First thing is I am serving as a pick-up writer and probable editor for the upcoming game, Zweihander. It's a Warhammer Fantasy clone that's been in production for a while, but it's getting super close to being done. Daniel (the main author) has smacked down all the mechanics, and we are now working through a ton of flavor text. My main focus right now is on writing the descriptions for the professions/classes, but up next is describing the different gods and arcane schools, which is very exciting to me.
Next up is a personal project that is combining a few things together. Tentatively called Transhuman Future, it is going to be a supplement for Goblinoid Game's Mutant Future RPG. Originally it started as 'Vaults of the Old Earth', a MF supplement designed mostly to add more character options. Then I got interested in transhumanism and figured out how to blow out the setting into that. I'm also adapting some ideas from Miami 2085 too. In addition to new mechanics, which includes races, classes, skills, augments like cyberware and bioware, mechs and spaceships, it will also include a full transhuman setting and details on body swapping and all that.
The full details of the setting aren't fleshed out, but the main three 'cultures' are going to harken some of my favorite sci-fi tropes. I'm also taking small nods from one of my favorite JRPGs, Shin Megami Tensei.
The Anarch Alliance is taking notes from 70s dark horror sci-fi, as well as hints of psychedelia. Think Alien and the Thing, with claustrophobic interiors and busted fusion reactors. The Anarchs are hedonists and extremists, who love pushing their minds and bodies to the extreme, and they are often looked down upon and discriminated by the other cultures. Takes some cues from the scum and anarchists of Eclipse Phase, as well as bits of 40k, post-Vietnam sensibilities, the video game SOMA, and a general pessimistic hedonism.
The Axiom Federation is pure atompunk of the 60s, ripped straight out of the pages of Twilight Zone and Fallout. The Federation is really the only stable body of government; they are restrictive, exceptionalists, isolationist and war-ready. Just take all the bad parts of the Cold War, throw them in a blender, and serve to taste. Rips from Fallout, Buck Rogers, 1982, McCarthy witchhunts and decadent imperialism.
Finally is the Adapt Consortium, which is a corruption of 80s cyberpunk mixed with the musical/cultural style of vaporwave. Composed of an alliance of gigacorps and independents, the Consortium thinks everything as a price. Hyper neon, chrome, plastic and old Apple II monitors are the style. It's laughable and a parody, but the Consortium has enough muscle that they don't care. Borrows from the Matrix, Neuromancer, Miami Vice, Drive and capitalism gone horribly wrong.
The only thing is I don't want to write a 200 page treatise on the setting, but I also want to make it unique and memorable. I think around 48 pages would be good, but I want to write out all the mechanics first before I dedicate space.
I've been looking forward to Zweihänder's release for so long; all the previews have been pretty amazing.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Transhuman Future sounds pretty cool, especially because transhumanism is very underrepresented in the OSR scene.
Glad you're excited. Zweihander is coming along awesome; we are nearly done with all the spells and professions, only about a week or two more on that. The core rules are completely done, so I'd say we are on the tail end.
DeleteAnd yeah, transhumanism in OSR has only been limited to SWN, including the upcoming Strange Stars supplement. However, I'm still keep it post-apocalyptic. Most spaceships are slow boats that are too expensive to risk in a fight. The setting takes place after a post-singularity post-apocalypse (meaning the singularity happened, than an apocalypse happened), and only a specialized group of people can actually perform things like switching bodies, clones, etc.
Do you mean the one by Trey Causey? Because that came out in January.
DeleteGavin Norman's The Complete Vivimancer comes to mind as something that touches on certain transhumanist ideas, as well, aside from SWN.
How hard do you think it will be to adapt the new character options in Transhuman Future to a different OSR rules set (say, LotFP)?
Yes I mean the one by Trey, but he is also coming out with a full fledged supplement detailing stats for the new races, gear, and etc., along with an adaptation for FATE.
DeleteWell the whole supplement will be based on Mutant Future. If you can adapt that to LotFP, you can adapt this. I'm not adding too much more 'mechanical weight' to the thing. The body swapping is mostly based on saves, classes are very simple, etc.
Transhuman Future sounds dope, and also weirdly similar to something I'm working on now. It's kind of awesome!
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