Some new locales art by Ksenia Kozhevnikova, a little teaser as the book gets closer!

The Sickness, a remix of The Hunt by Josh Lopatin

Here is a remixed version of the scenario I posted late last week, by one of our players that insists it doesn't involve zombies. Nice try bud!

The Sickness A strange wasting sickness is spreading throughout the area. People are calling it the “Shambling Fever”. It usually spreads through contact. The sick person will get a very strong fever, and eventually lose their mind completely. They shamble through the countryside mindlessly, dead to all around them. Strangely, they seem to move in a herd mentality… Objective: Your objective depends on the Warband you have chosen: Stakers- The herds of diseased are getting too close to your settlement for comfort. You are afraid that it may spread into your homes, and pollute your food and water supply. A group of hunters has been sent out to deal with them. Your goal is to take care of the herds. You get 3 RU point for each zombie herd you completely kill, and an additional RU for burning the bodies (base to base with dead bodies, and 1 action point to burn a whole herd). You lose 1RU each time you initiate combat with any healthy person you come across. Reclaimers- Three of your traveling band contracted the “Shambling fever” They were each carrying important technology that you need to recover. You had carefully tied them up, but they broke loose and shambled off in the night. You get 5 RU for each piece of tech you recover. You can not recover tech from burned bodies. Remember, your goal is to avoid confrontation, and to recover the tech... You are not afraid to deal with anyone who may get in your way, but are singly focused on the tech and not warring. Drifters- Looks like hunting time! It appears that there are some mindless former humans encroaching on your territory. You think you hear some healthy people too! Maybe they have stuff you can take! Get 1 RU for killing anything that moves, and 2RU for looting a healthy body. You don't understand the “shambling fever”, if you choose to loot them, you may get sick: Roll 1d6 On a 6, you will get 2RU, on anything else you will get sick. (subtract 1 from a random stat immediately, and again at the start of each activation for the rest of the game) Stitchers- You are traveling back to your hideout after a successful “restocking” raid. Your group is carrying healthy organs for your warband. You understand that getting near the diseased ones could jeopardize the viability of your cargo, so you wish to avoid them at all costs. However, if you come across any healthy specimens, perhaps this will be your most successful restock ever! Gain 4 RU for every healthy body you harvest (base to base with dead bodies, and 1 action point to recover an organ. Only 1 per body) Lose 2 RU for every hit by the shambling horde. Set Up: Each table quarter should contain at least one pieces of terrain that is not impassible. Roll initiative, the winner places the first herd of 3 diseased. Following the order of initiative, players will alternate placing herds until all diseased have been set on the table. At least one model in each herd must be less than 18 inches from the center-point of the table. Each model in a herd must be within 2 inches of at least one other model in the herd. Any model in a herd may not be closer than 3 inches to a model in another herd. Number of Players: 1: place 6 herds 2: place 3 herds each 3: place 2 herd each 4+: place 1 herd each After placing all herds, the player with initiative chooses one table edge as the deployment zone; that player may deploy a hunting party 2d6 inches from the deployment zone edge. In initiative order, opposing players may select any remaining table edge and deploy as above. All models must remain at least 12 inches from any enemy model that have already been deployed. Each player marks one spot within the deployment zone to be his base camp. ** Special Rules: Shambling Fever: Diseased One AP/M/S/F/P/N/W/R 3/3/-/1/2/3/2/- The herds are activated at the end of each round (during the end phase). Roll a d6 for each herd, and we recommend doing so near that herd. Models in the herd will move the number rolled plus the value of that herd? Movement attribute (d6+M). If a 1 is rolled, that herd will remain stationary. If a 6 is rolled, the herd will move as normal directly towards the nearest healthy model. Otherwise, the herd will move in the direction indicated by the top of the number on any die roll. In other words, if a 4 is rolled, the herd will move in the direction of the top of the 4, as it is rolled on the table. All diseased must end movement no further than 2 inches from another model in its herd. A herd Movement Attribute equals the Movement its slowest herd member, and a herd will always move as far as it is able. If during the movement a diseased gets into base contact with any Character, resolve a close combat attack against the character immediately; however, the diseased one will not get a charge bonus. The diseased one counts as the attacker. After the fight the herd will move on, if possible. If any model in a herd touches any table edge, they stop there. On the next turn, they will move away from the table edge. Reroll if necessary to keep them on the table. Retreat: Players can remove a model from play by ending that model's activation in contact with any table edge. That model is immediately removed from the table and may not return this Encounter. Ending the Encounter: The game ends after 6 Turns or if any side has no Characters left to activate.

