IV. Broken Contract - Security Officers and What Is Broken Contract?

This is another tiny blurb from the rough draft of the game I'm working on called Broken Contract. Previously I posted the Introduction to the background, as well as blurbs about Breakers (laborers who break their work contracts and flee indentured servitude) and Enforcers (bounty hunter posses that hunt Breakers to bring them back to work). As it stands these will be the three groups the initial game will be based around. After the blurb I'll write a bit more about what the game intends to be.

Security Officers

Security Officers or Prods oversee the daily toil of the Tracted on behalf of the Corp they work for. Ensuring quotas are met and the work is done gives them their purpose. They exist to ensure that Contracted do not slack off, inflict calamity upon themselves, sabotage their work, or attempt to organize. They serve as the de facto police, supervisors, and in a bloody minded and militant way as the middle management of the dark and twisted life that causes so many to risk their necks before enduring another day under the boot of the Prods.

Many corporations prefer to keep their Security Force in-house, but private Security Firms are big business as well. Often there are layers to a the corporate security structure, with in-house security being better armed, better paid, and invested in the continued profitability of the corporation they work for. The private Security Firms are employed because they are a much cheaper option. Private Security Officers are poorly paid and are given inferior equipment and training. They provide warm bodies, semi alert and semi capable, who are there to provide greater numbers when needed. Still, their lot is superior to that of the common worker, and they know it and have little desire to upset that paradigm.

In the event of any sort of work stoppage or Break attempt, Security Officers are paid to intervene and stop not only the Breakers, but to shut down any widespread frenzy that it might create. Riots need to be crushed before they can start and that is where their training excels. Overseers and Officers employ shock batons, arc pistols, and repeater rifles with rubber bullets to great effect bringing the hammer down on any budding insurrection without significantly damaging corporate property.

-Nick Baran (with Rob Ferrick)

What Is Broken Contract? (or What Does It Intend to Be?)

Broken Contract is a Sci-Fi Wild West 28mm miniature board game. It is set in a dystopian future where humanity has begun colonizing the stars, but most folks live in indentured servitude to draconian mega-corporations. Though most accept their lot in life, there are those who yearn to be free of their masters. They break free from their mining colonies, agri-domes, and factory cities in the hope of starting a new life on the frontiers of whatever backwater planets they are enslaved on. These once contracted laborers are called Breakers for short. But the mega-corporations can’t let a strong back go, particularly when there are still debts to be paid. Assuming that Breakers manage to escape through the grasp of corporate Security Forces and make it out onto the desert plains, bounty hunters are then hired to bring them back alive to complete their contract. These bounty hunters are called Enforcers.

Game play in Broken Contract mixes the simplicity of a dungeon crawler board game with the depth of a skirmish war game. As a “high adventure” game, the mechanics are meant for fast and furious game play, and offer some of the same experiences that a true table top RPG or a first person shooter video game would offer, with the ability to leap over obstacles and dive roll under a closing door. Of course that also means the risk of falling or being crushed to death! To facilitate these ends the Characters have 16 Stats to help determine how well they can do things from fighting in hand-to-hand to patching up an injured comrade. Additionally, each Character can perform 3 Actions per turn so that they can jog to a better firing position and shoot a gun, or they could jump over a mining cart and hit that Security Officer they’ve been mean-mugging all day with a shovel. In the next turn they might want to throw them down a vertical mine shaft? It’s a difficult Action to perform but you can try! To add to the excitement, a Character who still has Actions left can Interrupt an attack by dodging, defending themselves or fleeing; among other things. Everything is resolved with a simple roll of a 6 sided dice to keep the game simple and flowing.  

If anyone has any questions or is curious where this is going, ask away. I'd love to hear from you.

-Nick 

New Year, New Game: Broken Contract Alpha Testing.

Broken Contract prototype board sections for the first scenario in the game, honed after a bunch of solo play testing. These board sections are 8"x10" so that they can also fit on a normal scanner.

