Airships are awesome, everybody loves them (if you don't, you're not a person obviously, so you don't exist, that was deep), they make for great imagery, and they're just damn cool.
Obviously if you do floating islands as your world, you need airships.
Sean started the ball rolling with some really cool ideas:
"Extrapolating the idea of water based boats out, using the rock as hull material, we could get all kinds of ships,
I'm assuming there are a lot of smaller rocks floating around, aside from the islands, ranging from the size of your fist to large boulders and upwards. They'd probably be fairly scarce around populated areas, as they would be mined for airships and other purposes, but away from the population, it would probably be pretty densely packed. Common shipping routes would be clear of them. Traveling outside of the shipping areas or areas around population centers would require clearing, some sort of scoop that would push the rocks out of the way. I'm thinking reminiscent of the icebreakers in the Arctic."
~Sean
It might be just how I think, but anytime I read cool ideas like this, I immediately see it as images in my head, and this is some really cool stuff, it's a shame I can't draw (if somehow you fell onto here and can and for some reason feel like you don't draw enough, Sean and I could give you material for YEARS and pay you in cookies).
But anyway, how awesome is the idea of using the floating stone as the hull? It's a readily available resource, they know it floats without worrying about some failure sending them crashing into the wasteland below (hopefully), and it would just be intimidating to see.
Of course, I thought of other ways to go about making air ships, I see these as ways that people use to just be different, or show off:
Magic Powered (there have to be a few mages out there with the power to do it)
Elemental Powered (borrowed a bit from Eberron)
Steam Powered (Only for those really along the tech. path, and even they still need floating rock to keep the ship in the air)
Also, Sean's idea of rock fields is where the sense of Age of Discovery and Swashbuckling came about, Sean's mention of vast debris fields is what I see as what's stopping islands from all meeting one another, too much space and scariness out there. Of course Air Pirates would make bases in the fields so they wouldn't get killed, smugglers would know hidden routes through them, and even places where there wasn't rock debris, huge aerial creatures (real or imagined) could end your trip real fast.
So a simple idea about where airships came from, helped create an essential "feel" for our world.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Building a Fantasy Sandbox: Steps 2, 3, and 4: More Stuff to Skip
Okay, these are the last parts we're gonna cheat on, I promise!
So we're making good progress, Step 1 blew right on by.
Let's see what Step 2 is:
2. Label important regions
Well, as we're making up each cluster or single island as we go, we don't need to label important regions on our world map (since we don't have one).
Not just because we're lazy, but the idea is that so much time has passed and so much distance (and vast floating rock fields and fear of going too far from home) exists that islands and island clusters have developed very independently from each other. There won't be a unifying naming of areas, even among the same species, everyone has been going about life their own way, most don't even know if anyone is left besides the small islands they reside on. That's not to say no nations aren't aware of each other, and many safe lanes have been opened up and neighboring clusters have opened trade with each other, but it's more like the Dark Ages, where you relied more on self and didn't give a damn what was going on in the next kingdom over, until they tried to invade. So, we'll label important regions per detailed map, but not the world map.
Moving on!
3. Write one page of background giving no more than a handful of sentences to each region.
Okay, this one isn't being cheated so much, except we have more of a general overview of the world, rather then a few sentences per region:
A very long time ago, everyone lived on the world below and there wasn't any floating islands about. Different species evolved into sentience, kingdoms rose and fell, wars were fought, land was explored, new neighbors discovered, and more wars were fought.
Then, something terrible happened, no one remembers what anymore, but the land was torn asunder. The entire world may have become a lifeless hulk right then, but, for some reason, one as mysterious as to the cataclysm itself, vast pieces of land rose above the destruction. Here, survivors clung to what little they had left, and slowly, began to live again, and soon began to thrive.
New nations crawled out of the ruins left behind by the near apocalypse, but, separated by vast sky, very few sought out one another and turned in to themselves. But as a community grows, it needs to expand. Some joined nearby islands with vast cables, using steam powered machinery to move people back and forth, others used magic, creating teleportation circles to transmit themselves and others to nearby lands. But soon, in a parallel of invention, nations began to design the one thing to make expansion easier.
Airships, designed a thousand different ways by a thousand different nations began to take to the skies, new lands were discovered, some were colonized, some were left to the creatures that had taken them over.
In some places, communities and nations discovered one another, and, like it was before, wars were fought and alliances formed. However, the skies are vast, long stretches of nothing but floating rock debris, sky pirates, and horrific aerial creatures separates nations from every learning of one another.
No one goes down to the surface anymore, all know the tales of what horrors await down there, gates to hellish landscapes, creatures unimaginable, terrors beyond imagination. Those few foolish souls that tried never returned.