Kickstarter Update 7/3/2013

Nick here again to keep you updated on the latest at Hyacinth Games and Wreck-Age. We are endeavoring to ensure you are all informed as to what is going on with us in a much more transparent manner, so let’s talk about what took place last week.

The week began with a video that I put together showing off a lot of the development that has taken place in the last 2 years, and that paints a picture of what the next year will hopefully look like. I know when I watch it I get excited for the months ahead, and we hope it you do as well.

We ran an event at Brainstorm Comics here in Chicago to highlight a few of the developments in the rules, and see how people enjoyed them. We’ve made a lot of changes to the rules in the last 6 months or so based upon play testing and feedback from our friends and fans. If you’ve played any games using the Wreck-Age Quick Start Rules on our website or that you picked up at Adepticon, you may have noted that Fighting was a series of opposed rolls fought out across 3 back to back rounds. Feedback showed that this confused people and dragged out the game unnecessarily, so we re-wrote Fighting completely. The response to the changes has been two thumbs up, so that’s a step in the right direction we think. 

One of the things people ask a lot about is how we intend to apply the fusion of RPG and skirmish war game elements. We played a scenario involving a 6 player crew trying to escape the clutches of their Stitchmen oppressors and a seventh person controlled the Stitchers. I acted as Narrator setting the scene with background and descriptions. The play group seemed to enjoy the flexibility of dragging fallen comrades, searching rooms for clues and weapons, stealing weapons from their enemies and using them against them. These bits of dramatic action add a lot of depth to the game and push the players into even greater feats of bravery and treachery than the dispassionate approach most war games take, and I feel that really sets us apart.

Another concept that made its debut last Thursday was Parlay. Parlay allows your players (and Narrator Characters as well) the ability to use their Renown to intimidate, seduce, and cajole. Parlay is an Action that uses a variable number of Action Points depending on the difficulty of a variety of common requests and demands. You can throw insults at your opponents to try and work them up into a blind rage so they attack you, or you can simply demand that they drop their weapon. The idea was to introduce a mechanic that allowed for those cinematic moments when the action pauses as the two sides reload weapons and try to catch their breath. One side yells out from behind cover and tries to convince the other to lay down their weapons, or even switch teams. Of course, we didn’t want to remove your control over your Player Character in these situations so we chose to differentiate between Player Characters, Characters, and Narrator Characters and create a designation called Free Will. Free Will prevents you from acting against your will with the character that represents you in the game. However, any other members of your crew or community who happen to be around, like henchmen, hired guns, and other additional characters you acquire along the way don’t necessarily have that loyalty. Life in Wreck-Age is about survival. What’s cool is, if you always wanted to have a, “Luke, I am your father!” moment in your games, Parlay allows for that to happen

.

Last Thursday at Brainstorm was a great night because we got to see a bunch of our ideas implemented in the public eye and receive immediate feedback. Additionally, the scenario we played may be the basis for a “dungeon crawler” style board game down the line if we can get that far. Thank you to everyone who came out to check it out and support us. And thank you to Brainstorm for hosting.

Enough about mechanics though. People have been asking about the Reclaimers, and we just got the master back for the only one out of the four that arrived ready to cast. I’m hoping to sit down with a local sculptor this week to discuss the necessary changes to the other three.

This week we’re working on the rule book some more and starting to dig in to get ready for GenCon at the end of the summer. Hopefully next week we’ll be making an announcement about the long awaited Drifter and/or Stitcher box sets. As always, watch the Wreck-Age forum for up to the minute developments. http://www.wreck-age.net

-Nick, Matt, and Anton

Hyacinth Games

June KS Update

Hi, I'm Nick, the newest addition to the Hyacinth Games team.

I was looking at the Kickstarter page and the last update we that we posted was right after Adepticon in April, and that's just too long between updates.

That being said, I'd like to make sure you're all apprised of what's been going on at Hyacinth Games on the Wreck-Age projects that you've backed. Be assured we've been diligently working along this entire time.

First, I'd like to show you this image that you may have seen this image floating around. Kostas has been working on the finishing touches on the cover art for the rule book and hopefully it will be done soon. http://wreck-age.net/media/kunena/attachments/47/Cover-FINAL.jpg This isn't all that Kostas has been working on, but its too soon to reveal some of his other work just yet.

