Thursday 31 May 2012

Designer's notes

Today's post is a guest blog by the game designer of Sedition Wars: Battle for Alabaster - Rob Baxter. I first started working with Rob while I was at Privateer Press, and it was immediately obvious he was one of those frighteningly creative people who can take a seed of an idea and grow it into something amazing. We stayed in touch after PP and started kicking around ideas and thoughts about miniatures and games. - One conversation lead to another, and well - I'll let Rob take over -

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When Mike asked me to start work on building a setting for his miniatures, the aim was to craft a broad and expansive cosmos. We focused on all the big things we love about science fiction, so we had a lot of clay to sculpt with. The important part was to focus on a setting that allowed for a galactic expanse, yet aim us at an area of play where the battles and struggles had obvious “big picture” implications. Thus the Edge was born, parsecs away from the galactic core, patrolled by the Vanguard, regulated by the SolCom.

At the beginning, Sedition Wars was a miniatures line and definitely *cough* not a game yet. My part was to build out enough background to support some cool bits of fluff, give the miniatures some ground for the imagination to run wild, and scaffold a potential springboard for something bigger.

As I wrote to support the setting, discussions with Mike went deeper. Characters grew attitudes, and started to become people we wanted to get to know better. We wanted to see them in action, watch them take on danger head first. We wanted to watch them grow and see where they lead us.

Sedition Wars is a setting defined by the people who dwell there, and the trials they have to face. The Outbreak that you experience in this game is a beginning to a vast tale, a massive universe of potential that we’ve only just begun to explore ourselves. As a creator, it's an incredible thrill to realize the terrain you have the opportunity to unveil. With the clear themes of the Sedition Wars universe, we discovered elements in the setting that gave us a roadmap. The setting jumped to life and now we have an epic in the making, spanning spiral arms and galactic drifts.

Designing this game, and the campaign within, is just an extension of that universe. In Battle for Alabaster we wanted to craft the foundation of a narrative that will continue. The birth of the Strain is also the birth of our universe as a continuum for play. We want to use a story to anchor the game in a way we find compelling. The Strain Outbreak provides the foothold on the vast universe of Sedition Wars. As the conflict continues to unfold you’ll get to know the Galaxy and the Edge better, and see knew threats and factions arise.

What it comes down to though is that we're just huge fans of science fiction. And there are so many obvious influences to draw from. You'll recognize them when you see them. And as the story unfolds, there will be new opportunities for gameplay, new factions, and new battles to fight.

The Setting of Sedition Wars is our homage to all the things we love about the genre, and we hope to shape a unique place to explore. The Edge is a place of endless strife, where unexplored alien worlds harbor ancient threats, revolutions catch hold, experiments run amok, and law is tenuous and uncertain. As the setting grows so will the terrain, and as the map unfolds, the story will as well. We hope you’ll travel with us on this journey to discover what lies amidst the stars and between them. Welcome to Sedition Wars. Welcome to the Edge.

Rob Baxter
Vancouver 2012



1 comment:

Frontline Gamer said...

Hi Rob,

It was good to get your take on where you've come from with Sedition Wars. Obviously I've had chats with Mike about his perspective, so it's good to see what the other side of the coin looks like.

Just wanted to say I've enjoyed play testing your creation, and I personally appreciate the effort you've clearly put into all aspects of the game play. It'll be fun to see the product finally released and on the shelves.

Cheers

Jody