We will be taking off the month of December with regard to the ETU Designer’s Journal to instead bring you a series of articles on Autism in support of the Midnight Charity Project. Even though this isn’t game related, we hope you’ll take a few moments to read it.

As we kick off our fundraising month to help Autism research I wanted to take the time to explain why we are doing this and how you can help. First I want to thank everyone who has purchased our products and shown us so much wonderful support since August of 2003. Our customers have been very loyal and every cent we have earned has been appreciated. While we have been very successful for a small indie publishing company, we still do it out of love of gaming. The greatly positive customer reviews we have received proves that we have managed to produce quality products.

We have wanted to give back for a while now, and finally we have the means to do so. We discussed several charities, all deserving of help, but finally settled on helping the Autism Research Institute and their initiative known as DAN (Defeat Autism Now!).

Autism is unfortunately becoming more and more common, and affecting more families around the world today. In the mid 1970s it was rated as only 5 of 10,000 births. Today the incidence of babies being born autistic has been reported to be 1 in every 150 kids. What is happening?

Well, I do agree that we are better at diagnosing autism than we were thirty years ago, but even given that statement, the incidence of autistic children is growing at an astounding rate. Worse, there seems to be no central, common cause though many have developed various theories. I’ve read about too many metals in the bloodstream, gluten/casein proteins, inoculations, chemical overloads, and many others. The truth is, it may be a combination of all these things or it may be that there are many different causes, but the disability looks the same.

What is Autism? It is a “severe developmental disorder that begins at birth or within the first two-and-a-half years of life. Most autistic children are perfectly normal in appearance, but spend their time engaged in puzzling and disturbing behaviors which are markedly different from those of typical children. Less severe cases may be diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) or with Asperger’s Syndrome (these children typically have normal speech, but they have many "autistic" social and behavioral problems)” [www.autism.com].

Many authorities believe it is part of a spectrum of disorders that actually range from Attention Deficit Disorders to Severe Autistic Disorders. Some autistic children are very high performing and look to be “normal” though upon speaking to them you may notice something that is just not quite right. There are many signs that could indicate a child has autistic tendencies that parents should look for, and these should be taken together, not individually, as every child develops at different rates and times. If you see a pattern of these behaviors in your child, see a doctor immediately, as early diagnosis and treatment can greatly affect the life of the person. Signs include not playing age appropriate games-such as peekabo-with others, not being able to look directly into the eyes of another, not reacting when spoken to, may not learn age appropriate words but rely on hand gestures, may seem immature for age, may not be able to play or show interest in playing with other children, may have bizarre or repetitive behaviors such as hand flapping or rocking back and forth, and more [see www.autism.com for more information].

How can you help? We are sponsoring a series of fund raising events, collectively called the Midnight Charity Project. All proceeds of this year’s event are going to the Autism Research Institute (ARI). More than 80 cents per dollar donated to ARI goes directly to programs and research projects. These doctors and scientists are exploring new ways of combating this disability, and are providing great help to parents who have just learned that their child is autistic or has PDD (pervasive developmental disorder).

I’m sure if you know many families with young children, you know of at least one child who has autism. It is an epidemic that affects us all, and as the cause is not known, it could personally affect you or your family.

I know. See, my youngest son is autistic. Please help us Defeat Autism Now!

Howdy. This is the first of a series on the design of SteamWorks. I’m hoping to provide some idea as to the nature of the material found in the book, as well as some insight into the various design decisions that were made along the way. I’ve been working on the book that is now called SteamWorks for somewhere in the region of seven years. Over that time, the mechanics have been completely rewritten several times; only in the past three did it begin to resemble what it is now. A reasonable question, then, would be – why keep at it? Seven years is a long time to devote to something, but I feel the time investment has been worth it. I’ve had an interest in steampunk technology for a long time (perhaps only a little bit longer than I’ve been working on SteamWorks), and since then I’ve been intrigued by the concept of combining steampunk with fantasy. The goal of SteamWorks, then, is just that: to allow for the introduction of steampunk-esque technology into a fantasy setting. SteamWorks makes exactly one assumption about the setting in which it is placed (that assumption being the way a druid regards technology), and that assumption can be easily ignored. There are rules in the book that deal with technology’s interaction with magic and psionics, and there are also details regarding multiple ways in how technology can be brought into a world. The system implemented in SteamWorks mirrors the design of the d20 spell system, ensuring that there is balance between the technology-using classes and the magic-using classes. While the system mirrors spells, it doesn’t replicate it – there are differences between the two that give technology a definite feel, separate from that of magic, and while there is some overlap in what the two are capable of, there are some things that only technology can do. It would even be possible to use SteamWorks in the envisioning of an setting that has no magic, using technology in its stead. SteamWorks details a versatile system that allows for the use of technology in any setting. It makes (almost) no assumptions about your setting; it doesn’t require any change in the setting it is placed into; and it is complete in and of itself, allowing you to pick up the book and run with it. That’s the goal of SteamWorks, and I hope that you’ll find that it accomplishes that goal well.

