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.
Showing posts with label Fantasy Sandbox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fantasy Sandbox. Show all posts
Thursday, August 12, 2010
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.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Building a Fantasy Sandbox: Step 15: Part 5 - Can't Let Sean Have All the Fun
Sean's recent fervor of creativity has opened up some fun discussions about our setting and the lands contained within! It also got me off my ass and onto naming the last of my "solo" islands, as detailed below:
The isle of Lapus lies uninhabited, as it has for generations, yet it is still an overwhelming presence to the inhabitants of the region. The island is most known for the Spine of Chasnor, the chain of mountains that run down the middle of it, most notable among them, The Heart of Chasnor (or Naythariruh to the Lizardmen), an active volcano at the island's center.
The volcano is constantly ejecting magma from its crater in the center, usually in a slow steady flow, but sometimes erupting violently. This heated rock slowly works its way down the mountains, expanding and building up the island. Spectacular lava falls often accompany the violent eruptions as the massive amounts of lava do not cool before they reach the island's edge. These eruptions can also be felt on (the Main Island) and cause shipping lanes to shift as hot ash and smoke are tossed into the air. Luckily, prevailing winds carry most of the ash away from the other islands, though there have been times in which ash fell from the sky to cover other nearby landmasses.
Scholars are at a loss as to where Naythariruh gets its seemingly unending supply of magma, as there is not much rock underneath the isle itself. Speculation runs the gamut from a portal connected to the Elemental Plane of Fire to it being the actual heart of a god, the magma its life's blood. That is not the island's only mystery however.
Cradled in the center of the Spine of Chasnor rests the ruins of an ancient city, mostly collapsed and much buried beneath obsidian. Little beyond several thousand stone formations remain, though a detailed study of the ruin has not been possible, due to constant fear of a violent eruption. What little could be obtained from the few expeditions there have reported back a great feeling of unease, hallucinations of blurry humanoid figures spotted in the distance through the thick heated air, and a seemingly uncoincidental increase in the intensity of tremors and lava flow from the Heart of Chasnor the deeper expeditions got into the ruins. Those expeditions that last reported they had reached the heart of the ruins never made it back, after particularly violent eruptions occurred soon after those reports. The ruins are named JanderOst, after one group found those two words harshly carved into the side of one foundation, the only written word or symbol thus far discovered within.
The isle of Lapus lies uninhabited, as it has for generations, yet it is still an overwhelming presence to the inhabitants of the region. The island is most known for the Spine of Chasnor, the chain of mountains that run down the middle of it, most notable among them, The Heart of Chasnor (or Naythariruh to the Lizardmen), an active volcano at the island's center.
The volcano is constantly ejecting magma from its crater in the center, usually in a slow steady flow, but sometimes erupting violently. This heated rock slowly works its way down the mountains, expanding and building up the island. Spectacular lava falls often accompany the violent eruptions as the massive amounts of lava do not cool before they reach the island's edge. These eruptions can also be felt on (the Main Island) and cause shipping lanes to shift as hot ash and smoke are tossed into the air. Luckily, prevailing winds carry most of the ash away from the other islands, though there have been times in which ash fell from the sky to cover other nearby landmasses.
Scholars are at a loss as to where Naythariruh gets its seemingly unending supply of magma, as there is not much rock underneath the isle itself. Speculation runs the gamut from a portal connected to the Elemental Plane of Fire to it being the actual heart of a god, the magma its life's blood. That is not the island's only mystery however.
Cradled in the center of the Spine of Chasnor rests the ruins of an ancient city, mostly collapsed and much buried beneath obsidian. Little beyond several thousand stone formations remain, though a detailed study of the ruin has not been possible, due to constant fear of a violent eruption. What little could be obtained from the few expeditions there have reported back a great feeling of unease, hallucinations of blurry humanoid figures spotted in the distance through the thick heated air, and a seemingly uncoincidental increase in the intensity of tremors and lava flow from the Heart of Chasnor the deeper expeditions got into the ruins. Those expeditions that last reported they had reached the heart of the ruins never made it back, after particularly violent eruptions occurred soon after those reports. The ruins are named JanderOst, after one group found those two words harshly carved into the side of one foundation, the only written word or symbol thus far discovered within.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Building a Fantasy Sandbox: Step 15: Part 4 - Sean's on a roll!
