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Trinity Continuum Player's Guide (Tabletop RPG)

Created by Onyx Path - TC Player's Guide

The Trinity Continuum Player’s Guide is a new rules expansion, taking your Trinity Continuum RPG to the next level!

Latest Updates from Our Project:

Final Days Review - Stretch Goals
almost 3 years ago – Wed, Apr 19, 2023 at 08:58:14 AM

Hello Talents!

We're in the final HOURS of this campaign now, with just under 25 hours left to go as I post this. The Trinity Continuum Player's Guide crowdfunding campaign ends tomorrow - Thursday, April 20th at 2:00 PM EDT. There's still a tiny bit of time to inspire other talents to join our Allegiance but we're definitely getting closer to the finish line. With that in mind, I've been touching on some of the basics to make sure that everyone has all of the information they need to support the project in the way that works best for them.


Final Days Schedule


Whether you're a seasoned field agent for Alert Status 1 or a rookie recruit for the LRE, there are some good topics to review over this week to make sure we all end up where we want to be.

(An aside, if you're a new backer, make sure you check out our Final Week Countdown / Resource Update. It has links to the manusript previews, interviews, podcasts, actual plays, and fun fiction.)

If you've spent inspiration and are backing at incredible speed and don't have time to read all of that (you should still go through those posts), here are some key highlights:

  • This book is an expansion to the Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook and requires that book to make full use of the rules and options contained within. If you don't already have the Core Rulebook, there are two pledge tiers that include it alongside the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide (Les Fantômes for PDFs or Polyphemus for the hardcover books). You can also simply add the Core Rulebook to your rewards list via Add On option.
  • Despite focusing on the contemporary Trinity Continuum, this book contains options rules (covering bits like momentum spends, static defense, and path advancement), new Gifts and Edges for Talents of any era, artifacts, vehicles, equipment, rules and structure for chases, conspiracies, and investigations, as well as guidelines for time travel, dimensional crossovers, planetary hopping and more) so you are certainly able to adapt bits from the book for your TC: Adventure!, TC: Aether, TC: Anima games.
  • We’ll be charging for shipping in the Pledge Manager once the books are being printed and we can deal with the actual shipping charges rather than using our best-guesses this far out. We’re still anticipating pretty hefty costs to ship the book internationally (see our current guesses on the front page) so be forewarned, but we’ll cross that enormous bridge when we get to it.
  • All backers pledged to receive the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide PDF will have the unlocked Stretch Goal supplement, which adds even more gear and gadgets as well as streamlined crafting rules with examples, added to their rewards list automatically as a bonus. Backers who pre-order at a later date will not receive this as a bonus reward.
  • Backers are able to read the entire draft manuscript today - before any pledges are processed or payments collected. Know exactly what you're supporting before fully committing your funds.

 

Refresher Course

April 17 Update -  PLEDGE TIERS - your best starting point for figuring out which Backer Reward Level to choose to help support this project.

Your key decision: Go Digital with the PDF only or go Hardcover + PDF?

  • La Révolte Éclatante: This is the PDF-only reward allegiance. So, if you're saving trees or saving shelf space - or avoiding the shipping charges that are absolutely ever-increasing - this is the reward tier options that you should begin with. The PDF will be fulfilled by our partners at DriveThruRPG.com - when it is ready, you will receive a link to add it to your DTRPG library at no cost and be able to download at your leisure.
  • National Office of Emergency Research: This reward tier includes the PDF as well as the hardcover version of the book. It'll look amazing on your shelf, especially if they're placed next to your other Trinity Continuum books, but may incur shipping costs depending on your location. As noted, international shipping charges will be calculated later and charged in the Pledge Manager. We'll have exact shipping costs once the book is in production and we know the specifications, but we do expect it to be expensive. See our estimates on the front pate. If you're an international backer, you can pledge at the LRE tier and upgrade to the NOER tier once the shipping costs are known before we lockdown orders. 
  • Alert Status 1: If you want access to the manuscript previews but don't yet know if you want the PDFs or hardcover rewards, this tier also grants you access to the Pledge Manager after the campaign so you can upgrade your pledge in the future.


ADD ON REWARDS- the other half of the Reward Tiers update, including information on the second step of pledging. There are several Add On options that you can include for as part of your pledge process. including the other Trinity Continuum books and related supplement bundles.

ADD ON selections will be confirmed in the post-campaign Pledge Manager. 

Choose Wisely

Choosing the correct Pledge Level for your desired rewards, and then filling in any "gaps" with add-ons, ensures that you'll be claiming all of your desired rewards as a thank you for supporting this project and bringing this world to life.

Remember, your PLEDGE AMOUNT is equal to your REWARD TIER + optional ADD ON FUNDING only - Any International Shipping costs will be collected at a later date. You will also be able to select Add On options in the Pledge Manager after the campaign, but remember that only funds added during the campaign count towards Stretch Goal funding targets.

Also to note, only those who participate during the campaign are able to have Stretch Goal rewards added automatically to their rewards lists. If you're waiting to pre-order at a later time, it's better to pledge to the Alert Status 1 tier now and then simply upgrade your pledge later to include these bonus rewards.

On Thursday, I'll be posting one further "Final Day" update, covering What Happens Next and outlining what to expect once the campaign ends.

But until then, we're going to hopefully hunt down one final Stretch Goal achievements as we race through our final day of the campaign!


In a previous campaign I noted that I like BackerKit's term "Achievement" more than our usual "Stretch Goal" terminology because I like the celebratory tone and how "Achievement" can cover a few different aspects of these bonus rewards. But we may have to really stretch to reach that last goal, so Stretch Goals are pretty appropriate for this update!

Before we talk about a target on the horizon, let's look at our journey thus far. Over the past 3 weeks, we've been working solidly through our Stretch Goal targets, to the point that we've already achieved SEVEN Stretch Goal targets - including one that we achieved within the past day!

Within these Stretch Goals are some milestone markers that allow us to celebrate how the campaign grew and a really cool new supplements, which we expanded and grew by working together. Let's review and see what we've accomplished so far...

ACHIEVED! - At $20,000 in Funding – TRINITY CONTINUUM PLAYER’S GUIDE T-SHIRT ON REDBUBBLE - An TCPG-themed Backer shirt will be hosted on Onyx Path’s Redbubble store for a limited time. Only backers will be notified when the shirt becomes available for purchase.



ACHIEVED! - At $25,000 in Funding – TOOLS OF THE TRADE – A PDF supplement will be created featuring new tech items for Talents. Vehicles? Weapons? Gear? Help us decide in our poll! This PDF supplement will be added to the rewards list of all Crowdfunding backers receiving the Trinity Continuum Player’s Guide PDF as one of their pledge rewards.


ACHIEVED! - At $28,000 in Funding - TRINITY CONTINUUM PLAYER’S GUIDE DIGITAL WALLPAPER- Exciting Trinity Continuum artwork will be used to create a wallpaper for your computer desktop. This digital wallpaper will be added to the rewards list of all backers supporting this project.


ACHIEVED! - At $30,000 in Funding – THE ART OF CRAFTS – The unlocked PDF supplement will be expanded to include a streamlined version of the crafting system, along with some examples, to help inventor characters make new toys for their Talents.


At $33,000 in Funding - TRINITY CONTINUUM PLAYER’S GUIDE MOBILE WALLPAPER - Exciting Trinity Continuum artwork will be used to create a wallpaper for your mobile device lockscreen. This mobile wallpaper will be added to the rewards list of all backers supporting this project.


ACHIEVED! - At $35,000  in Funding – GEAR AND GADGETS – Even more gear, gadgets, and tech toys will be added to our unlocked PDF supplement.


At $37,000 in Funding – TRINITY CONTINUUM VTT TOKEN PACK - Digital assets will be created to support online play for Trinity Continuum, including key character and antagonist tokens from the book. This online asset pack will be added to the rewards list of all backers.


Looking at these, I'm always happy with our regular milestone markers, the Backer T-Shirt and desktop wallpaper. I just changed my computer monitors two weeks ago, and I like to update my screens every few month. I'm doing my best to enjoy the simple things in life.

But I'm really excited about our new content rewards. I'm always up for an equipment supplement, with especially ones that make use of the ideas and systems introduced in this book. And having a section for streamlined crafting rules is a huge bonus! I think the developers and writers will have a great time when outlining content for the sections we've unlocked.

And I think we can add another little bit to make this supplemental PDF even more fun!


At $40,000 in Funding – ADVANCED GIFTS – Our unlocked PDF supplement will be expanded to include Advanced Gifts. Want to be one of the most powerful Talents in Trinity? Now you'll have Gifts to demonstrate your massive power.

We're closing in on this one final Stretch Goal, this one final bit to add to our supplemental content. Let's keep at it and unlock one more Achievement!



YOUR REWARDS!

That's right! You backed this project to help make and publish the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide! Our primary reward - the big thank you that we'll send out in appreciation for your support - are PDFs and/or hardcover copies of this book! BUT AS A BONUS, you may also have the Equipment/Crafting/Advanced Gifts? Stretch Goal PDF supplement, digital and mobile wallpapers, an opportunity to add to your wardrobe, and some online play support with a VTT Token Set.

Not Much More Time

If only we had a super-science gadget that could manipulate time!

Unfortunately, we seem to continue to move forward at a regular pace, and our campaign will some come to the inescapable end. We've achieved our primary goal of funding the book, but there is this final possible Stretch Goal reward almost within our grasp! I know we've come far already, but it wouldn't be a STRETCH goals if we didn't have to really STRETCH in the final day! I'm confident that it is absolutely within striking distance, though, so let's keep working toward it!

