Believe it or not, I have written a book before. I was a painful and wonderful experience, bittersweet in a way that many great things in life are. I was not particularly well equipped (emotionally or technically) for the task, but I am very proud of the work I did on that project. There is a great company at work today selling wonderful products, and I'm very proud that some tiny part of my DNA is in something that people seem to really enjoy.
I hope Project Manifest Destiny will meet with similar success, but instead of being just a gene or two of mine making a delicious melange with other talented creators, the task will be built upon a foundation of my chromosomes alone. A little daunting, that. Also, I'm going to drop this terrible metaphor.
So, in the interest of getting started on composing the real document, here is a first draft outline of the book. This outline is based heavily on another RPG that I greatly admire.
1. Fiction - The Trial of Neil Falmov (Each chapter will be begun with a short story/flash fiction. All of them will combine to tell the tale Neil Falmov and the tragic response to his discovery.)
2. What is an RPG!? (A short discussion on RPGs and Project Manifest Destiny, in particular.)
3. Character Creation (sub-chapters will begin with short quotes from in-universe meta-fiction, inspired heavily by the chapter headings found in Frank Herbert's Dune.)
a. Characteristics (these are the statistics that describe the character's general physical and mental abilities and tied in with Rami's alchemical philosophy.)
b. Species Selection
-Human
-Hale
-Kord
-Mechanoid
c. Entanglements (there will be a system, to be developed, to create ad-hoc relationships between characters and provide the bones of a personal character backstory. I think a fun double entendre with quantum entanglements could fit well, here.)
4. Careers
a. Star Corps
b. Space Rangers
c. Fellowship of Research Scientists
d. Diggers
e. The Swanscove Society
f. Meteor Scouts/Nebulannes
g. Algean
h. Associations (these are organizations to which the players belong that also provide some small perks. Less mechanically important, as a choice, than Careers, the Associations do more to place the characters in firm places in the setting.)
i. Advantages/Disadvantages (these are unique perks or impediments to help customize and add flavor and differentiation between characters. This will be stuff like 'Notable Attractiveness,' 'Outrageous Fortune,' 'Nearsigted,' 'Missing a Leg,' unique traits that characters will lean on or work to live with.)
Note: The exact order of introduction to Entanglements, Careers, Associations, and Advantages/Disadvantages is still to be determined.
5. Skills (This is the ala-carte system for buying character specializations. This is the main route of character progression in the game.)
6. Armory
7. Gear
8. Rocket Construction (each rocket crew needs to have a rocket. This is a collaborative 'character creation' where the crew designs their rocket. Each Career will have unique ways in which they can contribute features to the rocket during its initial construction.)
9. Special Systems
a. Algean Phenomenon (These are the rules for producing the Algean's trademark psycho-electric effects. Let's be frank, they're space wizards and this is their spell book.)
b. Digging (These are the special rules that govern access to virtual systems. These rules will apply to diggers and non-diggers, both, but will also outline the special options available to Diggers and the use of their brain-machine interface implants.)
c. Space Combat (In addition to combat, these rules will govern all unique mechanics involved in operating a rocket and it's various functions.)
d. Fox and Hound (This is the 'chase scene' system. Adventure movies often have harrowing escapes and dramatic chases. The Fox and Hound system will be an attempt to codify these sorts of scenes in a similar way to how the combat rules codify 'fight scenes' in the game.)
10. General Game Systems (Logically, I feel like this should be before Special Systems, but example books I've looked at list this chapter near the end of the book. Placement TBD.)
11. Game Mastering (A.K.A - What the hell have I got myself into?)
12. Setting Information (Information on notable locations, dramatis personae, organizations, and other tid-bits to inspire GMs and help them build an interesting campaign.)
13. Hunt the Unicorn (a premade module, ready to play, to get campaigns started.)
This is the skeleton I will begin to build on. Future entries in this blog will include discussion intended to put meat on these bones.
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