February

Already time for a new update. It's been a busy month at Biohazard HQ, and there's lots to share. 

Art

If you follow over on Twitter you may have seen the various iterations of the GEO logo upgrade about which I asked for opinions. In the end I settled on this cool take that pays tribute to the original, but gives it a new style that fits well with the aesthetic of the Incorporate logos we previewed way back in the September 21 update. There is the basic organizational logo, as well as badges for each of the High Commissions. James has a unique talent for evoking just the right intent with his graphic design.  

Speaking of logos, the last of Pawel's six art donations is one of my favorite for many reasons. In this case it's because after the aforementioned Incorporate logos were created, Pawel went back to his artist and re-commissioned him to incorporate (ah...get it?) a couple of those logos in this image.  The result is  awesome. 

 Words

Graeme Barber (still no relation unfortunately) produced two of my favorite campaign archetypes, one of which I teased way back in the November 21 update. Operation Polypod is perfect for players who are into military action thrillers but also appreciate the drama in choosing the right side of history.  Hope you want to play it as much as I do.  (Note this is the raw text and has not been to the editor yet.) 

I am excited to say that playtesting on the stretch goal campaign Storm Surge is spinning back up. I have run various versions of the first third of the campaign three times now, and will be diving into the middle third for the first time by the end of the month. I have ambitions to structure the game to be played from three different perspectives - native insurgency, Incorporate security and GEO - with the players playing a single party, or rotating through three different groups of characters respectively. So far so good, but we'll see if I can ultimately pull it off within the 20k word count...

Avatar: The Way of Blue Planet

I finally saw Avatar: The Way of Water, and for reasons anyone who knows me or Blue Planet would probably understand, I have some strong and complicated feelings. Warning - spoilers follow, so if you've not yet seen the movie you might want to stop here.

I recognize the problematic elements of the series - the white savior, “blue-face” cultural appropriation, and now the addition of toxic fatherhood. These issues bothered me more in the sequel and I guess they are good reasons to not seen the film. Given my relationship with Blue Planet however, I don't imagine that was ever really an option for me.

I  know some think both Avatar movies are soulless, intrinsically bad films for their uninspired storytelling. I understand this less, but admit I'm pretty simplistic when it comes to narratives. I also admit that I, perhaps unsurprisingly given the setting, love Avatar. Which leads me to the point of this self-indulgent note.

Point for point - background, plot, characters, motivations and action - The Way of Water is the Blue Planet movie that would otherwise never have been made. All that really needs to be done to make the Way of Water 100% Blue Planet is replace the Navi and Tulkun with BP's natives and  nereids. That's it! From the return of colonial newcomers from a desperate Earth, to the uncanny ecology and sapient sea creatures, to the native insurgency and, most blatantly, the economic engine of a priceless natural resource that prolongs human life, the new Avatar movie is a beat for beat Blue Planet film. The Tulkun even have four part jaws and multiple eyes? WTF Cameron?

I know there are no new stories under the sun, and I know I took inspiration from lots of obvious sources when I created Blue Planet, but I'd love a look at JC’s bookshelf. The truth is, I sat through the second half of the movie a little bored, not because the film itself was boring, but because I had already imagined that story a hundred different ways over the past 25 years of working and playing on Poseidon.

I guess I wrote this note to clarify what I think about Avatar, and I guess it comes down to two things. 

First, parts of the production are problematic and that is unfortunate. There were many ways to have better honored such themes and characters and the telling of their stories, even hidden as they were under layers of CGI.

Second, if you like Blue Planet, you'll never see a more spot on, cinematic portrayal of its core setting, conflict and narrative arc than The Way of Water. It's a stunning visual achievement, a gloriously aquatic, sci-fi action film, and a must see for any fan of the game.

Oh...and does anyone know a good copyright lawyer? 

January 2023

Happy New Year Everyone! 

Thank you all for the continued support, enthusiasm and patience. It is my sincere hope that 2023 is a better year for all. 

