Roadmap

Futuristic cellphone with warranty message.

We have been trying to reach you…​

The roadmap is a combination of actual, aspirational and fantastical goals for EXP. The roadmap contains goals for the rules, tools and extended world of EXP. Do not mistake desire and creativity for actual commitment or capacity to achieve these goals. Perspiration has transformed some of these aspirations into rules.

Roadmap Components

  1. Near Roadmap

  2. Distant Roadmap

  3. Morgue

  4. Darlings

Near Roadmap

Things that are actually being actively worked on. These are likely on a piece of paper on my actual desk.

  • rework Pre Rolls

    • short blurb and PDF, JSON

  • rework Tasks in all vocations

    • more fun

    • tighter, snazzier nomenclature

    • 3 trees by 30 each

    • fancier name task lists

  • update 4D2 system to reflect the "A" team

    • Appearance

    • Attributes

    • Abilities

Automation

  • AI

  • Toys

    • Per Persona

    • Per Type

    • Per Cache

    • VTT integration

Distant Roadmap

These are things that would be really nice work on. However, the solo dev gotta be realistic.

Generic Mythos Missing Parts

  • time and chronovores hideaways, teleport, time stop and planal hiders.

  • Sciency Fiction vs science fiction vs science fantasy

  • Consciousness

    • Organics transfer sentience via reproduction and evolution

    • Robots get sentience by accident unique and isolated

    • Autonomous Intelligence (AI) are fabricated with consciousness

    • Artificial Intelligence is not conscious, but may appear so

EXP Media Update

  • Turn into long list of described video materials.

Scenarios (part of pre-rolls)

  • Tsolodvor

  • GHOTI

  • Kinder Kilner Haus for Wayward Mutants

  • Adventures of Turnip

  • Algo

Bucket Oh Stuff

  • avoid double diminishing goals, as in EXPS

  • defence rating as a target or an adjustment

  • the desired story of the ref and players wins

  • less random

  • EXPS for role-playing

  • theatrical combat rules

  • charisma and privilege tends to win

  • not everyone is articulate enough

  • philosophy of dice

  • role of the random in the roll

  • a common language for a shared improvised experience

  • all your rolls are belong to us

  • outcomes decided by dice and tables.

  • outcomes not decided by referee thinkspace

  • justification and post factualization

  • From the outset both methods of play are equally valid.

  • details details details

  • the dice giveth and the dice taketh away

  • 2m cubed is 70 cubic feet

  • make the game more generous

  • make the game more random

Morgue

The den of dead darlings, dumb decisions, and dreary demonstrations.

Oddities

The electronic pre-rolls were lost in a WP failure between V5 and V6. There is a reference document in PDF form at EXP 4.01 1993 (32M). Remember this is V4 from 1993.

All original artwork from 1991 was located on 2024_0609_1442. New pieces found.

Versions

There are no longer planned versions in the roadmap. Versioning just became too heavy for this solo dev. I have reverted to github for versioning with occasional notes for milestones. The present version is just called (rules). Versioning is now done by date (2025_0312) and updated here. Proposed versioning with numerals (8, 9 etc) has been moved to the morgue. Items will be removed from the morgue and placed into proposal and soft proposals as time permits.

Version 6.0 (retired Jan 2024)

This is version 6.X of EXP The game of technological chaos. Estimated finish date is December 2021. A detailed progress description is available via gdocs. A repository of progress is maintained on github.

Milestones for version 6

  • This build 15-June-2021

  • Last build 09-May-2021

  • Future milestone automation due 31-Dec-2021

  • Next milestone infuse new art due 1-July-2021

  • Milestone: all sections refactored 15-June-2021

  • Milestone: all previous art added 03-Jan-2021

  • Milestone: all sections rewritten 09-Dec-2020

  • The pandemic pause ended 16-July-2020

  • The pandemic pause began 13-Mar-2020

  • There was a leap year update on 29-Feb-2020.

  • There was a palindromic update on 20:20-20-02-2020.

  • There was a palindromic update on 2020-0202.

Versions 7.x (retired Jan 2025)

Active version as of 14-jan-2024. This will be the first version as a 0.5 FTE developer. A blog, progress sheets and repos can be found at(expgame.com). Completion date is 14-June-2024.

Goals of Versions 7.x

  • move from letters to words

    • weapons types become descriptive

    • attack tables instead of attack tables

    • shorten STR and MND

  • pre-roll implementation

  • reorganize ROOT with sub-folders

  • aimagination infiltration

  • community building

  • active promotions

  • expansion of automation section

    • how to make personas

    • how to local copy exp

  • move HPT back to HPS

Version 8.0

  • 3d printing of personas

    • Anthros

    • Aliens

    • Robots

  • Procedural drawing of personas

    • Anthros

    • Aliens

    • Robots

  • Extended mythos assistance

    • Campaign creation

    • story frameworks

    • flora fauna ecosystem

    • corporations, religions, governments

  • VTT (virtual tabletop) world integration.

  • appendiceal add ons

    • Alien Arena

    • Space Opera

    • Postapocalypso

    • Mutant fest

Version 7 punt downs

  • Automated persona creation

  • Support tools such as persona creation. Online persona storage

  • community building

  • VTT (virtual tabletop) rule integration.