So, as every update concludes: let's keep the enthusiasm rolling! Keep spreading the word and letting others know about this project. They've got this final day to jump in and share the Stretch Goals we've achieved!

And every backer who joins in as we approach the end is not only able to enjoy the additional rewards already added by the early fans and backers, but also help reward those early backers by maybe unlocking that Advanced Gift expansion!

Remember, only the funds generated during the crowdfunding campaign go toward achieving these Stretch Goal targets, so the time to act is now! Together, we can bring this game to life and make great things happen!

THIS CAMPAIGN ENDS AT 2:00 PM EDT on THURSDAY, APRIL 20th, 2023

#FinalDay

#TrinityContinuumPlayersGuide

Backer's Draft Manuscript Preview #4 - Mechanics and Storyguiding
almost 3 years ago – Tue, Apr 18, 2023 at 05:30:46 AM

Hello Talents,

An exciting day today! We've got our final manuscript draft preview for you today, and it's jam-packed with awesomeness! With two great chapters, there's a lot of options for your Trinity Continuum games in this one!

We're also getting very close to unlocking our next Stretch Goal. We'll do a full review of our Stretch Goals tomorrow, but let's see what's possibly ahead on our Achievement list...

At $37,000 in Funding – TRINITY CONTINUUM VTT TOKEN PACK - Digital assets will be created to support online play for Trinity Continuum, including key character and antagonist tokens from the book. This online asset pack will be added to the rewards list of all backers.


At $40,000 in Funding – ADVANCED GIFTS – Our unlocked PDF supplement will be expanded to include Advanced Gifts. Want to be one of the most powerful Talents in Trinity? Now you'll have Gifts to demonstrate your massive power.

Let's see if we can't recruit a few more agents to our allegiance and unlock two more Stretch Goals before the end!


Livestreaming on the Onyx Path's Twitch channel and simulcast on Trinity Continuum Player's Guide Crowdfunding page, Trinity Continuum: Divergence features rules and ideas introduced in the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide. Catch Episode 2 (of 3) today at NOON!


Final Days Schedule


Whether you're a seasoned field agent for Alert Status 1 or a rookie recruit for the LRE, there are some good topics to review over this week to make sure we all end up where we want to be.

(An aside, if you're a new backer, make sure you check out our Final Week Countdown / Resource Update. It has links to the manusript previews, interviews, podcasts, actual plays, and fun fiction.)
 

International Shipping – Collected in the Pledge Manager


One quick note about International Shipping before we get into the manuscript previews. Unlike many previous Onyx Path projects, we won’t be collecting funds to cover International Shipping during this Kickstarter campaign. Instead, we’ll be charging for shipping in the Pledge Manager once the books are being printed and we can deal with the actual shipping charges rather than using our best-guesses this far out. We’re still anticipating pretty hefty costs to ship the book internationally (see our current guesses on the front page) so be forewarned, but we’ll cross that enormous bridge when we get to it.

DRAFT MANUSCRIPT PREVIEWS - BACKERS ONLY

Remember, thanks to BackerKit magic, these download links are visible to Backers only - you must be logged in and reading this on the website to have access to the manuscript preview links. So, if you're reading this via e-mail, click that "Read The Update" link on the bottom and I'll see you below the title treatment... 

Final Week Review - Reward Tiers & Add Ons
almost 3 years ago – Mon, Apr 17, 2023 at 10:32:52 AM

Hello Talents,

We're in the Final Days countdown for this Crowdfunding campaign. Trinity Continuum Player's Guide finishes it's crowdfunding campaign on BackerKit on Thursday, April 20 at 2:00 PM EDT. There's still time to Inspire additional Talents to join our Allegiance, but we're definitely getting closer to the finish line. With that in mind, I wanted to touch on some of the basics over these final 4 days to make sure everyone has the information they need to support the project in the way that works best for them.


Final Days Schedule


Whether you're a seasoned field agent for Alert Status 1 or a rookie recruit for the LRE, there are some good topics to review over this week to make sure we all end up where we want to be.

(An aside, if you're a new backer, make sure you check out our Final Week Countdown / Resource Update. It has links to the manusript previews, interviews, podcasts, actual plays, and fun fiction.)



PLEDGE REWARD TIERS

Like it says right at the top of the campaign story page, we've come together to help create a fully developed PDF and hardcover version for this action-packed expansion to the Trinity Continuum tabletop roleplaying game. Many of you have already explored different eras and genres within the Trinity Continuum, but this rules expansion adds a host of new abilities, gadgets, paths, and possibilities to the Talents that inhabit the Trinity Continuum worlds. While the book is focused on the action-adventure contemporary era introduced in the Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook, the ideas and options contained within can easily be incorporated into your Æon, Aberrant, Adventure!, Anima, Aether or Assassin game. Time travel, dimensional travel, microverse exploration, undersea habitats, and planetary travel are all dealt with in this book, and story ideas and character concepts can be found in just about every paragraph!


PLEDGING YOUR SUPPORT

To borrow an analogy that I've used in past campaigns, this process we're a part of works similar to the "Viewers Like You" support campaign from your local Public Broadcasting Station (for those who get American television channels or watched Sesame Street in the pre-HBO era): There are various levels of support that you can pledge to, and these come with various levels of rewards offered as a thank you. Like getting a tote bag or t-shirt when you give money to public broadcasting to fund them doing their thing, you can get rewards for helping Onyx Path work on this project.

Let's review the Backer Reward Tiers to ensure that you've pledged to a Reward Tier that provides all the rewards you wish to receive.

Hardcover Book or PDF Version

The main reward offered in this campaign is, of course, the main goal of the entire proposition: the finished book for the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide. The first decision you need to make is what form your rewards will take. Do you want your main rewards in digital form and are going for the PDF rulebook? Or are you do you the full tactile solution as a hardcover version (which includes the PDF as a bonus!).

With that decision in mind, we've got two key reward tiers to choose from:



  • La Révolte Éclatante: This is the PDF-only reward allegiance. So, if you're saving trees or saving shelf space - or avoiding the shipping charges that are absolutely ever-increasing - this is the reward tier options that you should begin with. The PDF will be fulfilled by our partners at DriveThruRPG.com - when it is ready, you will receive a link to add it to your DTRPG library at no cost and be able to download at your leisure.
  • National Office of Emergency Research: This reward allegiance includes the hardcover version of this book. Shipping costs ARE NOT included in the cost of your pledge. You will be charged for shipping after the campaign through the pledge manager.  In addition, this option also includes the PDF version, so you will get a digital copy as described above.

Two important reminders at this stage:

  •  International Shipping Costs: We’ll be charging for shipping in the Pledge Manager once the books are being printed and we can deal with the actual shipping charges rather than using our best-guesses this far out. We’re still anticipating pretty hefty costs to ship the book internationally (see our current guesses on the story page) so be forewarned, but we’ll cross that enormous bridge when we get to it.
  • The Trinity Continuum Player's Guide is a rules expansion for the Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook. The TC Core Rulebook forms the basis for all of the settings and expansions within the Trinity Continuum, but the TCPG is probably the closes companion book for the Core Rules, building on the contemporary action-adventure setting presented in the book, and focusing mainly on that era of the timeline. To make full use of this book, you will need the Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook.

That said, if you don't already have the Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook, there are two Pledge Allegiances that will take care of you with a single click:

  • Les Fantômes: A digital entry into the Trinity Continuum, this pledge path contains PDF versions of both the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide sourcebook as well as the Trinity Continuum Core Rules.
  • Polyphemus: This pledge path will get you both the PDF and hardcover books for  both the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide sourcebook and the Trinity Continuum Core Rules

In addition to these primary reward pledge paths, we also offer the following options:

  • Alert Status 1: Not ready to commit, or just looking to offer general support? This pledge allegiance is for you. This does not include our primary reward, but allows you to select some digital optional Add Ons, as well as participating in the post-campaign Pledge Manager as a backer. You'll also be able to read the draft manuscript of the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide that we post throughout this campaign.
  • Transcendent Alliance, The Triton Foundation: A few Reward Allegiances offer special limited premium rewards in addition to the basics, including an option to act as a Art Model or a chance to supply a name to be used by an NPC included in a supplement. Check each of the Pledge Tier descriptions for more details.

After the campaign is over we'll launch our BackerKit Pledge Manager and invite the backers to set up their rewards via survey. This allows you to confirm your pledge and add on anything that you might have missed, as well as possibly increasing your pledged reward tier, should you choose to expand your reward selection. This option will give international backers additional time to investigate shipping options, should they choose, knowing they can confirm a physical reward at a later date. We will also use BackerKit's Pledge Manager to charge actual shipping costs for international orders when we're approaching order fulfillment. Funding collected by BackerKit after the crowdfunding campaign does not count toward any campaign Stretch Goals, however.


You'll note that two rewards - Access to the Manuscript Previews and Participation in Post-Campaign Pledge Manager - are included in ALL reward tiers. That's just one of the perks of participating in this crowdfunding campaign!

OPTIONAL DISCOUNTED PoD VERSION – For this Trinity Continuum Player's Guide campaign, you will have the option of using DriveThruRPG.com’s Print-On-Demand service to purchase a physical, printed copy of the PDF directly from their PoD partners at discounted cost (this cost is not included in your pledge, and you do not need to increase the cost of your pledge to use this option). When the PoD versions are available to order (which may be some time after the books have gone to print), you will receive links to purchase these versions of the books from DriveThruRPG.com. You DO NOT need to take advantage of this PoD offer as it does not affect in any way your pledge rewards.