There's no stopping Sean, as he's on a roll, here we have another island named to check off Step 15. This time, the isle of woods low on the map:
The southern-most is fairly unremarkable, save for it's population of Fangbeast and rumors of crazed humanoids. With easier access to food, water and lumber, residents of the island cluster rarely venture onto the South Island. The people of Forest's Edge (The southern-most hamlet, at the end of the road near the woods on the main island) use the island as a Coming of Age rite for their young hunters (both male and female). The young hunters are tasked with slaying a Fangbeast, all the while avoiding the other dangers that lurk in the woods. If they succeed, they are welcomed back into the village as a true hunter. Those that fail often don't return, and those that do return are integrated into another aspect of the village, though this is often leads them to leave and find their place in life elsewhere.
The southern-most is fairly unremarkable, save for it's population of Fangbeast and rumors of crazed humanoids. With easier access to food, water and lumber, residents of the island cluster rarely venture onto the South Island. The people of Forest's Edge (The southern-most hamlet, at the end of the road near the woods on the main island) use the island as a Coming of Age rite for their young hunters (both male and female). The young hunters are tasked with slaying a Fangbeast, all the while avoiding the other dangers that lurk in the woods. If they succeed, they are welcomed back into the village as a true hunter. Those that fail often don't return, and those that do return are integrated into another aspect of the village, though this is often leads them to leave and find their place in life elsewhere.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Building a Fantasy Sandbox: Step 15: Part 3 - Not Just Me Naming These Things
So, my co-developer on the Deminar project, Sean, has submitted his first named isle. This one for the Desert isle, below is his transcript:
The Lost Desert. Most of the other islands in this region of islands are forestry, and none of the other ones are desert. This little piece of desert seems to have gotten itself lost and wandered into a Green area. It happened a while ago, so the name of the region where it came from is unknown.
The Temple in the desert was once dedicated to the God(dess) of (Emptiness?Nothing?Void?I can't think of a good title for the Aspect...I guess I just named that God - Gidara). It contains a vast number of chambers that are open to the desert, but isolated from the other chambers but for a small door just large enough to crawl through. When it was still on the surface, you could sit in a chamber and stare off into the vast nothingness of the desert and contemplate the empty spaces - yet, you could eventually see that even in the nothing that is the desert, there are features and things to see. In Nothing, There is Something (how's that for a Koan?).
In the Post-cataclysmic times, the Temple has fallen out of use by that sect, and rumors of a Darker God's minions moving in have yet to be confirmed...
The temple was purposely built in an area pretty devoid of spectacular features. That said, to the south of the temple is a flat section of desert, which would have continued beyond the borders of the island, that consists of crusty, salty sand, the remains of a body of water that occupied that space prior to the desert forming. The locals call it the Bone Flats, for its white color, as well as the bones of creatures that have wandered there and died of dehydration (and possibly by the hand/paw of a creature that lives there)
The Lost Desert. Most of the other islands in this region of islands are forestry, and none of the other ones are desert. This little piece of desert seems to have gotten itself lost and wandered into a Green area. It happened a while ago, so the name of the region where it came from is unknown.
The Temple in the desert was once dedicated to the God(dess) of (Emptiness?Nothing?Void?I can't think of a good title for the Aspect...I guess I just named that God - Gidara). It contains a vast number of chambers that are open to the desert, but isolated from the other chambers but for a small door just large enough to crawl through. When it was still on the surface, you could sit in a chamber and stare off into the vast nothingness of the desert and contemplate the empty spaces - yet, you could eventually see that even in the nothing that is the desert, there are features and things to see. In Nothing, There is Something (how's that for a Koan?).
In the Post-cataclysmic times, the Temple has fallen out of use by that sect, and rumors of a Darker God's minions moving in have yet to be confirmed...
The temple was purposely built in an area pretty devoid of spectacular features. That said, to the south of the temple is a flat section of desert, which would have continued beyond the borders of the island, that consists of crusty, salty sand, the remains of a body of water that occupied that space prior to the desert forming. The locals call it the Bone Flats, for its white color, as well as the bones of creatures that have wandered there and died of dehydration (and possibly by the hand/paw of a creature that lives there)
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Building a Fantasy Sandbox: Step 15: Part 2 - Another Island down!
