I’m in the midst of early writing, probably around 40% of the way on a first draft. I’m still not sure if I’ll do an early playtest version of the google doc before starting page layout. That way I can work out any issues and update the rules before committing to design and layout. Then I will need to figure out if I want to do no art, do my own art, or possibly go the kickstarter/backerkit route so I can pay for art!
I assume it's fair enough to say that we can buy 1e in print then, it's gonna be a while before the second one is ready. Right? Feeling indecisive, but am interested in the game!
Hello! I am using a translator so the sentences may not be smooth. I am an overseas fan. Monolith is so interesting! I wonder if there is a difference between the printed version and the PDF. XD
Hello! Do you plan on adding the print on demand for Amazon as well? I know Lulu is a better company but unfortunately it is still international shipping for a lot of countries, while Amazon is (fortunately and unfortunately) everywhere...
Hello! Probably not for the 1st edition, it’s kind of a pain working with Kindle Direct Publishing, but I will definitely try to have an Amazon version available when I’m done with 2e!
No planned date, it's still heavily WIP right now. Unfortunately with a busy personal life, I get to work on this when I have time, and that's pretty variable.
It also depends on if I decide to try and kickstart the project to pay for art and editing, etc. If I try to do some mediocre art myself, that might slow me down. So we'll see!
Thank you for developing this project. Couple of months ago I've run a short, 3-session adventure for my group and they loved it, praising Monolith for its streamlined rules that blend into the narrative. I look forward to supporting the kickstarter if you decide to go this route as well. Kind regards,
You could rule ongoing effects a few different ways. 10 minutes is a good baseline. It could also stay active until the PC needs to do something else, something significant happens, or the events dice rolls a result like “loss” or similar.
Love to hear that! Mechs are an idea I’ve thought about, but they could honestly be their own game/hack too. Lots of complexity there. There’s a lot of different scales for mech suits too. But it would be cool!
For weapons that roll multiple die (high energy weapons, smart weapons) was the intention that you sum the dice together or just keep the highest? (I'm thinking about the notes in dual wield rules about multiple dice...)
So, this is a very good question....and it's something I'm changing/removing in the next update or 2nd edition. The original intent for smart weapons was to take the higher of the two, as if it were multiple attacks (so dual wielding smart pistols, you'd actually roll d6 four times and keep the highest single dice result). And the original intent for the high energy weapons as that you'd add them together...and that particular rule really goes against one of the original design ideas of Cairn, which is that damage comes from the single highest dice only. So that second style of advanced weapon (combining the results) will get squashed in the future! Feel free to play it however you see fit, but I'd recommend maybe just scrapping high-energy weapons. (A lot of the rework I'm doing on a 2nd edition will be around removing a lot of these fiddly advanced weaponry elements.)
Hello. I don't know if it's me but I find the experience table like it's part of the optional adjustments. It confused me as I undertood that I needed to pay all the XP to level up, without there being a limit on XP.
It's probably just me.
Other than that, great job: I will surly try it in the future!
I am also popping in (again) to say, game's one of my favorite versions of ItO's engine, right up there with Mythic Bastionland. If you decide to expand the project, I'd be happy to support it!
Yo thanks a ton! A second edition might be a thing some day, along with a few other game ideas I’ve had percolating. Time permitting, we’ll see when that happens!
just want to pop in and say this design and system is very crisp. i havent played it yet but am planning to run it solo with mythic gme 2e and the assorted mythic supplements. i have been looking for a system that has enough crunch, but with PROCEDURES & resource management, and enough interpretive prompting that im not playing a pre-made setting (part of the joy is in creating the world as it plays along). i plan to use your book to sort of hack-the-hack into a dying world/grim-strange fantasy style thing. elric meets stalker meets the expanse. or something. anyway, just want to praise you for the design and layout etc. why dont more designers design like this????? are you planning to share the SRD or layout files? i would definitely throw you some creds.
The game you’re planning on running sounds awesome! I have some other projects planned too! It would definitely be cool to create an SRD and share the design files. Just gotta find the time 😅
Dude, this is SO cool! Exactly the kind of game I was looking for actually, even down to the inspirations. Not to mention it being free! Awesome work, I'm loving this a lot so far!
Oh, also. For the Sample Bestiary- the Gang Enforcer, Space Pirate Captain, and Large Battle droid have blank Description/Tactic/Critical Damage entries. Was this intentional?