At Adepticon we dropped a batch of models with Sam to paint up for featuring in our demo games as well as the Hobby Section of the rule book and on our Drifter and Stitcher box art. They've been returned to us and look great. Here's a sampling of what he sent us:https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeME5ZnbtUjJeNixsW3hyuz6g0lDc8vMWb_AmgN2IjuQotSOXCPdvi_6YY4DnW9q8xMWfOTjz6LVwpI6EGr8CY_FQVliEzfM2Z_WjNwWav1NsaMBWy8PGg0Q7om9aR-lQlTQ8mXk7tgf8/s1600/bigger+brick.jpg

Anton and I have been meeting to streamline some of the rules. We're putting the polish on the what we believe to be a very dynamic and detailed rule set that will give everyone a greater breadth of options than other skirmish rule sets.

Meanwhile, our play testers are helping us work out some refined mechanics to ensure the core elements of the game are easy to learn and understand.

We're hosting an event at Brainstorm Comics here in Chicago on June 27th at 7PM that will hopefully put some of the rule revisions through the paces. If you're local we encourage you to stop by and check it out. Brainstorm Comics 1579 N. Milwaukee, Suite 321, Chicago, IL 60622 We encourage you to come by and talk to us, check out the brand new Brainstorm location, and maybe pick up some comics.

Back to the rule book, Naomi is knee deep in editing the book and Anton has begun work on the layout. There is still some back and forth going on as we revise rules and those excerpts have to be edited again.

Matt, Anton, and Carl had developed an introductory adventure called the Omen, and we're going to be including it in the rulebook. I've spent the last week making some tweaks and making sure it works equally well for those who want to play through the events as an RPG adventure, or those who want to play through them strictly as skirmish scenarios.

One of the aspects of Wreck-Age we really chosen to emphasize is the fusion of RPG and skirmish war game play. We want a seamless transition from one to the other and back again to cater to a variety of gaming and hobby interests. We've elected to release the book initially in PDF and soft cover form to get it out there as soon as possible.

We're hoping to have the completed PDF online in mid August and the soft cover rule book out in September. At this stage the timing of the release of a physical copy of the rule book depends on our financial situation.

One of our biggest obstacles at the moment is that we're broke. We've been looking for investors but things are very much up in the air right now. We're undaunted, however, and are moving forward under the assumption that it will work itself out somehow.

Similarly, the Drifter and Stitcher box sets made their first appearance at Adepticon but temporary box art because we didn't have photo quality shots of either faction's models at the time. The goal is to have both boxes out in mid July, but like the rule book, our success really depends on the ability to cover the cost of printing the boxes.

We really want to have the box sets available in time for GenCon so we have our fingers crossed. Finally, the long lost Reclaimer models were finally returned to the sculptor in France this spring and are now finally in our hands. They are gorgeous models but they have some undercuts that will make them impossible to reproduce at this time. We're talking with a local sculptor about correcting the issues, but it might take come time. We're pushing the release of the Reclaimers back to October 15th to hopefully coincide with our first adventure supplement: The Spider. 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmJT7WOsANDd_yQYPJw3uD6wbim5ss2v2g_QRHsuDQSFvjj_lrXWOjrgeR8sZo921manxLS7qPTCP49xVBUTIuiP5zkQWFO-IZ4QrlDhWSIFp7TTX2fO4oDGx61ZvIOSV0C7yrZcxXrg/s1600/292387_464067736948862_1184102094_n.jpg

With the aforementioned money issues that might be wishful thinking, but we haven't given up on the dream or the backers.

Finally, we'd like to encourage you all to peruse the Wreck-Age Forum, Not only is this a great place to find out the latest developments and works in progress, its also a place to build community, discuss the game, make suggestions, and share your inspirations. Hopefully we will see you there.http://wreck-age.net/index.php/forum/index

Thanks for reading and thank you for your support and patience!

-Nick, Anton, Matt,

ACEN Saturday

ACEN 2013 Friday!

Fun convention, it is always refreshing to play to a different demographic. Unlike Adepticon we were able to bust out the RPG for a spin.

New Scenario- the Hunt

This is one of the 6 scenarios that are in playtesting right now.


