Into the Mother Lands: A Sci-fi RPG by PoC Designers

When Eugenio Vargas spoke to us on our podcast back in November about this Afrofuturist RPG, it was still months away. Now the game has hit Kickstarter, and has made over $100K in the first couple of days!

Into the Mother Lands - An Original Afrofuturist TTRPG

Setting book for Into the Mother Lands RPG!!!

www.kickstarter.com

Imagine if African explorers had set sail for the New World long before Europeans did... but got transported to a new planet instead! This planet is developed by a civilisation of African descent.

Choose from five cultures and several professions such as the Bio Priest or the Spine Ripper.

The team behind Into the Mother Lands is a group RPG designers, all people of colour, led by Tanya DePass, the founder of the non-profit group I Need Diverse Games.

You can pick up the PDF for $25 or the hardcover for $50, plus an array of dice, screens, maps, sheets and more.

Podcast #127 Into the Mother Lands with Eugenio Vargas

This week, Morrus and Peter are joined by Eugenio Vargas to talk about Into the Motherlands. In the news, Gale Force 9 sues Wizards of the Coast, Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything released, Comic Relief Plays D&D Part 2, and more plus a brand new sketch about the...

www.enworld.org

 

[Morrus]

I'm not worried about "best results" regarding the lack of a system at this point. What exactly are you comparing it to? System matters, but . . . not as much as some folks think.

It does mean that there's a lot of work to do, once a system (or systems) is chosen. But as @Morrus pointed out, it is common for Kickstarter projects to have a lot of work ahead of them at the crowdfunding stage.

Some games are designed system-first, setting-second. Others, such as this one, flip the script . . . and I'm confident the game will turn out just fine, awesome likely!

Exactly. Maybe they’ll write a custom system.

 

[Ixal]

I'm not worried about "best results" regarding the lack of a system at this point. What exactly are you comparing it to? System matters, but . . . not as much as some folks think.

It does mean that there's a lot of work to do, once a system (or systems) is chosen. But as @Morrus pointed out, it is common for Kickstarter projects to have a lot of work ahead of them at the crowdfunding stage.

Some games are designed system-first, setting-second. Others, such as this one, flip the script . . . and I'm confident the game will turn out just fine, awesome likely!

I think the system matters a lot, not only for actually playing the game but for setting the tone for it by emphasising different aspects of gameplay.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

I'm not worried about "best results" regarding the lack of a system at this point. What exactly are you comparing it to? System matters, but . . . not as much as some folks think.

It does mean that there's a lot of work to do, once a system (or systems) is chosen. But as @Morrus pointed out, it is common for Kickstarter projects to have a lot of work ahead of them at the crowdfunding stage.

Some games are designed system-first, setting-second. Others, such as this one, flip the script . . . and I'm confident the game will turn out just fine, awesome likely!

For some genres I'd totally agree that system doesn't really matter. If this was yet another fantasy setting, fine, toss it into 5e, whatever. But SF games can be a lot trickier. Vehicle combat, for example, has a very different feel based on game mechanics. Guns, too.

But my issue is more with the concept of kickstarting a product that's an idea, and not really a product. What's the thing you're actually getting? Is it a super narrative game or something crunchier? Even setting system aside, from the campaign page I can't tell what the game is really about. It seems like you're on a super lovely planet and the two described locations are utopian and wonderful. What do you do as a player?

I'm sure there are answers, but the whole thing feels to me like: We have a popular stream...so we can make a game you'll probably like, right?

 

[Ixal]

What's the thing you're actually getting? Is it a super narrative game or something crunchier? Even setting system aside, from the campaign page I can't tell what the game is really about. It seems like you're on a super lovely planet and the two described locations are utopian and wonderful. What do you do as a player?

Thats pretty much it, they will certainly pick a system that fits the stories they want to tell, but until they do I have no idea what type of stories those are. Hard Sci-Fi? Light hearted supers? Rules light social games?

And there are also practical points, I do not know if I will like the system they will use, so I won't back. And for a "reading only" book there are not a lot of information on the kickstarter yet.
I will try to keep an eye on it, but so far thats all I feel comfortable to do without knowing more.

 

[MGibster]

They've got a profession called Spine Ripper which I can't help but think is pretty cool. It'd make for an interesting Career Day at school I think.

 

[Marc_C]

I need to know the system to back this. I would have like to try Cortex Prime, for the first time, with this setting.

 

[Michael Linke]

I think it uses the Cortex Prime rules.

I think their livestreamed games use Cortex Prime, but the point of the kickstarter is to develop an original system.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I need to know the system to back this. I would have like to try Cortex Prime, for the first time, with this setting.

Same re: Cortex Prime. But I'm probably in on this one at some level or another. Probably the one that gets me both the rules as well as the sourcebooks.

 

[Terry Herc]

Perhaps part of the the funding goal involves paying for an official license for Cortex Prime. That might be expensive.

I’m excited about the setting first and the system second.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Perhaps part of the the funding goal involves paying for an official license for Cortex Prime. That might be expensive.

I think we have a winner. That sounds very much like a real-life reason to not yet declare the system. I wonder how much a Cortex Prime license costs...