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Month: February 2014

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Nefertiti Overdrive: Adventure II – This Time It’s Personal!

Well, it’s actually not. . . personal that is.

The second adventure will follow on narratively from the first, however explanations on how it can be run independently or first will be included.

“Statuette of Amun [Egyptian]” (26.7.1412) In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. (October 2006)
The first adventure deals with finding Neitiqret, the Princess’ missing niece and heir as God’s Hand. The second adventure involves recovering the Icon of Amun, which is one of the Icons of the Gods. The Icons protect the House of Kashta and bring prosperity to Kemet. Not even one can be left behind, or the house could face tragic consequences, worse even than losing the throne of Kemet.

Both adventures will include chances for each of the core four characters to shine, with possible spotlight moments for the other two characters and even the extra one. Mention will be made of how certain characters could positively influence certain scenes to help the GM. It’s sometimes hard, with all the other demands on a GM, to remember that some players need a push to take that spotlight for their characters.

And some players just want to stay in the background, which is fine. No specific character is required to move any of the scenes forward.

You can learn more about Nefertiti Overdrive here and here.

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Nefertiti Overdrive: An Adventure

The core of Nefertiti Overdrive is the adventure. The entire conception grew from an idea for an exciting scenario, and the rules came after. That’s probably a good thing, as the rules grew organically out of the story, meaning they were purpose-built rather than adapted. Purpose-built rules seem to work better at replicating genre or intended outcome.

I’ve mentioned the scenario before, but you still might be wondering what exactly the adventures will be about. I’m saying adventures because I intend to include two introductory scenarios – which can be each run exclusive of the other or run consecutively.

Altar to Thoth of a modern Kemetic follower from Wikipedia

The first that will be presented is the natural starting point of the two. It opens with the Assyrian backed Lower Egyptian forces arriving at Thebes, known to the Twenty-Fifth Dynasts as Waset. Let’s call Ancient Egypt’s Twenty-Fifth dynasty the House of Kashta. Kashta literally means “the Kushite,” as the first pharaoh of this Dynasty was also the king of Kush, sometimes known as Nubia. So let’s call his heirs the House of Kashta.

So, the House of Kashta is about to fall, and the Princess – you’ve seen her character sheet if you’ve been following along at home – is attempting to retrieve the sacred icons before fleeing with the rest of the royal family. One problem: the icons are missing. Wait, there’s a second problem: the Assyrians are literally at the door of the temple complex.

Luckily, the Princess and the Etruscan – her loyal bodyguard – need not face the dreaded Assyrians alone. The Spartan and the Amazon burst on to the scene, sent to retrieve the Princess as the last galleys are departing ahead of the invasion force’s arrival.

Time is running out, and the only clue is Neitiqret, the Princess’ missing niece and heir as God’s Hand.

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Back In Canada, Back on Track

I’ve been travelling for a month now. I was able to set up some posts before I left and while I had some free time on my travels, but the site has been quiet. Now I have to start ramping up for the Nefertiti Overdrive kickstarter campaign.

I’m still very jetlagged (just got back at 21:00 yesterday), but I have admin to get through and lots of behind-the-scenes work, but I also need to start posting here again. It’s very important to get momentum going – which I think was one of the reasons Farewell, Something Lovely failed.

So get the word out there. You can expect the Nefertiti Overdrive Kickstarter to begin on Monday, 17 March 2014. Mark your calendars and start saving your pennies.

You can learn more about Nefertiti Overdrive here and here.

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Nefertiti Overdrive: the Princess

An important part of Nefertiti Overdrive is the introductory adventure and pre-generated characters. It was the characters and their initial adventure, more than anything else, that inspired the creation of the system. Here, then, is the primary motivator of the story, both in her original format and her alternate character format.

You can expect the Nefertiti Overdrive Kickstarter to begin on Monday, 17 March 2014. Mark your calendars and start saving your pennies.

You can learn more about Nefertiti Overdrive here and here.

The Princess

CONCEPT
d6/d10 the Leader, Royalty

ELEMENTS
d6/d8 Inspired, Hand of Amun-Ra

TRAITS
Social d10, Mental d6

DRIVERS
Empowered by the plight of her people d8; Loyal to the Etrsucan d6

PIVOTS
I will protect my people and the honour of my house
I will bring the icons safely to Napata, the capital of Kush

STORY
The Princess is a daughter of the late Pharaoh Khunefertumre (also known as King Taharqa of Kush), and is the Divine Adoratrice of Amun and the God’s Hand, an important political and religious office. She assists her great aunt (the daughter of her grandfather) who is the God’s Wife of Amun – the High Priestess of Amun-Ra and the most powerful position a woman may hold in Kemet (Ancient Egypt). With the armies of Assur approaching from the North, she and her faithful bodyguard, the Etruscan (whom she considers a substitute father in her heart), have come to the temple complex to secure the sacred idols and transport them south, to where her cousin, Pharaoh Bakare (King Tanwetamani of Kush) has retreated with the remains of the royal army.

