track record in the gaming industry, a pretty good one (at least I think so) ... co-author, Space Opera, author of supplements for SO and Chivalry & Sorcery (FGU); author Rigger Black Book (1st Edition. FASA); author Road to Armageddon: EABA, Farm, Forge and Steam (Ideas on how to design a coherent and believable campaign world), Displaced(Generic sideways/dimensional and one way time travel campaign guidelines), Orbis Mundi (real medieval society and economics ca. late 13th-14th centuries) and Audace ad Gloriam (Survival and Exploration equipment for a well known SF game with Black Covers) (Phalanx Games Design. Me.)

The writing for all except the Getting Involved/False Dawn and the Third Campaign Book are all complete as I write this and work on those two books continues. Cover artwork has been commissioned and finished for the first three books and two of the Campaign books and more is being commissioned for the remaining books as I type this ... and the completed books are all laid out and ready to go. The ones still being written will be laid out and ready to go either before, during, or soon after the KS is launched.

The KS will offer all these goodies at a considerably reduced price compared to what they will cost to purchase after it is complete (successful or not, they will be published). Tentative pricing for the KS is US$75 for PDF only and US $100 for PDF + PoD voucher (that is, you'll get a voucher that will enable you to pay for the actual printing cost component of the PoD, which will be substantially less than what will be charged on RPGNow for all the books.

To buy the books after the KS will cost ~US$20 for the 180 page ones in PDF only (proportionally more or less if the page count is more or less) or ~US$35 (not including the actual PoD printing cost or postage) for PDF + PoD.

If the KS is minimally successful, then the PDFs will be available as soon after it ends as possible (depending on time delay - I'm in Australia) and I envisage a 60-90 day window for backers to read and pick up any problems that may still exist, allow for me to address/correct them, and then send off for proof copies (B&W Soft and Hardcover, Colour Soft & Hardcover and, possibly, Premium Colour Soft and Hardcover) from RPGNow's print partner. As soon as they are printed and checked (remember, I am in Australia - even fast shipping from the US takes time) the final version will be made available.

If, however, the KS is more than minimally successful, then, paradoxically, this may lead to delays ... a lot of the stretch goals involved buying more colour or b&w art for the books, Chapter Headers, mostly, and, commissioning the art and then getting the finished pieces from the artists is subject to all sorts of possible problems ... so a very successful KS would mean a delay of longer than the 90 days + print proof delay minimum.

If people are interested, if anyone is interested, feel free to ask questions about anything - the rules, the background, the project - and I will post replies here, privately, or on my web page (http://phalanxgamesdesign.com ... though there's not much there as I type this, I'm in the process of setting it up)

Happy hunting ...

Phil McGregor

For those who may be interested, included with this post is a thumbnail of the cover art for the Player's Handbook for Road to Armageddon ... an Australian Infantryman in AUSCAM camo uniform wearing (atypically, in the field) the well known Aussie rabbit fur felt Slouch Hat (brim down, hiding the equally famous 'Rising Sun' badge of the Commonwealth Military Forces), wearing webbing and carrying a full pack, and armed with a Austeyr (Steyr AUG) Automatic Rifle with underslung M203 40mm Grenade Launcher ... which is unusual as, of course, most modern military RPGs emphasise US troops, then, maybe, NATO members.

The art is by Ricky Hunter ... //=www.misledtomisery.com]

The current plan for the KickStarter is to allow backers to purchase alternative cover art, either in groups or individually, to depict a soldier of the nationality (and, insofar as it is possible, Unit) of their choice ... as long as they're Canadian, British, French (Foreign Legion), German, NATO or Chinese (who are Western Alliance allies in the background) ... something that's only possible if you are doing a PoD/PDF release ... and a first, as far as I am aware!

Phil McGregor

Let me know if you'd like to do an #rpgnet Q&A.

I would be happy to, if there is enough interest ... and it looks like the timeslot meshes well with local Sydney time! Mid to late morning here ... which is good as I am blissfully retired and can do it pretty much any time ;-)

Phil

Character Creation

Character creation in RtA consists of several steps – determine Background (Unemployed, Working Poor, Rural, Blue Collar, White Collar, Professional or Entrepreneurial), which has some impact on how costly it is for characters to purchase some skills; Age (Teenager, Young Adult, Adult, Experienced, Veteran), which determines Ability and Skill points available ... then choose five of the six Abilities (Health, Cunning, Aptitude, Deduction and Command) and roll for the sixth (Luck), on a 1-7+ scale (normal human maximum is 6, and the normal characteristic level is 3-4); choose Quirks (Positive or Negative, costing Ability Points), which are character defining ... well, Quirks, and which are limited by Careers (see below) ... including such favourable things as Ambidextrous, Internal Compass, (Military) Rank and Reputation and such unfavourable things as Clumsy, Fugitive, Pacifist, and Thousand Yard Stare.