1. THE HUNT (Offensive/Neutral/Defensive scenario)

Game and food are scarce and have been so for months. Your scouts have tracked a large herd of game, but it is ambling at the outer limits of your territory and slowly drifting further afield. An opportunity is slipping slowly away, and you cannot afford to watch it go. Your crew has been dispatched in a desperate effort.

All seems well in the first few days. After locating the tracks, your hunting party finds the herd but, as you close on the prety, the party realizes that it is not alone. The hunting party is already too strung out, too far from home to return around empty handed. Grab what you can and get out as quickly as you are able…

Objective:
Your hunting party must gain as many Resource Units (RU) as you can while sustaining as few casualties as possible.

Stances:
Offensive stances: "Forget the herds, get THOSE guys!"
You party gains 20 additional RUs for every enemy it scavenges, but earns 10 less RUs per animal or token.

Once combat is initiated, the player who initiated it may be shot from any other crew without penalty from any crew with a Neutral or Defensive stance.

Neutral stances:
You party gains 10 additional RUs for any animals downed with a silent weapon, and will lose 30 RU for initiating combat with another hunting party.

Defensive stances:
You party gains 20 RUs for every one of your Characters that survives the encounter without so much as a scratch. and will lose 50 RUs for initiating combat with another hunting party.

Set Up:
3x3 board or larger (Larger boards are highly recommended for more than 2 players).

Each table quarter should contain at least one pieces of terrain that is not impassible.

Roll initiative, the winner places the first herd of 3 animals. Following the order of initiative, players will alternate placing herds until all animals have been set on the table.

At least one model in each herd must be less than 18 inches from the center-point of the table. Each model in a herd must be within 2 inches of at one other model in the herd. Any model in a herd may not be closer than 4 inches to a model in another herd.

Number of Players:
1: place 6 herds
2: place 3 herds each
3: place 2 herd each
4+: place 1 herd each

After placing all herds, the player with initiative chooses one table edge as the deployment zone; that player may deploy a hunting party 2d6 inches from the deployment zone edge. In initiative order, opposing players may select any remaining table edge and deploy as above. All models must remain at least 12 inches from any enemy models that have already been deployed.

Each player marks one spot within the deployment zone to be their base camp. **

Special Rules:
Animal Instincts:
Gazelles or Deer **
AP/M/S/F/P/N/W/R
3/5/-/1/2/3/2/-

The herds are activated at the end of each round (during the end phase). Roll a d6 for each herd, and we recommend doing so near that herd. Models in the herd will move the number rolled plus the value of that herd? Movement attribute (d6+M). If a 1 is rolled, that herd will remain stationary. If a 6 is rolled, the herd will move as normal directly away from the nearest human model. Otherwise, the herd will move in the direction indicated by the top of the number on any die roll. In other words, if a 4 is rolled, the herd will move in the direction of the top of the 4, as it is rolled on the table.

All animals must end movement no further than 2 inches from another model in its herd.

A herd's Movement Attribute equals the Movement its slowest herd member, and a herd will always move as far as it is able.

If during the movement an animal gets into base contact with any Character, resolve a close combat attack against the character immediately; however, the animal will not get a charge bonus. The animal counts as the attacker. After the fight the herd will move on, if possible.

If any animal in a herd touches any table edge, the entire herd is removed from the game.

Hunting: If an animal is killed, replace it with a Portable Objective. A Character in base contact with a token can make a Harvest (W) Check during its activation. This attempt costs 2 AP. If successful, the Character retrieves the Portable Objective immediately, and is considered to have the Portable Objective until the model drops it, willingly or otherwise.

Dropping Portable Objectives: A model may drop any/all objectives in its possession at any point in its activation. This is a free action and does not require AP if done at the end of a character's activation (or 1 AP if done at any other time). If a model is forced to move due to Suppression, all tokens in its possession are dropped immediately before that movement.

Retreat: Players can remove a model from play by ending that model's activation in contact with any table edge. That model is immediately removed from the table and may not return this Encounter.

Ending the Encounter: The game ends after 6 Turns or if any side has no Characters left to activate.