It would seem like everything would grow static, that the nations and lone communities would have their alliances and struggles with those nearby, but that any remaining discovery or outside nation was simply too dangerous to get too and not worth the risk.
But time always moves forward, and curiosity, in some form, is inherent in every intelligent species. Lately a new breed has risen up, men and women of all nations and species that are not content with how the world now rests. Willing to brave dangers both local and abroad, to plunder the ancient ruin and to set off into the debris. They ply for secrets of the past and look to discover the lands that will secure the future. They are adventurers and to them, the world is an open book.
That's about a page...
4. Pick an area roughly 200 miles by 150 miles
Okay, this we can do, and this will be the process we repeat from now until we're done coming up with new ideas (see: never).
Our first choice? A little of everything, an island cluster with a few larger safe communities, a few local dangers, some exotic locals, and islands full of ancient secrets and lairs and dungeons.
So we're making good progress, Step 1 blew right on by.
Let's see what Step 2 is:
2. Label important regions
Well, as we're making up each cluster or single island as we go, we don't need to label important regions on our world map (since we don't have one).
Not just because we're lazy, but the idea is that so much time has passed and so much distance (and vast floating rock fields and fear of going too far from home) exists that islands and island clusters have developed very independently from each other. There won't be a unifying naming of areas, even among the same species, everyone has been going about life their own way, most don't even know if anyone is left besides the small islands they reside on. That's not to say no nations aren't aware of each other, and many safe lanes have been opened up and neighboring clusters have opened trade with each other, but it's more like the Dark Ages, where you relied more on self and didn't give a damn what was going on in the next kingdom over, until they tried to invade. So, we'll label important regions per detailed map, but not the world map.
Moving on!
3. Write one page of background giving no more than a handful of sentences to each region.
Okay, this one isn't being cheated so much, except we have more of a general overview of the world, rather then a few sentences per region:
A very long time ago, everyone lived on the world below and there wasn't any floating islands about. Different species evolved into sentience, kingdoms rose and fell, wars were fought, land was explored, new neighbors discovered, and more wars were fought.
Then, something terrible happened, no one remembers what anymore, but the land was torn asunder. The entire world may have become a lifeless hulk right then, but, for some reason, one as mysterious as to the cataclysm itself, vast pieces of land rose above the destruction. Here, survivors clung to what little they had left, and slowly, began to live again, and soon began to thrive.
New nations crawled out of the ruins left behind by the near apocalypse, but, separated by vast sky, very few sought out one another and turned in to themselves. But as a community grows, it needs to expand. Some joined nearby islands with vast cables, using steam powered machinery to move people back and forth, others used magic, creating teleportation circles to transmit themselves and others to nearby lands. But soon, in a parallel of invention, nations began to design the one thing to make expansion easier.
Airships, designed a thousand different ways by a thousand different nations began to take to the skies, new lands were discovered, some were colonized, some were left to the creatures that had taken them over.
In some places, communities and nations discovered one another, and, like it was before, wars were fought and alliances formed. However, the skies are vast, long stretches of nothing but floating rock debris, sky pirates, and horrific aerial creatures separates nations from every learning of one another.
No one goes down to the surface anymore, all know the tales of what horrors await down there, gates to hellish landscapes, creatures unimaginable, terrors beyond imagination. Those few foolish souls that tried never returned.
It would seem like everything would grow static, that the nations and lone communities would have their alliances and struggles with those nearby, but that any remaining discovery or outside nation was simply too dangerous to get too and not worth the risk.
But time always moves forward, and curiosity, in some form, is inherent in every intelligent species. Lately a new breed has risen up, men and women of all nations and species that are not content with how the world now rests. Willing to brave dangers both local and abroad, to plunder the ancient ruin and to set off into the debris. They ply for secrets of the past and look to discover the lands that will secure the future. They are adventurers and to them, the world is an open book.
That's about a page...
4. Pick an area roughly 200 miles by 150 miles
Okay, this we can do, and this will be the process we repeat from now until we're done coming up with new ideas (see: never).
Our first choice? A little of everything, an island cluster with a few larger safe communities, a few local dangers, some exotic locals, and islands full of ancient secrets and lairs and dungeons.
Building a Fantasy Sandbox: Step 1: The World!
So it begins, let's see what our illustrious guide tells us to do first:
1. Using one page, sketch a world or continent map
Okay, so off I go, firstly, I recruit Sean back into the fold. For me, world design needs someone to bounce ideas off of and someone to provide new looks at things I might miss.
So, now, off we go. We have our original continent from before. I don't like some things, I want to change things around, but keep the cooler aspects.
Somehow this turns into discussion about islands.
Those become islands in an endless sky.
Those become islands floating above a ruined land.
Those becomes islands floating above a wasteland where a cataclysm happened so long ago no one remembers how it happened, but they do know the land below is cursed, and they don't go down there...
