So, I just got this game and I'm loving it. But I've got some questions.
1st) I stepped out of my airlock into the first module and noticed some rival scavengers attempting to board my bird. I "got away" but the threat gets generated. I played the timing like this: step 1-get away. transit to another module and check gas as usual. step 2-generate threat. Rival scavengers break into the previous module. step 3-continue with prompts for current module. After this play as usual, transit, gas, rival activation....
Is this timing correct?
I read somewhere that threats don't spacewalk. What happens if they are supposed to move toward you but the only way is to spacewalk?
If the scavengers make it to your airlock and set a tracker, show up on your next bird and you run afoul of more rival scavengers, is it possible to have multiple rival scavenger threats running around on your bird at the same time?
And finally, am I correct in assuming that the tracer only gets planted if they reach the airlock without confronting you directly?
We'd be happy to send along a complimentary key for the digital flight kit if y'all just send us a message at ACoupleOfDrakes at Outlook dot Com. We'll get you properly kitted out.
Hello! I'm reaching out because your work looks incredible. I was just wondering if by chance any community copies are still available?
I deeply appreciate that you offer them; it’s a huge help for people in a tight spot and makes the TTRPG community so much stronger. Thank you for your generosity, regardless of the answer!
Oh Belter, not only do we have community copies available, we got one with your name on it. Look, right here just under the Property of Terran Concordat: Not for Resale official seal that some unkindly soul gone and defaced. Says, property of moraess. Y'all better go ahead and hang onto this one for safe keeping.
And all the Belters what see this particular message after the fact know that the next 20 are thanks to this here Belter poppin' in to ask if Chariot's got any more gas in the tank to keep folks buddy breathin' while times is dark as SAG-A's eye.
Question on the definition of what is considered diagonal. If there is 1 card above 2 cards in order to move to the top card from one of the bottom 2 cards, is that considered diagonal or adjacent?
Howdy Belter. If the cards are only touching at the corners, that's a diagonal. If the cards are touching along one of the sides, that's a valid move. For instance, on the Camel light cargo freighter, the aft nacelles can be accessed by the three interior modules on the ship diagram. But if you look at the Scorpion on the next page of your Belter manual, you can't hit the aft nacelles from the center empennage (that middle module that's right between all three cut lines) because that'd be diagonal movement. I mean that's an ugly example because you COULD spacewalk... but I think you take my meaning. Without taking a swim, you can't make a diagonal transit... but spacewalking's got its own rules.
Hope that clears it up for yall. If not, give me another holler.
This might clear up what I'm asking. I emailed this to you, but I guess I'll ask it here.
Also another question about towing a shuttle. Do you need to perform 2 spacewalks (1 from AirLock to shuttle and 1 back) or just one when you leave? Does it matter how far the shuttle is to your airlock?
That does indeed clear it up a mite for me, Belter. Let's see if I can return the favor.
I've highlighted the overlapping short sides of the cards in the bottom diagram. That's an adjacent move. The B diagram shows a move between two cards where the corners are the only bits touching; no overlap on the short or long sides. That'd be a diagonal move.
As for the spacewalk, I'm going to direct you to the flight manual and see if I can't clear up the murky language. "You can spacewalk between any two modules nearest one another, provided you can draw a straight or diagonal line between them and they're separated by empty space."
"Nearest one another" and the "separated by empty space" are your tricky bits on the red and blue arrow. You can spacewalk along a diagonal or a straight line as far as you want in a single go, so long as you're not intersecting another card. The idea is that it's a single leap through empty space across the vasty nothing. No turns, no crawling along the hull, no lucky spins.
Howdy! I just completed my second successful Bird wranglin' and I just wanted to say, I am lovin' this dang-ol' game. First bird barely made me enough cred to pay the bills, and I damn near died, but the second? Yee-haw, made enough cashola to buy me a shiny new Classic Spares Bank upgrade and get some more pockets and whatnot to haul more of that sweet, sweet salvage.
I'll tell you what, if you ever find the Plasma Induction Housing near the cockpit, be careful! It's worth a pretty penny, but it'll blow the beak off-a that bird faster than you can say "Camel's Hump". Luckily, I ain't a stranger to spacewalkin', so I had a merry ol' time driftin' around between modules.
Pirates even showed up, but I ain't had no cred in the bank, so they took off without much trouble.
Let me tell you now, Belter, that all sounds like music to my ears. Absolutely grinnin' ear to ear to hear that you're finding your footing out on the Gasping Frontier. Tell y'all what, when you're wealthy and they're stenciling your name up on the wall of the Last Call, you spare a passing thought for old Chariot who knew you when.
Be safe out there, Cowboy. Don't let that wild soul of yours shout down your good sense when the going gets hairy, y'hear?
hi! i have a question. Having a lot of fun with this game but confused on this point. I found the payday but failed the roll-- got a 2-- it says I can still salvage it if I spend one grit... if I spend one grit does that mean I get the payday and dont have to pick anything from the list? and can just walk away or do I get the payday all the negative things activate? thank you!
Howdy, Belter. When you roll a failure on the Payday move, the payday is junked and unsalvageable...unless you spend a Grit. Like any other roll, you can spend a Grit to take the 4/5 result. Means you can choose 2 of the bullet-pointed bits of good news to be true. From there, handle it as normal.
If you don't spend a Grit when you fail a payday roll, you don't have to pick any negatives--because you're looking at a big useless chunk of slag where you were hoping a payday was.
Hope that's clear as mud for y'all. Let me know if y'all got follow-up questions.
