January is nearly over, so how far have we got?
The first major task has been to 'de-fantasize' the core rules of Thud & Blunder and use these as the foundation for those of IHMN2. T&B is the result of seven years of play-testing the core rules by thousands of players. Every after action report by a player, every forum post, and every review was scoured to ensure the core rules were as good as they could be.
Then these core rules have been compared to the unique IHMN setting, and the original game and its supplements, to ensure it actually works.
Of particular importance has been the points system as IHMN2 has a much broader range of weapons, armour, equipment, weird science and transport than the first edition, or T&B. Getting this right is of paramount importance.
If you include the Armoury we are going to hit over 20,000 words in this section. It is going to be thorough, and it has to be if it is going to stand the test of time. It's worth noting that the original IHMN rulebook ran to only 25,000 words, and it's brevity left a lot of holes that you have asked us to fill.
The game shall have a completely new section on Mechanized Walkers. Previously you had a couple of paragraphs and a table, hardly what you needed to design and field these essential pieces of VSF/Steampunk hardware. Now you shall be able to design them from the ground up, and many of the companies in the book shall have access to their own versions. As before, there shall also be a list of 'standard' types. We are rewally looking forwards to seeing what you all do with these.
The Talents section has been overhauled, some entries simplified and the best of the skills and traits from Daisho, Blood Eagle and T&B ported over and converted to match the IHMN setting. Of particular note is the decision to bring the Hero talent into IHMN. This has proved very popular in the other games, so we are including it here.
The next section to get a good going over shall be Mystical Powers. Here we have to be careful because it would be so easy to just drop in every power from previous games, but this does not really fit the VSF/Steampunk setting. A Mystical Power needs to be appropriate, so expect Charles and I to be talking long into the nights on this one.
A few companies have already been redrafted, though they cannot be completed until we have the core rules, armoury, talents and mystical powers completed. These include the Brick Lane Commune and Lord Curr's Incorrigibles.
One of the real problems with the original Osprey format, with its 25,000 word limit, was that we could not explore the companies to their full potential. Lists like the two mentioned above suffered as a result.
So here we are, getting on with business, but there is so much more to do. Completing the rules, redrafting another eighteen companies, getting photos and artwork, proofing, editing, proofing again, play-testing, layout, editing, re-layout, print proofs, printing, marketing and distribution. It is going to be long but exciting year.
Each month we shall update you with progress and give you little peeks behind the curtain. We shall look forward to all your feedback on the process.