Abilities are refined by the use of Focuses, which normally add +/- 1 or +/- 2 to a specific area of an Ability. So, for example, you could have Cunning (+1 Emotional Reading, -1 Hearing and Interpreting Sounds).

After the basic Character is thus fleshed out, you proceed to choose from a wide variety of Careers, both those that are primarily Civilian and those that are primarily Military, as well as crossover ones that link the two such as Armed Forces Reserve or Military Academy. These packages specify Skills related to that career (which cost 1 SP per level at creation – other skills cost 2 SP per level) and Mustering Out Benefits (Money, Quirks [from a Career specific list] and Equipment you start the game with). Each broad Career usually has more than one Skill List to choose from – for example, an Army Career has Support Personnel and Combat Personnel lists.

Once your Career is chosen, you choose Skills (and there are rules to cover the use of your Career as a Skill, or sorts, to cover situations where someone from your career background would obviously have some familiarity, but where your character doesn't have a specific relevant skill) and any Specialisations within them. Skills normally range from Basic (2) to Unique ( – gaining the Basic skill grants a Basic (2) in all Specialisations ... however, increasing a Skill beyond that means the character must specialise eg Riding (2), Riding/Camel (3).

If your character has a high enough level in the right package of Skills they may learn Techniques, which offer enhancements that basic skills do not. They allow a PC to do very specific things in very specific ways ... for example, Infiltrator Technique allows the PC to 'win' tied Opposed Rolls and to reroll any Calamity so as to misdirect any response to their failure (the guards will still be more alert ... but in the wrong direction, hopefully!) amongst other things.

More on the Game System in a later post.

The World of Road to Armageddon

One of the key elements in any RPG is the background – it should be both realistic and believable. In some ways, this is easier for games with a pre-modern setting, as players usually don't have the background knowledge to really grasp whether it is realistic or not ... often relying on Hollywood or fictional 'knowledge' (which game designers often do as well) ... and so really don't grasp that the background is completely flawed ... which, depending on the game, the players and the GM, may or may not matter.

For modern settings, however, the issue of realism and believability becomes more important – and for contemporary settings, such as RtA, it becomes vital ... for the simple reason that even poorly read players are constantly bombarded with at least superficial knowledge of what is going on in the world ... and most people have at least a solid basic grasp of key geopolitical realities (even if they don't understand why those things are as they are).

So, for example, there's no easy way a designer could believably have China invading the US (despite all those horrible, often self-published, novels that do just that which are on sale on Amazon) ... the uninformed general public might believe it, but the general RPG playing crowd, especially those interested in modern military RPGs such as RtA, will generally require something much more believable than is usually presented for such scenarios, and will often reject them out of hand.

So, what's the background for RtA?

The world of RtA is divided into four major blocs – the Western Alliance, the Russo-Japanese Alliance, the Caliphate and non-aligned nations (who really belong to no alliance, or only to local or regional ones not aligned with any of the big three).

The Western Alliance includes all the usual suspects – the USA, Canada, NATO, SEATO, Korea, the Phillippines, Australia and New Zealand (amongst others), but also includes a still Communist China (sort of – if modern China can really said to be 'communist' rather than merely 'authoritarian' or 'dictatorial' these days) increasingly worried about a militaristic and revanchist post-Putinesque Russia and Japan ... on the basis of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.'

Pretty standard stuff ... and not too unbelievable, even allowing for current tensions between China and regional powers (and the US) over the South China Sea.

The Russo-Japanese Alliance is somewhat more off the wall – and assumes that Russia continues on the path being set by Putin, who is assumed to be out of the picture by the time of the 3WW, who have initially become commercially aligned with an equally revanchist Japan wishing to secure economic advantage through sole access to Russian markets in a move away from reliance on selling to a more protectionist US (and Europe) in a general move to the right for Japanese politics. The US-European response of increased protectionism and/or embargoes aimed at both parties drives them closer together, and drives the Japanese to remilitarising and supporting the expansion and improvement of the Russian armed forces.

The Caliphate. Well. A regional grouping of militantly anti-western Islamic states, mainly in the Middle East, was always part of the RtA background – and I must say that, while I in no way predicted the rise of ISIS/Daesh and it's self-proclaimed Caliphate, I am not entirely surprised by recent developments.

In RtA the Caliphate includes Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Indonesia and Pakistan as core territories  and Caliphate invasion of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States is a major trigger for the series of events that lead to the 3WW ('Three Way War') and the 'Thirty Minute War' (aka 'The Exchange'), the nuclear devastation that doesn't, not really, end it. Even if it probably does mortally wound the 'war effort' on all sides.