Now, on to 2199...

OrcaCon

Come join Biohazard Games at OrcaCon 2023 next weekend - Jan 6th-8th, in Bellevue, WA. I'll be there and running both Blue Planet: Recontact and Upwind. Though the official games are full, I could easily be convinced to run a special backers-only session if there was interest. 

Layout Samples

Layout is underway - woohoo! Thomas is experimenting with the template and I have a few pages from one of the tests to share. I'm anticipating a few tweaks, but this is close to what the final layout will be, so let us know what you think!

Art

Can't pass up the chance to share another of Pawel's commissions. Evocative is not a strong enough word...

Words

I'm keen to share another of the new archetypes - The Argonauts.  This one may be a little unexpected, but I think Mari did a great job of stretching our expectations about what can be done within the BP setting, and I love it. Please note this is raw text, and has yet to meet our editor Rachel in combat.

Hope this update has you fired up and excited for more. Thank you all and Happy New Year!   

December

Hope you're ready for this month's update!

Art

I wanted to share another pair of Pawel's commissions (see October 22 update). These images evoke so much about the setting of Blue Planet there is little my words can add. This seemingly innocuous domestic scene perfectly juxtaposes the native descendants of the Athena Project with the growing sprawl of the colonial newcomers. 

This scene of high tech exploration similarly juxtaposes the vast scale of Poseidon against the nascent presence of humanity, offering hope that it is still possible to protect rather than corrupt the planet. 

Words

A year ago (October 21 update) I shared the raw text describing the dark, miserable, lunar research facility of Proteus Landing - one of the three "Station" stretch goals. This month I'm sharing the raw text of the campaign archetype written specifically for the Proteus Landing location. It's called Night Shift and it's intended as an example of the kind of environmental horror that is so readily evoked with Blue Planet. It was one of Pawel's two archetypes, and he hit every tension-filled note perfectly...

Production

The maps are still undergoing final edits and tweaks to make sure everything is located, labeled and spelled correctly and that we don't inadvertently leave some place out. The mechanics, character creation and field guide chapters have been sent to layout, and my hope is that with the next update I will be able to start sharing PDFs sections with backers. Who's game to stalk the Frontier for typos?

It feels like we've finally entered orbit around Poseidon and are about to start the landing effort. Can't wait to begin assembling the actual colony...

November Update

A new month and a new update. It was a busy October and I have good stuff to share.

Art Donation

Pawel D. is perhaps Blue Planet's most supportive community member. He manages the BP forums, promotes the game across the Interwebs, and has contributed to Recontact with an excellent pair of campaign archetypes - hooks featuring horror at Proteus Landing and insurgency in the Northwest Territories. In addition, he is uniquely kind and generous. So generous in fact, that he is donating Blue Planet art he originally, privately commissioned for his own enjoyment, to Biohazard for use in Recontact - and it's stunning. I already previewed a couple images over on Twitter, so I thought I should include a couple here as well. The second piece is perhaps my favorite of the six he is sharing, as it evokes a hundred possible adventures every time I look at it. Thank you Pawel!

Archetypes 

I've spent most of my BP work time over the past few weeks editing freelancer campaign archetypes. One of the best things about working with other authors -  the reason I wanted the  archetypes to be written by a diverse collection of creators - is that ideas I would never have had on my own are becoming part of Recontact. I am excited to include so many different voices and know their perspectives will make for a much more compelling Poseidon.

We've made our (stretched) goal of an even dozen archetypes, and I thought I would preview the list. We've put a lot of effort into making sure the scope emphasizes the range of stories that can be told in Blue Planet and I think we nailed it. 

Argonauts - An homage to the first underwater sci-fi tale, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, updated with a few twists and relocated to Poseidon. 

Azure - Slice-of-native-settlement-life against the backdrop of a changing Poseidon, where the lethal wildlife and the deadly weather are less threatening than the flood of newcomers. 

Chrome - Ruthless politics and deadly espionage among the diamond glass archeologies of the Incorporate elite. 

