Hello today! While this game is technically fully playable, I want to keep polishing the experience of it until I consider it perfect. Since this is a tabletop, testing changes in sessions and applying them takes a lot of time, but I want to keep you guys updated and I like the idea of having almost this kind of "blog", so please leave comments with suggestions or questions if you have any! Heads up - if you're reading this, I'm assuming that you know how the system works, so there will be minimal context given. With that out the way, let's get to the fun stuff...

What's new in 1.8?

Playbook Art #4 - The Destined (by Peachy Owl) 

Playbook Art #5 - The Robot (by Project Shadowcat)

Since we're getting close to the final version of the base game, and we are getting real close, I wanted to speed up the process of images and get 2 instead of 1 for this update.

Introducing The Destined - a beautiful and mystic unicorn from a long lost kingdom, guided by the visions of past and future, doing it's best to make this world a better place. And The Robot - a machine lost in the woods, a scouting unit without a goal, gaining purpose and soul in protecting the critters and the trees around them.

File Clean-up

The game file list have been getting pretty long recently, and I decided to clean that up. All the old versions are still available, but they will be put into the "Rings and Running Shoes Archive" zip, which will be updated with each release.

Star Attributes

Natural 20s are awesome, that is a fact, so Natural 12s should be as awesome. For a while I was fighting with the problem of Advanced Basic Moves not being worth it, or attractive enough to players, and only recently have I gotten a good idea to actually fix this problem - make Attributes "Advanced". In short, it's the same system of using your level ups, to unlock the "12+" option, but instead of being tied to moves, they are now tied to Attributes. That provides some benefits - first of all, players get more value out of it, as it will apply to their playbook moves on top of the basic ones. Second off, I have less of a headache, as the Star Attribute rules are generic, they don't need to be individually created per move and take way less space in Move Summary documents (god knows, I need space there). In short, I'm very happy with this update, and I think it will have a good impact.

Live and Learn

Hanging on the edge of tomorrow. One of my favorite mechanics that was mostly forgotten by players was "create a Boss Aspect for a miss on Kick Butt to turn it into a 7", as it provided a really fun temptation for the players and gave the GM a minute to gloat. Unfortunately, it wasn't enticing enough to players, as mixed success on Kick Butt is basically a fail after the recent changes. So, I decided to expand that option in all possible directions - instead of it being tied to Kick Butt only and giving a mixed success, it is now a separate action when a player can take on any miss roll and turn it into a full success... Outside of Boss Battles. That leaves you with a much more enticing and helpful option, that doesn't really affect the GM, as the Boss Battle is what they should care about most. I really like this addition and I hope it gets more play.

The Tutorial Update

The big one, finally. So there are a lot of changes in this update. The two new mechanics, which are pretty small all things considered, a decent sized tweak to Robot and Changed and the (robotic) tag, but the actual meat of the update comes in two sections - new tutorials and clarification wording tweaks. I finally sat down, and keeping the whole system in mind, re-wrote How to Play and The Game Master sections of the game. There is a lot to talk about, but honestly? I already written pretty much everything I could there, so take a read :)

Plan for the Future

So what's next? About 3-4 months ago, I was sure that this is going to be the "final" update. Maybe not the "polish" update, but the "finalized rules" one... And to an extent I was right "mostly". I'm pretty confident in the Basic rules. Unless something dramatic comes, with the exception on maybe minor streamlining on Battle Counter for Kick Butt, I'm glad to say that these rules are DONE. But I also found out that I'm not fully happy with some of the playbooks, specifically - Lead, Robot and Changed. I wrote a bit and detailed post about it on Discord, but in short, Lead, the generic fighter, has a complex team-building Feature, while Robot, the functional machine, has the least mechanical one. And the Path for the Changed, while an awesome mechanic never quite reached what I wanted it to do, and is more of an annoyance and word clutter. At the same time, these changes are pretty small, and I will start on the planned "polish" update as well. So who knows? Maybe the next one will be the last one anyway. But if you're interested more specifically, here are my notes:

