EGG EMBRY (EGG): Thanks for speaking with me. You may have a brand new challenge on Kickstarter, what’s Subversion?
O.C. “OPTI” PRESLEY (OPTI): Subversion is Fragging Unicorns’ new cyberpunk fantasy ttRPG. Its world is stuffed with magic, pervasive expertise, wondrous creatures, and Babylonian gods. Gamers will discover themselves struggling towards arcane masters, companies, supernatural threats, and arranged crime as they attempt to shield and signify their group. It leans closely into themes of group, direct motion, revolution, runaway expertise, and hope for the long run.
EGG: What system does this use?
OPTI: It’s a brand-new system! It’s a versatile, d6-based, dice-pool recreation system that enables a number of and artistic options to nearly each encounter. The higher you’re at a ability, the extra cube you roll, however you’ll solely preserve the best three, which means extra expert characters have the next likelihood of doing wonderful issues and fewer likelihood of failing. As well as, characters can use their very own useful resource, known as grit, to carry out wonderful feats like re-rolling cube, utilizing a paradigm potential, or stopping injury. Nevertheless, as soon as a personality is out of grit, they’re busted and now not have the need to battle till they get higher. Happily, gamers can regain grit once they complicate their PC’s lives by indulging their vices or challenges, known as impulses.
EGG: It is a world concerning the characters and their communities. How do the communities play into this RPG?
OPTI: The PCs take the roll of envoys of their group: representatives, ambassadors, direct brokers. The group provides PCs their course, each when it comes to the how, why, and what they discover themselves about in every session, but additionally having to pay attention to the folks and values that kind it. Every group is created by the gamers and GM, and every PC has relations locally they’re shut with. When gamers spend fortune locally, it’s constructed up and offers again to the PCs as nicely. If the PCs go towards the group’s values, or offend the folks in it, they might discover themselves with out entry to important help of their struggles.
EGG: What fantasy parts are used on this recreation, and the way does the fantasy join with the cyberpunk parts?
OPTI: The world of Neo Babylon is full of improbable parts! We requested the query “what would this world seem like if magic and wondrous creatures had at all times existed?” And the reply we got here up with was that magic would probably have turn into a software, like different assets, to be hoarded and wielded towards others in pursuit of energy. So we selected the Historical Babylonians to be the primary to wield magic on a big scale and went from there. The Babylonian empire conquered and absorbed the cultures, assets, and magic of all of the peoples round them and reshaped the world of their picture. That was our place to begin. And alongside the best way, you have got the varied peoples of the world, which draw not solely from Babylonian myths, however all types of others to get improbable species and creatures, arcane spells, chic martial arts, and sacred energy, all in Neo Babylon. And people with magic rule. Quite than cease at an historical or medieval setting, we stored going. What would this world of Babylonian gods and magic seem like if we sped up the clock to the close to future? What if it was expertise that was the disruptive power in our world? Magic was the idea for energy and elitism for thus lengthy, what if expertise was eroding the gaps between these with innate energy and people with out? So tech has moved rapidly to advance in Neo Babylon. Companies have now shaped, organized crime desires a bit of the motion, and the guilds are making offers to remain related. All of the whereas, the arcane masters are realizing their maintain on energy is weakening, so they’re lashing out. So the sport asks questions on expertise that we’re asking ourselves on this present second. Tech has all these fantastic doable functions, and it may change the world for the higher, however will it? Who controls that energy? Ought to we return to the dangerous outdated methods? Are we simply headed for dangerous new methods? How can the weak take energy again from the robust?
EGG: Subversion mixes cyberpunk and fantasy. You’ve gotten, let’s name it, feedback by way of social media evaluating Subversion to Shadowrun. To provide this context, let’s discuss your resume in gaming. What work have you ever carried out on Shadowrun?
OPTI: Certain factor. I began off in Shadowrun media with the Neo-Anarchist Podcast, an in-character historical past podcast of Shadowrun’s Sixth World. I additionally do the favored precise play podcast Shadowrun: Origins, the place we play by means of the basic adventures of Shadowrun’s early editions. However I’ve additionally carried out fairly in depth writing for official Shadowrun merchandise as nicely. I used to be on the workforce that launched Shadowun: Anarchy, Chicago Chaos, and led the workforce for Anarchy: 2050. I additionally wrote massive elements of the critically acclaimed Darkish Terrors, Kill Code, and Higher than Unhealthy dietary supplements, and plenty of others. Lastly, I’m counted as a developer on Shadowrun: Sixth World Version.
EGG: Given your background with each video games, what’s the identical between them? What’s totally different?
