Almost April and time for another Blue Planet update. I'm posting this a day early as I may not have Internet tomorrow.
Art Preview
I know I say “this is one of my favorites” every time I post an art preview, but I guess that’s what happens when you do all the art direction on a project like this. This illustration truly is one of my favorites. It represents so many things I love about BP, capturing the defining juxtapositions inherent in the setting, all in a single image.
New Layout Artist
In the interests of transparency about project progress I wanted to share that for personal reasons our original artist is unable to complete the project. We are transitioning to a new layout artist and will do our best to get them up to speed quickly. We'll strive to make sure layout does not become a production bottleneck.
Maps
This is a link to the final, high resolution draft of the Endeavor Island map and the final chance for those of you who contributed names for geographical features to make any corrections. Accordingly, please review the map and let me know through the KS message system if there are any issues with your submission. After April 15th, no further changes will be possible.
Low resolution preview - please follow the link above for the high res version.
Storm Surge Playtest
As I mentioned last month, I have resumed playtesting on the Storm Surge stretch goal campaign. Not only is the playtest essential for developing the adventure, but as running games always seems to do, it’s providing me with additional enthusiasm for the overall project.
I'm torn about presenting spoilers here in case any of you will be eventual players in the campaign, and because I think all my current players are backers so receive these updates. As a compromise, I’ll use a SPOLIER ALERT warning before any scenario specific content, and I just won’t address anything that hasn’t already happened at our table.
We started with the native thread of the campaign and though we are only a couple of sessions in, the characters have reached a pivotal decision point and I am excited to see which way they dive. Though the plot is only just spinning up, I am already particularly enjoying the player dynamics and the more campaign-focused aspects of the mechanics.
Entirely independent of the campaign structure, the players opted to make characters who are all members of the same family – Ephraim the father and his adult twin children Liam and Violet. The fourth player is an orca named Nana who adopted the family as his pod when the siblings were babies. The player interactions are already ranging from the hilarious to the heartbreaking as they roleplay family dynamics and stumble their way through the unresolved trauma of having lost their partner/mother to the planet when the children were young. In fact, play has already generated a common native aphorism – “Poseidon is always hungry.”
I am also enjoying the opportunity to really lean into the campaign effects of character profile, advancement, tags, tracks and ties. As you might guess, most of the playtesting of the new system consisted of one-shots, so it’s great to be able to push hard on these rules and experience the effects they have on roleplay, character growth and character interrelationships. I have particularly enjoyed the roleplay resulting from changes in the track we created for the family:
Family Dynamics
Sacrifice +/- 4
Dedication +/-2
Loving 0
Distant -/+ 2
Estranged -/+4
In the last session there was a moment of true emotion when, after a tension-filled roleplay encounter with the daughter, I asked the father player to make a Psyche test. He failed and I asked him to move down the track to “distant.” It was clear narratively that the father had been trying to mend a fence but had only made things worse. The rules helped create that perfect moment of family drama.