It’s Ed here. Let’s switch back to the Adventure Generator for ETU.  I’ve already discussed the Party generator. Today’s remarks cover the Research generator. As we have mentioned before, ETU includes a new attribute called Study. This is a cumulative bonus or penalty for the semester exams (finals). If you don’t pass your finals, you cannot graduate to the next rank, such as from Freshman to Sophomore. This means you cannot take Sophomore edges until you have passed the prerequisite tests, regardless of your experience points.

Now before you get upset and wonder how we are forcing you to spend your 15 skill points at character creation, I want ya’ll to know that we are giving you a free d4 in your major as a Freshman.  You can increase this normally during level ups, and it increases automatically as you advance in ranks (Freshman to Senior).

Student activities during the semester modifies the Studying roll, as do certain Midnight Tales.  Each Research adventure increases the Studying modifier by one, so it’s important for Freshmen and Sophomore students (Remember, no wild die, and target number to pass test is 4).  While Research adventures don’t actually give time to study, it is meant to represent the student’s devotion to study during the semester.  Think of it as study time that is …interrupted.

Research adventures can take place anywhere, such as the library, a lab, a dorm room, or (if a Joker is pulled) lead to a special adventure seed. It may take place from the morning to the early morning hours, or even a super long cram session in which every hero begins Fatigued -1.

Next the GM generates a problem and a target. The suit of the cards reveals more about each. For instance you could generate that the team should investigate a prophet and the spades suit means it is a dangerous, angry, or cruel adventure. The difficulty generated states it involves a crime and the bad guy is an Arcanist. So as the GM I think about this and decide that a true prophet was murdered (crime) and his heart taken (cruel) by an evil Arcanist who wants to take the prophet’s powers for his own. A possible hook? The team receives a letter in the mail from the prophet mailed just before his murder. He describes the man who is going to kill him and requests that the team stop him before he kills again (he is collecting the hearts of anyone with any sort of supernatural, or paranormal abilities). This could be a tough one.

Of course there are also 20 Special adventure seeds the GM could generate as well. For instance, one is Jackpot! A hero finds a book on paranormal creatures and ghosts that is very detailed. He/she gains a +2 to any Investigation or Common Knowledge checks regarding such creatures and spirits as long as he/she has access to this book.

Next time I’ll preview the Day Tripping generator.

Two weeks ago I wrote about some of the experiences that influenced our thinking as we started on this project. In particular, some of our d20 System friends seemed to have discovered the secret to creating fighting powerhouses.

In particular, taking the edges Luck and Quick at character creation seemed to be a winning combination. Our group house-ruled that at the end of the night you could roll for XP based on spent bennies rather than unspent ones. We felt that it encouraged players to take chances and generally have their characters act more “heroic”. Starting the game with an extra bennie due to Luck meant that each character not only had another resource to use in game, but also had another shot at earning extra XP. Now imagine if you also earn one or two bennies during the course of the night. Let’s just say that we noticed that those players leveled faster than the rest of the group.

Take those fast-leveling characters and add the Quick edge, which protects them from low initiative, and these characters tended to scyth through plot point adventures like a sword through paper-mache. Even had players rolled for unspent bennies, the players with Luck still would have been at an advantage over the others.

Finally, those same players began their characters with a d10 in either Agility or Strength, put d6s in two other attributes, then built up one of the others at the first leveling opportunity. They also bought high dice in shooting or fighting skills. Starting out with high stats in those attributes made them dangerous heroes, even if they showed weaknesses in other, less used areas.

Now, in many Savage Worlds settings, there is nothing wrong with creating a fighting machine. If I were playing 50 Fathoms or any other pulp-action setting I’d certainly want to create a swashbuckling hero who could go toe-to-to with the bad guys. In light of the problem with leveling ahead of the plot points’ pace, we probably should have simply stopped rolling bennies for XP altogether. The players still would have benefited from the in-game effects while stopping the “meta” effect of leveling early.

The problem is that ETU isn’t like those other pulp-action settings. It hews much more closely to the real world, and not just the real world but the real world as experienced by shiny new college students. Most college freshmen don’t have the equivalent of a d8 or d10 in Fighting or Shooting, but there is nothing in the core mechanics to prevent all the players in your group from starting out as combat experts.

Now that I have spent four paragraphs in setup, let me share with you some of the “fixes” we considered early on. I use quotes because there is nothing inherently wrong with the Savage Worlds system, only how we wanted to use it.

