INFINITE REVOLUTION: OVERDRIVE

Project Log #6 - Downtime and Backer Preview 1.1
6 months ago – Mon, Jun 03, 2024 at 10:59:23 AM

Welcome back to another Project Log. It's been a very rainy early spring and summer, and I personally can't wait for the sun to show her lovely face. I have some updates to share about the PDF and a preview of some more systems you can expect in the next version.

First off. By the time you read this, you should have the updated 1.1 version of the preview PDF in your inbox. This has a bunch of small clarifications and fixes (in no small part thanks to your lovely feedback!) and also includes 6 example sparks to get your brains humming as you create your own characters. I hope you enjoy, and as always, if you'd like to share any specific feedback you can email me at [email protected] or use the feedback form here .

Most of this month has been spent on the aforementioned revisions and reworking the Incursion and Downtime systems for the next preview release,  IR 2.0 "BERYL". I hope to have it to you sometime by the end of june or early july.

Speaking of Downtime, I'm really excited about the direction I'm taking it. Now that Drive Stress persists across the entire mission, I thought it'd be fun to have Revolvers blow off that accumulated stress at the end of the mission via the Downtime itself. To that end, I've been tuning each one into more of a mini-activity in its own right, instead of a series of interchangeable roll prompts. Here's an example using one of my favorites, Spar:

There's a little more to it than this, but even the action in a vacuum gets the point across. I wanted something that felt more fun than just making another roll, but also wasn't so complex as to slow down play. I think this hits the mark and opens the door for a lot of fun RP opportunities.

And for next time, here's the full list of Downtime Actions to pique your interest:

I look forward to finishing this release, and look forward even more to seeing what you'll make of it. The little community that's sprung up for this game has never ceased to surprise and impress me with its passion, creativity, and earnestness. It's a deeply humbling experience that I'm very grateful for. 

That's all for now, but thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next one.

Spin fast, spin free, spin true,

Gwen <3

Project Log #5 — Veil 2.0 and Ashcan Updates
7 months ago – Mon, May 13, 2024 at 12:55:50 PM

Welcome to our first project log of the (almost) summer! Short and sweet this time, but hopefully you'll appreciate some juicy updates.

First off, in case you missed it—the first backer preview version of OVERDRIVE, version name "AQUAMARINE", is out now! Backers at all tiers should have gotten an email with a link to claim your PDF download—if for whatever reason you haven't, let me know and I'll make sure to get it to you.

And as a reminder, if you have any feedback you'd like to give about the preview version, there's a handy form for that here!

I'm planning to release a V1.1 of AQUAMARINE sometime this week, which will contain a bunch of typo fixes, minor wording clarifications, and be laid out slightly differently—this is a result of me transitioning the raw manuscript from google docs (which does not support exported PDF bookmarks—I had to add them manually) to Affinity (which does). This should make future Ashcan updates much faster and less of a hassle for yours truly.

Looking ahead into the summer, I'm hoping to release V2 of the backer preview, "BERYL", sometime in June. This version will contain an overhaul of the Veil and the GM Incursion system, as well as some fun surprises I'm not ready to reveal just yet. To whet your appetites for now, here's what a Rose-Strain will look like under the new system.

Familiar, but with some key differences! In the final version of IR:O, all Veil (not just bosses) will have counters in addition to their powers and attacks. Instead of taking a full turn when a player rolls poorly on their attack, Veil now have an opportunity to use their counter, a special ability that will tend stronger than their always-available powers. This change will make the back-and-forth of attacking and activating enemies easier for the GM and more exciting for the players. Compared to Starlight, most enemies will have less abilities overall, but the ones that remain will have significantly more impact.

To go with their shiny new counters, enemy attacks and abilities now do variable damage instead of flat! In Starlight, it was relatively easy to "solve" a round by calculating enemy damages vs Speed positions and playing accordingly. Giving the Veil damage dice shakes this math up, making things more dynamic, risky, and fun (especially if your Brace is lucky enough to have an Aquarius Core). More tactically-oriented players should still be able to figure out favorable courses of action, but with more "yeah, this will probably work" and less fiddly band-counting.

That's all for this project log! See you in the next one, and I hope you're enjoying the game.

Spin fast, spin free, spin true,

Gwen <3

Ashcan 1.0 Release!
7 months ago – Tue, Apr 30, 2024 at 06:15:19 PM

By the time you're reading this, version 1.0 "AQUAMARINE" of the IR:OVERDRIVE Ashcan should be distributed to all backers via Backerkit— you'll receive an email with a download link for the PDF. This is my first time doing digital distro with Backerkit, and while I'm hoping things will be painless, I'll do my best to answer questions and resolve any hiccups as they come up.

I'm very proud of even this work-in-progress version of the game, and I hope you all enjoy it! If you have any feedback you'd like to send, I've created an anonymous form here—anything and everything is appreciated! If you'd like to find a group or give more in-depth feedback, as always, the IR discord is available for anyone to join here.

I'll be posting a Project Log as usual in early May with more details on what this version does and doesn't include, and what I hope to add in the future. For now, have fun paging through <3

Project Log #4 — Weapon Preview and Ashcan Release Date!
8 months ago – Thu, Apr 04, 2024 at 09:59:33 AM

Happy April, and welcome to another Project Log! Today I'll be sharing some more previews of the ashcan player options, as well as some scheduling updates.

First off—the past series of PLs have been more sporadic than I set out in the original campaign announcement. This has been due to both personal life events and a lack of "new or exciting" stuff to share—there's a lot of grunt work going on behind the scenes to polish up the book and get it in a state ready for print. I realize consistency is valuable though, so going forward I'll be trying to share a sign of life at least once a month, even if it's just "hey, I'm here, still working." Ideally I'd have something cool to share in every PL (like this one!) but I don't want to hold myself to that if it delays updates.

Second—while I'm still making my best effort to get the book ready by this summer, after mapping things out further (and scouting various printers) I believe a more realistic estimate is for fulfillment to begin later in 2024. The primary reasons for this are to give myself ample lead time for print issues to be resolved once the book is fixed, and also give the ashcan some time to breathe in the wild (for me and you to run games and send feedback!) before things are locked in. I realize this might be disappointing, but I think a single, flexible delay announced well in advance is better for both backers and myself than missing a fixed date multiple times. And, of course, if things shake out sooner, I'll be getting you the book sooner, too! My goal is to get you all the best thing I can write in the shortest time possible, with respect to my health and well-being.

Third—now, some good news! The first IR: Overdrive Ashcan will be released Tuesday, April 30th. This one will have the sparks system, some reworked core rules, a ton of tweaks to just about every player option, and more. Save the date.

As a preview, here are some of those changes—juicing up some of the less-loved Celestial Weapons from Starlight:

All of these and more will be available in the ashcan. I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for reading, and see you in the next one!

Spin fast, spin free, spin true,

Gwen <3

Surveys! (For PDF backers)
10 months ago – Wed, Feb 14, 2024 at 02:43:58 PM

This is just a heads-up that backers at every tier with rewards should now have surveys in their inboxes! I made an oversight in Backerkit when i was sending out the initial wave, which meant backers at the Starlight (pdf) tier didn't receive one. as of this post though, if my dashboard is to be believed, all our lovely backers should have an email for their archives as well as receipt for any add-ons they purchased during the KS.

Thanks for bearing with me, and for all your support!