Storypath System & Trinity Continuum
about 6 years ago – Wed, Feb 07, 2018 at 06:27:50 AM

Hello Backers!

As we enter the 9th day of the campaign, I wanted to follow Ian's tale of 20 years of Trinity with an update from Danielle about her work on the Trinity Continuum Core book and the Storypath System. Take it away, Danielle:

***

Hey there, Danielle Lauzon here.  

I wanted to spend some time talking about the Storypath System as it relates to Trinity Continuum and the long road from Ian’s initial pitches to where we are today. Mostly Ian did all the heavy lifting of getting us here, and I showed up towards the end to get us past that finish line.

My journey with the Trinity Continuum is a decently long one. Back in 2013, when the first drafts were being hammered out, Neall Price magnanimously suggested to Ian Watson that he hire me to write up the section on Talents in the corebook. Which I did. But the problem was that we didn’t have a mechanics system to frame the game on.

I pushed to find out where that was. And the answer was: hitting road blocks. At that time, Neall was pushing to become the lead developer on the system to get it where it needed to be, and I had a lot of opinions, so I asked him if I could work on it. At the end of 2014, we had a firm outline of how the game should work, had some meetings with some other great people who also had strong opinions in which we banged our heads on walls, and then we all sat down and wrote some stuff.  

Which then Ian got his hands on and he massaged what was clearly Scion-focused into something more Trinity Continuum-focused and handed it to the writers to do another round of drafts. The plan was that Neall would check all the systems work to make sure it lined up. The problem was that Neall was doing playtesting on Scion and constantly needing to tweak the system. Couple that with a demanding day job, and developing two Scion books, he just didn’t have the time to help Trinity Continuum.

Here’s where I came in. I offered to do the system work so that Trinity Continuum could move forward, and Rich and Ian graciously let me. I hired Tara Zuber to fill in the system holes and get Storypath for Trinity Continuum down on paper, which she did beautifully. At the same time, Steven Tasker who wrote the combat section got to work rewriting his whole chapter to fit the (oft revised) Storypath system. And Trinity Continuum was suddenly back in motion.

I sent the end result to Neall, who responded with “Crap, this is better than what I have in Scion.” This led to the next several months of chatting back and forth and finally getting the Storypath System to where it is today. And, of course, during all that, I barged in on John Snead’s work and fiddled with Psi Modes to ensure they also fit with Storypath. Thanks for letting me hack and slash all that stuff up too, John! And believe me when I tell you that we have been working on this for months. Just days before this Kickstarter went up, I was getting e-mails with headlines that read something like “Not a real emergency, but we completely fucked up how experience works, lol.” (This is not what the e-mail actually said. I’m prone to hyperbole. Neall never ends sentences with lol.)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the previews of Trinity Continuum, and the Storypath System!

***

Thanks Danielle! I'll say that the three previews we've posted thus far have been well received, and I'm looking forward to the final preview of the Trinity Continuum Core book that'll be posted this upcoming Friday (completing the Core book, with the entire manuscript posted). Next week, we'll start on previews for Trinity Continuum: Æon.

In the meantime, keep sharing your thoughts and interest on social media and with your friends! While I'm typing this, we're less than $220 away from achieving yet another Stretch Goal! So close! 

Keep the energy up! Keep the excitement up! Let's keep this campaign growing. There's lots more to come!

HOPE - SACRIFICE - UNITY

TRINITY CONTINUUM

- James

Backers Only - Manuscript Preview Part 3
about 6 years ago – Tue, Feb 06, 2018 at 05:18:10 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

5th & 3...
about 6 years ago – Sun, Feb 04, 2018 at 12:49:28 PM

Hello Backers!

That's our 5th Stretch Goal Achievement & our next three Stretch Goal targets!

To get to the good stuff right after some terrible football wordplay, we're back to our three-flavor Stretch Goal rotation. A reminder:

[ÆON ÆXPANSION] Achieving these stretch goal targets will add new sections to the Æon Æxpansion PDF supplement for the Trinity Continuum: Æon setting. Only Reward Tiers receiving the Æon Æxpansion PDF supplement will receive this additional content.

[BONUS REWARDS] Any stretch goal rewards achieved as part of this stream will be automatically added to all Reward Tiers that include [BONUS REWARDS] Stretch Goal Additions.

[1E BUNDLE] Achieving these stretch goal targets will add additional titles to the Trinity 1e digital bundle, and received by any backers who have chosen the FIRST EDITION FAN Reward Tier or selected this as an Add On reward.

