Entropy City: Making a Wargame

Edit: Wall of text incoming..

s 2024 comes to and end I’ve not been working on this game for 2.5 years and that of course doesn’t include the years of putting off and/or brainstorming prior to that.  And as much as this project blog may include a lot of the thoughts and work that’s gone into it this project still isn’t covering everything the thing I haven’t spoken on as much is my process and whether I’ve been enjoying the experience, would I still recommend it after all this time?

When I first started this project blog it was to prepare for a guest role on the Weekender XLBS an honour I still can’t believe I received and at that stage the process was extremely early in development it was largely theoretical I had ideas of how I wanted the game to work, I knew I wanted but how to achieve it was missing with the exception of the core elements, I hadn’t even tried my own solo testing if I’m remembering correctly (I could be mistaken).

Very very early in the process I knew that development was far more difficult than ANY of us truly understand but it wasn’t until at least 12 months later than I realised just how far in the deep end I had jumped in, now personally I don’t regret that because it’s the passion I had and the project I wanted to create but if you were tempted to try something I think starting smaller with some custom scenarios and altering a game to achieve something might be a smarter development process. A smaller board game or card game will help you develop skills you will want. Something to test and play to learn how that process can work on a small scale before moving into a larger one.

I always knew this was going to take a while because I’ve just had never do anything like it before, however I always wanted to do my project with the vision I had in mind. I wanted a game where the motorbikes FELT like motorbikes, I wanted to use something other than d6s and I didn’t want to just steal a ruleset and make it my own but I wanted to develop a game that truly felt like it was mine, something I could genuinely look people in the eye and say “yes this is mine”. And I can say proudly that I’ve achieved that so far, don’t get me wrong this isnt me saying that doing it the other way makes anyone less, Im only explaining what I set out to do to explain my mindset. It might not be finished and I might still have a LOT of play testing to do but what I have right now is completely my own. I’ve found inspirations but everything I’ve developed had been given my rework to work for my game. For me that was the important part.

In this coming year my goal is to reach a point where the balance for all 4 factions feel right and accurate enough that A character’s with individual stats can be implemented, skills can be tested in game and I have started genuinely looking at the points cost for the work I’ve done.

I’d like to have finished final faction logos created that are mine to use and not just placeholder materials to inspire. Will I achieve this? Who knows hope you will enjoy finding out.

First and foremost yes there is an Entropy City Facebook page, yes it’s controlled by me HOWEVER it’s a placeholder to ensure I didn’t lose it to someone stealing it away. There’s also a blue sky account and an Instagram as well.

I’ve created a Facebook group around 12 months ago where I am also sharing updates but I am trying not to just flood it with updates all of the time. Ideally I’d love for it to become the official group later when the game is complete and those people that joined early have that feeling of having been there from the start. This of course is a project I am always trying to keep updated as well. Ut the first place at least at this point for all updates remains the Getting Tabled discord channel, there’s a private channel for our supporters. This isn’t because this is a Getting Tables product it’s mine however I wanted to share it with them first. That will eventually change as I feel I am approaching a complete state where marketing needs to begin but I don’t want to count my chickens a before they hatch.

And as always Id love to hear from you if you have questions or comments just reach out.

I started my wave by wave play testing development almost 2 years ago now, to start with the original test was pure and simple. I had a d10 blackjack mechanic but was it fun? Well thankfully the answer to that question was yes, Im not going to lie I kinda felt like I stumbled into some succes early on. Even the turning templates were originally created as a guess for what would work for the intended scale.

From there testing slowly introduced new stuff here and there constantly right up until around this time last year when I felt like I hit the wall. The issue I reached was I got to a point where until I went all the way things only felt half done in certain aspecs of the game.

I’ve always intended the game to introduce some form of stats beyond weapons target numbers and stuff, ideally Id love to add skills at some point as well, I even have some listed in the ruleset of ideas for the future. But it was time to work out WHAT the rider stats should be.

Strength: Assists your rider in recovering from a crash.

Dodge: Assists your rider dodging an incoming attack.

Protection: Essentially intended as a armour save, your biker gear maybe saving you from the incoming wound.

Max Stress: The maximum stress you rider can handle. Should you reach this any test requires 21 to pass. Forcing you to reduce your stress if youve been taking too many risks.

Wounds: How much damage can you take?

It took a while to put together a reason for everything, I always knew I wanted protection to be a thing and yes part of that is because I am a rider myself and Im someone who believes you should wear the gear.

Strength was a hard one because at first it started as an addition to an attack, but then that didnt work because maybe I didnt want to add that result so it becomes optional, it was just stupid… And then I realised it could be used elsewhere.