DSSD (DeepStar Salvage Divers) - job-of-the-week newcomer entrepreneurs trying to make an already risky living in the dangerous spaces between lumbering Incorporate giants - without getting stepped on or running out of air. 

Field-Team Avalon -  Poseidon offers the most significant scientific mysteries ever encountered by humanity, and the Haven Institute of Science and Technology Field Teams are on the sharp end of often dangerous, always compelling exploration and discovery.

Flood Tide -  The original colonists fight to protect their home from Incorporate despoilers will change Poseidon forever...one way or another. 

Newcomer - Slice-of-life in a newcomer colony, with as many challenges from political conflicts, supply shortfalls and interpersonal drama as from the weather, pirates and sea monsters. 

Nightshift - Horror-tinged classic science fiction, based at the Proteus Landing research station in the frozen dark of the eponymous moon's very long night. 

Operation Polypod - Grounded military action featuring GEO Peacekeepers caught between expanding Incorporate mining operations and the growing native insurgency - focused on the harsh realities of violent conflict and colonialism. 

Red Sky Charters - Precarious, job-of-the-week hustle in the interstices between modern and traditional Poseidon, urban society and the frontier, Incorporate domination and gangland threat - buoyed by the acceptance of found family.

Shenley ERT - Previewed in October's update, this is the adrenaline-fueled, rescue-of-the-week operations of a GEO Emergency Rescue Team and its shepherding of the inhabitants of Poseidon's most remote frontier. 

Trienos - An elite crew of criminals - the best of the worst - working, unbeknownst to them, for GEO intelligence and the most ruthless deep-cover operative on the planet. 

October Update

Progress on Blue Planet continues, and it feels like we are well past the wormhole and finally entering orbit. 

Maps and Backer Locations

Most excitingly this month, I have received drafts of the maps for final proofing, and as you can see, they are outstanding! I am scouring them for continuity issues, typos and mysterious lost settlements, and I am adding a few extra details here and there.  As part of that proofing effort, I wanted to share the Outback map so backers could review it and make sure they are happy with their location name selections. If you backed at the level to name a feature and have a question or do not see your contribution, please reach out though the KS message system, and I'll be happy to sort the issue - just let me know.

Outback Archetype

I thought it would be cool to share another text preview - one designed in parallel with the Outback map above. One of the 10+ campaign archetypes we are providing in Recontact, this excerpt describes the Shenley Emergency Response Team and is a great example of the endless variety of game types that can be played in the Blue Planet setting. Neil has done a great job with this unique campaign seed, and I can't wait  for you to see what he's also done with the Outback gazetteer entry itself. 

I have really loved working with such talented artists and writers on this project. They have continuously renewed my enthusiasm for the setting and made me excited to play so many new campaigns.

(Note, this document has not been to the copy editor yet, so please ignore any such errors.) 

Whalesong

Speaking of art, I can't let an update go by without at least one sneak peek at the incredible images that are bringing this new edition to life. One of my favorites (I know I say that a lot) is this Whalesong Theogeny singing circle. Words are pointless, so just sit and stare at it for as long as you want...

Let us know if you have any questions, and as always, thank you for your incredible generosity and patience as we plug along on production. 

September Update

Art Previews
Another month, another update and another chance to brag about Blue Planet art. Every time a new piece came in, I changed my mind about which was my favorite. This Blood Hunter attack illustration was one of the last to be submitted, and since now all the art is in, this illustration may forever stand as my favorite of so many great images. I love how at first glance it appears just an abstract swirl of colors, then suddenly resolves into dynamic  horror.

I also want to brag about some more of the tech art. The more I look at these portraits of some of the hybrid species, the more I love them. Though I know many BP players imagined more animalistic aspects for the hybrids, in my mind they have always been human first, separated from the rest of humanity only by an uncanny valley of prejudice.  I asked the artist to emphasize their humanity while still capturing their slightly unsettling nature, and I think he nailed it. 

