July Update #2 (Indie Groundbreaker Award nomination!)
over 3 years ago – Sat, Jul 23, 2022 at 12:47:21 PM

Two surprises in July: the UK's first ever 40C (104F) day, and an award nomination for Stealing the Throne! 

Current Status

• Indie Groundbreaker Award nomination for Best Setting! That's right, Stealing the Throne has been nominated for Best Setting, and I'm very excited about it.
• Solo playtest draft complete. The playtest draft of the Daring Thief Edition is now complete. That means it's time to execute a series of impossibly daring solo heists to make sure the machinery works! Read on if you're interested in helping out with the playtesting...

Indie Groundbreaker Award nomination!

So, Wednesday morning I woke up to this...  

Stealing the Throne has been nominated for Best Setting at the Indie Groundbreaker Awards! 

I'm extremely grateful for the nomination, and super excited to see Stealing the Throne up there with so many other great games. I also think it's a really interesting category to be nominated in, since Stealing the Throne isn't your typical setting-heavy game. The setting is communicated entirely via the premise, a set of evocative names, and the prompt-filled playsets. And the art, of course!

In my experience, this means that a big part of every game of Stealing the Throne is claiming ownership over the setting -- even tables that use one of the playsets end up with their own unique vision for Belly Laugh, or the Burning Soldier, or Tensword. Every appearance of Finch the thief is particular to that table, and that heist. Stealing the Throne's setting isn't a static, externally-imposed thing -- it lives and evolves at every table.

I'm also excited about this nomination because the construction of the setting (such as it is) was an extremely collaborative process. The contents of the playsets grew out of playtest games, your input during this Kickstarter campaign, and the evocative art dreamt up by Si, Sam, Galen, and Brandish. I can't overstate how huge the art was in this -- each of the artists illustrated their Thrones based only on a name, with no additional guidance from me, and then I used that art to inspire my writing when I worked on the playtests. The setting wouldn't have been anywhere near as rich without the input of so many talented folks, and that makes me very happy.

Winners will be announced in an online ceremony on July 30th. Wish me luck!

Solo playtest draft complete

The final stretch goal for this campaign is a set of rules for playing Stealing the Throne solo. I'm pleased to say that I now have a playable draft, which I'm currently calling the Daring Thief Edition (with thanks to Sam Roberts for the name!). 

I've tried to create an experience that mirrors the multi-player version of Stealing the Throne, with a few twists that lean into the idea of a lone thief attempting the impossible. Here are a few of the key features in the current draft:

• Heists based directly on the Throne playsets, giving you rich oracles for solo play.  
• A section of the planning phase devoted to learning what drives your thief to attempt the impossible. 
• The introduction of a rival, whose appearance complicates any scene.
• A system for calling in assets to help if the heist goes south. Can you really trust them, though?

If you would like to help playtest the solo rules for stealing giant robots, drop me a message on Kickstarter, reach out to me on twitter, or join the ickbat games discord! 

Next Steps

• Finalise solo rules. Some more playtesting, some additional guidelines to help with solo play, some editing, and then it's into layout. That’s it!

(Me, powering up Belly Laugh for an explosive getaway...)

- Nick

June Update #2 (new stuff for you!)
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Jun 24, 2022 at 10:11:24 PM

That's right folks, it's June and I've got new Stealing the Throne stuff for you!

(Ahh, Stryker Eureka. The pride of my homeland.)

Current Status

• Galaxy map stretch goal complete! Lone Archivist has finished mapping the Throne-touched Milky Way galaxy of the distant future, and it is glorious. More details below, but you can find it in your BackerKit downloads now.
• New playsets! Thanks to the kind generosity of the Ancient Hero backers, you now have two new Thrones to steal: the horror-themed Solemn Antic, and Alpha Regalis, the First Throne. Again, more details below, but you can download these bonus playsets from itch.io or BackerKit now.
• Solo rules drafting underway. I've been thinking hard about the rhythm of solo Throne heists, and I reckon I've got most of the details mapped out. Now to test and refine them!

How do I get my stuff?

