Breaking News. Outlands 2nd Edition!!! PDF Rules only £1.00
If you haven't seen the news in Patch 1.05...well here it is.
OUTLANDS will be getting a 2nd Edition due Feb 2018 (more about this below). Until then the PDF Rules are only £1.00
Outlands was released at the beginning of Feb 2017 at the PAW 2017 Wargames event in Plymouth (https://www.facebook.com/groups/360311624154207/). At the time we were putting the finishing touches to the Printed Rulebook and the PDF Ruleset was published on Wargames Vault. To say both myself and Ross had a very good weekend would be an understatement. For a full 2 days we talked, lived and breathed OUTLANDS. Those that came along and played on the Demo tables have a good time with many taking full advantage to play the game in the spirit it was intended......screwing over the opponent (mostly friends) and engaging in little heated and sometimes risky banter. By the end of the weekend both Ross and I were totally shattered....but it was worth it. ...and this was just the start of the OUTLANDS project. A nervous start. Why a nervous start??
Well both myself and Ross have never taken on a project like OUTLANDS. We are not game designers or writers (yes it shows) by trade and the idea of actually designing and developing a game filled me with a sense of fear. For example, I can very easily explain the OUTLANDS ruleset to someone verbally, but putting those rules down on paper is a different thing altogether. Releasing what can only be called 'a friends and family' ruleset out for the public was a daunting task. A number of other obstacles like design, distribution, copyright, making an actual printed rulebook, etc. etc. stood in our way, but in general it was 'Why the f**K am I doing this?!?!?'. All of these factors were (and in some cases still are) foreign concepts to a car mechanic and a service engineer. I won't go into details of how much of a pain in the ass formatting a printed rulebook is...that's a whole topic in itself. I'm going to be honest, more than once I wanted to ditch the whole OUTLANDS thing. It was something I believed to be outside my skill set. Something that should be left to better people than myself. Don't get me wrong...on the whole I enjoyed writing the rules, just that sometimes it felt more of a ball ache than it was worth. Both Ross and myself have 'proper' jobs. You know the kind, boring, pays the bills, fills your imagination to dispatch your boss in the most gruesome way possible, type of job. OUTLANDS was something to do with our spare time. No budget to work from....no real plan. However, we did it. After a lot of blood (sometimes my own), sweat, tears and general outbursts of bad language...we did it. To this day I still don't know how we did it. So many things stood in our way.
Success!!! People measure success in different ways. It can be units sold, feedback, how many people playing the game, makes a profit or general awareness of the item involved. I put a target of maybe 20 to 25 players running with OUTLANDS. So you can imagine may surprise when I log in to the Community Facebook page and see ever increasing members or when I post my own 'wanderings' on the blog site that over 200 people actually read it. These numbers have totally blown me away!!! And its all down to 1 thing.......YOU. Without YOU we wouldn't have had 5 updates in 2017. Without YOU the community page would grind to a halt. We have no budget (when I say no budget that doesn't mean we have an unlimited resources or cash....it means ZERO) for marketing or promotion. Without YOU and your support via feedback or word of mouth or whatever way YOU do to help spread OUTLANDS....OUTLANDS would simply stop. So that was 2017 wrapped up into a quick summary. But what about 2018??? When I look at what has already happened in the OUTLANDS universe and what's planned for 2018 I realise that so far we have only just started....nervously.
OUTLANDS REBOOT (Feb 2018). More and more people are jumping into the OUTLANDS universe. And with that more games are being played than ever before. Following your feedback (99% positive...Derek from Southampton you can go eat a bag of dicks!!), it has been decided to release a new edition of the OUTLANDS ruleset. This gives us a chance to expand on some of the rules and deliver them in a more detailed and cleaner way. Lets be honest...some of the Abilities are ambiguous to say the least. It also offers us a chance to tweak a few standard rules. Those of you that have seen how we 'now' deliver new abilities will know that its a more detailed explanation of what you can and cannot do. With the new edition we have also redone some of the diagrams....just because we can. I'm sure you'll agree that the work going into the new edition is all good news. Now the BAD news. A more detailed rulebook means an increase in page count. At the moment the WIP document page count is looking at around twice as many as the 1st edition. That means the cost to produce a Printed Rulebook is increased (Boo). However, as a group we will endeavour to keep the final retail price down to a minimum. Keep an eye on the community Facebook page/blog as we will release more details nearer the release date.