The Caliphate also expands into and takes over Libya and Sudan in the active player-participation part of the game ... and these events form an important part of the backdrop for the main introductory campaign (as do hints of Indonesian attacks against Malaya, Singapore, the Phillippines, New Guinea and Australia).

Unlike most of RtA's predecessors, the initial Campaign is not set in Western Europe – nor in East Asia, for that matter.

It is set in West Africa, on the peripheries of the rapidly worsening conflict between the three alliance groups.

Initially, it is set in Equatorial Guinea where a US/CIA funded revolutionary group is about to stage a coup in Nigeria, recreating the post-colonial breakaway state of Biafra in the oil rich SE part of that country in the face of the incipient collapse of the Federal Republic's institutions in the face of its inability to govern the nation effectively and the rise of extreme Islamic fundamentalist forces in the form of the Boko Haram movement.

Why?

Well, it allows the players to gain experience without having to fight through a high level mechanised war ... they're on the peripheries, and they'll be involved in actions at a much lower level, a level where commando and special forces actions are much more the state of things ... just the sort of situation that suits small groups of PCs.

As the campaign progresses, they'll have espionage/counter espionage, anti-Pirate and Commando missions in Equatorial Guinea, the Gulf of Guinea, and the early days of the Second Biafran Republic ... but increasing Caliphate support for a fractured Nigeria (or the northern, Boko Haram controlled, 'Islamic Republic of Nigeria') will lead to missions into Cameroon and, eventually, Chad ... and, finally, back to Biafra and thence to Equatorial Guinea ... the latter after the 3WW escalates to The Exchange ...

More later ...

Phil McGregor

As the 3WW grinds on, accumulating battle losses overwhelm repair and manufacturing facilities for all sorts of vehicles, especially armoured vehicles of any sort -- as does increasing disruption of the supply chain(s) needed to keep the manufacture of such vehicles ticking over (and, eventually, the Thirty Minute War -- the nuclear exchange -- wipes out most of the heavy industrial facilities capable of manufacturing any major military vehicles.

However, ingenuity on all sides means that remaining facilities are repurposed to salvage and remanufacture nadly damaged or nominally 'wrecked' vehicles.

One such example is ...

M-600 "POWELL" HEAVY APC

The US and NATO found themselves with increasing numbers of salvageable tank hulls lacking turrets and a declining ability to build new armoured vehicles of any sort just as the Russians had (see the BTR-T and BTR-P entries) and also had the example of the Israeli Achzarit T-55 conversion. As a result, they eventually started their own program of converting salvaged, surplus or reserve tank hulls into Heavy APCs.

The most common conversion fielded by the US and her allies in the European and Middle Eastern theaters was based on the M-60 Patton – and was formally named the M-600 Powell APC(H) by the US, though the troops (displaying the expected gallows humour) commonly referred to them as either M-666's or as Zombie Armour.

The main difference between the US and other similar programs was that the majority of M-600's were provided with salvaged APC turrets, either from LAVs (M-600a1) or Bradleys (M-600a2), though a small number (M-600a3) mounted Stryker Mobile Gun tur*rets. A very few (M-600a4) were equipped only with a remote machinegun mount (controlled by a gunner from the inside of the APC) or (even fewer) with a simple pintle mount, normally for a machinegun, (M-600a5) at the track Commander's position.

No, there's no artwork for this hypothetical beast - but their could be if some of the Stretch Goals for the KS are reached when it is launched!

Phil McGregor

Scattered throughout the three Campaign Books are news and information sidebars that provide a more detailed picture of exactly what was going on around the world in the chaotic period that led up to the outbreak of the Three Way War, the course of that conflict, and the aftermath of The Thirty Minute War (aka The Exchange). One of those stories is ...

MASSACRE AT ROME MOSQUE
NewsWire FLASH. All Stations. Dateline: Rome.

At Friday evening prayers several muffled noises were heard coming from inside, but security services were not aware anything was amiss until a policeman on duty went in to investigate the sudden silence.

According to eyewitnesses he staggered out within minutes, twitching, frothing at the mouth and with blood streaming from every bodily orifice, fell to the ground and started convulsing so severely that his bones could be heard cracking – then going still.

Police and Security forces surrounded the Mosque and personnel in Hazmat gear dragged his body clear – and within minutes were using loudspeakers to warn the crowd to disperse as 'the presence of Chemical or Biological Agents has been detected.'

Quote from: aspqrz;841167I would be happy to, if there is enough interest ... and it looks like the timeslot meshes well with local Sydney time! Mid to late morning here ... which is good as I am blissfully retired and can do it pretty much any time ;-)

Phil

The link to the schedule is in my signature, as is a link to the chatroom.