Warms my heart to hear that! I'm always open to feedback too, if there are things about the system you have thoughts on. I might eventually do a 2nd Edition or a major revision. Solo rules would be cool too, I need to look into more ways to support that in Monolith and other projects I have in the works.
This is amazing! All the wonderful inspiration in the tables... It's enough to build a whole campaign around on a whim, and have it be different everytime.
The pleasure is all mine. I've been trying to make a good, comprehensive, insipiring RPG of my own for... quite some time. But this... Monolith's implied setting is rich and full of inspiration, up there with Electric Bastion.
This is really great! I love the simplicity of Cairn but am more into sci-fi, so this is perfect. I hoping to run a game soon but I’m also considering using it for a little web dev project (at least a character sheet and random table roller, could become a small VTT later). Is there a plain text version of the game? I started copying from the PDF into a markdown file but wouldn’t mind skipping some of that work, if a file like that already exists.
Hey Adam, greetings from Ukraine. My name is Alexander from M87* Games! We are the first TTRPG publishing in Ukraine, mainly focusing on indie and niche games, something unique and exciting. We just localized Cairn in Ukrainian, and I thought bringing in some sci-fi twist would be cool. So are you interested in doing a Ukrainian localization for Monolith? I also thought about the Cairn Adventurer's Guide. Please let me know!
Wow! This game is exactly what I didn't know I was looking for! It's really excellent thank you for making it for free.
A small observation: there is no (dedicated) space on the character sheet for Background (unless I'm missing something...). It could also use a spot for cred, non-slot gear (I made a psionic with a candy bar and adrenaline injection, but no room on the sheet to write it). It could also use a spot for description and results for the rollable character tables (psionic has old cover identity and neural ramifications, but nowhere in the sheet to write them).
All these are easily solvable with a separate sheet or a diy char sheet, but thought I'd point it out.
Sweet. I've been looking for a decent sci-fi system and my group has just fallen in love with Into the Odd type games. I think this has a certain level of added crunch that a good sci-fi game needs. I'm super impressed 😁
Thanks for sharing this lovely game system Adam, its so straight forward mechanically with the right amount of fun/weird content. I'm excitedly working towards running a game in September when our dnd 5e game concludes. I did want to share a simple Google sheets I put together for quick ship building with you (generates stats and all). It's nothing too fancy/polished, only if you were interested or had improvements you wanted to offer, could also be useful for others running this game?
Just use the dropdowns and all should update, minus fuel QTY. I also added ranges for some of the weapons, not sure if they make sense or balance, but its a start!
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just wanted to ask, where do you get a character sheet
There’s one in the PDF near the back! I should probably upload it as a separate file too.
Please do! And if you would make a form fillable edition available I would be forever grateful!!
Discord invite is not working for me btw.
weird, here’s another one
https://discord.gg/QRnxndQJ
Hi Adam,
Just stop to say Hi, and ask you about your progress on Monolith 2nd edition.
Hey there! I left a reply to the last comment with a little status update.
Is 1.1 the only version I'm able to download? So far that's the only version I'm seeing.
That’s right!
Any updates on v2?
I’m in the midst of early writing, probably around 40% of the way on a first draft. I’m still not sure if I’ll do an early playtest version of the google doc before starting page layout. That way I can work out any issues and update the rules before committing to design and layout. Then I will need to figure out if I want to do no art, do my own art, or possibly go the kickstarter/backerkit route so I can pay for art!
I assume it's fair enough to say that we can buy 1e in print then, it's gonna be a while before the second one is ready. Right? Feeling indecisive, but am interested in the game!
Yeah it will be a while still, but the print is under $5! (and PDF is free)
Any chance you'll add in the pdf bookmarks in the next version?
Yep for sure!
Hello! I am using a translator so the sentences may not be smooth. I am an overseas fan. Monolith is so interesting! I wonder if there is a difference between the printed version and the PDF. XD
Thanks! What language do you speak?
To answer your question, the PDF and the printed version are the same.
Thanks for the answer! I'm Korean ;)!
Very cool! I hope you saw the Korean version and found it helpful. I had someone volunteer to do that translation for free.
I checked the translation! It's really helpful. XD I'm going to have fun with my friends!
Hello! Do you plan on adding the print on demand for Amazon as well? I know Lulu is a better company but unfortunately it is still international shipping for a lot of countries, while Amazon is (fortunately and unfortunately) everywhere...
