[21-May-21 08:33 PM] beholdsa#0452
Hello. I’m Thorin Tabor. I’m the author of Shadows Over Sol, amongst other games. Tonight I’m here to talk about Jovian Whispers, which is a full-length dark science fiction campaign and supplement that we’re currently Kickstarting for Shadows Over Sol.
[21-May-21 08:34 PM] beholdsa#0452
The basic premise is that five years ago the Jovian colonies went suddenly and inexplicably silent. Two days later, a single message was broadcast: “The Jovian colonies and associated satellites are now the property of Jupiter Group. Do not approach Jupiter. Do not transmit to Jupiter. Failure to comply will be met with force.”
[21-May-21 08:35 PM] beholdsa#0452
After that, the megacorp Unitech blockaded Jupiter and all attempts to reach it since have failed or met with disaster.
[21-May-21 08:37 PM] beholdsa#0452
And that’s where your players come into the picture. The campaign starts with them (whether intentionally or not) running the blockade and revealing to the world that the Jovian colonies are not available for exploration. And that touches off a bit of a gold rush to collect scrap from the colonies. All the while, the thing that caused the colonies to suddenly go silent all those years ago still lurks in the darkness.
[21-May-21 08:38 PM] beholdsa#0452
That’s the spoiler-avoiding description, anyway.
[21-May-21 08:38 PM] beholdsa#0452
A bit about Shadows Over Sol in general:
[21-May-21 08:38 PM] beholdsa#0452
It’s 200 years in the future. Humanity has spread out throughout the solar system. Corporations and other groups wage small-scale wars in the streets or in space. Bioengineered horrors left over from these conflicts stalk the hulls of ruined stations and abandoned colonies.
[21-May-21 08:40 PM] beholdsa#0452
The default assumption is that the player characters are going to be a ragtag team of “scrappers,” doing odd jobs and collecting salvage. And that’s exactly what the Jovian Whispers campaign assumes as well. Although they’re likely to get some upgrades pretty quick. It’s got a sort of action horror feel to it.
[21-May-21 08:41 PM] beholdsa#0452
Here’s the obligatory link to the Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tabcreations/jovian-whispers-dark-science-fiction-roleplaying
[21-May-21 08:41 PM] beholdsa#0452
So that’s my introduction. I’m happy for the questions to begin.
[21-May-21 08:42 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Thanks, @beholdsa! The floor is open to quetions!
[21-May-21 08:42 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
First, can you give us a quick recap of Shadows, once upon a time.
[21-May-21 08:44 PM] Henry#3418
Time is the currency of life. @beholdsa Why should people spend their time on your Jovian Whispers? In a flooded market of RPG’s what does your game provide more than any other, what makes your game unique and why should people play it more than any other?
[21-May-21 08:44 PM] beholdsa#0452
No problem. So we originally Kickstarted Shadows Over Sol in 2015. It’s a game of hard science fiction and horror, set in our own solar system. It’s space, 200 years in the future. No FTL. But bioengineering and some cyber-tech and plenty of space action goodness.
[21-May-21 08:50 PM] beholdsa#0452
Quite frankly there aren’t that many full-length science fiction campaigns out there, at least compared to fantasy ones. And the few that exist tend to be softer inter-galactic sci-fi. Which is fine; I enjoy that, too. But I also enjoy the harder science-based sci-fi, especially when it’s our own solar system. And that’s a take on sci-fi that I don’t see done as much in RPGs, so that’s something I wanted to create.
[21-May-21 08:51 PM] beholdsa#0452
Thematically, the Jovian Whispers campaign also toys with the limits of AI, and what it means to live alongside artificial intelligences, especially when they exist in a sort of uncanny valley, where you can’t quite call them just another person, and yet you can’t quite dismiss them as just another machine.
[21-May-21 08:51 PM] Henry#3418
Can you give us an example of this in some sort of concrete way?
[21-May-21 08:59 PM] beholdsa#0452
I’m debating about how spoilery I want to get… Ummm… You’ve seen or read 2001: A Space Odyssey? HAL 9000 is clearly an antagonist in the story. But it’s also just doing what it was (secretly) programmed to do. You can look at HAL and anthropomorphize it, and it’s almost sympathetic. But it clearly plays the role of the bad guy in the story. On the other end of the spectrum is The Terminator. Skynet is also clearly a bad guy in that story. But with Skynet it’s a lot more cut and dry. Skynet is clearly evil. Thematically, Jovian Whispers falls somewhere between the two. Think HAL thrust more into the role of Skynet.
