Our first series on the @subgrubs-and-snazzards official development blog will be covering the EXTRA CULLRICULARS, which are kind of like after school clubs for fascist alien empires. While we'll get into the specifics of what extra cullriculars are available to the trolls of Alternia later on, here we're going to cover the basics of what they are and how they work in Subgrubs and Snazzards, 7th Edition. If you're wondering on what any of this means, this post here gives an overview of what Subgrubs and Snazzards is and how it's used for both homestuck roleplay and as an independent TTRPG.
Without further ado, let's get into it!
WHAT IS AN EXTRA CULLRICULAR
To keep it simple, Extra Cullriculars are the social backbone of Alternian Society. Of course, there's big shadowy government agencies and shadier government agents to carry out the specifics of The Empire's will, but those are so detached from the Day-To-Day of Alternian Life (or, at least, so trolls think). Sure, everyone knows the Heresy Eradication Taskforce controls the media, and everyone obviously knows the Commissary of Interplanetary Security monitors everybody's online activity, and everyone of course knows the Trolls In Teal erase things from polite memory that the average citizen can't (or isn't allowed to) handle- but those are big, lofty jobs with hard-earned positions and extensive workloads. Extra Cullriculars are more volunteer based, community-oriented approaches to comically evil governments. Join in at your local cullmunity center, build relationships with other trolls across the hemospectrum, and do your part to keep your little slice of the empire safe and secure.
Within the context of Subgrubs and Snazzards, 7th edition, Extra Cullriculars are all templates, meaning they're optional add-on archetypes/playbooks available to your character to expand what moves and roleplay potential you have available. All Extra Curriculars are open to all castes (that are legal! No limes or earthlings in here) unlike their Imperial Colourguard governmental counterparts. There are currently slated to be three Extra Cullricular options available in 7e: the Bustin' Brigade, the Cullscouts of Alternia, and the Commusnitch Society. Each of these groups specialize in identifying and addressing the various Cullbait types of Alternia, but we'll get more into that at a later date. For now, let's talk about the foundation that they all have in common.
KEY FEATURE: EXTRA CULLRICULAR BADGE
While the Extra Cullriculars possess uniforms and regalia for all sorts of important events and official activities, there's one thing they should carry around on the day-to-day: the official Extra Cullricular Badge they keep as a proof of membership. This simple item takes up no inventory space and can be warn in combination with any other equipment items, though doing so immediately outs you as a member of the imperial community forces. Using your Extra Cullricular Badge might allow you access to unique locations, give you access to information pathways blocked off to other characters, or even impress other characters (or piss them off!)
Of course, it's your Extra Cullricular Badge that also gives you access to the [Imperial] tag mechanics as seen below.
KEY MECHANIC: THE [IMPERIAL] TAG
In SnS, the narrative and worldbuilding of Alternia is directly reflected in the mechanics- game rules like special abilities, unique interactions, and new character option pathways opening up, and Extra Cullriculars are no different. All move options that fall under the umbrella of Extra Cullricular have [Imperial] as a tag, which defines the nature of how those moves work and what they say about your character as follows:
[Imperial]
Glory to the empire! If you have a move with this tag, that means you actively support, aid, and uphold the empire and its interests. Maybe you serve as part of the prestigious Imperial Colourguard, or maybe it's because your Condilicious stan account is trending on chittr. Regardless, you are now an Imperial Troll. Non-DRONE monsters that are Imperial are not hostile to you unless given reason, though other monsters may immediately become hostile if you make your pro-imerial sentiment known. If you use a [Cullbait] move as an Imperial Troll, you immediately gain 1 [Drag].
Now, [Imperial] as a tag wouldn't only be showing up on moves from the Extra Cullricular templates. The same tag you gain as a community thought-spy or mutant-hunter is the one also gained by Federal Agents, government-created robots, and even the occasional recreational class traitor who takes a generic move without committing to a whole template. Other abilities, options, and features in turn might use your [Imperial] status to cause certain outcomes, especially when it comes to monster abilities or environmental effects. Whether this is better or worse for you is entirely up to debate, but it certainly makes things more interesting!
AND THAT'S ALL... FOR NOW...
Keep posted in the coming weeks as we dive more into the world of extra cullriculars, going through each one and highlighting the parts that we think makes those templates shine. Make sure that you follow this blog and keep an eye out for those posts as they come out.
Does completing a tree (In order to unlock the Ultra) mean having all moves of that tree unlocked? And if so, does using the Bard class to gain aspect moves of two opposing aspects lock you out of getting either Ultra?
Generally yes, completion does mean having all moves of that tree unlocked. This is mainly used for "more important" templates like the eeries and magic templates.
For classes and aspects in particular, though, the semi-official Serverstuck Ruling is that you do not need every single move from your aspect in order to get the aspect ultra. For the purposes of Serverstuck, you only need 10 moves from a combination of your class and aspect in order to gain your aspect's [Ultra] move, which also applies to your class' [Ultra] move!
If you're playing with SnS 6e offserver, you can change how the Aspect Ultra completion works as you see fit. The general idea there was just to reflect how classes and aspects both contribute to your character Becoming Their Archetype, but asking someone to take a whopping 13 moves to make that happen is. A Lot.
For the BARD class in particular, the moves they take from their opposite aspect do not contribute to their aspectal ultra! The Bard class as a whole is oriented towards gambling, risk-taking, and pushing limits until you push too far. Their ability to steal from the opposite aspect reflects this:
Additionally, you can’t unlock the opposite [Aspect] [Ultra] like this and [Aspect] moves of your opposite [Aspect] do not count towards your completion for your true [Aspect] [Ultra], you silly billy.
- from the Bard [Unlock] move, TRAGICOMIC MASK
How far are you willing to neglect your own aspect before you lose sight of it entirely? They're still deeply rooted in their original aspect, but it is up to each bard whether they learn to work within their aspect or reject it entirely.
- Witch, Lead Developer for Subgrubs and Snazzards and for Serverstuck
Hey guys! If you're reading this, you're probably already a fan of subgrubs and snazzards (probably through @serverstuck) but wondering what this blog is or you've found this blog and are wondering what subgrubs and snazzards is.
I wrote a whole verbose overview of what sns is here, but I figured it would be a good idea to give a quick overview on what the whole thesis of this blog is for! Subgrubs and Snazzards has a lot going on behind the scenes-- between the constant innovations happening with event mechanics, the daily changes we're making to improve quality of life, and the massive amounts of overhauls being done to support SnS 7e, the big umbrella project with a million little projects housed within. I was the one who actually proposed the idea of a developer blog meant to highlight the things that we don't get to gush about as much as we'd like: spoilers on new mechanics, the developmental process behind new changes, even things that just haven't gotten to have the spotlight in a while!
The plan here is to have a series of of "article" posts covering all sorts of topics, though the main ones for the time being are going to be regulated leaks of in-development content for SnS 7e, including both mechanics written by our amazing developer team and art made by our fantastic artist team. The first planned series will be highlighting the Extra Cullriculars, imperial groups that Alternian citizens can participate in which help maintain the status quo.
Keep an eye out for those as they drop! It might be slow to start (finals season be upon college students of the world, woe) but I hope this is something that will continue long into the future!
Catch you on the next post!
- Witch (@occult-classics), Lead Developer for Subgrubs and Snazzards and for Serverstuck
