Skyfarers, in this update you’ll find a plethora of additions that embellish roleplay within Sunless Skies! This build also features:

• Updates to Character Creation
• A new Ambition
• New Origins and now Deeds
• 3 new Officers
• 4 new Mascots
• A slew of new locomotive weapons and equipment
• An interesting new twist on our FBG Podcasts!

And some extra news:The Blemmigan Gallivanter, one of the three blemmigans achieved during the Sunless Skies Kickstarter is now available in Sunless Sea!

CHARACTER CREATION

New character origins have been added: you can now play a priest, a revolutionary, a zee-captain, and an ex-Auditor of the Ministry of Public Decency!
The whole Character Creation process has received a significant visual upgrade - everything is now much prettier and clearer, with lashings of gorgeous art. As requested by our Early Access players, you can now also cycle through your avatar's appearance options using a button rather than using the dropdown menu.
There are a few new pieces of headwear to select from within the cameo creation, and a whole new section dubbed 'Attire' which features full-body outfits such as the diving suit.

ORIGINS & DEEDS

Levelling up your character has also received a substantial visual upgrade. We hope you'll find the process more pleasant and evocative! We've also added more than a dozen new facets to develop your character. You can now choose to have been one of the first brave souls to enter the sky, to have fought at the Blockade of New Winchester, or to have received a foretelling of your own death!
Every origin now has a unique facet to develop its story: Auditors can choose why they were fired from the Ministry, for example, while priests can decide what happened when they suffered a crisis of faith. This update also includes our first two 'deeds' - character facets that are only unlocked by experiencing certain circumstances while playing. Part of the fun of these is in discovering them, so we'll keep what they are and how they're unlocked a secret for now. Perhaps a small hint, though: one of them is called 'A Narrow Escape.'

AMBITIONS

An extensive new Ambition is now available! The Song of the Sky is a grand tale of fame and its pursuit, written by Harry Tuffs. The Song of the Sky looms in your mind, a half-finished monument. Unlike the Sunless Sea version of this ambition, the Song of the Sky isn't just about achieving fame; it's about actually writing the story you leave behind, the creative decisions you make while doing so, and the pitfalls of publishing it.
It's not enough to merely accomplish great deeds - you must ensure they are portrayed in a manner that does them justice! What better way than to write them yourself? Will you create a romantic adventure or a searing expose? Are you the hero, or merely the witness? Is it a story of glory or of horror? Deal with an Omnivorous Publisher. Fall afoul of the Ministry of Public Decency. Write your legend!

OFFICERS

As you may have read, Kieron Gillen has joined the list of exceptional Sunless Skies guest writers and has written an exquisite and horrifying journey with an Incognito Princess!
Other officers becoming available in this update include the fiercely competent (and fiercely adorable) Rat Brigade and the brooding Repentant Devil, written by James Chew and Emily Short, respectively. Our next build in July will also introduce the Incautious Driver.
You may find them milling about both The Reach and Albion. As officer stories stretch across multiple regions, not all these stories can currently be completed - but as the game expands, more of them will open up.

MASCOTS

It is now the Perfect Pangolin’s true time to shine - new mascots have arrived! Though, you’ll have to wait to meet our Perfect Pangolin in Eleutheria.
Alongside her Magnificence, the other more available mascots include the Kickstarter-exclusive Obviously Delicious Rabbit, as well as the Inadvisably Big Dog, and the Useless Cat. The canine and feline mascots can be picked up at certain locations depending on your stats.

NEW LOCOMOTIVE EQUIPMEN

Locomotive equipment has received a substantial overhaul, with stats, requirements and costs changing. About a dozen new pieces of equipment have been added, including the Wit & Vinegar Winch and Pully, Lamellared Sky-Steel plating, a Gleaming Galley, and Sensible Plumbing. All the locomotives now handle differently, from the lumbering Pellinore to the nimble Parzival, which rewards the skilled player with precious maneuverability in a fight. You'll also find two new locomotive models available:the Agravain-class juggernaut (a lighter, more versatile version of London's dreadnoughts), and the Medea-class destroyer (an experimental engine, the product of exiled genius). The Agravain is available immediately, but you'll have to wait for the next build for the Medea, as it lies in Eleutheria.

NEW LOCOMOTIVE WEAPONS

Higher-tiered levels of the shotgun, rapid-fire and project weapons are now available! Shoot your enemies with even more efficiency and power. We recommend the Cotterell & Hathersage Golgonooza: "What immortal hand or eye, dare frame thy fearful symmetry?" The pride and terror of Cotterell & Hathersage, colloquially known as 'the Finisher'. Its recoil is never forgotten by those who fire her. The opinion of those fired upon is best sourced through a good medium.

WHAT’S NEXT

Mark your diaries for upcoming terror and dread, as our next build release will be Eleutheria, the third region of the High Wilderness! In Mid-July expect a whole new spooky region to explore; new, nightmarish agents, and improved survival mechanics (you'll need them).
This FBG Podcast we’re trying something different! Join us on FuzzyFreaks’ channel Friday 8th June at 13:30 BST, where she’ll be trying out the latest build. A few of us will be on voice chat and we’re sure many other Failbetterers will tag along in the Twitch chat too! Fuzzy often streams for 6+ hours too, so there’s plenty of chances to catch the stream live.

[ 2018-06-07 13:19:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

It is the dawn of the 20th century, and London has taken to the stars! As the captain of a spacefaring locomotive you'll behold wonders and battle cosmic abominations in the furthest heavens. Stake your claim. Fight to survive. Speak to storms. Murder a sun. Face judgement.

Ten years have passed since Sunless Sea, and Queen Victoria has led an exodus from London to the heavens. There, a revitalised British Empire - ambitious and authoritarian - begins to expand across the skies.

The stars are alive. They are the Judgements: vast intelligences that govern all things. But they are dying. One by one, something is snuffing them out, leaving their thrones empty. An opportunistic Victorian Empire is colonising the domains they leave behind, painting its industrial vision upon the fabric of the heavens.

• Travel between distant ports, unravelling stories, bearing passengers and news, and trading in exotic celestial cargoes.
  
  
• Your every foray into space is as precarious as a Polar expedition. You’ll need to balance your resources carefully and keep an eye on your crew’s Terror to avoid mutiny and death.
  
  
• Your captain's actions could tip the precarious political balance of a region. Will you run guns for the Independents? Or spies for the Empire? Choose wisely – your decisions will affect the story; not just for yourself, but for your future captains as well.
  
  
• Leave your mark on the universe, and be marked in return. When you are creating your captain, every decision is a story, and every story has a consequence.
  
  
• Equip your vessel as you see fit. Would you benefit more from reinforced armour plating, or the additional manpower allowed by external crew pods? ("Soundproof! Cosy! Detachable!")
  
  
• It is not safe in the skies. A captain will need to defend themselves against pirates, scorn-flukes, the Cyst of Faces, and worse.
  
  
• Recruit a gallery of unpredictable characters to crew your locomotive as First Officer, Chief Engineer, Signaller, or Surgeon. Each brings their own skills and stories to your adventures.