I bought a copy of the game from Amazon, and watched your play thru video on youtube. With my softcover version of the zine I didn't get the two seperate Oracle books. Do we not get the oracle books because the oracles are in the zine, or was I supposed to get the copies of the two oracles printed with my purchase ?
All of the oracles that were in separate zines for the Kickstarter release are printed in the Amazon softcover. Logistical restraint of the format, I'm afraid. A little less convenient for sharin' with your pard, but a darn sight easier for keepin' your whole kit together without wondering where Oracle B went every five minutes.
My oh my, Chariot, once again it all came down to a failed spacewalk! I was really getting somewhere this time too! 2 Egress Kit Q's
1, Assuming I have not yet flipped a third black card while spacewalking, it looks like the egress kit can poof me back into my airlock (at the cost of dropping all of my LOAD). I assume this can be from anywhere spacewalking (drawing line rules N/A). Is this correct, or am I way off base?
2. Is the "make a hole and get away clean," clause allowing you to move from the current module (away from a threat) and into an adjacent one? What is the in-depth version of that section.
Let me knock all this out with a singular answer, because it all comes down to one thing with the Egress Kit. Spend your Egress Kit at any time to appear safely in your Airlock without any Load. Gotta empty your hands, but otherwise, no matter how bad it may be getting, you arrive in your airlock, safe as can be.
Fibreoptix recently asked this one, but I reworded it:
1. If your resource slots are full and you find another, let's say GRIT, and I add it to my load, could I use it first before ones in my GRIT track when needed (or use the GRIT in the track and immediately reload it with the extra, basically the same thing)? Or do i have to go to the Airlock to unpack it from my Load slot to use it later?
2. If I have a spare resource in my load, and I take off from the bird (and my spares banks are full), can I simply keep holding onto it between rounds and onto the next bird? Obviously I understand I'd be short 1 on load for the time being. In this example it's a GAS and it's after the one time I passed all checks and didn't need it, but I know it'll be needed down the road
1. Judgement call here, I'm afraid. There's a part of me that says that the only place you're going to be safe reloading your personal track is your airlock. But if it's in your Carryall, it's at your disposal. Also it's taking up valuable loot-space, so I'm willing to say that it's a sufficient mechanical disincentive that it doesn't constitute a "weasel out." Now just narratively, I'd say that that GRIT ain't available to pay during the navigation of a module's prompt...just because havin' a root around in your duffel ain't commensurate with the quick thinking sort of concerted action GRIT typically calls for.
2. I'd say, once again, that I can't stop you hanging on to what you've justly pried from the last bird. If you take it with you and find yourself wanting to hang on to it, you can carry it until you got a spot to slot it.
Barrier questions for you Chariot, and I do hope you can oblige.
1. Had a couple times where I was able to pass through a barrier with mixed success (now impassable), but then ran into another right after it and rolled the failure and now cannot go back to the previous module due to it being impassable. Assuming I opted not to use a GRIT or had none left, now what? Just stuck between them and die squished?
2. Just had the Oracle B king of clubs which prompted an impromptu spacewalk. Passed it with a 6 thank Chariot, BUT landed on ANOTHER BARRIER! If I fail the roll, and have to go back to the non-existent module, will I just need to spacewalk again, or just dead in space? If so, can I SW to any valid module from there?
Chariot's onstation, no worries. Let's break some barriers.
1. If you can't get back the way you came and the place you're in says you can't go forward, that's a fail state. You're trapped Belter. Ain't no way forward or backward. Now I've heard some folk like to play it where you go back before the one-way door and keep on keepin' on with those cards showing blocked. I call that "Belter Psychic" mode. Your choice how you want to roll with it.
2. If you fail the roll, you're trying to make entry into a module that you can't Transit from. Bulkheads won't open, so you gotta go for another swim. You can always spacewalk from any module adjacent to empty space to any module adjacent to empty space, but it's never a safe option. Say a little prayer and keep your nerves steely.
Howdy Chariot and all. Love the game, but got a few Q's to make sure I'm keepin' honest as I navigate these birds:
1. "Navigating" is specific to moving from module to module only (gas check), and NOT anything to do with actions within the module as a result of the card, correct? Got the 3 of Spades from Oracle A and states, "1-3: If you do not have any GLOW remaining, roll 2d6 and take the lower when navigating modules."
2. In the airlock (P. 27), one of the bullet points states, "One of the nothin'-parts in your airlock burns out. It'll take a Cred to fix it (Raise your upkeep by +1)." IF I have a spare cred on me that I did not spend, is that the option instead of raising upkeep, or is it simply raising the upkeep regardless? Or shoot, is it both and you can only choose if you have a cred to spend? I figure it would have said OR if that were the case, but don't know so here I am askin'. Sorry, overthinking.
3. Does spending your last GRIT on your person still trigger a threat if there is more GRIT in your spares bank? (I assume so, but who knows).
Yeah I got a solid copy on those Q's and I've got the A's. Let's see if we can't shine a little light on the pinch points, how's about?
1. "Navigating" is the part where you deal with the oracle's mechanical bit. "Transiting" is where you go from module to module and make a Gas check. Fictional grounding for that 4 of Spades prompt, Lights Out (which is the one I'm thinking you're meaning here), is that the standard illumination banks on your bird have gone out and if you don't have some juice in your Omniflash, you're going to find it just a little harder to do your job in the dark. Think of it like being at a Disadvantage to start. You can, of course, spend Gear to cancel that out and roll standard, or Grit to take the mixed success option automatically as normal. But it is indeed one of the more punishing twists of Bad News.
