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First Quarter Tab Update 2013

2012 was a good year for The Tab Creations Collective. We progressed from 2011 which saw the release of the Saga Machine Companion, an update to our Saga Machine system, through an entire new year. It was also the 20th year of Tab's existence in some form. Not bad....

Saga Machine Development Site Live

If you've been following the Development Blog you know that we've been working on using a custom-programmed computerized system to keep track of automated references and cross-indexing in all new development for the next generation of Saga Machine games, starting with our upcoming game Against the Dark Yogi....

Nexus Endtime Logo Unveiled

Work on a variety of projects continues, but this time we have new logo ready to unveil. This is the logo to our upcoming apocalyptic Nexus Endtime setting, a setting that sees PCs as the survivors of ruined worlds, fighting to save the the many worlds from complete obliteration. You can see the logo below...

A New Take on Magnitude

One of the biggest hangups I've seen regularly during play with Saga Machine is determining magnitude (Mag)--particularly during combat where Mag is used frequently to determine the severity of outcomes. Because of this, in the next generation of Saga Machine games we're taking a very close took at Mag and how to streamline it....

Streamlining Group Effort

In principle I like how the Group Effort rules work in Saga Machine. I like how the system incentives characters to work together. I like how the modifiers are significant. I like how there's a chance for a critical failure to mean helpers do more harm than good. There's a problem with the Group Effort rules however: they're slow....

Approaches to Summoning

The black magician scrawls a crude circle upon the ground with a stick, carefully crossing the circle multiple times with an interconnecting series of lines. Into these grooves he pours a mixture of sulfur and human blood--forming the base of the summoning sigil. Then, his construct completed, he stands near an edge and begins to chant. Inside a form composed of inky black clouds--a sentient darkness--begins to take shape, two glowing red eyes at its center....

Against the Dark Yogi

This is the first time I'm going to publicly babble about the specifics of our upcoming Indian mythology-themed game, and you've read it here on the Development Blog first....

Setting Sheet: Tansaar

This is our first of a new type of Freebie Spotlight: the Setting Sheet. Basically it's a page--both front and back--detailing a particular setting in brief. Over the coming month or two we plan to release a number of setting sheets, all leading up to the release of our final product for the first generation of Saga Machine games: Nexus Endtime....

About Facing and the Grid

One element of the Saga Machine system that I've been debating the utility of is that of facing in combat. Currently, when using tactical positioning in combat, the system tracks which space the character is facing. The idea behind this is that tracking facing is both a nod to realism and allows for the GM to easily determine when to apply modifiers based on where a character might be facing. Facing also, in theory, makes it easier to have an easy mechanical hook to apply the Sneak Attack trait, as well as to handle situations where staring at an object has a significant consequence (such as seeing Medusa or the gaze of a basilisk). It also can tie into systems such as for vehicles, where a moving object has a clear direction and limited ability to turn....

Computing Traits

In preparing development for the next generation of Saga Machine games we've got a lot of mechanical bits and bobs to get a handle on. Between the core rulebook, companion and all the setting books we've got hundreds of traits and stat blocks. All these mechanical bits can make altering the game system a complicated process, as changing one trait can mean resulting changes in scores of stat blocks; and altering a core game mechanic can mean changes in every such block....

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