Stretch Goals
We have deliberately been focusing on the content that is going into the physical books so we can get them to press as soon as possible. Though we are deferring production on the stretch goals until the core books go to press,  developmental work has continued on A World of Hurt, Wormhole and the mini-campaign Storm Surge (working title). I have playtested the first of the three sections of Storm Surge and am playtesting the second this fall. One of my ambitions for the campaign is that it be playable - or even re-playable - using different, recurring/rotating parties of characters for the same players. In its current state, the game is intended to be played by a party of native insurgents,  a ruthless Incorporate security squad and a team of undercover GEO operatives. Each section will be composed of three one-shots that can be mixed and matched so that a given gaming group can approach the campaign however they want, playing through whichever chapters they wish.  I am not convinced that I can pull it off, but this is the intention for now.

Pandemic Production

In last month's update, I shared how the pandemic has impacted the Blue Planet production schedule. I recently guested on Role Playing Public Radio's excellent Game Designer's Workshop podcast, where the host, Ross Payton (Base Raiders), Caleb Stokes (Red Markets and Fae's Anatomy) and I had an "inside baseball" kind of discussion about game publishing during the pandemic. We talk Blue Planet specifically and dive deeper into some of the murky depths of game design and publishing in the pandemic. 

August Update

Art
I am pleased to announce that all the Recontact art - from creatures to tech to maps to scenic interiors - is complete! Well, mostly. There are a couple edits pending, and Mark is pasting in your geographical names, but everything has been submitted, and it all looks awesome!  The scope of communication, talent and effort that went into the production of these images is impossible to overstate. It was truly global, encompassing hundreds of hours of inspired work by artists from across the planet. Looking at the collected files, I am boggled at how much there is and how fantastic the books are going to look. Every time the latest image came in, it became my new favorite. I had to force myself to hold off sharing this image in particular because I wanted something special for this update. If you don't see it at first, look again...

The tech art has also been zooming in, and I want to share two of my favorites - the hypersail-boat and the nictitating membrane biomod. 

I won't even try for words about the maps. Mark has blown all my expectations out of the water, so I'll just let the latest Down-Home Station map speak for itself...

Words

The writing of the various sections of new text is also wrapping up and should be done shortly. I'm excited to share it all, but I thought one piece in particular would make a cool preview. Graeme Barber - still no relation - nailed his assignment and I thought I would share the current draft here (please note this has not been to the editor yet).

I also want to thank the hardcore among you who accepted my offer to review the game mechanics text last month. I got some great feedback and have already incorporated the majority of it. The result is a clearer, cleaner, tighter system, and I feel really good about the community collaboration. 

And if that's not cool enough, I'm stoked to announce that Greg Benage, my partner in the production of the original Blue Planet, and the designer of the v2 Synergy System, has joined the project! A change of jobs means more writing time for him, so he is now contributing to Recontact. If there's any good writing in the earlier editions, it is probably Greg's, so this is fantastic news. In fact, when I was casting about for a subtitle to distinguish the new edition, it was Greg who suggested "Recontact."

The Greater White in the Room
If you have been tracking our updates and side-eying the calendar, it's pretty obvious at this point that we are not going to make our planned delivery date of October '22. This has probably been evident for a while, but I want to be transparent about it here.  

I have a weird day job - well, 24 hour/day job - as an administrator at a boarding school. In a typical pre-COVID week, I'd work 50+ hours. During COVID, however, I've been working 70+ hours per week, as caring for 130 teenagers during a pandemic is...a lot.  This has left very little of me for anything else - especially creative work like RPG writing. Though there have so far been no critical bottlenecks - a fact of which I am kind of proud - the reduction in my own capacity means the overall workflow was slower than it would otherwise have been.

This said, the project moves forward a little every day, and we have been making substantive progress every month.  As you can see in the updates, the writing, art and design are coming together, but good work takes time, and without a wormhole, there's no getting around the physics. Given my job and the ongoing pandemic, I can't say with certainly when Recontact will deliver, but I can promise we will continue to communicate, be transparent and work diligently on the project. You will continue to know as we do how production is going, and when we finally go to press, we'll be able to accurately forecast shipping and delivery dates. 

