Quick thought, I think the Player's version of the timeline works better in paragraph format in a more story like convention (not "in character" per say, but not a roll of years either). Though the roll of years format works well for the DM side of things.
I think it would fit the Player's Guide better that way, and you can also leave out chunks that are specific events the average person wouldn't really know happened, yet keep all the "big events" in.
Hmm, need to finish that timeline
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Design and Development: Module Layout
The strength of most "old school" settings come more in the adventure modules that come from them rather then the big fluffy setting books (perhaps because of the model set forth by TSR in the original releases). So, while I'm still working on the Player's Guide (and to lesser extend DM's Guide) I can't help but think about the modules.
While we have plenty of ideas about the modules from the various "lairs" we set-up during Step 15 of our Sandbox Design, I'm think more in terms of what to do about layout.
Most LL and other retro clone modules are sticking with "paying homage" to the classics, you get a map on the inside cover, several pages with numbers corresponding to rooms, boxed text of a line or two of description and then a paragraph for the DM with what's in the room and the stripped down stat line for monsters.
Now while that's fine, I have a slightly different idea.
Despite my whole plunge into the OSR and the enjoyment of the simplicity of the rules allowing for building a more "anything goes" world that doesn't have to confirm to the more explicit rules of other systems, I'm not one of those folks that hates every other version of D&D that's come out.
In fact, I'm quite a fan of 4E, it's not perfect, and it's getting more clunky as more and more powers and feats are released, but I think it did many things right, especially on the DM side of things.
I began playing 4E almost the day it came out and as we played several of the players, who had never DMed before, decided to give it a go and had a blast. The way adventures/encounters are laid out makes it very easy to figure out what's going on and give that information to the players.
So why not use a similar approach for our modules? Each piece that has an encounter should get it's own page with read out loud text boxes in one section, DM notes about the room in another, traps and terrain hazards with their relevant information about what they're doing in yet another, treasure/rewards in it's own, and full monster stat blocks as well! It's an elegant system that makes everything easy to locate when a player interacts with something and allows a DM to quickly describe the effects of those actions without hunting through text. One thing it wouldn't need, however, is the blown up map section with the little letters that show you where each mini is supposed to go on the battle tile, I think we should still hold fast to the idea that older D&D (and the clone AEC we're using) does not emphasize using mini's to enjoy the game (which also means we'd have to have better descriptive text that doesn't rely on the picture of the map to explain the scene, which I actually think is a good thing)
So, is the idea crazy or could it work?
While we have plenty of ideas about the modules from the various "lairs" we set-up during Step 15 of our Sandbox Design, I'm think more in terms of what to do about layout.
Most LL and other retro clone modules are sticking with "paying homage" to the classics, you get a map on the inside cover, several pages with numbers corresponding to rooms, boxed text of a line or two of description and then a paragraph for the DM with what's in the room and the stripped down stat line for monsters.
Now while that's fine, I have a slightly different idea.
Despite my whole plunge into the OSR and the enjoyment of the simplicity of the rules allowing for building a more "anything goes" world that doesn't have to confirm to the more explicit rules of other systems, I'm not one of those folks that hates every other version of D&D that's come out.
In fact, I'm quite a fan of 4E, it's not perfect, and it's getting more clunky as more and more powers and feats are released, but I think it did many things right, especially on the DM side of things.
I began playing 4E almost the day it came out and as we played several of the players, who had never DMed before, decided to give it a go and had a blast. The way adventures/encounters are laid out makes it very easy to figure out what's going on and give that information to the players.
So why not use a similar approach for our modules? Each piece that has an encounter should get it's own page with read out loud text boxes in one section, DM notes about the room in another, traps and terrain hazards with their relevant information about what they're doing in yet another, treasure/rewards in it's own, and full monster stat blocks as well! It's an elegant system that makes everything easy to locate when a player interacts with something and allows a DM to quickly describe the effects of those actions without hunting through text. One thing it wouldn't need, however, is the blown up map section with the little letters that show you where each mini is supposed to go on the battle tile, I think we should still hold fast to the idea that older D&D (and the clone AEC we're using) does not emphasize using mini's to enjoy the game (which also means we'd have to have better descriptive text that doesn't rely on the picture of the map to explain the scene, which I actually think is a good thing)
So, is the idea crazy or could it work?
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Design and Development: Timeline Bits - Part 1
Though I've made headway into the Timeline (which is both Part 16 of our Building a Sandbox goal as well as going into the PG) it is obviously not quite complete.
But as I go into designing more, I run across a few things that leave me doing a bit of head scratching.
Number one hiccup: When did the Lost Desert float into picture?
It is a desert island in a temperate climate and as of now, is still very much desert. Now, while I could, in theory, have it float to its current location and call away some mystical/magical/D&Dlike explanation as to why it stays a desert (and could very well do that if I end up with a cool mystical explanation), I want to also look at it from a "real world" inspired reason.
How long could a desert hang out in an area that receives rain and cooler temperatures and remain a desert? The island is floating beneath another, more temperate, island (though it does have a huge volcano on it), so pollination across the islands is possible. How long would it take to float into place? How fast would it move? If it moves too fast, then aren't all islands subject to just floating away from each other? Is there some sort of gravitational attraction to them, despite their relatively small size, or maybe something more mystical?
I don't the island to just have shown up in the past few years, it has been explored (though not very thoroughly and, as always, most of those explorers never returned) and may factor into other events in the timeline itself.
Things to ponder... Any ideas?
But as I go into designing more, I run across a few things that leave me doing a bit of head scratching.
Number one hiccup: When did the Lost Desert float into picture?
It is a desert island in a temperate climate and as of now, is still very much desert. Now, while I could, in theory, have it float to its current location and call away some mystical/magical/D&Dlike explanation as to why it stays a desert (and could very well do that if I end up with a cool mystical explanation), I want to also look at it from a "real world" inspired reason.
How long could a desert hang out in an area that receives rain and cooler temperatures and remain a desert? The island is floating beneath another, more temperate, island (though it does have a huge volcano on it), so pollination across the islands is possible. How long would it take to float into place? How fast would it move? If it moves too fast, then aren't all islands subject to just floating away from each other? Is there some sort of gravitational attraction to them, despite their relatively small size, or maybe something more mystical?
I don't the island to just have shown up in the past few years, it has been explored (though not very thoroughly and, as always, most of those explorers never returned) and may factor into other events in the timeline itself.
Things to ponder... Any ideas?
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Musing: Class/Level Limits
One of the comments from one of my loyal followers (I swear I don't know this man in real life nor is he a co-developer on Deminar) mentioned his disdain for class/level limits in the AEC (and presumably it's "inspiration" 1E AD&D). I, for one, wholly agree with him, artificially saying a certain species (or race) can't get higher then X level in a class or can't even pick a certain class does indeed seem silly and hard to justify within a "living world."
However, you have to remember to play to your audience, and if we're writing this for the AEC, potential buyers like the AEC (or its "inspiration") and are probably just peachy with Class/Level Limits. So, they're staying in our books.
They're mostly a matter of play balance, though the AEC has a looser sense of play balance then the strict mathematical consistency of the 3E and beyond editions. It's the same reason Ability Modifiers can be of the +1 or -1 variety, it's always an even number in 3E because that way you're guaranteed a bump to your modifier, where as in the AEC, the modifiers are more about fitting the strengths and weaknesses of the particular species.
Class/Level limits help iron out the massive advantages demi-humans (as they're called in the earlier editions) get over humans, they have tons of pluses just for being of that species but no real negatives (even the ability modifiers don't fix things that much). So, instead, there are just certain classes or certain levels of classes a certain species can't take. This, coupled with the variance in leveling between classes (something else 3E and beyond was scared to do so that everyone went up in level at the same time so they could all feel happy) adds some level of play balance throughout the species/classes. These certainly aren't as exacting and balanced across the board as the 3E+ crowd though, and you know that going in, some species/class combos are just better then others in certain things, some players will pick them just to have "the best" (be it in survival, combat, saving throws, etc.) and some will pick whatever species and class they feel like slipping into the role of, that's just how the game works.
For me, the challenge will be fitting these class/level limits into the actual setting itself. Why can a certain species only go to a certain level or why can't they be a particular class? Not in terms of balance and stats and numbers, but why within Deminar itself does that happen? For instance, the Lizard Folk don't have clerics and paladins, this is as much a "universe" choice as it is for balance. Lizard Folk don't worship the traditional gods of the outer planes, so they don't receive any powers because of it.
This will be a trend going forward into all class/level limits, and while it may not be mentioned in the text (certainly not in the Player's Guide, though it may show up in a "species" book), it will be thought of.
Because of that, look to see shake ups in the class/level limits of species that are already published, dwarves might not be limited the way they are in the AEC, but that's because dwarves in Deminar don't follow the same "racial presumptions" that they do in the AEC.
However, you have to remember to play to your audience, and if we're writing this for the AEC, potential buyers like the AEC (or its "inspiration") and are probably just peachy with Class/Level Limits. So, they're staying in our books.
They're mostly a matter of play balance, though the AEC has a looser sense of play balance then the strict mathematical consistency of the 3E and beyond editions. It's the same reason Ability Modifiers can be of the +1 or -1 variety, it's always an even number in 3E because that way you're guaranteed a bump to your modifier, where as in the AEC, the modifiers are more about fitting the strengths and weaknesses of the particular species.
Class/Level limits help iron out the massive advantages demi-humans (as they're called in the earlier editions) get over humans, they have tons of pluses just for being of that species but no real negatives (even the ability modifiers don't fix things that much). So, instead, there are just certain classes or certain levels of classes a certain species can't take. This, coupled with the variance in leveling between classes (something else 3E and beyond was scared to do so that everyone went up in level at the same time so they could all feel happy) adds some level of play balance throughout the species/classes. These certainly aren't as exacting and balanced across the board as the 3E+ crowd though, and you know that going in, some species/class combos are just better then others in certain things, some players will pick them just to have "the best" (be it in survival, combat, saving throws, etc.) and some will pick whatever species and class they feel like slipping into the role of, that's just how the game works.
