Blue Planet: Recontact production is sailing along. We've been receiving exciting submissions from both the writing and art crews. The revised and updated future history is in, drafts of most of the campaign archetypes are complete and all the PC species and station stretch goals are done. The editor has completed an enormous section of the moderator's guide and sent it back through the wormhole for initial approval. The field guide images are nearing completion, the tech spot illustrations are spinning up and the interior images we have received so far are inspiring. I also had a meeting last weekend with the map maker, and want to note that Mark is using actual cartographic calculations, projections and software to build real maps of our made up world. How cool is that?
There is still a leviathan's weight in work left to do, but we are cruising. In fact, there is so much in progress that I want to remind backers of something we hope was clear from the Kickstarter. Given the size and timeline of the project, we are focusing on the physical deliverables first, and leaving the digital and PoD items for a second phase that we'll focus on once the files for the physical books are at the printer. This is the most efficient use of our resources and we just wanted to be clear about that plan.
Art Previews
The interior illustrations are starting to come in even as I continue to frantically generate art direction. I thought it would be fun to preview a couple of those pieces alongside the crude sketches I provided with the written direction I sent the artists. The stark comparisons show how the illustrators are truly making magic happen. So awesome!
Text Preview
We also recently received drafts of several of the campaign archetypes and wanted to share a couple teasers here.
Shenley ERT
Emergency Rescue Teams (ERTs) operate everywhere on Poseidon, even in the back end of nowhere. Shenley is a small town in the Endeavour Islands, developed by the GEO to spread people across Poseidon. It's a base for Long John prospectors, HIST survey teams, and others.
All these people get into trouble, far from anywhere. That's where you come in. Shenley's Emergency Response Team (ERT) is a combination of search-and-rescue team, paramedics, and flying doctors. When things go wrong, you pick up the pieces and save lives. You've got a huge patch with people scattered all over. And the nearest backup is 20,000km away…
C33 RECCE
“No Respite for the Foe”
Motto of 95th Mobile Combined Arms Regiment
Listen up and listen in. Something dirty is going down in this Sierra Nueva War. GEO backed the wrong agreements and we’ve been in active counter-insurgency across the whole damn Northwest Territory ever since. GenDiver, the local Incorporate on the scene, has us running their Ops while doing their own dirty work. The Marshals have their hands tied. The story we’re telling them is that we’re reinforcing 33rd infantry, setting observation posts, getting serious about the entire operation. Our real job is to gather info and evidence about what GenDiver is doing, and move it higher. Yeah. Actual recce work for once, right? Hell no, we don’t catch breaks. The Natives don’t know or care, and if GenDiver gets a whiff, we’ll be catching it from both ends. And the whole damn island is against us with its weather. So stay sharp.
- Squadron Sergeant Major Miles Sullivan to the members of 95th MCAR’s Recce Squadron after establishing Patrol Base Roja, Isla Verde.
OrcaCon
Finally, in case you are local, COVID precautions permitting I will be at OrcaCon in Bellevue, WA, on January 7th-9th. I have a Blue Planet: Recontact and an Upwind session already on the growing schedule, but would be excited to run a backer only game if there was interest. Let me know in the comments below if you will be attending and would be interested in playing BP together.