Just a simple addition. Through my playing this game, the need for Orders became obvious. So I added a section just before Magic to briefly discuss the many orders that can be found in Solace.

Added a new setting for the Challenge System.

Solace is set on a vast planet that is recovering from a war between angels and demons. It is high fantasy, and I guess I picture it as kind of diablo-esque.

I do like me the “s” sound for names, huh? Cyber, Solaquery, Solace.

Well, it’s been a while.

I’ve been working on a different system which I have, in all my fickleness, lost interest in. But the upside is that I think I’ve got an easier way for Edge to be awarded: the players can take it themselves when they feel they have narrated one of their styles well. To balance this, the GM has veto power over any Edge gained. I haven’t tried it out yet, but I think it’s a good idea.

Changed the campaign a bit – instead of rolling to see how many narrations the players get for long-term spans, a set amount of narrations are given with the option to spend Edge to get more.

I also labled the Mastery sections – it should be much easier to find the info on specific mastery options now.

Done!

Well, kind of. I’m sure there will be things that I’ll want to change as I play through it. I would love to hear from anyone who plays through it.

The campaign lasts for nearly a year in game, not counting the five years in the Academy that are abbreviated. The campaign is more of an outline. The GM is given the major events that happen in the three nations, but the individual story-lines are left up to them.

The character sheets are still separate from the main rules. Maybe I’ll merge the two eventually, but I think it is actually easier to keep them apart, both for me as the author and for players, since it allows you to get right to the sheets themselves without going through the whole campaign document.

Most (I think all so far) of the settings that I’ve put out for the Challenge System include a power that gives automatic narrations. I like this, but they slow the game down a bit. So I’ve updated the Core Rules to include an optional rule that allows GMs to require that all automatic narrations be used together. They still work like normal individual narrations, but they are narrated together to increase the speed of the game.

I’ve put up a single document that has a three-page character sheet for each nationality. The first page is for the character’s story, Edge, and condition. The second page has the Fields, Styles, and Mastery options. The third page has the magic for that nation.

I’m getting ready to start running the campaign this evening, so there may be some changes to the character creation and Mastery options once I see them in action.

Solaquary now has the Academy part, the first five years, of the campaign setting. I’m not sure how long the book will actually be. Right now it’s 44 pages.

When I started working on Solaquary, I had something of an epiphany.

People like to play Star Wars, Middle Earth, Wheel of Time, The Matrix, and such because they are good stories. The problem is that the stories have already been told. You can’t save the universe is Star Wars because it has already been done. You can’t save the world in Middle Earth because it has already been done. That being the case, I decided to create a new setting. It wouldn’t have a plot that rolls on despite the players; the actions of the players will influence the entire world. They will be the plot. Now, there are things going on outside of the players. But that just means that not only what the players do is important, but what they don’t do is important. If bad stuff happens, it will be because of the players’ actions or lack of action.

At the moment, I’m at the fifth year in the game plot. I have set up a series of events that hinge upon the players. Some of the events will cascade on their own once set in motion, others will simply lead to new events that the players can interact with.

Maybe this is old news to some of you. I’ve been running games for quite a while now and am just figuring it out. I’m very happy with how things are going.

It’s been a while. I’m hoping to be posting on a more regular basis.

The big news is that I’m working on another campaign setting. Solaquary is somewhere between a gritty and high-fantasy game. I’m very excited about it – the world is one of the more rich worlds that I’ve done, and I think the game represents a natural progression in the Challenge System’s development.

What I’ve posted thus far is only the setting. You could easily run a game with it, but I think the campaign itself is going to be what really makes the game interesting. I’m still working on things, so I’m sure there will be changes, plus the addition of the campaign once it’s done.