November

Welcome Natives and Newcomers alike, to the November update!

As I shared last month, we are in that part of the Blue Planet project where we won’t have much to offer production news-wise for a while. Save for a few tweaks on the printer files and logistics stuff, there’s nothing to report at the moment. I anticipate the next notable milestone will be our receipt of the first production proofs, which I am super-excited to see and share. Alternatively, I thought I would offer some other fun news and provide some supplementary Recontact adventure resources.

WildWeaver Recontact Fundraiser

My good friend Rich Howard - one of the OG champions of Blue Planet and a contributor to the new edition - runs WildWeaver HSE with his wife. WeaverWild provides after-school and homeschool enrichment programs in East Texas. They offer a wide range of small class groups teaching science, math, creative writing, 3D printing, art, natural exploration using board, card, and roleplaying games to build kids’ excitement about learning.

WildWeaver is hosting a series of fundraisers over the next couple of weeks, and Rich has invited me to run a Recontact game this Saturday, Nov 2nd, at 7.30p PT. If you want to check it out, you can support a great cause and get some insight to how I like to run the new Blue Planet system.

Natural Instincts

The scenario I will be running for the fundraiser is an oldie but a goodie - a convention demo I wrote years ago back in 1st edition days - but it remains one of my favorites. I will actually be running a Recontact version of the Natural Law variant of the scenario, as it gives players a lot of roleplaying grist right from the jump.

Though long time BP players probably already know about Natural Instincts, if you are interested in checking it out you can find the original write-up here. For those interested in using the scenario with the new rules, I have included some Recontact pre-gens so you can dive right in... 

WeaverWild Fundraiser

WeaverWildHSE provides after school and homeschool enrichment programs, as well as childcare and Parent Nights, in support of families in rural East Texas. We offer a wide range of small class groups teaching science, math, creative writing, 3D printing, art, natural exploration, and using board, card, and roleplaying games to build kids’ excitement about learning.

October

Splashdown

Since the first of these monthly updates I have been leaning on the thematic analogy of a trip back to Poseidon - leaving earth orbit with the Kickstarter success, passing the outer planets when drafts were submitted, transiting the wormhole when the editing was done, entering orbit as the layout started coming in. If I may continue without stretching the comparison too thin,  it feels like our shuttle has finally splashed down with the final PDFs and that we are being towed to the Haven docks as the files head off to the printer. 

During the printing phase, the project will mostly be out of our hands. We will be reviewing proofs as they come in, but most of the work will simply be waiting until the books come back and orchestrating distribution. It means that this, and the next couple updates, are likely to be a little thin on first-hand progress reports. It’s simultaneously exciting and anxiety inducing… 

Final Covers

I do get to share - first hand - the final cover designs however. We considered more complex title graphics, but in the end decided simplicity best complimented the layouts and was more readable in the complexity of hues. You may notice we did change from white to various blues however, as the color’s in the name after all. 

Pledge Manager and Preorders

The Pledgebox site has been up and running for a week now, and it's going well. If you have had any issues or questions, please know that Alan at GKG is working through those, and if still pending, you should have resolution shortly. In the meantime, please consider passing on the link to gamer friends who you think might be excited to visit Poseidon. 

Storm Surge

Now that the books are out of our hands for the time being, I can turn my full attention to the Storm Surge campaign. I have been giving possible formats a lot of thought, and I may have finally settled on a structure. 

Given the restrictive word count limit, I think I am going to present the story as a series of nodes - each detailing a key event or featured setting element that would play out or develop in specific ways without player character intervention. I’ll itemize ways that each of the three character parties could encounter, engage or otherwise become entangled with these events and allow lots of open sea room for any given group’s particular characters and play style. I’ll offer possible outcomes and paths to subsequent nodes, recognizing that the scale and intention the campaign requires maximum flexibility.  

This means that the final product will be more a campaign skeleton than a body of fleshed out narratives or encounters, and that it will be up to moderators and their players to add their own…meat…to the bones through play. (Ok, that analogy got away from me, but you get the idea).