For me, the challenge will be fitting these class/level limits into the actual setting itself. Why can a certain species only go to a certain level or why can't they be a particular class? Not in terms of balance and stats and numbers, but why within Deminar itself does that happen? For instance, the Lizard Folk don't have clerics and paladins, this is as much a "universe" choice as it is for balance. Lizard Folk don't worship the traditional gods of the outer planes, so they don't receive any powers because of it.
This will be a trend going forward into all class/level limits, and while it may not be mentioned in the text (certainly not in the Player's Guide, though it may show up in a "species" book), it will be thought of.
Because of that, look to see shake ups in the class/level limits of species that are already published, dwarves might not be limited the way they are in the AEC, but that's because dwarves in Deminar don't follow the same "racial presumptions" that they do in the AEC.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Design and Development: Lizard Folk Part 5 - Final?
This is, unless a huge uproar of discontent occurs, the final write-up for the Lizard Folk as a playable species
Lizard Folk
Requirements: STR 9
Ability Modifiers: STR +1, CHA -1
Ability Min/Max: STR 9/19, DEX 3/18, CON 3/18, INT 8/18, WIS 8/18, CHA 3/15
Lizard Folk were one of the first species to organize after The Sorrow and begin to reorganize old settlements and expand into new ones. Their cold blooded nature makes them somewhat lethargic in colder temperatures as well as come across as blunt and cold during social interactions. Lizard Folk stand between 6 to 7 feet tall and weight around 200 pounds. They have thick, scaly, green skin and a large crest that runs from the top of their heads, down their spine, and along the length of a thick tail. The crest varies in color, from a variety of shades of greens, tans, and browns and often is seen as analogous to hair in other species. Because they are cold blooded and have little in the way of visible gender dimorphism, many other species have a hard time telling their genders apart. Lizard folk lay eggs, which are usually hatched and raised among other young in a hatchery.
Lizard Folk have ultraviolet vision up to 300'. Because of their scaly hides, all lizard folk have an AC of 7 when not wearing armor (this number is replaced with that of whatever armor is worn by a character). Lizard Folk tongues flick in and out like many lizards and snakes which allows them to "taste the air" gaining information about where things are even if they can't fully see them. Because of this if a Lizard Folk becomes blinded he only suffers a -2 penalty to hit, this includes the ability to hit invisible creatures, because of this advanced warning, Lizard Folk are only surprised on a roll 1 on a 1d6. Because they are cold blooded and have a slower metabolism lizard folk only need to eat once every three days. Their near match in temperature to the environment makes them hard to see with Infravision, thus, a group of only lizard folk will surprise a group using only Infravision to see on a 1-3 on 1d6.
Lizard Folk receive the following saving throw bonuses:
Lizard Folk may select the following classes, with the indicated level limits:
Lizard Folk
Requirements: STR 9
Ability Modifiers: STR +1, CHA -1
Ability Min/Max: STR 9/19, DEX 3/18, CON 3/18, INT 8/18, WIS 8/18, CHA 3/15
Lizard Folk were one of the first species to organize after The Sorrow and begin to reorganize old settlements and expand into new ones. Their cold blooded nature makes them somewhat lethargic in colder temperatures as well as come across as blunt and cold during social interactions. Lizard Folk stand between 6 to 7 feet tall and weight around 200 pounds. They have thick, scaly, green skin and a large crest that runs from the top of their heads, down their spine, and along the length of a thick tail. The crest varies in color, from a variety of shades of greens, tans, and browns and often is seen as analogous to hair in other species. Because they are cold blooded and have little in the way of visible gender dimorphism, many other species have a hard time telling their genders apart. Lizard folk lay eggs, which are usually hatched and raised among other young in a hatchery.
Lizard Folk have ultraviolet vision up to 300'. Because of their scaly hides, all lizard folk have an AC of 7 when not wearing armor (this number is replaced with that of whatever armor is worn by a character). Lizard Folk tongues flick in and out like many lizards and snakes which allows them to "taste the air" gaining information about where things are even if they can't fully see them. Because of this if a Lizard Folk becomes blinded he only suffers a -2 penalty to hit, this includes the ability to hit invisible creatures, because of this advanced warning, Lizard Folk are only surprised on a roll 1 on a 1d6. Because they are cold blooded and have a slower metabolism lizard folk only need to eat once every three days. Their near match in temperature to the environment makes them hard to see with Infravision, thus, a group of only lizard folk will surprise a group using only Infravision to see on a 1-3 on 1d6.
Lizard Folk receive the following saving throw bonuses:
- +4 save versus poison
Lizard Folk may select the following classes, with the indicated level limits:
- Druids (7th Level limit)
- Fighter (12th Level limit)
- Illusionist (8th Level limit)
- Magic-User (8th Level limit)
- Ranger (8th Level limit)
- Thief (14th Level limit)
- Pick Locks (-5%)
- Pick Pockets (-10%)
- Move Silently (+7%)
- Climb Walls (+5%)
- Hide in Shadows (+5%)
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Musing: Lizard Folk Eggs
Before I present what will hopefully be my final rendition of the Lizard Folk Species (look for it on Monday!) and hammer out the last of Bluestone Isle's Past (look for it... in the future!), I just have a small thought for today.
Lizard Folk, by nature of being cold blooded, lay eggs in which their young hatch. The way I see it, hatcheries are a communal place, where those females who are about to lay fertilized eggs go to be with other expectant mothers and mid-wives, it's a place made to be humid and warm and the children are raised up together after hatching. They are not abandoned strictly to midwives or some such after birth, the mothers stay with the young for a few years as they mature and most fathers come and visit, but Lizard Folk development at a young age is communal.
Just a random thought to help separate them more so from simple be "humans skinned slightly different," like many species end up in fantasy games and makes for good visuals, I still need an artist who enjoys working for free...
Lizard Folk, by nature of being cold blooded, lay eggs in which their young hatch. The way I see it, hatcheries are a communal place, where those females who are about to lay fertilized eggs go to be with other expectant mothers and mid-wives, it's a place made to be humid and warm and the children are raised up together after hatching. They are not abandoned strictly to midwives or some such after birth, the mothers stay with the young for a few years as they mature and most fathers come and visit, but Lizard Folk development at a young age is communal.
Just a random thought to help separate them more so from simple be "humans skinned slightly different," like many species end up in fantasy games and makes for good visuals, I still need an artist who enjoys working for free...
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Book Building: Timeline Part 1
Alright, here's the first half or so of the player friendly timeline for the book, check it out, give some thoughts and love:
??? (Generations Ago): The Sorrow; Ashford Island and its companions take to the skies. Survivors fight the environment, predators, hunger, and sickness to survive.
ca. 1800 Years Ago: Goblins, owning to their quick reproduction, are the first to begin to spread throughout the Isles. They prey on the intelligent species of Ashford Island as well as settle under the hills of Isakova Island.
ca. 1200 Years Ago: The dwarves, avoiding most of the disaster by being underground begin to repopulate their home of Mitrovka and the surrounding hills of Isakova Island. The dwarves and goblins encounter one another and bloody conflict ensures.
ca. 1000 Years Ago: The lizard folk organize, they drive the goblins into the Bluestone Mountains on Ashford Island and settle into the remnants of what will become Ashford Bay.
ca. 1050 Years Ago: The lizard folk attempt to ally themselves with the surviving humans, some take up the alliance and move into the ruins of Ashford. Other groups of humans rebuke the offer and continue their ways of raiding and pillaging one another as well as the ruins of Ashford. The two groups clash several time, but Ashford, as a unified and defensible position beats back each group of raiders. Lizard folk begin observations of the other nearby islands.
ca. 1040 Years Ago: The raiding tribes of human unite under one ruler and once again set their sights on Ashford. Two humans, named Orial and Cannas gathered a small force that executed a preemptive strike deep into the heart of the raider territory, they successfully scatter and slaughter the raiders, but pay for it with their lives, they are forever more regaled as heroes.
1037 Years Ago: First observed eruption of Naythariruh. The eruption is spotted by a gnome explorer airship. The airship, crewed by kobolds and gnomes docks near the city of Ashford and the first diplomatic meetings between the gnomes, lizard folk, and humans take place. The gnomes agree to send a formal delegation to discuss further alliances. Several kobolds remain in Ashford. The humans and lizard folk begin the construction of several docks for the arriving gnomes.
1035 Years Ago: The Gnome delegation fleet arrives, talks between the groups end with the gnomes getting a section of the city for which they can conduct research in exchange for knowledge and technology involved in the construction and usage of airships.
1 ABR (1032 Years Ago): Gnome settlers (and scores of kobolds with them) arrive at Ashford as human and lizard folk begin the exploration of the surrounding islands. The first group sent to explore Lapis disappears within the ruins never to return. First contact between the dwarves with the humans and lizard folk of Ashford Island. The first Lords of Ashford Bay elected. Ashford renamed Ashford Bay, Ashford Island and the surrounding islands formally named. The Bluestone Isles officially adopted as the name of the island cluster. The beginning of Ashford Bay Reckoning.
4 ABR (1029 Years Ago): First attempt at constructing a settlement on the shores of The Marble Lake ends when the settlers mysteriously vanish.
8 ABR (1025 Years Ago): Two more attempts at settling along The Marble Lake fail when both colonies are attacked by elemental creatures that flood and demolish the settlements. Ashford Bay halts attempts to settle the area for the first time.
12 ABR (1021 Years Ago): Gnoll raiders discover the Bluestone Isles and launch daring raids on Ashford Bay, the people of Ashford are unprepared for such an assualt and suffer great losses of both life and supplies. Sir Tobias Calder leads a group of adventurers against the gnolls, ultimately driving them off, but at the loss of the entire adventuring group. Lands on the island of Iscarion are granted to his descendants who name the settlement they make there Calder's Promise. The town begins to transport water from Lake Maséy to Ashford Bay to help with the dwindling water supplies due to the growth in population and being unable to establish a permanent settlement along The Marble Lake.
26 ABR (1007 Years Ago): Gnomes become eligible for positions as Lords of Ashford Bay. The ever growing population calls for clear cutting cast swaths of the Garové Woods to make way for farmlands.
30 ABR (1003 Years Ago): The first permanent structures of the town of Sama are built.
31 ABR (1002 Years Ago): The dwarves finally agree to send delegates to Ashford Bay, they do not ask for aid in their campaign against the goblins, however they do agree to opening trade between the two islands.