The next island on my checklist is in the top right of the map, seen here:
This one is slightly different then the first I did as it doesn't have any settlements, instead it is one of our "wild" or "lair" isles, ideal for the adventurers to go exploring.
After a particularly scholarly lizardman determined that this isle was once joined with (The main island, named to be determined), he named it Seberus, meaning Little Brethren in their tongue. Seberus separated sometime after the island rose from the cursed earth below, but long before humans settled permanently in the region. The great Aldernai peaks block much of the island from view from the (main isle) and from them issues forth the Ehrophase and Serophase rivers. These two waterways drain down from the mountains and disappear into the Ukridian hills. On the opposite side of the island lies the deciduous forest known as the Nagana Woods, home to all manner of wild beast. The most striking feature of Seberus, however, is not natural at all, but instead a decrepit and rotting tower. Known simply as The Spire, this ancient ruin predates the cataclysm that caused the islands to rise. Though some study has been conducted on the outside of the tower and its surrounding area, few have ventured deep within, as those few brave souls who did, have never returned.
This one is slightly different then the first I did as it doesn't have any settlements, instead it is one of our "wild" or "lair" isles, ideal for the adventurers to go exploring.
After a particularly scholarly lizardman determined that this isle was once joined with (The main island, named to be determined), he named it Seberus, meaning Little Brethren in their tongue. Seberus separated sometime after the island rose from the cursed earth below, but long before humans settled permanently in the region. The great Aldernai peaks block much of the island from view from the (main isle) and from them issues forth the Ehrophase and Serophase rivers. These two waterways drain down from the mountains and disappear into the Ukridian hills. On the opposite side of the island lies the deciduous forest known as the Nagana Woods, home to all manner of wild beast. The most striking feature of Seberus, however, is not natural at all, but instead a decrepit and rotting tower. Known simply as The Spire, this ancient ruin predates the cataclysm that caused the islands to rise. Though some study has been conducted on the outside of the tower and its surrounding area, few have ventured deep within, as those few brave souls who did, have never returned.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Building a Fantasy Sandbox: Step 15: Part 1 - We're Still Working!
Wow, it has been over a month since we capped off Step 12, the last of our mapping steps and while I've posted a bunch of thoughts on how the world works, I think it's time to get back to the matter at hand. Doing the actual development!
Firstly, we skip Step 14:
Step 14: Decide to place miscellaneous locales. (anything that doesn't fit a above.
Because, we don't have anything that doesn't really fit the above categories, our first cluster of islands are as mapped as they're going to be (pending dungeons). So we can move on!
Step 15: Name your geography (don't forget islands)
Don't forget islands he says! I'm sure we'll remember them.
We now move away from the drawing and into the thinking, there are a lot of things to name and we're splitting the islands between us, to lessen the burden.
First on my list, the island in the south with the big mountain as its prominent feature.
Or the one I so crudely am pointing.
So, running some random names through my brain and picking out all the things I need to name, I came up with this:
The Isle of Iscarion is named after its most prominent feature, the great mountain known as Mt. Iscarion. Beside it, sits the Little Sisters, smaller mountains, dwarfed by Iscarion's majestic size.
The isle is home to one town, known as Calder's Promise, named so after land rights were promised to Sir Tobias Calder by the Lords of (whatever our capital is called) centuries ago, if he were to defeat gnoll raiders. He did so, though at the cost of his life. However, his descendents were given the land and named it Calder's Promise, after the great warrior.
Calder's Promise sits on the shores of Lake Maséy, which gathers water that runs off the mountains and sends it, via the spellbinding Endless Falls, over the edge of the isle and into a fine mist far below. The water travels to these falls via the Tamlen river, which split into the East and West Tamlen halfway through their journey.
On the other side of Lake Maséy are the Bereneise Hills, lands that have not been claimed by the people of Calder's Promise and are still home to the wilds of Iscarion.
One down, six islands (including that big boy!) to go!
Firstly, we skip Step 14:
Step 14: Decide to place miscellaneous locales. (anything that doesn't fit a above.
Because, we don't have anything that doesn't really fit the above categories, our first cluster of islands are as mapped as they're going to be (pending dungeons). So we can move on!
Step 15: Name your geography (don't forget islands)
Don't forget islands he says! I'm sure we'll remember them.
We now move away from the drawing and into the thinking, there are a lot of things to name and we're splitting the islands between us, to lessen the burden.
