Welcome to the June update. Hope you are excited because there's a new chapter layout to share...
Art, Text and Layout, Oh My!
I've realized that with the layout well underway, the old format of these updates has become obsolete. Where I used to share an image preview or two and a text excerpt from one section or another, sharing whole chapter previews is offering even more of both.
Layout has continued at an incredible pace, and Robert is turning Recontact into a book faster than I can get him the text - it's amazing. He's currently blasting through the very long gazetteer chapter which covers the Pacifica Archipelago and the all new Outback section. Earlier in May, he completed a draft of the "Bio-Survey," and though we are still tweaking a few things here and there, I am excited to share the current version of the field guide with you as part of this update.
If you are a backer, check out the backer-only update on Kickstarter for a link to the full Bio-Survey chapter preview. As a reminder, if you are the kind of waterworlder who likes to hunt typos and wants to help with production, please consider submitting an error report for any issues you find via this link.
Storm Surge Playtest Update
As promised, here's another update on how things are going in our playtest of the stretch goal campaign. The family of budding insurgents spent several months on Baffin Island, training with the freedom fighters and cashing in their accumulated character improvement points on new skill sets - online propaganda, electronic countermeasures, sniper training and clandestine logistics.
-Spoiler Alert-
They got pulled deeper into the intrigues of the island and the movement, discovering the settlement's secret lava tube refuge and GEO Internal Security's secret training camp in the mountains. Against their will they were teamed up with an ex-Incorporate soldier-turned-insurgent when a new player joined the table. I contrived a series of problematic introductions that left the characters extra salty when the offworlder was charged with leading them on their first actual mission. That mission is ostensibly a propaganda operation meant to generate public sympathy, but actually intended to draw Incorporate security forces away from a critical long john refinery, allowing for both an ambush of said security and an insurgent strike against the unguarded installation.
The highlight was when their double-hulled, ocean sailing canoe "ran aground" on a massive Big Round Thing (see the Bio-Survey preview) that surfaced beneath them unexpectedly. The exciting bit subsequently came when, while struggling to un-strand the party orca and re-launch their boat, the BRT was attacked by a hungry Greater White intent on an easy meal. The resulting chaos and desperate action made this one of my favorite Poseidon wildlife encounters of all time.
Can't wait to see what happens during the ambush next week, and I can't wait to share more layout next month. Thank you for all the patience and support.