TRINITY CONTINUUM PLAYER'S GUIDE PDF VERSION - The digital version of the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide, fulfilled by our partners at DriveThruRPG.com. Backers will receive redemption links for an early version of this book before it goes on sale to the public. This initial "Advance Version" will be used to get feedback from the fans to make the final version the best that it can be. When it has been updated to the final version, it will automatically be added to your DriveThruRPG library and available for download at your convenience.

TRINITY CONTINUUM PLAYER'S GUIDE HARDCOVER BOOK - The main goal of this campaign is to fund the creation, production, and print run of a hardcover edition of this book. Note that all Reward Tiers that include the physical hardcover version also include the digital PDF version as a bonus. Shipping costs ARE NOT included in the cost of your pledge. You will be charged for shipping after the campaign through the pledge manager.



Choosing Your Reward Tier

There has been some churn over this past week - a few Reward Tier adjustments and changes by backers, as budgets changed and people have read the manuscript previews. In these final days it's best to ensure that you've selected the Reward Tier that offers you the options and rewards you want to receive and are ready to lock down. This timing - before the campaign ends - is the absolute most affordable and inclusive these rewards will be, and will save headaches and heartbreaks if fully considered now.

This is just the first step, however, in completing your pledge for this campaign. Funds for additional extras can be added to your pledge by selecting Add On options and increasing the overall funding and maybe getting us closer to a Stretch Goal.

First Step: Reward Tier

To summarize the first part of this post, the absolute best way to ensure that you're getting the primary rewards you want from this crowdfunding campaign is to ensure you've selected the appropriate Backer Reward Tier. Selecting the right Reward Tier covers about 95% of the options available to you. If you want a PDF only, make sure you've selected the correct reward. If you want the hardcover version, double-check your reward tier to ensure the proper option is featured. If you're going digital now but want the option of getting a discounted Print-on-Demand copy later, make sure you've got a reward tier that includes it.

Once you've completed that important step, you're going to want to look at the Add On rewards for any reward "bits" that don't automatically fall into your reward tier. That takes us to the Add On step.

Step Two: Add-On Options

Once you've chosen your pledge tier, you've likely already included the main rewards you want. In addition to the rewards offered as part of the Reward Tier configurations, there are a few other possible rewards you may wish to add. All Add-On rewards are described in our Add On menu below.

You can select an Add On option, which will increase the amount of your pledge by the listed amount. Add on options will be selected and confirmed again in the Pledge Manager when that's up and running.


The Trinity Continuum is a tabletop roleplaying game about possibilities and human potential. In the continuum, you will portray characters who can act and achieve even the most outlandish goals. Talents are people who have the ability to unknowingly reach into the continuum and change their own circumstances, appearing to be extremely lucky or very skilled individuals.

  • Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook - The Trinity Continuum Corebook is a standalone setting within the Trinity Continuum, but also serves as the foundation for other era/genre expansions, such as Æon, Aberrant, Adventure! Inside, you will find rules for creating characters within the Trinity Continuum; rules for Action Adventure, Intrigue, and Procedural play; advice for running genre games and styles of play in the Trinity Continuum; information on playing Talents in the modern era.
  • Trinity Continuum: Aberrant - Trinity Continuum: Aberrant is a game of superpowered adventure in the near-future of the Trinity Continuum. In 2018, novas — people with superhuman powers — first appeared following the explosion of a space station high above Earth. Now, 10 years later, thousands of novas have transformed the world, using their extraordinary powers to fight crime, clean up the environment, invent new technologies, and create wonders.
  • Trinity Continuum: Æon - Humanity has begun settling on planets circling other suns. Teleporters and the new Leviathan jump ships can take anyone across the galaxy in a few hours, so the stars are at last within our reach. However, we have found dangers as well as wonders out there, and only by working together can we overcome them and take our place on the galactic stage. 
  • Trinity Continuum: Adventure! - Trinity Continuum: Adventure! is a pulp action game set in an alternate history 1930s putting the players in the shoes of daring adventurers who seek to right wrongs and stop evildoers. In a world altered by strange telluric energy, characters may find themselves transported to places out of time where dinosaurs still roam or stopping an evil genius from blowing up the moon.
  • Trinity Continuum: Assassins - Trinity Continuum: Assassins transports players to the Contiuum’s underworld where well-dressed killers-for-hire use high-tech weapons and gear to eliminate their targets. Assassins join hidden Societies, each unified by their preferred method of doing violence. Their lives are brutal, blood-stained, and glamorous.
  • Trinity Continuum: Anima [Pre-Order] - Trinity Continuum: Anima is a game of cyberpunk and LitRPG (short for “literary roleplaying”) adventure set in the future of the Trinity Continuum. Characters in Anima are Talents — supremely talented individuals with an innate and unconscious ability to change the world. They have come to Cascade for their own reasons but are drawn into the intrigues of both the physical and virtual worlds. Some will enter the dangerous world of corporate cloak and dagger to uncover the answers lurking in shady business deals, while others will delve deep into the virtual world’s mysteries, discovering secrets meant to be left buried. Whatever the campaign’s focus, troupes will need to work in both worlds to ensure survival. Players need strong allies for security in the real world as well as high-level animas to fight back about the forces seeking to control a world fighting to rebuild itself.  Projected to deliver to pre-order backers by July 2023.
  • Trinity Continuum: Aether [Pre-Order] - Trinity Continuum: Aether is a game of steampunk adventure, exploration, and mystery set in 1895 in the Trinity Continuum. In the decade prior, Nikola Tesla identified and learned to harness Aether, an energy source capable of spinning new realities or unwinding the effect to restore reality. Now, Aether users dot the globe, silently spinning and unwinding with ease while Victorian era society goes about unaware of the dangerous experiments taking place in underground laboratories, dark alleys, and foreign worlds. Projected to deliver to pre-order backers by March 2024.

All of the Trinity Continuum game PDFs listed above also include a discounted Print-on-Demand option, if you choose to use DriveThruRPG's services and want to order a hardcopy of the PDF. We also have hardcover copies of the Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook and Trinity Continuum: Aberrant that can be added to any orders containing the hardcover version of the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide (and will therefore have shipping options in the Pledge Manager).

Trinity Continuum PDF Bundles. 

Get a digital library full of supplements and expansions for three eras within the Trinity Continuum.

  • Contemporary PDF Bundle - This digital bundle expands on the action-adventure world introduced in the Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook and includes In Media Res PDF, Core Screen PDF, Hunt for the Red Widow Encounter, New Lives PDF, A Fight at the Museum PDF.
  • Aberrant PDF Bundle - This digital bundle expands on the world of 2028 as presented in Trinity Continuum: Aberrant and includes You Are Not Alone PDF, Aberrant Screen PDF, Swine & Cheese PDF, Amalgamated Idea Dynamics PDF, N!WE Unleashed PDF, The Queer Nova Alliance PDF, Proteus Novas Compendium PDF, Novas Worldwide PDF, Terat PDF, Panopticon PDF.
  • Æon PDF Bundle - This digital bundle builds on the sci-fi world of Trinity Continuum: Æon and includes Æon Æxpansion PDF, Æon Screen PDF, Æon Ready-Made Characters PDF, Distant Worlds PDF, Terra Firma PDF, Under Alien Skies PDF, Æon VTT Tokens, Pets PDF, Prometheus Unbound PDF, Earth Oribital Habitat PDF, The Phoebe Trust PDF, Mission Statements PDF, Dawn PDF, Meridian PDF.


You can modify your pledges to select Add Ons right up until the campaign ends. Once you've decided to Pledge to the campaign, or to Manage your Pledge if you've already backed, you either Confirm or Edit Your Pledge until Thursday, April 20th at 2:00 PM EST

Pick a Pledge Tier, then Add On Options


Ready to join in? If you're backing for the first time, you can click BACK IT and select your Pledge Tier and finalize funding amount in the next menu.

Using myself as an example, I've got the most of the previous Trinity Continuum books, and I know for sure that I want the hardcover version of Trinity Continuum Player's Guide to sit proudly on my gaming shelf. Once I click BACK IT, I see my pledge level options. If I want to know a bit more about each level, I can click Learn More, or if I know what I'm looking for, I can click Back It.


The two main Pledges focusing on the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide are the $25 LRE for PDF only rewards, and the $55 NOER Allegiance for the hardcover book.

Clicking "Learn More" expands the Pledge Level info. For example, clicking "Learn More" on Les Fantomes gives you...



The perfect solution if this is your first Trinity Continuum project - including both the TCPG and the Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook PDFs.

Once you're ready, you can click that PLEDGE button and go right to Add On options.

For example, I've decided on the $55 NOER Allegiance, so I select BACK IT for that tier, and then I want to add on the Trinity Continuum: Æon PDF and the Trinity Continuum: Adventure! PDF to my rewards list.



My total is $90.00 USD.
That's $55 for my National Office of Emergency Research pledge Allegiance,
+$15 for the Trinity Continuum: Æon PDF Add On option
+$20 for the Trinity Continuum: Adventure! PDF Add On option

When everything is correct, click NEXT and then Confirm Your Pledge. You'll get an e-mail confirmation of your choices.

If you're already a backer but want to update your pledge or Add On choices...

Select "Manage Your Pledge" at the top of the page, and then "Edit Your Pledge" on your listing, and then...



You can select a new Pledge Level from the available option menu, or Change your Add On selection.

As before, you'll confirm all of your choices, and then receive an e-mail confirmation once that's done.

And with that, my pledge level and Add On options are set for your pledge. At this time, you don't need to worry about setting shipping information. 

You should also be aware that any available Add On options will be made available in our BackerKit pledge manager, so if you're unsure about adding on something at this point, you will be able to adjust your pledge in the post-campaign phase.