First on my list, the island in the south with the big mountain as its prominent feature.
Or the one I so crudely am pointing.
So, running some random names through my brain and picking out all the things I need to name, I came up with this:
The Isle of Iscarion is named after its most prominent feature, the great mountain known as Mt. Iscarion. Beside it, sits the Little Sisters, smaller mountains, dwarfed by Iscarion's majestic size.
The isle is home to one town, known as Calder's Promise, named so after land rights were promised to Sir Tobias Calder by the Lords of (whatever our capital is called) centuries ago, if he were to defeat gnoll raiders. He did so, though at the cost of his life. However, his descendents were given the land and named it Calder's Promise, after the great warrior.
Calder's Promise sits on the shores of Lake Maséy, which gathers water that runs off the mountains and sends it, via the spellbinding Endless Falls, over the edge of the isle and into a fine mist far below. The water travels to these falls via the Tamlen river, which split into the East and West Tamlen halfway through their journey.
On the other side of Lake Maséy are the Bereneise Hills, lands that have not been claimed by the people of Calder's Promise and are still home to the wilds of Iscarion.
One down, six islands (including that big boy!) to go!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Building a Fantasy Sandbox: Step 12: Better Late then Never
12. Decide to place Lairs (locales that revolves around a home of monsters)
Lair, in this case, is a bit of a misnomer, it doesn't necessarily have to mean a dungeon area that is home to a certain creature and its guards, indeed, it doesn't have to be a dungeon at all or even always a cave that houses a sleeping warg.
Lair, basically, means any encounter that always takes place when the PCs enter a certain hex. Whether it's because it's a creature's hunting grounds, because the creature actually does have a physical lair there (be it one "room" or many levels) or because it's an area particularly thick with a certain species, if it's a keyed encounter set to go off when the PCs explore it, we call that a "Lair" for the purposes of that step.
So, here's our map, with the Lairs (conveniently marked L) added in:
As for what's located in each "L," well, I can't reveal all our secrets now can I? Much like the ruins, that will go unsaid. What it does bring up, ties into my previous post about "A Little Reality..." in that we now have specific creatures and species in particular areas, what that means is we have to reverse engineer that, so to speak. We have to know what those creatures are there, and each creature we pick, has to go through our "standards of existence," in that, we have to know how and why it exists at all. As this is the last step in terms of mapping the overall area, it leads nicely into the actual writing that's now ahead of us, where I feel the most challenged and have the most fun.
Speaking of finishing up, since the major details are finished, it's now time to drop the hexes on the map. Each hex is 10 miles and you'll see that with that new sense of scale, we had to slide a few things around to not only fit the hexes (to keep unique features within one hex as is easiest to describe them), but also to have them make more sense in how the world works (as in the fact that our "guard" islands were floating way too far from the dock to be either practical in defense or able to be secured to the main island without, as Sean pointed out, A LOT of chain).
Lair, in this case, is a bit of a misnomer, it doesn't necessarily have to mean a dungeon area that is home to a certain creature and its guards, indeed, it doesn't have to be a dungeon at all or even always a cave that houses a sleeping warg.
Lair, basically, means any encounter that always takes place when the PCs enter a certain hex. Whether it's because it's a creature's hunting grounds, because the creature actually does have a physical lair there (be it one "room" or many levels) or because it's an area particularly thick with a certain species, if it's a keyed encounter set to go off when the PCs explore it, we call that a "Lair" for the purposes of that step.
So, here's our map, with the Lairs (conveniently marked L) added in:
As for what's located in each "L," well, I can't reveal all our secrets now can I? Much like the ruins, that will go unsaid. What it does bring up, ties into my previous post about "A Little Reality..." in that we now have specific creatures and species in particular areas, what that means is we have to reverse engineer that, so to speak. We have to know what those creatures are there, and each creature we pick, has to go through our "standards of existence," in that, we have to know how and why it exists at all. As this is the last step in terms of mapping the overall area, it leads nicely into the actual writing that's now ahead of us, where I feel the most challenged and have the most fun.
Speaking of finishing up, since the major details are finished, it's now time to drop the hexes on the map. Each hex is 10 miles and you'll see that with that new sense of scale, we had to slide a few things around to not only fit the hexes (to keep unique features within one hex as is easiest to describe them), but also to have them make more sense in how the world works (as in the fact that our "guard" islands were floating way too far from the dock to be either practical in defense or able to be secured to the main island without, as Sean pointed out, A LOT of chain).
