Funded!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Apr 27, 2023 at 08:49:46 AM

That's a wrap! We hit AU$21,435 on an AU$18,000 target, and got the first stretch goal too. That's fantastic! We didn't reach the Forged stretch goal—I'll see if I'm able to when the main game is done, but no promises.

For now, here's the plan:

• Wait for funds. I decided to work with neon shudder (who did the soundtrack for Hard Wired Island as well as some of the corporate logos in that book) on improving the layout, so that's what I'll be doing while I wait.
• Once the funds come in, I'll send out surveys through Backerkit. If you backed to add something to the game, I'll use the survey to get the basics and contact you later with specific questions and details.
• Get the early sections of the book done—the bits with the basic setting and rules—and write up enough info to run the scenario from the stream as a playtest. I will try to have that ready for backers sometime in June.
• While that's getting played with I'll work on the rest of the book, the setting and the scenarios. (Since I've had this game on the backburner for a while, a lot of this will just be trying to organise several documents worth of rambling notes into something that makes sense to other people).  I'll try to write it up in chunks I can use as previews.

I'll be sending art commissions as soon as the funds come in, so I should have a lot of art to show pretty soon too!

For now, I'm going to rest. I'll update to let you know when Backerkit is set up. See you soon!

Funded! (with a few new backer tiers)
over 1 year ago – Wed, Apr 26, 2023 at 05:33:42 PM

We did it! Wetrunner is officially happening! Thank you for backing, and for spreading the word about this cyberpunk fish heist RPG. I was a little worried this would be too niche but I guess not!

We still have 12 hours to go, so it's stretch goal time. As promised, I opened up a new set of add-an-NPC backer tiers for the first stretch goal—if it doesn't fund, I'll just put your NPC in the core book instead.

In case you need a refresher, here's the stretch goal:

At this level I'll be able to include The Shark Carnival Dive, an extra scenario inspired by Black Lagoon that I wrote and cut to save on art costs.

In Shark Carnival, the PCs must help small-time con-man Benjy Luoma escape the City with blackmail data on a big-time executive (collected through a spy-fish, obviously). Unfortunately there's a price on his head, and every bounty hunter in the city, from cybernetic dolphin Johnny Aquatic to pyromaniac fascist Hadrian Wall, is racing to tag him first. Can the PCs get Benjy out of the City before a crowd of heavily-armed weirdos burns it down around him?

Doing something inspired by the Greenback Jane arc of Black Lagoon is one of my favourite tricks when I'm GMing a game (alongside "tricking the PCs into doing a Die Hard" and "using the plot of a Red Dwarf episode"). Few games can't be improved by coming up with a bunch of weird, unique NPCs and having them try to shoot the PCs in the face while bickering with each other. 

If we reach this stretch goal and it seems like we might have a shot at the Forged in the Dark one, I'll post with more details. Either way, see you soon!

The final day!
over 1 year ago – Wed, Apr 26, 2023 at 10:56:08 AM

Hey! It's the final day and the home stretch. We leapt up by 11% yesterday, started the day with 9% to go, and by now we're down to 5%. We're on track to fund!

A couple updates ago, I mentioned that if we funded by now, I'd open up some new backer tiers for the first stretch goal (and apply them to the core book if we didn't reach it). We haven't funded just yet, so I am going to hold off for now. If we fund and I change my mind, I'll post an update.

It's pretty late here, so I am going to take a rest and see how things look when I'm back. I've already asked folks to tell people about the Kickstarter if they're able (and you clearly have, thank you), so I won't repeat myself, but check this out: have you tried telling the same people about it again? Think about it.

See you soon!

48 hours to go! Here's some rules discussion
over 1 year ago – Tue, Apr 25, 2023 at 11:38:12 AM

Hey! We're in the final stretch, and things are looking good. As I mentioned last time, I'd like to use this update to talk about some of Wetrunner's mechanics that didn't come up in the stream (plus a little worldbuilding if you're interested.) I'm going to assume you're familiar with Fate's mechanics, so I can get to the point.