35 ABR (998 Years Ago): A huge eruption of the Heart of Chasnor throws large amounts of dust and rock into the air, blocking off safe passage outside the island cluster.
??? (Generations Ago): The Sorrow; Ashford Island and its companions take to the skies. Survivors fight the environment, predators, hunger, and sickness to survive.
ca. 1800 Years Ago: Goblins, owning to their quick reproduction, are the first to begin to spread throughout the Isles. They prey on the intelligent species of Ashford Island as well as settle under the hills of Isakova Island.
ca. 1200 Years Ago: The dwarves, avoiding most of the disaster by being underground begin to repopulate their home of Mitrovka and the surrounding hills of Isakova Island. The dwarves and goblins encounter one another and bloody conflict ensures.
ca. 1000 Years Ago: The lizard folk organize, they drive the goblins into the Bluestone Mountains on Ashford Island and settle into the remnants of what will become Ashford Bay.
ca. 1050 Years Ago: The lizard folk attempt to ally themselves with the surviving humans, some take up the alliance and move into the ruins of Ashford. Other groups of humans rebuke the offer and continue their ways of raiding and pillaging one another as well as the ruins of Ashford. The two groups clash several time, but Ashford, as a unified and defensible position beats back each group of raiders. Lizard folk begin observations of the other nearby islands.
ca. 1040 Years Ago: The raiding tribes of human unite under one ruler and once again set their sights on Ashford. Two humans, named Orial and Cannas gathered a small force that executed a preemptive strike deep into the heart of the raider territory, they successfully scatter and slaughter the raiders, but pay for it with their lives, they are forever more regaled as heroes.
1037 Years Ago: First observed eruption of Naythariruh. The eruption is spotted by a gnome explorer airship. The airship, crewed by kobolds and gnomes docks near the city of Ashford and the first diplomatic meetings between the gnomes, lizard folk, and humans take place. The gnomes agree to send a formal delegation to discuss further alliances. Several kobolds remain in Ashford. The humans and lizard folk begin the construction of several docks for the arriving gnomes.
1035 Years Ago: The Gnome delegation fleet arrives, talks between the groups end with the gnomes getting a section of the city for which they can conduct research in exchange for knowledge and technology involved in the construction and usage of airships.
1 ABR (1032 Years Ago): Gnome settlers (and scores of kobolds with them) arrive at Ashford as human and lizard folk begin the exploration of the surrounding islands. The first group sent to explore Lapis disappears within the ruins never to return. First contact between the dwarves with the humans and lizard folk of Ashford Island. The first Lords of Ashford Bay elected. Ashford renamed Ashford Bay, Ashford Island and the surrounding islands formally named. The Bluestone Isles officially adopted as the name of the island cluster. The beginning of Ashford Bay Reckoning.
4 ABR (1029 Years Ago): First attempt at constructing a settlement on the shores of The Marble Lake ends when the settlers mysteriously vanish.
8 ABR (1025 Years Ago): Two more attempts at settling along The Marble Lake fail when both colonies are attacked by elemental creatures that flood and demolish the settlements. Ashford Bay halts attempts to settle the area for the first time.
12 ABR (1021 Years Ago): Gnoll raiders discover the Bluestone Isles and launch daring raids on Ashford Bay, the people of Ashford are unprepared for such an assualt and suffer great losses of both life and supplies. Sir Tobias Calder leads a group of adventurers against the gnolls, ultimately driving them off, but at the loss of the entire adventuring group. Lands on the island of Iscarion are granted to his descendants who name the settlement they make there Calder's Promise. The town begins to transport water from Lake Maséy to Ashford Bay to help with the dwindling water supplies due to the growth in population and being unable to establish a permanent settlement along The Marble Lake.
26 ABR (1007 Years Ago): Gnomes become eligible for positions as Lords of Ashford Bay. The ever growing population calls for clear cutting cast swaths of the Garové Woods to make way for farmlands.
30 ABR (1003 Years Ago): The first permanent structures of the town of Sama are built.
31 ABR (1002 Years Ago): The dwarves finally agree to send delegates to Ashford Bay, they do not ask for aid in their campaign against the goblins, however they do agree to opening trade between the two islands.
35 ABR (998 Years Ago): A huge eruption of the Heart of Chasnor throws large amounts of dust and rock into the air, blocking off safe passage outside the island cluster.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Design and Development: Lizard Folk Part 4
It's hard to draw a line on how many abilities and bonuses are too many when making a species using the AEC, after all, the game didn't go for straight one-to-one balances to make sure everything was even, instead it made the species fit the idea of what the species was and then worked out balance in other areas (mostly class and level restrictions).
For example, the Halfling has 5 special abilities on top of Saving Throw bonuses, now some of these abilities are very restrictive in how they work (+1 Initiative in an all Halfing party only) and others are very general (+1 To Hit on missile attacks).
Compare that to the Half-Orc, who only has two (a bonus to secret door detection and 60' Infravision), you could say 3 if you added the fact he can speak orc on top of Common and his alignment language I suppose.
Now all of these are also counter balanced by Ability Score Modifications, Max/Min, Thief Ability adjustments, Class/Level restriction. It's a lot of stuff!
That said, let's dissect what I have about the Lizard Folk so far and see if we can start narrowing in on final design.
Abilities
I gave the Lizard Folk a Requirement of having a STR of 9, the requirement of an ability or two at 9 seems to be the standard across the races in AEC (save the Gnome and his 8 in DEX), and it states quite clearly in the monster write up for Lizard Folk that they get +1 damage due to their high strength. This seems to indicate on average they are stronger then the other playable species, so I felt I'd carry that on.
The +1 STR to -2 CHA got atleast one mention of it not being a fair trade, and I agree, it's not, but there are lots of unfair Ability modification "trade offs" in the AEC. The Half-Orc is +1 STR and +1 CON to a -2 CHA which is even more ridiculous then the Lizard Folk modifier. Of course this is slightly balanced by not having as many abilities and class options. The -2 CHA is to portray the sorta cold demeanor the Lizard Folk have compared to other species (and a nod to being cold blooded), their emotions are a lot less expressive and a lot more black and white, that makes them slightly off putting to most other playable species.
No one seemed to have issues with the Ability Min/Max scores, they carry over the strength of course and add an 8 minimum to both INT and WIS, meaning this is a learned race (very rarely does a Lizard Folk not possess the ability to read and fully write, for instance)
Special Abilities
This is the heart of the discussion, as I came up with a lot of ideas for special abilities and I'm not sure which ones to go with or how many of them to use. Below are the ones I ended up with, along with a mechanic benefit if I could think of it (if I don't have the benefit and you like the special ability, suggest a mechanic behind it!)
The +4 Save vs. Poison is quite obvious, I think, most reptiles have higher toxic immunities then warm blooded mammals, mostly due to reduced metabolism and because many of them produce toxins.
Class/Level Limits
I changed the Class/Level Limits around a little bit, the list now stands are follows:
Thief Skill Adjustment
Finally, the Thief Skill Adjustments I mentioned in a previous post:
"The penalty to picking locks and pockets come from clawed hands that don't have the same amount of fine manipulation that other species do, the bonus to climb walls is also based on the claws, and the move silently, hide in shadows bonuses come from the quiet and stillness most cold blooded creatures seem to excel at."
In Conclusion
So that's everything ripped apart again, for one final round of debate and discussion, let's get lively here, yay or nay on choices and see if we end up with an approved Species for this book!
For example, the Halfling has 5 special abilities on top of Saving Throw bonuses, now some of these abilities are very restrictive in how they work (+1 Initiative in an all Halfing party only) and others are very general (+1 To Hit on missile attacks).
Compare that to the Half-Orc, who only has two (a bonus to secret door detection and 60' Infravision), you could say 3 if you added the fact he can speak orc on top of Common and his alignment language I suppose.
Now all of these are also counter balanced by Ability Score Modifications, Max/Min, Thief Ability adjustments, Class/Level restriction. It's a lot of stuff!
That said, let's dissect what I have about the Lizard Folk so far and see if we can start narrowing in on final design.
Abilities
I gave the Lizard Folk a Requirement of having a STR of 9, the requirement of an ability or two at 9 seems to be the standard across the races in AEC (save the Gnome and his 8 in DEX), and it states quite clearly in the monster write up for Lizard Folk that they get +1 damage due to their high strength. This seems to indicate on average they are stronger then the other playable species, so I felt I'd carry that on.
The +1 STR to -2 CHA got atleast one mention of it not being a fair trade, and I agree, it's not, but there are lots of unfair Ability modification "trade offs" in the AEC. The Half-Orc is +1 STR and +1 CON to a -2 CHA which is even more ridiculous then the Lizard Folk modifier. Of course this is slightly balanced by not having as many abilities and class options. The -2 CHA is to portray the sorta cold demeanor the Lizard Folk have compared to other species (and a nod to being cold blooded), their emotions are a lot less expressive and a lot more black and white, that makes them slightly off putting to most other playable species.
No one seemed to have issues with the Ability Min/Max scores, they carry over the strength of course and add an 8 minimum to both INT and WIS, meaning this is a learned race (very rarely does a Lizard Folk not possess the ability to read and fully write, for instance)
Special Abilities
This is the heart of the discussion, as I came up with a lot of ideas for special abilities and I'm not sure which ones to go with or how many of them to use. Below are the ones I ended up with, along with a mechanic benefit if I could think of it (if I don't have the benefit and you like the special ability, suggest a mechanic behind it!)
- Scaly Hide: Gives them a natural AC of 7, this is overridden when armor is worn, but magical items that affect AC directly would subtract from this, not AC 9.
- Fire Resistance/Cold Vulnerability: They take half damage from fire based attack but double damage from cold based attack.
- Claws: This lets them do 1d4 + STR Mod damage with an unarmed attack as opposed to the standard 1d2 + STR Mod.
- Ultraviolet Vision: Something with rules for in the AEC and something I was told many reptile possess. It's a type of night vision that works better outside then in dungeons (see AEC for complete details)
- Taste the Air: Lizard Folk tongues flick in and out like many lizards and snakes (maybe the oddness of that adds to the CHA penalty too) which allows them to "taste the air" gaining information about where things are even if they can't fully see them. Because of this if a Lizard Folk becomes blinded he only suffers a -2 penalty to hit (-4 being the standard penalty to blindness, finally found that in the LL rulebook), this includes the ability to hit invisible creatures (which is also -4 in the same sentence as the blindness rules). If I wanted to extend this ability, you could also say that they only may be surprised on a 1 on 1d6.
