October Update: A Whole New Book

Hey everyone! We've been working hard on Why We Fight the last few months, testing the game extensively and building the game out in advance of when we launch. We got a huge amount of feedback and interest at UKGE, along with a few smaller events we've participated in, and with our monthly playtests on our Discord server.

During these, we've been trying out a larger, more creation driven version of Why We Fight! Rather than travel through pre-set scenarios, you create dynamic Situations together, building on pre-set prompts and determining specifics through rolls. Following five steps, you can create a unique Situation all of your own!


















Sneak Peeks of the new Situation Builder
(Click for full size: D66 table / Situ Builder)


This ended up being a significant game changer, resulting in a longer but more satisfying game. With only the final missions being pre-set, this makes your adventure far more about the journey than the conclusion, and with huge potential for 'peaceful' or 'diplomatic' resolutions to the Situations you face.


Sneak Peek of the Connection page, a peaceful approach (Click for full size)

The White Fist still provide their irrefutable antagonism, but we've added both a variety of 'Wild Animals' with their own system of creation and the 'Armed & Desperate' as two potential factions that can become involved as either friends or foes, depending on the Situation.
The potential for animals to be involved presents an opportunity to show how the world impacts them, and how a Crew might handle those discoveries. Meanwhile, the Armed and Desperate do what they feel is necessary to survive in a world that taught them that if they don't take what they want, it'll be taken from them. Unlike the White Fist, these people are motivated by self preservation, and can be reasoned with if the Situation allows.
Rather than go into more detail here, I'll be starting to release monthly updates discussing elements of the game and showing off what we've been working on. More on that at the end!


Sneak Peek of an early version of the Wild Animals page (Click for full size)

We've felt that this version is ultimately closer to what we want the game to be, and is much more 'Solarpunk' in its actions and attitude. Despite this, we've had a lot of feedback from players, distributors and stockists about the 'entry level' ease of access (in terms of both simple mechanics and layout) and the zero-prep appeal of Why We Fight in its existing version as a very positive thing. Yet, as we create a larger, more complex game we recognise that this entry point is lost. So, rather than constrain ourselves to our quick-start game, or lose it in favour of potential, allow me to introduce the future of Why We Fight!

Comparison image of the differences between the two versions of Why We Fight
Click here for the full size image

These two versions will be the products that we'll be looking to release with, and we've received enough interest that we feel confident being able to offer a physical version of Why We Fight: Direct Action from the start.

During our tests of the expanded Why We Fight, we also worked on developing an 'objective' system for opponents during combat, which they make progress with as the Situation develops. Should a Crew ever prevent their opponents from being able to make progress on their objective, they switch to the next viable one down the list of options. This makes for some really dynamic behaviour from your opponents as they change their priorities based on how you deal with them!


Sneak Peek at building Objectives before combat (Click for full size)

These are also being added into the pre-built Situations in Direct Action, but in the core game you'll be deciding what objectives your opponents start with, allowing you to craft the Situation that best suits what you've imagined. All of this is designed with absolutely minimal complexity, and our early playtests have gone great, with some folks who joined us being relatively new to RPGs as a whole, allowing us to test just how accessible the game is to new players.

If you've played Why We Fight and found some issues, imbalances, or even just have suggestions, we want to hear from you! You can get in touch with us via email and social media or join our Discord community. And if you want to hear from us, feel free to sign up to our mailing list, where you'll get the latest news about the game first hand.
I'll be releasing monthly dev logs about the game, its setting and inspirations, and the discoveries we make about what does or doesn't work as we go, so do sign up if you fancy catching them. The first one, "Solarpunk: The Counterculture to Dystopia" is up and available to read! If you're not sure what is meant by 'Solarpunk' as a setting, it's written to be the perfect introduction.
We plan to release the preview version of Direct Action at the end of October, and we'll release an in-depth look at what's changed along with it. If you want to try it early, our next online playtest will be on the 18th! Hope to see you there!
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