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Building a Fantasy Sandbox: Steps 11 & 13 - Step 12 TBAL
There's only a few more steps for the actual mapping to do, so let's move along, shall we:
11. Decide to place Population Locales note their race (species!) this includes social monsters
Okay, well time to place where folks live it seems!
We knew from the outset we were going to have a city set along the edge of the "bay" of the large island. This would be the central place in which everything else was built around. Here airships would come and go, it would be the most technologically advanced and be most likely to have a mixed population. So, city goes there. The two floating rocks along the edge of the "bay" each get a tower to be used as a defense structure against attacks from pirates, other nations, etc.
So, city, mostly human, with good chunks of gnome, lizardfolk, and kobold populations as well. The active airship port means that all the friendly species could be encountered here and you'd see the occasional halfling, minotaur, and dwarf, but none hold enough of a population to be considered part of the community.
South of the large island was clear away for farm lands, but a few communities would have arisen as well. We plop down a village as sort of a communal center for those not into the bustle of the big city, and a few hamlets, particularity two along the wooded edge to act as logging towns. Again, these places would be mostly human with a smattering of kobold, the gnomes wouldn't set up permanent shop in any of these low tech places, and the remaining species may or may not have enough of a population here to note.
These are all connected by a well maintained roadway that meets in the center of the farmlands. A keep sits at this crossroads, a place that can be used as refuge by the noncity folk in case of disaster (both monstrous and natural) as well as a place where the watch that patrols the farmlands and roads stay.
Next, there's a town set up on the southern island, along the shores of the vast lake that comes off the mountain. Enjoy good fishing, mostly because of the lake's nature (to be discussed later) Undecided if they have always been there or were built up from people coming off the larger island when they realized there was a water source there (and the reasons for not having a settlement by the water source on the larger island has to do with something nasty living around there. Perhaps the heroes can cleanse that area so construction can begin... ah, but I get ahead of myself). Like most of the other settlements it's human centric.
Finally, there's a small dot on one of those hills in the northern left isle, where most of the water meets. This denotes entrance to a dwarven settlement, one that's in the middle of heavy warfare against the goblinoids over the tiny amount of space they have. Both feel that the island belong to them and refuse to move to the spacious mountains on the other islands (could you image how long it would take to carve out a new home?!).
13. Decide to place Ruins (locales that revolves around a site)
Ruins were dropped wherever I thought it would be fun. The weird looking structure on the desert island shows just how different the culture that existed (or still exists????) in the area where it originally came from is. The ruins nestled in the mountain range near the active volcano shows that the volcano couldn't have always been active, and finally the lone ruined keep on the very untamed wilderness of the other northern island is just waiting for someone to find out why it's there.
You'll see that I skipped one of our steps:
12. Decide to place Lairs (locales tht revolves around a home of monsters)
That's because I did most of the town/ruin drops on my own and wanted Sean to have some fun input on this step. After all, this leads writing into writing all the hooks revolving around this place and I wouldn't want to take all the fun. So, Sean will pick a few spots and stick nasty creatures into them and get back to me. At which time, I'll put it up here.
11. Decide to place Population Locales note their race (species!) this includes social monsters
Okay, well time to place where folks live it seems!
We knew from the outset we were going to have a city set along the edge of the "bay" of the large island. This would be the central place in which everything else was built around. Here airships would come and go, it would be the most technologically advanced and be most likely to have a mixed population. So, city goes there. The two floating rocks along the edge of the "bay" each get a tower to be used as a defense structure against attacks from pirates, other nations, etc.
So, city, mostly human, with good chunks of gnome, lizardfolk, and kobold populations as well. The active airship port means that all the friendly species could be encountered here and you'd see the occasional halfling, minotaur, and dwarf, but none hold enough of a population to be considered part of the community.
South of the large island was clear away for farm lands, but a few communities would have arisen as well. We plop down a village as sort of a communal center for those not into the bustle of the big city, and a few hamlets, particularity two along the wooded edge to act as logging towns. Again, these places would be mostly human with a smattering of kobold, the gnomes wouldn't set up permanent shop in any of these low tech places, and the remaining species may or may not have enough of a population here to note.
