Iron Sky: The Roleplaying Game

Online sessions
over 2 years ago – Thu, Aug 05, 2021 at 04:37:27 PM

Hi everyone!

I've just finished writing the adventure which constitutes most of the Quick Start. I've commissioned some more art, but 2 of the artists still need to get back to me. If the art is late, we'll release the PDF with some extra preliminary art in order to make sure you all have the Quick Start in your hands by the end of September.

The plan was to be at Gen Con, but unfortunately the Biden administration is still not letting us in, which sucks, but which is also totally comprehensible. Not being able to be at Gen Con is a major letdown, but if things change, I'll make sure to book my plane ASAP.

We'll be hosting online gaming sessions on the 2nd and the 3rd of October. Saturday we'll be hosting at 6 pm CET, Sunday we'll be hosting at 10 pm CET. Places are limited to 4 a day, so please get in touch with me and register if you'd like to participate. We'll be rolling on Roll20, but doing the live sessions through Zoom. I'm expecting each session to last 3 to 4 hours. This'll mark a major new turning point for the game and we'll be introducing the newest game mechanics as well, so don't miss out!

Greetz,

Dirk

Gen Con!
almost 3 years ago – Sun, Jun 20, 2021 at 11:02:26 PM

Hi everyone,

As most of you know, the US is still mostly off-limits for most foreign citizens because of COVID-restrictions. The main issue here is the quarantaine suggestion of 7 days, which is holding back many people from flying over - more so than the required negative PCR-test.

I probably won't be able to bring anyone with me, but I'm confident that there's a good chance I'll be able to make it to Gen Con. Obviously I will be running one or two Steel Skies demos and at a minimum I'll bring some rough versions of the Quick Start with me.

We'll also be running online Steel Skies demos throughout the first week of September, so if you're eager to FINALLY get into the game, this is going to be your chance! Expect the first PDFs to hit your inboxes as soon as the art gets done, so you'll still be able to get into the RPG before the year is done. Even if the art doesn't get fully finished yet, you'll receive have the rough version of the Quick Start, complete with placeholder illustrations, in September. Yes, that means we won't be sending out Word files with no illustrations, everything wil be presented nicely enough, but we may need some more time to get all of the actual illustrations in - everything depends on the artists' speed.

Since you've all waited so long, we will FULLY REFUND you if you wish if you don't get the Quick Start before the end of September!!! That's a promise. After that it'll be the Basic Rules followed by the Advanced Rules. Much of the extras are already done as well, including Silhouettes, Bullseyes and Maneuver/Action Cards.

Greetz,

DRk

Introducing New Artwork
almost 3 years ago – Wed, Jun 09, 2021 at 08:42:40 AM

Hi everyone!

With the text of the Quick Start ready to go, we've commissioned new artwork. This is taking a while since, as long we don't hear back from the Iron Sky curator, we're doing this as Steel Skies, and we aren't using any of the hundreds of pictures we got from Iron Sky Oy, so everything has to be new and fresh... which, of course, does allow us to get you unique illustrations!

Here's our first illustration of the Nazi Haunebu II, by our new artist, Julian Faylona. 

Our cover artist, Cédric Labens,  is back as well, while Ann Vanderheyden will be doing character designs and concepts for us.

Hope you all like the new artwork!

Packages
almost 3 years ago – Wed, May 19, 2021 at 11:40:54 PM

Hi everyone,

Greetings from Thailand! I've been here for about a month looking into opportunities for a web series we just shot, as well as an upcoming licenses movie and a web talk show. We also did a press trip and just went on a well-deserved holiday, but I'm returning 9 days earlier because I've been invited by so many restaurants and hotels that have asked me to come back once COVID-19 restrictions die down that I want to make room to return to this beautiful country once they do.

On the downside, wifi has been horrible during our 10-day quarantine and much of the trip, which made it extra difficult to do my research, but the Quick Start is ready to go, I only need formatting and art to be done on it. 

I'm still waiting for Iron Sky Oy curator's news, but, as promised, if nothing happens, we'll do Steel Skies for now. 

The new thing I've been working on is Character Packages. Character Generation in the Synthesis System is pretty free-flowing and can be done in multiple ways, and figuring out which Skills to buy if you want to do Character Generation per year your Character has been living can be a daunting task, so you can decide on a Character Package and pick Skills, Advantages, Disadvantages and other stuff out of those Packages instead. There are no Levels or mandatory progressions in Synthesis, so one of the Character Packages available is, for example, Reformed Nazi.

Within the Reformed Nazi Package, you can mix and match a lot of options, the only mandatory one being the Reformed aspect itself.

Some of the available options include: Hitlerjugend Member, Brainwashed from the Start, Afraid and Compliant, Misguided Philosopher, Gullible Soldier, Defiant Officer, and Reformed (1 year). Each of these is associated with a number of Skills, Advantages and Disadvantages you can take per year of your life. Take Hitlerjugend Member for 5 years and if your Character is 20 years old, you're already set for one-fourth of the Character Generation process. All of these will feature in the Character Generation Game Board, of course.

Obviously, it's perfectly possible to take 5 years of Hitlerjugend Member, 1 year of Misguided philosopher, 3 years of Gullible Soldier, 3 years of Defiant Officer and 1 year of Reformed. Your early childhood may have been Wealthy Upbringing (Pampered by Parents) for 5 years, which would set your starting age at 18. Maybe you want to take 2 years of Conspiracy Theorist (Hollow Earth) after that, which'll get you set at 20. 

