I was able to get an early look at the playtest documents for the upcoming Nova Praxis game from Void Star Games. They have a Kickstarter in the works (and if you are reading this blog post from the future it could be already happening or finished).
Nova Praxis is a transhumanistic science fiction game that uses Void Games Stands of Fate variant of the Fate rules as its underlying game engine. Transhumanism is a burgeoning genre in tabletop role-playing. Steve Jackson Games tilled the soil years ago with their Transhuman Space game, a game that featured collaboration between game designers and futurists to make a transhuman setting that seemed a probable extrapolation of the current world into a future one. Eclipse Phase by Posthuman Studios also goes over this ground, but adds an element of horror to the transhumanist SF. Both of these are strong games, with strong followings, that would be difficult for a new game to surpass and set its own ground.
Some would say: Do we really need another transhumanist role-playing game? I think that's a dumb question because, at it's heart, transhumanism should be an extrapolation of today into a probably and plausible tomorrow. As today changes, so should the tomorrows keep pace.
Nova Praxis has a stunningly realized and fleshed out setting. I mean this in a very good way. The worlds of the solar system, factions and organizations within the world are all well thought out and realized within the game. I think that this is a key to a game that wants to be transhumanist: you have to understand and work out the social structures of the setting. Transhumanism is an evolutionist philosophy (from my viewpoint) that tries to work out how great changes in technology and science will impact not only those sciences but society and people as well. In Nova Praxis, the Void Star Games people have certainly gotten that part right. Thought has gone into the world of their future, and how the advances have impacted it and the people who live there.
The art for Nova Praxis is gorgeous.
That's not normally a huge concern for me with a game, but it is something that I had to comment on. The graphic design of the PDF that I was given was well thought out and excellently executed. The art is just incredible.The art, in some cases, looks to me like production stills from an upcoming movie. That helps to realize the world of the setting, which is important in this sort of game. If art inspires and moves you to want to game, there is so much in Nova Praxis that which make you want to run this game. The images in this post were taken from the book (well, they were provided to me by Void Star Games).
The design of the book appears that it is supposed to look like an in-setting tablet or e-reader of some sort. This is a clever conceit but causes one problem for me: the pages are too small. If this were going to be a thinner book, that wouldn't be as much of an issue but with this page count (over 200 pages), the smaller size is going to creation functional problems at the table: keeping the book open, material being lost into the binding, etc. I honestly think that going with a larger page size, which would of course bring down the page count, would make this a much more practical and easier to use book. I am sure that there are going to be many who don't agree with me, but I felt that I had to put it out there. I'm not just singling out Nova Praxis for this. I think there are a few games with smaller page sizes and large page counts that would have benefited, from a practical standpoint, from a larger page size. Quick update: I was told by the publisher that the print book would be a traditional 8.5 x 11 paper size, so that takes away my concern about the book's size.
As I said earlier, Nova Praxis is powered by the Strands of Fate system, a variant of the Fate rules that has been developed over a couple of books by the people at Void Star Games. The system is a bit contentious among fans of the Fate system, moreso I think than other forks like Starblazer or Diaspora. If you do not like the Strands of Fate variant, you will probably not like this version of the rules customized for play in the Nova Praxis setting. Science fiction does seem popular among Fate developers, already we have seen Starblazer Adventures (and its transhumanist setting Mindjammer), Diaspora and Bulldogs! That is a lot of science fiction. Admittedly, Nova Praxis does go over different territory than most of these games, the closest Fate-based would likely be Sarah Newton's Mindjammer material, but even that is a pulpier brand of transhumanist science fiction.
So, that brings us to the magic question that these sorts of posts are all about: is the game worth buying? I think the answer to that is definitely "yes." As I've mentioned, Nova Praxis is a very good looking book, dripping with gorgeous, well-executed art that can't fail to inspire gaming in the setting. However, if you are not a fan of the system, that can be a sticking point. You could divorce the rules from the setting, but that would defeat most of the reasons for buying a game like this: Nova Praxis is a well-integrated bundle of setting and rules, one section plays off of another creating a game where setting informs the rules and rules inform the setting. Much of this has to do with the strength of the Fate system, in any incarnation of the rules. This is a sexy and good-looking game that will make you want to run it, or play in its world.
Some would say: Do we really need another transhumanist role-playing game? I think that's a dumb question because, at it's heart, transhumanism should be an extrapolation of today into a probably and plausible tomorrow. As today changes, so should the tomorrows keep pace.
Nova Praxis has a stunningly realized and fleshed out setting. I mean this in a very good way. The worlds of the solar system, factions and organizations within the world are all well thought out and realized within the game. I think that this is a key to a game that wants to be transhumanist: you have to understand and work out the social structures of the setting. Transhumanism is an evolutionist philosophy (from my viewpoint) that tries to work out how great changes in technology and science will impact not only those sciences but society and people as well. In Nova Praxis, the Void Star Games people have certainly gotten that part right. Thought has gone into the world of their future, and how the advances have impacted it and the people who live there.
The art for Nova Praxis is gorgeous.
The design of the book appears that it is supposed to look like an in-setting tablet or e-reader of some sort. This is a clever conceit but causes one problem for me: the pages are too small. If this were going to be a thinner book, that wouldn't be as much of an issue but with this page count (over 200 pages), the smaller size is going to creation functional problems at the table: keeping the book open, material being lost into the binding, etc. I honestly think that going with a larger page size, which would of course bring down the page count, would make this a much more practical and easier to use book. I am sure that there are going to be many who don't agree with me, but I felt that I had to put it out there. I'm not just singling out Nova Praxis for this. I think there are a few games with smaller page sizes and large page counts that would have benefited, from a practical standpoint, from a larger page size. Quick update: I was told by the publisher that the print book would be a traditional 8.5 x 11 paper size, so that takes away my concern about the book's size.
So, that brings us to the magic question that these sorts of posts are all about: is the game worth buying? I think the answer to that is definitely "yes." As I've mentioned, Nova Praxis is a very good looking book, dripping with gorgeous, well-executed art that can't fail to inspire gaming in the setting. However, if you are not a fan of the system, that can be a sticking point. You could divorce the rules from the setting, but that would defeat most of the reasons for buying a game like this: Nova Praxis is a well-integrated bundle of setting and rules, one section plays off of another creating a game where setting informs the rules and rules inform the setting. Much of this has to do with the strength of the Fate system, in any incarnation of the rules. This is a sexy and good-looking game that will make you want to run it, or play in its world.