Unity Underground is my major game project at the moment. I've had a slight aversion to open design in the past, but I'm going to give it a whirl on this one. I'll be posting all kinds of information about the game as well as feature articles on its influences, design philosophy, and other related topics.
My goal with these posts is to create awareness about the game, solicit feedback, and give potential customers/players an in-depth glimpse of the game before they drop hard-earned cash on the final version.
Long-winded disclaimers aside, here's the rundown:
History
I've had this game in my head since I was in high-school (1999 or so). I've half-designed about six versions of it over the years. At one point, Empire of Dust was going to be Unity Underground. It's an important game for me and I want to pull out all the stops to make sure that it totally rocks.
Premise
Unity Underground is a traditional role-playing game set in a near-future dystopia in which the world's sovereign nations have been assimilated into the Union of Man, a totalitarian world government led by the charismatic president Mason Gate. The players create characters who are members of The Underground, a group of militant freedom fighters dedicated to the overthrow of the Union and the re-establishment of Democracy. While the premise sounds very politically charged it is presented not as a political diatribe, but as a tongue-in-cheek excuse for the players to engage in lots of sci-fi action and adventure. Think Star Wars meets Rage Against the Machine.
System
The game utilizes the RAGE engine. RAGE (Run and Gun Engine) is a system that I created to capture everything that I love about traditional, action-oriented role-playing games and distill them to their essence. While I created RAGE specifically for Unity Underground, I'm really enamored with the system and will probably incorporate it into a variety of future projects. For anyone who's familiar with my Epiphany Engine games (Bizenghast and Empire of Dust) RAGE covers a lot of the same territory although it is lighter overall, less exceptions-based, and less focused on "simulation." It's a rules-light game with task resolution based on a linear d6 "roll-under" mechanic. It can support a variety of modular meta-game currencies (more on those in a future posts) and, most importantly, it satisfies my ever-present desire for mechanically relevant gear porn.
As I'm developing Unity Underground, I plan to simultaneously create a RAGE Core Rules Document that I will keep updated with material from all of the various games that use the system. This will allow players of any of the RAGE-based games to customize their campaigns with a bevy of optional rules and sub-systems. I've wanted to do a multi-game "generic" system for a while now, and my previous attempt (Epiphany Engine) has taught me a lot about the potential pitfalls of such an endeavor.
Format
I've produced a number of single book games in the past. With Unity, I plan to try my hand at developing an entire series. How long the series lasts depends mostly on how long my enthusiasm holds out (and if enough people are playing to justify the release of additional material). The series will be designed very deliberately not to be a "supplement treadmill," but to allow each book to be very complete in-and-of itself while providing new angles on the Unity Underground universe. The series will NOT contain any kind of meta-plot. Instead, the supplements will contain a buffet of ideas (new character types, equipment, vehicles, and factions) for players and GMs to draw from, as well as new premises, which will detail entirely new ways to play the game (from the point of view of different factions, etc . . .).
Current Status
I'm currently using an early draft of the manuscript to run playtests at home and at local conventions. The game is improving steadily, but it's already shaping up to be exactly the game that I wanted to create (which, I've found, is often more difficult than one would think). I plan to post drafts of the manuscript here once it's in a slightly more presentable form.
So there you have it. Join me, and together we will FRAG THE MAN!
My goal with these posts is to create awareness about the game, solicit feedback, and give potential customers/players an in-depth glimpse of the game before they drop hard-earned cash on the final version.
Long-winded disclaimers aside, here's the rundown:
History
I've had this game in my head since I was in high-school (1999 or so). I've half-designed about six versions of it over the years. At one point, Empire of Dust was going to be Unity Underground. It's an important game for me and I want to pull out all the stops to make sure that it totally rocks.
Premise
Unity Underground is a traditional role-playing game set in a near-future dystopia in which the world's sovereign nations have been assimilated into the Union of Man, a totalitarian world government led by the charismatic president Mason Gate. The players create characters who are members of The Underground, a group of militant freedom fighters dedicated to the overthrow of the Union and the re-establishment of Democracy. While the premise sounds very politically charged it is presented not as a political diatribe, but as a tongue-in-cheek excuse for the players to engage in lots of sci-fi action and adventure. Think Star Wars meets Rage Against the Machine.
System
The game utilizes the RAGE engine. RAGE (Run and Gun Engine) is a system that I created to capture everything that I love about traditional, action-oriented role-playing games and distill them to their essence. While I created RAGE specifically for Unity Underground, I'm really enamored with the system and will probably incorporate it into a variety of future projects. For anyone who's familiar with my Epiphany Engine games (Bizenghast and Empire of Dust) RAGE covers a lot of the same territory although it is lighter overall, less exceptions-based, and less focused on "simulation." It's a rules-light game with task resolution based on a linear d6 "roll-under" mechanic. It can support a variety of modular meta-game currencies (more on those in a future posts) and, most importantly, it satisfies my ever-present desire for mechanically relevant gear porn.
As I'm developing Unity Underground, I plan to simultaneously create a RAGE Core Rules Document that I will keep updated with material from all of the various games that use the system. This will allow players of any of the RAGE-based games to customize their campaigns with a bevy of optional rules and sub-systems. I've wanted to do a multi-game "generic" system for a while now, and my previous attempt (Epiphany Engine) has taught me a lot about the potential pitfalls of such an endeavor.
Format
I've produced a number of single book games in the past. With Unity, I plan to try my hand at developing an entire series. How long the series lasts depends mostly on how long my enthusiasm holds out (and if enough people are playing to justify the release of additional material). The series will be designed very deliberately not to be a "supplement treadmill," but to allow each book to be very complete in-and-of itself while providing new angles on the Unity Underground universe. The series will NOT contain any kind of meta-plot. Instead, the supplements will contain a buffet of ideas (new character types, equipment, vehicles, and factions) for players and GMs to draw from, as well as new premises, which will detail entirely new ways to play the game (from the point of view of different factions, etc . . .).
Current Status
I'm currently using an early draft of the manuscript to run playtests at home and at local conventions. The game is improving steadily, but it's already shaping up to be exactly the game that I wanted to create (which, I've found, is often more difficult than one would think). I plan to post drafts of the manuscript here once it's in a slightly more presentable form.
So there you have it. Join me, and together we will FRAG THE MAN!
I still love the Epiphany Engine, and would like to see more done with it. However, I understand the creative need to keep moving. Good luck with Unity Underground!
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