NUNA Devblog - Community & Status (and Monsters Oh My!)

OK, so the residency has allowed me to make HUGE progress on NUNA's 'domain game.'

A domain game, for those that don't know, is how the player characters can interact with NPCs and change the gameworld. Old D&D had a way to become a Named character, get followers, and build your own kingdom. The NUNA Quickstart had the barebones needed for adventuring as a one-shot, but the domain game was far too big to fit in it.

Domain game mechanics have largely gone the way of the dodo since RPGs have become more or less a one-shot, 4 hour gamestore phenomena with longterm campaigns turning into a rarity.

For NUNA, I want to bring back a new style of domain game, where the actions of the player characters build their Community, making it stronger and more resilient. In return, PCs gain Status which allows them to access more of the Community's resources and support.

I agonized about the mechanics to do this for way too long, but hit upon the idea of adapting Stormbringer's Elan system. It is a simple, elegant way to gain Status with a Community, and access greater resources and support to accomplish their missions, just as Champions in Stormbringer can call on the gods they serve.

It is a virtuous circle of characters working for communities, and should make the players more engaged with the communities and NPCs they interact with.

Even though I am replacing D&D's colonial missions with adventures to fill community needs,  player characters will still need antagonists to fight. I have narrowed NUNA baddies down to 5 types:

Monsters from Inuit mythology

Monsters from Viking sagas (Vikings in NUNA are the descendants of Scandinavians who fled Europe)

Weird science monsters in keeping with the inclusion of New Scientist PCs

Oceanic horrors & leviathans that are the bane of Riggers

Canadian resource extraction robots that roam the land since The Fall (thanks for the inspiration Mark Carney!)

Canadian resource fire sale is ON!!

The fun has just begun! BIG playtest event at my university in February, cannot wait but have to be ready.