First Underwater SF

Last week I stumbled on this quote from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and was bummed that I came across it too late to put it in the core books. It is perfect however for Storm Surge, so it will feature on the campaign’s title page. 

“May the contemplation of so many wonders extinguish forever the spirit of vengeance! May the judge disappear, and the philosopher continue the peaceful exploration of the sea!” - Jules Verne

First published 1870, it astonishes me how ahead of his time Verne was. Not only did he get so much right about submarine technology, but over 150 years ago he understood the threat posed by imperial exploitation of the seas, and in understanding, created Captain Nemo, one of the first anti-colonial, environmentalist heroes of modern literature.

Community Building

The following links will take you to various online venues were you can engage with other Blue Planet enthusiasts. RPGs survive (and sell) based on their player communities and word-of-mouth, so please spread the word. 

Biohazard Games Website

Official Biohazard Games Forum

GKG's Blue Planet Discord

Blighted Mike's Unofficial Blue Planet Discord

Blue Planet: Recontact Pledge Manager and Pre-Orders

I am super-excited to finally share the news I imagine many of you have been waiting for. After years of very hard work by some very talented people, we are about to go to press on Biohazard Game's latest RPG project, Blue Planet: Recontact. 

Though the original Kickstarter campaign is long over, if you are interested in a trip to the frontier waterworld of Poseidon, I would like to invite you to check out the new pre-order page. 

Blue Planet presents a deeply immersive, richly detailed and uniquely compelling role playing world of hard science fiction, dramatic sociopolitical tension and strong environmental themes. If this sounds interesting to you, please check out the game and maybe dive in for a swim. The water is amazing...

Thank you for your consideration and support!

Blue Planet is a compelling RPG journey into humanity’s precarious future on a distant water world where political unrest and a hungry alien ecology threaten the nascent colony. A planet where GEO marshals struggle to maintain the peace, Incorporate mercenaries wage amphibious range wars, and native insurgents fight for their adopted home. A frontier where human desperation and corporate greed ravage an uncanny ecology, threatening to plunge humanity into a war of survival with an ancient, alien legacy.

September

Welcome to the September update! I am excited to share four cool things…

Cool Thing #1

The final, indexed PDF versions of the Blue Planet books are done! Unfortunately, the final hold up in their distribution has been…me? I am being picky about some color choices on the covers and so decisions and edits in that space have delayed distribution of the files. But be reassured! Per Alan, the plan is for those to be shared out with backers by 9.7.

Cool Thing #2

A few weeks ago, I realized that though there are multiple places in the books where Poseidon’s 30-hour day is referenced – including the planetary data section – during the collection of the text from the various original sources, I apparently left out the text that explicitly addressed the socio-biological effects of the longer day. I am bummed by the omission, but I had an idea of how to rectify most of that oversight.  

I asked James, our amazing logo artist, if he could do a sexier version of the “clock” graphic I originally included in one of the first Undercurrent newsletters 25 years ago. As is usual for him, James took the request to 11 and produced this amazing visual reference. Its purpose is to give players and moderators alike a sense when the points in a 30-hour circadian rhythm align with commensurate times in our familiar 24-hour daily cycle. There are several suitable locations with sufficient white space in the current layout into which we can drop the graphic. It is too late in the process to be pushing any text around, and we don’t want additional delay.

Cool Thing #3

I have some words from Alan at Gallant Knight Games about the very-soon-to-launch pledge manager:

“We’ve decided to switch from GameFound to using PledgeBox. It’s an easier customer experience for backers, being less confusing to use. Some of the features will help us be more fluid when handling international shipping. We’re just finalizing the move over there and importing the backer list so we can do a smoke test. Our plan is to have that test up by 9/7."

Given the pledge manager is about to launch, I am obliged to remind folks that the manager is where you will finalize your shipping address and where you will finally pay for shipping. This last is not really a cool thing, but more a cold reality of Kickstarter Fulfillment. Thank you for your patience and understanding regarding the burden of shipping.

Don't worry - we will shout it from orbit when the pledge manager goes live and share simple instructions for what you need to do. 