Pledging to the campaign also opens up the Stretch Goal rewards as thanks for your participation. We'll review our Stretch Goal accomplishments on Wednesday, but it's important to note that backers who wait and Pre-Order Trinity Continuum Player's Guide at a later date will not have any Stretch Goal rewards automatically added to their rewards list. The Stretch Goal rewards will only automatically be added to the rewards for those who participated in this crowdfunding campaign.

OPTIONAL HARDCOVER ADD ON REWARDS

All Add On and additional hardcovers can only be added to a reward tier that already includes a hardcover version of this book (and has therefore established shipping parameters). As with your pledge, international shipping charges will be calculated in the Pledge Manager with all physical rewards  sent in a single shipment once the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide books are printed and ready to fulfill.




REWARD DELIVERY

About 3-4 weeks after the campaign has ended, I'll launch our post-campaign Pledge Manager to collect information from all backers and confirm which rewards you'll be receiving. At that point, you'll be able to review your rewards and also also adjust any Add On Options that you may have missed. Once we have everything confirmed, I'll be able to deliver any rewards that are currently available - like the PDF versions of the other Trinity Continuum Rulebooks, as well as the three Era Supplement PDF Bundles. Backers who have pledged for these options will be sent special redemption links to claim these digital rewards from our partners at DriveThruRPG.com. Clicking these redemption links will allow you to add these PDF titles to your digital library to download anytime. I'll send an update when all of that is happening, though, so you are aware every step of the way.

So, while it will take some time for Trinity Continuum Player's Guide to move from manuscript form to a final product, you won't be waiting a year for PDFs that already exist. (You'll be waiting about 4-5 weeks or so, just enough time for us to set up the reward infrastructure.)

Physical Books

If you're waiting to see the International shipping costs before upgrading your PDF pledge to the hardcover reward tier, you'll have lots of time for that. We won't close the Pledge Manager until the books are ready to print and we know what shipping costs will be, so you'll be able to go back and adjust your pledge tier at that time.

It's going to take some time to create the final PDF for Trinity Continuum Player's Guide and even longer for the eventual print run for the hardcover book. When the books are at the printer, I will be in touch with all backers to outline timeline for pledge adjustments, as well as lockdown procedures and when we'll be confirming addresses and processing BackerKit Add Ons and Shipping payments. That's a long time away, and we'll cover that as we get closer to that part of the process.



Don't fret if you had forgotten to select additional rewards by the end of the campaign. These Add Ons will be available to select in our post-campaign Pledge Manager for those who participated in our campaign and have full access to the Pledge Manager. So, if you are undecided at this time, you will be able to hold off until we're closer to the final reward shipment goes out.

Step 1: Pledge Tier

Step 2: Add On Options

Again, your first step should involve your main reward selection, and your Add On Options will build upon that. If you selected the PDF-only tier, you can investigate PDF and digital options. If you select the hardcover tier, you will be able to add physical reward options. You should not add on additional physical rewards if the Trinity Continuum Player's Guide hardcover book is not included in your pledge tier reward list, but these Add Ons will appear in BackerKit if you later adjust your pledge choice.

Note that all funds are expressed in US Dollars, so take into account your conversion as needed.

It Adds Up!

That should explain the process of Selecting your Reward Level and adding Add On options and confirming your TOTAL PLEDGE AMOUNT. Since increasing your pledge amount increases the overall funding level of the project, add-ons can help us achieve our Stretch Goal funding targets, so it benefits us all to suggest that you double-check to make sure you're getting all of the rewards you want.

Additionally, this may go without saying, please review your personal budget and ensure you've selected the appropriate reward tier and add ons for your current financial situation. BackerKit will begin charging your payment method at midnight the day the campaign ends, so ensure you've budgeted correctly. Choose what works best for you now and is affordable at this time, knowing that you can upgrade your pledge level or choose Add Ons in the Pledge Manager at a late date.




Conclusion

As we move through these final days of the campaign, please ensure you've chosen the correct Reward Level for the rewards you want (at least at this point). And beyond that - please make sure you've investigated and selected any add-ons you wish to receive. If you have any issues with the Pledge process, either selecting the reward tier or figuring out the Add On options, you can reach out to me or to the support team at BackerKit. I've found them to respond quickly and offer great support.

On Thursday, just before the campaign ends, I will send an update detailing the steps that occur after the campaign concludes, including notes about our Pledge Manager and the communication plan going forward.

So, just like always: Spread the word! Share your excitement on social media! Tell your friends! We're about to work on our final great deeds, so let's make sure that none of our friends miss out!

And I'll be back Tuesday with the FINAL manuscript section for Trinity Continuum Player's Guide, making the complete text available for all backers to review before the campaign ends!

#TCPG

Sneak Peek: Building Encounters
almost 3 years ago – Sun, Apr 16, 2023 at 06:44:35 AM

Hey there, Talents!

I've got our final Sneak Peek for you today, an awesome section from the Storyguiding chapter which will be available in full to backer on Tuesday. The draft manuscripts and sneak peeks so far have filled me with ideas for adventures and campaigns, but the Storyguiding chapter helps you turn all of those ideas into fun encounters and cool game sessions.

Before we dig into that, we are - once again - closing in on our next Stretch Goal! Having unlocked a third expansion for our stretch goal supplement, we've got some online play tools coming our way if we can inspire some more backers to join in!
   
At $37,000 in Funding – TRINITY CONTINUUM VTT TOKEN PACK - Digital assets will be created to support online play for Trinity Continuum, including key character and antagonist tokens from the book. This online asset pack will be added to the rewards list of all backers.

Please continue to spread the word over this final week, and let's see if we can't Inspire enough new backers to unlock that goal, and maybe we can add another besides before we do a review next Wednesday.

As a reminder, here's our schedule for these final days:

Final Days Schedule

  • April 14 - Chapter 4 Preview - New Gifts, New Edges, New Gear
  • April 16 - Chapter 5 Preview - Building Encounters 
  • April 17 - Reward Tiers & Add Ons
  • April 18 - Draft Manuscript Preview #4 - Chapter 4 + 5 for backers
  • April 19 - Stretch Goal review
  • April 20 - Final Day Checklist and Next Steps

Whether you're a seasoned field agent for Alert Status 1 or a rookie recruit for the LRE, there are some good topics to review over this week to make sure we all end up where we want to be.

(An aside, if you're a new backer, make sure you check out our Final Week Countdown / Resource Update. It has links to the manusript previews, interviews, podcasts, actual plays, and fun fiction.)

Sneak Peek: Chapter 5 - Storyguiding 

If you’re running a game or playing in the Trinity Continuum, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the Storypath system. This chapter discusses some ways to make the system easier to understand and offers some optional rules to streamline your game. In addition, we cover how to plan for and execute different kinds of encounters, from combat to intrigue. We explain how to dial encounters based on the Talents’ Inspiration levels and what kinds of threats are around. This is followed by example antagonists to showcase the new systems found in this book, and brand-new anomaly powers.

Building Encounters

Talents are exceptional souls whose brilliance attracts prosperity and danger in equal measure. Even well-meaning forces might want to test the characters and submit them to trials and tribulations. Those who ally themselves with Allegiances also make themselves targets of enemies of those Allegiances. We present many antagonists in this book, so how do you know which ones to use and when to use them?

Ask yourself what you want to accomplish with your encounter. Talents are extraordinary people who encounter extraordinary threats, and many encounters end with physical conflict. Talents are capable of much more than just two-fisted action, however. They excel and attract conflict in all three areas of action.

Action-Adventure

Physical encounters are typically violent combat, but action-adventure covers all forms of physical peril, dramatic movement, violence, and round-by-round action. It’s important to consider who is involved once initiative is rolled. More importantly, you should consider what the participants want to accomplish and what it would take to escalate to violence.

For instance, consider an encounter where the characters are rappelling down the inside of a glacier fissure to recover the flight data recorder of a downed plane. At the same time, their rivals from Les Fantômes are rappelling down the opposite wall. The goal of both groups is to race to the bottom. They might attempt to sabotage each other without putting themselves in extra danger. Participants can use Stunts to create assets, remove Conditions, or alter the Field rather than attack each other directly.

Set the stakes at the beginning of each encounter so that the players can decide when they need to escalate. An illegal street race with a prize pot worth hundreds of thousands of dollars is a tense situation that can erupt into a shootout at any time. Challenging a fellow extreme sports enthusiast to a wingsuit competition for charity may turn nasty if somebody’s professional reputation is on the line, but that’s much less likely.  

Which Antagonists

From bystanders to the main attraction, you need to decide which characters are involved, where they are, and what they’re doing during the combat. Innocents may flee or try to hunker down, while minor threats may try to pin down a single character or distract the characters as the main antagonist prepares for a major attack.

When trying to decide which antagonists to include, how many, and what threat levels, you should take into consideration not just what power level the antagonists are, but also the capabilities of your characters. Even characters all at the same Inspiration rating are not equally capable in combat. The characters’ abilities and equipment make a huge difference in their effectiveness in a fight. Remembering who has what might be difficult; consider making cheat sheets of Edges, Facets, and Gifts for each player, so they remember what they have available, and the Storyguide knows what the characters are capable of. In general, decide which antagonist archetype to use in a combat scenario based on the characters’ experience level, but deciding which Edges, Gifts, and anomaly powers to include should consider the characters’ capabilities in other areas. This also goes for how many of each antagonist type to include in a single combat.



Tuning the Severity of Combat

Storyguides determine how dangerous to make fights when they sit down to plan the exciting action-adventure parts of their games. Depending on how the players choose to build their characters, this task can range from straightforward to a complicated puzzle. Fights should be fun and engaging, and shouldn’t leave any player surfing on their phone or stacking dice. By the same token, combat encounters shouldn’t be too easy, either. Unless a group is particularly turned off by the idea of combat, most play groups want an action scene to last more than a few rounds.