 Early last year I was very immersed in working with Hyacinth Games on Wreck-Age. It was a rewarding experience but ultimately two of us started butting heads a lot and I decided to step away from the project. I got to see the first half of the layout for the new Wreck-Age soft cover a couple weeks ago and the art is great, and some of my writing was still there and intact. Its kind of thrilling to see something you invested yourself into come together and to see your input retained for distribution to a large audience. As a musician who's put out a bunch of records, its the same sort of thrill as seeing your record for the first time with art and all. Its a different medium but a very exciting thing. I'm very happy for them too and seeing my name credited is the icing on the cake. Good stuff.

Days before I stepped away from Hyacinth I got injured on the job. I work for a moving company and I tore my ACL and meniscus disk trying to lift something awkwardly (hindsight: because it was too heavy for one person). Though I'm poor as dirt right now it was a sort of blessing in disguise. Friends and family were asking if I was going to work on a game of my own and suddenly I was on crutches and unable to work. I floundered around for a month debating whether this was something I wanted to do but I got some solid encouragement. Worker's compensation was going to take care of my surgery so immediately after my surgery I set to writing. If you follow the blog you saw these three posts:

Broken Contract
Broken Contract - Breakers
Broken Contract - Enforcers

These posts formed the budding concept for Broken Contract, a board game that could one day be fully expanded into a skirmish miniature game or even potentially a RPG. One thing I learned working on Wreck-Age was that a 344 page full color hard back rule book was was an enormous undertaking and way too ambitious for what I could undertake. So instead I looked at how a game like Zombicide was presented - the simplicity - and I decided to start out somewhere akin to that. By Thanksgiving I finished the first draft of the alpha play test rules and presented them to my friends - the core of which were my beloved gaming buddies from my time at GW #108 in Buffalo, NY. Rob Ferrick, Brenden Terrill, Mike Hughes, and Aaron Beechler have at least read partially through the document and given great commentary (Rob actually has done most of the editing thus far). The one thing that was missing from my initial play test rules was a scenario that could be played, and the board to play it on. So in December that became my new goal along with hounding some artist friends for some concept art. December also saw the start of pricing out development and manufacture along with assembling a business plan. One of the challenges I'll be facing is attempting to produce the most ecological and ethical game I can. I know this is going to drive costs up. However, I can't very well make a game about a ravaged Earth left behind and human workers forced into indentured servitude, and then contribute to those same conditions.

This was an initial prototype board that used 12"x12" board sections. Smaller board sections sped up play and would be easier to scan and send to my play testers. These sections met the blade of my paper cutter for alterations.

While I was working on some prototype board sections for the initial scenario I snapped some photos and made some changes. The models pictured are proxies (stand ins) from Games Workshop. One of the next goals is to see if I can wrangle a sculptor or two to help out with the project.

The red models represent Security Officers overseeing a mining operation. The models with light brown bases represent the revolting workers known as Breakers. Ignore the guns, they're all running around with shovels, pick axes, and the big guy has a pneumatic drill.

This insurrection is going badly. The two models laying down with 3's next to them have been taken down. The model laying down with the bulls eye next to them is in restraints. Making the board smaller reduced the distance to escape. I also updated the scenario after several runs through to incorporate a point system for determining success.

Hopefully, the first half of this year is filled with making this concept a reality. With a bit of luck and a lot of hard work, it could be. Keep watching this space for updates.

-Nick

III. Broken Contract - Enforcers (Updated 1/6/14)

 I'm still working away on Broken Contract, the alpha test rule set is essentially ready. Here's a tiny blurb about Enforcers - the corporate sponsored bounty hunters of the Incorporated Worlds.

Enforcers

Contract Enforcers are paid to bring fugitives back to complete their contracts. The problem with having a workforce of people capable of inflicting misery on their fellow man daily is that they are not by nature and training the post perceptive or sensitive people. This makes them ill-suited to tracking down the Breakers smart enough and determined enough to get past the Prods in the first place. Most corporations have some combination of hired and in-house Security Forces to deal with break attempts but they are not specifically trained to hunt, detain, and return prey. Some companies with have their own Enforcers under contract, but more often than not an outside firm will need to be outsourced by the security firm or the corporation. These private mercenary firms take on short term agreements, usually for the duration of tracking down a specific group of Breakers and bringing them back, preferably alive similar to the Bounty Hunters and Skip Tracers of earth when there was such concept as governments and law still being enacted.

