Yup, it's almost done. Just wanted to let people know what to expect.
First of all, the game has more than doubled in size.
The rules have been expanded AND simplified. I decided to write the rules as something the players and the GM can read with a few asides for the GM).
The "Take 4" rule has been added, the whole Bank Account thing has been simplified (it's no longer an additional step...Banked dice are gained or lost when you roll them, depending on your die roll).
Thanks to Clinton's review comments, I decided to include a teamwork mechanic to promote cooperative efforts (it is an InSpectres TEAM, after all). I also added a few play examples to explain Teamwork and Confessionals, as well as some guidelines on what skill to use when your agent does something.
The Stress works even better, with lots of examples on how to translate a Stress roll into in-game effects (insanity, injury, lack of concentration, clumsiness, etc.). A quick "how to run this game" has also been added.
There's a keen mission generator the GM can use to quickly whip up a basic situation for the agents to investigate.
Lastly (and I know some people will be quite pleased), there's a section on how to play a "weird" (ie: non-human) InSpectres agent.
All I need is art, and I have a couple artists in mind already. I'm going for one artist to do the whole thing...and in a kind of Batman: the Animated Series crossed with Real Ghostbusters/MIB: the series kinda stylized realism.
I may even do this as a book (gasp!). If so, it'll be small (BESM sized) with a white cover, the InSpectres logo and "Employee Handbook" stenciled on the cover.
I even came up with (what I think is a funny) idea for an interior piece of art: a kind of airplane safety card depicting what to do if an agent is bitten by a vampire. Heh.
If there's anything in particular you'd like to see in the game, let me know!
Jared,
Unbelievable. This is just my luck. On the suggestion from you and Sean Wipfli I wrote an entire supplement for InSpectres called Geek Season. All but the description of the zombies, that is, which I'm leaving to the expert, Sean. He has it now, and it shouldn't take long for him to complete it.
But now I find that you've rewritten the damn game! Well, I was going to tell you that you'd be seeing this new supplement soon. Now I'll have to be satisfied telling you that it'll be out a little later than soon as I'll have to check it to see if anything in the supplement now clashes with the new rules.
Sheesh! Couldn't you have at least given us a heads up or something! :smile:
Mike
[ This Message was edited by: Mike Holmes on 2001-10-01 14:31 ]
Mike,
That's awesome. You and Sean are sure to pound out a cool supplement.
I wouldn't worry too, too much. The rules are mostly the same (4 skills, 10 dice to distribute, roll 'em and get a 4 5 or 6, the higher the better).
As soon as the game is done (writing-wise, and that'll be damn soon), I plan to email a copy to all you guys who've playtested it (Gentry, Josh, Clinton, you, Sean, Mario, etc.) for feedback and so those who have done supplements can whip their material into shape in line with the new release.
"Excellent", he said sounding just like Monty Burns.
Any ETA on those rules? Or do we just have to wait in suspense until they arrive? Will your move be delaying this at all?
Mike
no / yes / no
:smile:
InSpectres supplementationists!
Email me your email address so I can send you the document for InSpectres 2.0. Not only will this be useful for supplement updates, I also want feedback about the changes and new content.
So far the list includes:
Nightwatch and Ward13 (Knipe)
Geek Season (Holmes y Wiplfe)
Arkham Franchise (I forget who did this -- Galafraxas?)
Ghost Company (I forget who mentioned this one but I'd love to see it!)
So send over those email addresses and I'll send you the good stuff.
I look forward to seeing it when its down.
Mario
Hey Jared,
Nice work on the revision. There were a few formatting problems in a few places, but I'm pretty sure that was just my computer being evil. I've started work on converting Arkham Franchise to the new set of rules, although it seems that it won't require much work to get it there.
Galfraxas
Just some info. on the new rev of InSpectres.
Last night I added some more material on playing Weird Agents (ie: non-human or out-of-the-ordinary agents). I've wanted rules for playing ghostly or vampiric InSpectres (etc.) for awhile (witness Slimer, Angel and Hellboy as being examples of monster-fighting monsters).
Here's a sneak preview:
Weird agents start with the same 10 pts. to place into the 4 skills (and Cool, which can now be bought at the start of the game). The benefit that weird agents have is that they can have a score as low as 0 or as high as 10. They also have no limit on the number of Cool dice they can have. Weird abilities are determined by the player, with Cool dice being used to power some of those abilities (like a ghost's ability to become substantial). The negative is that weird agents aren't included in the total # of agents when payment is handed out at the end of a job. So having a weird agent in your group is expensive.
The question I have for you all is this. Would a section on sample weird agents be helpful or would it just be filler? I already wrote it last night and included the following types: ghost, vampire, werewolf, sorcerer (with sly allusions to the game), zombie, demon, psychic and mystic warrior (think of Buffy). Each has a short description detailing that kind of being, its possible abilities and weaknesses, and a sample listing of skill ratings.
So, cool? Not so cool? Comments? Questions?
Oh yeah, for the supplement guys.