HANG ON!!!!! What about those of you that have already got your ruleset?!?!? Well we are going to release a FREE PDF update of the changes so you can continue to use your existing PDF/Rulebook. Unlike some, we believe we have a commitment to those of you that have supported us over the last 12 months. Without You we wouldn't be in this position to 'remake' the rules and deliver a better OUTLANDS experience. As a bit of a warning, if you intend to print the FREE update it will be paper/ink heavy.
PSYCHIC RULEBOOK (Summer 2018):- OUTLANDS: The Outland Chronicles Volume 1 is the 1st (core) ruleset in the OUTLANDS universe. Volume 2 (working title Babes With Bazookas) will introduce a new sub-system into the core rules. Again, those of you who visit our community Facebook page will know that Ross and myself have been working on the Psychic rules for sometime. The original plan was for a Feb 2018 release, but with the rewrite of OUTLANDS Volume 1 we have decided to delay Volume 2. It makes prefect sense to have a 'complete' core backbone ruleset to work from, than to make further chances later. As a player you will not need to have a copy of Vol. 2 to continue playing OUTLANDS. In fact, you can still play OUTLANDS if you only have Volume 1...and your opponent has the Psychic Rules (Volume2).
OUTLANDS: The Expendables (Q3 2018):- OUTLANDS is a campaign driven game. You play a game/battle/mission, then Level-Up and buy new abilities and equipment ready for the next game. This is great....if you have the time to commit to a 'Campaign'. Pretty much, straight after the release of 'OUTLANDS' we have been asked if its possible to play 1 off or Stand Alone games. The simply answer is NO. But we do listen. Its very earlier stages yet, but I have been working on a supplement to the Core Rules that will allow you to play 'Stand Alone' Power-games. You pick your team and equip them with weapons, play the game then ditch the team sheet - hence the name 'The Expendables'. Quick, one-off games. The core game system has changed for a more tactical gameplay experience with a team building element. OUTLANDS: The Expendables also opens the doors to running mini tournaments within your gaming group. How and when we release the supplement hasn't been decided yet....but I'm pretty excited for this 'new' way to play.
OUTLANDS. PATCH UPDATES:- The Free Patch/Updates will restart sometime in 2018. We have so much background, special characters, extra rules and missions that if we combined them into the 'core' rulebook it would be over 500 pages...and no one wants that!!!! The Patches/Updates will of course continue to be Free.
RISE OF THE DEAD (December 2018):- Not strictly OUTLANDS related. OUTLANDS employs the R.I.S.E game system. With a few minor adjustments the rules can be modified into different setting. Those of you that visit the community Facebook page will have already seen photos of Ross and myself 'mucking' about with Zombies (miniatures...not the real things). Rise Of the Dead will be a stand alone rulebook that pits 2 teams of survivors against each other for supplies and weapons with the added danger of wandering Zombies...lots of Zombies. If the Z Nation/TWD is your thing then Rise Of The Dead will most definitely be for you. Note:- you may want to start collecting Zombie miniatures now. You will need handfuls. ROAD TRIPS:- Both myself and Ross will be hitting the road (and bottle) in 2018. We are planning on attending more gaming events and club visits. If you know of any events local to yourself then send me or Ross a message on the Facebook Community page www.shadesofchaosgame.co.uk So 2018 is going to be packed with OUTLANDS goodness...and zombies. The future of OUTLANDS is looking great....and that's mainly down to YOU.
Thanks,
Jon M