Cool Thing #4

Those who follow the comments on these updates might be aware that after the July post, a backer shared the history of the word Lebensraum – a history of which I was unaware. Accordingly, to eliminate my concerns about inadvertently supporting fascist imperialism, we made a universal change to the BP text, renaming the Hanover Industries capital Gelegenheit, which means “opportunity.” We had to use a word that had exactly the same kerning length (interesting challenge) so that the universal change would not shift the layout, and we vetted the word for any unwanted associations.

This process took a while to effect, as we also had to have Mark, our cartographer, edit several of the maps. Executing these various changes took unplanned-for time and is the greater reason that the final PDF versions of the books are not already in your hands. We apologize for the delay, but we couldn’t do anything less. Thank you for understanding.

August

Welcome to the August update - and a day early! I have been traveling off-grid for the past few weeks and had to make a quick stop in civilization to post this, so it will perforce be short and sweet.

Production

The final PDFs of the core Recontact books are almost complete. We are finalizing the covers (see below), and Robert is hyperlinking the extensive indexes as I type. As soon as these last bits are done, we will share out the final files. 

Covers

Though we have previewed the cover art at various times during the project, we have not spent much time on the topic. Here is an update, which should be pretty close to final. I think they are pretty striking and we hope you dig them, too. 

Desolation Sound

At the risk of encouraging more people to come to a place I love in part because of its lack of people, if you are an ocean person and can find your way to coastal British Columbia, do yourself an adventurous solid and take a trip to this amazing part of the marine world. Captain Vancouver may have been discouraged by the rain when he gave the region its English name, but he obviously did not visit in the summer. It is glorious!

Sorry for the brevity, but I have a tide to catch. Thank you for the ongoing patience and support - and watch your inboxes for the final books!

July

Welcome to the July update, and I suspect it’s the one you have been waiting for.

The PDFs

I am beyond excited to share out the completed* interiors for the Blue Planet: Recontact books – all 663 gorgeous pages of them! Robert did amazing work on the layout and I am so grateful for his creativity and diligence. As usual, this update will be followed shortly by another for backers only that will contain links to download your copies.  

*A couple of notes regarding these versions. There will still be a few tweaks as we get them ready to go to the printer. I am doing a final layout review now and building the indexes as I go. For ease of sharing, these are the low-res versions, but be assured that the final PDFs we officially distribute will be in glorious high resolution. As soon as the review and indexes are done, we will send the files off to our printer. Thank you all for your patience, but we are finally coming in for a landing!

Pledge Manager Update

Alan from GKG here with some info about the pledge manager. 

First, we’re sticking with Gamefound, as the new Kickstarter management option is only for new projects and cannot be used for campaigns that have already closed. 

Second, we feel it is important that we live up to our environmental ethics, so we have requested updated quotes from the printer for sustainably sourced and recycled materials. They are finalizing those quotes so we can calculate the final weight to make sure the shipping quotes are as accurate and affordable as possible.The Blue Planet Gamefound page is built and just waiting for these final numbers. 

I have put together a walkthrough we’ll share out when we go live, making it as easy as possible to use. We know extra platforms add complication so we appreciate your patience with the process. Thank you!

June

Welcome to the June update. Summer’s finally here, Jeff’s back at the keyboard this month, and we have books!* Well, the chapters have been linked together and the final corrections, tweaks and page XXs are going in. As soon as that’s done, we will share out what should be very close to the final PDFs.

*Draft PDFs

Page XXs and Page Counts

Speaking of page XXs, for those unfamiliar with the process of writing game books, there’s an old trick many authors use as they write. Whenever they reference something useful in the text that is described elsewhere – like rules or important lore – they make the notation “see page XX.” Then, once the full text is laid out and the page numbers finalized, they go back and find/replace the XXs with the new page numbers. It’s a pretty straightforward process, but it takes time to track down the most appropriate reference from among what can be dozens of uses of a given term, rule or topic. As a result, the process can take a while, even for a small game book. And there ain’t nothing small about Recontact!