- Cold Blooded: This actually give the Lizard Folk two advantages, first, Lizard Folk only need to eat once a week, instead of once a day (as mentioned in LL under Rations and Foraging) and two, their near match in temperature to the environment makes them hard to see with Infravision, thus, a group of only Lizard Folk (or I suppose a Lizard Folk traveling solo) will surprise a group using only Infravision to see on a 1-3 on 1d6, this bonus is negated if the Lizard Folk is carrying a light source (like all surprises are negated with the presence of a light source)
- Balance: Tails give the Lizard Folk good balance, though I'm not sure mechanical how to represent that.
The +4 Save vs. Poison is quite obvious, I think, most reptiles have higher toxic immunities then warm blooded mammals, mostly due to reduced metabolism and because many of them produce toxins.
Class/Level Limits
I changed the Class/Level Limits around a little bit, the list now stands are follows:
- Druid (7th Level)
- Fighter (12th Level)
- Illusionist (8th Level)
- Magic User (8th Level)
- Ranger (8th Level)
- Thief (14th Level)
Thief Skill Adjustment
Finally, the Thief Skill Adjustments I mentioned in a previous post:
"The penalty to picking locks and pockets come from clawed hands that don't have the same amount of fine manipulation that other species do, the bonus to climb walls is also based on the claws, and the move silently, hide in shadows bonuses come from the quiet and stillness most cold blooded creatures seem to excel at."
In Conclusion
So that's everything ripped apart again, for one final round of debate and discussion, let's get lively here, yay or nay on choices and see if we end up with an approved Species for this book!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Design and Development: Lizard Folk Part 3
Okay, so the "rough sketch" of what I thought for the Lizard Folk as a playable species went up and opened up some ideas and thoughts and changes, including some from my end as well. While fluff, you can write whatever you feel inspired to write, crunch needs to ground itself somewhere with the other rules around it, so I want to get things "right" and not just say my first pass is the one we're using.
So, a whole new set of thoughts:
I think the Ability Section is just fine, the +1 to STR being opposed to a -2 CHA instead of a 1 for 1 trade-off comes from the almost universal understanding that CHA is a dump stat (not to me, but, come on, let's all face it), so if you're going to get a bonus to STR and not take a penalty to another physical ability, you should make it count. Also, I've already portrayed the Lizard Folk as intelligent and wise, so it doesn't work taking a hit to INT or WIS.
As for their special abilities, one reader said they didn't seem "lizardfolky" and that it gave of a vibe of a 3.5E race which "just "kinda sorta" gives you some stuff that fits the race, rather than LL/AEC style which has more extreme stuff to help you fit in" I'm not sure how I would approach that to fix it, I felt "built in armor" and "half fire resistant/double cold vulnerable" fit the species, but maybe because they're more "combat mechanic" abilities they stray away from the "dungeon exploring" vibe earlier editions have. That's a fair point.
Of course, another ability I thought of is "combat mechanic" related, so I'm right back at square one! I was thinking of giving the Lizard Folk the ability to do 1d4 damage + STR Mod unarmed to represent claws (as opposed to the 1-2 + STR Mod that LL states for normal unarmed attacks), meaning a Lizard Folk stripped of weapons is still as effective as someone wielding a dagger, but not so effective that if he picked a melee fighting class having a weapon would be pointless.
Another reader mentioned the need for Lizard Folk to have Ultraviolet Vision, a rule already supported in the AEC, which makes it a good candidate since it does not introduce a new mechanic and, as he stated, "most demi-humans have some sort of additional sight anyway." Which I agree.
Other ability ideas that were less "Combat" would be to somehow play up the balance a tail provides, an ability to "taste the air" like many lizards and snakes do to help compensate for being blind/in complete darkness. Being cold blooded, they don't need to eat as much, warm-blooded animals of the same size require 5-10 times the amount of food as a cold blooded creature, so an ability to survive without food longer could be helpful. Also, since cold blooded creatures do not generate their own heat, wouldn't they be harder to spot with infravision?
If anyone has an suggestions into how to turn them into mechanics or which ones strike you as an interesting ability that would make you want to try out the species as a character, please comment below.
I think the +4 save vs. Poison still fits the species pretty well.
Between the natural AC of 7 and the potential ability to do 1d4 damage unarmed, the Lizard Folk make tempted choices as Magic-Users, especially since Magic-Users would look to getting magic items that lower AC (rather then "override" it like armor does), a higher level Magic-user with some Rings/Cloaks of Protection could be formidable, as he wouldn't be taking the same amount of hits a MU of another species would be.
Because of that, I may wish to knock down the maximum level a Lizard Folk can achieve in MU and Illusionist classes, maybe to below "name" level and the ability to research and make their own spells.
Finally, I think the Thief skills fit well and are within the bonus/penalty levels of other species. The penalty to picking locks and pockets come from clawed hands that don't have the same amount of fine manipulation that other species do, the bonus to climb walls is also based on the claws, and the move silently, hide in shadows bonuses come from the quiet and stillness most cold blooded creatures seem to excel at.
So, again, thoughts on the proposed changes or how to work out new mechanics based on some of the "non combat" abilities I thought up?
So, a whole new set of thoughts:
I think the Ability Section is just fine, the +1 to STR being opposed to a -2 CHA instead of a 1 for 1 trade-off comes from the almost universal understanding that CHA is a dump stat (not to me, but, come on, let's all face it), so if you're going to get a bonus to STR and not take a penalty to another physical ability, you should make it count. Also, I've already portrayed the Lizard Folk as intelligent and wise, so it doesn't work taking a hit to INT or WIS.
As for their special abilities, one reader said they didn't seem "lizardfolky" and that it gave of a vibe of a 3.5E race which "just "kinda sorta" gives you some stuff that fits the race, rather than LL/AEC style which has more extreme stuff to help you fit in" I'm not sure how I would approach that to fix it, I felt "built in armor" and "half fire resistant/double cold vulnerable" fit the species, but maybe because they're more "combat mechanic" abilities they stray away from the "dungeon exploring" vibe earlier editions have. That's a fair point.
Of course, another ability I thought of is "combat mechanic" related, so I'm right back at square one! I was thinking of giving the Lizard Folk the ability to do 1d4 damage + STR Mod unarmed to represent claws (as opposed to the 1-2 + STR Mod that LL states for normal unarmed attacks), meaning a Lizard Folk stripped of weapons is still as effective as someone wielding a dagger, but not so effective that if he picked a melee fighting class having a weapon would be pointless.
Another reader mentioned the need for Lizard Folk to have Ultraviolet Vision, a rule already supported in the AEC, which makes it a good candidate since it does not introduce a new mechanic and, as he stated, "most demi-humans have some sort of additional sight anyway." Which I agree.
Other ability ideas that were less "Combat" would be to somehow play up the balance a tail provides, an ability to "taste the air" like many lizards and snakes do to help compensate for being blind/in complete darkness. Being cold blooded, they don't need to eat as much, warm-blooded animals of the same size require 5-10 times the amount of food as a cold blooded creature, so an ability to survive without food longer could be helpful. Also, since cold blooded creatures do not generate their own heat, wouldn't they be harder to spot with infravision?
If anyone has an suggestions into how to turn them into mechanics or which ones strike you as an interesting ability that would make you want to try out the species as a character, please comment below.
I think the +4 save vs. Poison still fits the species pretty well.
Between the natural AC of 7 and the potential ability to do 1d4 damage unarmed, the Lizard Folk make tempted choices as Magic-Users, especially since Magic-Users would look to getting magic items that lower AC (rather then "override" it like armor does), a higher level Magic-user with some Rings/Cloaks of Protection could be formidable, as he wouldn't be taking the same amount of hits a MU of another species would be.
Because of that, I may wish to knock down the maximum level a Lizard Folk can achieve in MU and Illusionist classes, maybe to below "name" level and the ability to research and make their own spells.
Finally, I think the Thief skills fit well and are within the bonus/penalty levels of other species. The penalty to picking locks and pockets come from clawed hands that don't have the same amount of fine manipulation that other species do, the bonus to climb walls is also based on the claws, and the move silently, hide in shadows bonuses come from the quiet and stillness most cold blooded creatures seem to excel at.
So, again, thoughts on the proposed changes or how to work out new mechanics based on some of the "non combat" abilities I thought up?
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Design and Development: Lizard Folk Part 2
So, as I begin to codify the Lizard Folk for their inclusion as a playable species, I'll once again share what I've come up with to open it up to discussion.
Lizard Folk
Requirements: STR 9
Ability Modifiers: STR +1, CHA -2
Ability Min/Max: STR 9/19, DEX 3/18, CON 3/18, INT 8/18, WIS 8/18, CHA 3/15
Lizard Folk were one of the first species to organize after The Sorrow and begin to reorganize old settlements and expand into new ones. Their cold blooded nature makes them somewhat lethargic in colder temperatures as well as come across as blunt and cold during social interactions. Lizard Folk stand between 6 to 7 feet tall and weight around 200 pounds. They have thick, scaly, green skin and a large crest that runs from the top of their heads, down their spine, and along the length of a thick tail. The crest varies in color, from a variety of shades of greens, tans, and browns and often is seen as analogous to hair in other species. Because they are cold blooded and have little in the way of visible gender dimorphism, many other species have a hard time telling their genders apart.
Because of their scaly hides, all lizard folk have an AC of 7 when not wearing armor (this number is replaced with that of whatever armor is worn by a character). Because they are cold blooded they take half damage from fire based attacks, however they take double the amount of damage from cold attacks. Lizard Folk can speak their alignment language, common, lizard folk, and goblin.
