Hi, I am the lead developer for an upcoming pen and paper tabletop game. The game is going to be completely free for anyone who has access to a computer and printer. Here is a brief summary of the project, followed by a short From the Developer section.
Project Overview
Project Burner is an ongoing open source Science Fiction tabletop Role Playing Game. The goal for the project is to create a functional prototype for the game, with more content added over time. The game revolves around a small squad of mercenaries in empowered armor going up against swarms of hostile Koth aliens, the twisted monstrosities called Envitromites, and sometimes even rival mercenary groups. The game is turn based, where each player may perform most actions during their own turn, with the option of special interrupt actions which can be performed outside of the player’s turn. All actions available to a player or NPCs are represented by cards, to avoid confusion and unnecessary bookkeeping. This game is set up with a Host who is in charge of NPC behavior, and who helps guide the player characters through somewhat scripted missions, with modifications or improvisation at the discretion of the Host. The project is pretty deep in development from a planning and mechanics perspective, but the art assets and technical writing are not so far along in development yet. The intended timeframe for the project is completion of a print and play version of the game by the end of the year.
From the Developer
I have had some personal frustration with tabletop games in the past coming from a lack of structure, with Dungeons and Dragons in particular being a good example. I feel like the amount of options available to the player, especially with saving throws, can unintentionally remove challenge from the game. The other issue with an overabundance of content, comes from overwhelming a new player with a high information barrier to entry. Then there is also the smaller problem of having to reference charts or text in a book being inconvenient, all of which I hope to avoid by very clearly defining which actions are available to the player at any time through use of cards. This is shifting the focus of the game away from unrestrained player expression into a game which can have greater strategic depth and challenge originating from complex combat encounters. In addition to only having to deal with the information present on the handful of cards available to the player at the start of the game, new cards are awarded over time, increasing the strategic depth for the player characters gradually, to avoid an initially high information barrier to entry.
The intent for this game is to be a tabletop game which is friendly to players which have never had a tabletop experience. Some of the hallmarks of tabletop games like rolling for initiative are toned down to decrease complexity, and to expedite the process of players taking their turns. Two core design principles for the project are to eliminate complexity whenever it does not remove depth from the play experience, and to cut out dead time when players are less interested in the game. The interrupt system in particular is a way to add more player engagement outside of their turns, to help with the natural interest crest and trough cycle, which peaks during a player’s turn, then dips until it is that player’s turn again.
The content of the game is inspired by a mix of the aesthetics of space age science fiction which I have taken to reading specifically for this project, and some of the themes of corporate cynicism which crops up in later Cyberpunk media. Starship Troopers in particular is a strong inspiration, in large part due to the mobile infantry inspiring most soldiers in powered armor, but also taking some of the questions of morality which are more prominently featured in the film adaptation. The Koth are an alien species which is disposable fodder, not too far from the way the individual worker or soldier bugs are completely dispensable in Starship Troopers. I am going to be continuing to read vintage science fiction and science journalism alongside the development of the project for further inspiration. Additionally, the androids in the series are closer to Robbie the Robot than to the liquid metal terminators, which comes directly from the Harlan Ellison book Earthman, Go Home! Then the visual inspiration for the Envitromites comes from a nightmare I had recently about an emaciated human form crawling on the ground with a glass tank of red liquid on its back being fed and emptied by sets of tubes which ran beneath its skin. The general visual design for the monsters is shards of glass and pieces of metal fused to fleshy forms, but in a way that shows the flesh actively rejecting the foreign materials. Shards of glass are embedded in skin, with heavy scar tissue preventing the glass from cutting deeper into the creature. I am thinking about making some clay models with glass embedded in them for the Envitromite artwork.
I have put a lot of development hours into the project already, and I am quite excited to be able to share the early fruits of labor. I do want to reiterate that the game will be entirely free for anyone with access to a computer and printer. It might take a while to finally get to the printer friendly version which is the end goal for the project, but I am eager to hear from the wider community along the way. This project will be open source, not just to remove a monetary barrier for entry in playing tabletop RPGs, but also to be able to work with community feedback, and to accept mechanical, art, or lore contributions from whoever wants to pitch in.