These are all connected by a well maintained roadway that meets in the center of the farmlands. A keep sits at this crossroads, a place that can be used as refuge by the noncity folk in case of disaster (both monstrous and natural) as well as a place where the watch that patrols the farmlands and roads stay.
Next, there's a town set up on the southern island, along the shores of the vast lake that comes off the mountain. Enjoy good fishing, mostly because of the lake's nature (to be discussed later) Undecided if they have always been there or were built up from people coming off the larger island when they realized there was a water source there (and the reasons for not having a settlement by the water source on the larger island has to do with something nasty living around there. Perhaps the heroes can cleanse that area so construction can begin... ah, but I get ahead of myself). Like most of the other settlements it's human centric.
Finally, there's a small dot on one of those hills in the northern left isle, where most of the water meets. This denotes entrance to a dwarven settlement, one that's in the middle of heavy warfare against the goblinoids over the tiny amount of space they have. Both feel that the island belong to them and refuse to move to the spacious mountains on the other islands (could you image how long it would take to carve out a new home?!).
13. Decide to place Ruins (locales that revolves around a site)
Ruins were dropped wherever I thought it would be fun. The weird looking structure on the desert island shows just how different the culture that existed (or still exists????) in the area where it originally came from is. The ruins nestled in the mountain range near the active volcano shows that the volcano couldn't have always been active, and finally the lone ruined keep on the very untamed wilderness of the other northern island is just waiting for someone to find out why it's there.
You'll see that I skipped one of our steps:
12. Decide to place Lairs (locales tht revolves around a home of monsters)
That's because I did most of the town/ruin drops on my own and wanted Sean to have some fun input on this step. After all, this leads writing into writing all the hooks revolving around this place and I wouldn't want to take all the fun. So, Sean will pick a few spots and stick nasty creatures into them and get back to me. At which time, I'll put it up here.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Building a Fantasy Sandbox: Steps 7-10: Seriously This Time!
Okay, so now we have the basic layout of an area 150X200 miles, so, what's next?
7. Draw in mountains
Easy enough, we already said we wanted a volcano on the one "lair" island, and I pictured the lower island with a huge peak, with a lake below it, that had a river that tumbled off the edge as a waterfall down towards the surface, so I want atleast a mountain there too.
Here's what we come up with:
We put some mountains on the upper edge of the big island and at that point decide that the upper island actually broke off from the big one, so naturally the mountain range continues onto that island too. So I added the range for continuity and finish off Step 7.
8. Draw in rivers
9. Draw in hills using them to divide the region into distinct river valley
Again, I know I want that lake with the river, and I figure there needs to be atleast a water source on the big island as well. In my original cruddy paint sketch I drew the island in the upper left as having mostly hilly terrain with a river that comes from one hill and disappears into another, a good way to hint at a small underground network below the hills.
Once again, I start adding stuff:
Moving along pretty good now. What's next?
10. Draw in vegetation (swamps, forests, desert, etc)
Last but not least, forest, the desert I already did because I knew that was a whole island in of itself.
So I start plopping down trees:
As you can see the entire lower island and the non mountainous upper island are entirely woods, that means they're not settled human style yet (but that doesn't mean they're not yet settled) At the very least, the lower island makes for a good spot for the big island settlers to get lumber. The bit empty on the large island will be farmland, areas where the humans cleared out space so they could make food.
So that wraps that up, next up will be adding the places where living things... uh, live.
Of course, first we have to decide what living things exist on our world.
7. Draw in mountains
Easy enough, we already said we wanted a volcano on the one "lair" island, and I pictured the lower island with a huge peak, with a lake below it, that had a river that tumbled off the edge as a waterfall down towards the surface, so I want atleast a mountain there too.
Here's what we come up with:
We put some mountains on the upper edge of the big island and at that point decide that the upper island actually broke off from the big one, so naturally the mountain range continues onto that island too. So I added the range for continuity and finish off Step 7.
8. Draw in rivers
9. Draw in hills using them to divide the region into distinct river valley
Again, I know I want that lake with the river, and I figure there needs to be atleast a water source on the big island as well. In my original cruddy paint sketch I drew the island in the upper left as having mostly hilly terrain with a river that comes from one hill and disappears into another, a good way to hint at a small underground network below the hills.
Once again, I start adding stuff:
Moving along pretty good now. What's next?