Lizard Folk receive the following saving throw bonuses:
Lizard Folk may select the following classes, with the indicated level limits:
Lizard Folk
Requirements: STR 9
Ability Modifiers: STR +1, CHA -2
Ability Min/Max: STR 9/19, DEX 3/18, CON 3/18, INT 8/18, WIS 8/18, CHA 3/15
Lizard Folk were one of the first species to organize after The Sorrow and begin to reorganize old settlements and expand into new ones. Their cold blooded nature makes them somewhat lethargic in colder temperatures as well as come across as blunt and cold during social interactions. Lizard Folk stand between 6 to 7 feet tall and weight around 200 pounds. They have thick, scaly, green skin and a large crest that runs from the top of their heads, down their spine, and along the length of a thick tail. The crest varies in color, from a variety of shades of greens, tans, and browns and often is seen as analogous to hair in other species. Because they are cold blooded and have little in the way of visible gender dimorphism, many other species have a hard time telling their genders apart.
Because of their scaly hides, all lizard folk have an AC of 7 when not wearing armor (this number is replaced with that of whatever armor is worn by a character). Because they are cold blooded they take half damage from fire based attacks, however they take double the amount of damage from cold attacks. Lizard Folk can speak their alignment language, common, lizard folk, and goblin.
Lizard Folk receive the following saving throw bonuses:
- +4 save versus poison
Lizard Folk may select the following classes, with the indicated level limits:
- Druids (7th Level limit)
- Fighter (12th Level limit)
- Illusionist (10th Level limit)
- Magic-User (10th Level limit)
- Ranger (7th Level limit)
- Thief (14th Level limit)
- Pick Locks (-5%)
- Pick Pockets (-10%)
- Move Silently (+7%)
- Climb Walls (+5%)
- Hide in Shadows (+5%)
Friday, August 13, 2010
Design and Development: Lizard Folk
Once again it's time to open the post up to discussion from my reading audience, both of you...
With the actual text behind our first release coming along nicely, and two out of the 8 sections pretty much written, it's about time I leave some of the fluff behind and work on actual crunch.
So I thought I'd look at one of the new species in the game, the Lizard Folk. Using the AEC as a template, a new species needs several things, Ability Requirements, Ability Modifiers, Ability Min/Max, a few paragraphs of flavor mixed with any special abilities, saving throw bonuses (if applicable), class restrictions, and finally thief ability adjustments.
A tall order, I'll be developing the Lizard Folk over the next few posts, but figured I'd start with a few ideas, along with asking what you guys think should be included.
Opening Thoughts:
Ideas, agreements, disagreements thus far?
With the actual text behind our first release coming along nicely, and two out of the 8 sections pretty much written, it's about time I leave some of the fluff behind and work on actual crunch.
So I thought I'd look at one of the new species in the game, the Lizard Folk. Using the AEC as a template, a new species needs several things, Ability Requirements, Ability Modifiers, Ability Min/Max, a few paragraphs of flavor mixed with any special abilities, saving throw bonuses (if applicable), class restrictions, and finally thief ability adjustments.
A tall order, I'll be developing the Lizard Folk over the next few posts, but figured I'd start with a few ideas, along with asking what you guys think should be included.
Opening Thoughts:
- A per standard fantasy fare, Lizard Folk, being cold-blooded should have some form of fire resistance but more sustainable to cold damage. Possibly half damage via fire, double via cold?
- Lizard Folk tough hide gives them an effective AC of 7 (The monster description has an AC of 5, but I feel that's too good a bonus) when unarmored, wearing armor overrides this AC if lower (it does not subtract from a "base" of 7), wearing armor of a higher AC also overrides this AC and is just a silly thing to do.
- Not totally sure on Ability Requirements/Modifiers/Min/Max yet, according to the monster entry they get +1 to damage because of their great STR, so they should atleast have a bonus there.
Ideas, agreements, disagreements thus far?
Book Building: Chapter 1 - Species and Classes
The first chapter after the intro introduces (or reintroduces) the species and classes from the AEC, as well as new ones, and talks about how they're incorporated in the Bluestone Isles.
The fun thing about the fact that various islands and clusters out there is that they all reestablished themselves over generations after The Sorrow in pretty strict isolation. What this means is that on each island set we can change up the species, the classes, and even what bonuses/class allowances the same species get from island to island (races/ethnicities for everyone, not just the elves!). So while dwarves in one cluster may have access to say, the cleric class, other dwarves that don't worship gods on another island won't have that option. The other nice thing about this that we can make distinct and different species/races to play, without having to create 400 different intelligent species running around on one world (which always seemed weird to me)
We may even do humans with slight bonuses or class restrictions, seriously, crazy I know!
Now, much of this won't apply for Bluestone, as its an introduction to our world and a "Basic" cluster for the setting. We don't want to go too crazy and different from the AEC, but we're not going to keep it exactly the same either.
For instance, the PC species for Bluestone comprises of the following:
Dwarves
Gnomes
Kobolds
Lizard Folk
Humans
See, slightly different.
The fun thing about the fact that various islands and clusters out there is that they all reestablished themselves over generations after The Sorrow in pretty strict isolation. What this means is that on each island set we can change up the species, the classes, and even what bonuses/class allowances the same species get from island to island (races/ethnicities for everyone, not just the elves!). So while dwarves in one cluster may have access to say, the cleric class, other dwarves that don't worship gods on another island won't have that option. The other nice thing about this that we can make distinct and different species/races to play, without having to create 400 different intelligent species running around on one world (which always seemed weird to me)
We may even do humans with slight bonuses or class restrictions, seriously, crazy I know!
Now, much of this won't apply for Bluestone, as its an introduction to our world and a "Basic" cluster for the setting. We don't want to go too crazy and different from the AEC, but we're not going to keep it exactly the same either.
For instance, the PC species for Bluestone comprises of the following:
Dwarves
Gnomes
Kobolds
Lizard Folk
Humans
See, slightly different.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Book Building: The Maps!
With all our names in hand, I can now present the maps of the Bluestone Isles, in both Political and Geographical splendor!
Pretty sexy, right?
Pretty sexy, right?
Building a Fantasy Sandbox: Step 15 - Part 7 - The Big One and We're Done!
We saved the biggest and best for last!
Finally the last island, the big boy in the center gets all of the naming out of the way and we put a wrap on Step 15:
The crown jewel of the Bluestone Isles is Ashford Island, largest of the islands in both landmass and population, it is the literal centerpiece to the island cluster.
The island's eastern border is covered by the great Bluestone Mountains, named so because of the blue tint they take on when viewed from a distance in the morning light, and from which the Isles take their name. These great peaks jut skyward, from the jagged summit of the tallest, Mt. Eudora, down to the lower, gentler mountains to the south. This natural barrier helps protect the island from the harsh smoke and ash pumped out of the neighboring volcano, The Heart of Chasnor.
The mountains themselves are flanked by the rolling Lafe Hills, who's western side is carved into by three rivers. The twin rivers Alar and Falar are naturally fed, formed from water running off the Bluestones, as well as from collected streams throughout the surrounding hills. They collect into the Mud River, named so for the dark, murky waters that are created by the rough waters from where the rivers meet, combined with silt and other particulates that are brought down from the mountains. Further to the east, the White River is named for the caps that form on it, due to a rapid current and numerous rocks. It is a younger river, once a mountain fed stream, it now is thought that a crack into the Elemental Realm of Water is feeding it, creating a much larger volume of water than was previously there.
The mountains are also split, separated by The Marble Lake, thus named for the marble striations created from the mixing of the opaque waters of the Mud River with the crystal clear waters of the White river. Marble Lake is a source of food and water for those on Ashford Island. The Goblins that have taken up residence north of the lake often are a nuisance, but aren't in large enough numbers to pose a real threat. The real danger of the lake lies in the wildlife that lives in the nearby woods, as well as elemental creatures that slip through and travels to the lake via the White River. In fact, many ruins of failed attempts to settle lands around Marble Lake speak of the danger of the elemental creatures. These attacks happen so frequently on any attempt to settle along the lake's shore that many believe some mad druid or practitioner of magic is protecting Marble Lake for some unknown reason.
Further west, the land begins to even out and a vast forest growth, named first by the lizard folk as the Garové Woods (the name being adopted by the humans as well), used to dominate the rest of the island. However, as the humans and their lizard folk allies have begun to settle and expand the lands around them, much of the woods has been cleared to make way for farming. The farmland covers most of the south of Ashford, and while numerous farm houses dot the land, several prominent settlements have been built as well.
Furthest north, nestled into a “bay” created by The Sorrow as it tore Ashford Island free from the land below, is Ashford Bay. This city had existed long before the great cataclysm and was gradually resettled by humans and lizard folk, who expanded it by added vast airship docks as well as allowing the gnomes to create several steamwork systems to help run the day to day functions of the great city. The “bay” itself is protected by two great towers, built upon two chunks of rock hauled close to its entrance and connected to Ashford itself by great, and magically reinforced, lengths of chain, each with link as big as several men standing side by side. These towers are named Orial and Cannas, after two brothers and great heroes who managed to infiltrate and defeat a great gathering of airship pirates before they could launch a raid on Ashford Bay during its infancy.
Situated in the middle of the farmland is the great keep known as The Citadel. From it, the crossroads of five trade roads come together, like spokes meeting at the center of a wheel. These roads are well built and well maintained, wide enough to allow two wagons to pass one another. It is along these roads, and the many smaller roads that branch off them into the farmlands, that the Citadel Marshals patrol, keeping the road safe from bandits and monsters that would prey upon caravans, pilgrims, and travelers. Those captured are brought back to The Citadel for quick sentencing, usually left to rot in the prisons beneath the keep or put on display at the crossroads in the various stocks and cages that run along beside it.
These roads lead to the other notable settlements of Ashford Island. To the west is the village of Sama, the center of the agricultural lands of the Bluestone Isles. Most of the harvested goods travel there, prior to being dispersed to Ashford Bay and other population centers near and far. The village maintains it's own docks, primarily used for the heavy shipping barges that transport the grains, meat and other foodstuffs collected from the farms. Sama itself doesn't host that much of a population, while there are some residents, most of the workers come from the surrounding farmlands. Most of those that live in the village proper are cobblers, wheelwrights and others of the sort. There is, of course, a few local taverns. To the south of Sama is Iscarion's Way, a small port hamlet used primarily as a trade stop for smaller airships carrying goods from Calder's Promise. It mostly caters to airmen crews and has a large number of inns, taverns, and brothels to keep the crews occupied while the deals of trade are worked out in great guild halls by the docks.