- Swap features of Lead and Robot.
- Maybe think of a better Robot Final Improvement and update the Changed again (remove path?).
- Buff miss on Kick Butt, and maybe see if the combat counter can be streamlined or clarified better.
- Rule Expansion Rulebook - keep adding more things to that and publish it!
- Ability Types - move them away from the Ability as far as possible. Move to Advanced Mechanics? Maybe make them a more advanced option mechanically, like something you need to unlock. They are confusing the new players.
-- Take another pass on Empathy and the whole Teamwork thing, keeping in mind recent TTL changes and making them even more streamlined, but it will not be anything large
- Formatting Pass and Documentation:
-- It's unclear what a "challenge" or "event" is in that context. Also eventually you start using Obstacles with a capital O implying they're their own unique term, and that's a bit confusing because what exactly is a challenge or obstacle, and how many dice rolls do they usually make up, or is a "challenge" a series of related obstacles, and such.
-- Addendum at the end, which will house all the tables, and maybe even terms.
-- Write or link some sort of "character sheet examples" of canon characters.
-- Glossary of terms to use for Capitalization purposes.
-- Most PbtA games put attributes in the summary... I should look into finding space.
-- sheets links to rulebook and summary.

List of 1.8 Patch Notes:

New System - Star Attributes:

- Main Attributes - Star Attribute - added.
- Every Playbook - now includes Star Attribute Improvement. One Regular and one Advanced.
- To Save Everyone - every attribute now becomes a Star Attribute.
- Boss Weakness - Exploiting it allows you to use a Star Attribute effect on a 12+, even if you don't have it.
- Advanced Moves - are removed from the game and replaced with Star Attributes.

New System - Live and Learn:

- Live and Learn - added to Basic Moves. Turns results into a full success outside of the boss battle.
- Kick Butt - removed the "add Boss Aspect for a miss" cognition.

Basic Moves and Other Updates:

- Kick Butt - mechanics of Battle Counters loosened.
- Flex Muscles & Focus - reworded for "GM choice" to be clearer.
- Flex Muscles - wording about collateral made more clear.
- Find Out More - reworded to make more clear what it does.
- Convince Them - changed 7-9 condition to be more generic.
- Ready for Action - add the option to pull everyone into Talking The Lead.
- Focus - renamed "Glitch" to "Feedback".
- Peace and Quiet - Teamwork and roleplaying wording clarification.
- Peace and Quiet - minor wording tweak about scenes and Teamwork.
- Taking The Lead - wording to say it's also about doing things together.
- Taking The Lead - clarification on pulling others.
- Ability Empathy Type - now allows pulling everyone, plus some wording clarifications.
- Ability Empathy Type - Charged simplified and streamlined.
- To Save Everyone - now allows you to change your Ability Temporarily.
- To Save Everyone - reworded to reduce the amount of "Everyone".
- Learn a Boss Weakness and Aspect renamed to "Boss Weaknesses" and "Boss Aspects".
- Boss Weakness - added clarification about wasting it + minor wording errors.
- Hero Clash - renamed "Resolution" to "Compromise" and tweaked the condition for it.
- Hero Clash - reworded rewards, 1 Ring for Resolution; 2 Momentum for Surrender.
- Optional Rules - Lives - moved to the Rule Expansion book.
- Gear and Pets - added clarification about pets.
- Gear - tweaked the intro paragraph and explained Pets.
- Improvements - added "or a new Pet" wording to everyone.
- Destined and Robot swapped places in the book, so Robot is closer to Changed.