10. Draw in vegetation (swamps, forests, desert, etc)
Last but not least, forest, the desert I already did because I knew that was a whole island in of itself.
So I start plopping down trees:
As you can see the entire lower island and the non mountainous upper island are entirely woods, that means they're not settled human style yet (but that doesn't mean they're not yet settled) At the very least, the lower island makes for a good spot for the big island settlers to get lumber. The bit empty on the large island will be farmland, areas where the humans cleared out space so they could make food.
So that wraps that up, next up will be adding the places where living things... uh, live.
Of course, first we have to decide what living things exist on our world.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Building a Fantasy Sandbox: Steps 5 and 6 - Almost
Let's move along, basically this is the start of where we'll be restarting again and again as we make more and more islands and clusters and build our world.
5. Grab a 8.5 by 11 sheet of hex paper.
Well, I'll be using a computer mapping program and I won't be overlaying the hex until after putting down all the cool terrain features, but, okay, got one!
6. The scale should be so that it represents a 200 by 150 mile region
Okay, so, the most important thing about picking your "opening" region is that it needs to both facilitate low level play and call out what makes your setting so different from the millions of others. A task that's not as easy as it sounds, as a lot of settings comes up with cool things, but those things would only be something a high level character could ever interact with.
For us, we wanted to do a "starting hub" cluster of islands. We have an idea of doing atleast one large "Super Island" that is bigger then the 200X150 mile range, but taking a chunk out of that to start would disguise the fact that the world is floating islands.
On the other hand, just dropping a bunch of floating islands with a few small towns and a cave or two of kobolds would just take your standard "Medieval Europe with some Mystical Monsters," and put them up on islands, and still not be unique.
In the end we wanted to hit a few key ideas:
1. Have a central "safe house" island that has atleast one town advanced enough to show both our swashbuckling airship elements and basic steampunk elements.
2. Have sister islands to show how island communities have used technology to connect islands to one another (cable cars!) but make them unique (visually at the very least) from the central island.
3. Have atleast one "lair" island, that is the main baddie area for the PCs to go off and kill things to liberate this cluster from fear of attack.
In the end, we came up with this:
The island is the center will be the main starter island of the area, within it's "harbor" will rest a steampunk advanced town that features airship docks and plenty of story hooks. The island will not feature any full size lair or dungeon, but there will be small threats that need to be quelled.
The islands below are sister islands, each settled and connected to the main island through a variety of magical and steampunk ways, they'll feature something unique about them to make them a change of pace for characters who travel there.
The two small rocky islands off the tips of the central harbor will pulled in to house dock security, currently I picture large towers with a huge ballista and other anti-ship weapons purchased on rocky landscape.
The islands two the right are going to act as our lairs and main baddie islands. Each will have atleast one full size dungeon, and they overlap because the one with the standard grassy terrain is actually floating above the desert one. The desert one is there for variety, drifting into this cluster thousands of years ago.
We haven't fully fleshed out what will be on the upper islands yet, mad druids, evil undead, ancient ruins? We'll figure that out as we go, we just wanted to have more options available.
So, you can see, everything low level characters need are within one convenient 150X200 mile area, places to shop and learn, places to delve and kill, and places to explore and discover. Eventually they'll be leveled enough to want to ply the skies with their own airship, at which point, a whole new cluster or isle will be ready to be made.
5. Grab a 8.5 by 11 sheet of hex paper.
Well, I'll be using a computer mapping program and I won't be overlaying the hex until after putting down all the cool terrain features, but, okay, got one!
6. The scale should be so that it represents a 200 by 150 mile region
Okay, so, the most important thing about picking your "opening" region is that it needs to both facilitate low level play and call out what makes your setting so different from the millions of others. A task that's not as easy as it sounds, as a lot of settings comes up with cool things, but those things would only be something a high level character could ever interact with.
For us, we wanted to do a "starting hub" cluster of islands. We have an idea of doing atleast one large "Super Island" that is bigger then the 200X150 mile range, but taking a chunk out of that to start would disguise the fact that the world is floating islands.
On the other hand, just dropping a bunch of floating islands with a few small towns and a cave or two of kobolds would just take your standard "Medieval Europe with some Mystical Monsters," and put them up on islands, and still not be unique.