Next 3 Stretch Goals

At $115,000 in funding - A Section on additional Aberrants and Aberrant Cults will be added to the Æon Æxpansion PDF supplement. [ÆON ÆXPANSION]

At $120,000 in funding - A 2nd scenario will be added to “IN MEDIA RES” – a PDF supplement for the Trinity Continuum Core contemporary setting.

CODENAME: AQUARIUS – Working for an independent intelligence agency, a team of special agents investigates, infiltrates, and eliminates global threats. Inspired by: James Bond, Mission: Impossible, Jason Bourne. Related Allegiance: 9. [BONUS REWARDS]

At $124,000 in funding - America Offline: Psi Order Orgotek & FSA Sourcebook 1E PDF will be added to the Trinity 1e digital bundle. [1E BUNDLE]

If you're gathering together with friends tonight, whether to watch the big game, or play a big game, or just to enjoy snacks and company - it's an opportunity to let them in on the ground floor with what we're building with this kickstarter! Be a good friend, and don't let them miss out! And be a good backer, and let's hit another stretch goal!

I know I'll be figuring out ways to inject "Continuum" and "Æon" into the conversation as much as possible! (note to my gaming group - apologies in advance for so many extra bad puns coming your way...)

Also,raise a glass to celebrate what we've achieved so far:

The 5 Stripes We've Earned

Trinity: Hidden Agendas 1E PDF will be added to the Trinity 1e digital bundle. [1E BUNDLE]

A Section on VARGS (large battlesuits) and VARG rules will be added to the Æon Æxpansion PDF supplement. [ÆON ÆXPANSION]

A scenario supplement PDF called “IN MEDIA RES” will be created for the Trinity Continuum Core contemporary setting. The first scenario will be: CAPER, INCORPORATED –When the system doesn’t work, these con artists put their thumbs on the scales of justice to even things out. Inspired by: Leverage, Ocean’s 11, Inception. Related Allegiance: Les Fantômes.[BONUS REWARDS]

Luna Rising: Psi Order ISRA & Luna Sourcebook 1E PDF will be added to the Trinity 1e digital bundle. [1E BUNDLE]

Backers who pledge for any reward will be notified after the campaign when a deeply discounted T-shirt design is available on our Redbubble site for a limited time. [GENERAL]

Five stretch goals in the first week of the campaign! That's fantastic momentum, so let's keep it up! Share your support! Tell your friends! Discuss the StoryPath System and previews you've read! And let's keep building on our success!

HOPE - SACRIFICE - UNITY

An ÆON Hologram Message
about 6 years ago – Sat, Feb 03, 2018 at 07:35:07 AM

Hello Backers!

This one's for the old-school Trinity (Aeon) fans out there - 

I was working on my Hologram Receiver (which is how we watch the expensive Super Bowl commercials up in Canada... before they're all released online, that is...), and I came across this hologram message that I think might be from the future.

I'm not sure if it's our Trinity Continuum: Æon future, or perhaps a parallel universe just a smidge over, but thought you'd like to see it. It's transmission-tagged as a message from Proxy Zweidler, whatever that might mean. (I've added 1E bundle to my reward pledge, so will hopefully catch up with you longterm fans a few months after the campaign ends...)

Lots of positive response to the second manuscript preview posted yesterday. If you haven't read it yet, check it out in yesterday's Backer's Only update.

The Stripes We've Earned

Four stretch goals in four days!

Trinity: Hidden Agendas 1E PDF will be added to the Trinity 1e digital bundle. [1E BUNDLE]

 A Section on VARGS (large battlesuits) and VARG rules will be added to the Æon Æxpansion PDF supplement. [ÆON ÆXPANSION]

A scenario supplement PDF called “IN MEDIA RES” will be created for the Trinity Continuum Core contemporary setting.
The first scenario will be: CAPER, INCORPORATED –When the system doesn’t work, these con artists put their thumbs on the scales of justice to even things out. Inspired by: Leverage, Ocean’s 11, Inception. Related Allegiance: Les Fantômes.[BONUS REWARDS]

Luna Rising: Psi Order ISRA & Luna Sourcebook 1E PDF will be added to the Trinity 1e digital bundle. [1E BUNDLE]

That means the 1E Bundle currently contains 11 PDFs:

 NEXT UP:

At $105,000 in funding - Kickstarter Backer Trinity Continuum T-shirt – Backers who pledge for any reward will be notified after the campaign when a deeply discounted T-shirt design is available on our Redbubble site for a limited time. [GENERAL]

Let's keep this momentum going!

HOPE - SACRIFICE - UNITY

Backers Only - Manuscript Preview Part 2
about 6 years ago – Fri, Feb 02, 2018 at 04:56:43 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.