![The city of Tranquility on Luna]()
The city of Tranquility on Luna
The Kalijor Role Playing Game project is intended to not only bring the world of Kalijor home to your gaming table, but to help you introduce the concept of pen and paper role playing games to the next generation of gamers.
With the rule engine we've built, the system can be increased or decreased in complexity, allowing us to build three different versions of the game, all using the same core rules. This means that young kids, ages 4-7 can play the game (with parental assistance and supervision) and learn to recognize numbers, do basic math, and begin to establish and hone critical thinking and imaginative problem solving skills. We call this the 'Grow With Me RPG' system.
Genetic engineering is commonplace in the future.
For kids ages 7-13, we add in another layer of logistics, giving them more attributes, more bonuses, and more granular control over their character's progression and advancement. But we still keep the game quick and easy by not bogging them down with the minutia of character generation, tracking experience, leveling up, etc. Character progression is tracked more like a video game with advancement handled by upgrading equipment.
For older kids and adults alike, the full version of the game is a robust and feature-rich system that allows for full character development, more bonuses, skill progression and acquisition, and more.
![The Rathalon portal chamber in the virtual world of Kalijor.]()
The Rathalon portal chamber in the virtual world of Kalijor.
The Kalijor RPG is built on its own, built from the ground up, game engine that allows groups to play with or without dice, depending upon the style of play you and your group prefer. If you choose to play without dice, then the skill ranking system allows the group to decide success or failure of actions and combat, and if you choose to play with dice, then the game will support you with a robust and comprehensive system that will meet your needs.
Combat rolls are made on 2D10, which serves to normalize results and increase the relevance and importance of skills and attributes. A side benefit of this is to make critical success and failure a much more rare occurrence (1 in 56 odds).
The skill ranking system allows for both contested skill rolls and rolls against target difficulties based upon the complexity of the task and situation.
![3046AD On approach to Neo-Tokyo, Earth Ring Station.]()
3046AD On approach to Neo-Tokyo, Earth Ring Station.
Features:
- Play with or without dice!
- A complete new skill, ability, and spell system.
- Combat can be story driven with bonuses and play by play rolls, or quick and dirty with higher level skill rolls (or no rolls at all if you decide to play without dice).
- Explore Virtual Reality as you attempt to hack through firewalls and other network security.
- Build your own space ship to haul cargo, transport people, or harry Conglomerate forces.
- Build your character from an extensive list of cybernetic upgrades, genetic modifications, or special abilities; or try to take on the world as a good old basic human being. Then switch to Kalijor and access an impressive list of spells and equipment.
- Play as employees of any of the 'Big Five' corporations that make up the Conglomerate, trying to maintain order and harmony, or as the outcast Dissidents, trying to make ends meet on the fringes of society, or strike out against the Conglomerate.
- Play a science fiction campaign, a fantasy campaign, or move back and forth between worlds as your story requires. You decide!
Races include (but are not limited to):
In the Future world:
- Base-Line Humans
- Gene-Line Humans
- Tech-Line Humans
- Psi-Line Humans
In Kalijor:
- Humans
- Ogres
- Trolls
- Elves
- Dwarves
- Lycanthropes
Classes include (but are not limited to):
In the future world:
- The Pincher
- The Runner
- The Corporate Courier
- The Conglomerate Officer
- The Conglomerate Pilot
- The Mercenery
- The Criminal Element
In Kalijor:
- Warrior
- Ranger
- Mage
- Spell-Sword
- Cleric
- Martial Artist
The Kalijor RPG will be premiering at GenCon 2013 at the G33k & Co. booth in Entrepreneur's Avenue where we have been awarded an advertising fellowship on the weight of the Grow With Me RPG!
![3046AD Phobos base, Mars.]()
3046AD Phobos base, Mars.
About the world of Kalijor
The human race has moved out among the planets to escape a devastated Earth. Massive corporations control every aspect of life. While nobody who is willing to play by the rules will go hungry, or without a home, there are those who strive to take back their independence from the corporate Conglomerate. Their battles to determine the fate of the human race take place in the real world, in cyber-space, and in the virtual world of Kalijor, a massively multiplayer online RPG that has become a hub of commerce and communication for a humanity spread out across the stars.
More details:
The world of Kalijor is sort of three worlds in one, and the game system reflects that, and captures it very well. At its core, the setting is science fiction, about a thousand years in humanity’s future. In the span between today and the setting of the books, corporations have taken over the governance of the human race, using a nuclear conflict on Earth as the final and clinching proof that traditional governments were not up to the task at hand.