Let's back up for a second. I know it's in general poor taste to boast about yourself, and, despite my massive ego and brash outgoingness, I actually tend to agree. But I'm throwing that out the widow for a moment, but it'll come around to not be about me, watch:
I consider myself a highly creative and imaginative person, I can see but a little kernel of idea and take it to places no one else would think of. I can immediately see a thousand avenues behind one simple concept, all of them vivid full color landscapes, and all of them rushing out of my brain almost simultaneously.
Sean is the only person I know that can not only process everything I say but go along right beside me and not only augment my ideas, but enhance them in ways I wouldn't have thought.
See, not just about me.
Anyway...
So, we agree, our "world" isn't so much one place, it's a collection of places, hundreds of island and island clusters floating above a ruined hellish landscape where no sane being would dare tread.
Some islands cluster together, these are connected by things like vast steam powered cable cars and the like. So now we have elements of steam punk.
Obviously we have air ships, and island clusters are separated by vast rock debris fields, pirate raiders, and weird new creatures. So in comes some swashbuckling.
As we did with Deminar Mk. 1, it's mostly low magic, magic can be powerful, but it's rare, magic item shops don't exist, Cleric and MU adventurers are the exception, not the rule. The isolation leads to lots of superstition. So the Sword and Sorcery elements come in too.
Hell of a mix, if anything, it's gonna be a fun world to build (and hopefully play in)
Step 1 complete!
But wait, you say, where's your sketched world map?
Well, we got around that, see, we don't need a world map, we can design anything we want, with the islands and island clusters separated so far from one another anytime we want to detail a new area, we pretty much start from scratch.
So, our world map, if we have to have one, is this:
Happy now?
1. Using one page, sketch a world or continent map
Okay, so off I go, firstly, I recruit Sean back into the fold. For me, world design needs someone to bounce ideas off of and someone to provide new looks at things I might miss.
So, now, off we go. We have our original continent from before. I don't like some things, I want to change things around, but keep the cooler aspects.
Somehow this turns into discussion about islands.
Those become islands in an endless sky.
Those become islands floating above a ruined land.
Those becomes islands floating above a wasteland where a cataclysm happened so long ago no one remembers how it happened, but they do know the land below is cursed, and they don't go down there...
Let's back up for a second. I know it's in general poor taste to boast about yourself, and, despite my massive ego and brash outgoingness, I actually tend to agree. But I'm throwing that out the widow for a moment, but it'll come around to not be about me, watch:
I consider myself a highly creative and imaginative person, I can see but a little kernel of idea and take it to places no one else would think of. I can immediately see a thousand avenues behind one simple concept, all of them vivid full color landscapes, and all of them rushing out of my brain almost simultaneously.
Sean is the only person I know that can not only process everything I say but go along right beside me and not only augment my ideas, but enhance them in ways I wouldn't have thought.
See, not just about me.
Anyway...
So, we agree, our "world" isn't so much one place, it's a collection of places, hundreds of island and island clusters floating above a ruined hellish landscape where no sane being would dare tread.
Some islands cluster together, these are connected by things like vast steam powered cable cars and the like. So now we have elements of steam punk.
Obviously we have air ships, and island clusters are separated by vast rock debris fields, pirate raiders, and weird new creatures. So in comes some swashbuckling.
As we did with Deminar Mk. 1, it's mostly low magic, magic can be powerful, but it's rare, magic item shops don't exist, Cleric and MU adventurers are the exception, not the rule. The isolation leads to lots of superstition. So the Sword and Sorcery elements come in too.
Hell of a mix, if anything, it's gonna be a fun world to build (and hopefully play in)
Step 1 complete!
But wait, you say, where's your sketched world map?
Well, we got around that, see, we don't need a world map, we can design anything we want, with the islands and island clusters separated so far from one another anytime we want to detail a new area, we pretty much start from scratch.
So, our world map, if we have to have one, is this:
Happy now?
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
On: The Plan
So how do we begin all over again?
Well, while I'm sure there will be all kinds of tangents and wild ideas (one of the main reasons for this blog is to catalog such things), I felt we needed an actual tried and true direction.
For that, we're using the very awesome "How to make a Fantasy Sandbox" entry over at Bat in the Attic.
My feelings were to cover Deminar one small region at a time, all the while collecting over arching ideas, themes, and design, to basically build the world from the inside out.
And what better way to begin, then at step 1?
Well, while I'm sure there will be all kinds of tangents and wild ideas (one of the main reasons for this blog is to catalog such things), I felt we needed an actual tried and true direction.
For that, we're using the very awesome "How to make a Fantasy Sandbox" entry over at Bat in the Attic.