2. That nothin' part is going to take some cred and time to replace is the basic idea. Your upkeep goes up by one this time around, but it doesn't stay there like getting a whole mess of upgrades. Basically, you're spending that extra cred--whether it's coming out of your day's take or your savings doesn't make much nevermind to the knuckledraggers back homestation who gotta replace your pneumatic pressure bearing or recalibrate your thermal regulator gasket housing. It's going to cost you a credit, period, dot, end transmission. The mention of Upkeep was just there to make sure you remember how many times you had to take that option on a single outing. Mark the upkeep and clean it up when you get back to station. No one's there to take your money on the Bird...unless you got Pirates.
3. If you spend your last Grit, if your personal track empties, if you find yourself on a Bird and marking off your last pip, you generate a Threat. If you got Grit back on your Bird that's great. You'll probably need it to deal with that Threat what's just generated.
Hope that's clarifying the kludge there, Belter. Sounds like you've had a hard run of luck of late, and I'm hoping that you fight your way clear of it. I'll spot you your next bulb of Valor Black down at the Last Call when you come on home again.
Whoa, okay, the added upkeep is a one off? So if my upkeep increases due to the airlock (and let's say goes from 2 to 3) I resolve that once upon return and it goes back to 2? (Or is your mention of upgrades the only way to decrease it?)
Yepper. One maintenance cycle of increased cost is all that is intended for the Airlock malus. But if you buy upgrades like the Broadpass Scanner or the Egress Kit, you'll see that they come with an upkeep cost. Those raise your base upkeep and unless you deactivate them before you go on a run, you'll have to pay those costs every maintenence cycle. Because the shiniest toys will always cost a little extra to maintain, y'understand.
Short answer, yes. We don't discriminate no matter where you buy your soft copy. And if you buy a hard copy, we'll spot you a soft copy with all the requisite goodies at no additional cost. Because that's only fair, and while the cosmos don't run on fair, it's up to us to be the change y'all wanna see, right?
Does a Space Walk apply to any gap (non-adjacent cards)? or does it apply if the ship breaks apart? OR Both. Also can you spacewalk from one corner of the ship to another?
"You can Spacewalk between any two Modules nearest one another, provided you can draw a straight, or diagonal, line between them and they’re separated by empty space. This gap may be part of the ship’s original design or caused by the ship breaking apart."
You can spacewalk from one corner to another as long as you can draw a straight line with empty space between them. Doesn't have to be broken apart. (And Threats don't spacewalk (see below in one of the comments from the creator), so there might be a reason to take that risk once in a while.)
Are we correct to assume that you cant "Vent" into a broken part of the ship?
Venting into an already impassable barrier, does this work as normal? just remain where you vented from? Or re roll?
Debt Move - The only mention of selling upgrades in the rules is in the Vent Rats debt ability where you have to sell all your upgrades for half. Does this imply that you could sell your upgrades optionally if you want to, and would this be at half price too?
Barrier Stuff
Barrier 1-3 result after just moving from an impassable node? Do you just die if you do not have Grit to spend?
Upkeep
Can you have negative upkeep and does it do anything? Im assuming you aren't meant to be able to earn cred from going heavy on investments?
Sudden Impact (6 Spades, Oracle B)
Does the additional ship on the 1-3 result have a payday?
Intact Shuttle (Queen of Diamonds, Oracle A)
Can you keep the shuttle rather than sell it?
Side note - We ended up ruling that you could and left 5 load of salvage in the shuttle that we wouldn't have been able to fit in our hold so we could take it back if we successfully recovered the shuttle (it was close but we managed it)
Ship Upgrades
When you buy a new ship do you transfer the upgrades from your old one?
Possible character sheet mistake, there's 3 boxes for Wreck Registry.
Payday
The opposite of transporting the payday in one trip means? We have been running it as it just weighs the cred value like normal salvage because having to take it in two trips opens up a lot of questions for us. Is it correct or must you take it in two trips even if you could handle the whole load?
Lucky Break, Scoundrel (Co-op)
Does Lucky Break only apply if the Scoundrel themselves triggers the break?
Pushing (Co-op)
Do players effectively have their own push pile? Or do you both share the push move? eg: if my partner pushes and draws black, then I later push and draw black, does this trigger the Push Your Luck roll?
Airlock (Co-op)
Can you skip turns in the airlock, not checking gas, while you wait for your buddy to return? This is assuming you dont want to hold the door, and maybe not even do an Airlock Manoeuvre, just either stand there or top up from the spares bank.
BE ADVISED THAT A GENEROUS BELTER HAS HEAPED 10 COMMUNITY COPIES ON THE BOARD.
Break, Break.
You're helpin' your buddies breathe, hoss. That's the exclusive content. You got every bit of what we got for this game, and kicking in a little extra means you're making available some extra copies for those who ain't got the cred to take a chance on Dead Belt otherwise.
Me and my partner received Deadbelt as a Christmas gift and it's recently taken over our lives. We might never have discovered it otherwise.
We play co-op and are wondering if you ever considered alterations for higher players counts for both co-op and Vs? My immediate thought is the credit/debt economy getting harsh quick and Threats getting to move too much before you have a chance to react.
Glad to hear that the gift of folksome space misery went over well at y'all's homestead. Y'know, it's not just any family where that kind of Christmas gift don't initiate a fist-fight. Happy to have you both out on the Belt with us.
