Hello, all, 🙂
Last weekend, we playtested Galactic, the new game by Matt Wilson, of PtA fame. As is rapidly becoming a tradition of mine, I’m going to post the in-game stuff we generated here, while the actual playtest comments will be emailed to the game author.
The players were me as GM, my wife Ana, Ricardo, and Rogério, at whose house we were playing.
Because that’s where the book begins, I’m going to start with the Ship Captains:
Rogério played Chris Ritter, captain of the Orion. The Orion is a salvage ship, and captain Ritter spends his time fliying after rumours of derelicts and ruins.
Explorer: 4d6; Scoundrel: 3d6; Tinkerer: 3d6
Virtue: Compassion; Vice: Greed
Connection: Jillian Summers, an information broker and salvage buyer
Crew member (played by Ricardo): Eric Maine, a gun nut, who carries secret cargo aboard the Orion, hoping but oddly unable to unload quickly
Crew member (played by Ana): Ice Q, the first officer, a ice lady, who is secretly a runaway heiress
Ricardo played Jack Savage, captain of the Warthog. Jack is an ex-military turned mercenary and the Warthog is a war ship for hire.
Astronaut: 5d6; Scoundrel: 2d6; Warrior: 3d6
Virtue: Preserverance; Vice: Recklessness
Connection: Commander Ilyena, a warship commander and war time buddy
Crew member (played by Ana): Joe, the mechie, who secretly wants to be captain
Crew member (played by Rogério): Sol Hernandez, communications officer, who carries within him a secret telepathic symbiote
Ana played Mariana, captain of the Flimsy Scoundrel. Mariana does odd jobs for a privately owned space corporation, to be decided upon later. (CSEA, as it turned out, see below.)
Astronaut: 3d6; Explorer: 4d6; Warrior: 4d6
Virtue: Courage; Vice: Arrogance
Connection: Madam Martha, rumor monger and information broker
Crew member (played by Rogério): Dr. Sanders, science officer, who secretly resents the captain and finds her incompetent
Crew member (played by Ricardo): Ambassador Christian Troy, PR officer, who is an impostor, and actually, a criminal on the run
Next up: Factions
CSEA – Caliban Space Exploration Agency, a privately sponsored and privately run corporation
Reports to: (patron or patrons unknown)
Allies: the Thoas
Enemies: the Ghouls
Queensborough Family – A noble merchant family
Reports to: —
Allies: Al-Madina, the Gargoyles
Enemies: the Orion Crime Syndicate
Orion Crime Syndicate – A large group that conducts all sorts of illegal activities
Reports to: —
Allies: the Thoas (secretly)
Enemies: the Concordance Colonial Navy
The Thoas – Grey, large-skulled, large-eyed alien race, largely unknown to the colonies.
Reports to: —
Allies: the Orion Crime Syndicate
Enemies: the Ghouls
Concordance Colonial Navy – a rather huge military organization
Reports to: the Concordance
Allies: CSEA
Enemies: the Thoas
Al-Madina – Pelian Intelligence Agency
Reports to: the Pelian Government (a Caliban territory)
Allies: the Ghouls
Enemies: the Concordance Colonial Navy
The Ghouls – A large band of marauding anarchical pirates
Reports to: —
Allies: Al-Madina, the Orion Crime Syndicate
Enemies: CSEA, the Thoas, the CCN, the Gargoyles
The Gargoyles – An illuminatti-like group of wealthy people with a secret agenda
Reports to: —
Allies: the Ghouls
Enemies: Al-Madina
Finally, the initial planets. Ana rolled highest, followed by Ricardo, and lastly Rogério.
Everwinter – A colder than earth-like world, with orbiting rings
Thin atmosphere – people tire easily
Flat terrain – long lines of sight
Large predators – huge man-eating beasts
Cold temperatures – snow and ice abound
Resource: Information (libraries)
Adversity: 2d6+1d4
Crisis: race against time – an alien device is destabilizing the rings and threatening the whole planet
Factions: CSEA (wants to repair or disable the device)
Goals:
 – Find information about the Scourge: 1d6
 – Help CSEA find the device: 1d6
 – Capture a predator cub for study: 1d4
Starting hazard: 4
Van Eyck – An ocean world
Artifical floating islands – can’t just land anywhere
Rare, yet huge tsunamis – strap things down, just in case
Heavy, humid atmosphere – low visibility
Large aquatic herd beasts – to hunt and eat
Resource: Natural resource (petroleum)
Adversity: 2d4
Crisis: Human invaders
Factions: Queensborough Family (current holders)
Goals:
 – Organize the colonists: 1d4
 – Save a hostaged Queensborough daughter: 1d4
Starting hazard: 6
Aruna – A desert planet
Sandstorms – don’t get caught outside during one
Deep narrow canyons – where people live
Limited daylight – dark most of the time
Toxic spores – one week per year
Resource: Labor (potential soldiers)
Adversity: 2d4
Crisis: Human civil war
Factions:
 – the Gargoyles secretly backing a faction
 – possibly religious fundamentalist rebels
Goals:
 – Find out about desert still suits: 1d4
 – Discover the Gargoyle plot: 1d4
Starting hazard: 7
That’s it. Coming up with all this stuff proved to be a fun collaborative process, as world building is wont to be. Next, I’ll be composing an email with all our playtest findings. Hopefully, they’ll be helpful for Matt. 🙂
In the meantime, I’m late reporting on our June Retreat, but at least, I’m almost finished. Only the TSoY stuff to go, and I got started by posting the initial situation, here.
So much to write, so little time…
Cheers,
J.