Its probably not even fair to call Max Stress and Wounds stats but I mean they are, theyre just used differently.

Adding these in to playtesting finally allows me to test how the game works as intended in my head, especially with those questions answered. Give each faction a base stat to test with and then work on their balance before moving to more individual stats for each rider.

I thought I would share the placeholder cards for the Komodo and Hades factions. More than happy to also share Mutiny and the RFPD cards at a later date but I dont currently have them finished. And the RFPD are completely untested on the table at this time..

Images on the cards are all placeholder and or miniatures from other worlds I have repurposed for the sake of playtesting.

I’ve given throught to adding a stat for riding skill, within the law its acknowledged that not everyone has spent a lot of time on bikes. And this in theory would assist with cornering or make it harder.. At this stage I havent implimented everyting as I am unsure if its a good idea or not. If I feel the need to up the difficulty of cornering then it may come into play then.

So the Police force in the earliest days of the game started as a simple idea, ironically an idea that many years ago I was told would never work. That idea was simple, what is randomly the police interfered in the gang war. At the time I thought it was a really clever idea but Id never done this before so I listened to my friends. A few years later Frostgrave happened and Id never been happier to discover I was right to think the idea had merit.

Truth be told it didnt take me long to realise that there would likely be poeple that would rather play as the law as opposed to a gang regardless of the background of the gang in question, shades of grey is all well and good but sometimes people just want to play the “good guys”.

It wasnt until this project re-started that the true fleshing out start with the RFPD, hell at that point the city didn’t even have its true name yet. Before I could realistically make a true faction out of a simple idea I had to work out what on earth to bring a city into the state needed for the game in my head to exist. When the assasination took place the chief of police made it his personal mission to see the gang responsible saw justice but there was one problem, Hades claimed it wasnt them and fought back this is ultimately what led to the fall of the city.

Truth be told the RFPD today is nothing of what it once was and that fact of is those that claim superiority within the forces now were mostly juniors at the time and not all of those that joined since are as clean as they make out to be. The idea behind this is allowing players to theme their forces around their own personal idea’s. Maybe they want to play the true heroes or maybe theyd rather play some crooked cops, either way the city is big enough to allow it.

I’m not going to lie, although all of the logos have been intended as placeholder for now theres none of them I hated more that the original version of the RFPD logo. I’ve mentioned before that Im not an artist and as much as I try to sound playful I actual mean it, its never been a strength of mine to draw, painting I can do but not draw its just not a skill that that I’ve ever had. And thats where this rough idea came from, it was me tracing over something and it didnt matter because it was temporary. That was atleast 12 months ago and I dont think this change could have gone any better… Its still placeholder but to me atleast this is probably the visual update I am the most proud of and the one I consider the biggest improvement overall.

Dirt bikes were the one bike style that didnt really have a HELPFUL sterotype surroundind then, besides either farming or motorcross neither of which I found inspiration in (except for wouldnt jumps be cool). But this is where its fun to have a pop culture background, see one of the first suggestions Id had back in the day was that it should have a Mad Max vibe and whilst I didnt want that entirely over the game lord knows those games exist already. Its much like although I didnt touch on it in the previous entry racing itself wasnt the focus on this game so many sports bikes specirfically a racing thing didnt fit.

My earliest thoughts were around a cult that was attempting to portray itself as something less dangerous, as most of them generally do. Perhaps filled with emmewbrs that dont entirely realise what theyre a part of, some that do and revel in it whilst others and somewhat nieve, less of a choice and more brainwashing. I liked the idea of mixing in punk and goth scenes as its so very different so what the other groups represented, the city has failed them and so theyre seeking a lifestyle they see saving them from what the city has done, its the victims of the cities fall being used by som pretty unsavoury people, the reasons why they cant be trusted I feel is something Id like to reveal at a later stage. Their main overaching leader is a rather charismatic man named Jeremiah, kind’ve has the way of making anyone smile, if it wasnt for his charm he’d almost make your skin crawl.

The original vision for the logo was somewhat thrown together from a few idea’s.
I mean theyre like anarchists and theyre trying to be pirates, oh and they ride dirt bikes, what if that was thier logo.

I thought it was so clever, ironically probably the logo I did the most orginal work on (especially as someone who cant draw) but the more time has past the more I HATE this image. It just doesnt feel like a faction logo, it feels like a logo drawn by a kid, no other groups are centred around the types of bikes they ride its just silly. What if I throw some more anarchist ideas in there?

Its the black and grey divide what a cool idea but its the city skyline.. God this felt like i was trying hard, way too hard this was the point where I completely scrapped the entire idea and went back to scratch for an entirely new concept for their logo.. I mean their a cult right it should be some symbology they can twist into meaning something it doesnt right?