I hear you. You don't have much time. Who does, when the world is falling apart and there are epic heists to plan and execute? If you just want to know where to get your stuff, I've got you:

• Galaxy map: Lone Archivist's stunning galaxy map is in your BackerKit downloads. You should receive an email notification (entitled New Digital Content for Stealing the Throne) with a link. If you've lost your BackerKit survey you can find it again by following this link: https://stealing-the-throne.backerkit.com/.
• Bonus playsets: The new Ancient Hero playsets for the Solemn Antic and Alpha Regalis are available on the Stealing the Throne itch page: https://ickbat.itch.io/stealing-the-throne. You can also pick them up from your BackerKit downloads, as described above. If you do head over to itch.io, why not give the game a quick 5-star rating? I'd be very grateful!

(If your first thought on reading "how do I get my stuff?" was "heist!", then you get me.)

Galaxy map stretch goal complete!

If this little teaser image isn't enough to get you excited about the galaxy map, then I don't know what will! Lone Archivist has absolutely knocked it out of the park (the gravity well?). He has designed something that is at once a perfect match for Stealing the Throne's tone, and an exemplar of his distinctive style. I've had such fun looking it over, pondering what it might mean all. Why is Belly Laugh so far from House Tarkov space? What is South Wind doing there instead? What has drawn the Burning Soldier to the Galactic Centre? So many questions...  

There are plenty of little easter eggs in there, too. Like, oh, this one:

I'm super intrigued to see how this map gets used in play. There are no specific rules for it (yet?), which just means the field is wide open. Next time I play Stealing the Throne, I'm going to put it on the table and see what happens. How do you think you'll use it?

Two new playsets!

As part of their backer rewards, I worked with the two generous Ancient Hero backers to create custom Throne playsets. Those playsets were finalised last month, and both backers kindly offered to share them with the world. You, and everyone who buys Stealing the Throne, can now download these bonus playsets from https://ickbat.itch.io/stealing-the-throne!

ALPHA REGALIS

Alpha Regalis is the First Throne, the template on which all subsequent Thrones were based. It towers over its younger siblings, faster and more powerful than any of them, a true symbol of greatness. But it also has another name, whispered only in hidden places: the Flawed Throne.

THE SOLEMN ANTIC

In the darkest hour of the great war, desperate for a new weapon, we hacked together a Throne from four failed prototypes. It saved us then, but as the years wore on we learned that the thing we had created was not entirely right. The Solemn Antic was broken, in strange and terrible ways.

Both playsets are broadly structured like the ones in the rulebook, but we took the opportunity to add a couple of special rules to make each a little unique: a little something to emphasise the horrifying nature of the Solemn Antic, and a mighty dilemma for any would-be Alpha Regalis thieves.

Designing both of these playsets was an absolute blast. Both backers brought absolutely fabulous ideas to the table, from the pitch-perfect names to the brilliant themes, and many of the details that make up the backstories of these two ancient machines. They pushed the designs off in directions I wouldn't have dreamed up on my own. I think the Solemn Antic and Alpha Regalis are perfect complements to the existing Thrones, bringing two very different play experiences to the table. 

It was a real joy working with the Ancient Heroes, and I'm glad that you all get a chance to see (and then steal) what they helped create!

Next Steps

• Get the solo rules done. I think the basics are in place, so next up is some playtesting, getting a few extra eyes on it, and drafting up the final rulebook. If you'd like a sneak preview, I'll probably be asking folks on the ickbat games discord for their feedback soon!

Elaborate heist?

- Nick

May Update #2 (with thoughts on heist scene framing)
almost 4 years ago – Wed, May 25, 2022 at 02:07:18 AM

Welcome to May. These Thrones won't steal themselves, so let's get to it!

(Pictured: me, making my getaway.)

Current Status

• Ancient Hero playsets complete! The Alpha Regalis and Solemn Antic playsets have now been delivered to their respective Ancient Hero backers. That means the core Stealing the Throne Kickstarter is fully delivered, which is pretty exciting news. All that's left is the stretch goals, and speaking of which...  
• Galaxy map nearing completion! I have a near-final version of the Milky Way map from Lone Archivist, and it's looking glorious. I can't wait to share it with you all!
• Solo heist planning begins. With the Ancient Hero playsets out of the way, I've started working on the final stretch goal: rules for playing Stealing the Throne solo. We've done a bit of brainstorming over on discord, so pop in if you have thoughts!