Now, we dickered long and hard over whether the bones of Dead Belt could withstand a couple of extra heads around the table, but came to the conclusion that, yes cred/debt and Threats started to act a little hinky when three or more were involved. But the thing that did us in but good was how small even the largest Birds started to feel with three or four Belters splitting up to strip bolts and salvage fittings. The time-pressure started to feel arbitrary rather than tense. For that reason, we kept it to two and have spent some time throwing brain-bytes at building a game in the same universe more suited to a traditional table.
So that's in the offing later on down the line. But Dead Belt for 3+ Belters at a time? Well, I ain't your dad, so I ain't gonna say you can't. Just that we didn't write it in proper like because it didn't look/work/feel right.
Thanks for dropping a wave, Belter. Y'all be good.
Thanks for the response, would you value me firing off some questions that have come up during play? I have a few notes from our games over the last week
I just ordered the physical edition of your game on amazon and saw you're offering to match those purchases with digital editions. Much appreciated! I don't really see another way of reaching you about this, but let me know what I can do to verify my buy.
It looks great by the way, I'm looking forward to playing.
Send a wave to acoupleofdrakes at outlook dot com and we'll send along a key to match your purchase. Hard copy flight documentation without a digital backup ain't our way out here, hoss. Let's get you suited and booted with a proper electronic flight bag before you go and get wealthy picking the bones of birds, how's about?
One quick question about Black Contracts: when you spend your last point of Grit while on one, do you generate a threat from the normal table or do you only generate the contract’s unique threat?
Good question, Belter. You're going to be dealing with the Black Contract specific threat if you cash in your last point of Grit. Can you imagine dealing with the Haint on the Lucky Star, jumping at shadows and feeling it curling around your brainstem with every step and then having to run from an Alien as well?
Now that I'm reading through that, it does in fact sound like a thing the 'verse would throw at a Belter on the job, don't it? As intended, it's just one big problem at a time. Do the job that's in front of you. Then when you're good and wealthy, got all of the Black Contract goodies unlocked, then you worry about layering on extra problems.
Thank you so much! One other rules question: I noticed that while most of the Belter classes have 8 points split between Grit Gear and Load, the Slicer has 9 (2/4/3). Is this intentional or a typo?
Intentional, Belter. Slicers tend to feel that 2 Grit early and often, and one of their playbook powers is highly situational. Playtesting made them feel a little anemic with 8 stat points, so we gave them a little boost to smooth the early runs. Good question, though!
Hi, just wondering if you had more contracts planned? And maybe a revision of the oracles to add little twists to the different barriers (maybe that would be a hard mode oracle lol)
Yeah I reckon in quiet moments that I'll probably be moved to pass along another couple of Black Contracts. Probably a small anthology, to be honest. It's one of those things that I like to tinker with when the shifts drag on.
As to reworking barriers, that's a harder sell for me. Development, testing, and balancing for 26 additional mechanical impacts is outside the scope of what we intended for barriers to add to the play experience. But that don't mean you don't have my blessing to fuss and noodle on it to your hearts content. Additional oracles and Contracts are always welcome. Post em and get paid, Belter.
I stumbled on a video for this and it looks awesome but I have two questions:
- Is it still possible to get the pdf etc by purchasing the Amazon copy? - The video showed two additional books Oracle A and Oracle B, do those come with the Amazon purchase?
We absolutely honor purchases through all of the various ways and means to get your hands on a copy of Dead Belt with a complementary PDF and all the trimmings. Y'all just shoot a wave to our acoupleofdrakes inbox and we'll suit you out. And both of those oracle booklets are included, one after another, in the consumer-grade (non-zine) edition of Dead Belt.
Y'all let us know if there's anything else. We'll be on-station.
Hello there, I have another question about rolling and solving the payday. Let‘s say i rolled a 4, so i can choose 2 of the bullet points. If i choose the last two (1. transport in one trip; 2. it‘s worth more…), so my question is: does all other points became true in their opposite version ? Which means 1. have to spend a grit to remove; 2. check gas to remove; 3. roll the shipbreaker move; 4. generate a threat.
You got it in one, Belter. You're spending picks to make the thing true. If a thing isn't true, the opposite is. Try not to bite off more than you can chew, now. Or else start cultivating a strong jaw.
I am having a bad day of archery, in Sherwood Forest. I have already lost two arrows, and that is my pensioner disposable income blown. I am sure that Dead Belt would help me feel much better. PLEASE help me breathe!
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So, I just got this game and I'm loving it. But I've got some questions.
1st) I stepped out of my airlock into the first module and noticed some rival scavengers attempting to board my bird. I "got away" but the threat gets generated. I played the timing like this: step 1-get away. transit to another module and check gas as usual. step 2-generate threat. Rival scavengers break into the previous module. step 3-continue with prompts for current module. After this play as usual, transit, gas, rival activation....
Is this timing correct?
I read somewhere that threats don't spacewalk. What happens if they are supposed to move toward you but the only way is to spacewalk?
If the scavengers make it to your airlock and set a tracker, show up on your next bird and you run afoul of more rival scavengers, is it possible to have multiple rival scavenger threats running around on your bird at the same time?
And finally, am I correct in assuming that the tracer only gets planted if they reach the airlock without confronting you directly?
I appreciate your help.
StumblingElk
If I bought the book on Amazon, is it cool to request the PDF version as well? I can send my Amazon purchase receipt if needed.
Howdy Belter
We'd be happy to send along a complimentary key for the digital flight kit if y'all just send us a message at ACoupleOfDrakes at Outlook dot Com. We'll get you properly kitted out.
Hello! I'm reaching out because your work looks incredible. I was just wondering if by chance any community copies are still available?
