Been absolutely enjoying this game, I just have one question, perhaps a bit dumb: while I understand the mining communities from the 20th century were an inspiration, I am curious about the game's tech.
Assuming it's an alternate universe of our world - is the technology (well, whatever's left of it by the time the game begins) similar to whatever was going on in the early 1900s? Or could it have taken an alternate route, like it happend in the Fallout franchise?
Hey XelMoore, Great to hear your having a blast with OC&C! & my apologies for the delay in coming back to you.
Not dumb at all dude, the setting in the book is deliberately evasive around time frames and tech to give people some leeway with how they want to appraoch.
But my canon for it is that it the timeline split somehwere around the 15th Century during the war of the roses. That war never ended, it just morphed from bloodshed in the fields to blood shed for industry as the two houses become competing corporations. So when we get to where i see OC&C as being set and its like the 80s in the early 1900's, similar politics, attitudes & agendas less tech. Theres no real consumer automotive market, no TV industry but radio is going strong. Long distance communications are limited to the corporations. Everyone else has to still send mail or deliver the message in person. There's no computers in the public realm.
So yeah the tech is exactly what would have been around in the early 1900s with maybe some extra's thrown in... At some point in this timeline beyond OC&C's core setting, York Coal & Lancaster Mining Co rebrand to York Tech & Lancaster Industries. And thats something theyve had in the works for a long time. So who knows whats behind closed doors, or escaping out into the wild...
I Hope that sets the scene i had in mind a little bit more for you. I do just want to come back to the lack of explanation in the book though. When OC&C's at your table it can be the above or any variation on it that works for you. In Solo play I dont like to feel hemmed in and i wouldnt want anyoone else to feel hamstrung by the setting. Later expansions & adventures will start to plugg in some of those intentional gaps over time.
If you have any other questions do drop me a line or swing by the discord and say hello!
https://discord.gg/h5WHFnNFZ
Thank you so much for the reply! :)
It helps me paint a better picture and how to imagine things in my head as I play, as well as finding images for inspiration. Though I am definitely a little bit tempted to toss in some basic tech (that is a bit 1900 unfriendly, haha), since it's an alternate timeline. Despite my question I do like that it is vague, so players can personalize it.
The fact that there ARE going to be more additions to this game is awesome news. I'm stoked!
The first addition is already out in the wild, Attle Cry the community zine for OC&C. Theres some new stuff in there from me and some of our discord members.
https://overland-empire.itch.io/attle-cry-1
I've also recently launched the first official game jam for OC&C as i work toward attle cry issue 2.
/jam/of-hags-and-hexes
The first "big" expansion will be dropping sometime in 2027...
I grabbed it!
Thanks for making me aware of the jam. I don't visit itch that often :) but I love how people are encouraged to add to the game. One can easily customize it this way making it unique.
And, this is a little unrelated. But I've seen the latest video you posted on YouTube. About your journey of making this game. And I'm just some rando here, but OC&C remains to be one of my favourite purchases, it clicked so well with me, and I wanna say (again) thanks for the time and effort you put into this game :)
