Kickstarter is a site where you can post up something you’d like to create but lack the funds to start-up. Other users act as venture capitalists, and can fund the project with small amounts of cash. If the project gets enough backers to reach it’s goal, then you pay the amount you promised. It’s a great way for people to make their ideas a reality.

This week we’re taking a look at the Tabletop RPG game “Age Past.” I was super impressed by the undertaking of creating an entirely new RPG game system. Not just art (though that looks great), not just new books (of which a few are currently planned), but a whole new dice system as well which they’re calling Elegant 10. I really think that’s a fantastic name by the way. The game looks to be shaping up nicely, and if the quality of the art is anything to go by then we’re in for quite a treat when the game is all done! So to learn more about what goes into an undertaking like this I did a little interview with the man behind the project.

So without further adieu, let’s learn a little bit about the RPG game “Age Past.”

Q: Tell us a little be about yourself and your company
A: Well I am a guy and I love RPG’s and games of all types. I have a degree in design and I love to create and build pretty much anything. I spent quite a bit of time custom building a water cooled computer case. I love technical aspects of things and getting into the gritty of things. Complex systems like RPG’s draw me in because form a design standpoint there are so many layers of connections. Its hard to understand how all the aspects of a complete system interlock; so I like to try to understand everything. My company is Strangelet Machine Games (SMG) but right now I am going under the Age Past product name. The company consists of me. I also have some play testers and one Alchemist (I’ll describe more below). So I’ve done everything except the art. The formatting, writing, game design, balance, rolling system have all been developed by me. I also have in game fiction written by Tommy Brownell and the art is done my Alex Nanitchkov.

Q: What’s the game called and what’s it about? What inspired it?
A: My game is called Age Past: the Incian Sphere (main rulebook). It is the first of 3 to 4 planned books and is a new style fantasy game. The basis for the world is high fantasy with maybe a 10-15% technomancy element. Age Past allows the player to pretty much make any type of fantasy character they can think of. The game uses a controlled archetype build system. As a character levels they gain more points to spend on improving any aspect. My main source of inspiration was gaming frustration. I become frustrated when I had to jump through hoops to play the exact type of character I wanted to. DnD 3.5 (and now Pathfinder) have a lot of options but the constraints are deep as well. I wanted to get away from a class based system to open up the fundamental spirit of what a Player Character should be. My technical or mechanical inspiration came from many many sources: Shadowrun, Savage Worlds, Warhammer Minis, DnD, Earthdawn, Star Wars Galaxies, and a few others. Many of these systems have great rules and concepts and I chose to use what I knew and apply what would work the best for what I wanted to do.

Q: How’s the game work?
A: Wow that’s a question. The system works by employing an innovative rolling system, Elegant10, which drives how the player chooses to use their abilities. The premise of the mechanics is to provide a simple baseline stats that are easy for people to track and understand and then open the system up with 140 powers. Age Past mechanics are much more simple and would be similar to a pulp based game, like Savage Worlds, but has the options of a hardcore game like Pathfinder. At creation players make a basic character of some design. This archetype can be based on anything the player thinks of but the character is generally weak… he has some learning to do and that comes with leveling. Since there are about 140 powers the player can choose the exact combinations that make his character work. Any character can learn magic, but true casters will be much better at it than hybrid casters but fighter types can learn psionics instead if they choose. The intent was to allow someone to build their character on anything they can think of. Usually by level 4 the PC is at the second step of his development and starts to be a true exemplar of his archetype. One of things I wanted to make sure happened was to try to stick to Occam’s Razer which states that, “variables should not be multiplied unnecessarily.” The system does not give lots of plus/bonus here and there and this helps keep the system stable and easy as the PC’s level. In comparison to Pathfinder low level combat takes a bit longer but high level combat is much much faster.

Q: How has it been prototyping/playtesting the game? What have you encountered along the way that you never expected?
A: Well as prototyping goes the book is 300+ pages so its a doozy to print, but for a 6 person play testing group I generally print two books and a a few copies of the power and spells. People need the meat and bones mostly don’t care about the penalty for running on ice when they are leveling their characters. The game play tests very well but the biggest challenge is to get players out of the DnD 3.5/ Pathfinder mindset since he game is meant to play very differently. The testers LOVE the Elegant10 rolling system and they love how the build system works. They also like how quick it is to level characters. Some unexpected things have happened some balance issues, survivability for the fighters, and just not having enough details for a some things. One thing that keeps coming up is people trying to use utility spells in combat. I keep having to explain that the levitation spell is not meant for combat. I have now decided to let people use their creativity to do what they want. GM’s can decide how exactly to apply anything and I think that makes for the best game play.

Q: So, why Kickstarter? How has your experience been with it so far?
A: Kickstarter is going well. Hopefully it will continue as is, because I have time but as still far off from my goal. I need to sell a lot more books. I think its a great way to get your product out there and get the funds to get what you need done. There are some limitations though… when I set up my original account in April it seemed that game PDFs were sell fro about $20. Now most people are selling the PDF’s for about $10. So I’ve had to do some ad-hoc changes to get the price down a bit. I would suggest to anyone who want to use Kickstarter to do a good amount of homework. I don’t necessarily believe that there is a perfect formula for success. It seems that excitement is one big factor so get your name out there!

Q: What’s your long term plan for your game?
A: I want to create 3-4 books. This one focuses on fantasy. The next one, and the one being currently written, is a steampunk edition. The third will encompass an Asian style fantasy genre. The steampunk book as it sits now allows a PC to drive different types of steam vehicles if they choose and even customize them. I have blimps, tanks, steam mecha, steam motorcycles, and lots of technomantic type weapons. A PC can be dancing with his squad mates in a Victorian ballroom one minute, then suit up and go out to fight the incoming horde the next! The Age Past website is being built. It’s taking time but is coming along well. We plan to have a full character builder and all the usual fixings that every game has. I am also looking for play testers and Alchemists. An Alchemist is a person who want to spread the word of Age Past. They would go to game stores and demo the game and even get a cut of what is sold.

I’d like to thank Jeff for taking the time out to tell us a little but about Age Past. If you’d like to learn more or to donate to the cause (we’re in for a 10 spot), then head on over to the Kickstarter page to check it out!

Are you or someone you know trying to fund a nerdy or geeky project on Kickstarter? Email us and tell us about it, we’d love to feature you on the site!