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(2026.05.26) - This picks up from Planning 0.07.06. Anything new gets added here until I'm ready to start looking at 708.

Planning

As stuff from this list gets implemented, I'll need to mark it off, but I don't think I want to remove it because it helps remind me where my inspiration came from, and what I'm trying to "recreate".

Design Principles Driving This Version

Two core principles came out of reflection and external feedback that are reshaping several systems:

Principle 1: Don't over-rule the parts of the game you want to shine. Rules tend to dictate rather than enable. High-value social/narrative spaces should give GMs flexibility, not procedure. Tags and Relationships are probably the right level of structure. Heavier mechanical systems (negotiation, intrigue) risk turning roleplay into a minigame.

Principle 2: Asymmetrical subsystems are a feature, not a problem. Different parts of the game don't need to work the same way. Magic rewarding deeper knowledge at higher tiers is intentional. Social systems being looser than combat is intentional. Different textures for different pillars makes the game more interesting.

Meta

Kaernest System

Social Systems Rewrite

The social/intrigue systems were too mathematical and procedural for what they're trying to do.

Intrigue (Reputation, Renown, Relationships)

  • Removed Rep range formula (± 7 + Renown)
  • Removed Rep → Renown conversion threshold
  • Removed distance/border/home ground numerical modifiers
  • Removed Rep as a spendable resource in Intrigue Conflicts
  • Reputation is now a positive/neutral/negative spectrum, not a tracked number
  • Tags are now the primary working tool — they do the descriptive work numbers were doing
  • Renown stays as a 0–6 scale but only changes for significant, visible, pattern-establishing events
  • Why: the old system required too much active bookkeeping mid-session. Tags are more expressive and more useful than numeric Rep tracking.

Intrigue Conflicts

  • Removed the Impact formula (floor((MoS + Social Force) / 6))
  • Removed the numbered Impact table with point thresholds
  • Removed the Tracks system (Reputation, Trust, Exposure, etc.)
  • Social Force is now a qualitative GM judgment, not a calculated value
  • Consequence scale (no lasting change → defining outcome) is now narrative tiers, not math
  • Why: the formula created a false precision. GM judgment informed by the fiction is more consistent with how the rest of the game handles consequence.

GM Guide: Renown, Reputation, Intrigue

  • Reduced from a nine-step numbered flowchart to a three-question reference
  • Removed all modifier tables and arithmetic steps
  • Why: a flowchart implies procedure. This should be a reminder of what to think about, not a process to follow.

Negotiation

  • Keeping the Interest/Patience framework as-is — it has the right texture for an optional subsystem
  • The mechanical specificity here is appropriate because it's explicitly optional and bounded
  • Review whether the TD table and argument type categories are too prescriptive once playtesting happens

Species Rewrite

Species pages have gotten dense. They need to be tightened around two goals: 1. Inspire roleplay — what does it feel like to be this species? 2. Define the species — what is fundamentally true about them, biologically or culturally?

Guiding Principle: Quirks Must Be Grounded

Species quirks should follow from biology or established world-fact, not from arbitrary flavor choices. If a quirk can't be explained by physiology, culture rooted in physiology, or a specific historical event, it probably shouldn't be a quirk.

Per-Species Status

  • Dazhdvog
  • Fluvarri
  • Human
  • Kampanni
  • Qnassi
  • Sektarri
  • Verdanni

Each species rewrite should: cut lore that belongs on setting pages not species pages, keep what's roleplay-inspiring, keep what's biologically or factually grounded, and remove anything that reads as arbitrary flavor.

Kaernest Setting

Velloriam (Character Builder)

Kaernest: Future Pass Goals

Web Character Sheets (velloriam)

  • Magic
  • Gift prerequisites/gating
  • Accounts
  • Print Friendly Character Sheet with Art (70?)

3rd Opinion / Playtesting

Add Commissioned Artwork

Planned for post-Kickstarter, or when I get a budget for it

Convert All Setting Pages to 1st Person

In-Setting Voice Planned for 0.07.09