The Players’ Guide contains 312 pages, and the Moderators’ Guide contains 351! There is a total of 409 page XX references between the two books, and a good number cross-reference between the two. With numbers like these, you can imagine reconciling the XXs takes a while. This is done, however, and I will finish double checking all of them by tomorrow. At that point, Robert will have everything he needs to finalize the layout, which means I anticipate being able to share out the final, full-book PDFs shortly. No way I am waiting for the next update to do that, so expect them soon!

Storm Surge Playtest Finale

The playtest for Storm Surge came to a climactic finale last week, and in doing so turned out to be the most fun I have ever had running a long-form campaign. My intent to run a game that followed the arc of the Poseidon insurgency from incitement to resolution - plus doing so from the perspective of three different character groups in the same campaign - is as old as Blue Planet itself. Accordingly, this playtest has been a bucket-list gaming experience and in the end was every bit as exciting, unexpected and rewarding as I’d hoped.

…public outcry in response to the “Mangrove Massacre” continues to rage as human rights organizations call for justice, GenDiver claims it was not involved and the GEO fails to make arrests…

…the third major attack in what many are calling Poseidon’s “Silent War” has claimed five of the most significant Incorporate installations on the water world…

…authorities have yet to release any information about the nature or source of the attacks…

…it took authorities almost an hour to locate and disable the source of the massive holographic image of Violet Tollefson that was broadcast over Haven City last night, accompanied by the words, “Self-determination, Not Extermination!”

…experts in the field of nanotechnology claim an unprecedented and weaponized form of this tech - decades beyond current R&D - is the only explanation for the nature of the attacks…

…security forces at Incorporate sites across the planet remain on high alert, but appear incapable of defending against this mysterious foe…

…old animosities spurred a clash earlier today between Atlas Materials security forces and Biogene mercenaries in the waters off Prime Meridian, threatening to ignite all-out Incorporate war. The GEO is stretched thin as it attempts to keep the peace…

…Incorporate security departments offer citizenship and millions in bounty for the capture of members of the Tollefson family, widely believed to be responsible for these mysterious attacks…

…scientists warn against the threat posed by the synergistic combination of general AI systems and functioning nanotechnology, claiming globally catastrophic potential…

…Self-determination, Not Extermination! Self-determination, Not Extermination! Self-determination, Not Extermination!…

Though the plot is somewhat obvious – native insurgents fighting against the Despoilers, the Incorporate despoiling, and the GEO trying to control the uncontrollable – I still feel obliged to avoid spoiling some of the core plot points. So, instead of detailing what happened, I will close out these playtest reports with some comments on what I learned about running a game with this unique structure, and how that will impact the content of the Storm Surge stretch goal.

First, I wanted the story to drive change in our specific instantiation of Blue Planet, and I wanted the characters to be responsible for that change. Therefore, play often had to be at a higher, less tactical or incremental level than in most RPG sessions. The characters had to rely a lot more on NPCs and other organizations to carry out their orders or plans, and we often had to fast forward and jump around so larger events could evolve and resolve.

Second, to keep the timelines between the three PC parties synced, we had to play pretty loose with the objective timing of everything. Rather than giving dates or noting the passage of X days, weeks or months, I usually had to resort to statements like “a few weeks later” or “this takes several months” or just say that “this thing happens before this thing but after that thing.” This required buy-in from the players, and they were great about it, but we had to build initial consensus around this squishy use of time.

Third, and speaking of buy-in, perhaps the most important part of making this work was prepping the players and helping them keep their player and character knowledge separate. I mentioned in a previous update how good my players got at this. They learned to truly treat the actions of their other characters as objective parts of the story as they engaged with one group or the other, but it took practice before it really started to propel the game.

Fourth, the biggest challenge for me was not what I anticipated – keeping the parallel timelines synced and the players engaged with more abstracted play. Instead, it turned out to be how quickly the game became a true sandbox. I tend to be a pretty plot-driven moderator, focused on tight storytelling. After the first few sessions, after the players began to realize I really wanted them to make changes to the world and that their characters were being given the power to do so, I was mostly along for the ride. Of course, there were fixed plot points that I still had to time and insert in the ongoing narrative, but I also had to let go of the reins in a way that my typical plotting usually does not allow. It was exciting, but required a whole new level of open-world moderating than I was used to.

