This is the February 2021 overview of my work in progress game Exoworld.
Exoworld essentially began life just a week and a half ago (though it was floating around in my head for about a month), so this round-up will omit much of the details. If you're following this in context, you probably remember what happened, and if not you can read each of the updates below:
Update 0: Announcement
Update 1: Expertise
Update 2: Setting Blurb
Update 3: Combat and Magnitude Rolls
Update 4: The Spurned and Character Traits
Update 5: Markets, Character Development, Difficulty
Update 6: Continents, Expertise Pt. 2
Update 7: History and Factions
State of Exoworld
Right now the focus has been on setting up some standards and conventions for the game. I've almost finished the history section (working on the Current Events subsection!).
The current length of Exoworld is 16,304 words. In the (very raw) Google Doc it's 43 pages long, which means there's a lot of whitespace since Google Docs averages ~500 words per page with 11 pt. Arial.
Right now the question is where we're at regarding things, and I'd say that there's probably a month left before the game's ready for serious play testing if I keep the balance of my work split as it is. My regular DM is on hiatus, so that means that I have a captive testing audience as soon as the game's prepared.
As a result, I'm going to focus on getting the player-facing rules written. Since so much of Exoworld is player-centric, this will make it ready for play-testing in my group, but there will be some background stuff I'd like in the GM section.
Let's break down the book by its current sections and their rough completion status:
Intro Fiction: 25% progress.
Intro Section: ??? (Text written, but doesn't reflect current structure of book)
Fiction 2: 0
History: 2000/3000 words, 90% of linear progress. Will probably receive a couple sidebars.
Factions: ???
- Exemplars: Two blurbs originally taken from Offworld that made up the first content for the setting. Needs revision.
- Originals: Shaping up to be the model. Needs differentiation between three types of Originals (see update 7). 75%
- Spurned: Intro section, nothing else. 15%
- Reaction: 0
Fiction 3: 0
Offworld: 30%
- Fluff 1: 0/200
- UCS Icarus: Was the first section written, needs alignment to later standards. 1700/3000, 40% on progress overall.
- Jewel: 500/2000 25%
Titania: 40%
- Fluff 1: 200/200
- Fluff 2: 0/200
- North Titania: 15%
- Gagarin: Should update to point out it's the first Original colony on Exile. 800/1500
- Shepard: 0/1000
- Grissom: 0/1000
- Gray March: 0
- Fluff 1: 0/200
- (would do Fluff 2, but Gray March features in Fiction 4)
- Beacon Trail: 0/1000
- Nexus: 0/1500
- Fringes: 0/500
- South Titania: 0
- Fluff 1: 0/200
- Fluff 2: 0/200
- Name TBD Research Station: 0/1000
- Name TBD Port: 0/1000
- Name TBD Exemplar Fort: 0/750
Oberon: 10%
- New Berlin: 200/1000
Umbriel: 5%
Ariel: 5%
Miranda: 5%
Fiction 4: 15%? Really not sure how long it's going to be yet. Liking the vibe, but might have to trash if I can't square the circle between the intro and the resolution
Rules: 20%
- Thresholds: 100% 1st
- Complications: 100% 1st
- Failure: 100% 1st
- Success with Consequences: 100% 1st
- Healing: 0
- Combat: 0
Characters: 15%
- Factions: 0 (some elements in earlier Factions section, all game mechanics go here and should be moved!)
- Backgrounds: 0 (cut?)
- Attributes: 0, but outlined in 1st draft before Exoworld became the setting
- Resources: 0
- Expertise: 100% 1st draft (Might go under Original Traits!)
- Traits: 30%
- Universal Traits: 10%
- Exemplar Traits: 15%
- Exemplar Defects: 20%
- Original Traits: 0% (But may inherit Expertise)
- Spurned Traits: 50% Adaptations, 0% late-game
- Reaction Traits: 0% (technically some sketches, but I don't like them)
TBD: GEAR!!!!!
TBD: CHARACTER ADVANCEMENT
TBD: ADVENTURE
Plans and Time-Table
Right now I'd say that I'm something like 15-25% through the first draft of Exoworld, though obviously there are a lot of sections that have question marks by them. The section heading fiction can come after the first draft, but everything else is a blocker.
The Rules and Characters sections need to fill out more before I can playtest, though I might whip up some sample characters to use with my group instead of having them try to do it by hand.
My goal is to finish the rules by March, which will of course be pre-playtest. I feel like I've done enough of this on paper that I won't be making major systemic changes, but this is my third large game now (Street Rats, Hammercalled, Exoworld, in case anyone's curious), so I know better than to say that nothing significant is going to change even with significant core mechanics between now and then.
Then my goal is to have a publicly available document by April. It'll just be a quick-start, covering Gagarin and the rules with some pre-made characters and maybe a sample adventure.
Come June, I'm hoping to have largely edited and revised Exoworld, and I'll be looking into raising money for it.
I'm a full-time student right now, and I haven't worked since February. I'm not in any particularly awful financial straits, because I was living with family before and I've just been bumming off of them during the pandemic, but I can't spend any of my money to work on Exoworld like I have in the past.
I have a hunch that I'll be able to get some starting money from a contact I have in the industry, but he doesn't owe me anything so I don't know if that will work out.
The idea would be to get some sum of money to do sample art pieces and maybe have professionals look over the quick-start (which would be a second draft at that point!) to do a Kickstarter or other crowdfunding and have a more official release.
Though the core text and some art would be ready in an emergency, my goal is to spend a year making Exoworld awesome.
If that doesn't work, I'm still going to bring Exoworld to fruition, it'll just take longer.
Oh, and there's one other thing to add, because it's late and getting past my bedtime so I'm going to call it quits here.
Novel. I've already started the outline, and it's shaping up to have a very Altered Carbon vibe. I'll keep y'all posted.