At the starting level, a combat-focused group can handle up to a Major Threat antagonist. Lean into cool, extraordinary powers, Gifts, and spectacular Edges to give the antagonist unique flair. In its primary source of expertise, the antagonist has 4 Enhancement, meaning it will readily push through anything lower than Defense 4. It also has Defense 4, meaning your players will need at least 2 Enhancement and a dice pool of 6+ (on average) to even land a hit! Bear that in mind when designing an encounter — it never hurts to double-check what’s on your player’s sheets before you plan. This way you’re not throwing something at them that’s too hard or too easy.

For groups with a moderate focus (only one or two of four players have chosen to play a combat-focused character, for example), they can face up to a moderate threat antagonist. You may consider having one major character with some minor character minions for the other characters to deal with, or include interesting Field Complications (p. XX) for characters to interact with. This level of antagonist has 2 Enhancement to its primary action, so can readily handle Defense 3. Its Defense of 4 means at least one of the characters will need 2 Enhancement and 6+ dice to hit them, on average.

That being said, not all player groups will be bold combatants ready to tussle with any threat that crosses their path. On the other hand, some groups may prefer to focus entirely on violence, choosing to punch the problem and solve puzzles by breaking them. Depending on the tack your group wishes to take, you should tune any combat encounters to match their level of ability.

For a group less focused on the combat abilities, keep antagonists to no stronger than a Medium Threat. With the right choice of Edges, this will be a suitable and engaging challenge for a group less interested in engaging with the combat system. Its Defense of 3 means the group needs 2 Enhancement and 3+ dice to hit — a manageable number for a group that hasn’t focused on this area of action.

Sometimes, an important antagonist brings friends to the party. A daring group of heroes can expect that the dastardly villain opposing them will employ dirty tricks, traps, and have a deadly henchman at her beck and call. In addition to other named threats accompanying a series villain, they’ll bring along backup — usually in the form of minor characters. These characters might be hired toughs who want to bash skulls in for a bit of money, or they could be trained combat pilots eager for the thrill of aerial battle.

Depending on the capabilities of the group, you’ll want to tailor how many of these extra threats appear. Use the following guidelines for the number of antagonists based on the characters’ Inspiration ratings. 

Inspiration 0
Characters who haven’t experienced the moment of Inspiration are comparatively fragile. They lack the versatility of Talents who can spend Inspiration for Enhancement through Facets, gain Scale for Intensity, and activate Gifts. Edges and equipment are important to keep in mind for characters and antagonists. Antagonists shouldn’t use cutting edge weapons or top-of-the-line body armor. Make antagonists less challenging by giving them fewer Edges than their archetype allows. You can add challenge to an encounter by making one of the antagonists an anomaly or Inspired character, but be careful when assigning them powers or Gifts.
  • Minor Characters: The Primary pools of minor characters shouldn’t be more than 4 or 5. A large group can still overwhelm a player character, so consider no more than two minor characters per player character. If there are other threats present, use one per two player characters instead. Use Standard Equipment (Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook, p. 140).
  • Minor/Medium Threats: With Health Boxes and Edges, these antagonists are comparable to player characters at this level. Use no more than one per two player characters in an encounter with only minor or medium threats, or a single minor or medium threat backed up by minor characters.
  • Moderate/Major Threats: If player characters are facing these antagonists, consider making combat their secondary focus, if at all. Their Desperation pools are as large as minor characters’ Primary pools, but they could support or direct less powerful antagonists to provide a tactical advantage. Remove two of their Edges, and no more than one should have Powers. Player characters will have to expend resources to reliably hit their high Defenses, so don’t use more than one moderate or major threat in an encounter, and offer the players objectives beyond taking them out.
  • Colossal Threats: Colossal threats are not appropriate for anything other than the end of an intense chronicle for mundane characters. Rather than facing such antagonists directly, use them as hazards to be avoided. Send lesser threats against the player characters while they try to accomplish objectives that will incapacitate the colossal threat. For example, the antagonist is a giant killer robot marching to the center of the city defended by a squadron of soldiers with jetpacks. The player characters must infiltrate the robot and shut it down from the inside, dealing with its guardians the whole time.


Inspiration 2-3
Talents can radically alter an encounter with Inspiration, though they will be limited to only a few uses per scene. Some Gifts provide passive benefits or don’t require Inspiration to activate however, so a group that is running low on Inspiration can still put up more of a fight than mundane characters.

If you want your antagonists to survive, the most important ability to counter is Extraordinary Effort. This allows player characters to increase the Scale of Intensity of any action —including attacks — by 1 for every Inspiration that they spend. In addition to the Enhancement from increased Scale, they can buy additional uses of the Inflict Damage Stunt for each Scale they possess above the antagonist’s. Spending 2 Inspiration would allow them to take out a minor threat with a single hit.
  • Minor Characters: Feel free to increase minor characters’ Primary dice pools up to 8, but don’t use more than one per player character. Give up to half of them Excellent Equipment (Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook p. 140) for a more challenging fight.
  • Minor/Medium Threats: Player characters have more options when dealing with threats at this level, but they can still threaten the player characters with their dice pools and Enhancement. Don’t use more than one per two player character, and reduce the number of Edges or Powers.
  • Moderate/Major Threats: Combat-focused groups can reliably handle a minor or medium threat assisted by minor characters. Alternatively, use a single moderate or major threat with a combative Primary dice pool assisted by a minor or medium threat.
  • Colossal Threats: While player characters at this level still won’t be able to directly combat a colossal threat, Dramatic Editing and Extraordinary Effort empower them to bring the fight to the antagonist. One colossal threat with an entourage of minor characters can be an epic final fight.


Inspiration 4-6
  • Minor Characters: The player characters can handle two minor characters per player character if they’re fighting alone, but no more than one per two player characters if assisting a higher-level antagonist.
  • Minor/Medium Threats: At this level, threats can still be a match for player characters, but you may need more than a couple to challenge a combat-oriented group. Use up to one per player character if they’re fighting alone, or no more than one per two player characters if assisted by lower-level antagonists.
  • Moderate/Major Threats: Talents are more than capable of squaring off against a single moderate or major threat, so back them up with minor characters and one or two lesser antagonists.
  • Colossal Threats: At this Inspiration level, colossal threats are still formidable opponents, but the player characters are likely to fare better against them. While they can easily fight alone, they might have a single lesser archetype with them or better-equipped minor characters. 


Inspiration 7-10
High-powered Talents can spend more Inspiration in a combat, giving them greater versatility or empowering themselves more often. They can handle large-scale fights and fight more often with fewer losses.
  • Minor Characters: Talents can generally handle two minor characters per player character if they are alone, or one minor character per player if assisting a higher-level antagonist. Give them Top-of-the-Line Equipment for an added sting.
  • Minor/Medium Threats: Antagonists at this level are weaker than the player characters, but still capable of overwhelming them in large numbers. Use no more than one per player character when fighting them alone, but don’t be afraid to add a few minor characters to assist them. 
  • Moderate/Major Threats: These threats are still singular characters and can fight alone, but they may need lower-level antagonists to assist them or come equipped with high-end gear or strange powers.
  • Colossal Threats: With Extraordinary Effort alone, a Talent at this level can match whatever Scale a colossal threat may possess, though they would exhaust most of their Inspiration to do so. There is generally more than one player character, however. Colossal threats should still be singular, but can be supported by any kind of lower-level antagonist.

Procedurals

Antagonists oppose characters in procedural play in two ways. The first is to obscure clues and hinder the characters’ investigations. Keep in mind the difference between core clues and alternative clues. Opposition cannot prevent the characters from finding core clues, but they could make finding alternative clues more difficult or add Complications to rolls.

If antagonists are working to obscure clues from the characters, consider making the core clues related to the antagonists themselves. Let the characters know that crime scenes have been tampered with or that information has been erased from their archives. Alternative clues can reveal the antagonists’ means, methods, and skills. Complications might alert the antagonists that they’re being pursued or identify who the characters are.

Characters may also compete against antagonists to finish the procedural first or most accurately. Each participating team of investigators needs to accumulate the most clues as quickly as possible. The characters construct a legal argument to defend a client while the prosecution collects evidence against them as the court date approaches. Rival journalists race for the juiciest scoops. Globe-trotting adventurers search for the location of a Mycenaean tablet to keep it from falling into the hands of the British Museum.

Which Antagonists

The Storyguide doesn’t need anything beyond the guidance in Chapter 2: Clues and Conspiracy and on page 81 of the Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook if the antagonists aren’t present in a procedural scene with the characters. Antagonists will do whatever the Storyguide needs to justify the Difficulty and Complications of their investigation rolls. Pay attention to the dice pools, Edges, and anomaly powers of the supporting characters involved. Use those details as alternative clues and additional information. As the characters investigate, they learn more about their enemies.

When the characters directly interact with their antagonists during procedural play, the Storyguide needs to communicate with the players to keep the action flowing. Opposing hackers combing through the same network to see who can find the hidden files first, while simultaneously leaving digital traps and dead ends for each other, can be just as tense as any action scene, but requires clearly establishing the stakes and consequences of each action roll.

The action economy is important in these situations as well. Multiple antagonists working together can spread out and find clues more quickly than a single private investigator. The Storyguide should consider appointing a lead investigator for each group of antagonists and improve their Enhancement, or let each member of the group freely access each other’s Edges and powers.