As I mentioned in a previous update, I don’t think it’s possible to write up this campaign in a traditional format. I think, rather than a description of how the characters enter the adventure and a series of specific encounters, this write-up will end up being more a series of guidelines: advice on what kinds of characters work and how to position them to be impactful in the setting, examples of big plot points with which characters may choose engage – or not, suggestions on how to grow the insurgency, and advice on the resources the characters have and the leverage those resources give them. I anticipate that the core of the write-up will be a central timeline of events with suggestions about when, where and how characters of different kinds might intersect with it.

I am both intimidated and excited by the prospect of writing this all up so that others can use it effectively. And doing all that in 20k words? Well, they say constraints inspire creativity, so we shall see…

Backer Online Games

Just adding this here again as a reminder. Just after the Kickstarter campaign, I reached out to backers who had pledged for online games run by yours truly. I encourage those who would like to schedule their games to reach out via the KS message system so we can get them on the calendar.

More on Pledge Management

Hi everyone! Alan here. A quick update on the GameFound plan.

About a week and a half ago, Kickstarter announced they were doing late pledges through Kickstarter proper. We've reached out to see if that will be retroactively enabled on projects (primarily Blue Planet), as there's a lot of benefits for backers (and us!) if it is. It'd be easier on backers (less confusion) and less missed surveys (so fulfillment will be easier and tighter). 

We haven't gotten an answer yet (I'm sure they're swamped with similar questions from a lot of projects), and if we don't get one soon (a week or two), we'll be moving forward with GameFound.

Regarding locales outside of the EU/US distribution radius. Generally speaking, any non-EU/US pledges will ship from the US, though we're trying to square away Japan, Australia, and NZ as localized pledges (more news on that soon - we'll have an answer before the GameFound goes live, though we can't promise anything and your package may very well be coming from GKG HQ. 

May

Hi Everyone! Alan from Gallant Knight Games (GKG) here. GKG is Biohazard games publishing partner on the Blue Planet Recontact project. Now that layout is done, a good portion of the project has moved to my purview as publishing partner. So let's go through where we are...

Page XXs and Feedback

These are being rolled in and updated. Once they're done, Jeff will review them and Robert will implement them. This should be done by the end of May (at the latest), which means a final PDF will go out to backers then.

Printing

Once the final PDF is done (end of May), we finalize the quote with the printer, and they give us the templates so we can approve the covers, do color checks and complete other prepress items.

This generally takes 2-3 weeks, though if there are lots of complex parts (in this case, that would likely be the case), it can take longer. Once those are approved, we pay for the print run and they produce proofs.

Proofs

Sometime in mid-June, GKG (and then Jeff) will receive print proofs. These are unbound pages that we check for color, text, layout and more. Alan will review, then mail to Jeff, so we're looking at 1-2 weeks. 

Pledge Manager

This is mostly done. We're finalizing shipping costs (having resolved the EU and UK fulfillment issues) so at last, we can lock those prices down. At the same time, we are working with the GameFound team to build a walkthrough and tutorial for backers on how to manage their pledge, provide and update their address, make changes to their pledge for add-ons and more. 

Our goal is to have the pledge manager rolled out by the end of May. We'll want to know how many add-ons or changes there are so we can accurately assess our print versions. We intend to allow access and upgrades for any physical changes folks want (adding extra copies, upgrading to slipcase editions, etc.) 

Basically folks will have all of June to make any pledge manager add-ons, changes, and more. This will also allow for preorders. 

Production

Assuming all of the above aligns as projected, the books start printing in June/July. Generally, printing takes 4-8 weeks, which puts the books arriving at GKG for fulfillment around September. This is the most likely to slip. International freight can be complex and cause issues/delays (we're at the mercy of customs, weather, and more). However, we plan to split Blue Planet at the printer so the shipments don't have to come to the US then go to the UK and EU, but instead, overseas orders can travel directly from China to the UK and EU.

Fulfillment

Once the books arrive in September, we'll split the packages, dispatch some to our fulfillment partners, and then fulfillment will begin. This means (theoretically if everything works out) that fulfillment will begin in September/October.