IMPORTANT KNOWLEDGE
The Icon of Amun, the most important and talisman of the pharaoh, is missing
Your niece and heir as God’s Hand, Neitiqret, performed sacrifices yesterday for Amun, she may have the Icon

 

And the alternate version

The Priest

CONCEPT
d6/d10 the Leader, Royalty

ELEMENTS
d6/d8 Inspired, Hand of Amun-Ra

TRAITS
Social d10, Mental d6

RELATIONSHIPS
Empowered by the plight of his people d8; Loyal to the Hyperborean d6

PIVOT
I will protect my people and the honour of my house
I will bring the icons safely to Napata, the capital of Kush

STORY
The Priest is a son of the late Pharaoh Khunefertumre, and is the Chief Scribe of the Temple of Amun. He assists his cousin, the Pharaoh Bakare, in his war against Far Kemet and the men of Assur. With the armies of Assur approaching from the North, he and his constant shadow and bodyguard, the Etruscan, have come to the temple complex to secure the sacred idols and transport them south, to where the pharaoh has retreated with the remains of the royal army.

IMPORTANT KNOWLEDGE
The Icon of Amun, the most important and talisman of the pharaoh, is missing
Your niece and God’s Hand, Neitiqret, performed sacrifices yesterday for Amun, she may have the Icon

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Nefertiti Overdrive: A Preview of Tests

The system for Nefertiti Overdrive has been playtested but is still undergoing some minor revisions. The basics, though, are unlikely to change. Here’s a quick explanation of how Overdrive works.

Qualities
These are the building blocks of the character, and if you have read or played Sword Noir, Kiss My Axe, or Centurion you have an idea what they are. Generally, these are one-word or short phrases that describe in relatively narrative terms, a character’s abilities, skills, training, etc.

The wuxia portion of the game comes from the way Qualities are measured and applied. Each Quality is measured by die type, from d6 to d12 – the higher being better. Each Quality has a base die type and a bonus die type, so a Quality might be d6/d10 or d8/d12.

Explaining how a Quality applies to the task at hand allows it to be applied with the base die. Providing a cinematic – for actions – or expanded narrative – for mental or social – explanations allows the player to apply the bonus die. Playing both Overdrive and Kiss My Axe leads me to believe that allowing players to ignore physics and make statements regarding the surroundings quickly sets them up to provide very exciting narratives of their actions.

Attributes
Each character has four Attributes that each provide a die for task resolution. Each Attribute has one or more Qualities, though even if an Attribute has more than one Quality, it generally provides only one die – I say generally because using Luck can allow multiple Qualities from a single Attribute.

Tests
A task resolution in Overdrive is called a Test. Tests are opposed rolls, meaning that the two participants in a Test roll dice and then compare. With four Attributes, there are four dice for each Test (sometimes more, if Luck is used). Each Test is against another PC or a Challenge, which also has four Attributes providing dice. The GM rolls the dice for the Challenge. The four dice are divided among Initiative, Success and Effect. Initiative requires at least one die, Success requires at least two, and Effect requires at least one.

Initiative: as can be expected, this decides who goes first. One die from the four dice rolled is applied to Initiative, though if more than four dice are rolled, more than one can be applied. Initiative is measured by result, meaning the number on the die rolled or the sum of the dice rolled, with the highest result acting first as the active character.

Success: the Success is also measured by result, but it is set by the passive character – the character against which the active characters is acting. Success is the sum of the two dice applied to it (or more if there are more dice in play) and the active character must exceed the Success set by the passive character. After a certain number of Successes are made against a Challenge or character, that actor is removed from a scene – not necessarily dead, just removed.

Effect: with Success settled, the Effect dice of the active and passive characters are compared. The character with the lower Effect die receives a condition dictated by the character with the higher. The value of the Condition – which acts as a penalty through the game until removed by Luck or at the end of a session – is equal to the lower Effect die subtracted from the higher (straight math, a d4 being 4, a d6 being 6, etc). A new Condition can be created or an existing Condition increased.

These are the basics of Overdrive. It’s a little more complex than this, of course, running about 15 pages, including three lengthy examples of Tests. Once the basics of running Tests are understood, it is my experience that the game runs quickly and smoothly.

The Kickstarter for Nefertiti Overdrive will be happening in March, 2014. Start stuffing your piggybank in preparation.

You can learn more about Nefertiti Overdrive here and here.

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Nefertiti Overdrive: Expectations

Nefertiti Overdrive won’t be going to Kickstarter until mid-March, so this may change in that time – heck, it’s changed since I started my trip – but here’s what I plan for the book.

The System
Right now, I’m calling it the Overdrive system. There’s some kind of software linked to CRPGs called Overdrive, so I’d prefer to find a different title. The system isn’t specific to Nefertiti Overdrive, but is a general one that is used by Nefertiti Overdrive.

Nefertiti Overdrive Version
This would be the Overdrive system as adapted for Nefertiti Overdrive. This would really be about outlining the attributes and advancement. This section would be based on the pre-generated characters.

