v01.2 Launch Patch for SCO! New tables, mechanics, art and updates!

Hello, Players!  Your enthusiastic response to Solar Crown Online has been very wonderful, and I've been absolutely motivated to see the enthusiasm for this project! Our first post-launch patch addresses a host of topics, so let's dive right in:

Changelog (What's New!)

• Added the Combat status cards. They're in the very back of the playtest Quickstart now. These should help you manage the tangle of combat a bit more elegantly!

• New Oracles: Added the following oracles: Settlement Trouble, Character Role, and then some NPC Names and Player Names.

• Playing the Game section: While no substitute for the full text of Ironsworn (which is, somehow, still completely free at ironswornrpg.com), this one-pager of condensed guidelines might be helpful for those otherwise comfortable with the framework of PbtA games who just want a little bit of guidance on the different unique playstyles of SCO (Solo and Co-op especially). I hope that it helps! More to follow as this approaches a full text in it's own right... until then, if you still feel lost at sea running a solo game I highly recommend taking a read of the Ironsworn core rulebook's recommendations.

• Cleaned up a bunch of Asset cards. In particular, any lingering references to momentum (what's that???) should now be replaced by "Sync".

• Progress Clock adjustments: Some tweaks to the progress tracks. Minor's second segment changed to a progress score of 4 (from 5), Serious had its first segment lowered to 5 (from 6),  Daunting had it's second segment lowered to 7 (from 8), and Epic is now a five-segment clock (for a total of fifteen segments). 
  • These first three tweaks were done to adjust the risk calculus for early-rolling Progress moves. Testing shows players (including myself!) are pretty savvy at rolling Progress moves at the most advantageous position possible, which is great! However I wanted to inject a touch more risk-reward consideration by increasing the probability gains for moving just a bit further up the progress track then is comfortable, and give some time back to the lower-scale challenge ranks to let those lesser journeys/foes breathe a bit. Adding the fifth segment to Epic was done to set the Epic rank just a bit further apart from all of the others as a unique scale of challenge... it just didn't feel like it had enough oomph behind it previously and this should help fix that.

visualization of the Progress Tracker adjustments

• Trance Connect move: Adjusted to streamline the Weak Hit result and take away the bite of the Miss result. This move is now a neutral outcome at worst, but retains it's potential upside for high-Vapor characters. 
  • Previous version of the move penalized low-Vapor characters too much and put the Log Out/Log In cycle into a 'double jeopardy' scenario where a player could Miss twice in a row and have an unnecessarily rough time cycling their resources in the game (or going out to get pizza or whatever it is you were logging out to do!).

Trance Connect move changes

• Deal Massive Damage move: Has had its move trigger adjusted. This change was inspired by the beta draft documents Shawn Tomkin shared for Ironsworn: Starforge which features an updated Finish Them move. I really like the streamlined approach to it, and it fits SCO perfectly.

• Cleaned up the character sheet a bunch. Among other things, there's actually a space to mark your Transit Gates as well as all of the debilities and afflictions mentioned in the game now. Also added a second page filled with spare progress trackers (for keeping straight all of your Journeys, Foes, etc.).

Roadmap

Here's what is still pending, in loose order of priority:

1. Finishing rules for the Zones. As you might have guessed, these are SCO's substitute for Delves and they are not yet a complete feature. Lots of writing and formatting to go for this!
2. More Assets!
3. Expand the setting elements and describe in greater detail the threats, challenges, locations, and conventions of the (default) setting of SCO. This one has been on the backburner until the raw fundamentals of the game (Moves and Oracles mainly) get closer to feature-completion, and it's just about time to pivot to doing it.
4. Polishing the moves around the game's endings and new beginnings (Face Deresolution and Face Despair, and Creating a New Character)
5. More Oracles!
6. MORE Oracles!!
7. More and better Art! (I'm a slow sketch artist and completing images takes me forever)

That's all from the Sphere for now, we'll see you with even more game next time!