Art by Tithi Luadthong (Grandfailure) / Adobe Stock
There are a few things I want to get done in 2021. First of all, I finished my social work studies in the second week of January and worked my last day at my part-time job within rehab-focused social security. I have received a job offer as a mental health counselor on a medical clinic but don’t know yet when I’ll start or how much work there will be. A lot of things are expected to change very quickly in early 2021. My project productivity will be dependent on what I do for a living and how much time that gives me to spare.
Still, here are my goals for 2021:
Youtube Channel: I will continue to post one RPG review each month. The current list of upcoming reviews are Mörk Borg (January), Tales from the Loop (February), Things from the Flood (March), and Coriolis (April). I will no longer post regular RPG news and instead maybe make an occasional news-related video if something important happens. These were my least watched videos and even though they were fun to make, they took a lot to make, and they didn’t live up to the time spent. I’m going to primarily be focusing on system and lore related content outside of the reviews, with the occasional discussion or gm/player tip video sprinkled in. I’m no longer going to continue making my Roleplaying Journal videos either, because …
Podcast: At some point in early 2021, I will launch a podcast which will replace my Roleplaying Journals. These will be radio play-themed depictions of RPG chronicles with music, sound effects, narration, and dialogue. I will also make episodes of dramatic reads of RPG related fiction, such as chapter fiction in RPG books. Some episodes will have character voices read by guests, such as friends, other content creators, and people working on the games. I expect the occasional discussion episode as well and maybe some interviews. I hope to be able to make an episode a month and get this started quite early in the year.
Machineborn: Machineborn will be released in 2021. The core game experience is already done and I’m making tweaks based on playtesting rather than change entire systems like I’ve done in previous revisions. I’m currently working on the setting chapter where I’ve had most of the content already finished since 2017 but that needs to be heavily revised to match the lore changes. I haven’t started writing on the narration chapter yet but it will include tips on how to run campaigns, how to drop in antagonists, and all that stuff. I’m confident that this is the year where the game is officially released and we’ll get to explore what comes after.
And of course, I have plans for that as well: There are a few tiers to possible Machineborn supplements based on whether or not there are core rules for higher tier play. As you already know, the core book lets you play Human Tier campaigns (Energy 1-5). My goal is to get started on one of these supplements in 2021 and hopefully have you all help decide which one to focus on first.
Human Tier Supplements:
Machineborn: Academy gives more info about academies, education, and rules on how to play student campaigns.
Machineborn: Arcturus gives more info about Arcturus and Arcturus-specific progenies, professions, backgrounds, and stuff.
Machineborn: Camellia gives more info about the Camellian Dynasty and Camellia-specific progenies, professions, backgrounds, and stuff.
Machineborn: Coalition gives more info about the Coalition and Coalition-specific progenies, professions, backgrounds, and stuff.
Machineborn: Dawnlight gives more info about the Dawnlight Society and Dawnlight-specific progenies, professions, backgrounds, and stuff.
Machineborn: Deva gives more info about Deva, the Voice, and Deva-specific progenies, professions, backgrounds, and stuff.
Machineborn: Directorate gives more info about the Directorate and Directorate-specific progenies, professions, backgrounds, and stuff.
Machineborn: Medical gives more info about damage and healing, medical services, medical consumables, etc.
Machineborn: Metropolis introduces the metropolis in more detail, from everyday life to city districts and infrastructure. There will be information on the play experience for different social classes as well as rules for managing housing, as well as for being part of or leading gangs/organizations. There will be a chapter with tips on how to run city campaigns.
Machineborn: Muscovy gives more info about Muscovy and Muscovy-specific progenies, professions, backgrounds, and stuff.
Machineborn: Peacekeeper introduces more information about the Terran Consolidation and rules for how to play peacekeeper campaigns.
Machineborn: Proxima introduces an alternative setting taking place on the civilization formed around Proxima Centauri with their own unique progenies, cultures, and technologies, as well as tips on how to play games there or how to play cross-games where portals or space fares have opened up between Proxima and Sol.
Machineborn: Solar Introduces the solar system with a chapter on each solar sector (The Sun and Mercury, Venus, Elysium and Luna, Mars and the Asteroid Belt, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and the Kuiper Belt, the Oort Cloud), new progenies and professions associated with different sectors, rules on spaceship battles as well as using a spaceship as a base of operations, as well as tips on how to run a space campaign.
Machineborn: Subnautical introduces information about deep sea setting stuff, rules for underwater and naval games, aquatic progenies and creatures, and tips on how to run underwater games.
Machineborn: Trenches introduces advanced combat rules, warfare rules, soldier variant professions, more weapons, armor, military equipment, siege weapons, martial arts, combat augmentations, combat drugs.
Machineborn: Uploaded introduces advanced system interaction and hacking rules, digital programs, nite walking rules, more information about the digital space as a setting, including the forgotten layers of the matrix crafted by old machine-gods for old machine-gods and that are filled with forgotten mysteries and alien programs, tips on how to run digital storylines or VR focused campaigns, a system for programming your own software.
Machineborn: Wasteland introduces information about the wastelands, wildlife (flora and fauna), scavenging ruins for old tech, rules on mutants, monsters, how to play as a nomad or mad max style, as well as mechanics for community building.
Machine Tier Supplements:
Machineborn: Overclocked gives rules on machine tier play (Energy 6-10) with additional augmentations and powers to fill that span, as well as improved equipment to fit higher power games, there will be playable progenies that can reach Energy 10 without being machineborn such as the infamous proxies, there will be antagonists that fit machine tier danger levels and tips on how to run campaigns suitable for that power level.
Machineborn: Ascendant gives rules on ascendant history and culture, variant ascendant progenies, more psionics, expanded hive rules, and the overmind alternative machine tier progeny.
Machineborn: Chimera gives rules on chimeran history and culture, variant chimeran progenies, info on emities and recluses, additional bioware, and the apex alternative machine tier progeny
Machineborn: Dis-Order gives information on how to use the ruins of Dis-Order as a setting and the history and culture of the people who were trapped in there when it was sealed off centuries ago, there will be rules on malfunctionaries, rules for corruption, as well as the playable defiler progeny.
Machineborn: Empyrean gives rules on empyrean history and culture, variant empyrean progenies, info on clan as well as clan backgrounds, info on gene hunters, swabbers, rules for mental degradation, as well as the sovereign alternative machine tier progeny.
Machineborn: Riftan gives rules on riftan history and culture, additional details about the elements and additional element options, variant riftan progenies, more rift algorithms, and the sunder alternative machine tier progeny.
Machineborn: Voidstar gives information on the Voidstar, void rifts, entropic powers, rules for playing kirlians, and more.
World Tier Supplements:
Machineborn: Worldbreaker gives rules on world tier play (Energy 11-15) with additional augmentations and powers to fill that span, as well as improved equipment and all that fun stuff. There will be some kind of playable progeny that can reach this tier without being machineborn too.
Machineborn: Trojan gives rules on chaos zones as a setting, an advanced mutation system, as well as rules for how to play as a trojan.
Cosmic Tier Supplements:
Machineborn: Cosmic gives rules on cosmic tier play (Energy 16-20) with additional augmentations and all that stuff. This will go heavy in on different machineborn codes.
Machineborn: Coder gives additional world- and cosmic coding rules, such as how to make lasting coding projects, infusing coding into constructions, and so on.
Machineborn: Godware gives additional godware protocols, additional godware options, and more godware types
Ekorren 