Hard to believe it's time for the August update already - the summer is going faster than a wormhole transit!
This update contains two illustration previews, a little design goodness and a quick reminder. Because I do not know how far down the average backer reads updates, I am putting the reminder at the top. We sent out a backer survey through Kickstarter last month. If you have not filled it out yet, please do so. If you did not get yours for some reason, please message me through KS and I will sort it out.
Now for the design goodness...
I want to share the work-in-progress for one of the equipment illustrations. Though a sort of try-out image, I think Erin nailed this cete remote and I can't wait to see the final, color version.
Speaking of illustrators nailing it, it took all my willpower to wait until this update to share Ben's latest, but wow! The Greater White is the most iconic predator in the seas of Poseidon and it feels like Ben reached in and yanked this right out of my imagination! He is killing the Field Guide illustrations and this is definitely my favorite so far!
On a related design note, we have decided to include silhouette scale indicators with each of the Field Guide illustrations. As you can see, the greater white is pretty...great.
As another design insight, I wanted to share that I have decided to include Reputation in the Character Profile. I have long thought such a stat would fit well with the frontier ethos of the setting and we are playtesting it now.
"Reputation - Poseidon is a big planet so with only two million inhabitants regional populations are very small. Accordingly, a person’s actions often earn them renown, esteem or even infamy across the frontier, and certainly within their communities and professions. Reputation provides character hooks for both players and moderators and impacts social maneuvers depending on the type and scope of a given reputation and the particular circumstances.
If a character attempts a social maneuver that could reasonably be positively influenced by the scope and nature of their reputation, they may add their Reputation bonus to the associated test. If their reputation is of sufficient scope but counter to what they are trying to do, they must add their penalty to the test instead.
In addition to spending them on general character advancement, improvement points earned through reputation also grow a character's renown. Players should keep a running total, and as their reputation rank grow, so does the size of the associated social maneuver bonus or penalty the character earns."
Last, but certainly not least, I am super-excited to share that we have hired Rachel Lapidow to be the editor for Recontact. You might think super-excited is a strong response for securing an editor but first, let me emphasize that editors can make or break the quality of a large project like this, and second, Rachel is one of the absolute best. She jumped in and saved the Upwind editing process, and proved to be one of the most diligent professionals with whom I've ever worked. As players you should be excited too!
Thank you for your continued support for the project, and see you next month!