I deeply appreciate that you offer them; it’s a huge help for people in a tight spot and makes the TTRPG community so much stronger. Thank you for your generosity, regardless of the answer!
Oh Belter, not only do we have community copies available, we got one with your name on it. Look, right here just under the Property of Terran Concordat: Not for Resale official seal that some unkindly soul gone and defaced. Says, property of moraess. Y'all better go ahead and hang onto this one for safe keeping.
And all the Belters what see this particular message after the fact know that the next 20 are thanks to this here Belter poppin' in to ask if Chariot's got any more gas in the tank to keep folks buddy breathin' while times is dark as SAG-A's eye.
Space is cold. Our hearts ain't. Ever.
Question on the definition of what is considered diagonal. If there is 1 card above 2 cards in order to move to the top card from one of the bottom 2 cards, is that considered diagonal or adjacent?
Howdy Belter. If the cards are only touching at the corners, that's a diagonal. If the cards are touching along one of the sides, that's a valid move. For instance, on the Camel light cargo freighter, the aft nacelles can be accessed by the three interior modules on the ship diagram. But if you look at the Scorpion on the next page of your Belter manual, you can't hit the aft nacelles from the center empennage (that middle module that's right between all three cut lines) because that'd be diagonal movement. I mean that's an ugly example because you COULD spacewalk... but I think you take my meaning. Without taking a swim, you can't make a diagonal transit... but spacewalking's got its own rules.
Hope that clears it up for yall. If not, give me another holler.
Chariot, out.
This might clear up what I'm asking. I emailed this to you, but I guess I'll ask it here.
Also another question about towing a shuttle. Do you need to perform 2 spacewalks (1 from AirLock to shuttle and 1 back) or just one when you leave? Does it matter how far the shuttle is to your airlock?
That does indeed clear it up a mite for me, Belter. Let's see if I can return the favor.
I've highlighted the overlapping short sides of the cards in the bottom diagram. That's an adjacent move. The B diagram shows a move between two cards where the corners are the only bits touching; no overlap on the short or long sides. That'd be a diagonal move.
As for the spacewalk, I'm going to direct you to the flight manual and see if I can't clear up the murky language. "You can spacewalk between any two modules nearest one another, provided you can draw a straight or diagonal line between them and they're separated by empty space."
"Nearest one another" and the "separated by empty space" are your tricky bits on the red and blue arrow. You can spacewalk along a diagonal or a straight line as far as you want in a single go, so long as you're not intersecting another card. The idea is that it's a single leap through empty space across the vasty nothing. No turns, no crawling along the hull, no lucky spins.
Thank you so much!
Howdy! I just completed my second successful Bird wranglin' and I just wanted to say, I am lovin' this dang-ol' game. First bird barely made me enough cred to pay the bills, and I damn near died, but the second? Yee-haw, made enough cashola to buy me a shiny new Classic Spares Bank upgrade and get some more pockets and whatnot to haul more of that sweet, sweet salvage.
I'll tell you what, if you ever find the Plasma Induction Housing near the cockpit, be careful! It's worth a pretty penny, but it'll blow the beak off-a that bird faster than you can say "Camel's Hump". Luckily, I ain't a stranger to spacewalkin', so I had a merry ol' time driftin' around between modules.
Pirates even showed up, but I ain't had no cred in the bank, so they took off without much trouble.
All in a day's work for a bird wranglin' cowboy!
Let me tell you now, Belter, that all sounds like music to my ears. Absolutely grinnin' ear to ear to hear that you're finding your footing out on the Gasping Frontier. Tell y'all what, when you're wealthy and they're stenciling your name up on the wall of the Last Call, you spare a passing thought for old Chariot who knew you when.
Be safe out there, Cowboy. Don't let that wild soul of yours shout down your good sense when the going gets hairy, y'hear?
Chariot, out.
hi! i have a question. Having a lot of fun with this game but confused on this point. I found the payday but failed the roll-- got a 2-- it says I can still salvage it if I spend one grit... if I spend one grit does that mean I get the payday and dont have to pick anything from the list? and can just walk away or do I get the payday all the negative things activate? thank you!
Howdy, Belter. When you roll a failure on the Payday move, the payday is junked and unsalvageable...unless you spend a Grit. Like any other roll, you can spend a Grit to take the 4/5 result. Means you can choose 2 of the bullet-pointed bits of good news to be true. From there, handle it as normal.
If you don't spend a Grit when you fail a payday roll, you don't have to pick any negatives--because you're looking at a big useless chunk of slag where you were hoping a payday was.
Hope that's clear as mud for y'all. Let me know if y'all got follow-up questions.
Chariot, out.
Ah ok, that makes sense. Thank you
I bought a copy of the game from Amazon, and watched your play thru video on youtube. With my softcover version of the zine I didn't get the two seperate Oracle books. Do we not get the oracle books because the oracles are in the zine, or was I supposed to get the copies of the two oracles printed with my purchase ?
Howdy Belter,
All of the oracles that were in separate zines for the Kickstarter release are printed in the Amazon softcover. Logistical restraint of the format, I'm afraid. A little less convenient for sharin' with your pard, but a darn sight easier for keepin' your whole kit together without wondering where Oracle B went every five minutes.
My oh my, Chariot, once again it all came down to a failed spacewalk! I was really getting somewhere this time too! 2 Egress Kit Q's
1, Assuming I have not yet flipped a third black card while spacewalking, it looks like the egress kit can poof me back into my airlock (at the cost of dropping all of my LOAD). I assume this can be from anywhere spacewalking (drawing line rules N/A). Is this correct, or am I way off base?