So we’ve gone back to borrowed assets until i can get a paid artists here but I feel much happier with the black rose as a symbol of the group, black roses are famously a sign of mourning especially in pop culture, come join us in your mourning we will help you survive after what the city did to you and your family.. Join us..

But you know what else the black rose is famously hatred and anarchism, this is where I feel the vision fits with the cult itself, granted its not perfect but Im very happy with the symbology itself.

From a pop culture perspective when you see a sports bike being used in a gang sense it tends to be tied to one of two groups, fictionalised versions of either The Triad or the Yakuza and whilst I have made a very concieted effort to avoid real world groups being inspired from their fictionalised counterparts worked for Hades so why not for the sportsbikes as well. The Komodo Dragon is just an awesome and fierce looking creatures plus I thought the name sounded cool without being something you could easilly point and say “hey thats just x or z”

The power of The Komodo comes from their anonymity, members will very rarely reveal themselves outside of private in house meetings and are quite often dressed in full leathers with full face helmets anytime they leave their compounds. The only exception to this is the occasional leader who’s ego convinced them theyre untouchable. Members are often highly successful financially and owe their comfortable lives quite literally to the Komodo. If their identity was to be revealed its likely that would quickly change. The organisation itself had actualy started to infiltrate Entropy City some years before the fall but its hard to tie down the exact point where it started because of the nature of how they operate however by the time the fall took place The Komodo had their hands in pretty much everything and no-one truly understood this until much later.

Recruitment into The Komodo can be varied depending on who you are the role they wish for you to fill, needless to say until you’re deep you wont know who exactly have been drawing you in but rumour has it that once you are a member of The Komodo, the only way you leave is in a coffin.

The original logo was quite literally traced from a photograph of a real Komodo Dragon, just to see if it could work visually, as I was fleshing out the various placeholder inspirations I wanted to add a little more flavour, for the final version of this Id very much like it to look like actual tattoo art, thats the vision I have in my head, inked on the skin rather than a decorative patch, and using some swirling mist and smoke that looked unnatural felt like the right move to me. Hence where the logo currently stands..

Needless to say I feel Im on the right track but more than any other I expect this is the logo that will change the most before its final version.

When someone says the words “motorcycle gang” theres a very specific group type that most people will think of and with shows like Son’s of Anarchy & Mayans M.C let alone seeing them in movies such as The Terminator has solidified the vision in pop culture and somewhat in immortality even if their influence on the world isnt as large today as it may have been in the 80’s & 90’s.

Well from a pop culture sterotype perspective thats what Hades is based on, the group itself evolved from that sterotype to a full on unique faction of their own. Hades are a group that started as friends feeling rejected by society following time in the service, overtime it grew to gather outcasts of all kinds, a real sense of family and belonging and pride comes from its “true” members, and atleast in their early days new recruits were chosen and put through a very thorough and rigoris trial to earn their place among the ‘family’.

Hades certainly hasnt been an innocent group but theres been plenty of moments in history theyve been blamed for that they claim to have taken no part in. In the case of the moment that caused the downfall of the city there was evidence of them not being involved but at that point those in charge reacted rashly and the warfare that folowed led to the city being in the state it is today..

The logo itself has evolved since the game was started a few years ago, especially as someone working full time and never having done this before Ive tried to keep updating things as often as I could but as proud as I was of the original placeholder idea which was the single fist it always felt like it was missing something and so I spent time trying to create something that felt like it could belong in the back of a riders leather kacket and thats where the 3rd image comes from.

Its worth noting that I myself am not an artist, its never been something Ive been comfortable doing and long term the plans would be for everything you’re seeing to be replaced hence why I call it ‘placeholder’. This particular image is something I started by tracing, the second fist is the first flipped around and edited and the fire comes from a tonne of difference sources simple because its intended to inspire.. Hopefully.

In the coming days I hope to give you an update on each of the current fleshed out factions, and yes I should give an update on the rules at somepoint as well.

One of the big untouched sections of the game for a long time has been the question of people on foot, what options will people have, in its earliest days my answer was simple “but I want this to be a bikes game” however as the actual development started in 2021 the arguments from playtesters and people following the project started to get more detailed and I began to see that if it was being asked for I should probably figure out a way and if it doesnt work then atleast I’ve crossed it.

Now for a long time thats as far as it had gotten, something for future Jason to worry about, lets get the bikes right first but Im reaching that point now where I feel if I dont start answering these questions it will become too late, I can start with some simple answers.