In the meantime, thank you for your ongoing support and patience. Truth be told, it has been your constant enthusiasm and appreciation for Blue Planet that has kept me going over the last year and a half when little else could. In a very real way, you have all been vital to the project, and I am deeply grateful. 

July Update

Wow! I feel like I entered the wormhole in March and got dumped out in July? Existence has been...busy... but I'm excited for the summer break from my day-job and the chance to focus 100% on Blue Planet for a while. I'm also excited to share some more previews...

Favorite Things

Here's a slice of life scene inspired almost entirely from one of the backer art suggestions.  One of my favorite things about Blue Planet is the day-to-day, lived-in nature of the setting - how it feels like a real word exists around the characters and life goes on in countless familiar ways despite the fantastical environment and technologies. 

Speaking of technology, another of my favorite things about the setting is how the tech vastly expands character capabilities and yet fades into the background in deference to the storytelling - serving more as stage dressing or MacGuffin. The use of remotes for example, allows characters to engage in unprecedented ways - an urban sky swarming with a thousand drones on a thousand errands, a battlefield won by robotic tanks or a previously unknown species discovered by an autonomous underwater vehicle. Each of these adds such depth of focus to the Poseidon that exists in my mind's eye.

Military micro-missile platform, agricultural bot and cetacean hover remote.

Final Mechanics

This link takes you to a text file of the final game mechanics, and I'm sharing it for two reasons. First, I figure you've already paid for it, so why not get what I can to you as it becomes available? Second, and more importantly, for the hardcore among you who want to dive in, now is the last practical chance to make major revisions to the rules.  

The file has been line-edited, but still has to go through final proofreading, so don't worry about those kinds of errors. If you are motivated however, I would greatly appreciate any input about specific, omitted or confusing mechanics. I would also welcome any helpful observations about the structure and presentation of the chapter.  Please share any comments or suggestions via the Kickstarter message system. 

I am looking forward to the rules improving for having having been assimilated by the nereid hive mind... 

June Update

This month, instead of a typical update of art and text previews, I am offering something a little different. I thought I would not only share a sneak peak of some of the fantastic cartography Mark Richardson is producing for Poseidon, but also an advance look at the map location names submitted by backers.

Cartographic Master

Mark has created what I believe are the most realistic (and coolest) maps that have ever been included in an RPG. Using his professional cartography skills, experience and programs, he has visualized the essential geography of Poseidon in a way that elevates the hard science focus of the setting, lending the world a verisimilitude that could only be achieved with this kind of talent and attention to detail.

Gorgeous, right?

Note: This is still a draft and labels and other details may change.

Naming Rights

I am excited to have backers making their own marks on Poseidon by naming some of the locations on the colony world. In this spreadsheet I used only initials to protect individual privacy, but you should be able to identify your submission. If you were specific about the type of geographical feature you wanted to name, I assigned it accordingly. If you were open to options, I left the appropriate ones on the list so that Mark would have some flexibility as he labeled the maps.

The intention is to use these names to label the Outback map - a previously undocumented region centered on the Endeavor Islands - that was successfully included as a stretch goal. I'm excited for backers to go hunting, Easter-egg style, for their specific appellations once the map is complete.

If you backed at a naming reward level and do not see your submission listed, there are several possible explanations. Please reach out via a Kickstarter message so we can get it sorted.

On a related note, I Googled any words or references I didn't know just to make sure there were no inappropriate meanings or associations. Turns out I needn't have bothered. I appreciate that everyone made earnest submissions, avoiding the temptation to suggest Island McIsland-Face.

OK Fine...

Right. So I can't end an update without some kind of art sneak peek and a word about the text production. Here is the latest from Peter, and I love it - Silva, Skink and feline hybrids, getting into it on the Dyfed docks. I love how he captured their essential humanness underlying the engineered traits.