Since they took over, Humanity has spread out across the solar system and both Genetic Engineering and Cybernetic technology have become commonplace. There are mining and fabrication operations spread across the planets and their moons and everyone has what they need to survive. Jobs, food, education, even entertainment, all provided by the Conglomerate, which is comprised of the heads of the five largest corporations in the solar system.
Of course, not everyone is happy with this corporate dictatorship and there those who live on the fringe, outside society and off the grid. These people are called Dissidents and have become legal non-entities in the eyes of the Conglomerate. But, everything has a price, and sometimes it just makes good business sense to insure the viability of a competitor...
Beneath the shiny veneer of Conglomerate rule, there is a thriving, hidden world where the Dissidents and their undocumented settlements refine raw materials, fabricate goods and smuggle things in and out of Conglomerate facilities, all without official sanction, but still at the behest of the Conglomerate themselves. Of course, since these Dissidents are are not citizens, they cannot be officially allowed to transport cargo, or enter Conglomerate territory, which means that they are subject to open harrassment from Conglomerate forces, up to and including the forfeiture of cargo, and even their vessels and equipment.
That said, one of the things the Conglomerate does provide, is recreation. And one of those forms of recreation is a massively multi-player online game called Kalijor. This is a fully-immersive high fantasy themed virtual reality game that people log into and inhabit avatars, sort of like in the Matrix films. This game allows people to become someone else for a while to get away from things and have some adventures, all from the safety of their own homes.
Of course, it isn’t just as simple as that though. In a future where all information, and money, is digital, a virtual world such as Kalijor is by nature the perfect medium through which to have meetings, exchange currency, and even transport data such as schematics for new technology, chemical formulae, and so much more. Over the years, Kalijor has become the default medium through which people separated by millions, even billions of miles, can interact in real time, face to face.
As a result of this, Kalijor has become a tunnel through which untold sums of money and vast amounts of information are moved from place to place. Smugglers use it to transport, and even hide money, stolen data, and more, creating a need for people to go into Kalijor and retrieve such things.
And finally, the world of the internet and computer networks that ties everything else together. This is a virtual cyber-space world that characters can enter to sneak into other networks, hack computers, and steal, or recover, valuable data, money, and so much more. Hackers rule supreme here, and can create their own worlds to protect their digital turf from encroachers, other hackers, or just your average net surfers.
The great thing about the game system is that players can choose to play in any one of these worlds and have a great gaming experience. Or they can choose to use two, or all three settings, moving back and forth across virtual borders as they chase some bit of data they need for whatever reason.
Challenges this project may face:
At this point our worst enemy is time. Play-testing is proceeding well and feedback continues to be excellent so we are on track to release the games at GenCon Indy 2013.
The schedule has been padded a bit to allow for complications and the possibility of the unforeseeable is always there. Best efforts have been made to make sure that these issues do not impact the production timetable and we have a dedicated team of people that all know the plan and have access to everything.
All four artists have committed themselves to the project, the bulk of the writing is done (except for introductions, prefaces, and some other little, non-mechanical blurbs), and we are just working on making as many refinements as we can via play-testing before publication.
In short, the game, in all of its iterations, is all but finished. All we need is art, some layout, and a few little touch-ups.
FAQ
Q: Wasnt this program just over on one of those other crowdfunding sites asking for more money? What gives?
A: Yes it was. The initial ask on that other site was for $8,000 which included everything I am asking for here except copies for GenCon and art for the Kalijor: Kids RPG. As an alternative to the whole amount asked for there, I've scaled things back a bit and will fund the art for the Kalijor: Kids RPG book and what copies I can afford out of the business' existing funds. This route means potentially fewer copies at launch, but with your help the amount and quality of the art will still be where we want it to be. Also, the funding model on this site means that I can get the artists to work right away, which helps the project stay on track for its August release at GenCon 2013.
Q: In what way are you, Paul, qualified to write and publish a Role Playing Game?
A: Good question. I've been playing RPGs and writing stories most of my life (for the better part of 35 years). I've played many systems and am usually the GM/DM/Story Teller, so I have a fondness for learning the mechanics of the game and a pretty intimate knowledge of which parts work, and which part's don't.
