Rulebook Philosophy, PvP Structure, and What’s Next

Part 1: The Rulebook Philosophy

Hey everyone, today I want to talk about one of the most important parts of the entire project: the rulebooks. Before any lore, miniatures, or armies can matter, players need a clear and enjoyable way to learn the game. I have spent a lot of time thinking about how the rules for Beyond Space should be structured, how players interact with them during play, and how to avoid the common pitfalls that make tabletop rule systems feel overwhelming.

This is my first time building something at this scale, or any scale, really. I am not a large studio with a dozen designers and editors, it is just me, taking my time, learning as I go, and making sure every part feels intentional. So the rulebooks needed to feel clear, approachable, and modular. I do not want anyone to dig through a 400 plus page tome just to understand how to move a unit across the board.

The rules are organized into three tiers, not for complexity, but for readability and ease of use. Each tier has a purpose, and they build on each other in a way that keeps the game clean and expandable without bloat.

One thing to be absolutely clear about:

All rules will be completely free to download.
No paywalls. No required purchases. No “you need this book just to understand that book.” Everything you need to play Beyond Space will be freely available to everyone.

I love physical rulebooks, the feel, the art, the presence. I would like to offer printed books in the future. But printing properly is expensive and complicated, and something I want to do right, not rush. Starting digital lets me learn, refine, and develop the game alongside the people actually playing it, without locking things in too early.

So digital first. Physical print later, once the foundation is fully settled.

To make table use easier, some books will be offered in two versions:

• Full Book Version, art, diagrams, visual guidance, thematic presentation.
• Print Friendly Version, minimal ink, simple formatting, binder or table friendly.

Use whichever fits your style.

Tier 1 — Core Rules

The Core Rulebook is the foundation of the entire game, the logic of Beyond Space that applies no matter what mode you are playing. It explains:

• How units move
• How attacks are made
• How dice are rolled and resolved
• How resources, like stamina and mana, work
• How morale shifts during battle
• How damage is handled
• How turns flow at the most fundamental level
• And more

These rules are universal. They apply to every way Beyond Space can be played, whether it is PvP or PvE. Because of that, the Core Rules are meant to be stable and long lasting. They only change when something becomes clearer, cleaner, or more intuitive. Think of Tier 1 as the foundation of a house, Tier 2 as the walls and framing, Tier 3 as the roof.

Tier 2 — Game Format Rulebooks

If Tier 1 explains how the game works, Tier 2 explains how a match is played. This is where each playstyle gets its own match structure, objectives, game phases, and play experience, all built on top of the core rules.

For 1st Edition, there are two main formats:

• PvP, Player vs Player, launches first. Competitive, readable, designed around fairness and back and forth interaction. This format uses alternating unit activations, game phases, and mode specific objectives.
• PvE, Player vs Environment, coming later. Players face AI controlled enemies run by a behavior ruleset designed to feel responsive and reactive. This ranges from small encounters to large multi phase boss fights.

The key thing to understand is that PvP and PvE use the same Core Rules, but each has its own match structure, pacing, and objective style. Tier 2 is where the game becomes the actual experience of play.

Tier 3 — Content Books

Tier 3 contains the material that plugs into the formats.

For PvP, Tier 3 includes Army Books, faction specific rules, traits, units, and list building.

For PvE, Tier 3 includes Missions, Narrative Campaigns, Boss Encounters, and Scenario Packs.

This approach allows the game to expand without rewriting or contradicting anything. No bloat. No constant rewrites. No invalidated books, just new content that slots in cleanly.

How the Rulebooks Fit Together, at a glance

Core Rules → universal logic
Game Formats, PvP or PvE, → how a match actually plays
Content Books → which army you bring, or which mission you run

Why this structure matters

I want Beyond Space to be a game that new players can learn confidently, experienced players can play deeply, and everyone can find what they need quickly and clearly. Breaking the rules into these three tiers keeps the game readable, modular, stable, expandable, and enjoyable to engage with. You grab only the book you need, instead of flipping through hundreds of pages to answer one question. This is the foundation the rest of the game grows from.

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Part 2: The PvP Format, How the Game Actually Plays

Now that we have talked about how the rulebooks are structured, here is a closer look at the PvP format, since that is the format launching first. This part is less about philosophy and more about what playing Beyond Space actually feels like at the table.

The goals for PvP:

• Feel active rather than passive
• Avoid long stretches of waiting for your opponent
• Encourage adaptation, counterplay, and reading the battlefield
• Be easy to understand, with meaningful room to improve over time

PvP in Beyond Space is built around steady rhythm and clear structure. Once you play a few turns, the flow becomes natural, almost conversational.

The Five Phases of a PvP Turn

Every turn in PvP follows the same five phase sequence. These phases create a predictable rhythm that keeps both players engaged and helps the game run smoothly.