The goal is to bring back Contract Breakers relatively unscathed so that they can still be made use of. For this reason Enforcers rely heavily on non-lethal weaponry to incapacitate their prey. Catching fugitives by facing them head on is not enough however, so hunting tactics are diverse. Their Lead is supported by Trackers, Muscle, and Gun Slingers employing everything from revolvers, arc pistols, snare-guns, and high tech drones. The tools of the trade vary depending on the depth of the Enforcer’s resources and what they are willing to risk to fulfill a contract.

-Nick 

(with Rob Ferrick)

II. Broken Contract - Breakers

A few days ago I introduced the back story to a game I'm working on called Broken Contract. Today we're going to talk about one of the forces at play: Breakers. Though still a rough draft I want to point out that all of work I'm posting has gone past the eyes of Robert Ferrick who is doing quick copy editing and has been making great suggestions on organizing thoughts and throwing out ideas. Read on. -Nick

Breakers

Breakers are fugitives that have chosen to ignore the contracts that they consigned themselves to in a desperate attempt to live a free life. They see themselves as escaped slaves or justify their actions in light of cruel treatment and misleading promises, but the corporations paint a much different picture. To them the Contracted are good citizens and the breakers, criminals.

                Corporations have become a law unto themselves. Lawbreakers therefore are disloyal, the lowest of the low because they broke contract. There are many ways to break contract, running away is just the most obvious. Most contracts include provisions and clauses enough to shift planetary gravity if they were still on paper. To the corporations a contract is the basis of all civilization. If they neglect to mention that most contract laborers shipped in from nearby worlds are given the most dangerous jobs, charged for their space travel and housing, and have next to nothing left after paying what they owe, it is a Tracted’s fault for not reading more closely. 

The Contracted do have their rebels and rabble-rousers but the promise of a better life for towing the line is enough to keep many placated within their own ranks. The Corporations are also adept at twisting ideas with propaganda. Progenitor Workers, those born and raised on-world, often get preferential treatment and relatively higher wages. Progens are constantly told that they could lose their elevated positions to the influx of lower paid workers coming from abroad. This rivalry helps keep divisions between Drops, or off-world Tracted, and Progens. The Corporations don’t want the various peons banding together against their masters. Instead the work crews fight amongst themselves over imaginary differences. 

                Breaking your contract by yourself is rarely successful. Enforcers catch them quickly and drag them back to their positions a little beat up and with a harsher new contract in place. Contract Breakers band together, pool their skills, and improve the chances of success before breaking if they have any hope of success. Having a plan and the respect of the other breakers is a good place to start. Muscle, medical skills, diplomacy, agility, and sometimes plain old shifty street smarts are all huge assets. These ragtag groups are equipped with stolen equipment from their work postings and any items of worth they pick up along the way. What they lack in equipment and resources they can make up for with ingenuity and sheer desperation. Most importantly, they have their best chance at freedom when they rely on each other.

Broken Contract

I recently began work on my own Wild West Sci-Fi board game. This is the basis for the setting that I'm working with. This is only a rough draft but its meant to give my friends that are looking at it a reference point to see what my initial concept is.
 

“…Around 2218AD Mankind spread to the stars. They called it “A New Age of Exploration”. The Global Conglomerate of Earth had begun the scientific exploration of space in earnest. Resources on Earth were facing complete depletion and massive polluted zones had forced overcrowding. Food shortages, deplorable living conditions, and the violent suppression of worker’s rights had been sparking riots for decades. Earth was in its twilight and the corporate heads could no longer maintain their wealth and supremacy. Humanity needed room to expand and new resources to consume, and the corporations needed new markets to exploit. The first concerted colonization of space was set to begin.

Skip ahead to 2277AD. That’s when we saw “The Great Colonization”. The colonization of space over the next fifty years created genuine excitement planet-wide. It was common for fit and hopeful youths to volunteer for the colony ships and be trained as miners, farmers, builders, and security troopers as needed. Many saw these dangerous, but better paid, opportunities as a way to save their people back home from crushing poverty. Hired under contract, they traveled to far off worlds and built the earliest colony domes to sustain resource harvesting until initial terra-forming had begun.