Documentation and How to Play:

- So what's this all about? - How To Make A Character - added.
- System Overview renamed to "System Overview, The Game 101".
- System Overview - Hubs renamed to "P&Q".
- System Overview - added a paragraph at the end about "The gameplay loop".
- System Overview - Playbook - rewritten.
- System Overview - Moves and Dice Rolls swapped.
- System Overview - Added "Adventure Moments" (no-roll Basic Moves).
- Universal Hero Traits - renamed to "Universal Hero Traits and Basic Moves".
- Universal Hero Traits - Main Hero Ability - Ability Description added.
- Universal Hero Traits - Main Hero Ability - Overview - Playbook Features + Special attacks - cleaned up a bit.
- Universal Hero Traits - Adventure Moments - moved these Basic Moves under that category: TTL, Assist, P&Q, Take Five, TSE and L&L.
- How To Play - removed the warning that this is unfinished.
- How To Play - The Moves - added a paragraph about "roleplaying conditions".
- How To Play - The Moves - updated to new rules and explained "pressure".
- How To Play - Rolling Вice and Calculations - reworded for TTL.
- How To Play - Rolling Dice and Calculations - added ruling on Advantage and Disadvantage mixing.
- How To Play - Agenda - updated to new rules.
- How To Play - The Game Structure - added.
- How To Play - The Talking Rule - added.
- How To Play - Star Attributes - added.
- How to Play - Ability Types and How to Use Them - added.
- How to Play - Bosses, Minions, Defenses - added info about targeting.
- How to Play - Taking The Lead - added.
- How To Play - Bosses and Minions - updated to new rules.
- How To Play - Game Limitations - updated to new rules.
- The Game Master - intro expanded.
- The Game Master - Mindset - minor tweaks.
- The Game Master - Call to Action - expanded.
- The Game Master - Obstacles or Set-Pieces - expanded.
- The Game Master - The Vision and its Clues - added and expanded.
- The Game Master - The Final Boss and To Save Everyone - added.
- The Game Master - Calamity or Event bosses - added.
- The Game Master - Mindset and Conceptualization - added The "Omochao" Clause.
- The Game Master - Example Adventure: Return of Neo Metal Sonic - included in the book.
- Running The Game - Description is Your Action - rewritten.
- Running The Game - Interpreting Player Actions - added.
- Running The Game - Managing Spotlight - added.
- Running The Game - Edge Cases and Anecdotes - added.
- A million small fixed from our lovely Editors, Gunblazer and Amberlink <3

Playbook Tweaks and Updates:

- Lead - Heroic Leadership - reworded to be similar to Empathy Type.
- Lead - Coordinated - is increased by 1.
- Lead - We Fight As One - now (burned).
- Lead - Unreleased - now (burned).
- Lead - Never Fear The Fall - added a minor roleplaying condition.
- Lead - You're the Star of my Scene - added a minor roleplaying condition.
- Lead - I've Got Your "Limit" Right Here - added some flair text.
- Lead - Unleashed - activation wording + is now (burned).
- Tinker - Inspiration - added wording about the tool.
- Tinker - Feature - Mechanism - reworded it to be part of your Ability, plus Gear clarification.
- Tinker - Feature - Assistant - changed Stamina for Gear.
- Tinker - Feature - Expertise - now restricts Gear from being taken.
- Tinker - Feature - Expertise - a narrative condition added about adding your logo.
- Tinker - Show 'Em How It's Done - reworded, increased the requirement a bit.
- Tinker - Thank You For The Hard Work - Star Attribute wording.
- Tinker - I Got It! - minor working tweak about providing info.
- Tinker - I Got It! - added a minor roleplaying condition.
- Tinker - Are You Out Of Your Mind?! - added a minor roleplaying condition.
- Tinker - Show 'Em How It's Done - added a minor roleplaying condition.
- Guardian - Feature - Treasure - now will put it in danger when used.
- Guardian - We'll Keep Him Off You! - wording made clearer.
- Guardian - You Let Him Trick You, Again? - redone, now an active move.
- Guardian - Advanced Improvement - made a new one, now gives Armor.
- Guardian - Unknown from M.E. - Star Attribute wording.
- Guardian - We'll Keep Him Off You! - now (burned).
- Guardian - History of Our People - added a minor roleplaying condition.
- Guardian - Lost Temper - added some flair text.
- Guardian - My Work is Not Finished - added a minor roleplaying condition.
- Guardian - You Let Him Trick You, Again? - added a minor roleplaying condition.
- Guardian - Trick You Again - removed, because of the new feature.
- Guardian - Must... Protect... - replaces Trick You Again.
- Destined - now has an image!
- Destined - Feature - Flaws - redone to be more impactful and Vision focused, gives 1 Rings when Vision is found.
- Destined - Feature - Flaws - renamed "Cursed" to "Unstable".
- Destined - Feature - Vision - tweaked Vision and Doing What wording to be more clear.
- Destined - Complete My Duty - wording tweak a bit about "Flaw".
- Destined - Spiritual Companion - Star Attribute wording.
- Destined - Master - reworded to be more clear.
- Destined - Improvements - redone, now can take any move that requires a Mystic roll.
- Destined - Advanced Improvement - now removes a Flaw.
- Destined - Final Improvement - removed the Flaw part.
- Rogue - Feature - Make sure Goal is mentioned in Rogue's Feature description.
- Rogue - Feature - Brooding - worded "Feature's Method" to be more clear.
- Rogue - Smash and Grab - added some flair text.
- Rogue - Not Going Down Like a Chump - now (burned).
- Rogue - Improvement - replaced Fodder Improvement with Brooding.
- Rogue - Connections - adjust wording to make it less aggressive, "horrible".