Further east and south of Iscarion's Way is one of Ashford's two logging and hunting hamlets, a place known as Forest's Edge. Situated along the current edge of the Garové Woods, this small settlement is mostly known for its practice of sending its children to South Island to hunt the great Fangbeast the roam there. The other hamlet, directly east of The Citadel is called Falconwood. Here, many of the hunters are trained falconers, and primarily hunt in the farmlands themselves for small game, helping to control pest populations and bring in food to feed the hamlet itself. The rest of the hamlet provides much of the lumber used in the rest of the settled lands.
Finally the last island, the big boy in the center gets all of the naming out of the way and we put a wrap on Step 15:
The crown jewel of the Bluestone Isles is Ashford Island, largest of the islands in both landmass and population, it is the literal centerpiece to the island cluster.
The island's eastern border is covered by the great Bluestone Mountains, named so because of the blue tint they take on when viewed from a distance in the morning light, and from which the Isles take their name. These great peaks jut skyward, from the jagged summit of the tallest, Mt. Eudora, down to the lower, gentler mountains to the south. This natural barrier helps protect the island from the harsh smoke and ash pumped out of the neighboring volcano, The Heart of Chasnor.
The mountains themselves are flanked by the rolling Lafe Hills, who's western side is carved into by three rivers. The twin rivers Alar and Falar are naturally fed, formed from water running off the Bluestones, as well as from collected streams throughout the surrounding hills. They collect into the Mud River, named so for the dark, murky waters that are created by the rough waters from where the rivers meet, combined with silt and other particulates that are brought down from the mountains. Further to the east, the White River is named for the caps that form on it, due to a rapid current and numerous rocks. It is a younger river, once a mountain fed stream, it now is thought that a crack into the Elemental Realm of Water is feeding it, creating a much larger volume of water than was previously there.
The mountains are also split, separated by The Marble Lake, thus named for the marble striations created from the mixing of the opaque waters of the Mud River with the crystal clear waters of the White river. Marble Lake is a source of food and water for those on Ashford Island. The Goblins that have taken up residence north of the lake often are a nuisance, but aren't in large enough numbers to pose a real threat. The real danger of the lake lies in the wildlife that lives in the nearby woods, as well as elemental creatures that slip through and travels to the lake via the White River. In fact, many ruins of failed attempts to settle lands around Marble Lake speak of the danger of the elemental creatures. These attacks happen so frequently on any attempt to settle along the lake's shore that many believe some mad druid or practitioner of magic is protecting Marble Lake for some unknown reason.
Further west, the land begins to even out and a vast forest growth, named first by the lizard folk as the Garové Woods (the name being adopted by the humans as well), used to dominate the rest of the island. However, as the humans and their lizard folk allies have begun to settle and expand the lands around them, much of the woods has been cleared to make way for farming. The farmland covers most of the south of Ashford, and while numerous farm houses dot the land, several prominent settlements have been built as well.
Furthest north, nestled into a “bay” created by The Sorrow as it tore Ashford Island free from the land below, is Ashford Bay. This city had existed long before the great cataclysm and was gradually resettled by humans and lizard folk, who expanded it by added vast airship docks as well as allowing the gnomes to create several steamwork systems to help run the day to day functions of the great city. The “bay” itself is protected by two great towers, built upon two chunks of rock hauled close to its entrance and connected to Ashford itself by great, and magically reinforced, lengths of chain, each with link as big as several men standing side by side. These towers are named Orial and Cannas, after two brothers and great heroes who managed to infiltrate and defeat a great gathering of airship pirates before they could launch a raid on Ashford Bay during its infancy.
Situated in the middle of the farmland is the great keep known as The Citadel. From it, the crossroads of five trade roads come together, like spokes meeting at the center of a wheel. These roads are well built and well maintained, wide enough to allow two wagons to pass one another. It is along these roads, and the many smaller roads that branch off them into the farmlands, that the Citadel Marshals patrol, keeping the road safe from bandits and monsters that would prey upon caravans, pilgrims, and travelers. Those captured are brought back to The Citadel for quick sentencing, usually left to rot in the prisons beneath the keep or put on display at the crossroads in the various stocks and cages that run along beside it.
These roads lead to the other notable settlements of Ashford Island. To the west is the village of Sama, the center of the agricultural lands of the Bluestone Isles. Most of the harvested goods travel there, prior to being dispersed to Ashford Bay and other population centers near and far. The village maintains it's own docks, primarily used for the heavy shipping barges that transport the grains, meat and other foodstuffs collected from the farms. Sama itself doesn't host that much of a population, while there are some residents, most of the workers come from the surrounding farmlands. Most of those that live in the village proper are cobblers, wheelwrights and others of the sort. There is, of course, a few local taverns. To the south of Sama is Iscarion's Way, a small port hamlet used primarily as a trade stop for smaller airships carrying goods from Calder's Promise. It mostly caters to airmen crews and has a large number of inns, taverns, and brothels to keep the crews occupied while the deals of trade are worked out in great guild halls by the docks.
Further east and south of Iscarion's Way is one of Ashford's two logging and hunting hamlets, a place known as Forest's Edge. Situated along the current edge of the Garové Woods, this small settlement is mostly known for its practice of sending its children to South Island to hunt the great Fangbeast the roam there. The other hamlet, directly east of The Citadel is called Falconwood. Here, many of the hunters are trained falconers, and primarily hunt in the farmlands themselves for small game, helping to control pest populations and bring in food to feed the hamlet itself. The rest of the hamlet provides much of the lumber used in the rest of the settled lands.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Book Building: The Introduction
No, I'm not going to give the book away piece by piece here, but I am going to show parts of it (and have been doing so among the various Building a Fantasy Sandbox entries). However, the introduction is very important to hook people into wanting to check out your product and this is my first pass at said intro. Of course constructive criticism is welcomed (please note, this cold text has not yet seen a pass by an editor).
The world of Deminar has changed, once a glowing marble floating in a black void, teeming with life, it is now shattered, broken, transformed. Generations ago, The Sorrow tore the planet asunder, ripping her to pieces and casting large chunks of earth skyward. And there those pieces hung, floating amidst the clouds, silent sentinels to the world battered below it.
Yet life still clung to those shattered fragments of land, survivors of the great cataclysm that were taken to the skies along with the land beneath their feet. At first, they merely tried to stay alive, finding food, shelter, and avoiding becoming prey to dangerous creatures that stalked what was left of their homes. But as time passed they once again grew to tame the land, reclaiming old cities and towns, plowing farmland and creating new places to live and grow. But they were still isolated, until, once again, their lives changed.
It was the Gnomes that thought of it first, harnessing the very rock that floated beneath them, carving it into great hulls and affixing sails. Thus, the first airships were born out of the very disaster that nearly wiped out all existence. And while the Gnomes had moved onto greater and grander things, including harnessing the power of steam, the other intelligent species took what it was the Gnomes had first created and opened their worlds to exploration.
It was not simple, however, for great danger lurked in the skies. Many island clusters were cut off from others due to large rock fields, encasing them like a shell. Debris that constantly shifted and smashed together, often at random. Those that found safe routes through them discovered that many times so did lurking sky pirates and creatures who lived upon the crashing rock, all who would prey upon those that passed. Many a explorer was faced with the decision of facing potential threat of death from pirates and monsters or from unknown routes and crashing rock. Other clusters, and even lone islands, were separated by vast distances of what seemed like nothing but endless sky. However, these places were just as dangerous, and explorers who set out through them often never returned or found another civilized land, instead falling to slavers, pirates, or vast monstrosities that plied the empty sky, free to grow to enormous size.
To this day many islands and tiny clusters of islands have not seen those outside of their vicinity, and some assume they're the only ones left. However, the inherit trait to explore and discover was not lost, even with these dangers and many an explorer continue to set out to see what is beyond the horizon. Clusters and islands have begun to discover one another, safe routes are established and patrolled, and species that once shared common ground have discovered how different one another are when growing up for generations in isolation. New cultures, worship, and indeed lives, have been made that have separated species that once held common stock and belief. From this new alliances have been forged, new ideas and innovations shared, so have great enemies, unable to allow another of their kind to act so different from them.
In this vast floating tangle of diversity, threat, and evolution sits a cluster of islands known as the Bluestone Isles. It is here, among the seven small masses of land, that new heroes arise, ready to explore not only the mysteries of the lands around them, but the mysteries of the lands abroad. Great danger and vast wealth lies hidden not only among the lands nearby but out amongst the endless blue. You are those heroes, this is your destiny, welcome to the Bluestone Isles. Welcome to Deminar.
The Player's Guide to Deminar is the first in a series of campaign setting sourcebooks for use with Labyrinth Lord and the Advanced Edition Companions, available at http://www.goblinoidgames.com/.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Building a Fantasy Sandox: Step 15 - Part 6: Dwarves name things too.
Hey, It's that map again, only this time, you'll see the Island in the north west corner has a name: So let's learn about Isakova, from the mind of Sean:
The Dwarves (and, therefore, most residents of the Bluestone Isles) refer to their Island, and the hills that cover it, as Isakova. Before the breaking, the Dwarves had a solid presence there. Post-Cataclysm, they were disorganized and confused, and their homes were destroyed. In the years following, they rebuilt most of their underground city, Mitrovka, and resettled the surrounding hills, but not before a group of Goblins were able to establish a foothold on the island. The Goblin colony grew too fast for the Dwarves to unseat them, and the past several hundred years have been filled with intermittent, bloody conflict between the two groups.
One of the major sites of conflict is the low areas surrounding the three rivers, Eshkrova, Kovka Maya and Sora Maya (named here left to right, as depicted on the map). The rivers are a vital source of water and food for both groups, and control of their banks regularly changes. The Northern parts of the rivers generally stay under Goblin control, and the Southern parts generally belong to the Dwarves, but periodically one group or the other gains a bit more control. The Dwarves, located closer to the main island have a healthy trade with the population there, mostly of wrought iron goods.
The Rivers are more large streams, as they are fed mostly from rainfall collecting down the hills. They support a variety of small fish and aquatic life, and the Dwarves have taken to creating small aquatic farms, in which they raise a variety of fish for food.