Pre-Generated Characters
These seven characters will be presented as four core characters, two other characters, and one extra character. The four core are the Princess, the Etruscan, the Spartan, and the Amazon. The other characters are the Monk and the Serpent, with the General as an extra. The characters are divided this way as the characters are interconnected, and dividing them up allows them to be designed in such a way as to cut down on irrelevancies or errors – like listing a character as an important driver, but that character isn’t actually in the game.

Alternative Characters
The pre-generated characters have genders assigned, and these alternative characters provide the same type of characters inhabiting the same niches, but with opposite genders. Some people aren’t happy playing a different gender, but might still want to play the Etruscan. These seven characters allow that.

The Adventure
Presently, this is a short adventure that can be completed in one game session. I am strongly inclined to provide two adventures – the intro and the follow-up – which would consist of two play sessions. This is just to get the players warmed up, because . . .

Campaign Ideas
The plan is that the game can then go off in any number of directions. I have some thoughts of likely routes campaigns in mythic wuxia Egypt during the Assyrian occupation might take.

The Scenario Generator System
This is a system to design campaigns on the fly. Basically, the players provide a bunch of elements, including the Qualities that provide dice for task resolution, and while they are making their characters – or between sessions – the GM figures out how this elements fit together into a game. The system is set up to make this generation a kind of game on its own.

So that is the plan for the Nefertiti Overdrive book. I’ve discussed including the soon to be renamed Ocean Earth setting as part of Nefertiti Overdrive, but I think that would be better served as a stretch goal or even as a follow-on. Things may change, but we shall see.

The Kickstarter for Nefertiti Overdrive will be happening in March, 2014. Start stuffing your piggybank in preparation.

You can learn more about Nefertiti Overdrive here and here.

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Farewell, Something Lovely: Postmortem

I’ve been doing some of the math for Farewell, Something Lovely, wondering if it would be possible to deliver the product for the amount raised. Here’s the numbers.

I raised $679 CAD, which after Kickstarter and payment processing fees would likely end up around $610.

The cost of delivering the 12 books would likely be around $110 USD – including printing and shipping – which would translate into around $130 CAD presently (and given the CAD is weakening, that’s going to increase). For the 11 signed copies, it would likely be about $130, or around $150 CAD.

Okay, so for the printed material, that’s around $280. That leaves me with $330. That’s not enough to pay for layout and editing, let alone get me any money, however it would be possible to create a bare-bones, very generic version for that cost.

It’s something to consider for the future. Still, I think there are other avenues that will be explored once Nefertiti Overdrive has been driven.

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Nefertiti Overdrive: Conception

The concept of Nefertiti Overdrive is, in many ways, a continuation of the concept for Kiss My Axe: Thirteen Warriors and an Angel of Death. Kiss My Axe took the historical Viking era and culture, and threw in cinematic action. What I quickly learned is that for me and many others, cinematic action includes many of the mainstays of wuxia cinema – physics defying spectacle and feats of derring-do that could only be explained through magic or some other supernatural phenomenon.

In reading about Sudan, I learned of the Merowe Dynasty, a kingdom that is generally called Kush. For a time, the princes of Merowe ruled Egypt. This is not the only foreign dynasty that ruled Egypt, but it interested me enough to read a few articles about it.

The fall of the Kushite dynasty got me thinking of a scenario that began as an idea for a story and quickly morphed into something more cinematic. I’ve written elsewhere about my ideas for a screenplay based on the evacuation of the Kushite dynasty, centering on a princess, her loyal bodyguard, and a unit of mercenaries caught in the evacuation and threatened by the oncoming Assyrian horde. It became more cinematic when I envisioned the fight scenes, and the specific roles each of the characters could play.

I’m a big fan of niches in both role-playing and fiction. That may be due to the formative nature of D&D in my own maturation as a story-teller, and is reflected in my love of movies like the 13th Warrior or Predator which have teams of specialists rather than an amorphous horde of tough guys. In my imagination, those specialists became distinct through both their specialties and their cultures. The hunter-archer became the Amazon and the hand-to-hand specialist became an eastern monk in the Shaolin Warrior tradition.

The bust of Nefertiti from the Ägyptisches Museum Berlin collection, presently in the Neues Museum.

That’s when it dawned on me what a lot of fun it would be to play in a pretty a-historical setting (I really know nothing about Egyptian history except in very broad strokes) with crazy cinematic action (which defaults to wuxia in my head). And thus the initial plan for Nefertiti Overdrive came into my head.

And since a lot of people have asked, the title is a nod to William Gibson’s Mona Lisa Overdrive using the name of the most famous female Egyptian that came into my head. Yes, Cleopatra ruled Egypt, but I never really think of the Ptolemys as Egyptian. They’re all Greek to me.

The Kickstarter for Nefertiti Overdrive will be happening in late March, 2014. Start stuffing your piggybank in preparation.

You can learn more about Nefertiti Overdrive here and here.

For my game, most of my research came from the 25th Dynasty and Kingdom of Kush write-ups on Wikipedia. I did say shallow knowledge, did I not?

You can learn more about Kiss My Axe here. You can purchase it here.

If you dig on cyberpunk or just spec fiction and have not read Mona Lisa Overdrive, do so now. I recommend all of Gibson’s Sprawl novels.