It might be even easier to just spend your available Character Points all at once, but choosing Character Packages and Options ends up giving you a very good sense of who your Character is, exactly, and what made him or her become the person (s)he is right now. Also, please note it's perfectly possible to tweak any of the Packages and Options, or to come up with some of your own, as all of these are tacked on to the rules system. You're getting the building blocks anyway, the Packages and Options are just examples of how to use them.

See you all soon!

On Circles and Conversions
about 3 years ago – Thu, Apr 08, 2021 at 01:34:08 PM

So, it’s been a few weeks since my last update. I originally wanted to wait until I heard back from the Finnish lawyers handling the Iron Sky bankruptcy, but since I didn’t get a single mail since I last posted here, I’ll continue with the new RPG title Steel Skies in mind instead of Iron Sky.

I also decided on a deadline: if I don’t have a green light to do Iron Sky by the end of May, I’ll commission the extra artwork for Steel Skies so that I can start releasing your books. I’ll also provide you with the Quick Start by then.

For now, I wanted to talk about how the Synthesisrules allow you to convert almost anything to the game rules and how easy it is to use the system as a narrative diceless rules set, even though the standard rules might seem a little crunchy at first.

Shifts

As you probably know by now, all Characteristics in Synthesis are ranked from -9 to +9: Attributes, Skills, Advantages, Disadvantages, Talents, Powers, etc. The scale actually extends to -10 (or –Sigma) and +10 (or +Sigma), but more about that in the rulebook itself. Each step is called a Shift and each Shift is equal to one-third of a standard deviation on a standard normal scale.

As far as the actual Shift values go, Synthesisuses a three-tier system. For example, Skills are arranged in Broad Skill Groups, Focused Skills and Specialized Skills. In the Basic version of the game, Focuses and Specializations are optional; in the Advanced version, they’re mandatory.

Circles

In addition, there are 10 Circles, each representing a different scale. Normal humans fit neatly in Circle 3. Enhanced humans might have Circle 4 Characteristics and Skills, beyond that you’re reaching levels usually reserved to certain vehicles, monsters, and superhumans. Higher Circles always beat lower Circles, unless the Genre allows you to use Awesome Points to ‘Break a Circle’ (which basically is the only way Batman can hurt Superman). In the Steel Skies setting, Circles above Circle 4 are generally only used for large spaceships, certain Hollow Earth critters, and super weapons. They’re far beyond the reach of the Player Characters.

Conversion

This all makes it really easy to convert both fictional and real stuff to the game rules. Let’s present a few Character examples.

Example 1: Bob Munden is generally regarded as ‘the fastest gunslinger who ever lived’.

‘The fastest who ever lived’, that sounds like a total Shift value of S+9 of even a S+10. S+9 would mean that out of 1.000 people who can shoot, 999 will be slower than Bob, so we’ll go with that. Since Procedural Skills are halved and added to half of a paired Attribute, Bob Munden would need a Shoot/Guns/Quick Draw Skill Specialization of S+9 as well as a Body/Quickness/Only with Guns Attribute Specialization of +9.

If you’re using the Basic Rules and you’re eschewing Focuses and Specializations, Bob would have the Shoot Broad Skill Group at +9 as well as the Body Characteristic at S+9. The description of being ‘the fastest gunslinger who ever lived’ helps Bob’s player and the Keeper decide in which circumstances that S+9 can be used (for example, the Keeper wouldn’t let Bob’s player get away with using S+9 to hit someone, for example. After all, the Character Description says he’s the ‘fastest gun alive’, not the ‘best shot alive’.

Example 2: Recently, Muller Van Severen was names as one of the world’s ‘100 best designers’. That sounds like the Crafts/Interior Design Skill Focus coupled with the Mental/Spatial Attribute Focus, with a total average of S+4. Let’s say we get Crafts/Interior Design at S+5 and Mental/Spatial at S+3.

If you’re using the Basic rules, just get Mental at S+3 and Crafts at S+5. Mullet’s Character’s Life Path and/or Description will tell his player and the Keeper to limit the average of S+4 to things that have to do with interior design. It’s that easy.

The Diceless Option

Now, let’s say you hate referencing tables, you don’t like too much crunch and you prefer ‘narrative’ games to simulationist games. Synthesis allows you to play without dice using exactly the same Character Sheet – it’s even possible to switch between the diceless system, the Basic Game and the Advanced Game between game sessions or within the same game session!

Basically, in order to know whether you succeed in something, first look at the relevant opposing Circle value of whoever or whatever you’re trying to beat. If your Circle is higher, you win automatically. If the other Circle’s higher, you lose. If you’re within the same Circle (which happens most often), the higher Shift wins, but both sides are able to adjust their total Shift value first. They may get a Narrative Bonus based on how well or entertaining they describe what they’re doing. They can also secretly bid Awesome Points to raise their final Shift or do a variety of other things. If there’s a tie, the Character with a relevant Specialization wins over a Character with a relevant Focus or Broad Value. A Character with a relevant Focus wins over a Character with a relevant Broad Value. If there’s still a tie, there’s no clear winner (yet).

The rationale is simple: if you’ve only invested in a Broad Skill, your knowledge about each Focus covered by that Skill is more general and less precise than if you had actually bought that Focus with some of your Character Points. If you invested in a Focus, that Focus still represents more generalized knowledge than a Specialization does.

This is also how I managed to keep the Character Point Costs down and not get them into double digits after I originally announced double-digit expenditure: even if a Skill easily covers 5 Focuses and each Focus can cover a large number of Specializations, Specializations beat Focuses and Focuses beat Broad Skill Groups, making them more valuable than they might appear at first glance, at least if you’re using them in your game.

Simple, right?

Take care, wear a high-quality mask, keep your social distance, and we’ll see each other soon!

Dirk Vandereyken