I like Ron's mini-supplement idea so much that I'm going to follow a similar model. You can give away or sell your InSpectres supplement on the InSpectres.com website (which I own but haven't put up yet). I need to see the supplement and give it my stamp o' approval, but the majority of supplements I've seen have all been great, so I don't see that as too much of a problem (one guy over at RPG.net did a great turn-of-the-century InSpectres supplement about a subterranean explorer's club).
So there!
Extra material is always good by me. It fulfills a practical need in that it illustrates what you think would be cool and/or appropriate types of Weird agents. More importantly, it's more Memento Mori stuff, which I love reading (a window into your head, so to speak).
BTW, I haven't had time to read through all of the new InSpectres material, but what I have looked at is pretty damned cool. I guess I could go read the rest of it now instead of sitting at my keyboard, eh? :smile:
- Scott
Jared,
I agree with Scott. The Weird Agents are at the end, how could it be filler? You aren't going to jack up the price are you? Go for it. I'm sure that it'll be good for players to see some examples. Heck a couple of sample normal agents coudn't hurt either. Just to give people an idea. And everyone likes your work, anyway.
Anyhow, as far as the selling concept goes, that's great. I hope that our little supplement passes muster. :smile:
Mike
This turn of the century gentlemen's explorer society - like the League of extraordinary gentlemen? Please post the URL so I can see this. Inspectres in all its forms rules!
ATTENTION InSpectres GAME MONKEYS!
If you've read the re-write, please get the fuck back to me! :smile: I've added a wee bit more to the game but I'm not sure how "done" it is without feeedback.
EVERYONE ELSE!
Check out these new supplements:
Descent into the Underneath
by Ian Young
http://pages.prodigy.net/idyoung/delvers.htm
[ This Message was edited by: Jared A. Sorensen on 2001-11-13 13:49 ]
A thread on rpg.net about red dwarf got me thinking about Inspectres. Anybody here remember a group called Canaries on that program?
Basically, canaries were convicts who were sent in first to unexplained situations which were potentially dangerous, such as derelict spaceships and alien planets. They wore bright yellow jumpsuits so as to make sure whatever dangers might be lurking could find them.
What struck me was how easily you could adapt Inspectres to this. You have a Canary squad which has four attributes - say Drill Sergeant, Quartermaster, Intelligence and R&R. Each squadmember has four attributes - Field experience, Training, MOS (military occupational specialism) and, well, contacts for want of a currently better term.
Stress becomes The Shakes, Confessional becomes Debrief, interviews become draft board and client meeting becomes mission briefing. The occasional court martial is also an option of course.
And the characters investigation of the ship/planet/artifact determines what they find there just like in the original.
Humorous sf horror investigation. Kudos to Jared for such a flexible system.
Actually, there is a military supplement in the works (by DaR here on the Forge). It's called Ghost Company and looks pretty cool so far. It uses a lot of the ideas you suggest, 'cept it's not set in space.
Dang.
InSpectres 2.0?
Rock!
In book form?
Rock!
I'd love to playtest it.
Jürgen Mayer
DEATH TO THE GIANT CLAMS!
Quick update-o-tron:
I'm working on the Startup Rules (ie: free version). It's tough as hell to do. I want to make it basic enough so that the reader wants to buy the full version...yet I want to keep it true to the original so that the reader isn't looking at a totally different game when he does get the full version.
Blech!
Right now the full version is around 23 pages long, without ToC or index. The Startup rules are around 4 pages.
Anyone have any ideas/suggestions? Based on what y'all know about the game (esp. those who've seen the full version), what is/is not necessary?
I know what you mean. Comming up with an abbreviated version of Universalis has been like pulling teeth.
Keep basic chargen (no bank or cool), basic resolution, the very basic framework for adventures without much description, and a simplified confessional that has nothing but narrative effect.
Hmmm...not too different from the original. If you can get it to four pages, you've probably done what you need to do, I'd think.
Mike
Hey J-
I'd leave out the options for designing your own Franchise. Give them a generic Startup with 5 dice - maybe even go so far as to distribute the dice for them - and then explain how they can use their cards in play. It'd be about two paragraphs worth of information.
- Moose
In addition to what Mike and hardcoremoose suggested I think you can throw out the interviews for the basic version.
Keep the confessions. They are one of the coolest mechanics in the game.
Jürgen Mayer
Coolness.
I have more or less what you guys described. Chargen is this: pick one of 4 character templates (each concentrating on a different skill plus a little bonus ability). Franchise dice become a 5-die pool that can be used on any roll. Cool is in right now but I might axe it.
- J
I just won a brand-spankin' new edition of Acrobat 5.0, so I can finally do PDF stuff. Yay!
Now, the inevitable learning curve!
- J
A 5th level acrobat?
Whoa, he must kick serious ass...
Learn to play InSpectres 2 nd edition with the new Startup Edition, quick-start version of the rules. No frills, just five pages ironic comedy and gruesome carnage, typed with love!
It's currently available at the Gaming Outpost (in the Game Vault).
http://www.gamingoutpost.com
InSpectres, the second edition, will be out sometime in 2002. For real.