Manifest Destiny - Items and the Environment in Beyond the Veil

When creating an immersive and engaging universe for the players of Beyond the Veil we were always conscious of the need to provide choice without compromising on simplicity. Giving every item that may become relevant unique stats and attributes would be borderline impossible, even more so for a game set in the modern world with access to strange and alien artefacts!

Our approach became one of abstraction and narrative flexibility, such as is seen with our implementation of weapons as detailed in a previous blog. Using the same complexity scale we can rapidly determine some key attributes about an item that can inform its relative usefulness for any given task. This doesn’t mean that we have done away with traditional inventories and the realism of having to have the right tool for the job, however, we have simply reasoned that if it makes sense that an item exists in the context given then an Overseer should allow it.

To have and to hold…

So how does this work in practice? Throughout a career, Investigators will naturally pick up, build, or modify equipment as needed for their various investigations. These named pieces of specialist equipment are recorded as resources available to them and will be listed on their character sheets as in any roleplaying game. They will have stats that determine what they can do and under what circumstances and will no doubt form the core of an Investigators detection and evidence gathering actions. Many of these items will be small and portable, so to account for this we introduce the concept of bulk.

Inspired by systems like Starfinder and Pathfinder, but without the crunch that makes those systems an inventory management simulator, bulk in Beyond the Veil is a simple question, ‘Is this item bulky? Yes or No’. When the answer is no, an Investigator likely has a way to carry that item indefinitely, whether a backpack, a modified bandolier, or just a bag for life from the local supermarket, the result is the same. Those items are to hand and available for use with ease. When the answer is yes there is a need for precedent; Was the item brought into the building from the van? Does it need more than one person to lift or operate? In these instances more strategic and considered action usage becomes relevant.

Manifest what-now?

During play testing one of the most attractive rules we implemented was the concept of manifest destiny, putting the onus on players to determine aspects of the world around them that could make their investigations easier. The concept is simple, if there is a reasonable possibility of something being true, then it is. This doesn’t mean that anything goes, however. The Overseer still has the final say and should always lean in favour of what would be the most narratively interesting option in any given situation. If there is any doubt, flip a coin for it and let fate decide!

With this system we can avoid the need for detailed inventory lists, and while the nostalgic in me misses the many hours spent poring over Advanced D&D 2e item lists, filling my backpack with a myriad of items for any eventuality, we didn’t want that level of overhead for our game. 

Is it reasonable to assume that the technician has a toolbelt with a host of useful bits on it? Sure.

Does the hacker carry around a laptop bag, complete with a range of dongles and adaptors? You bet they do!

And this extends into the world around them too. If a player is confronted by a zombie in the cosy kitchen of a cabin in the woods and wants to reach for the butcher's knife in the block on the counter then we should let them, it is reasonable to assume it exists in that context, therefore it does. Should they opt to look for the hand grenade instead, well that’s a different story (and one that comes up more than you’d think) and likely isn’t going to be viable… unless the player is very adept at explaining how and why it should be there!

But wait, there is more! We don’t limit the creative ability of players to influence the world around them to just mundane items and sundries. They can also determine aspects of the environment in which they find themselves. There is less of an ability to bend the universe to their will in this scenario, but still the option to make reasonable assumptions about things that can make their lives easier.

Is there a window in that exterior door so that they can see who just rang the bell? It makes sense, allow it.

How about a secret tunnel into that government research facility? I guess that could happen, maybe flip a coin to see… yes doesn’t mean a free pass, if it were my facility I’d still have surveillance and countermeasures in my secret tunnel 🤷🏻‍♂️

Remember, the Overseer in Beyond the Veil is a facilitator, not a dictator. If it makes a game more fun to introduce things outside of your original investigation plan, and you are comfortable enough to improvise the result, then you should always allow it. These surprises are often where the most fun comes from in my experience!

Your game, your way.

The more we refine and play Beyond the Veil, the more we realise that the ability to provide a flexible framework for the universe is one of the key things that really makes the game a lot of fun to play. Rules are there to guide and provide structure in terms of success and failure but they are also there to be used however works best for your table. With a focus on abstraction we can make allowances for aspects of reality that don’t need to be codified while still allowing creative solutions.

Happy investigating!