2. Is the "make a hole and get away clean," clause allowing you to move from the current module (away from a threat) and into an adjacent one? What is the in-depth version of that section.
Thank you kindly, Chariot!
~Bamb
Howdy Bambi,
Let me knock all this out with a singular answer, because it all comes down to one thing with the Egress Kit. Spend your Egress Kit at any time to appear safely in your Airlock without any Load. Gotta empty your hands, but otherwise, no matter how bad it may be getting, you arrive in your airlock, safe as can be.
Hope that helps.
Chariot, out.
aaaaand check gas when arriving in the airlock ;)
Thanks Chariot!
Fibreoptix recently asked this one, but I reworded it:
1. If your resource slots are full and you find another, let's say GRIT, and I add it to my load, could I use it first before ones in my GRIT track when needed (or use the GRIT in the track and immediately reload it with the extra, basically the same thing)? Or do i have to go to the Airlock to unpack it from my Load slot to use it later?
2. If I have a spare resource in my load, and I take off from the bird (and my spares banks are full), can I simply keep holding onto it between rounds and onto the next bird? Obviously I understand I'd be short 1 on load for the time being. In this example it's a GAS and it's after the one time I passed all checks and didn't need it, but I know it'll be needed down the road
Thanks as always Chariot!
~Bamb
1. Judgement call here, I'm afraid. There's a part of me that says that the only place you're going to be safe reloading your personal track is your airlock. But if it's in your Carryall, it's at your disposal. Also it's taking up valuable loot-space, so I'm willing to say that it's a sufficient mechanical disincentive that it doesn't constitute a "weasel out." Now just narratively, I'd say that that GRIT ain't available to pay during the navigation of a module's prompt...just because havin' a root around in your duffel ain't commensurate with the quick thinking sort of concerted action GRIT typically calls for.
2. I'd say, once again, that I can't stop you hanging on to what you've justly pried from the last bird. If you take it with you and find yourself wanting to hang on to it, you can carry it until you got a spot to slot it.
Always a pleasure, Bamb. Chariot, out.
Barrier questions for you Chariot, and I do hope you can oblige.
1. Had a couple times where I was able to pass through a barrier with mixed success (now impassable), but then ran into another right after it and rolled the failure and now cannot go back to the previous module due to it being impassable. Assuming I opted not to use a GRIT or had none left, now what? Just stuck between them and die squished?
2. Just had the Oracle B king of clubs which prompted an impromptu spacewalk. Passed it with a 6 thank Chariot, BUT landed on ANOTHER BARRIER! If I fail the roll, and have to go back to the non-existent module, will I just need to spacewalk again, or just dead in space? If so, can I SW to any valid module from there?
Thank you as always!
Chariot's onstation, no worries. Let's break some barriers.
1. If you can't get back the way you came and the place you're in says you can't go forward, that's a fail state. You're trapped Belter. Ain't no way forward or backward. Now I've heard some folk like to play it where you go back before the one-way door and keep on keepin' on with those cards showing blocked. I call that "Belter Psychic" mode. Your choice how you want to roll with it.
2. If you fail the roll, you're trying to make entry into a module that you can't Transit from. Bulkheads won't open, so you gotta go for another swim. You can always spacewalk from any module adjacent to empty space to any module adjacent to empty space, but it's never a safe option. Say a little prayer and keep your nerves steely.
Howdy Chariot and all. Love the game, but got a few Q's to make sure I'm keepin' honest as I navigate these birds:
1. "Navigating" is specific to moving from module to module only (gas check), and NOT anything to do with actions within the module as a result of the card, correct? Got the 3 of Spades from Oracle A and states, "1-3: If you do not have any GLOW remaining, roll 2d6 and take the lower when navigating modules."
2. In the airlock (P. 27), one of the bullet points states, "One of the nothin'-parts in your airlock burns out. It'll take a Cred to fix it (Raise your upkeep by +1)." IF I have a spare cred on me that I did not spend, is that the option instead of raising upkeep, or is it simply raising the upkeep regardless? Or shoot, is it both and you can only choose if you have a cred to spend? I figure it would have said OR if that were the case, but don't know so here I am askin'. Sorry, overthinking.
3. Does spending your last GRIT on your person still trigger a threat if there is more GRIT in your spares bank? (I assume so, but who knows).
Thank you!
Howdy Belter,
Yeah I got a solid copy on those Q's and I've got the A's. Let's see if we can't shine a little light on the pinch points, how's about?
1. "Navigating" is the part where you deal with the oracle's mechanical bit. "Transiting" is where you go from module to module and make a Gas check. Fictional grounding for that 4 of Spades prompt, Lights Out (which is the one I'm thinking you're meaning here), is that the standard illumination banks on your bird have gone out and if you don't have some juice in your Omniflash, you're going to find it just a little harder to do your job in the dark. Think of it like being at a Disadvantage to start. You can, of course, spend Gear to cancel that out and roll standard, or Grit to take the mixed success option automatically as normal. But it is indeed one of the more punishing twists of Bad News.
2. That nothin' part is going to take some cred and time to replace is the basic idea. Your upkeep goes up by one this time around, but it doesn't stay there like getting a whole mess of upgrades. Basically, you're spending that extra cred--whether it's coming out of your day's take or your savings doesn't make much nevermind to the knuckledraggers back homestation who gotta replace your pneumatic pressure bearing or recalibrate your thermal regulator gasket housing. It's going to cost you a credit, period, dot, end transmission. The mention of Upkeep was just there to make sure you remember how many times you had to take that option on a single outing. Mark the upkeep and clean it up when you get back to station. No one's there to take your money on the Bird...unless you got Pirates.