[21-May-21 09:05 PM] beholdsa#0452
Rules-wise, Shadows Over Sol uses the Saga Machine system that we’ve used for all our games. I’d call it a rules medium system, but YMMV. By default it uses a deck of cards to resolve its core mechanic, but a d10-based mechanic is also included in the back an an appendix. If you’re interested in taking a look at the character sheet, you can see one here: https://www.tabcreations.com/media/uploads/sos/sos-charsheet.pdf
[21-May-21 09:09 PM] beholdsa#0452
Speaking of which, the inspirations we call out for the campaign range from James S. A. Corey’s excellent The Expanse series and Arthur C. Clarke’s Space Odyssey books, to Ridley Scott’s classic film Alien and James Cameron’s Terminator movies.
[21-May-21 09:11 PM] Henry#3418
are we still going?
[21-May-21 09:12 PM] Henry#3418
The interview to be clear this is a long gap
[21-May-21 09:12 PM] beholdsa#0452
Am I supposed to say “done” or “over” or something? I forgot if that’s the case.
[21-May-21 09:13 PM] Henry#3418
yeah Dan likes to say done at the end of questions
[21-May-21 09:13 PM] Henry#3418
but I am cool
[21-May-21 09:13 PM] beholdsa#0452
Sorry about that.
[21-May-21 09:13 PM] Henry#3418
all good
[21-May-21 09:14 PM] Henry#3418
The system you use for this setting for this adventure is it unique to this setting?
[21-May-21 09:15 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Sorry, guys, had a freeze-up.
[21-May-21 09:15 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
And you don’t have to give us a (done) unless after a multi-part answer.
[21-May-21 09:16 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
So the enemies are machines?
[21-May-21 09:16 PM] beholdsa#0452
@Henry The system we use is one we use in all our games, Saga Machine, but we tailor each game to the genre and tone. In this case, we tailor it to dark sci-fi, which means that the combat is fast and deadly. And I feel that a player’s dwindling hand over the course of a session does a pretty good job of upping the tension and evoking a feeling of “time is running out.”
[21-May-21 09:17 PM] beholdsa#0452
@Dan Davenport The player characters in Jovian Whispers are often caught between an AI run amok on one hand, and cut-throat scrapper rivals and unfriendly corps on the other hand.
[21-May-21 09:19 PM] beholdsa#0452
Over.
[21-May-21 09:19 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
You’ve touched on this a bit, but can you describe the tech level?
[21-May-21 09:21 PM] Henry#3418
@beholdsa What mechanic do you think we can find in your system/adventure that we won’t find in another which is unique to your setting?
[21-May-21 09:22 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
I’m getting a kind of Aliens/Blade Runner vibe.
[21-May-21 09:23 PM] beholdsa#0452
@Dan Davenport So people are flying around in fission-powered spacecraft. Fusion is a pipe-dream that never panned out. A trip to the outer solar system takes months. People are usually put into stasis to sleep away the long voyage. For attack, people often still rely on slug-throwers, but the recoil does terrible things in microgravity, so in space they might use bulky laser guns. Combat armor is a thing at the military level, but it’s costly and often impractical for a starting scrapper team.
[21-May-21 09:24 PM] beholdsa#0452
Yeah, if Alien took place in our own solar system and had some Blade Runner mixed in, that’s a pretty good description.
[21-May-21 09:24 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Is there spacecraft combat in the game, and if so, what’s it like?
[21-May-21 09:28 PM] beholdsa#0452
@Henry I’m rather fond of how player hands dwindle over the course of a session as your luck literally runs out, leaving your characters more desperate. I think that fits the feel of dark sci-fi and horror really well, which still allowing the players moments of awesome. To explain that: Basically, when you “make a roll” or a “flip” in this case, you can either take a random card from the top of the deck or play one from your hand. In this way your hand serves almost as a reserve of luck points. You want to hold those cards back for moments that really are important or where you really want your character to shine. But as you play them throughout the session, you have fewer and fewer cards in hand and so you’re forced to rely more on the literal luck of the draw. And that can really increase the tension in the session.
[21-May-21 09:31 PM] beholdsa#0452
@Dan Davenport There are a variety of spacecraft in the game. The party is likely to begin some a second-hand freighter, but there are chances to modify your ship or upgrade to a used warship of some sort. Think of civilian ships usually as freighters or harvesters or maybe yachts for the super-rich. Warships run your fighter, corvette, destroyer, etc. sort of navy-inspired types.
[21-May-21 09:31 PM] beholdsa#0452
Over.
[21-May-21 09:31 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
What sorts of weapons do these spacecraft carry?
[21-May-21 09:32 PM] Henry#3418
What makes your setting unique? There are many Sci-fi games what is the thing that makes yours different? @beholdsa And how does your adventure show these unique setting specific pieces?
