BURNAWAY Development Update #8 (It's technically fall edition!)
over 1 year ago
– Thu, Sep 05, 2024 at 01:25:14 PM
Hello there!
At last, the season of sizzling heat and insect bonanzas is mostly, generally, more or less over, and the best season can finally move in, despite the fact that early September can still be qualified as "summer's backwash". But hey, at least here in New England we can see some leaves starting to turn colors, and I can wear long pants some days! Condolences to those stuck in more southernly climates.
The big news I get to share today is; we've got major layout progress! Our layout editor Chris has been hard at work for the past month, taking my mass of bland text documents and turning them into something super neat to look at. I'm excited that I can finally share some samples with you! Keep in mind that what you see here isn't 100% the final versions, but it's definitely the vibe.
Thank you everyone again for helping to fund this rad-looking ttrpg!
Meanwhile, project manager Ketra and I have been busy hammering out the logistics of shipping on Backerkit. That means at some point in the near future you'll be getting a survey for you to fill in your order and shipping details, so keep an eye out for that.
Fall is the best season, but it also ends up being the busiest and the quickest, so everyone should take a few moments to appreciate it while we can. While the majority of the layout work has been done, there's still a decent chunk to go, which will take up most of the rest of this month. But expect more news as we draw closer to the Spooky Time, as BURNAWAY makes an excellent thematic addition to the gaming table.
Deciduously,
-- nagi
BURNAWAY Development Update #7 (Very Un-fun Temperatures Edition)
over 1 year ago
– Sun, Jul 07, 2024 at 09:26:08 PM
Hello there!
It's been a bit since the last update, and in that time summer has settled itself in and made everyone real sweaty and uncomfortable. We're still meeting our production targets, but we're currently in a stretch where there's not much I can show off to folks yet.
Lin has finished up with the edits for pretty much everything outside of logistical sections like table of contents, glossary, etc, which are things that can't be finalized until layout finishes anyway. And that's the exciting thing currently in progress! We're looking to have some layout samples by the end of the month or the beginning of August, and then I'll get to show off what the inside of the actual book is going to look like!
So yea, that's where we're at right now. It's been a real treat watching my writing take shape into an actual bonafide TTRPG book! Thank you all again for your patience and support. ^_^
all too warmly,
-- nagi
BURNAWAY Development Update #6 (Big Ol' Writing Update Edition)
almost 2 years ago
– Mon, May 13, 2024 at 05:44:29 PM
Hello there!
This update was a little bit more spaced out than the rest, but for good reason; I wanted to reach a particular milestone before posting again, so I could have "actual good news" instead of "just-about good news"!
And that good news is: I have completed the content writing for all chapters of BURNAWAY! This means that all of my drafts are now in the hands of our hardworking editor Lin, who shall be pinging me regularly over the next few weeks with insightful queries like "what the hell do you mean by this?" and "did you know this isn't a real sentence?". The content writing also includes the three predesigned, ready-to-play Missions and a case file compendium of sample embergeists, Victims, and Mission concepts for Story Guides to utilize as they please.
The compendium samples were primarily the work of guest writers Mercedes Acosta and DeAngelo Murillo, two super cool creators in the ttrpg space, so be sure to check out what else they've got going on (as well as our editor Lin contributing some content writing of her own!) This section is also where our high level backers get to show off their own embergeist creations. I'm super excited to reveal the range of concepts we've got going on once we get into print!
In the arts section, Cross has been working up some lovely portrait pieces for two other high level backers, the finished versions of which you'll get to see once you crack open your own copies! The next few weeks will be focused on edits and minor revisions, as well as the transition to layout work, ideally we'll have some snippets or samples to show off then. Also, if you added a poster print to your pledge, we'll be getting Backerkit up and running soon so we can reach out to you and get numbers on how much of what needs to get printed.
Auroreally,
-- nagi
Murder mystery? In my BURNAWAY game? It's more likely than you think.
about 2 years ago
– Thu, Mar 28, 2024 at 09:38:53 AM
Hello there!
Another month down, another BURNAWAY update.
The remainder of Chapter 5 (building your own Missions) has been drafted! As I mentioned last time, there was some unexpected design work to iron out, specifically adjusting how Douse Counters work with the Combustion Table. While running the Mission, it's important for the players to "feel the heat" of their time running low as the building burns down around them, but during playtests I've noticed the current rules cause the blaze to get out of hand too quickly, and the available firefighting abilities do too little to counteract it. So now characters will have a greater variety of firefighting tools to use, which should also be more effective in dealing with combustion events and keeping the Blaze Level in check.