3. If you spend your last Grit, if your personal track empties, if you find yourself on a Bird and marking off your last pip, you generate a Threat. If you got Grit back on your Bird that's great. You'll probably need it to deal with that Threat what's just generated.
Hope that's clarifying the kludge there, Belter. Sounds like you've had a hard run of luck of late, and I'm hoping that you fight your way clear of it. I'll spot you your next bulb of Valor Black down at the Last Call when you come on home again.
Chariot, out.
Thank you for the lightning fast response!
Whoa, okay, the added upkeep is a one off? So if my upkeep increases due to the airlock (and let's say goes from 2 to 3) I resolve that once upon return and it goes back to 2? (Or is your mention of upgrades the only way to decrease it?)
Yall know how we operate, Belter. Faster'n Light.
Yepper. One maintenance cycle of increased cost is all that is intended for the Airlock malus. But if you buy upgrades like the Broadpass Scanner or the Egress Kit, you'll see that they come with an upkeep cost. Those raise your base upkeep and unless you deactivate them before you go on a run, you'll have to pay those costs every maintenence cycle. Because the shiniest toys will always cost a little extra to maintain, y'understand.
Understood . Some upgrades increase upkeep. INVESTMENTS will decrease it. Solid copy. Thanks!
If I get the game from DTRPG instead of itch.io, do I also get the VTT bundle and Bonus achievements?
Seem to be missing or not updated on DTRPG. (I mainly want DTRPg because all my purchases are from there so want to keep everything in one place).
Hey there, Belter!
Short answer, yes. We don't discriminate no matter where you buy your soft copy. And if you buy a hard copy, we'll spot you a soft copy with all the requisite goodies at no additional cost. Because that's only fair, and while the cosmos don't run on fair, it's up to us to be the change y'all wanna see, right?
See y'all on the Gasping Frontier soon.
Chariot, out.
Thanks!
Hey! Are y'all open to people publishing hacks of and/or expansions to Dead Belt?
As a matter of fact, always. Y'all can find the SRD yonder: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zYUQviXgq0lAMoE0Wa8e5pX6UyLlWLgH/view?pli=1
Does a Space Walk apply to any gap (non-adjacent cards)? or does it apply if the ship breaks apart? OR Both. Also can you spacewalk from one corner of the ship to another?
"You can Spacewalk between any two Modules nearest one another, provided you can draw a straight, or diagonal, line between them and they’re separated by empty space. This gap may be part of the ship’s original design or caused by the ship breaking apart."
You can spacewalk from one corner to another as long as you can draw a straight line with empty space between them. Doesn't have to be broken apart. (And Threats don't spacewalk (see below in one of the comments from the creator), so there might be a reason to take that risk once in a while.)
Thanks
Howdy,
Looking for some clarification on how the Cowboy’s Spacewalk ability works — do they:
or
or both, I guess (but that seems overly powerful).
Thanks, that wasn’t my question though but might help others.
Hi Chariot, some questions to throw at you
Vent Rat
Barrier Stuff
Upkeep
Sudden Impact (6 Spades, Oracle B)
Intact Shuttle (Queen of Diamonds, Oracle A)
Ship Upgrades
Payday
Lucky Break, Scoundrel (Co-op)
Pushing (Co-op)
Airlock (Co-op)
Just threw an extra 10 on top of the pdf price. You've earned it. What's this buddy breathe exclusive content?
ALL STATIONS, CHARIOT.
BE ADVISED THAT A GENEROUS BELTER HAS HEAPED 10 COMMUNITY COPIES ON THE BOARD.
Break, Break.
You're helpin' your buddies breathe, hoss. That's the exclusive content. You got every bit of what we got for this game, and kicking in a little extra means you're making available some extra copies for those who ain't got the cred to take a chance on Dead Belt otherwise.
Thank you.
Happy to do my part
Hi Chariot,
Me and my partner received Deadbelt as a Christmas gift and it's recently taken over our lives. We might never have discovered it otherwise.
We play co-op and are wondering if you ever considered alterations for higher players counts for both co-op and Vs? My immediate thought is the credit/debt economy getting harsh quick and Threats getting to move too much before you have a chance to react.
Howdy Belters,
Glad to hear that the gift of folksome space misery went over well at y'all's homestead. Y'know, it's not just any family where that kind of Christmas gift don't initiate a fist-fight. Happy to have you both out on the Belt with us.
Now, we dickered long and hard over whether the bones of Dead Belt could withstand a couple of extra heads around the table, but came to the conclusion that, yes cred/debt and Threats started to act a little hinky when three or more were involved. But the thing that did us in but good was how small even the largest Birds started to feel with three or four Belters splitting up to strip bolts and salvage fittings. The time-pressure started to feel arbitrary rather than tense. For that reason, we kept it to two and have spent some time throwing brain-bytes at building a game in the same universe more suited to a traditional table.
So that's in the offing later on down the line. But Dead Belt for 3+ Belters at a time? Well, I ain't your dad, so I ain't gonna say you can't. Just that we didn't write it in proper like because it didn't look/work/feel right.
Thanks for dropping a wave, Belter. Y'all be good.
Chariot, out.
Thanks for the response, would you value me firing off some questions that have come up during play? I have a few notes from our games over the last week
Absolutely, Belter. That's about 70% of what I do here.