Now, in my personal experience (having fulfilled over 100 Kickstarters over the last decade), while these dates are likely to slip, they are unlikely to slip much. I would be shocked if fulfillment slipped into the holiday season (nor do I want it to). Could it happen? Yes. Will we do our best to avoid that? Absolutely. We'll keep you updated.

Some questions we anticipate...

GenCon pickup?

Unfortunately, no. We're not going to be there with a booth this year (just attending for work) and likely won't have the books anyway by that date. 

If shipping is more than I expected, will I get a refund? 

It hurts to say, but probably not. We don't want to set false expectations. We're doing our best to honor the Kickstarter projected shipping costs, but there is a reason we labeled them as estimates. We knew they were likely to change. We can't promise you a refund if shipping is more than you planned (we deliberately did not charge shipping up front because we knew it was so volatile), and we have communicated this frequently in the updates. That said, if costs are exceptionally shocking, we'll try to find the best solutions we can. We've never had to refund someone for shipping before, and we'll always try to find the best fix we can (GKG is a small company, and we always try to put the customers first).

April

Welcome to the April 1st Blue Planet update, and wow, do we have big news to share!

Lawyers from Lightstorm Entertainment contacted Biohazard Games in March. Apparently, they became aware of the undeniable similarities between Blue Planet and Avatar: The Way of Water (see previous update). As recompense for ripping off Blue Planet, James Cameron has invited me to co-write the screen play for his next sci-fi blockbuster. It’s an original, standalone story of ecological wonder and native uprising set in a distant part of the Avatar universe. The film is set on a desiccated world inhabited by giant, burrowing, CGI eels that poop priceless, hallucinogenic juice that mysteriously powers space mass transit. The working title is "Dum III," and I can’t wait to start work on this wholly original and unique project!

Ok, now that this important announcement is out of the way, let’s turn our attention to less serious topics.

Crowd-Sourced Perfection?

I wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone who contributed to the proofreading of the various preview chapters. Backers submitted 346 individual error reports, covering everything from mis-used commas and missing words to rules-clarifying suggestions and more vernacular-appropriate German language model names for specific firearms. Most were great catches or suggestions. Many were tricky to enact without affecting the layout. Some were redundant as multiple readers reported the same issue. Some were simply not possible given the stage of the layout, and a few were simply beyond the scope of the error report process.

The process was slow and meticulous as each entry had to be located, confirmed, assessed, corrected, referenced and then explained for the layout artist. In the end, we made 240 corrections based on the errors you found. The process took much longer than I had hoped, but it undeniably improved the quality of the project. Thank you so very much for your help. (And a special thanks to Pawel D, who must have contributed 100 reports by himself!)

Layout

Layout continues apace, focused on stitching together all the chapters we have already previewed into the full core book versions of the Player’s and the Moderator’s guides. Given Robert’s crazy speed, I expect to see drafts of these any day. Once we have approved their final structure, we will start the slow but essential process of replacing all the (page XX) placeholders with the actual page references. Soon after that is complete, we should be able to share at least draft versions of the final PDFs with backers.

Storm Surge Update

March’s playtest sessions were high water marks for fun and consequences in the campaign thus far, and though I would love to spill all the saltwater tea, I don’t want to ruin things for the spoiler-averse. We have come to the part of the tale that is most revealing of the underlying plot and the direction the campaign takes the setting. Accordingly, I fear that as we close in on the end of the campaign, I will have to restrict myself to offering only the occasional story teaser, while talking mostly about the logistics of running such an atypically structured adventure.

For this month's update, it will have to suffice to share that over the course of the past two sessions, the three character groups and their three interweaving timelines came crashing together in an explosive set piece - literally. A harrowing firefight among the giant mangrove prop roots surrounding an abandoned GenDiver facility turned the slowly tightening spiral of events into a raging whirlpool from which no one escaped unchanged... 

In unrelated news...

