ILLUMINATION

“I know what you’re thinking, Alex,” Prometheus said. “Everyone wants to know two things when illumined. First, you’re going to ask me how this all started.” He waved his hands. “How the universe came to be like this. How you have any awareness or power at all in the first place.”

“You’re right. I was going to ask you that. So, can you read my mind?”

“No. No, I can’t do that. Let’s just say I’ve done this before. The questions are always the same.” Prometheus’ lip curled in a wry grin. “Why should you be any different?”

Alex had no reply, and silence crept between them. He looked out the rosy glass window of the strange piscine vessel they had boarded in the train station. People were everywhere. Most raced to meet their connections. Some waited along the wall reading newspapers, eating sandwiches, or drowning out the world with headphones.

Not a soul seemed to acknowledge the huge bronze and glass fish hovering in the steam near Terminal 3A. No one except for a small boy who stood staring, mouth agape at the glassy red eyes of the fish, from where Alex surveyed scene. Alexander waved at the child, and the child cowered behind the legs of a woman that must have been his mother. He heard Prometheus chuckle.

“What about the second thing?” Alexander asked coolly, still staring at the boy.

“You don’t miss much, do you?”

“Not much.”

“That’s good for you. The second thing you’re going to ask me is what you should do about it — about the hidden war, the powers that be, the ignorant masses of humanity. …” Prometheus motioned to the bustling travelers outside.

“Right again. So? You’re the big, bad Titan, right? Surely you have some advice for what I should do now. Or, maybe what you’d like me to do?”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you, Alex? I’m loathe to disappoint you. The choice is yours.” Prometheus leaned back and sighed. “I have no earthly idea.”

You can download the PDF here, but it does require registration at this web site. IMPORTANT: Registering means you agree to receive occasional emails from me about  my games. I won’t send emails more than monthly, and likely much less than that given my busy schedule. If you ever want me to stop sending such emails, just contact me here on the blog or at my email: matt -at- storiesyouplay -dot- com.

About Nine Worlds

Nine Worlds is a story-driven game with a very unique system. It uses playing cards and a powerful mechanic called Muses that, I’m proud to say, still does one of the best jobs I’ve experienced in helping groups create dramatic stories during play.

The setting is also unique — it is a modern day fantasy where the gods and creatures of Greek myth are locked in a cold war among an astrological universe. Earth is at the center, cloaked in the illusion of modernity, but all around it are other worlds ruled by the gods and titans in a covert and sometimes overt battle for control of reality.

The game has its roots in games like Mage: The Ascension, Nobilis, and Amber. And, there’s a lot of influence there from The Riddle of Steel, among others. Heap on some literary influence from Michael Moorcock, and of course Homer and other Greek myths. Oh, and that Art Nouveau influence, as well as a lesser known D20 supplement for Spelljammer: Shadow of the Spider Moon  that appeared in Polyhedron #151.

I’m extremely fond of Nine Worlds. It’s by far my favorite of my creations to date. That’s part of why I released it for free. The game is unique, and because of that, its success in reaching game players over the years has been challenging. It seemed a shame to me to keep it locked up in Tartarus for eternity. While I doubt it will ever become a blockbuster seller, I do think I can reach out to fans this way. I’m especially eager to see what people new to the game think.

First off, it would mean making Dust Devils available again soon. This will mean something simple — like Lulu or a comparable offering — in the short term. If that goes well enough, Nine Worlds could follow suit. 44: A Game of Automatic Fear will continue to be a free-with-registration game. I don’t have plans currently to offer a print version, but that’s possible.

My intention is that all of these games would be secondary products. Which implies I have at least one primary product. Well, I’m working on it.

In fact, my design notebooks, as always, fill up with a smattering of game designs. I can dismiss some more easily these days. I have a sharper yard stick to measure up ideas. If I don’t think an idea has broader appeal among RPG hobbyists than, say, Dust Devils, the idea is done for.

One game concept keeps coming back, which is a good sign it’s the right one. The working title is Exodus Squadron.

The short version: It’s my take on Battlestar Gallactica (the new one, of course — yes, I realize there’s already a licensed RPG).

The not-as-short version goes like this: Players portray space fighter pilots. Their job is to protect a human fleet as it escapes bondage by an alien race, racing home. Characters come from the various castes of humanity enslaved. Play rotates among three playspaces — space battles, the mothership/fleet, and “away team.” Each playspace feeds into the others in various ways.

The game will be aimed at a maturing gamer audience, one that has great interest in such fun subject matter, but increasingly less time to prepare sessions and conduct play. The point will be exciting tactical combats mixed with dramatically paced downtimes and interesting exploration. Ideally, each session of play is a single stellar system or encounter, easily prepared (or downloaded) on 1-2 pages. These series of “jumps” comprise a campaign — say, a dozen such episodes before reaching a conclusion at the home world (presumably earth).

That audience is not necessarily “indie gamers,” by which I mean story gamers or those interested in narrativist play. If they enjoy the thing, fantastic. But, my intention spend efforts and resources reaching some sliver of other gamers.

Design for Exodus Squadron is still in early phases. I have some working bits and bobs, but no playtest is close. I have a strong vision for both the look and feel of the product, and for the color and themes of the setting and game.

I’ll be posting more about it as the game develops.

I’m pleased with the reaction so far. People played the game within a week of its release. I expect more will happen as time goes on.

Traffic to the 44 blog has been relatively steady, with the usual and expected initial release spike.

• Page views were about 3,000 since October.
• About 1,700 people visited the site (including this “main” blog). Slightly more than I would have guessed.
• 366 people registered to my blog. Some percentage are certainly spam. But, nice!
• I estimate around 250 PDF downloads, perhaps more.
• There was notable activity from several countries, including the UK,  Italy, Spain, Poland and others.

Meanwhile, I’ve been pretty quiet and enjoying it. For one, I read most of the Pathfinder book, which was a hot and cold experience.

I’ve been thinking a lot about publishing and desiging RPGs, the indie scene, business and marketing. I have far more questions than answers, more problems than solutions. Still trying to figure out where and how to go from here.

44: A Game of Automatic Fear

I’m pleased to announce that 44: A Game of Automatic fear is now available for free on this web site.

Visit the 44 page. Access to the free game does require registration at this site.

Enjoy!

I’m doing several versions of the game in an effort to provide players formats they can use however they like. These include:

• 6×9 PDF
• 8.5×11 PDF
• HTML pages (on this website)
• A single HTML file of the entire game for offline use

I’m also toying with creating a 11×8.5 PDF version for on-screen reading and use.

The layout is styled heavily on a real-life booklet the U.S. Government put out in the 1950s about how to survive a nuclear attack. I pretty much stole the layout entirely; it’s really good. Plus, it lends a subtle, paranoid feel to the game.

The real trick will be making the game available to people who become members of my website. It will be free, and I ONLY use your email to let you know I put out more game material or games. No more than 1 email a month. Realistically, probably a couple emails per year.