Calculating Resource Units:
•20 RUs for each Portable Objective carried by an active character, with any Tokens remaining on the board being claimed by the last remaining crew for 20 RUs each.
•50 RUs for each Portable Objective your Characters placed in your base camp, or loaded on a pack animal that is standing at the end of the game, or has retreated.
•10 RUs each of your Characters wounded
•15 RUs for each of your Characters dying
•20 RUs for each of your Characters killed (not including pack animals and beasts)

A Few Pages of Reclaimers

In the vast wastes of overly aerated and un-palatable soil, lay millions of tons of ancient disposed of technology. To most, these pieces of long-discarded technology are of very little use or interest. However to the Order of the Reclaimer, they represent a treasure trove, that should be un-earthed, and examined, disseminated, and integrated into the scattered data clusters of North America and beyond. These unearthed caches of data, and archeological dig sites are seen as the keys to fundamentally understand the hows and whys of the Great Exodus.

Among the Reclaimers, there is great debate as to the reasons, and ultimately, the solutions to the problems caused by pre-Exodus society. While most factions have little to no interest in the past, and prefer to focus on their immediate needs and occasionally on their future, to the Reclaimers, the study of history represents the understanding of the apex of civilization. This information is of great interest and the subject of endless scrutiny among the Order.

The ultimate garbage pickers; Reclaimers attempt to reverse engineer the technology left behind since the Exodus. Technology is the cornerstone of their way of life and beliefs. For example, Reclaimer’s weapons will have a higher damage output but are less reliable, and prone to blowing up in the users face. Whereas a crossbow will probably give you similar results day-in and day-out, a plasma-caster cobbled together from salvaged parts can explode, misfire, or not fire at all, but has a tremendously greater destructive potential. This is the way the Reclaimers prefer to see the world, as the potential to advance technological understanding, at whatever the cost.

Devout scavengers of the old world, they bring back the spoils of their garbage picking to walled Data Hubs and Havens that are sprinkled across the continents. Reclaimer military campaigns have been forged just to ‘exhaustively research’ the effects of found or newly created weaponry.

Sites where a satellite or space structure have fallen back through the atmosphere are of particular significance, and maintain an almost religious importance, as many sects of the cult herald the day when the exodus, with all of its amassed technology, came crashing back to Earth.

Since the Exodus, the Reclaimers have expended much of their energy towards finding these vast troves of old technology. Numerous sites have been discovered that are basically landfills full of high tech junk, such as the Oklahoma Scraps, which is an old e-waste site that is hundreds of square miles.

In the 23rd century, as the United States declined as a global power, much of it’s e-waste became a domestic problem instead of being dumped onto third world countries. In Year Zero these sites are both holy sites and greedily mined with a combination of re-purposed machinery and press-ganged workers from nearby communities and captured enemies. Without the recent population boom due to the Resurgence, this would be an impossible undertaking. Due to the Resurgence, communities are growing faster than ever, and in many cases, a few people are barely missed. In this environment, cast-outs can be rounded up quickly, and easily. A quick Zealot expedition, or trading with a less than ethical caravan are means to gain able bodies to be used to unearth the treasures that lay buried under feet of dirt and concrete. Not all Reclaimer sects use forced labor, but the lure of so much available technology makes it difficult for some to resist.

While Reclaimers revere technology, only the most radical sects of the faction will ever meld technology and the human body. It’s seen as sacrilegious by most Reclaimers to even consider it. Those that do utilize bionics are seen as tacky at best, and heathens to be stamped out at worst.

Using Infrared signals and radio waves to create intermittent cross-continental communications between communities, Reclaimers sometimes intercept garbled satellite code from ancient military or corporate sources. For centuries, a small cell of Scriveners has been dedicated to unlocking these ‘transmission from the gods’. Sites where space junk has fallen back to earth are prized and considered holy by the Reclaimers, especially if they involve one of these fallen satellites or other space debris.

A Stone In the Tides

New short story set in the Wreck Age world- it can be picked up at http://wreck-age.net for fifty cents! https://www.dropbox.com/s/72yzrhap37wyghk/AStoneInTheTides.pdf

Stitchman Excerpt

Here's a quick preview of the section on the malevolent Stitchers. Each major faction now has at least 10 pages of un-edited content completed.

The Stitchmen are ancient beyond the most basic comprehension of the majority of people during the Resurgence, and possess knowledge and technology that most can't even dream of. While the basic archetype of a Stitcher is one of malice and a vampiric nature, some Stitchers still hold true to their original Hippocratic Oath, and will work in conjunction with communities, doing good even as they seek to ensure their own survival. The vast majority have their own crews and their own enclaves, ruling with a paranoia and manipulation; carefully doling out medical care, bio-engineered enhancements, food, and weapons to those who serve their "master" well. Warped by centuries of narcissism, paranoia and ruthless self-interest, rare is the Stitcher who maintains trust for another living being, least of which are those who share their skills and were once their colleagues. The culture that is bred in most Stitchmen communities is very much "do unto others, before they do unto you". Backstabbing, murder, and coups are all fairly common within a culture that is motivated by the quest for everlasting life, and rife with dementia and paranoid tendencies.