It kind of snuck up on me, but I was surprised to realize how close we are to a major production milestone. Of the 28 text files that currently make up the Recontact corebooks, I only have five more to re-work/update, before that means all the core text has been sent to the editor. That, my patient backers, will be a big day...

May Update

April was a good month for Blue Planet tech art, as the illustrations below attest. The first is an example of a heavy-lift orbital cargo shuttle making a water launch after refueling via its onboard hydrogen cracking plant. The second is of a sample of long john as it transitions from raw form to processing to medical-grade wafer.  The third is a spot illustration for the equipment chapter - the first from Vitaliy. I think it's awesome, and I can't wait to see what he does with the rest of the commissions. 

Cetacean Power Shell

In an effort to provide cetaceans with superior speed, range, and functionality, engineers at Hydrospan have developed a line of MHD sleds for use by the various cete species. The devices are essentially part hard suit, part open submersible.The user slips into the formfitting cowling, which snugs securely about their body. Oversized MHD drives provide superior speed and power. Sensitive linkages relay the pilot’s own instinctual muscle movements to the finlike rudder surfaces, allowing subtle, active control of the fast and nimble craft.

Power shells are essentially sleek minisubs that lack pressure hulls.They therefore increase a cetacean’s speed, endurance, and cargo capacity, but not their depth limits. Standard designs provide artificial gill life support as well as a variable suite of sensory and communication equipment. Interfacing with the onboard systems is usually accomplished through sonic trodes.

Most designs sport hardpoints where small cargo pods or weapon systems can be attached. Smaller cete versions typically have two, while larger pilot and orca shells can have up to four. Because power shells are inherently streamlined, each occupied hardpoint reduces the craft’s chase/evade ratings by 1.

Power shells are generally constructed of various bioplastic and ceramic composites. Most smaller cete shells are powered by rechargeable batteries, while orca shells are charged by small fuel cells. It’s a matter of public record that the GEO has contracted a line of military grade power shells with integrated weapon systems and armored cowlings. Therefore, it won’t be long before paramilitary power shell models are available on the open market.

DIMENSIONS: 320 kilograms and 4 meters long

DURABILITY: 1

POWER SOURCE: rechargeable batteries or fuel cell, MHD drives

FUEL RANGE: 800 kilometers/charge

CAPACITY: 1 rider/pilot, 200 kilograms divided among cargo pods

AVAILABILITY: uncommon

FEATURES: autonomous, hard points, sensors, warm interfacing

COST: 60,000cs

MODELS: Hydrospan Porpoise, Hydrospan Spyhopper, Hydrospan Hunter/Singer

MANEUVER MODS: Attack: 0 Defend: 2 Chase/Evade: 4 Performance: 2

Day Jobs and Delays
April was not a good month for my own production goals, however, and this spring has been too slow in general. Though Rachel continues her editing apace, Mark is killing it with the maps, great freelance assignments have come in and the first section is off to the layout artist Thomas Deeny,  my own work has been waylaid by my day job.

Most of you probably don't know, but IRL I am a science teacher turned mostly administrator. I manage the boarding program at a small independent school, which means I am responsible for the daily lives of about 125 teenagers from all over the world. To say it is a time consuming job under normal circumstances is an understatement, but life under COVID has only made it ridiculous - I frequently work 15 hour days, and yesterday was my first day off in six weeks. So, you can imagine finding the time and energy to work on Blue Planet is often hard if not impossible and the reason why we are not as far along on the project at this point as originally planned.  

Though the lives of writers of indie, hard sci-fi RPGs about the woes of colonizing water worlds may seem like it's all pristine alien beaches, glorious ocean sunsets and piles of Incorporate cash, my day job usually has to take priority if I am to keep body and soul together. Despite the long john boom, there's little money in RPGs, and game production is a slow, often tedious side-gig and requires extra time, energy and focus that are not always available.  