Robot and Changed Unleashed:

- Robot - (robotic) tag is gone! Go nuts!
- Robot - Feature - Creator - removed Aspects/Weaknesses, Old Man and shuffled around a bit.
- Robot - Feature - renamed "Creator" to "Defect" and changed the names so it's more clear.
- Robot - Feature - wording clarification on "re-skinning".
- Robot - Feature - removed info about the (robotic) tag and Note #1.
- Robot - Care Unit - reworded to be more clear.
- Robot - New Mission Parameters Accepted - buffed a bit.
- Robot - Make This Work - wording clarification.
- Robot - We Go Together - Star Attribute wording.
- Robot - Cannot Destroy My Soul - re-written a little, Stamina rules changed mostly.
- Robot - Worthless Consumer Models - added a minor roleplaying condition.
- Robot - I Can Take 'Em - added a minor roleplaying condition.
- Robot - AdAptive technology - lol it was spelled with an "o".
- Robot - Urge to Maim - clarification wording, flair.
- Robot - Improvements - now picks from the Changed playbook instead of "(robotic)".
- Changed - (robotic) tag is gone! Go nuts!
- Changed - Feature - removed info about the (robotic) tag and Note #1.
- Changed - Feature - highlighted Path and Type Change connection.
- Changed - Feature - "If you are being healed or attacked" now says "unless specified".
- Changed - Special Occasion - now does 3 regular Damage allowing it to be picked by anyone.
- Changed - Back Off! - added some flair text.
- Changed - Integration - added some flair text.
- Changed - A Little Self-Improvement - added some flair text.
- Changed - You'll Have The Honor! - added some flair text.
- Changed - Mine's Bettah! - added some flair text, now (burned).
- Changed - Full Conversion - removed, as we couldn't make it work mechanically.
- Changed - Better Every Day - added as a replacement for Full Conversion.
- Changed - Improvements - now picks from Robot playbook instead of "(robotic)".

Clumsy Update:

- Clumsy - Feature - Luck Pool changed to Karma Pool and updated to work on nat 1s.
- Clumsy - Feature - clarification on earning Points.
- Clumsy - My Word Balloons Are Messed Up! - added a minor roleplaying condition.
- Clumsy - I Have Plenty Back Home - added some flair text.
- Clumsy - Wow! Look at All of Them! - added some flair text.
- Clumsy - You Want Some Fries With That? - wording for free use.
- Clumsy - Donk - added clarification that it's only applied to rolls and flair.

Sheets and Supporting Documents:

- Completely New Basic Move Summary! :D
- Link to the new Move Summary added to the sheets.
- Now include Star Attribute checkbox and Improvement.
- Rogue - Improvement - sheet drop-down for the Feature.
- Updated all the above Playbook changes in sheets.
- Updated and uploaded all changes to Playbooks and Summary doc.
- Updated and uploaded all changes to Basic Move summary doc.