This is another piece of art destined for the cover of one of the seven books that will form the initial Kickstarter ... a US (or Canadian) soldier with an M16, a British soldier with an Enfield IW and a generic NATO militiaman with an AK-47 stand over the dead body of a East Bloc soldier in the ruins of, presumably, a western European (or at least NATO member) house ... this illustration is by Miguel Santos ...

http://pictishscout.daportfolio.com

... a talented graphic artist who has done a number of other RPG commissions over the years.

Most of the other cover art has been commissioned and received ... and the basic level of the KickStarter will simply be to pay for what is already on hand. Stretch goals will mainly be for more art – Chapter Headers (full page) and, if really really really successful, also for interior illustrations of 1/5th page or so ...

Phil McGregor

Why the decision to switch from EABA?

And out of curiosity, in what alliance (if any) Finland is?

Quote from: Moracai;845172Why the decision to switch from EABA?

Why not EABA? Several reasons, and none of the main ones are because I dislike the rule system (though Greg's insistence on using his nonstandard page numbering rather than normal sequential numbers is intensely annoying) ... but because --

1) It meant that I was either limited to the small subset of Roleplayers who already played EABA.

2) Or it meant that I was having to convince potential purchasers to buy an obscure game system that they had probably never heard of in order to play in my sandbox.

Now, I like EABA (a lot), and I like Greg, but, economically speaking, it was either limiting my potential sales or it was a case of me making sales for Greg and that part of my sales effort was a dead economic loss. If I had the money to buy a license to use the core game mechanic and if Greg was willing to sell it for a reasonable price, I would probably have used it ... but I don't have the money and there's no point in pitching the idea to Greg if you don't.

That said, I have every intention of doing an updated EABA version, and changing the few bits in the Encounters and Campaign Books that are not generic enough or which are specifically D10 system so that they can be EABA specific ... as a Stretch Goal (and, eventually, even if the KS fails). But that would be adding to my sales potential incrementally, and would probably be worth it.

If, by some miracle, I make a major score in the KS, I would probably approach Greg about buying the rights to the core game mechanic ... but that's pie in the sky, I suspect.

Quote from: Moracai;845172And out of curiosity, in what alliance (if any) Finland is?

Western Alliance.

Some of the news snippets report fighting between Finnish and Russian forces along the SE border in Karelia ... just like the Winter War, but not in winter ... and with the Finns more than holding their own.

Phil

Thanks for the answers Phil!

Quote from: Moracai;845372Thanks for the answers Phil!

We aim to please!

Here are two of the snippets ...

SCANDINAVIANS RAID VYBORG
Flash Traffic. All Stations. NATO Sends.

Combined Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian Marines and Naval Infantry raided the main logistics base for the 4th Guards Mechanised Army, destroying huge stocks of munitions, fuel and food as well as blowing important road and rail bridges.

FINNS ISOLATE WESTERN SALIENT
Flash Traffic. All Stations. NATO Sends.

Elements of the Finnish Army reached the Baltic coast just to the east of Bolshoye Pole late this afternoon despite spirited Russian resistance, cutting off retreating Russian ground units in the so called West Karelian Salient.

It is estimated that parts of four Russian divisions as well as many support troops have been cut off in the Salient, though some are still evacuating via small coastal craft – but are having to abandon most of their equipment.

The Category 3/4 reserve units that had largely replaced the Category 1/2 Divisions that had originally thrust towards Helsinki and northwards to Lapeenranta along the front line proved to be brave but inexperienced fighters, hamstrung by the loss of supply resulting from the raid on Vyborg a week earlier, and unable to withstand the Finnish blitzkrieg attack.

Along the eastern Karelian front, the badly damaged town of Joensuu remains under siege, with supply only possible at night across Lake Pyhaselka and the local Finnish Militia and Regular forces defending the ruins fiercely – but there has been a lull in Russian attacks and intelligence believes the Russian units in the area are preparing to pull back to a more defensible line.

There's some earlier ones, but these were handy

Phil

Good stuff.

Somehow raiding of Vyborg (Viipuri in finnish) struck some kind of chord in me. Joining the western alliance instead of staying unallied, not so much.

There's one or two minor typos here.

Quote from: aspqrz;845465Lapeenranta

That'd be Lappeenranta.

Quote from: aspqrz;845465Lake Pyhaselka

That's Lake Pyhäselkä, but you probably don't have a scandic keyboard. Those weird Äs and Ös of course can be found through a text editing program. Or by copypasting

Your setting looks quite interesting, I have been a fan of Twilight 2000, but it's been a lot of years since I've played it.