Hi everyone!
So… Week 1 of the campaign has now finished. I’m very pleased that we’ve managed to get as far as we have, thank you to everyone who has contributed already! To be funded by now is absolutely brilliant!
However, we’ve been having a talk with a few of the people who’ve looked at our Kickstarter and aren’t ready to pledge. It seems that what most people want is a bit of explanation about the rules and a few examples of gameplay. So we’ve decided that we’re going to release a small snippet of the rulebook. It’s enough to play the game once, with 5 pregenerated characters so that you can all play The Last Stand of Stiletto Unit! As this is the session we usually play at conventions, we felt it was only fair to offer the rest of the world who can’t make it to see us the same opportunity!
So grab your d10’s and get ready, we’ll be making that available to you all (including those who have backed us, of course) at the end of today!
Now, you’re probably wondering about the creator of this game, this “Ed Jowett” guy. You’re probably wondering what gave him this idea, how did he decide to turn it into a roleplaying game, how did he move it along so far without funding before now? So, I thought I’d answer some of these questions! Best to get the hard part out of the way first… yes, it’s true, I’m from England!
I’m a lifetime Science Fiction fan. I grew up watching Star Trek – since I was about 4 or 5 – and I read Asimov for the first time when I was 9. I have a photo signed by almost every member of the cast of Farscape and a load of happy memories from the conventions I’ve attended to get them, and the limited edition Tali’Zorah vas Normandy poster hanging on my wall is one of my most prized possessions.
I also love games. I’ve had my Playstation for about 3 years now, and despite this project eating most of my life for the last 2 years, I’ve managed to rack up an (apparently) impressive number of Platinum trophies (Add me if you like!) on various games. I love the stories that people create for games, the scope of their potential and the things they choose to show or leave to your imagination.
I first started designing games of some description myself when I was about 7 years old and taught myself Basic and began programming frantically, trying to create my own computer game. As I grew up, my designs grew more ambitious, and I even chose to take Art classes in the hope that I could illustrate to people what I’m talking about (The artists on this project can attest to the success or failure of these attempts!). All this culminated in a degree in Software Engineering where I actually built my own strategy game for my dissertation and studied the various AI methods used in games.
Things really kicked off for me, though, when I started GMing games and realised the massive potential for tabletop RPGs in terms of choice, and how much we were losing by playing computer-based games (which to then had been my only experience – Pool Radiance and later Neverwinter Nights and Temple of Elemental Evil were just a few of the games I grew up playing). With so many ideas gathered over such a long period of time, inspired by the scope of Sci-Fi universes such as that of the Dune series (which I like so much that Sandworm remains my online handle to this day!) and the visual candy offered by games like Mass Effect, I felt that I had to create my own universe, to show my ideas to the world.
Before I knew what was going on, it grew beyond what I’d ever imagined – my attempt to write it for other members of my group to GM down grew into deciding to produce a full, high-quality rulebook over just a month or two! (I won’t bore you with the details of the story again, it’s in the Shades of Vengeance profile on Kickstarter if you are curious!)
So that’s me. I’m someone who was inspired by the group of people I work with, and who realised that taking that inspiration and both using it as well as passing it on to other people was something very important.
Thank you for backing this project, my dream, and helping me to continue producing games for you to experience and enjoy.
– Ed