"GenDiver’s Santa Elena Long John refinery destroyed in surprise chemical attack, devastating the massive Incorporate…

…Incorporate City State colonies across Poseidon on high security alert as terror attack leaves Santa Elena utterly destroyed…

…eye witness reports claim the colony “just melted away over the course of hours,” leaving the surrounding forest in its place just as if “the city never existed…”

…though absolutely nothing remains of the city, initial reports claim there was no loss of life…even pets…

…expert claims aliens teleported Santa Elena to the Z Dimension as stock for human experimentation…

…Peacekeeper forces across the planet are on high alert - standing by in fast response status…

…Colonial administration and Incorporate leadership in special closed-door security session. Many fear war has come to the oceans of Poseidon."

Pledge Manager

We'll be using Gamefound for our pledge manager. Our publishing partner, Gallant Knight Games, has had lots of success with Gamefound and the flexibility of their tools, and we're excited to host the Blue Planet: Recontact late pledges there. To do so, Alan at GKG has to know the weight of each item in the pledge, so he is currently getting fresh quotes as we near printing so we can get more accurate shipping estimates.

A new and related hurdle is that GKG's previous EU and UK fulfillment partners no longer do fulfillment due to complications in the post-Covid economy. Alan is close to sorting EU fulfillment and is still working on it for the UK. Sorting these partners will help us finalize shipping costs and ensure we meet our commitment to VAT-friendly shipping.

We intend to offer upgrades and add-ons for the Player's and Moderator's Guide (upgrading to the slipcase edition, adding on extra copies, etc), as well as any appropriate digital rewards as part of the pledge manager. We'll provide more details as we finish building out the pledge manager, including a walk through on how to use it as we get closer. 

Thank you for your patience. 

Backer Online Games

Just after the Kickstarter campaign closed, I reached out to those backers who pledged at levels that scored them online games run by yours truly. Those who responded asked to wait until the books were available. Given that at least the PDFs are imminent, I encourage those who would like to schedule their games to reach out via the KS message system so we can get them on the calendar.

March

Even in a leap year, a short February almost caught me out, but here I am, getting the March update out just under the wire!

Layout Preview

Turns out that I lied to you all last month. I touted that we had reached the significant benchmark of finishing the layout for every chapter. After doing a final audit however, I realized that I had somehow left the whole World of Hurt chapter – about Earth in 2199 – sitting in my drafts folder, and never sent it to our layout artist! Luckily, I caught the oversight and with Robert being as super-fast as he is, the section is done and ready to share.

So now, barring each book’s introductory chapter – containing stuff like the table of contents, which has to wait for final page numbers – I can pinky swear that all the content has been laid out. No, seriously. This time it’s true…

Per usual, a backer's only KS post will follow this update and you can get the full preview via the link shared there.

Storm Surge Update

It’s hard to express without pages of text and too many spoilers just how fun it’s been running this playtest campaign. It’s a story I have wanted to tell for 25 years – since the earliest days of Blue Planet. The three-party approach has been a blast and has done so much heavy lifting in creating verisimilitude and player investment. It has been increasingly challenging however, to keep all the gears meshed, and one of the players even ended up having to use a timeline visualizing app just to help the table keep the overlapping chronologies straight.

I am coming to realize that given the 20k word limit on this stretch goal campaign, I am going to have to approach the write up with a fairly non-traditional presentation structure. Rather than detailed descriptions of a specific party entry point and a network of possible and detailed encounters, I am going to have to instead create a spare and skeletal network tracking ongoing faction activities and events, into which the participants will then have to actively plug their own characters and motivations. This will be a uniquely interesting scenario writing challenge - one I was originally apprehensive about, but for which I am now pretty stoked. 

This all said, we have started to hit some pretty big spoilers, so I have had to implement some GEO-approved security measures in the following summary...

In the last update, I shared how the GEO Internal Security agents had successfully made contact with the Songless and begun ingratiating themselves with this band of freedom fighters. I also shared how they had been brought into the investigation of the EMP bombing of Haven, as experts on the insurgency. In a complicated series of intertwined flashbacks, they learned that the attack on the Sprite was a deepfake frame-up of their own native characters, and gained kinesics data that implicated their own Incorporate characters and linked them to the EMP bombing as well.