Intrigue

Sometimes antagonists thwart characters through social maneuvering or false leads. Consider having long-term antagonists act in ways that antagonize the characters without devolving into a fight. Maybe a known weapons dealer shows up at a charity ball, and the characters must convince the town’s mayor that she isn’t trustworthy, but she has the mayor’s ear and is trying to convince him that the characters are dangerous. A fight would only prove her point. Maybe an Aberrant isn’t rampaging through town, but instead mind controlling people to kill others. Interrogation reveals that they are looking for something in particular and would go away if offered the right incentive.

Even if you plan for a social interaction between an antagonist and the characters, it may devolve into a fight, and that’s okay. You still want to consider what the antagonist does in a fight. Does she run away when she sees that talks have gone south? Does she call in reinforcements to distract the characters? Does she fight with all her might? How does she escalate in response to violence?

No matter what it says in an antagonist’s stat block, the players’ characters cannot be forced to do anything without their players’ consent. Characters never have to accept the result of an influence roll (Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook p. 89).

Which Antagonists

Characters engage in intrigue in three primary ways. They try to influence specific targets in one-on-one discussions or meetings, sway crowds in a debate or inspire allies with epic speeches, or manage bureaucracies and organizations.

One-on-One

Characters seek social scenes to make friends, gather information, and find connections. Whether convincing a hardboiled detective to lend her aid to their investigation or asking after the criminal leader’s connections in a smoky bar, one-on-one interactions form an important part of building social encounters. For the Storyguide, this means coming up with a colorful cast of characters that your players will want to meet and talk with. Recurring antagonists can develop Attitudes and bonds with the player characters as well as allies. Utilize them to give the players authorial control over the development of their characters’ relationships. 

Groups

Characters don’t just interact with each other one-on-one, sometimes they engage with an entire group. This might be on a personal scale, such as giving a speech to a crowded room or trying to talk down a gang of toughs a half-dozen strong, but it could also be on a greater level, such as giving a rousing speech to inspire the rag-tag cadre of soldiers under your command. Your character might also flit from person to person at an elegant gala. For social groups, treat their Attitude according to the lowest of all characters involved. If the aforementioned character is trying to talk down that gang, and their leader hates her, it’s unlikely she’ll have a lot of sway over his followers without the use of a Gift. The same applies for a speech or presentation. After seeing the results of the player’s roll, the Storyguide might decide that a particular character in the crowd was especially swayed and move on to a one-on-one interaction. This presents an excellent opportunity for the Storyguide to introduce new characters, as well as give social-focused characters a chance to flex their skills.

Bureaucracy

Sometimes, characters will face the stodgiest social opponent possible: an organization. When dealing with a bureaucracy or society (such as an Allegiance), treat this as an extended social action. Depending on what the character is trying to do, and how enormous and unfeeling the bureaucracy or society is, it may have Scale, and therefore require special Gifts to deal with. A department of scientists or academics can be dealt with on a personal level, but the entire university has Scale against such tactics.

Again, this is just a sample from the chapter. There's a ton more - and examples for some of these options as well. Backers will have access to the full draft version of this chapter - the full draft version of the entire book, actually - on Tuesday! 

Tomorrow, I'm going to go over the various pledge reward tiers and Add On options. Until then, let's keep Inspiring other backers to join in!

#TCPG


Sneak Peek: New Gifts, New Edges, New Gear
almost 3 years ago – Fri, Apr 14, 2023 at 10:10:06 AM

Hello Talents,

Before I share a preview of Chapter 4, I just wanna note how closer we are to our next Stretch Goal, expanding our stretch goal supplement and giving the writers more room to add new toys for our Talents.

At $35,000  in Funding – GEAR AND GADGETS – Even more gear, gadgets, and tech toys will be added to our unlocked PDF supplement.

Please continue to spread the word over this final week, and let's see if we can't Inspire enough new backers to unlock that goal, and maybe we can add another besides before we do a review next Wednesday.

As a reminder, here's our schedule for these final days:


Final Days Schedule

  • April 14 - Chapter 4 Preview - New Gifts, New Edges, New Gear
  • April 15 - Actual Play simulcast 
  • April 16 - Chapter 5 Preview - Building Encounters 
  • April 17 - Reward Tiers & Add Ons
  • April 18 - Draft Manuscript Preview #4 - Chapter 4 + 5 for backers
  • April 19 - Stretch Goal review
  • April 20 - Final Day Checklist and Next Steps

Whether you're a seasoned field agent for Alert Status 1 or a rookie recruit for the LRE, there are some good topics to review over this week to make sure we all end up where we want to be.

(An aside, if you're a new backer, make sure you check out our Final Week Countdown / Resource Update. It has links to the manusript previews, interviews, podcasts, actual plays, and fun fiction.)

Sneak Peek: Chapter 4 - Mechanics.


Talents have a whole slew of tools and tricks available to them. From the gadgets they build or find, to the Gifts that empower them, they likely have something to get a job done. This chapter covers all the new Gifts, gadgets, vehicles, Paths, and Skill Tricks available to Talents based on the information found in previous chapters.

On Tuesday, backers will have access to the entire draft version of this chapter. To give us an idea of what to expect, we've got a sampler of some of the material coming our way.

New Gifts


The following Gifts interface with the new systems found in this book. Need a gift for racing your death machine against other terrifyingly assembled vehicles? How about a Gift to pull off the impossible heist of a lifetime? Perhaps a Gift to notice an open dimensional gate? This section has you covered. 

Luck Gifts

Dimensional Awareness

Keywords: Constant, Luck
Either due to repeated practice traveling between alternate dimensions or some quirk of luck, your character is unusually sensitive to flux gates and the worlds they lead to. Not only can they sense any flux gates that are within long range, your character does not need to have line of sight, and can sense them even if they cannot see the flux gate’s location. Also, your character automatically knows if a flux gate leads to a dimension they have visited before, even if it’s a gate they have never encountered before. 

While the details of these perceptions differ slightly from one Talent with this Gift to another, anyone with this Gift also gains a general sense of how long ago a particular dimension diverged from the characters’ simply by looking at it. Precise information is impossible, but it’s instantly apparent that one flux gate leads to a dimension that diverged tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of years ago, while a second diverged several thousand years ago, and a third only diverged a few decades ago. Finally, your character can also spend a point of Inspiration to increase the size of a flux gate by +1 Size Scale, to a maximum of Size Scale 3.

Dimensional Mastery

Keywords: Luck, Momentary
Prerequisite: Dimensional Awareness
By spending a point of Inspiration, your character can open a flux gate that has closed due to it being sufficiently old that the two dimensions have begun to drift apart. In addition, they can also use all of the abilities of the Dimensional Awareness Gift on flux gates that have closed. Flux gates opened with this Gift remain open for the next scene and then close again. Repeated use of this Gift on a closed flux gate will eventually cause it to reopen, but this requires your character use this Gift to open the flux gate anywhere from several to several dozen times. 

Cunning Gifts

Feels Like a Tuesday to Me

Keywords: Attribute (Cunning), Momentary

Prerequisite: Humanities ••
Perhaps due to past experience with time rifts or other phenomena related to time travel, your character has developed a peculiar sense for temporal phenomena. Maybe she can analyze where a time rift leads by the feel of the energy coming off of it, or her senses can pick up snatches of sound or hazy images nobody else can hear or see but somehow provide a clue. On the other side, she always knows right away when she is (if not necessarily where) from context clues in clothing, architecture, signage, or even just the smell in the air.

System: Spend an Inspiration. Your character knows roughly what time period lies on the other end of an open time rift. If it's within the last couple of decades, she can pinpoint a year. If it's beyond that but within the last couple of centuries, she can narrow it down to a decade or two. The farther back the rift goes, the more vague it is. She gets no clues as to where in space the rift goes. If she passes through the rift (risking whatever might be on the other side), she can make the same assessment at no cost. If she makes a roll to narrow down the location and/or specific year, she may spend an Inspiration to find extra context clues, gaining Enhancement equal to her Reflective Facet on the roll.

Stamina Gifts
Unreasonably Rugged

Keywords: Attribute (Stamina), Constant
Prerequisites: Stamina •••
When he comes running back through the gate, his hair is singed, one pant leg is torn off, and the oxygen cannister has melted. “Other side’s a bit rough,” he admits, as he stops, drops, and rolls to put out his flannel shirt, still aflame.

System: Every scene, your character has one additional Hard Armor which they may apply to any environmental or area damage effect. The Hard Armor heals at the end of a scene.

Repurchase at Inspiration 5 to allow your character to heal this Gift’s Hard Armor the first time they take an Injury Condition in a scene.

Pilot Gifts

City Drift

Keywords: Constant, Skill (Pilot)
Prerequisites: Pilot •••
The Talent pilots his vehicle with cool and steady hands. He doesn’t spin out when he whips around corners at blistering speeds. His vehicle handles sharp turns and serpentines with unbelievable control. 

System: Decrease the cost of the Jockey for Position Stunt by 1. The first time you use this Gift during a chase, you may activate the Stunt for free so long as you drift around a corner, sharp turn, or other dangerous curving pathway. 

Evasive Maneuver 

Keywords: Momentary, Skill (Pilot)
Prerequisites: Pilot ••
The Talent’s daring flight keeps enemies guessing about where he is and where he’ll go. His clever tactics prevent enemies from leveraging advantages against him. 

System: Spend 1 Inspiration. Until the start of your next chase action, you cannot gain the Locked-On Condition. If you already suffer from the Locked-On Condition, you may apply this Gift to negate the Enhancement bonus provided by the Condition on the enemy’s next attack against you. 



Mental Edges

The following are Edges that give Talents a benefit to their Mental arena.