[21-May-21 09:33 PM] beholdsa#0452
@Dan Davenport Oh. Spacecraft combat takes places in rounds. Each player acts in the round, taking on a particular role. For example, one might act as the gunner and fire on the other craft. Another might act as the pilot and work the PDC or do maneuvers to close or flee other craft. Yet another might take the role of captain and hand out command bonuses to the other players.
[21-May-21 09:38 PM] beholdsa#0452
@Henry I think the setting excels at dark, hard sci-fi in a well thought out world. It gives players plenty of sci-fi gear and tropes to play with, but remains grounded enough that anyone can pick it up and relate to the setting quickly. For players that like science-y stuff, it’s got plenty of that. If you like spaceship combat, engineering or hacking systems, it’s got those, too. It strikes a good balance between fantastic and grounded.
[21-May-21 09:38 PM] beholdsa#0452
Over.
[21-May-21 09:39 PM] Henry#3418
Everytime you go outside of 5E your going to lose a lot of the customer base so.
The question must come, why not 5e and if not 5e why not one of its well-known competitors? Such as Power by the Apocalypse, Savage Worlds or Fate? Why put in the massive work that is making a unique system? @beholdsa
[21-May-21 09:45 PM] beholdsa#0452
@Henry When you write a game, you spend a lot of time with that game. Thinking about that game. Playtesting that game. Tweaking and revising that game. So when I invest all that time in a game, I want it to be the sort of game that I want to play and spend my time with. And so that’s what I’ve done. And I think the game is all the better for it, and better able to adapt to the genre and tone of the setting. I truth, I could have tried to make it work with 5e or Fate or whatnot, but I feel that would have been a bit like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
[21-May-21 09:45 PM] beholdsa#0452
Over.
[21-May-21 09:46 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Who are the PCs, generally speaking?
[21-May-21 09:46 PM] Henry#3418
What is your least favourite aspect of Jovian Whispers?
[21-May-21 09:49 PM] beholdsa#0452
@Dan Davenport Generally speaking, the PCs are a team of “scrappers,” who do odd jobs or look for salvage, skirting the gray areas of he law. They might run messages, do some mercenary work, explore abandoned stations looking for scrap or do a bit of smuggling.
[21-May-21 09:54 PM] beholdsa#0452
@Henry Jupiter is a months long voyage from anything resembling civilization, especially early in the campaign before other groups start rushing there. And that makes it a creepy, isolated environment that’s good for tense stories of horror or self-sufficiency. But it’s also limiting. I really had to work to find reasons for many NPCs to be there. There are times when it could be nice for the player characters to be able to go to a store without committing to months in transit.
[21-May-21 09:54 PM] beholdsa#0452
That’s less of an issue by the time the campaign reaches its halfway point. But it is an aspect of the early story that at times I wish was less limiting.
[21-May-21 09:54 PM] beholdsa#0452
Over.
[21-May-21 09:58 PM] Henry#3418
Imagine Jovian Whispers has gone triple platinum, its the new Tomb of Horros people no longer say I am going to play D&D they say Shadows Over Sol or SOS instead. People cosplay as characters from your game and people wear merch about Shadows Over Sol like Nirvana T-Shirts. Imaging that.
- How does it make you feel?
- What is the thing that gets you in trouble?
- What is the one thing you loved from your game that now makes you cringe?
[21-May-21 10:05 PM] beholdsa#0452
@Henry Wow. Uh.
- I feel pleased at the game’s success, but also overwhelmed most likely. I’ve never been someone who seeks fame, so that might be kind of weird.
- If it gets big enough to do another offset print run, that could get complicated. The logistics of print runs can be pretty hard to predict, especially with as quickly as the industry is changing.
- I’m not sure. But anything + popularity + the Internet is bound to result in some pretty cringey stuff online.
[21-May-21 10:08 PM] beholdsa#0452
To expand on 2: the pandemic has thrown all sorts of things out of whack. Not only supply chains for printing, but also you used to be able to predict pretty well what percent of sales were going to be PDF and what percent were going to be dead tree. But they’re skewing way more PDF than they were now, probably from an increase in online gaming.
[21-May-21 10:08 PM] beholdsa#0452
Over.
[21-May-21 10:10 PM] Henry#3418
What is the one thing you wished people asked about Jovian Whispers or Shadows Over Sol but haven’t yet?
[21-May-21 10:12 PM] beholdsa#0452
Maybe about the campaign’s structure?
[21-May-21 10:12 PM] Henry#3418
What is unique about the campaigns structure?
[21-May-21 10:13 PM] beholdsa#0452
It’s not unique per se, but the campaign is going to be structured similarly to the “Plot Point” campaigns released by Pinnacle Entertainment and a number of other companies. This means that there will be a core campaign arc, which tells the big story of Jovian exploration in the background, but it is constructed in a way that gives GMs the freedom to write and run their own stories in the foreground.