Most Stitchers will not work with another of equal power to them, and they will never serve another living being. Whether their goal is manipulation, knowledge, or simple survival, they will typically travel that path alone, or with a few trusted servants. They oftentimes prey on those they once swore to serve and heal, taking any opportunity to gather tissue and organ samples, slaves, technology, or the raw materials that will allow them to brew their drugs and safely operate on themselves and their henchmen. As humanity emerges from the Dark Times, the Stitchmen emerge with it. They come in all shapes and sizes, some barely recognizable as human, some too bloated to move, male and female, as varied (if not more so) as the rest of humankind, though most of their number have long since given up the right to be called human by common definitions of the word.

While they are now fractured and scattered, the original Stitchmen all can trace their origins back to a single Exodus ship, which due to a malfunction, was forced to crash land outside of Tucson. This accident helped shape events for centuries to come.

Other than fresh organs and ‘foodstuffs’ the Stitchmen strike out for medical supplies, especially those that will keep their tools sterile, as infection and organ rejection are two of the main fears of the Stitchmen overlords. Cannibalism was sometimes adopted fairly early on for some crews, primarily out of desperation, as the food supplies were dwindling as Dark Times approached. The physicians were ‘wasting’ quite a bit of biomass in their organ harvests, and protein and calories were easily gleaned from human sources in the early days of the Stitchers.

Through medical technology and the constant supply of fresh organs and tissues, the Stitchmen are able to extend their life to well beyond anything that would have been imaginable in the 21st century. However, there are limitations; the only organ that can’t be replaced is the brain, which will still go through the process of decay and decline, albeit at a greatly decreased rate due to vitamin shots, blood transfusion and preventative surgeries. The brain-span is estimated to be approximately three hundred years... with dementias beginning to creep in after about the two century mark.

Adepticon Thursday and Friday!

Adepticon Saturday and Sunday

Vendor Cart Variation B

Sculpted by Dan Fokine and painted by Sam Lenz

Wreck Age Adepticon Exclusive!

Galactic Force Demo Day

Thanks Andy for having us, we had a great time (and sold some Staker sets)!

Drifters First Pages

Once again, this is not complete, but it is close (proofed, not edited, requiring some tweaks). Here is some info on the Hy Plains Drifters! Hope you like it, feel free to post comments either way

From an outsider's perspective, the nomadic Hy-Plains Drifters may look like nothing more than barbaric raiders, like blood thirsty marauders who take all they want and who leave only carnage and death at their heels. Certainly, elements of their nomadic lifestyle and their warrior caste society lend credence to that description, as do the horrific stories told by anyone lucky or cursed enough to survive a Drifter assault. There remains, however, an unexpected, storied past and a complex cultural foundation beneath the ties that bind these warriors of the Wilds together.

Despite their nomadic and ruthless vagaries, the Drifters trace their ancestry to men and women who were incarcerated during the time of the Big Push… and Drifters venerate that lineage. They do so both in their voracious resistance to the old world orders that castigated and persecuted their ancestors, through their will to destroy, and in their remembrance of those sacred individuals.

The Hy-Plains Drifters tribes of the Year Zero are all common descendents of one tribe, a massive tribe that endured a great splintering at the end of the Push. Once known as the Iron Bars, the division of this tribe changed the life on the plains irreparably. As time progressed, many of these original tribes further fractured into ever-smaller groups, yet each tribe vigorously follows the Drifter code and lives life in an astonishingly similar manner, although there is room for creative interpretation and digression from tribe to tribe.

Though often dubious and perhaps even mythologized, significant members of a tribe will invariably be able to trace familial derivation from generation to generation, and so on. The most prestigious can identify an ancestor among the oldest, most distant forefathers from the splintering of the Iron Bars, as an atavistic claim to perversely noble lineage. Though nearly impossible to prove, Drifters often use this factual inconvenience to imagine ancestry in ways that seem apocryphal at best. Nevertheless, ancestry remains a potent ideological cudgel for the aspiring Drifter warrior.