Dimensional Understanding (•••)

Prerequisite: Dimensional Explorer Path, Enigmas ••
Visiting a new dimension can be exceptionally confusing, since almost anything could be different or unchanged. However, you have a combination of experience and an innate knack that allows you to make sense of what you observe. After spending at least one full scene in or observing multiple people interacting on an unfamiliar dimension, you can make an Enigmas + Cunning roll. The Difficulty of this roll is 1 for a close tangent and 3 for a far tangent. Success permits your character to gain a basic understanding of the society, such as knowing that a society appears matriarchal with men deferring to women on most matters, or people is this society avoid asking one another direct questions. If your character either cannot hear or cannot understand the local language, they can still gain some insights, but they will be considerably more general and vague.

Polyglot (•)

You have an amazing facility for languages, and whether from book learning or casual exposure you can pick up new languages with astounding speed. You sound like a native and you automatically know enough of any modern language to get around, as well as any dead languages your background justifies. This includes written language as well, assuming the character has been exposed to writing as well as speech. The Storyguide may rule that you do not know a language if it is secret or simply unknown on any dimension you have visited. Once exposed to such languages the character learns them just as quickly as any other, however, picking up the basics in a day or two and becoming fluent after little more than a week of steady exposure.


Physical Edges

The following are Edges that give Talents a benefit to their Physical arena.

Expert Diver (••)

Your character is at home under the water and likely skilled with various common diving suits and practices. She does not suffer the usual special environmental penalties from being underwater, such as Complications on physical actions or restrictions on speed. This Edge does not protect her from drowning, pressure, or other forms of environmental damage, however.

Square Cube Tesseract (• to •••••)

Two versions of this Edge exist, and a character may purchase both. The first version applies to the standard field (Size −1 to −4) while the second applies only to the micro-field (Size −5 and below). Your character isn’t subject to the normal side effects of shrinking. You may ignore an amount of Negative Scale equal to dots in this Edge when calculating changes to Durability Scale and Power Scale. You may ignore the same amount when calculating the effects of an opponent’s crushing attack. Changes to Speed Scale and Enhancement to Defense are unaffected.

Social Edges

The following are Edges that give Talents a benefit to their Social arena.

Man in Black (•)

Prerequisite: Polyphemus Path
Your character exudes the authority of their shadowy organization, even if the person to whom they are speaking hasn’t heard of it (and they’d better not have). Gain +1 Enhancement to attempts to convince people that they, in fact, saw nothing and can move along with their day.

Inspired Edges

These Edges require the user to be a Talent or other Inspired individual to take.

Flux Identifier (••)

Prerequisite: Polyphemus Path
Your character carries a flux-infused device the lab techs in the Vault consider stable enough to keep on your person. Much like the EMF devices people use for ghost hunting, the device helps triangulate areas of greater flux saturation than usual. Gain +2 Enhancement for finding and identifying flux-infused people, places, flora, fauna, and objects. To the dismay of Project Tantalus, this device does not find Talents unless they are also oversaturated with flux to a dangerous or unpredictable level. It is up to the players and Storyguide whether the device can be used to identify a player character as a flux source.

Flux-Infused Armor (•-•••)

Prerequisite: Polyphemus Path
Your character has flux-infused armor. It can be her own body armor, clothing that was altered by exposure to flux, or provided by her research team. When selecting this Edge, pick twice as many armor tags as dots in this Edge. Once per session, your character can reconfigure her armor to have any of the tags, from one tag at the one-dot version up to three tags at the three-dot.



Equipment

Talents are skilled individuals who have luck on their side. That doesn’t mean they aren’t equally prepared for their adventures with equipment and gear that will help them along the way. This section covers new equipment suitable for Talents in all the places they may go.

New Equipment Tags

Unusual science calls for unusual capabilities. These tags are useful for Talents who are dealing with strange phenomena, such as Strange Places, rifts, dimensional travel, or even time travel.

Bulky (1-3)

For each point of the Bulky tag a character has in a hostile environment, physical actions under time pressure suffer from +1 Complication, causing delay and wasted time if not bought off (and causing the wearer to suffer the Stunned Condition for their next round in combat).

Reactive (1)

Reactive armor is effective against the first damage type or source of harm it’s exposed to in a scene, strange material shifting to provide anything from cutproof cladding to radiation absorbing density. When exposed to another source of damage, a Talent may spend a point of Inspiration or Source to change the armor to be effective against the new type of damage, losing its previous resistance.

Reshape Phenomenon (1)

The device can change the shape and dimensions of a phenomenon made of energy or certain forms of exotic matter, like a time rift. A Technology roll can increase its dimensions by up to 200% or reduce them by as much as 75%. The shape can be changed as well, maintaining more or less the same area.


Basic Gear

The following are pieces of gear useful throughout any dimension a character might find themselves in.

Atmospheric Diving Suit

Even a highly trained diver puts themselves at a calculated risk if they want to venture into the depths. Atmospheric diving suits mitigate some of the physiological risks associated with water pressure as a hard metal barrier between the diver and the water. They’re a cross between a spacesuit and an underwater mech. Their inside air pressure’s the same as on the Earth’s surface, so a diver doesn’t have to go through decompression or use special gas. They have communication devices, use marine thrusters for propulsion, and have multi-articulated limbs. They typically have multi-prong, claw-like hands for the diver to work with. They’ve recently achieved record dives of 800 meters.

Systems: Divers can move at Speed Scale +1 while underwater. Increase the Difficulty of all tasks involving fine or delicate manipulation by +4.

Availability: Atmospheric diving suits are extremely expensive and need to be ordered for purchase. 


Directed EMP Devices

Small-scale electromagnet pulse devices deliver a directed blast that knocks out electronic devices, frying ungrounded and unhardened systems entirely. Unlike their larger counterparts, these devices are around the size of a notebook and easy to carry on a job.

System: When attached and activated, the directed EMP can disable any electronically driven device up to Size Scale 2. Reactivating the devices is impossible without repairs. Against a larger device, such as an aircraft or a bank of servers, the directed EMP may impose increased Difficulty, Complication, or temporary non-functionality at the Storyguide’s discretion. A directed EMP device may reduce the Difficulty to bypass an appropriate obstacle during a heist by 3.

Availability: Only military units and government agencies with specialized remit have ready access to such devices. Talents could make one themselves, call in favors from their connections, or steal one.

Electric Shark Repellent

Sharks have a special electrical sensory system to help them detect prey nearby since several species don’t have good sight. ESR rely on this fact to emit electric pulses to deter sharks from a person, preventing attacks… in theory. They don’t work all the time for all species or if the shark’s hungry enough to ignore it. 

System: Electric shark repellents give a diver 2 Enhancement on Survival actions to avoid or repel sharks.

Availability: Electric shark repellent is readily available for purchase.

Artifacts

These Artifacts are useful items Talents may craft or gain from their respective Allegiances to help them in their travels.

Dimension Detector

Rank: 2
Gift: Dimensional Awareness
This device duplicates most of the abilities of the Dimensional Awareness Gift. Different Talents have created different versions of this device. The most common are a device shaped like a bulky wrist watch or a medium-sized mobile phone, which has a directional antenna and a small screen. This device gives the direction and distance of any flux gate within long range. The other version of the device is a pair of sunglasses with oversized frames that allow the wearer to see any flux gates within long range. Both devices also can detect if a flux gate they are pointed at leads to the same dimension as one it was previously used to detect. One advantage of this device is that anyone can use it, including the un-Inspired.

Doctor Belt

Rank: 4
Enhancement: +3
Edges: Adrenaline Spike, Hardy 3
Gifts: Cast-Iron Stomach, Self-Sense
Tags: Worn
Size: -2
Different versions of this device exist under different names, but it's most commonly referred to as the Doctor Belt (as in “What does Doctor Belt say?”) despite being a full-sized harness. While not specifically developed for time travel, they’ve proved most useful for temporal journeys because of their propensity to take the characters away from modern medical facilities and into time periods with poorly-understood diseases and contaminants. Worn as an elaborate body harness under clothing, it uses a number of different systems to let the wearer monitor their health (usually with something resembling a fitness tracker paired with the harness) and modulate their own body's processes to help them survive harsh environments.

To take this with the Artifact Edge, add the Flaw: Loyal to a Fault and the Flaw: Jinxed.

Energy Shield

Rank: 4
Tags: Composite (Ballistic, Impact), Hard Armor 1, Shield
Edges: Fast Draw
Gifts: Destined for Damage
Flaws: Loyal to a Fault
Energy shields are made to order units designed to cover a wide area and protect not only the user, but those who might stand behind her. These shields have panels of energy that radiate from a center spoke and form hardened barriers preventing both fast- and slow-moving objects from bypassing them. When not deployed, the shield fits comfortably in a pocket or pack. When deployed, it stands about 1 meter tall and about as wide. These shields can only be used by the person who they are made for, as they are biometrically imprinted upon creation. 

Portable Gateway 

Rank: 2
Gifts: Dimensional Awareness, Dimensional Mastery
This gadget permits users to open flux gates that have closed, while also containing a device that can detect flux gates and the traces of closed gates, permitting users to position the device correctly. This device folds up into a rectangular box roughly the size of a piece of carry-on luggage, and it can be unfolded to create an open rectangle that is designed to be placed around a flux gate. It is large enough to admit any Size 1 person or object. In addition, characters can use this device to expand a flux gate by unfolding it further, so any object up to Size 2 can pass through it. It also has low, extensible ramps, permitting wheeled or tracked vehicles to drive through the gate. Finally, this device also permits anyone to see the dimension on the other side of the flux gate. One of the Portable Gateway’s many advantages is that, because it provides a framework that surrounds the edges of the flux gate and permits even the un-Inspired to see and see through the gate, it is an ideal method of allowing un-Inspired individuals to travel between dimensions.