Hello! Probably not for the 1st edition, it’s kind of a pain working with Kindle Direct Publishing, but I will definitely try to have an Amazon version available when I’m done with 2e!
Thank you very much! And thanks for the super quick reply!
Hi! May I ask if you have a planned release date (or just a rough estimate) for the 2nd edition of the game? Thank you.
No planned date, it's still heavily WIP right now. Unfortunately with a busy personal life, I get to work on this when I have time, and that's pretty variable.
It also depends on if I decide to try and kickstart the project to pay for art and editing, etc. If I try to do some mediocre art myself, that might slow me down. So we'll see!
Thank you very much for the heads up — and fingers crossed for the project!
Thank you for developing this project. Couple of months ago I've run a short, 3-session adventure for my group and they loved it, praising Monolith for its streamlined rules that blend into the narrative. I look forward to supporting the kickstarter if you decide to go this route as well. Kind regards,
E.
Thanks for the message, I love hearing that! 🙏
Thanks for the cool game!
Can I ask what font you are using in the pdf?
Thanks! I used a combination of IBM Plex Sans and IBM Plex Mono
Thanks for the quick answer :)
How long do you guys usually make the default duration of the Befuddle Psionic Power, Adam, everyone?
One hour?
You could rule ongoing effects a few different ways. 10 minutes is a good baseline. It could also stay active until the PC needs to do something else, something significant happens, or the events dice rolls a result like “loss” or similar.
I understand. I'll follow this guideline. Thanks a lot for the help, Adam!
Thank you for the game. I'm using core of it for my mini campaign.
I think you'd be amused to know that I made a custom charsheet for Monolith and then one of my players made it out of wood (scrambled it a bit).
So here's a brand new sentence: "There's a wooden character sheet of Monolith in a game somewhere in Ukraine"
Cheers
Hell yeah! Hope you have fun.
This is probably the best rules light sci-fi rpg out there. I cannot wait to see the changes in the 2nd edition. Keep up the great work.
🤘 Thank you!
This is the first TTRPG that my son actually cared about! Just wondering will there be Mech Suits in a future update?
Love to hear that! Mechs are an idea I’ve thought about, but they could honestly be their own game/hack too. Lots of complexity there. There’s a lot of different scales for mech suits too. But it would be cool!
For weapons that roll multiple die (high energy weapons, smart weapons) was the intention that you sum the dice together or just keep the highest? (I'm thinking about the notes in dual wield rules about multiple dice...)
Hey there!
So, this is a very good question....and it's something I'm changing/removing in the next update or 2nd edition. The original intent for smart weapons was to take the higher of the two, as if it were multiple attacks (so dual wielding smart pistols, you'd actually roll d6 four times and keep the highest single dice result). And the original intent for the high energy weapons as that you'd add them together...and that particular rule really goes against one of the original design ideas of Cairn, which is that damage comes from the single highest dice only. So that second style of advanced weapon (combining the results) will get squashed in the future! Feel free to play it however you see fit, but I'd recommend maybe just scrapping high-energy weapons. (A lot of the rework I'm doing on a 2nd edition will be around removing a lot of these fiddly advanced weaponry elements.)
Enjoy!
Thanks for the design notes! Looking forward to 2E!
Awesome, was looking for a Ito/cairn hack with a sci-fi vibe to run as a duet and man this is amazing!
I'd love to hear how it runs for you, have fun!
This is great! Thanks for this amazing game
🙏Thanks!
about to run a Dark Heresy game using these rules and my own hack for character creation. Will see how it goes :)
Hello. I don't know if it's me but I find the experience table like it's part of the optional adjustments. It confused me as I undertood that I needed to pay all the XP to level up, without there being a limit on XP.
It's probably just me.
Other than that, great job: I will surly try it in the future!
I am also popping in (again) to say, game's one of my favorite versions of ItO's engine, right up there with Mythic Bastionland. If you decide to expand the project, I'd be happy to support it!
Yo thanks a ton! A second edition might be a thing some day, along with a few other game ideas I’ve had percolating. Time permitting, we’ll see when that happens!