Monday, August 9, 2010
On: Inspirations and Helpful Guidelines
My current interest in reading up on B/X & BECMI products have been related to what I've labeled "Setting Material," while many of the adventures and rule books had some setting stuff, it was the release of the Gazetteers and Creature Crucibles that really began to be BECMI's "Campaign Setting" information.
As I've leafed through them (I will sit down and read them in publication order one of these weeks), I stumbled across PC2 - Top Ballista: and realized I had found a good chunk of stuff we could look at when dealing with aspects of our game, after all, the area defined in that product was a floating city!
Firstly, there are Sky Gnomes, which, as the book states are "mechanical maniacs, filled with a consuming desire to invent newer, bigger, ever more bizarre and complicated contraptions for the weirdest, most impractical purposes." Well, parts of that sound familiar! We've already recognized that the Gnomes in Deminar are the most adapted to their new environmental, they're the species that started working with steam power, and some (not all, many are more grounded mechanically to stick with practical inventions) are exactly like that description above. That's not to say we're going to take all the stats and personality from PC2 and copy it over wholesale (legally we couldn't anyway), but it certainly a good thing to read before sitting down to write out our version.
Second, there are rules for flying machines in the book, and while they're more styled off of WWI-era fighters, and some of our airships are HUGE, again, we can use these for details we may have not thought of. Or current plan was to take the rules for naval movement and tweak it some, but I think that plan, mixed with some reading of PC2's rules for flying may come up with a system that's still "Basic Rules Lite" but helps sell the aspect of flying about.
See, sometimes inspiration just falls right on top of you!
As I've leafed through them (I will sit down and read them in publication order one of these weeks), I stumbled across PC2 - Top Ballista: and realized I had found a good chunk of stuff we could look at when dealing with aspects of our game, after all, the area defined in that product was a floating city!
Firstly, there are Sky Gnomes, which, as the book states are "mechanical maniacs, filled with a consuming desire to invent newer, bigger, ever more bizarre and complicated contraptions for the weirdest, most impractical purposes." Well, parts of that sound familiar! We've already recognized that the Gnomes in Deminar are the most adapted to their new environmental, they're the species that started working with steam power, and some (not all, many are more grounded mechanically to stick with practical inventions) are exactly like that description above. That's not to say we're going to take all the stats and personality from PC2 and copy it over wholesale (legally we couldn't anyway), but it certainly a good thing to read before sitting down to write out our version.
Second, there are rules for flying machines in the book, and while they're more styled off of WWI-era fighters, and some of our airships are HUGE, again, we can use these for details we may have not thought of. Or current plan was to take the rules for naval movement and tweak it some, but I think that plan, mixed with some reading of PC2's rules for flying may come up with a system that's still "Basic Rules Lite" but helps sell the aspect of flying about.
See, sometimes inspiration just falls right on top of you!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Musing: Lizardfolk were there first!
Okay, so that's a bit of a misnomer, a lot of the races were one the islands as they were violently turn from the ground during (We Really Need to Agree On A Name For This Event). But it seems the Lizardfolk recovered first.
There was a great length of time after Deminar ripped apart that everyone focused just on surviving. They weren't building towns, crafting airships, mapping the islands around them. They were trying not to be wiped out by rampaging monsters and horrible plagues, hoping there was enough food around, seeking each other out to increase their strength. It was only over time they started settling again, moving back into and rebuilding old towns and cities, clearing the land for farming, creating brand new towns from the ground up. It was as if someone hit the reset button and the intelligent species had to crawl through (albeit slightly accelerated) the prehistory of their kind, reliving the hunting/gathering, foraging, survival eras that came before the "civility" of establishing farms, towns, and trade set in.
I believe, on the Bluestone Isles atleast, the lizardfolk were the first to gather their wits about them, adjust to what happened, and begin to live in their new environment rather then lament about the loss of the old one. Lizardfolk are more shamanistic then religious, so while many species cried out about gods abandoning them and laying down to die, the lizardfolk simply contacted the spirits that remained after the cataclysm and continued on. Lizardfolk are naturally more hardy of a species too, they've been around a while and haven't evolved much (much like crocodiles and alligators haven't either). Therefore the lizardfolk were off naming and mapping out the islands while many other species were fearing for their lives.
Now, on the Bluestone Isles, the humans and lizardfolk live pretty integrated lives, there are no human-only nor lizardfolk-only settlements about. And while the humans, as humans do, claim to be masters of that domain, their survival, crawl from the ashes, and very much so their existence on that island cluster could very well be because the lizardfolk allowed them to survive. Something the humans take for granted.
There was a great length of time after Deminar ripped apart that everyone focused just on surviving. They weren't building towns, crafting airships, mapping the islands around them. They were trying not to be wiped out by rampaging monsters and horrible plagues, hoping there was enough food around, seeking each other out to increase their strength. It was only over time they started settling again, moving back into and rebuilding old towns and cities, clearing the land for farming, creating brand new towns from the ground up. It was as if someone hit the reset button and the intelligent species had to crawl through (albeit slightly accelerated) the prehistory of their kind, reliving the hunting/gathering, foraging, survival eras that came before the "civility" of establishing farms, towns, and trade set in.
I believe, on the Bluestone Isles atleast, the lizardfolk were the first to gather their wits about them, adjust to what happened, and begin to live in their new environment rather then lament about the loss of the old one. Lizardfolk are more shamanistic then religious, so while many species cried out about gods abandoning them and laying down to die, the lizardfolk simply contacted the spirits that remained after the cataclysm and continued on. Lizardfolk are naturally more hardy of a species too, they've been around a while and haven't evolved much (much like crocodiles and alligators haven't either). Therefore the lizardfolk were off naming and mapping out the islands while many other species were fearing for their lives.
Now, on the Bluestone Isles, the humans and lizardfolk live pretty integrated lives, there are no human-only nor lizardfolk-only settlements about. And while the humans, as humans do, claim to be masters of that domain, their survival, crawl from the ashes, and very much so their existence on that island cluster could very well be because the lizardfolk allowed them to survive. Something the humans take for granted.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Book Building: The Proper Map Part 1
We've been staring at this pretty map for far too long. So now I present to you The Bluestone Isles, as they were meant to be seen:
A small note on scale, the last time we used hexes on the other map, it was 1 hex = 10 miles, however, with the standard movement overland is usually 24 miles a day, I went with 6 miles a hex so there was less conversion work by player's and DM's wishing to move across the map.
There's still some naming to be done, so it's not fully finished, but I think it looks might proper that way.
A small note on scale, the last time we used hexes on the other map, it was 1 hex = 10 miles, however, with the standard movement overland is usually 24 miles a day, I went with 6 miles a hex so there was less conversion work by player's and DM's wishing to move across the map.
There's still some naming to be done, so it's not fully finished, but I think it looks might proper that way.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Book Building: Player's Guide ToC!
Proudly presenting the Player's Guide to The Bluestone Isles ToC:
Introduction
Species & Classes of the Bluestone Isles
Equipment
New Rules
History of the Bluestone Isles
Map of the Bluestone Isle
Player's Gazetteer of the Bluestone Isles
Religion of the Bluestone Isles
X
Okay, X needs an explanation, X represents a chapter dedicated to the "home base" of the PCs, one of the towns/villages on our map will get a full write-up with taverns to get rumors from, temples to heal at, ruler's homes to be rewarded from, and a smattering of NPCs to interact with. We just haven't decided which town to use yet...
Introduction
Species & Classes of the Bluestone Isles
Equipment
New Rules
History of the Bluestone Isles
Map of the Bluestone Isle
Player's Gazetteer of the Bluestone Isles
Religion of the Bluestone Isles
X
Okay, X needs an explanation, X represents a chapter dedicated to the "home base" of the PCs, one of the towns/villages on our map will get a full write-up with taverns to get rumors from, temples to heal at, ruler's homes to be rewarded from, and a smattering of NPCs to interact with. We just haven't decided which town to use yet...
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Book Building: An Introduction
It's the OCD in me that every post has to fall under some category, a category that is immediately repeated in the label anyway, so really there's no need other then the self reassuring sense that it's in its own category.
Speaking of which, there's a brand new category to this blog "Book Building"
Book Building will look at anything related to actually throwing together the work to be published, offering snippets of text here and there previews, questions, random idea, etc. etc. as long as it's related to the books (can you still call a .pdf release a book?) being worked on.
Very soon, once I run a few things by Sean, I'll throw out a general ToC for the Player's Guide. In fact, right now my focus is on the near co-current releases of both the Player's Guide to the Bluestone Isles and the DM's Guide to the Bluestone Isles.
The most important thing about that sentence above is that it's the first time I'm trying out the name for the Island Clusters as a whole, so what do you think?
Do the Bluestone Isles sound like a place you'd like to run "Basic" level AEC characters?
Speaking of which, there's a brand new category to this blog "Book Building"
Book Building will look at anything related to actually throwing together the work to be published, offering snippets of text here and there previews, questions, random idea, etc. etc. as long as it's related to the books (can you still call a .pdf release a book?) being worked on.
Very soon, once I run a few things by Sean, I'll throw out a general ToC for the Player's Guide. In fact, right now my focus is on the near co-current releases of both the Player's Guide to the Bluestone Isles and the DM's Guide to the Bluestone Isles.
The most important thing about that sentence above is that it's the first time I'm trying out the name for the Island Clusters as a whole, so what do you think?
Do the Bluestone Isles sound like a place you'd like to run "Basic" level AEC characters?
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
On: The Map
The current map we've been using (see many a previous post below for details) will not be the version of the map that ends up in both the Player's and DM's guide.
This is for two reasons:
1: I believe a few of the symbols I am using are "User Created," meaning if I were to publish that map on an item I am selling, I would have to track down the artist and get his permission or work out royalties or all other kinds of fun legal stuff.
2: More importantly, it's not a proper Basic inspired map! Indeed the map needs to be the standard B&W hex map using the symbols we all know and love from Basic D&D with triangles for mountains, a set of three humps for hills and a star within a circle for the capital!
Along with fully working out a ToC, I'll begin preparation on a proper old school map.
This is for two reasons:
1: I believe a few of the symbols I am using are "User Created," meaning if I were to publish that map on an item I am selling, I would have to track down the artist and get his permission or work out royalties or all other kinds of fun legal stuff.