In step with the veneration of ancestry, each nomadic tribe is woven together in an intricate network of familial loyalties combined with an intuitive worship of brute strength. While generally fractured and splintered by nature, a motivated leader will understand and work quite diligently to create these complicated patterns of familial or tribal alliance and to sustain loyalty through a rewards system of carefully shared spoils. Thus, any worthwhile leader must always win, and always continue to do so as the first principle in the Drifter code. Failure is often devastating, both for the leader (who is almost always immediately deposed) and for the tribe, which would be lucky to remain coherent through any significant, sustained calamity. Strength, in this sense, is invaluable, but it is oddly matched with some shrewd element of devious cunning and rude political practicality that exists among the ranks of the Drifters.

To a Drifter tribe, there can be no true death while one’s bloodline still lives, and Drifter warriors will often memorize massive and detailed chains of lineage in order to honor those that came before them among the warrior caste. Only in the pure violence of battle can a warrior unlock more knowledge of ancient ancestors, with an elaborate oral history of feats and behavior used to determine what historical (or neo-mythological) persons they may add to their line. It is common for a tribe to call a number of kings, generals, khans, and outlaws members of their bloodline- with nothing more than a vague perception of that character in mind. Accomplishment matters. Violence matters. Although knowledge and literacy are not commonly respected among the tribes, Drifters are always hungry for the telling of heroic feats from ages past, with authenticity taking a backseat to epic scope of the narration, and to the rich, evocative characters in that tapestry.

In motion, a Drifter band acts like a plague of locusts on the land, an analogy taken either from the plains they now call home or from half-remembered lore that they have grown to admire in peculiar ways, a subtle influence reflected in Drifter language. Young Drifters are often called “locusts” for their thinner stature, lust for loot, and the manner in which they swarm the battlefield with little regard for life, theirs and others. These warriors are occasionally called "grubs" as a pejorative, but for the most part they embody the Drifter disposition of massive movement and violence with the combined will to consume.

Staker Chapter Excerpt!

Here is a small slice from our Stakers chapter from the upcoming rule book! Please note that while this has been proofread, it has not finished the editing phase:

Unlike the other factions that organize and unify under the banner of their group’s auspice, very few Stakers really bother to refer to themselves by the term. There are no meetings, no grand design or collected faction history. A ‘Staker’ is what other people call these hardy, home turf individuals and their extended families. Being a Staker just means that unlike most of the poor souls still scratching out an existence in the wilds, you have a place to rest when the day’s work is done – a place with walls and roof and a decent chance of still being there tomorrow.

When a Staker travels far away from home, it is often with an eye to found a campsite or to claim a piece of land in the wilderness. The wayward Staker will look for some place with good community potential, a spot with access to water, resources, shelter and/or sources of food. Some have a preference for defensibility, while others try to blend in with the environment and hide their foundations.

Still, every new site starts with the same simple act: either planting a wooden stake at the center point of the intended territory, or building the cornerstone of a building with an inscribed message. These spots are considered the heart of the new settlement and never moved again. It serves as a historical reminder of when the founding members of a community began the process of reclaiming the land from the Wrecked Earth. Everything that comes after that first act of claiming is built around that simple focal point.

Stakers create -that is what defines them. Stakers usually have long family lines that they can trace back to their settlement, or they will at least be likely to name the places their ancestors lived prior. Alongside this genealogy, Stakers will know and inherit the knowledge of a trade from their ancestry. Though not every Staker is a skilled craftsman like a carpenter or a metalworker, Stakers nevertheless value skill and discipline. As such, they keep many kinds within their communities, the thread that weaves them all together being the cooperation that binds them.

Let us know what you think in the comments!

-Matt

WIP Adepticon Boards

Brian is doing a great job on these, excited to show them off!

Crash Site by King Kostas

Great art from the book!

Brainstorm Comics Demo Day

Thanks Sean for having us! This was a lot of fun! We got to play Break Down the Walls 2.0 with some new friends.

Post Collapse Vendor Cart

Now for sale! Sculpted by Dan Fokine, painted by Nick Baran:

http://wreck-age.net/index.php/online-store#!/~/product/category=0&id=18928239

Dumpster Diving

Our friend Nick Baran carved up some of our crates, made molds from them, and then created this dumpster. Pretty cool.