                
 2277AD is also around when we saw “The Rise of the Star Cults”. People had lost faith in the old religions and felt the answers missing in their lives could be found out amongst the stars. These new religions were not readily accepted, prejudice was commonplace, and religious persecution was on the rise. Adherents of the star cults signed up for the colony ships in droves. A new galactic work force was on the move and the newly dubbed Interplanetary Conglomerate flourished with the new markets and influx of cheap labor. Those pilgrims in good standing who could accumulate enough wealth from their flock could even purchase steading rights outside the domes as long as they could pay a quarterly tithe. Life outside the domes was hard and unforgiving. Many died. But it afforded a level of freedom to those who sought it.

“The New Corporate Supremacy” as it was dubbed was around 2303AD. This is when the Interplanetary Conglomerate made a trade agreement that brought most of the colonies under one banner, the Incorporated Worlds. That’s when they made our lives of Contracted Service mandatory unless we could buy our way out of our contracts. That’s when folks really fostered dreams of life on the run. You know it’s bad when people feel like anywhere is better than where they are right now, and they’d rather be hunted down than stay. You’d think there’d be plenty of places to hide on these newly colonized worlds, but most of them are only partially terra-formed. Without a breather and a source of food, you might last a week or two on your own if you’re lucky. But I digress…

The initial waves of expansion had bolstered the power of the corporations and their wealth had reached new levels of luxurious extravagance. Wherever Steader society thrived due to abundant resources, the corporations stepped in quickly and took control. Many of the Incorporated Worlds had developed verdant agridomes, massive mining colonies and other resource harvesting facilities. Building industry was the next logical step. Most of the commodities produced were made available to the settlers who produced them for outrageously inflated prices. The corporations did this, they said, because they had to offset the costs of shipping products off world to their other holdings. From time to time they’d switch it up and blame it on increased labor costs, but we all knew that was a farce. Every credit of our wages pays for the food, barracks assignments, healthcare, and transportation costs, all rudimentarily provided by the corporations we work for. We are all indentured servants held in place by a system where working our way to freedom is a deliberately impossible goal.

As far as I can see, throughout the Incorporated Worlds nothing comes easy for the Contracted Workers or the Pilgrim Steaders, but Security Forces, Contract Enforcers, and of course the Executives and Magistrates live quite well. It’s very rare to see someone rise up out of the bottom rungs of Contracted Service to higher positions. Class, upbringing, and wealth are the limiters that determine our position and we are all more likely to descend over time than to climb.

For everyone outside of the roles of corporate governance across the Incorporated Worlds you can live a meager existence from day to day in the frontier towns with some hope of getting ahead if you are wealthy enough to have bought land or live amongst the flock of someone who has, or you can work as an indentured servant under contract in the domes and live relatively assured of having your basic needs met. Moderate freedom or assured subsistence - that is the choice each person makes.

There is a third choice, one fraught with peril as it is a life on the run. Those who throw off the shackles of servitude, break their contracts, and make a break for freedom are known as Breakers. Contract Breakers are dangerous to Corporate power and are dealt with harshly. The Executives are not keen to waste a strong back, so they will typically double the length of a contract and can assess penalties to a Breaker or their extended family. Reclaimed Contract Breakers are required to pay off the expenses incurred in their hunt. In the end, first time Contract Breakers who are apprehended are forced into the longest, most dangerous, poorest paid contracts imaginable. They become little more than slaves for the duration of their new contracts. Flee a second time and get caught, and a Contract Breaker can be reasonably assured of a violent death at the hands of Enforcers. Those are just some of the risks of the 3^rd choice. Exposure, Steaders, and other Breakers can all be threats to your existence. Life of the run is often dangerous and tragically short. Some manage to sustain their flight for years, but most don’t. Instead they go back to living the life of a slave or lying in a pool of their own blood.”

-Goran Anderson. Contracted Miner and Ex-Breaker under lifetime contract to FeSky. 

In “Broken Contract” you have to make the choice between playing a posse of Contract Enforcers, employed by the Incorporated Worlds of the Interplanetary Conglomerate to capture fugitive Contracted Workers, or you can play an escaped band of Contract Breakers trying to flee to the freedom of the Steader frontier towns. Broken Contract is a game of fast paced action using dice, rulers, and 28mm miniatures to recreate cinematic high adventure tales with your friends in a world where corporate greed has become law and breaking your work contract puts a price on your head.    

-Nick