2: More importantly, it's not a proper Basic inspired map! Indeed the map needs to be the standard B&W hex map using the symbols we all know and love from Basic D&D with triangles for mountains, a set of three humps for hills and a star within a circle for the capital!
Along with fully working out a ToC, I'll begin preparation on a proper old school map.
Monday, August 2, 2010
On: The Book Writes Itself
I'm a narrative writer by nature, call it my years as a DM, call it my years as a novel reader, call it just how Matt writes, the point being, if I write something, I tend to think about it what's around what I'm writing and then sometimes put that down on paper (or the screen as well).
As a happy result of that, as Sean and I dealt with Step 15 of our building our island cluster, we did it in a narrative fashion.
Step 15 simply calls for you to name all your geography, both political and natural. We could have easily made a list and named everything:
Mountain: Named This
Town: Names This
etc.
But instead, for each island, we wrote a few simple paragraphs, naming each element as the step called for, but also added some background and rumors of what's around. None of it gives away anything that the average citizen of the area wouldn't know, and plenty of it hints at "what could be."
As I went over my ideas for what the PGtX (X being the name of the Island Cluster) would contain (I'll probably post a tentative ToC tomorrow), I realized what we've been writing perfectly covers the "mini-gazetteer" section of the PGtX. A few edits, look out for consistency, and some simple rewrites and clean up and suddenly a chapter of our first .pdf is already done!
Whats nice is that that next couple of steps will do the same thing. Step 16 asks for a history of the area, we can write that up, and begin pulling out what the average person would know for the PGtX and the total history which will import itself into the DM's Guide. Following that is a full paragraph on each feature named above, these would be full disclosure writing, with every secret revealed, and hopefully some plot hooks thrown in, again, filling out the "DM's gazetteer" section for that book.
I love it when a book just starts writing itself, that's always a good sign.
As a happy result of that, as Sean and I dealt with Step 15 of our building our island cluster, we did it in a narrative fashion.
Step 15 simply calls for you to name all your geography, both political and natural. We could have easily made a list and named everything:
Mountain: Named This
Town: Names This
etc.
But instead, for each island, we wrote a few simple paragraphs, naming each element as the step called for, but also added some background and rumors of what's around. None of it gives away anything that the average citizen of the area wouldn't know, and plenty of it hints at "what could be."
As I went over my ideas for what the PGtX (X being the name of the Island Cluster) would contain (I'll probably post a tentative ToC tomorrow), I realized what we've been writing perfectly covers the "mini-gazetteer" section of the PGtX. A few edits, look out for consistency, and some simple rewrites and clean up and suddenly a chapter of our first .pdf is already done!
Whats nice is that that next couple of steps will do the same thing. Step 16 asks for a history of the area, we can write that up, and begin pulling out what the average person would know for the PGtX and the total history which will import itself into the DM's Guide. Following that is a full paragraph on each feature named above, these would be full disclosure writing, with every secret revealed, and hopefully some plot hooks thrown in, again, filling out the "DM's gazetteer" section for that book.
I love it when a book just starts writing itself, that's always a good sign.
Design and Development: It's Called What Now?
As I piece together the introduction, taking elements of what I've already discussed about the setting, as well as making it something easily understandable, I discovered something important: Our huge event that caused the islands to rise needs a name.
Every good world changing event has some name that's capitalized and put in all the history books for all to see. While I'm sure several of the different cultures, species, and islands have their own name for it, there's always that universal name to fall back on.
I noticed we've used several ourselves, and I think it's time to settle on one "winning" name in which to use every time we wish to speak of the event to the reader.
So here are some of the names we've used or I've come up with:
The Sundering
The Shattering
The Event
The Great Split
The Great Rise
The Cataclysm
etc, etc, etc. Pick a favorite, come up with your own, just thought it's time to reel in something specific.
Every good world changing event has some name that's capitalized and put in all the history books for all to see. While I'm sure several of the different cultures, species, and islands have their own name for it, there's always that universal name to fall back on.
I noticed we've used several ourselves, and I think it's time to settle on one "winning" name in which to use every time we wish to speak of the event to the reader.
So here are some of the names we've used or I've come up with:
The Sundering
The Shattering
The Event
The Great Split
The Great Rise
The Cataclysm
etc, etc, etc. Pick a favorite, come up with your own, just thought it's time to reel in something specific.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Design and Development: .pdf Releases
The way in which I see this Designing a Fantasy Sandbox experiment for Deminar to ultimately pan out is the release of several .pdf's, probably over at RPGnow/DriveThruRPG (and its marketplace that sits on EnWorld, Paizo, and everywhere else) related to the area we're working on. They'd probably be small 32 and/or 64 page releases much like the old school releases of... old. I like the idea of being able to write something that stays confined within a small area, instead of the usual thinking HUGE that I do (see my earlier posts on the cosmology and such we've already thought up), sticking with things only really lower level characters would run into worked well in the past (and with the current OSR) and makes it easier to focus.
The releases would be as follows:
Player's Guide to X (With X being the name of the Island Cluster we're making): This book would start with a small intro explaining what Deminar was all about, a page or so like the intro on this blog mentioning the Age of Exploration, Steampunk, Fantasy mash-up. After that each playable species would get a small entry explaining it's place on the island cluster and the relevant rules that go with it. This would be followed by a similar entry for classes, with a paragraph or two on their place in the cluster but without the rules, since they're already in the AEC. The rest of the book would be a mini-gazetteer, with a timeline as a person living on the cluster would know it, a look at the pantheon worshipped and then a quick overview of the cluster with a paragraph or two on each major geographical location, but leaving out any of the juicy hidden bits like lairs or hidden villains. The cap-off would be taking one of the towns and giving it a full map, break down of locations, important NPCs, etc. to use as a starting "home base" for the PCs.
DM's Guide to X (With X being the name of the Island Cluster we're making): This book would give all the details you don't want your player's to see! A more detailed timeline with info the common man wouldn't know, but may be used to help spice up old dungeons, a look at any prominent evil cults, monster groups, or hidden villains in town that are working behind the scenes to unleash evil that the PCs would eventually thwart and then a DM's mini-gazetteer, pointing out parts not included in the Player's version, such as Lairs, dungeons, and bandit camps. The cap-off for this book would be taking one of the small lairs and using it as a "starter dungeon" to get the game running.
Modules: The heart of old-school D&D! Since we've put in a few dungeons and lairs, they'd need write-ups, and thus modules would be born.
From there, possibilities are endless; you can do more detailed gazetteers on each isle (or even one just on the big city itself), giving a more detailed look of the people, places, and creatures there. Species books detailing the unique look at the species and how it fits in the island cluster, including cultures, beliefs, physiology, etc. (and unlike more modern D&D games, probably little/no crunch!) The ubiquitous Gods book, shedding light on the deities of the cluster and their worships. And even mini-monster books, not only introducing new monsters, but, like the species books giving a more detailed look at how the monsters work on the cluster (our goblins and their kin in particular are dying to have a book written about them for Sean). An airship book would be cool, with rules for airship movement/combat, example airships, how to build airships, etc.
Once the that cluster is covered, or we're in the mood for something different, we can always move onto another cluster, maybe our "Expert" level of islands, if you will.
So, thoughts, ideas, comments?
The releases would be as follows:
Player's Guide to X (With X being the name of the Island Cluster we're making): This book would start with a small intro explaining what Deminar was all about, a page or so like the intro on this blog mentioning the Age of Exploration, Steampunk, Fantasy mash-up. After that each playable species would get a small entry explaining it's place on the island cluster and the relevant rules that go with it. This would be followed by a similar entry for classes, with a paragraph or two on their place in the cluster but without the rules, since they're already in the AEC. The rest of the book would be a mini-gazetteer, with a timeline as a person living on the cluster would know it, a look at the pantheon worshipped and then a quick overview of the cluster with a paragraph or two on each major geographical location, but leaving out any of the juicy hidden bits like lairs or hidden villains. The cap-off would be taking one of the towns and giving it a full map, break down of locations, important NPCs, etc. to use as a starting "home base" for the PCs.
DM's Guide to X (With X being the name of the Island Cluster we're making): This book would give all the details you don't want your player's to see! A more detailed timeline with info the common man wouldn't know, but may be used to help spice up old dungeons, a look at any prominent evil cults, monster groups, or hidden villains in town that are working behind the scenes to unleash evil that the PCs would eventually thwart and then a DM's mini-gazetteer, pointing out parts not included in the Player's version, such as Lairs, dungeons, and bandit camps. The cap-off for this book would be taking one of the small lairs and using it as a "starter dungeon" to get the game running.
Modules: The heart of old-school D&D! Since we've put in a few dungeons and lairs, they'd need write-ups, and thus modules would be born.
From there, possibilities are endless; you can do more detailed gazetteers on each isle (or even one just on the big city itself), giving a more detailed look of the people, places, and creatures there. Species books detailing the unique look at the species and how it fits in the island cluster, including cultures, beliefs, physiology, etc. (and unlike more modern D&D games, probably little/no crunch!) The ubiquitous Gods book, shedding light on the deities of the cluster and their worships. And even mini-monster books, not only introducing new monsters, but, like the species books giving a more detailed look at how the monsters work on the cluster (our goblins and their kin in particular are dying to have a book written about them for Sean). An airship book would be cool, with rules for airship movement/combat, example airships, how to build airships, etc.
Once the that cluster is covered, or we're in the mood for something different, we can always move onto another cluster, maybe our "Expert" level of islands, if you will.
So, thoughts, ideas, comments?
On: Long Time No See!
This blog has been quite quiet lately! But it has not been from lack of ideas, rather, I've been quite busy piecing together all the components to a rather massive campaign for my weekly group and much of my time has been caught up in that.
Now, however, the campaign is pretty much set to run, the background is all there, the players are finishing up their characters, and I have enough resources ready to run several sessions without having to do more updating, so, back to work here!
I missed you Deminar, but I haven't forgotten about you!
Now, however, the campaign is pretty much set to run, the background is all there, the players are finishing up their characters, and I have enough resources ready to run several sessions without having to do more updating, so, back to work here!
I missed you Deminar, but I haven't forgotten about you!