Uprisen Teaser- Tanner

Tanner is a fun character from the Uprisen (which was shelved for a few months since the KS showed us the book needed to be priority number one). Here is his write up in the module:

“Yep, that’s infected. Nope, you kept picking at it and now it’s like that. I can make you an
ointment but you aren’t smart enough to use it. Maybe I should just cut it off and save us both
the trouble of watching it rot.”

Tanner rarely talks about his past. What little he has said makes it clear that he was once a doctor
of sorts, learning the trade from his family when he lived in a distant settlement he never names.
Other whispers suggest that his father was exiled to the caravans and he chose to follow. Thus
he started his life in the Wilds, until he was ultimately captured and brought to the mines.

Since he arrived in the tunnels he has served as an enslaved medic, as he puts it, “a first aid
kit with feet.” Eclipsys’ treatment of him in the mines was hardly gentle, though he knows he
had an easier time than most. A medic constantly on call, he was never subjected to the back-
breaking labor endured by so many.

Ease is relative, however, and when the time for rebellion came he was more than ready to help
out. Eclipsys had forced him through painful induced learning programs and pushed him to
work long hours with little rest and meager supplies. He was tired of the nightmares and the
headaches, tired of losing patients because the materials he needed were refused or withheld.
Things had to change. People needed killing.

Now that the revolt is over and the survivors are out of the mines, he is ready to lay the
murderous side of his personality to rest and return to healing. He much prefers doctoring to playing at
war. Even so, he is not driven as much by compassion as by the pride he takes in saving lives.
He is good at it, and he likes being good at something.

Besides, the more lives he saves during the day, the fewer ghosts haunt his dreams at night.

Reclaiming!

Bonus from the Dusters Almanac- The Badger

Some extra fluff that won't be in the  book, but will certainly be put to good use own the line!

Badger

Basics: Sometimes called rodents and often called terrifying, the badger can be found in many parts of the world as a thriving part of the new ecology. Once content to forage and scavenge when possible, badgers have become more aggressive and violent as competition for food increased after the environmental collapse ruined their habitats. Badgers are larger than their predecessors and prone to attack solitary humans on sight. Rivalry for territory has all but broken the previous clan nature of badgers; most are solitary and extremely territorial.

Survival: The best way to live through a badger attack is to never travel alone. Because most badgers hunt by themselves, they are loathe to pick fights with groups. Even a single person with a hunting dog or beast of burden will usually be too much a badger, at least at first sight. Badgers are known to stalk prey, however. That same person might walk up one morning to find their animal(s) savaged at the edge of camp.

If you have to fight a badger, remember that everything dangerous is all up front. Never take a badger head on as their front claws are extremely sharp and their bite is capable of tearing through body armor if it gets a good enough hold. Badgers are also mostly impervious to pain. Never try to drive one off. A fight with a badger only ends with something dying.

Uses: Badger meat is fairly awful but edible. Always cook or boil it thoroughly as badgers are often heavily diseased and carry some of the wild’s worst ills. Badger pelts are extremely hardy and retain a great deal of heat. They make excellent harsh weather clothes.

Fun Fact: Before the Exodus, badgers were often portrayed in stories as strong, wise characters and even appeared in literature as sympathetic heroes. At least one tribe of Drifters reveres the badger as their totem animal and considers anyone wearing parts of a badger to be an enemy on sight. This last bit would normally be in the Survival section but if you have been spotted by a tribe of Drifters, you were probably screwed already.

-By Duster One (AKA August Hahn)

Games Plus Demo Day

Here is Chad running a few demos! Great day.

Campaigner Article

Matt and Brian chatted with the Campaigner about W-A: http://thecampaignermagazine.com/2013/03/issue-3-is-now-available/

Drifters Art

By Kostas!

Stitchers at work!

Hey guys!

Thanks to all of our awesome KS pledges, we are happy to announce the Stakers box set has arrived. Anyone who selected that option as their pledge will be receiving it (and their goodies) this or next week, depending on shipping. 

For other interested parties, the set includes 7 of our true scale 28mm minis for only $55! This set also includes the box set only Pitchfork Farmhand. It is exciting to get these bad boys out since we feel they are a pretty good deal compared to our standard blister packs.

You can find more info on the Stakers on our site here: http://wreck-age.net/index.php/story/factions/stakers

And the box set is available for purchase at: http://wreck-age.net/index.php/onlin…=0&id=20909510

Thanks for your continued support! 

-Matt