The next thing to write is the third sample Misiosn that will be included in the book. The first two Missions I designed to be fairly archetypical, so that first-time players can familiarize themselves with the core elements of a BURNAWAY session. However, I wanted this third Mission to show off just how versatile Mission theming and perameters can be, so I've been having a lot of fun writing up a whodunnit mystery of a Mission! I've got the synopsis below to share.
While arson cases and embergeists naturally go together, it's rare for a geist to leave its original haunting grounds. Even layfolk know this, which is likely why the media is so focused on an embergeist that's been identified as the source of three attacks on public events within the last two weeks. It disappears from the scene before any burnaways can arrive, so no one's had much hope of claiming the bounty put on its head, until your brigade received a call from a retired police detective. Her research is based on the theory that the geist is haunting a person, not a place, and she's narrowed her suspect list down to three people who have all been present at each event. You’ll be staking out another event tomorrow, and if her hunch is right, your team just has to identify and apprehend the culprit commanding the embergeist, and the lion's share of the sizeable bounty will be yours.
We've also been reaching out to our high-tier backers to start their creative collaborations, where we work with them to incorporate their ideas for embergeists, NPCs and get character art based on themselves integrated into the book! (So if you're one of those folks who hasn't checked their Kickstarter DMs yet, go do that!)
By the end of next month we'd love to have the KS backers' pieces finalized (depending on communication speed), and have the third Mission in our editor's hands. From there it's just about running through the edits on the previous chapters and jumping around to fill in various gaps in our outline.
Hopefully wherever you're at, you're seeing a bit of spring by now. Thanks for keeping up with the project!
Post-Ideily,
-- nagi
BURNAWAY Development Update #4! (One-in-Four-Year Special Edition)
about 2 years ago
– Thu, Feb 29, 2024 at 10:23:44 AM
Hello there!
I figured I'd drop this update on the leapday just for the novelty of it. I hope everyone is getting at least a bit of enjoyment out of their intercalary adjustment period.
Work continues apace for BURNAWAY. Last month I got to share the progress I made on Chapter 4 (Running the Game), and this month I've been focusing on the mechanical side of things with Chapter 5, helping Story Guides build their own missions.
I've been organizing this chapter to flow in the same way the sample missions are laid out, starting with an overview of the mission's storyline, thematic key points and the objectives for the burnaways. The other big section I tackled this month is designing an embergeist. While SGs are free to come up with whatever powers they think will best match their own embergeist concepts, I wanted to supply a limited set of pre-designed powers that are distinct in their usage but still generic enough in their theming to be applied in many different ways. Here's a peek at a few of them!
Gaseous Body – The Embergeist can dissipate its physical form for a period of time to move around undetected. Geist can use its action to disappear from sight, eluding all senses, and remain in this state for a number of rounds = Resolve +1. It can’t interact or being interacted with physically, and can go back to normal without an action at the end of its turn. Characters can attempt a Locate Challenge TN 4 to detect its presence within a particular Area.
Heat Flare – Quickly raises the temperature of an area to unbearable levels. Creates a Hazard that lasts for a number of rounds = Resolve, Same as “extreme heat” Hazard.
Minions – Summons several spiritual thralls that can act and move independently, themed alike to the Embergeist’s manifested form. Can have a number of summoned minions equal to 2x current Resolve. Minions act as mobile Combustion Events and take an action on the Embergeist’s turn, based on its Motive. They can be eliminated by successful a Fighting the Fire action. Once summoned, no action is needed to control them, but an action is needed to summon more.
Warp – The Embergeist instantly transports itself or something/someone else to a different Area. It can take an action to move to any other Area in the Location, or force a target to another place. The target can resist this power with a Maneuver Challenge of TN 1 + geist Resolve.
The other sections of Chapter 5, designing Locations and Victims, are likely going to have a bit more design work than I had anticipated, but that's the big aim for March. Once I get Chapter 5 wrapped up, that should be the big bulk of new writing I need to do for the book, and from there it's all about editing passes and jumping back to fill in gaps that still remain.
In other exciting developments, we're nearly ready to proceed with the high level backer rewards, including the character portraits, backer NPCs and embergeist design! I should be reaching out to those folks individually in the coming month to establish the work process. I'll also be checking in on the playtester tier folks to see if they've got any more feedback for us so I can incorporate it into the writing I'm doing now.
I'll be back with another update at the end of March, once spring has decidedly sprung. (Sprought?)
Thawingly,
-- nagi