Fire away.
Hey gang,
I just ordered the physical edition of your game on amazon and saw you're offering to match those purchases with digital editions. Much appreciated! I don't really see another way of reaching you about this, but let me know what I can do to verify my buy.
It looks great by the way, I'm looking forward to playing.
Howdy Belter,
Send a wave to acoupleofdrakes at outlook dot com and we'll send along a key to match your purchase. Hard copy flight documentation without a digital backup ain't our way out here, hoss. Let's get you suited and booted with a proper electronic flight bag before you go and get wealthy picking the bones of birds, how's about?
We'll keep an eye out for you.
Chariot, out.
I received the physical copy as a gift. I have the gift receipt, can I get the PDF version as well?
Hey Chariot,
One quick question about Black Contracts: when you spend your last point of Grit while on one, do you generate a threat from the normal table or do you only generate the contract’s unique threat?
Good question, Belter. You're going to be dealing with the Black Contract specific threat if you cash in your last point of Grit. Can you imagine dealing with the Haint on the Lucky Star, jumping at shadows and feeling it curling around your brainstem with every step and then having to run from an Alien as well?
Now that I'm reading through that, it does in fact sound like a thing the 'verse would throw at a Belter on the job, don't it? As intended, it's just one big problem at a time. Do the job that's in front of you. Then when you're good and wealthy, got all of the Black Contract goodies unlocked, then you worry about layering on extra problems.
Best of luck out there, Belter.
Chariot, out.
Thank you so much! One other rules question: I noticed that while most of the Belter classes have 8 points split between Grit Gear and Load, the Slicer has 9 (2/4/3). Is this intentional or a typo?
Intentional, Belter. Slicers tend to feel that 2 Grit early and often, and one of their playbook powers is highly situational. Playtesting made them feel a little anemic with 8 stat points, so we gave them a little boost to smooth the early runs. Good question, though!
Hi, just wondering if you had more contracts planned? And maybe a revision of the oracles to add little twists to the different barriers (maybe that would be a hard mode oracle lol)
Howdy Belter,
Yeah I reckon in quiet moments that I'll probably be moved to pass along another couple of Black Contracts. Probably a small anthology, to be honest. It's one of those things that I like to tinker with when the shifts drag on.
As to reworking barriers, that's a harder sell for me. Development, testing, and balancing for 26 additional mechanical impacts is outside the scope of what we intended for barriers to add to the play experience. But that don't mean you don't have my blessing to fuss and noodle on it to your hearts content. Additional oracles and Contracts are always welcome. Post em and get paid, Belter.
Chariot, out.
I stumbled on a video for this and it looks awesome but I have two questions:
- Is it still possible to get the pdf etc by purchasing the Amazon copy?
- The video showed two additional books Oracle A and Oracle B, do those come with the Amazon purchase?
Howdy Belter,
We absolutely honor purchases through all of the various ways and means to get your hands on a copy of Dead Belt with a complementary PDF and all the trimmings. Y'all just shoot a wave to our acoupleofdrakes inbox and we'll suit you out. And both of those oracle booklets are included, one after another, in the consumer-grade (non-zine) edition of Dead Belt.
Y'all let us know if there's anything else. We'll be on-station.
Chariot, out.
Hello there, I have another question about rolling and solving the payday. Let‘s say i rolled a 4, so i can choose 2 of the bullet points. If i choose the last two (1. transport in one trip; 2. it‘s worth more…), so my question is: does all other points became true in their opposite version ? Which means 1. have to spend a grit to remove; 2. check gas to remove; 3. roll the shipbreaker move; 4. generate a threat.
Thanks for help!
You got it in one, Belter. You're spending picks to make the thing true. If a thing isn't true, the opposite is. Try not to bite off more than you can chew, now. Or else start cultivating a strong jaw.
Best of luck out there.
Chariot, out.
I understand. It wouldn‘t be easy :D Thank you!
Just want to note, that i sent you an email, because of the digital stuff (purchased it via amazon)
Hey there. I also bought a physical copy from amazon. Possible to get access to the digital content? Thanks.
Love to, Belter. Send us a wave at acoupleofdrakes at outlook dot com and we'll send a key that'll get you the welcome package.
Fantastic. Sent an email and proof of life for the physical book. Really excellent game. Appreciate it.
hi there, just wondering if any community copies will be available soon
Hi! I ordered and received the physical copy from Amazon for my brother as a gift. How do I get the printable materials? Thanks!
Just got the physical book, loving it but how do I get the character sheets? Are there any PDFs for download?
Dear Mr. Drake, or Mr. Drake,
I am having a bad day of archery, in Sherwood Forest. I have already lost two arrows, and that is my pensioner disposable income blown. I am sure that Dead Belt would help me feel much better. PLEASE help me breathe!
Take from the Bank and give to the Belters now, y'hear? Twenty copies on the pile for your good works out there. Cold in space, not our hearts.
Just bought a physical copy & it is awesome! I was trying to get my hands on the character sheet & some of the extra pdfs with no luck.
Found your message there, hoss. Sending along a key with my heartfelt thanks for giving our weird little game a try. Let's get you rolling, what say?
Thank you!
I’d love to play this. Any chance there’s any buddy breathe copies available? If I enjoy it I’ll get the physical copy!
I ain't the kind to begrudge a buddy breathe to a buddy gasping. Plus it's old Chariot's birthday today.
Seems the time for presents, don't it?
I appreciate it! And Happy Birthday!!
It’s free, enjoy 👍
It’s free, enjoy 👍