Hey y’all, I’ve release a demo version of HILT // BLADE as I near the end of writing it. It’s basically a playtest version or free ashcan, if you’re of that lexical persuasion.
You can find it here: https://agonysonggames.itch.io/hilt-blade
I’d love to know, what you think if you get a chance to play it!
Exciting stuff!!! I remember having a great time playing an earlier version of this.
I outright don’t like some words *edit: but that’s me having a problem, not the game ! *
Delimiting. I’d rather something more turbo.
Freudspeak. What’s the bearded guy got to do with mechas ? Edge, Authority, By-the-book or whatnot.
I love the “act selfishly” trope ! But I’d call it Pull a stunt, Go it alone, or anything snappy because teen pilots are the coolest kids and it should show in table talk.
Typo "after every successful? operation. ", “the utilize”, “doing poorly in managing”, “to to authority” Over.
I’d like Blade customization to be small lists with difference between play books, like for the character looks.
I’d also like a reference sheet with suggested chassis and parts and drawn schematics. And a list of names I could bolt on anything (gear or factions)
Seriously, I would understand if you told me you’re not considering any of this unless I paid for the additional work !
My apologies for the blunt tone of the post : you managed to pack a lot of deep mobile suit goodness in a few pages.
This is only a fraction of the full game and a lot of it has been designed specifically for this play pack — so there will be changes with the full release. It’s also not at a “finished” state, so there may be changes even to the current, full version.
To give some context on a few of your comments:
“Delimiting” is pretty non-negotiable. I’d read over the explanation of it in the Reference Sheets again. “Turbo” or something like it (a cool-sounding or positive name) would be a disservice to the central conflicts the game is trying to evoke.
Freud really doesn’t have anything to do with it. That’s mostly a nod to Neon Genesis Evangelion. I want the stats to reflect the interiority of the characters, not what they can or can’t do (or what they are good or bad at), which is why I use Freud’s model — in the end, it’s all pretty arbitrary.
There will be more rollable tables for Blade looks, but certainly not unique to every playbook. The looks have no mechanical effect, so, at best, they’re just fictional positioning. Really I would encourage any player to make their giant robot look however they like, as long as it’s humanoid.
Thank you for taking the time to explain. In understand you want to do like the Veil, a philosophical themed game.
The full game is released! Right now there is only a print-it-yourself zine, but I will be adding screen versions and an epub version soon! You’ll get access to those as soon as they’re available if you purchase the PIY version.
There will also be a print-on-demand option later from DriveThru and Lulu!