Spectrum is designed around the idea of creative evolution. What the hell does that mean? The idea is that the core rules for this gaming system are simple and are not bound to a specific genre or style of play. One of the inherent problems with creating any kind of flexible system is that it must have some inherent weaknesses in order to be flexible, but at the same time these weaknesses cannot be so extreme that the system doesn’t work. It’s a fine balance and one that is going to require a lot of trial ad error. Spectrum’s open-beta is the system that we have created and tested extensively in our basements, laughing, crying, yelling, and casting magic missiles into the darkness. And after months of testing, we believe that this system is as good as we can make it. But that doesn’t mean that it is quite good enough.
So now it is time to set our beloved creation free for you to explore and, hopefully, help us figure out where it breaks, because our delusions do not extend to us believing that it isn’t going to break in some places. What we want is for you to play the game. We want you to have fun, its always, first and foremost about having fun. Then let us know what you think, let us know what it does well, what it doesn’t do well, and what it seems to be incapable of. With your precious contributions, we should be able to fill the gaps as they are found or accept the limitation that fixing one problem would create four others.
So make a couple characters and start a campaign. If you love it, tell us why. If you hate it, tell us why. When your explorations hit a boundary that you think shouldn’t be there, tell us about it. We are hungry for data to improve the system, and as I like to say “The problem with being better than every other game is that you have to be better than every other game”.
But still, there are still so many things missing from Spectrum’s open beta. More accurately there are still so many things missing from the resources for Spectrum.
Vehicles: We are taking our time working on rules for vehicles that can be used for your trusty steed just as easily as for your sea going, or space traveling, frigate.
Guns: the physics of ballistics is complicated and cool, we are just about finished with testing our mechanics.
“Monsters”: another list that will be a forever project for us. Expect the first installation shortly.
More metaphysics: we just finished testing another set of metaphysics and we have more in the works.
Gear gear and more gear: Listen, it would take infinite time to represent the infinite possibilities for gear. But this is a section that we will constantly be adding to as we add genres, expand worlds, and introduce new paradigms of play.