Hello again friends,
and welcome back to Zotiquest Newsletter after a brief break for summer vacation.

Let’s see what awaits us in the fall!

Sol: Beyond Earth is on hold

In recent issues I have covered the development of Sol: Beyond Earth extensively.

I think it is a good game, but there are two very serious problems:

1. It is definitely a niche game so I can’t figure the right audience for it.

2. I can’t find a playtest group, with the aggravation that I need to test it in Italian. In fact, the time zone and my my poor grasp of spoken English do not allow me to organize playtests in the language. And the Italian audience is notoriously refractory to the sci-fi genre and even more so to the hard sci-fi/NASApunk that characterizes S:BE.

These considerations and limitations force me to suspend game development indefinitely. Moreover, there is a very problematic underlying point: I am not convinced that GIST! is the most suitable system for the game. And without playtesting I cannot dispel this doubt. So to the (I think) few players waiting for the game, I ask for your patience. Sooner or later the game will come out. In the meantime I will consider whether to make the draft public for feedback.

Loner Complete

The good news is that I am finally layout Loner Complete, which will consist of the core rules plus all twelve Adventure Packs covering the following genres: fantasy, space, superhero, crime, mystery, horror, action/adventure, post-apocalyptic, spy, pirate, western, cyberpunk.

Each Pack will contain:

• A brief setting framework for the genre

• d66 tables of character traits: concepts, skills, weaknesses, equip

• 6 Factions

• 6 NPCs

• 6 Places

• d66 adventure seeds

The volume was written directly in English, then translated into Italian and then released first in that language.
Audience feedback in Italy has been very good, both for single Packs and the Complete volume.
After a brief survey on the game’s itch.io page, the feedback for a possible English edition has been positive, and so the Complete manual will arrive soon, hopefully by September.

Here is a preview directly from the Affinity Publisher workspace

Future developments of Loner

I am developing ulter Adventure Packs for Loner. These are an evolution of the small booklets of the first series and are divided into two different series:

1. The New Adventure Packs, are much more full-bodied and include, in addition to the “classic” content: a more comprehensive, if still short and nimble, setting; special insights when needed; lists of names for characters, places or otherwise; special rules cut to the relevant genre; and random tables to help the player during the game.

   I am developing the following Packs at the moment: Kwaidan!, Steampunk and Magic Academy. I also anticipate Marco Polo Pack (I hope to tell you about them soon!), Wuxia, Zalanthar, Mythical Mediterranean, Ice Age, and Time Travel in the future.

2. The History Packs, on the other hand, place alongside the “classic” content and name tables a few dozen pages in which briefly but thoroughly explain the historical context of reference including information on: culture and society, geography, historical events, technology and mythology.

   Currently for the first set of History Packs I envision: Imperial Rome, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Feudal Japan, Vikings, Ancient China, Age of Sail. This will be followed in the future by Colonial Age, Inca, Maia, Aztecs, Islamic Golden Age, Middle Ages, Bronze Age.

Plerion

Finally good news for Plerion, for which I am developing these fronts:

• A minimalist setting (I hope it will fit in a 50/60 page booklet) that delves into the Five Galaxies hinted at in the Principles of the Universe in the core book.

• A set of rules for solo play, which will allow one to venture with a single character (plus an evental assistant) into the vast universe of Plerion.

• A project that I have long left undone and will try to pursue diligently: The Book of Cosmic Creatures. A bestary of about 160 entries, in the concise and efficient style of Cairn and hacks. This means that you can also reuse his creatures in your Mark of the Odd and For use with Cairn games. And it will be totally released under a CC-BY-SA 4.0 license, like all my work. And it will be distributed for free and in print at cost! You can find the preliminary web version at the link above. Just keep in mind that it is work in progress and may undergo changes, sometimes drastic.

• Lastly, the edition currently on the market is the black and white edition

  I have since published a full color version for Italy. I count on being able to offer it to English-speaking friends as well by the end of the year.

Until the next update!