{"id":18564,"date":"2019-10-03T07:00:15","date_gmt":"2019-10-03T12:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/?p=18564"},"modified":"2019-10-03T07:46:23","modified_gmt":"2019-10-03T12:46:23","slug":"deviant-the-renegade-kickstarter-manuscript-preview-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/deviant-the-renegade-kickstarter-manuscript-preview-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Deviant: The Renegade Kickstarter Manuscript Preview Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Deviant: The Renegades<\/em><\/a>, the latest game for Chronicles of Darkness 2e<\/em>, is live on Kickstarter<\/a> and into stretch goals. The logline is nearly this: Boys<\/em> sans the beautiful superhero veneer. The core concept is: You were made through an experiment or a ritual, you were made powerful, and that power made you enemies who conspire to own you. When I first read about Deviant: The Renegades<\/em>, the experiment part made me think of Promethean: The Created<\/em> and the Conspiracies (the enemies) sounded like Pentex (the evil corporation from Werewolf: The Apocalypse<\/em>) leaving me to wonder what new ground this covered. But, I\u2019m a Chronicles of Darkness<\/em> fan so I backed it. I got access to the backer-only<\/a> 71-page Deviant: The Renegade KS Manuscript Preview<\/em>\u00a0and it opened my mind to what stories this RPG offers: Scanners<\/em>, Eleven from Stranger Things<\/em>, Officer Murphy from Robocop, The Fly,<\/em> and the horrors of Swamp Thing<\/em>, all set in the World of Darkness<\/em>. A game where you are ruined and fighting back, and I could see where those stories would go.<\/p>\n

This is Onyx Path Publishing\u2019s 38th Kickstarter<\/a> (39th if you add in the Scarred Lands Creature Collection for 5th Edition RPG<\/em> Kickstarter<\/a> under the official OPP Kickstarter account), and they have the crowdfunding process down to a science. That science includes instant access to the Deviant: The Renegade KS Manuscript Preview for backers. Both a sample of the game and a guarantee this project exists in draft, this is the best advertisement OPP could provide.<\/p>\n

This is a review of the preview, not the finished game and \u201cthese manuscript previews may not yet be in their final form — there are still minor edits, maybe a few typos, and possibly some rough edges still to sand down on these previews, but you can consider them about 95% finished.\u201d With that in mind, what I\u2019m reviewing will be expanded upon and revised by the time the final book drops, which is February 2021 for the PDF and August 2021 for the print hardcover.<\/p>\n

That said, they don\u2019t wait until after the campaign to start production, they come to the party with a draft in-hand and preliminary art, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m looking at.<\/p>\n

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TheOnyxPath.com<\/a> Previews<\/h3>\n

Through an experiment or ritual, you gained powers, but the process broke your soul and put you on the radar of a Conspiracy. Maybe they made you, maybe they found out about you, regardless, they\u2019re out to capture and use you. At the same time, your powers aren\u2019t a gift, they\u2019re a body horror that is destroying you and your life. Deviant: The Renegades<\/em> is for CofD 2e<\/em>, which is the current version of the Storytelling System<\/em>, a variant of the Storyteller System<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Suggested sources of inspiration include: \u201cDr. Jekyll, Dr. Moreau\u2019s<\/em> creations, The Invisible Man<\/em>, the works of Cronenburg (especially The Fly<\/em>), Guyver, Akira, Tetsuo, Dark Angel, Gargoyles, Beauty and the Beast, Roswell, Orphan Black,<\/em> and Fringe<\/em>.\u201d Add to that list The Gifted, Bladerunner<\/em>, and Memento<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Before the campaign started, OPP shared details about the game at cons and on their website<\/a>. In his second blog about DtR<\/em><\/a>, Dave Brookshaw shares some of the points that make this game different than other CofD<\/em> games. Mechanically, this will be a streamlined version of the CofD 2e<\/em> system with fewer moving parts. Because you gained powers through an experiment or dark ritual, the powers selection will be both broad and simplified with specific mechanics designed to be reskinned to cloak your concept. The Conspiracies will have character sheets and powers based on the power level of your characters ensuring some balance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The blog covered an early playtest<\/a> (with the scenario and characters shared here<\/a>). Among the other blog posts are a look at a draft of the \u201cOrigins\u201d chapter<\/a> presenting the five beginnings for the Remade:<\/p>\n