[21-May-21 10:13 PM] beholdsa#0452
Essentially there are a number of pivotal events and scenarios that drive the core story arc forward, but these are intended to be interspersed between other adventures. These interspersed scenarios can either be written by the GM to suit the players, or the GM can pick one of the many “side treks” that will be included in the book. Maybe not unique. But it works really well.
[21-May-21 10:13 PM] beholdsa#0452
Over.
[21-May-21 10:14 PM] Henry#3418
@beholdsa Final Question. What are people not talking about in the Roleplaying community that should be and why?
[21-May-21 10:15 PM] Henry#3418
(just to be clear its my final question)
[21-May-21 10:18 PM] beholdsa#0452
I feel like much of the roleplaying community these days is split between campaign-focused D&D clones or one-shot focused indie narrative games. I mean that’s an over-generalization, but that’s much of what I see talked about online. But there’s so much more space for games out there that don’t fall into one of those two categories, and I wish I saw more of them.
[21-May-21 10:19 PM] beholdsa#0452
Over.
[21-May-21 10:22 PM] Henry#3418
Just clarifying, which games do you consider D&D clones, games such as Pathfinder? or would you be broader than that?
[21-May-21 10:28 PM] beholdsa#0452
“Clone” is maybe a strong word, but there are many games which are clearly D&D-inspired descendents. Pathfinder. Adventurer Conqueror King. Dungeon Crawl Classics. 13th Age. Hackmaster. More retroclones than I can count.
[21-May-21 10:28 PM] Henry#3418
Clone I think is fine at least for Pathfinder but I understand your meaning and I believe other readers will as well
[21-May-21 10:29 PM] Henry#3418
you also said that there is too intense a focus on one-shots. Why is it that is a problem?
[21-May-21 10:34 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
PIggybacking off of Henry’s question, is this game intended for long-term play?
[21-May-21 10:36 PM] beholdsa#0452
I don’t think it’s a problem that some games focus on one-shots. Clearly there’s a market for people who don’t have time for long-form campaigns or who like to dabble in lots of different easy-to-learn, easy-to-pick-up games. I just wish there were more games that both:
a) Tried to do something fundamentally different from what D&D is doing; and
b) Supported long-form campaigns as a top-level design priority.
There are lots of games out there which are being talked about that meet one qualification or the other. And there are some games out there that meet both. But those tend not to be the new hotness at the moment. Or at least that’s the impression I get from the buzz online.
[21-May-21 10:38 PM] beholdsa#0452
The ability to support long-term play is one of Shadow Over Sol’s designs. And this campaign in particular is intended as a full-length campaign.
[21-May-21 10:38 PM] beholdsa#0452
Over.
[21-May-21 10:38 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Before we wrap up, is there anything we haven’t discussed that you’d like to bring up?
[21-May-21 10:39 PM] Henry#3418
I just wanted to ask before you go what is that you think D&D is doing and what you would like to see outside of it?
[21-May-21 10:40 PM] beholdsa#0452
@Dan Davenport I think we’ve covered a lot of ground tonight, but let me just throw out the Kickstarter link one more time: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tabcreations/jovian-whispers-dark-science-fiction-roleplaying
[21-May-21 10:40 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Usual reminder: If you’ve enjoyed this Q&A and would like to treat me to a coffee or two, you can do so at https://www.ko-fi.com/gmshoe. Anything’s appreciated! 🙂
{Embed}
https://www.ko-fi.com/gmshoe.
Buy Dan Davenport a Coffee. ko-fi.com/gmshoe
Become a supporter of Dan Davenport today! ❤️ Ko-fi lets you support the creators you love with no fees on donations.
https://storage.ko-fi.com/cdn/useruploads/a7a7f917-1365-467e-9fe1-53c1dba6f618.png
[21-May-21 10:44 PM] beholdsa#0452
@Henry That’s an open-ended question. And one that’s difficult to answer concisely. I think you could draw up a rather interesting taxonomy of games and what makes them more or less “D&D-like” and how they differ. What sort of play styles they support and what they’re baked in assumptions are. You could probably even do that just between different editions of D&D.
[21-May-21 10:44 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Thanks very much for joining us once again, Thorin!
[21-May-21 10:45 PM] beholdsa#0452
Thanks for having me on Randomworlds!
[21-May-21 10:45 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
Certainly!
[21-May-21 10:45 PM] Henry#3418
Well perhaps its board game light?
[21-May-21 10:45 PM] Dan Davenport#6715
If you’ll give me just a minute, I’ll get the log posted and link you!
The Hardboiled GMshoe's Office 
Nice blog post.❄ 😀 2021-06-21 07h 33min
LikeLike