ChaosGrenade Update: WyrmSF

I assure you the long silence on this blog was not in vain. 

Since my last post, I’ve had an interesting offer fall in my lap and before I made a post here I wanted to compose myself, bounce some ideas and coordinate some plans before giving it a formal announcement.

I have been asked by Michael Wolf (aka Stargazer) to toss my hat in the ring and pick up the development of Wyrm Sci-Fi (or WyrmSF.) I was honored by the proposition and immediately dove in to start brainstorming ideas with my partner in crime, Mathias. It only seemed natural for us to run with the idea, since a lot of tweaks and ideas we playtested in the development of WYRED and MAIN SEQUENCE (Mathias’ WYRED-based Space Opera game) were originally kicked around for WyrmSF.

What does this mean for the development of WYRED?

I know this comes up at a time right after I was fishing for feedback on where to expand WYRED. I’d hate to say WYRED is now on the backburner for this project. But, in a sense, WyrmSF could be seen as the further development of the rules system. A lot of what is going into WyrmSF is what we were kicking around expanding on in the first place. WyrmSF is actually being built off the core rules we already have.  Any options or expanded rules in WyrmSF will be interchangeable between the two games.

The way I look at it: WYRED (and the upcoming MAIN SEQUENCE) are sort of the “redbox/basic” games of WyRM SF. They’re light, quick and dirty. They’re easy to pick up and play, and allow the GM’s to flex their judgement calls and handwaves for particular campaigns.

WyrmSF, on the other hand, is going to be a more fleshed out rules set. We’re really wanting to push some boundaries of the WyRM system with this one and present a bevy of options for many different sci-fi campaigns. 

What’s Staying

• d6 Core Mechanic: This is both wanting to maintain compatibility with other WyRM games, and that we just prefer it over d12 after testing it in WYRED.
• Skill Tiers: The +2/Rank Skill system that was started is RAG will remain here.
• Combat Mechanics from WYRED: The “Combat Rating”, rules for rates of fire, armor as soak and the slight tweak to RAG’s Vehicle rules (for personal/land vehicles.)
• Starship Mechanics from MAIN SEQUENCE: Until Mathias has time to finish up his public draft, you can get a glimpse of the idea here.

What’s Being Added or Changed

• “Tags”:We’re still tinkering with terminology, but, “tags” will become a big part of this system. Talents/Perks will be types of “character tags”, Mods for Equipment, Weapons, Vehicles…etc
• Augmentations:These will now be considered a special Tag and treated the same as Talents/Perks.
• Other Cool Tags:Optional Racial tags, Mutations, and Psionics 
• Resource Tags:Starting wealth will no longer be a random roll. Instead, we’re looking at an abstract system somewhere between White-Wolf and d20 Modern (leaning more to the simpler mechanics.) We’re also seeing perks like “Ship” and “Home base” as possible party collaborative, pooled perks the players can invest in together.
• Personal Energy Shields: Devices that emit a “bubble” of wound points. You’re welcome.
• Re-Organized Skills: Just an aesthetic on the character sheet. Combat skills will be grouped together for easier reference.
• MOAR OPTIONS: Additional tweaks and nobs for the GM to consider. Stuff like suggested times to award Edge points, sanity rules, player rewards, etc.

Sorry for the dead silence, but I hope you guys dig what we’re working on.