• If someone comes off their bike theyre removed from the game.
• If someone starts on foot then theyre an on foot miniature.

I feel too many dangers of crossing back and forth and feel they should be deliberately kept seperately, atleast for now keeping a hard line between riders and people on foot so then what is their place on the table?

The first revelation for this was actually another unanwered development step, for a long time Ive been wanting “traps” to be part of the game, spike strips and explosives make a lot of sense for the setting, molotov cocktails as well and in the case of the spike strip it certainly makes a lot more sense for this to be exclusive to your on foot troops.

The other issue I came across the moment I started putting actual thoguht into this was people on foot should never be able to keep up with the bikes, therefore whats the point of them right? I mean sure they could have guns and they can be easier to use but is that it? Well no I more see them as advance troops setting things up. So the current deployment rule shoves them closer towards the board so long as their touching a piece of terrain, this solves the problem and can be argued in world pretty easilly, certain missions may have to change this slightly.

However theres a larger mechanical problem Ive been struggling with, which is simply how they work, a large part of the games mechanics so far have been centered around the bikes feeling like bikes right? So then someone on foot should be able to react to things easier, theyre not in the middle of riding their motorbike at the same time. My plan for this is two fold, firstly they can use their actions at any point, they dont HAVE to use all at once. I have CONSIDERED going the activation token route specifically for the people on foot however my concern is whether that adds too much complication.

So thats a lot of answers, all of which still need to be tested however I think it works but the proof will be in the pudding. I also struggled for a long time with the busting mechanic, because by rights, them busting makes no sense someone on foot cannot crash, however I think the simple solution to this is just “something has gone wrong” I think this ‘problem’ was me over thinking it but again proof is in the pudding during testing.

So I mentioned the traps? What are the traps like you can’t test them without something to represent them Jason.. Okay okay well maybe I did create some stand ins using images Ive found and edited for my use. These images are just for playtesting, when the game becomes a thing I will obviously need to get real art done at some point

Below you will find both a 50mm & 70mm flame token used for the molotovs, rule is they spread a little before they disperse, pretty much like they’re designed to in real life. And finally the token for the spike strip.

Final update in today’s post is regarding status’s, theres been an addition to the existing states a rider could be effected by. So far we have had the following.

• Bleeding
• Burning (Untested)
• Max Stress
• Stunned

However in an attempt to add more depth to the game and help weapons feel different I am adding “distracted” which basically is a condition that can stack that forces your TN to become harder and harder to meet. So in theory if you were trying to roll a TN14 but you had Distracted+2 then you need to get to TN16 (remembering that if you go over 21 you crash because its blackjack but with dice).

So I guess this is where my rant comes to an end however I have a question for you, do you like the idea of my solution for the on-foot activations being able to be split up? Do you feel Im missing something? Do you have other questions? Please ask and comment away would love your feedback.

After the stress that was Pax Australia I actually found myself in a desperate need of a break, realistically I hadnt really taken one since I restarted this project 18 months or so ago and I finally reached the point where I knew I needed a break. So what has happened since then?

Lots of small tweaks and trying to plan ahead ojn how to be a smarter developer (this is me calling myself out on my own faults not having a go at developers). While hyper focusing I was doing Entropy Cityand nothing else bar the occasional game of Bushido or an rpg etc etc. But Ive actually started putting together warbands and grabbing things for mini projects inm between grinding but thats enough of my excuses.

About 3-4 months into my project I took some feedback from people that suggested they had wanted to have some characters on foot as wel as on bike, I immediately nodded and put it in the back of my mind until I felt I was ready to start pushing  new things in again, I’ve always wanted the focus of Entropy City to be the bikers but from the very very start of this feedback Ive always had a question that plagued me.. Yeah but where do they fit into the game? Why would you ever use them

People on foot would have to be slow, so theyre never going to reach the battle so how does this work. Well Ive finally started to find the answer to these questions and the first “duh” moment actually answers one of the questions I had in a previous update. The place of the on-foot miniatures is to set the traps, they start further up the board setting up the traps for when the enemy arrives, this fixes both of the major issues, then they’re there to support your bikers and help them get up in the case of a crash.

So last week we got a piece of news claiming that pirates had stolen the Kelp design and had it selling on Amazon before the Kickstarter was completed, an absolute terrifying thought, granted I’ve already been pretty careful with how much I share and Im far from finished anyway but just be careful how much you share, just to cover yourself from thieves. I’ll continue to be open about my development, I’m not a big name sure I know some people but unless people have the chance to find out about me and the game it will never be a success.

I’ll be back soon with some more chat on the traps, specifically Molotov cocktails

– Jason “The Bruce”