  • images on or off

  • aimaginations vs images switch

  • roll vs role switch

  • d1000, 4d2 mechanic switch

EXP V7, er V8, um maybe V9, will be the first TTRPG 2.0. A TTRPG or RPG 2.0 is a tabletop RPG designed for computer support from the ground up.

Version 9.0

  • AI integration

    • generating worlds

    • referee personas

    • scenarios

  • GPT5 maybe? ;)

d20 Task Roll

Some find the Task Rolls in the Roll-Playing system too much effort. It really does require maths and may slow down game play. The d20 Task Roll would align better with Saves and Competitions which are already d20 based.

The problem with a d20 task roll is that at higher level tasks the roll becomes irrelevant Legacy system used three distinct die roll types.

Legacy d100 task rolls

  • d20 for attributes rolls

  • d100 for task rolls

  • d1000 for attack rolls

Steps for d20 Task Roll

  1. Determine Difficulty

  2. Determine the Task Roll

Determine Difficulty

Knowing the difficulty of a task is only described generally. The persona would not know the actual number.

d20 Difficulty List

  • Facile - 2

  • Trivial - 4

  • Easy - 8

  • Usual - 16

  • Unusual - 24

  • Hard - 32

  • Really Hard - 38

  • Tough - 64

  • Impossible - 128

  • Plot - 666

Determine the Task Roll

The player rolls a d20 plus whatever bonuses apply.

Roll 1d20 plus…​

  • Appropriate attribute

  • Interests

  • Skills

  • Level

  • Mutations?

  • Fun description (1d4)

Players add all their rolls as part of a research team.

MSTR to MND

These changes did happen but the research is in the here. Proposed Changes to Attributes. Physical Strength (STR)→ Strength (STR). Mental Strength (MND) → Mind (MND).

MND Options

  • Acuity

  • Aura

  • Cognition

  • Flux

  • Fortitude

  • Grit

  • Mastery

  • Metaphysics

  • Mindcraft

  • Potentiality

  • Psyche

  • Psychokinesis

  • Psychomotor

  • psychonic

  • Radiance

  • Resilience

  • Resonance

  • Serendipity

  • Telekinesis

  • Thoughtforce

  • Volition

  • Willforce

Code Snippets

This text will be struck through.

[.line-through]#This text will be struck through.#
// this is for inserting art
// attributes are set in the referring adoc
// using inline image because it allows tooltip
// centering by assigning imageblock css

  "insert IMAGE": {
    "prefix": "adoc ins IMAGE",
    "body": [
      ":art: $1",
      ":width: 250px",
      ":snark: $2",
      ":artist: $3",
      ":date: $4",
      ":license: CC BY-SA 4.0",
      ":description: $5",
      "",
      "include::ROOT:partial\\$articulate.adoc[]"
    ],
    "description": "<- do this"
  }

articulate.adoc is the include

[.imageblock.inlinefix]
image:ROOT:{art}[width="{width}", alt='{description}', title='Artist: {artist} Date: {date} License: {license}']

[.imageblock]
*{snark}*

// removing the attributes to avoid polluting next image
:art:
:width:
:snark:
:artist:
:date:
:license:
:description:

Darlings

Pithy Aphorisms

A Posse of Pithy Aphorisms A suite of sweet sayings.

  • all are players, including the referee

  • one roll to rule them all and in the story bind them (4D2)

    • one die one roll one sub story

  • post factualization

  • technomagical

  • macro, micro, nano, molecular, ethereal bonds

  • Story before dice, and story before rules

  • Choose story and fun over rules and rolls.

  • Find the least number of rules necessary and use one less

  • the EXPedition EXPlores for EXPeriences.

  • EXP is the game of technological chaos, and the dice deliver the chaos.

  • let the table decide

  • it’s always a play test

Pithy Paragraphs

A posse of pithy paragraphs

APOPHENIA
“the tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern
between unrelated or random things (such as objects or ideas)”
Greek apo- (away, off, apart) + phainein (to show).
RULES

are common language for a shared imagination experience.

ARMOUR

Personal body armour is a perverse form of self-defense. It is designed to protect someone who cannot, or will not, avoid combat situations. It is as much an instrument of violence as any weapon. The best way to avoid taking damage from combat is to avoid combat,

CHAOS

The EXP system is based on complete technological chaos. Eons and eons of diverging levels of technology are layered on top of, and beside, each other. Any of which may or may not be alien.

GET REST

Go to sleep meat bag. This is frustrating. Robots do not express frustration.

POST FACTUALIZATION

EXP takes liberties to mix elements of faux science and technomagical thinking to have fun. The possibilities of technology is the basis of the Sciency Fiction milieu of EXP. Referees and players must lever the magical power of the opaque black box. An aptitude for rational fabrication and post factualization are essential tools.

REFEREE as STORY GUIDER

A referee is free to tailor the hardware section to what best reflects her story. She can easily do this by creating a few devices in advance and ignoring all the randomization harboured here. Or you could play Traveller instead.

ARTIFACTS

They may find devices in an ancient destroyed laboratory. They may earn devices from combat or cunning stunts. They may be paid in artifacts for a job well done.

ARTIFACTS

Personas can start with artifacts, find artifacts, or get paid with artifacts. Austere milieus may start personas with nothing but dust and dreams. Creator species may allow the personas to browse the toy categories like an online store.