This week we have two new 3D sculpts to show off, both of Breaker Characters . These have gone through several stages of revision and I think they are where they need to be.  Talla Kellerman the Progen Mechanic 3D sculpt by Tim Barry First we have Talla Kellerman, the Progen Mechanic . Talla is a highly capable technician, and is a great asset to your crew of Breakers. Remembering door codes or getting machinery up and running - if you run into a situation where you need to make an Intellect Check, she's your best bet. However, getting her to join your crew is not as easy. As a Progen, she is child of the original colonists on Hathor, and receives better quarters and wages for her work than the rest of the Tracted workers. This makes breaking a much greater risk because she has more to lose. In the game, she must be negotiated with to join your crew. However, if you get her to join, she'll also be better at negotiating with other Progens you encounter along the way. ...

New Talla Kellerman art by Sam Alcarez, Broken Contract utilizes a robust selection of Stats to handle in-game situations. One of my favorite Stats is Dealing. I think it adds something different to miniature board gaming. Dealing demonstrates how well a Character interacts with others. In 2300AD, trust has been severely broken down and not following protocol almost certainly means grave repercussions so there isn't a whole lot of negotiating in the mines. However, in extreme circumstances, it is possible to get someone to seemingly swing your way. "Stand Down!" - Typically used by the Prods, but it could be just as easily be used by Breakers, any Character can burn an Action to yell "Stand Down" at another Character within 8". A successful Dealing Check to "Stand Down" will convince the Character to hesitate, losing an Action Point. Additionally, if the Character yelling "Stand Down!" rolls a natural 6 when making the Dealing Che...

Talla Kellerman, Progen Technician by Sam Alcarez. Talla Kellerman  The Kellermans were part of the first wave of laborers to work these mines. They strictly followed contract law and re-negotiated their contracts to allow them to bear a child. Their new contract granted their wish in exchange for them working additional hours and agreeing to contract their child to work. By age 6, Talla, was running tools for the adult technicians. By age 8 she was being put to use climbing through machines into areas where adults couldn't reach in order to perform repairs. This practice could save hours of dis/re-assembly time. As an expert technician born of Progen colonists Kellerman earned access to tiny freedoms and luxuries not afforded to Drop laborers. However, Talla, has no love for the Prods. She has watched her parents and friends get literally worked to death and witnessed countless abuses from her masters. Steely and precise on the outside like the machines that shaped her, T...

Breaker concept sketch by Geng Gendall based on Nick Tape of the hardcore punk band, Coke Bust. Breakers are workers that have raised their tools as weapons and thrown off their shackles for a chance at freedom. As oppressed and subjugated workers, they needed to be easily identified as such. Several of my friends have commented that they wished the characters in Broken Contract looked more "from the future" which I feel is tough to do without making them either "high tech" with mechanical suits or skin tight compression pants covered in protective pads similar to how Infinity models look in their fitted armor. For myself, the indentured "mudders" from the Jaynestown episode of Firefly or the downtrodden forced laborers from the Seam in the Hunger Games really exemplify how I envision the potential future portrayed in the game. Carhartt gear might not seem very sci-fi but the term "overall" for protective clothes put over other clothes is th...

Updated sketch of Kellerman, the Progen Technician by Sam Alcarez. A few weeks ago I went into some detail about Gen-Mods - genetically modified workers used in the mines. Today's tangent is talk about Progens (progenitor workers) and Drops (recent arrivals). Within the labor colonies throughout the Incorporated Worlds there is a distinction made between what are referred to as Progens and Drops. Progenitor workers were part of the earliest waves of colonists or are direct descendants of those colonists. They carry a sense of entitlement because they were there first and are afforded a slightly superior standard of living by their corporate contract holders to match that entitlement. Drops on the other hand are off-worlders brought fresh to the colonies who are expected to work for less. Not surprisingly, most Breakers are Drops. This is a division deliberately manipulated by the corporations by ensuring that Progens are intermixed into crews, usually as crew leaders, to m...

Breakers      Breakers are fugitives that have chosen to ignore the contracts that they consigned themselves to in a desperate attempt to live a free life. They see themselves as escaped slaves using the corporations’ misleading promises and harsh treatment to justify their actions. The corporations paint a much different picture, one where Contracted are good, lawful citizens and the breakers are simple criminals.      Corporations have become a law unto themselves. Lawbreakers therefore are disloyal, the lowest of the low because they broke contract. There are many ways to break contract, running away is just the most obvious. Most contracts include provisions and clauses enough to shift planetary gravity if they were still on paper. To the corporations a contract is the basis of all civilization. It’s not a corporations fault if they neglect to mention that most contract laborers shipped in from nearby worlds are given the most dangerous jobs, ch...