Vehicles

In games focused on the open road or in which players are simply interested in exploring vehicular options, Storyguides should considering allowing players’ characters access to vehicles that would normally be beyond their means. Whether junkyard rebuilds, unexpected windfalls, or vehicles obtained under mysterious circumstances, a game interested in fast and furious action only benefits from characters having signature rides. In such cases, characters should be allowed to possess vehicles of up to ••• value without requiring the Wealth Edge. However, such vehicles should come with appropriate 0-Cost tags such as Finnicky, Offline, or Shoddy to indicate their unusual provenance. 

Other times, players might wish to have a group-owned vehicle. In such situations, the vehicle’s cost can go as high as the highest Wealth in the group, plus an additional point or tag for each character investing in it. Players designing a group vehicle should discuss and define the favored positions or action stations for their characters, both to provide more detail to how the vehicle functions and to avoid everyone trying to be the one to shoot the cannon on the tank the first time it rolls out. 

Some vehicles (such as the Telluric Intruder or Horizon Penetrator) make appropriate choices for the Artifact Edge. Functionally mundane vehicles with a modest investment in Inspired tags, they can be selected as Artifact ••• with their choice of 3 points of Flaws (Jinxed and Unreliable are both good choices, Trinity Continuum Core, p. 98-99).

New Vehicle Tags

Inspired tags indicate tags requiring at least advanced super science to include in a vehicle or device. 

AI Driver (Inspired) (2)

An advanced AI is fully integrated with the vehicle’s systems and is able to operate them freely. It has the dice pools of a moderate threat, using its primary pool for any driving or computer-searchable general knowledge tasks and its secondary pool for any other connected systems such as Weapons or Tools. Not actually sentient, it loyally serves its assigned owner to the best of its abilities. Seriously subverting or damaging the AI requires prolonged access to its physical storage, though attempts to deceive or degrade its abilities remotely are possible. 

Flux Capacitor (Inspired) (2)

The vehicle sports a device which can gather, store, and channel flux energy. Whenever the vehicle participates in a scene involving genuine risk or challenge, it becomes charged. During any scene in which the vehicle is running, the driver may trigger the Flux Capacitor to use its charge to create a flux zone, allowing the use of flux Stunts and reducing the cost of Dramatic Editing by one for a scene. 

Rear Launcher (1-2)

At the push of a button, the driver can unleash tire shredding caltrops, disruptive slicks of oil, or murderous shrapnel on anyone foolish enough to pursue them. Activating the system takes an action (which may be part of a chase scene), affecting any vehicles behind or pursuing the driver’s vehicle. It inflicts 2 Complication, each potential payload having a different effect if not bought off:

Caltrops: The pursuing vehicles suffer −1 Speed for the rest of the scene.
Oil:  The pursuing vehicle spins out, either losing a milestone in a chase or race, or the driver’s next action in a general actions scene.
Shrapnel: The pursuing vehicle or its occupants suffer an Injury Condition (pursuing driver’s choice) 

A launcher comes with one type of payload at cost 1, and all for cost 2. 




Paths

The following are new Paths available to Talents.

Origin Paths

The options listed cover an array of upbringings. Each Origin Path offers a range of potential backstories within its purview. Enterprising Storyguides can use these Origin Paths as a basis for further customization to best fit the needs of their chronicle.

Kalandrite

Your character is a native of Kal-Andrix. You’ve likely grown up in the shadow of dark times during the conflict between Charhusk’s forces and the Guardians of Kal-Andrix. You are likely familiar with the Kalandrite technology that’s survived the war, which is often far beyond what is available to Earthlings. You may have even joined a side in this conflict. Whether you’ve become an active combatant or done your best to stay out of sight of both warring factions, life on Kal-Andrix isn’t easy on anyone.

Suggested Connections: Royal guard, Demonic foot soldier, Guardian of Kal-Andrix, Merchants, Thieves’ Guilds, Armorers, Mechanics
Skills: Larceny, Pilot, Survival, Technology
Edges: Artifact, Direction Sense, Hardy, Ms. Fix It, Small Unit Tactics, Tough Cookie
Gifts: Attribute (Stamina), Skill (Survival, Technology)

Ward

As a child, your character was taken in and raised by someone other than a family member. This could be anything from a long-term stay in a juvenile corrections facility to being adopted by a billionaire vigilante with a penchant for child sidekicks. The ward was likely old enough to remember his home life when he became a ward, and those memories linger for better or worse. Some wards resent the loss of their previous life while others are grateful to be done with it, fully embracing their change in circumstances.

Example Connections: Birth Family, Corrections Officer, Former Cellmate, Foster Family, Gang Member, Lawyer, Social Worker
Skills: Command, Culture, Integrity, Persuasion
Edges: Alternate Identity ••, Safe House •, Skilled Liar ••, Tough Cookie ••, Patron •••, Wealth •••••
Gifts: Attribute (Presence), Skill (Command, Culture)

Role Paths

The following Role Paths are not restrictive or exclusive, and many of the Skills, abilities, and areas of expertise of the various Role Paths offer some amount of overlap. That said, Role Paths can be used to great effect when narrowing down the scope of a character concept or creating the core approach a player would like to take in the course of the chronicle.

Micronaut

Your character has trained extensively for shrinking-based operations. You’re prepared for every conceivable emergency and trained to operate the technology that will reduce you to the appropriate size. Of course, none of this technology is rigorously tested — that’s your job — and there are plenty of threats lurking in the Microverse that are inconceivable to those who’ve never visited. Hopefully your voyages can pave the way for future micronauts, making the prospect of shrinking-based science safer for those who follow in your footsteps. 

Suggested Connections: Quantum Physicist, Military Contractor, Military Officer, Doctor, Denizen of the Microverse, Technician
Skills: Athletics, Medicine, Science, Technology
Edges: Adrenaline Spike, Artifact, Direction Sense, Hardy, Ms. Fix It, Tough Cookie
Gifts: Attribute (Dexterity), Skill (Science, Technology)

Sidekick

The sidekick has dedicated himself to being the best team player and support system possible. He ensures that the job gets done and that teammates with focused expertise have everything they need to accomplish their tasks. For the sidekick, this can mean anything from fetching research materials, to providing a distraction at a black-tie social function, to laying down suppressive fire in a combat zone. Whatever the party needs to succeed, the sidekick is there to provide.

Example Connections: Hacker, Household Staff, Journalist, Law Enforcement, Personal Trainer, Underworld Snitch
Skills: Athletics, Enigmas, Pilot, Survival
Edges: Adrenaline Spike ••, Always Prepared •, Danger Sense •, Hair Trigger Reflexes •, Patron •••, Precise Martial Arts •••, Safe House •, Skilled Liar ••, Swift •
Gifts: Attribute (Dexterity), Skill (Athletics, Survival)

Skill Tricks

These Skill Tricks expand on the list provided in the Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook, starting on p. 45. While many of these Skill Tricks are inspired by the Paths introduced in this book, they are available for characters of any Path. All that is required to use these Skill Tricks is the appropriate level of proficiency with the associated Skill. 

Some of the Skill Tricks listed here include ancillary benefits when combined with other traits such as Edges. These benefits are described within the text of the Skill Trick and function as an added bonus. They are not a prerequisite for the Skill Trick to function.

Eye in the Sky (Command): The character’s ability to recognize and communicate the nature and location of dangers, threats, and enemy targets is a boon to their team. When applied in the field, this can aid in infiltration, reconnaissance, and escape. When the character has proper surveillance and communication setup with their team, this can provide tactical acumen on par with special forces and secret agents. By communicating observations of enemy targets and surveillance points, the character can greatly enhance the ability of their teammates to move through nearly any environment undetected. If the character has a means of observing an ally’s location for one round, and the ability to communicate with that ally, the player may spend 1 Momentum to add their Command skill to one ally’s next Larceny roll to move about undetected. If the character spends 2 Momentum when activating this Skill Trick, the ally may also benefit from the character’s Danger Sense and Direction Sense Edges for the remainder of the scene, if the character activating the Skill Trick possesses those Edges.

Secondhand Embarrassment (Culture): Social interactions can prove to be a minefield. A single misstep can take the legs out from under an otherwise-compelling argument. Once a faux pas is committed, it can be challenging to recover from the embarrassment. The character with this Skill Trick is adept at guiding conversation to pepper the subject matter with potential pitfalls and goad others into making embarrassing mistakes. The player can spend 1 Momentum to increase by 1 the target number of an opponent’s next social roll that targets any other character present in the scene. If no such roll is made before the end of the scene, the effect of this Skill Trick is wasted.

Tactical Mastery (Command): The character with this Skill Trick has developed a near-preternatural knack for tactical coordination of multiple allies. Similar to the Small Unit Tactics Edge, tactical mastery focuses on increasing the effectiveness of one’s allies. With a scant few words, the character can ensure their team achieves maximum efficiency when executing combat maneuvers. The player can spend 1 Momentum to reduce the target number of a single combat maneuver performed by their team by 1. The combat maneuver benefiting from this Skill Trick may also benefit from the use of the Small Unit Tactics Edge, whether initiated by the same character or another character within the team.


There's... a lot of fun stuff in this Chapter. As with most of the Trinity Continuum, every bit fills me with ideas for scenarios, characters, ongoing stories, and entire campaigns. This book is crammed full of ideas, and there are so many bits and pieces that can apply to so many different genres and types of games, different character concepts, different adventures. I love it.

On Sunday, we'll have another Sneak Peek ahead of our final draft manuscript section coming on Tuesday. In the meantime, please continue to spread the word and let's see if we can't unlock another Stretch Goal over the weekend!


#TCPG