1) Command Phase

Your big picture decision moment, leadership matters here. Each player may issue:

• One Grand Battle Order, broad, army level effect
• One Tactical Battle Order, more precise, unit level advantage

Battle Orders can be orbital strikes from a heavy battleship above, long range bombardment from your backline, dropping reinforcements, or other army specific effects. They can also be smaller tools like rapid field repairs on a damaged tank, intercepting incoming ordnance, or erecting a battlefield wide Mantle to deny bombardment. Battle Orders will not auto win a game, they set up plays, shift tempo, or answer pressure as the battle evolves.

2) Morale Phase

The battlefield has emotional weight. Units do not operate at full strength indefinitely. Losses, pressure, and tension can cause morale to rise or fall. Consult the Morale Table to see whether a unit is Steadfast, Uncertain, or Broken. These are morale thresholds, there are more than the examples here, and each threshold has gameplay effects. Morale in Beyond Space is not a sudden collapse, it is a spectrum that shifts as the battle evolves, giving fights a sense of arc and momentum.

3) Activation Phase

The core heartbeat of PvP, players alternate activating one unit at a time.

• No long solo turns
• No waiting while an entire army takes a block of actions
• Constant interaction and counterplay

Each activation gives a unit two actions, one Movement and one Combat, in any order.
A Movement action moves the unit.
A Combat action is choosing one of the unit’s combat options.

4) Cleanup Phase

Refresh the board state before the next turn. Resolve Status Effects, Burning, Bleeding, Poisoned, and similar effects, remove expired buffs and debuffs, and adjust tokens, timers, and resources. This keeps the battlefield clear and readable.

5) End Phase

Check the victory conditions for the current mode. If the objective is met, the game ends. If not, the game continues, roll for initiative at the start of the next turn, then return to the Command Phase.

PvP Game Modes

Three modes at launch, each encouraging a distinct mindset and list building approach.

• Deathmatch, direct confrontation. Fast, decisive, about engagement tempo and calculated aggression.
• Domination, fight for map control. Positioning, spacing, zoning, and timing are your best tools.
• Breakthrough, forward pressure and deep advance. Success relies on forcing movement, risk management, and flank timing.

Basic vs Advanced Rulesets

Each game mode can be played with two rulesets, Basic and Advanced.

• Basic, accessible and fast to learn. Clean, quick, straightforward decisions.
• Advanced, more strategic depth and nuance. More timing windows, more scoring layers, more tactical expression.

Same mode, same battlefield, different depth level. Basic is great for learning, teaching, and casual sessions. Advanced suits competitive or strategy focused play. The point is not complexity, it is choice.

Scenarios

When setting up a game you will choose a scenario alongside the game mode. Scenarios define the scale of play, how big the battlefield is and how large each player’s armies are.

• Skirmish, smaller forces, faster setup, shorter match duration, great for learning and fast paced sessions.
• Warfront, full army rosters, larger boards, longer battles with layered tactics, where the full strategy of Beyond Space opens up.

Scenario determines scale. Game Mode determines objective. Ruleset determines depth.

Setting Up a PvP Match

1. Choose a Scenario, Skirmish or Warfront
2. Choose a Game Mode, Deathmatch, Domination, or Breakthrough
3. Choose Basic or Advanced ruleset
4. Build Armies to the scenario’s point limit
5. Set Up the Board and deployment zones
6. Begin at Command Phase, Turn 1

No ambiguity. No hidden steps. Everything is where you expect it to be.

Why PvP Comes First

PvP is where the core mechanics of Beyond Space become visible, testable, and learnable. It is the cleanest representation of the game’s identity, and the best environment for refining balance and clarity. PvE will come later, and it will be its own major experience, but PvP is where we start learning the language of the game together.

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Part 3: What’s Next

I hope this gives you a solid understanding of how and why the rules are set up in tiers and designed to be modular.

For the next devlog, we will move into the lore behind Beyond Space, which many of you have been asking for. I have held back on talking about the world, not because there is not lore, I have spent the last three years building it and there is almost too much, but because I wanted to do it right. I am still learning as I go, and that means taking my time and planning how to release it properly.

We will start talking about:

• The Lore Book, what it is, what is inside it, and how it is structured.
• The Factions, the major powers of the world, who they are, why they exist, and what drives them.
• The Setting of Edition 1, where in the world we are beginning the game’s timeline.
• What comes after Edition 1, how the world grows, expands, and branches over time.

This will not be a giant lore dump, more of a what to expect and a steady reveal. We will go piece by piece, the same way we did with the rules, slowly, intentionally, and with room to breathe. There is history here. There are cultures and belief systems. There are conflicts and events that shaped the world you will be playing in. And we will start opening that up, soon.

For now, I will leave it at this.
The world behind Beyond Space is ready.
I am almost ready to start showing it.
See you in the next devlog.