Suffice it to say that I continue the work as my schedule and energy allow, and despite the delays, the game continues to take shape. Thank you for your understanding, support and ongoing patience. 

April Update

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. 

March Update

March already?!? Hard to believe we are closing in on a year since the Kickstarter campaign began. 

Art and More Art

I wanted to start by sharing a preview of what may be my favorite illustration for the project to date - an amazing image by artist Peter Johnston. They say "a picture is worth a thousand words," and this one evokes almost every aspect of Blue Planet in a single image - the ominous nature of an alien sea,  the majesty of powerful creatures, the ubiquitousness of empowering technologies and the rising threat of war. Perfect is not a strong enough word...

And this just came in yesterday, so there's no way I'm leaving it out. It speaks for itself as well...

I also want to preview one of my favorite field guide images to date - the sea ghoul. Ben outdid himself with this one and I love it! It even looks like it smells bad...

Sea Ghoul (Voro inferi)

This avian analog’s name is apparently a nod to their seagull-like abundance and marine scavenger ecology. In keeping with their name, ghouls are ugly creatures with mottled gray-and-white skin. They have long wings supporting flight membranes that are so thin they’re nearly transparent. The bird’s body is lean and provides so little buoyancy that when floating in the water, the animal’s snakelike head and neck are all that’s visible above the surface. Petite jaws match the species’ small head and are tipped with pairs of bony plates, which serve as a mix between a beak and conventional cutting dentition.

BEHAVIOR: Ghouls have a number of dorsal and ventral eyespots, but seem to rely mostly on their sense of smell to find carrion. Ghouls forage in small flocks of up to 20 birds, which gather into larger groups if abundant or particularly big carcasses are available. When such feeding congregations occur, the grunting calls of the squabbling animals can be deafening. Individuals appear to spend as much time fighting over food as they do eating it. Native Poseidoners have learned to avoid large groups of sea ghouls as they typically indicate the presence of a substantial amount of carrion, implying that either a large predator is nearby, or at the very least, that scavengers more dangerous than ghouls may soon arrive.

Ghouls are abundant throughout the Pacifica Archipelago. They are edible but have a gamy, unpleasant flavor that keeps them relatively safe from native hunters. Ghouls are regularly eaten by people in survival situations, but care should be taken even then. Though their meat is edible, their liver organ analogs are rich in various chemicals that are highly toxic to humans. These chemicals are thought to be metabolic byproducts of the poisonous bacterial wastes that accumulate in the rotting foods they consume. The GEO has lost a number of soldiers and field biologists to ghoul liver poisoning, prompting the inclusion of this otherwise harmless species in this report. Sea ghouls are not otherwise a threat to humans, nor have they ever been documented attacking anything larger than a herring.
         DISTRIBUTION: All coastal and open-ocean habitats planetwide
         SIZE: 20 cm to 50 cm long and 1.5 kg to 2.2 kg
         ENCOUNTER RATE: 100%
         RESOURCE VALUE: Low
         THREAT LEVEL: N/A
         ATTACK: N/A
         ATTRIBUTES: -1/4/-3

Politics and Games

Those who follow such things may be aware that one of the current threads in RPG discourse is about the role of politics in games - whether games should reflect political agendas and how that question relates to escapism, storytelling and art. If you backed Blue Planet you likely did so at least in part because you appreciate the environmental and anti-colonial themes featured in the game.

Two weeks ago I contracted with an artist I had recently met via social media, to draw the tech illustrations for Blue Planet. His name is Vitaliy, this is his Artstation gallery, and he lives in Ukraine. I share this story because of the parallels in last week’s invasion of Ukraine to the anti-colonial themes in Blue Planet and the sad irony of an artist being unable to make art for the game because of real-world imperialism.

Politics in games is inescapable. What games we choose to play and how we choose to play them say much about who we want to be and the kind of world we want to live in. In whatever small way it can, I hope Blue Planet will encourage people to resist injustice and greed across our own blue planet.