I'll start off with some non-rule questions Wayne has answered (rule-related answers can be found at this link):
Question: I've seen references in some of my issues of the Rifter and other Palladium products to something called "The Nursery." Is this a book that has yet to see the light of day and if so what is it about?
Answer: "The Nursery" is where the government sends its super soldier experiments that aren't quite fit for public exposure for whatever reason. It could be something as small as odd colored skin or as dangerous as an unstable power or psychotic mind state. The sourcebook, which is still in the works, centers around the calamity that would result should those failed experiments manage to get loose and how things might be set right again (with a healthy dose of help from the player characters).
Question: I'm curious Wayne, how much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Answer: 1D6+1 units for unskilled 'chucks, but taking 2 slots for a 'chucking skill would allow a 20%+5% per level chance for an increased rate of 1D6+1D4 units per level of experience. 'Chucking could be maintained for a number of melee rounds equal to the 'chuck's P.E. attribute+1 round per level of experience.
![Big Grin :D](./images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
Quote: Alright, I finally purchased AUGG over the weekend (recently stumbled upon a local game store that carried Palladium stuff), and even though I have only barely scratched the surface I've been pretty pleased with what I've seen so far.
While I was looking over it, a few questions popped into my head and I thought I'd ask:
1.) As an artist, how does it make you feel to see other artists like Michael Wilson and Freddie Williams take character designs of yours and run with them (such as the 4-armed Axolotl and the Felias info broker)?
1a.) How much guidance/direction did you as the writer give these artists along the way?
2.) In playtesting the spaceship creation rules, what's been the best overall spaceship you've built/seen someone else build?
3.) When going to FTL speed during play, do you sometimes forget yourself and say "Go to warp factor ___..."?
Answer: 1) I love seeing what other guys do with my ideas since one of my favorite art assignments is getting to do my own version of someone else's ideas. Just seeing the design done in another person's style gives me new insight into my own design because I can see what other people thought certain aspects of it were. And foremost, I subscribe to the theory that immitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Many times the artists are given their choice of things to draw, and if they pick one of my designs out of a book full of others, it says something to me. They were most likely impressed by it (...or they thought is sucked bad enough to need reworking. ).
1a) In most cases, Palladium's artists work from established designs or straight from the manuscript descriptions, so the author's influence is usually limited, but for specific projects design sketches may accompany the manuscript if an artist has already done some work to set the feel for that section or the book. This was the case for all the Robotech books (duh) as well as for the new armor for the COalition in the War Campaign book. It will also be the case with the Atorians since I have specific perceptions of their appearance, thus all the artists will get drawings or sketches of the different clans as well as the major war machines of the Empire.
2) Uhh...can't say really. I haven't had the time to run or play in a galactic campaign since play testing the AUGG rules and that was done with a small, 300 ton ship intended to be upgraded as the game progressed. The only thing I can say in that respect was that the hardware character that owned/built the ship decided to be a canis and as per the AU description for that race, the ship got a 30% speed bonus. I thought that was a nice little observation on his part.
3) No, no. It's usually something closer to 'Get us the hell outta here!' or 'Hang onto your aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!'.
Question: I was curious as to when the Heroes Unlimited Guide to Imperial Space was due out. I was flicking through Galaxy Unlimited today and read several references to it. Any news about if it's being worked on or has been shelved for the time being or permanently?
Answer: It is at the editors and I am working diligently on the art. It should be out in about 2 months.
[Just to clarify, while Wayne's work on the project will be done, the book unfortunately won't come out that soon. We hope to have it out by the end of Summer 2005. -- Wayne Smith]