Dev Diary - AFF Science Fiction: The Long Road

Wow.

After 56 pages and almost 24 thousand words I'm close to finishing the playtest version of the game. I've copied across a lot of the original rules and I've been through it twice and I'm still seeing gaps and changes to be made. Not only that my head keeps filling with rules variants that I'd like to put in, but I'm refraining as I don't want to complicate the game and I also don't want to get sidetracked. It was my intention to have begun writing the setting by now but the rules really have taken longer than I thought they would.

Right now I just need to get combat and starships down as I'm still hand-wringing about certain aspects, such as ship design and ranged combat. I'll use what the original gamebooks give me for now and take it from there. I can make adjustments as I playtest.

As far as the setting is concerned I'm taking a step back to the science fiction of the 1970s and 1980s and using it for inspiration. I don't want to get bogged down by design and technobabble; I don't really care how something works, it just does. I want to keep it simple and easy and make sure that the primary thing is the adventure, not the window dressing. Each gaming group will have their own idea of how a game will look and feel, they'll have their own ideas of design and aesthetic, and the rulebook - even the setting - shouldn't dictate any of that.

I shouldn't concern myself about any of that right now. I need to get these rules finished!