My feelings were to cover Deminar one small region at a time, all the while collecting over arching ideas, themes, and design, to basically build the world from the inside out.
And what better way to begin, then at step 1?
On: That was Then, This is Now!
The easiest way to describe our first stab at Deminar would be to tell you to go buy the book and read it, well atleast the first chapter, it breaks down the first continent (named Deminar, I forget if we had a name for the whole planet), history, etc.
Then I found out you can do that for free at Google Books. So, that takes care of that!
Looking through it you can see lots of inspiration from other worlds and authors (it's impossible to do anything completely new anymore), and though we set out to put a different bend on things, it's still pretty traditional fantasy.
Fast forward a whole lot...
Recently I started up an online game of Labyrinth Lord after a long hiatus from gaming (I'm ashamed to say). We've been playing weekly, for over a month now, and I've been having an awesome time. I've been blessed with a really good group, I look forward to playing every week, and through playing my creative juices have been flowing once more. Hell, I've already started writing novella style fiction about our gaming sessions.
You know what that means...
See, we're using Goodman Games DCC line as our campaign, particularly Castle Whiterock (and some others thrown in for good measure), so while it's going to be an awesome ride, it's still a world that belongs to someone else.
So, Sean and I get to talking, and we want to bring back Deminar, a different Deminar, one that fits within the Gonzo/S&S feeling of B/X D&D, but still keeps our sensibilities about making a "working" world.
This is a place to monitor progress and throw down ideas before they get lost in my ever moving jumbled brain.
And you're coming along for the ride!
Then I found out you can do that for free at Google Books. So, that takes care of that!
Looking through it you can see lots of inspiration from other worlds and authors (it's impossible to do anything completely new anymore), and though we set out to put a different bend on things, it's still pretty traditional fantasy.
Fast forward a whole lot...
Recently I started up an online game of Labyrinth Lord after a long hiatus from gaming (I'm ashamed to say). We've been playing weekly, for over a month now, and I've been having an awesome time. I've been blessed with a really good group, I look forward to playing every week, and through playing my creative juices have been flowing once more. Hell, I've already started writing novella style fiction about our gaming sessions.
You know what that means...
See, we're using Goodman Games DCC line as our campaign, particularly Castle Whiterock (and some others thrown in for good measure), so while it's going to be an awesome ride, it's still a world that belongs to someone else.
So, Sean and I get to talking, and we want to bring back Deminar, a different Deminar, one that fits within the Gonzo/S&S feeling of B/X D&D, but still keeps our sensibilities about making a "working" world.
This is a place to monitor progress and throw down ideas before they get lost in my ever moving jumbled brain.
And you're coming along for the ride!
On: Designing Deminar...
Ah Deminar!
As a DM, I've always wanted my own world, design something from the ground up that belongs to me. I think it's a feeling shared by all DMs, after all, if you're the being that controls the entire cosmology of a world (except for the PCs), why not make your own?
For me, it usually amounts to jotting a few ideas down, having lengthy conversations with my players about the ideas and getting their ideas (Sean in particular...), but never really having it materialize.
Deminar was something different, Deminar was an exercise issued by myself to myself to sit down and write out a campaign setting. And, with a lot of hard work from some very awesome people (thanks guys!) it went from just that, to writing and publishing a campaign setting. Something that was actually realized (which for me, is kinda a big deal).
It's funny though, as we wrote it, I suppose, we grew tired of our own creation, and we never did play in that world. Still, there it sat, floating around in my mind. Every now and again I would attempt to resurrect it, but it would fall under the machinations of "getting started and then quickly dying out." It seemed Deminar would never be reborn.
Well, things have changed, it once again stirs, and Deminar is going to be reborn! Once Again! I mean it this time! Stop looking at me like that!
As a DM, I've always wanted my own world, design something from the ground up that belongs to me. I think it's a feeling shared by all DMs, after all, if you're the being that controls the entire cosmology of a world (except for the PCs), why not make your own?
For me, it usually amounts to jotting a few ideas down, having lengthy conversations with my players about the ideas and getting their ideas (Sean in particular...), but never really having it materialize.
Deminar was something different, Deminar was an exercise issued by myself to myself to sit down and write out a campaign setting. And, with a lot of hard work from some very awesome people (thanks guys!) it went from just that, to writing and publishing a campaign setting. Something that was actually realized (which for me, is kinda a big deal).
It's funny though, as we wrote it, I suppose, we grew tired of our own creation, and we never did play in that world. Still, there it sat, floating around in my mind. Every now and again I would attempt to resurrect it, but it would fall under the machinations of "getting started and then quickly dying out." It seemed Deminar would never be reborn.
Well, things have changed, it once again stirs, and Deminar is going to be reborn! Once Again! I mean it this time! Stop looking at me like that!
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