Several of the PCs spent the majority of this month's first session gaining trust of the Songless by [REDACTED]. These agents subsequently spent most of the second session trying to convince the rest of their teammates to also [REDACTED]. Now they are all irrevocably allied with the Songless and have successfully connected those fighters with Bataku’s warband on Baffin Island. This three-way alliance between the GEO, Baffin Island and the Songless is quickly changing the balance of power on the planet, and a world-changing [REDACTED] will be the focus of the next session.

I fully anticipate that the next session of the playtest will utterly change the fundamental socio-politics on Poseidon (at least this group’s current instantiation of the game) forever. And I for one, can…not…wait!

Pledge Manager

Though we are not ready to offer a date for its launch, I do want to offer a heads up about the forthcoming pledge manger. If you are one of the many folks who have reached out about missing the original campaign but are excited to get to Poseidon, this is your chance. If you are already a backer and want to upgrade your pledge, that will be possible was well.

If you have changed addresses in the interim, but have not already reached out to us about that, the manager will allow you to share that information. The pledge manager will also be where we lock down and charge for shipping. I realize this is probably not a happy reminder, but we want to be fully transparent. It is really the only way we could be fiscally responsible with this necessary but unpredictably volatile aspect of the project. 

Thank you for your ongoing support and understanding.

February

New month, new update – and it’s a sweet one, marked by the last of the layout drafts!

Layout Previews

The previews below are the last of the chapter layouts! We just need to string them together, and we’ve got books. I realize that’s not as simple as it sounds since we still have to correct all the errors you’ve reported, replace all the page XXs with actual references, construct the table of contents, build a comprehensive index and so on, but we are finally coming in for a landing.

These final previews include both the cetacean future history and character chapters, which contain the best material from Ancient Echoes and some of my favorite artwork in the new books.These previews also include an all new, albeit short, chapter on what I think is important when playing RPGs and running Blue Planet in particular. Nothing groundbreaking I suppose, nothing old Poseidoners don’t already know, but worth reviewing, especially for those newer to the hobby.

Final Character Sheet

Speaking of final previews, I also wanted to share the most up-to-date version of the character sheet. Barring the discovery of any oversights by our loyal error-hunters, this should be the sheets' ultimate forms.

With the sheets and these final drafts, you now have access to everything you need to dive headfirst into a fully formed Recontact campaign! Enjoy!

Per usual, the full previews will follow in a Kickstarter, backers-only update. 

Storm Surge Playtest  

It’s hard to express how much fun it’s been running the playtest of the Storm Surge adventure. The way the three story lines have become increasingly interwoven is making it challenging to keep things on course, but it’s lending such texture to the story that it feels more real than anything I have ever run before.

Through a clever ruse, the GEO agents managed to free the Songless prisoner they themselves had captured, posing as the transport crew and staging an in-flight attack that left them crashed in the sea. They carefully positioned Ocean Gate as an essential ally as they rescued and transported the boy home.

A rare night off in Haven turned into a tumultuous emergency when the EMP blast from the Incorporate thread blacked out the city. They were quickly recalled, becoming part of the HCIS investigation. Specifically, given their recent mission, they were ordered to determine if there was any native connection to the bombing. It was a great moment when they were able to collect biometrics on one of their own Incorporate characters and make themselves the target of a massive manhunt.

The campaign has become so immersive that the players spent an hour of game time using their GEO operative characters to investigate their Incorporate security characters, even though as the players of both, they already knew everything that had happened! It seemed like they just wanted to experience that part of the story from the alternate perspective. They enjoyed making clever use of the future tech and techniques at their disposal, and it was super-fun to watch them get so into it that at one point they actually seemed to forget they were hunting themselves.

Another highlight was when the Songless freedom fighter they had liberated reached out and invited them to a clandestine rendezvous. Given the unique resources of the Songless (see last month’s Campaign Archetypes preview), what they really want is good PR, and this is something HCIS can absolutely pull the strings to get. As it turns out, quite un-coincidentally, they have the ideal voice in their vlogging character from the native thread, providing the perfect opportunity to restart the cycle in returning to that thread.

Can’t wait for next week!