OPTI: We knew the comparisons had been going to be inevitable, however we don’t thoughts. This isn’t a contest for us. We are going to at all times love Shadowrun and we’re not their competitors. The RPG business is stuffed with Pathfinders, Dungeon Worlds, Earthdawns, The One Ring RPGs – all of which have resemblances – superficial of in any other case – to Dungeons and Dragons. And that quantity retains rising. Which simply suggests there may be plenty of room to discover totally different themes, mechanics, and worlds with related genres. And creators and authors create and write. That’s what we do! However I digress. The similarities between Shadowrun and Subversion are simple. They each have fantasy parts, they each have cyberpunk parts. So you can also make an elf hacker in each video games. However that’s nearly the place the similarities finish. In Shadowrun, the fundamental cycle of play is getting a job from a mysterious employer and doing crime for one company towards one other, rinse, repeat. And it does an important job at that. The themes contact on shedding your humanity to chrome, promoting items of your self to remain related, and at all times being on the shedding finish whereas companies change the world with or with out you. In Subversion, the cycle of play begins in your group – amongst relationships. You don’t take jobs for cash, you do what the group wants or is sending you to do, after which you find yourself again on the group, and also you all win or lose collectively. Subversion is about rebel, not mercenary work, so the sorts of adventures you’ll have are far more different as nicely. In Shadowrun, magic is a brand new factor on the world stage, however in Subversion, it’s baked into the world from historical occasions. There may be much more world to discover in Subversion, as whereas the world could also be acquainted, it doesn’t at all times have the identical names or cities that you simply would possibly know. You’ll be exploring a brand new world, not laying magic and expertise on high of our trendy one. And naturally, the sport mechanics are very totally different. Shadowrun has their basic D6 system of opposed roles, rolling various cube equal to attribute+ability, retaining 5s and 6s as hits. Subversion’s system rolls various cube equal to your ability, retaining the best three. We love the statistical curve that provides us. Very nice, lol. However we additionally provide a system the place speaking your approach out of a battle – and even shedding a battle – is simply as legitimate of a selection as profitable. In Shadowrun, shedding has life or dying penalties each time. In Subversion, shedding is part of life. And I believe the primary distinction is that this: In Shadowrun, the world is what it’s. It has disaster after disaster, the megacorporations have drama on the highest ranges, however issues keep roughly the identical. They must to ensure that Shadowrunning to live on in its present kind. The setting, as it’s, is essential for the sport. So doing good, actually serving to your group, doesn’t actually think about. If you wish to preserve enjoying, you’ll must preserve taking shady legal jobs for firms. In Subversion, the entire level is to make a distinction. To vary the world round you. That’s why we preserve the firms and masters faceless and anonymous. We make room for all types of communities to exist and for them to get constructed up and really change: change their social class, construct faculties, put corrupt companies and authorities of their place. We wish these issues to occur. We dare you to make them occur.
EGG: Who’s engaged on this challenge with you?
OPTI: There are a selection of parents on the workforce that folk might know. Clifton Lambert (the Arcology podcast, SR writer) is one in every of our writers, as is James Palmer (Radio Free Detroit podcast), Rusty Zimmerman (writer of the novels Neat, Shaken, Stirred, Chaser), and various others. My most essential collaborator in Subversion, nevertheless is newcomer Ryan Maloney, who helped an important take care of our earlier recreation, Gangs of the Undercity, and has been proving themselves an excellent recreation dev certainly. We even have a slate of parents writing dietary supplements and adventures for us (Ava Rogers, Nathan Blades, Koala Bear Swamp, Patrick Bryant, and others) that might be coming quickly after the sport’s launch.
EGG: Let’s change gears to a different cyberpunk RPG from Fragging Unicorn Video games. You’ve taken over Robert Bohl’s Misspent Youth and introduced it again with Misspent Youth: Fall in Love, Not in Line. How is the event and supply of that going?
OPTI: We now have simply wrapped up success of Fall in love, Not in Line! All of the books have been despatched out and I simply put the bodily books up on the market on our web site. The event was a pleasure. We labored with Robert Bohl to verify we had been doing his recreation justice and I’m proud to say he was grateful and pleased with what we’ve carried out and what we’re doing. FilNil was a labor of affection and we love that persons are digging it!
EGG: Past Subversion and Misspent Youth, what else is Fragging Unicorns Video games engaged on?
OPTI: The remainder of this 12 months is full of the core workforce engaged on Subversion and working video games for Fall in Love, Not in Line at cons. However as I discussed, now we have journey episodes for Subversion we’re working to convey out asap after the core launch. Apart from that, now we have two tasks within the background. The primary is Hellslayers, which is a recreation Clifton Lambert is spearheading. It’s a rules-lite, rogue-like, Doom-inspired RPG. Lastly, I’m engaged on a superhero recreation utilizing a model of the Misspent Youth guidelines.
EGG: Thanks for speaking about this challenge. The place can followers study extra about your work and this marketing campaign?
OPTI: Thanks a lot for the chance, Egg. You’ll be able to head to [our Subversion webpage] or head proper to our Okayickstarter web page for Subversion! Have an important one!
Subversion from Fragging Unicorns Video games
“A cyberfantasy RPG set in Neo Babylon”
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