Anniversary Gratitude

In a week (April 6th) it will be a year since we launched the Blue Planet: Recontact Kickstarter, and what a trip that was. I remember being apprehensive about making our $30k goal going in, and certain that if we did it wouldn't be until the final days of the campaign. Four hours after hitting the launch button I was never so happy to have been so wrong. I remain incredibly grateful to all of our generous backers and deeply appreciate your continued enthusiasm and patience as we work to get the game to press. That enthusiasm is what keeps me going!

More Art Previews

The thing I like best about the BP Field Guide is that we have always tried to make the flora and fauna of Poseidon seem truly alien, with a unique evolutionary history and a non-Terrestrial ecology. We have worked hard to avoid the writing pitfall of "like sharks but with tentacles." Whether or not we have realized that in the text, I think Ben has been doing a fantastic job of capturing the essence of alien-ness in his illustrations. A perfect example is his rendering of the "Hangin' Joe" - an arboreal mollusk analog and ambush predator. 

Hangin’ Joe (Unclassified)

Despite its rather innocuous name, this creature should be considered extremely dangerous. Described here based on only a few specimens, this organism is apparently well known to natives who frequent Poseidon mangrove islands. The animal appears to be a gastropod analog with a thick, muscular foot and a lumpy, thick-skinned visceral mass. Though arboreal mollusks are not unheard of, this creature is certainly unique, if only for its size. Hangin’ Joes are massive and can weigh in excess of 200 kilograms.

Their hides are a mottled brown, but are typically covered with a thick mat of moss and epiphyte analogs. Joes have 10 to 20 long, ropy tentacles that look remarkably like hanging vines. These limbs are powerfully muscled and can reach 30 meters in length. When the animal is moving or feeding, the tentacles are typically coiled near the body. When hunting, they hang below the creature’s arboreal perch. When close to the main body, the wary can sometimes detect a faint sulfur odor which can give away the creature’s presence.

Behavior: Hangin’ Joes move rarely and slowly, and only from one hunting perch to another. A hunting Joe flattens itself out, wrapping around a large supporting limb. Like many creatures on Poseidon, Joes are ambush predators. When hunting, they uncoil their long tentacles, draping them over lower branches or dangling them just below the water’s surface. Any hapless animal that blunders into the drooping “vines” is instantly entangled in a flurry of coiling tentacles. Joes kill by constriction and death can be slow, especially for larger creatures. Once dead, the prey is lifted to the Joe’s perch and tucked under the mass of the creature’s body, where radula-like mouth parts make short work of hide, muscle, and bone.

DISTRIBUTION: Topical zone Poseidon mangroves and some humid, coastal jungles

SIZE: Foot 2m to 3m, tentacles to 30m and 200kg to 250kg

ENCOUNTER RATE: 15%

RESOURCE VALUE: None - the flesh is rubbery and ammonia compounds make it almost unpalatable

THREAT LEVEL: High

ATTACK: Grapple and constriction (DR 2, slow suffocation)

ATTRIBUTES: -2/1/4

Peter has also been nailing his assignments with compelling and evocative style. This recent image does so much to capture Blue Planet's premise, world-building and tone in a single illustration I could not be more satisfied. 

The Timeline

No, not the production kind of timeline, the future history kind of timeline...

2187:  An independent biochemistry lab on Earth uses a xenosilicate “template” to conduct genetic manipulation of unparalleled precision. The new technique stops degradation of genetic expression and breakdown in cellular machinery, essentially arresting the aging process. A massive exploitative rush for the mineral, now popularly referred to as Longevity Matrix Ore or Long John, begins. Poseidon promises untold wealth and immortality to anyone who can harvest a share.

2188:  GEO contracts for three more interstellar transport ships are awarded, and Incorporate states and independent companies spend billions of dollars researching Long John harvesting technologies.

2190:  The first wave of Incorporate immigrants arrives on Poseidon. The limited facilities for receiving, housing and feeding them are strained to the limits.

The first floating city, Dyfedd, is built by Lavender Organics.

2192:  Commercial flights from Earth bring a total of 30,000 people to Poseidon this year. Most native Poseidoners vehemently oppose the massive influx of Incorporate interests and personnel from Earth, but are powerless to stop the “newcomers.”

I know that many people consider timelines in RPG books low-utility space, but I have always loved them in games, and Blue Planet's has always been a big one as a result. To me a timeline provides a vital sense of verisimilitude and grounds a setting in its own history in a way other world-building techniques are unable to do. I particularly like the Blue Planet timeline for two reasons. The first is that we  tried very hard to make it plausible - realistic enough to support the science-based world we are trying to evoke. The second reason requires a little storytelling. 

Jason Werner in one of my oldest friends, and was the first person with whom I ever shared the premise of Blue Planet - before a single word had even been written. We were sitting in a dingy college bar in the early 90's after fencing practice (gotta hydrate), and I lined out the whole setting in a big expository dump. He seemed psyched about it, but what really blew me away was that at practice the very next day he presented me with a thick stack of papers - thousands of words - that he'd been inspired to write in less than 24 hours! Part of that stack contained the nascent timeline, and the clipped tone and fact-heavy style felt like a perfect fit for Blue Planet.

I have told Jason this before, but I think that had it not been for his stalwart enthusiasm, the original edition of Blue Planet might never have been published. His enthusiasm helped keep the project going whenever I faltered. His second most important contribution however, was the timeline, and so I was excited and grateful when he agreed to update it for Recontact. 

A lot has happened in the world since the mid-nineties and I had many refinements for the update, but Jason was game to play and I think he did a fantastic job. I just got his final file the other day and though it has not been to the editor yet - so please ignore any grammatical or typo issues - I thought it would be fun to share the raw text here. Much of the original text has survived, but there have been countless edits, tweaks and updates - some major, some subtle - and I am excited to share it with those of you who also love timelines. 

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