Cybernetics

Cybernetics in Wetrunner mostly use the existing Fate rules. Augments are represented with stunts and aspects, depending on what they do: a Biter who wants a specific combat boost will probably get a stunt, while a Line who has computer stuff in their head (so they can check Twitter hands-free, obviously, but it has heist uses too) could make it an aspect instead. Characters can take both and are encouraged to if they're very cybernetic—for example, the pregen Biter Maka with her cyberlimb suite has an aspect for being a badass cyborg and a specific stunt for smashing obstacles in her way.

Where you get your augment is important too. The augments listed in the book are sorted by who sells them, and each one has a specialty. For example:

•  Poseidon Group, the City's best security providers, mostly do combat stuff.
•  Dragon Tail, Poseidon's main competitor, focus more on defensive/concealed augments that look aesthetically pleasing.
•  FIN Billiton, an Australian industrial megacorp (Arknights fans: hello) make practical, no-frills augments for workers.
•  Charybdis Inc., a technology megacorp that wants to stick augments into their workers and surveil them, make things that go in your head/eyes.
•  Lucky Cat Enterprises, a biotech corporation that was taken over and rebranded by a cybernetically-uplifted cat (long story, but yes you can heist their fish), offer augments that regulate various chemicals in your body or inject new ones.

The main drawback of cybernetics is that the more augments you take, the more maintenance they need and the more glitches you can encounter (especially if you're using augments from multiple companies, which don't necessarily play nice together), so the GM is encouraged to throw compels at you. I'm hoping this system keeps things simple while introducing a little flavour.

Bases

Every heist crew has a place they live/meet in between missions. What it's like is up to you! For example, you could say it's:

• A front business (like a bar or arcade) with hidden rooms and such
• A boat (houseboat, small yacht, etc.) that sails around the artificial island Pinnacle City is on
• A submarine or similar high-tech vehicle that lurks around the pillars that hold the island up
• A dock and warehouse for your "shipping company"
• A run-down office hidden in the also run-down Coral Coast commercial zone
• The basement of the Burger Kong you work at (wouldn't recommend this one)

Base building is something that happens between missions, and like cybernetics, it's tied to existing systems—they're represented by aspects, and as your characters advance you can upgrade the base and give it stunts. At the moment the stats are divided across three areas for the sake of adding more fish words: the Box (the base's actual physical features), the Net (its tech/social features), and the Pool (amenities/comforts/misc).

This base stuff is partly inspired by Leverage (where the crew has a few bases, including offices and a pub) and Black Lagoon (where the Lagoon Company has a dock house and an office.) If you're familiar with either of those you'll know that sometimes they lose their base—the Leverage crew's office is blown up, and the Lagoon Company's dock house basically gets annihilated during the arc the first stretch goal is inspired by. That sounds fun, right? Right?

The base rules are staying simple because I want the PCs' base to be at risk of getting raided/blown up at dramatically appropriate moments, and this way you can rebuild fast. It depends on whether your group is interested, of course, but it could be fun! You know how it is: Eventually you get tired of hiding on a secret yacht and blow it up with a sea mine while your nemesis is on board so you can open a bar. We've all been there.

Anyway

That's it for now! I could write more, but it is getting pretty late here and I'd like to have something to say at the 24h mark besides "please tell people about Wetrunner". Incidentally, have you posted about Wetrunner recently? It's a good time to try! Who knows, maybe we'll get those stretch goals.

I'll see you soon!

Four days left!
over 1 year ago – Sun, Apr 23, 2023 at 11:10:42 AM

Hey! So, we've got a little under four days to go. (Also, there's a sample PC tier and some NPC tiers freed up if anyone wants to get on those.) We're doing alright: I've crunched the numbers on my cyberfish (it's a fish but you can use it to go on the computer) and if previous trends continue we'll fund off the 48-hour push.

I'd like to get as much done possible before then though, just to be sure. As I mentioned last update, when we fund I'll add some NPC tiers for the stretch goal; I'm also considering opening up another Mark+Hub tier after we fund as well, to prod us closer to the Forged goal. If we fund before the 24h mark, that's when I'll announce what I'm doing properly.

I've had a busy few days, so when we hit the 48h mark I'll be back with an update talking about some of the mechanics that didn't make it into the stream. In the meantime, you know the drill: we rely on people to spread the word, so if you've got any friends/pets who haven't heard about Wetrunner yet, now's a great time to tell them! If you've got any questions, feel free to send those as well and I'll see what I can do.

See you soon!