I understand, it looks like a lot of work, also new projects are so seductive and shiny 😋
I second this ✋️
just want to pop in and say this design and system is very crisp. i havent played it yet but am planning to run it solo with mythic gme 2e and the assorted mythic supplements. i have been looking for a system that has enough crunch, but with PROCEDURES & resource management, and enough interpretive prompting that im not playing a pre-made setting (part of the joy is in creating the world as it plays along). i plan to use your book to sort of hack-the-hack into a dying world/grim-strange fantasy style thing. elric meets stalker meets the expanse. or something. anyway, just want to praise you for the design and layout etc. why dont more designers design like this?????
are you planning to share the SRD or layout files? i would definitely throw you some creds.
The game you’re planning on running sounds awesome! I have some other projects planned too! It would definitely be cool to create an SRD and share the design files. Just gotta find the time 😅
Appreciate the support
hi! Even a plain text version would be very useful for hacking purposes…
Dude, this is SO cool! Exactly the kind of game I was looking for actually, even down to the inspirations. Not to mention it being free! Awesome work, I'm loving this a lot so far!
Happy to hear it, enjoy!
Oh, also. For the Sample Bestiary- the Gang Enforcer, Space Pirate Captain, and Large Battle droid have blank Description/Tactic/Critical Damage entries. Was this intentional?
Probably an error. You can see the Cairn SRD for an example of other beastiary/sample NPCs too.
How is this thing free??? Amazing resource, so many things I could do with it playing solo.
Warms my heart to hear that! I'm always open to feedback too, if there are things about the system you have thoughts on. I might eventually do a 2nd Edition or a major revision. Solo rules would be cool too, I need to look into more ways to support that in Monolith and other projects I have in the works.
Wonderful. I will reach out if I have ideas.
This is amazing! All the wonderful inspiration in the tables... It's enough to build a whole campaign around on a whim, and have it be different everytime.
Thanks for taking the time to say that, means a lot!
The pleasure is all mine. I've been trying to make a good, comprehensive, insipiring RPG of my own for... quite some time. But this... Monolith's implied setting is rich and full of inspiration, up there with Electric Bastion.
This is really great! I love the simplicity of Cairn but am more into sci-fi, so this is perfect. I hoping to run a game soon but I’m also considering using it for a little web dev project (at least a character sheet and random table roller, could become a small VTT later). Is there a plain text version of the game? I started copying from the PDF into a markdown file but wouldn’t mind skipping some of that work, if a file like that already exists.
Thanks!
Unfortunatly I have yet to tackle that particular beast of a text/markdown file. It will be something I do…eventually. 😅
Hey Adam, greetings from Ukraine. My name is Alexander from M87* Games! We are the first TTRPG publishing in Ukraine, mainly focusing on indie and niche games, something unique and exciting. We just localized Cairn in Ukrainian, and I thought bringing in some sci-fi twist would be cool. So are you interested in doing a Ukrainian localization for Monolith? I also thought about the Cairn Adventurer's Guide. Please let me know!
Hey Alexander! Absolutely. We already did a Korean translation. Feel free to message me or get in touch on Discord and we can talk.
Wow! This game is exactly what I didn't know I was looking for! It's really excellent thank you for making it for free.
A small observation: there is no (dedicated) space on the character sheet for Background (unless I'm missing something...). It could also use a spot for cred, non-slot gear (I made a psionic with a candy bar and adrenaline injection, but no room on the sheet to write it). It could also use a spot for description and results for the rollable character tables (psionic has old cover identity and neural ramifications, but nowhere in the sheet to write them).
All these are easily solvable with a separate sheet or a diy char sheet, but thought I'd point it out.
Amazing work though! Thanks again :)
Thanks a bunch! Those are good suggestions, I need to redo the character sheet and I’ll definitely keep those ideas in mind.
Sweet. I've been looking for a decent sci-fi system and my group has just fallen in love with Into the Odd type games. I think this has a certain level of added crunch that a good sci-fi game needs. I'm super impressed 😁
Thanks for sharing this lovely game system Adam, its so straight forward mechanically with the right amount of fun/weird content. I'm excitedly working towards running a game in September when our dnd 5e game concludes. I did want to share a simple Google sheets I put together for quick ship building with you (generates stats and all). It's nothing too fancy/polished, only if you were interested or had improvements you wanted to offer, could also be useful for others running this game?
Thank you for the kind words! I’d love to see what you made. Feel free to message me here and I’m also active on the Cairn discord!
Just use the dropdowns and all should update, minus fuel QTY. I also added ranges for some of the weapons, not sure if they make sense or balance, but its a start!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VOu9qX8WyBgj-KtUe62BBRFxCSujx9pRZVb7-DzG...