• To address the problem with the Luck/Quick combo, yes, we did we talk about banning that combination at character creation. As you can imagine, we quickly dropped that idea as too draconian.
• We had also decided to recommend to the GM that bennies not be used to roll for extra XP. That would keep characters from breezing through the campaign too quickly. I see we were on the same wavelength as someone at Pinnacle, since that suggestion has since made it into the new Explorer’s edition.
• Finally, to curb min/maxing we were going to limit starting attributes to a d8, and raising skills above your attribute die was going to cost quadruple the points rather than double the points. In the latest iteration this limit has been removed. At most we will encourage players to develop a legitimate reason in the character’s background explaining why a freshman English major would have a d10 in Fighting.

Those were some early suggestions. How are we tackling those same design considerations today?

• More interesting edges. We’re giving players more “flavorful” options for edges, which will undoubtedly lead to some difficult choices. ETU is a not just horror setting. It’s a horror game set on a university campus. Academics will be an integral part of the game, and we are giving you access to new edges and skills that help you excel in that area. Unlike some other settings, blowing off any and all non combat-related edges and skills will have consequences you’ll feel in game. There will be combat, but if you fail your final exam you’ll find yourself falling behind your friends.
• The hero’s journey. Rather than re-write paragraphs of rules to arbitrarily lower the bar for starting attributes, we are taking what we think is a much more elegant approach. We realized that just as college is a rite of passage from adolescence to adulthood, ETU is a rite of passage from being an innocent victim to a hero. In Savage Worlds, what sets apart the heroes from extras? The wild die. Consequently, freshmen—like extras—start without a wild die. Those who survive ETU earn their wild die through the hero’s journey…and a passing GPA.

Thanks for sticking through to the end of my long-winded look at ETU character creation. I’ll be back in two weeks to talk about new skills, new derived attributes, and a new ways to spend your time.

We had several meetings to flesh out our ideas. During that time we debated how to make the setting fresh to gamers, but familiar enough that everyone would be comfortable playing it. By this time I had become a die hard Savage World’s fan and we decided early on to focus on writing the campaign for Savage Worlds. We designed new adventure cards, played with new skill ideas, new edges and hindrances and more (Preston will expound on this later I’m sure). We also debated the focus of the game. We could easily make a horror game based on international espionage and secret projects at the university, or we could go with the more classic feel. We settled on something in between and Preston and I began debating who would be responsible for what sections of the book. He had an overall plot arc planned and since I wanted to be involved in the playtest, he took over the main plot points, while I wanted to work on the Adventure Generator and the Midnight Tales.

Our first outline of the book included the following chapters: Character Creation, Gear, Setting Rules, Magic and Science, People and Places, Adventure Generator, Plot Points, Midnight Tales, and Creature Feature. By now some of these have changed or been greatly expanded, but that was our original outline. I focused first on the Adventure Generator, which may still be changed many times before the publication of ETU: Degrees of Horror.

I had gm’d 50 Fathoms with absolute joy, loving the plot points, tales, and adventure generator and knew that I wanted to follow a similar scheme. I settled on four basic adventure types to be generated: Partying, Research, Daytripping, and Community Service.

Why partying? Well, it is a classic part of college life and a way to “blow off steam.” Remembering my own party days, I realized that parties could take place anywhere at anytime and involve just about anyone. I decided I wanted to use a standard card deck to draw from for each of the generators, and the more I developed my ideas the more I realized how important NPCs are to a modern game. The world needs flesh on the bones and the gm would need quickly generated NPCs, so I designed an NPC generator that provided basic stats, backgrounds, personalities, etc. in only a few pulls from the adventure deck. (In fact I have continually used this in my home games and with a little modification it works GREAT with Sci-fi, Fantasy, you name it!)

Now, back to Partying! I latched onto the idea that a college student needs to party at least twice a semester (10 exp) or they suffer a -1 to their Studying roll to pass Final Exams (More on this later!). Of course, too much studying may also have a negative effect!

Parties range in size from a small get-together (heroes and 1d4 NPCs) to huge parties attended by the heroes, 1d10 NPCs, and up to 150 extras. The suits of the cards drawn indicate what the “feel” of the party is ranging from Love connections to Violence. Each party has a reason, and 1-5 events depending on the size of the party. Of course anytime a Joker is pulled, the Oz factor kicks in and strangeness abounds. I really went overboard on these charts, but taken as a whole, the GM has an incredible amount of options to play with and every game and party should be different and memorable.

Preston worried that it was too big! He may be right, and the final version may be way less than it is right now, but I love it!

Now you may be asking what is Reputation and Studying? Preston will be answering that one in due time.

Next time I’ll go over Research adventures and all it encompasses.

Keep it horror! Keep it Savage!