Heist scene framing

In games of Stealing the Throne, it's the Throne's job to describe a seemingly-impossible obstacle for the Thief to overcome. I've noticed that Throne players tend to do this one of two ways, which I've come to think of as soft framing and hard framing:

• Soft framing: The Throne describes an obstacle in the abstract, and then asks the Thief how they plan to overcome it. Using this information, the Throne and the Thief then work together to frame a specific scene. "There is an impenetrable force shield blocking entry to the Throne's command deck. To unlock it, you need to turn two quantum-entangled keys simultaneously: one on the Throne itself, and another on a secret facility hidden in the eye of a planet-sized storm on a gas giant twenty light years away. What's your plan?"  
• Hard framing: The Throne frames a specific scene, with the thief already in the action, and then asks Thief what they do. "You're standing before a crackling forcefield blocking entry to the Throne's command deck. You can see the lock where you'll need to turn a key, which sounds easy, but you'll need to do it at the exact same instant as another quantum-entangled key is turned in a matching lock on a secret facility twenty light years away. Oh, and there's a patrol of Storm Knights due in about thirty seconds. What do you do?" 

Both of these methods work -- I've certainly used them both, depending on the players and the needs of the session. Soft framing tends to lead to more elaborate plans, whereas hard framing generally gets to the action quicker.

It was during an excellent game of Rise and Fall this week (which you can listen to on Black Armada Tales) that the brilliant Becky Annison proposed a third type of framing. Let's call it Leverage framing:

• Leverage framing: The Throne frames a scene where it appears that everything has already gone wrong. The Thief then explains (possibly in flashback) how this was part of the plan all along. "The Storm Captain pulls the forged key from your hand as two of his Knights pin your arms behind your back. 'Did you really think this would work?' he sneers. 'To open this forcefield you need to turn this key at the same time as its quantum pair, twenty light years away. You've missed your window, and that means your accomplice on Squall Station - whoever they were - is already dead. You'll join them soon.' How are you going to get out of this one?"

So next time you're playing, why not try mixing up how you frame your scenes? And if you've got any other techniques you like to use, I'd love to hear them!

The Indie RPG Newsletter 

This month I also want to shout out The Indie RPG Newsletter, which is a weekly newsletter on the indie TTRPG universe written by Thomas Manuel (who also happens to be an excellent game designer). Thomas recently played Stealing the Throne, and was kind enough to feature it in last week's newsletter (thank you, Thomas!). I feel like he perfectly captured what I was going for in his writeup: "What is extra fun about these tight storygames is that the action and drama very seamlessly takes on an epic scale as players realise that there's nothing stopping them from going over the top." Exactly!

I heartily recommend subscribing to the newsletter -- not only are Thomas' musings on game design insightful and thought-provoking, he also curates a really excellent list of interesting bits and pieces from around the indie TTRPG sphere every week. It's great stuff!

Next Steps

• Finish mapping the galaxy. The ball is in my court now on the galaxy map stretch goal -- as soon as I can get my comments to Lone Archivist, he can work on those finishing touches. It's going to be ace!
• Sketch out a solo alpha draft, and playtest it. I was very excited when we hit this stretch goal, and now I get to work on it. Truly, I am grateful to you for all of your support! 

Steady... Almost there...

- Nick

April Update #2 (oof!)
almost 4 years ago – Sun, Apr 24, 2022 at 04:07:34 PM

April, hey? What a month.

(Pictured: my encounter with April.)

Current Status

• So, April happened. To be honest, I should've seen it coming. April is always a ridiculously busy month at my day job, which makes it incredibly difficult to find the energy and brain space for creative work. As a result, this update is going to be short and sweet!
• Star chart brief with Lone Archivist. I did manage to prep a detailed brief for the star chart stretch goal, which is now with Lone Archivist - lots of juicy details for him to sprinkle across the Milky Way of a thousand years (and more) hence. This was super fun, drawing a little on my background as an astrophysicist, and with some top-flight inspiration from the ickbat games discord (thanks, team!).
• Played Stealing the Crone! I’m writing this from a gaming getaway with some very dear friends, and yesterday we played Logan Timmins’ Stealing the Crone. Our loveable scamps managed to create enough mayhem for Titus the Indomitable (aka Gramps) to sneak out of The Hero’s Rest, a home for retired adventurers. It was just the most ridiculous, charming fun - highly, highly recommended!