As with anyone who has written a new RPG, I took the mechanics that I liked from dozens of systems, worked very hard at streamlining the new engine, and have solicited as many and varied opinions from long-time gamers as I can. I have engaged numerous groups to play-test the system and have been very rigorous about taking their feedback, making changes and getting new updates out.
The game has been in testing for years, and in its current state for almost 24 months with most changes being primarily tweaks to small pieces of the system. We still have a couple minor things to tweak, but that is almost entirely playing with verbiage and adding some skills to beef up character diversity.
Mechanically, I feel the book and the game engine are in very good shape and ready for prime time. That said, I have been publishing books since 2007 and I now feel that my understanding of the process, mechanics, and industry is at last up to the task of getting this game to market.
It isn't a walk in the park, to be sure, but I have made a lot of contacts, and built up an incredible support structure around my operation to make sure that important tasks/details do not get dropped. The turn-around time on publishing new books is months shorter than when I began, and the quality of published material has increased exponentially. I have four amazing artists willing to chip in on the project and the Grow With Me system is needed in the industry.
Q: So, you've written a new RPG. Is it one shot and done? Or is there more support planned?
A: So glad you asked! This is by no means a one-shot deal. I have plans to write dozens of sourcebooks to add to and enrich the world of the Kalijor RPG. In fact, I already have a dozen of them in various stages of completion. Two of them are nearly finished and require only a little more work, and some art, to get them to you!
Q: Okay, so you're planning sourcebooks. What will they look like?
A: In the beginning, each sourcebook will center on a major population center in the future, or in Kalijor, and provide some details of the surrounding area(s). At present, the plan is to release one book for the future, then one for Kalijor, then repeat the cycle until all of the major cities/locations are covered. After that, we'll see what happens, but there are plenty of places to detail before that is a thought we'll need to entertain.
Q: Will there be multiple versions of each sourcebook? One for each age range main book (Kalijor RPG, Kalijor: Kids RPG)?
A: At present, the plan is to publish only one version of each sourcebook. The beauty of the Kalijor RPG engine is that the mechanics are easily adjustable to accommodate each version of the game. Rather than publishing multiple versions of the book, we'll include a brief blurb at the front of each to explain how to make adjustments to play with each version of the rules. In most cases, this means simply disregarding certain logistics.
Q: What will happen to any additional funds contributed beyond the primary goal?
A: Additional funds will result in more art in the books, and more copies on hand at GenCon 2013.
Q: What happens if the funding goal isn't reached?
A: We will fund the books through alternate revenue streams. The books will still get published, and we'll still be at GenCon, but there will be much less art in them (and I'll have to slow down the timetable on sourcebook production because more of the profits from sales will have to go toward paying down the debt incurred to finish publication).
Q: How many copies will be at GenCon?
A: The $3,000 goal allows for the payment of the artists for a basic amount of interior art, the cover art, the cost of publication and copyrighting. Without additional funding the number of copies at GenCon will be limited to what I can afford using any additional contributions beyond the $3,000 goal, plus whatever I can afford to chip in from the business' existing budget.
Q: When you say more money means more art and more copies, what does that mean?
A: After the initial goal is met, every additional $100 means 1-3 interior images (depending upon size), and 1-2 additional copies. There is, however, a maximum art threshold and, while we aren't sure where that is just yet, once we reach it, all additional funds will go toward copies, then the first sourcebook once we feel we have enough copies to handle initial sales demand.
Q: Have you accounted for Indigogo fees and rewards/shipping costs in your calculations?
A: Yes! The $3,000 funding goal includes our actual minimum needs plus another 10%. The extra is to account for the Indigogo fees, and a little bit more to cover rewards and shipping. We aren't passing all of the costs on to you, my generous supporters, but we are asking you to assist us with them.
Q: Doesn't Indigogo charge 4% if you successfully fund? Wht's with the 10% you mention above?
A: You are correct. The math was done a t 10% to allow for the possability that we don't get fully funded and end up paying the higher 9% Indigogo fee. When we ~do~ get fully funded, that extra percentage goes right back into art and copies.
Q: What's up with the terrible lip-syncing going on in your video?
A: This is merely illustrative of why I have chosen to be a writer, rather than a videographer. In truth, I have no idea what caused that issue. It just rendered that way when I pushed the button...
The city of Tranquility on Luna
The Rathalon portal chamber in the virtual world of Kalijor.
3046AD On approach to Neo-Tokyo, Earth Ring Station.
3046AD Phobos base, Mars.