An idle design challenge for you

Last week, tabletop hobby journalist Chase Carter published an interesting article on Polygon about the preview of the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game. The article began with the following:

"Why do we enjoy superhero stories? This question kept nagging me while I read through an early preview of the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game.”

This immediately felt to me like a game design challenge: figure out why I enjoy superhero stories, and design a game to match. Of course, a bunch of indie game designers have already done this: Chris Longhurst's See Issue X, W. H. Arthur's Superhero Cinematic Universe TTRPG, and Jeff Stormer's Anyone Can Wear The Mask to name just three excellent examples. What’s most interesting to me about a challenge like this is that each designer’s answer is going to be different, unique to them. I don't know what my answer is yet (it probably has something to do with cosmic supers), but I'm going to be thinking about it in my idle moments.

In many ways, Stealing the Throne is my response to a similar question about heist stories. In that spirit, let me throw this design challenge to you:

• Why do you enjoy heist stories?
• How would you add to or tweak Stealing the Throne to reflect that?

Answers in a Kickstarter comment, tweet, or discord post!

Next Steps

• Finalise Ancient Hero playsets. With luck, I'll be able to finalise the Ancient Hero playsets in May, and then it's onwards to developing the rules for solo heists!
• Continue work on the star chart. Lone Archivist is hard at work mapping the distant future, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what he comes up with over the next month!   

(Pictured: me, getting ready to face the rest of April.)

- Nick

March Update (a new thief joins the crew!)
about 4 years ago – Wed, Mar 23, 2022 at 03:57:58 PM

Is it really March already? The month of my birth? 

(Pictured: my encounter with the first quarter of 2022.)

Current Status

• Progress on the Ancient Hero playsets. I've had some great feedback from the Ancient Hero backers already, so my next step is to incorporate it into the drafts. I'm really pleased with how the mighty Alpha Regalis and the sinister Solemn Antic are coming together...
• Stellar cartographer secured. There's an exciting new addition to the Stealing the Throne crew! Read on to find out who will be handling the campaign's final stretch goal. ('Stellar cartography' is a pretty great area of expertise for a thief, come to think of it.) 
• Check out this amazing review of Stealing the Throne on The Alexandrian! A big thank you to Justin for playing the game and taking the time to write it up!

Lone Archivist joins the crew

Do you remember the last stretch goal we hit, to produce an illustrated star chart filled with story seeds from a thousand years of history? I'm excited to say that Lone Archivist will be tackling that project!

A designer from Southern California, Lone Archivist is inspired by the beauty of the cosmos, the horror of the dark, and the quiet between notes. He has published several micro games and adventures including two full-length third party modules for Mothership - Primeval and What We Give To Alien Gods. He has also designed and contributed to several other published and upcoming projects including Hull Breach (Anodyne Printware) and Orbital Blues (Soul Muppet Publishing).

I've been a big fan of Lone Archivist's visual style ever since I picked up Epsilon Outpost, which is a super interesting experiment in using PDF layers for RPG map design. And of course there's the forthcoming In Other Waters: Tidebreak, about which I am very excited. I can't wait to see what happens when his rad wireframe-y sci-fi stylings meet the brief for this project!

Why not welcome Lone Archivist to the crew by checking out some of his work?

#StealingTheJam: one week to go!

That's right, it's crunch time. The March 31st deadline for submissions to Stealing the Jam is now officially a week away (eep!).

Will any more hacks, playsets, or mods sneak in under the wire? Will my entry be done in time? Keep an eye on the jam page to find out!

The Black Armada heist

Have you listened to the Black Armada Tales actual play of Stealing the Throne yet? If not, now is the perfect time! The final episode of the heist went live on March 9th, ending with Tensword's explosive getaway from the harbour capital of House Tetsudo. Who made it out with the Throne? Who went out in a blaze of glory? And what exactly does the mysterious Primaris Device do? Only one way to find out!

(If you have listened, let us know what you thought -- you can find most of the crew on twitter, and the ickbat games discord is always open for chats.)

Next Steps

• Finalise Ancient Hero playsets. I'm hoping to wrap up the Ancient Hero playsets in April, at which point I can move on to the final stretch goal: lone thieves on epic solo heists!
• Work with Lone Archivist on developing the star chart. This will undoubtedly be the most fun part of my month...

Spaaaaace!

- Nick