In the end we wanted to hit a few key ideas:
1. Have a central "safe house" island that has atleast one town advanced enough to show both our swashbuckling airship elements and basic steampunk elements.
2. Have sister islands to show how island communities have used technology to connect islands to one another (cable cars!) but make them unique (visually at the very least) from the central island.
3. Have atleast one "lair" island, that is the main baddie area for the PCs to go off and kill things to liberate this cluster from fear of attack.
In the end, we came up with this:
The island is the center will be the main starter island of the area, within it's "harbor" will rest a steampunk advanced town that features airship docks and plenty of story hooks. The island will not feature any full size lair or dungeon, but there will be small threats that need to be quelled.
The islands below are sister islands, each settled and connected to the main island through a variety of magical and steampunk ways, they'll feature something unique about them to make them a change of pace for characters who travel there.
The two small rocky islands off the tips of the central harbor will pulled in to house dock security, currently I picture large towers with a huge ballista and other anti-ship weapons purchased on rocky landscape.
The islands two the right are going to act as our lairs and main baddie islands. Each will have atleast one full size dungeon, and they overlap because the one with the standard grassy terrain is actually floating above the desert one. The desert one is there for variety, drifting into this cluster thousands of years ago.
We haven't fully fleshed out what will be on the upper islands yet, mad druids, evil undead, ancient ruins? We'll figure that out as we go, we just wanted to have more options available.
So, you can see, everything low level characters need are within one convenient 150X200 mile area, places to shop and learn, places to delve and kill, and places to explore and discover. Eventually they'll be leveled enough to want to ply the skies with their own airship, at which point, a whole new cluster or isle will be ready to be made.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Building a Fantasy Sandbox: Steps 2, 3, and 4: More Stuff to Skip
Okay, these are the last parts we're gonna cheat on, I promise!
So we're making good progress, Step 1 blew right on by.
Let's see what Step 2 is:
2. Label important regions
Well, as we're making up each cluster or single island as we go, we don't need to label important regions on our world map (since we don't have one).
Not just because we're lazy, but the idea is that so much time has passed and so much distance (and vast floating rock fields and fear of going too far from home) exists that islands and island clusters have developed very independently from each other. There won't be a unifying naming of areas, even among the same species, everyone has been going about life their own way, most don't even know if anyone is left besides the small islands they reside on. That's not to say no nations aren't aware of each other, and many safe lanes have been opened up and neighboring clusters have opened trade with each other, but it's more like the Dark Ages, where you relied more on self and didn't give a damn what was going on in the next kingdom over, until they tried to invade. So, we'll label important regions per detailed map, but not the world map.
Moving on!
3. Write one page of background giving no more than a handful of sentences to each region.
Okay, this one isn't being cheated so much, except we have more of a general overview of the world, rather then a few sentences per region:
A very long time ago, everyone lived on the world below and there wasn't any floating islands about. Different species evolved into sentience, kingdoms rose and fell, wars were fought, land was explored, new neighbors discovered, and more wars were fought.
Then, something terrible happened, no one remembers what anymore, but the land was torn asunder. The entire world may have become a lifeless hulk right then, but, for some reason, one as mysterious as to the cataclysm itself, vast pieces of land rose above the destruction. Here, survivors clung to what little they had left, and slowly, began to live again, and soon began to thrive.
New nations crawled out of the ruins left behind by the near apocalypse, but, separated by vast sky, very few sought out one another and turned in to themselves. But as a community grows, it needs to expand. Some joined nearby islands with vast cables, using steam powered machinery to move people back and forth, others used magic, creating teleportation circles to transmit themselves and others to nearby lands. But soon, in a parallel of invention, nations began to design the one thing to make expansion easier.
Airships, designed a thousand different ways by a thousand different nations began to take to the skies, new lands were discovered, some were colonized, some were left to the creatures that had taken them over.
In some places, communities and nations discovered one another, and, like it was before, wars were fought and alliances formed. However, the skies are vast, long stretches of nothing but floating rock debris, sky pirates, and horrific aerial creatures separates nations from every learning of one another.
No one goes down to the surface anymore, all know the tales of what horrors await down there, gates to hellish landscapes, creatures unimaginable, terrors beyond imagination. Those few foolish souls that tried never returned.
It would seem like everything would grow static, that the nations and lone communities would have their alliances and struggles with those nearby, but that any remaining discovery or outside nation was simply too dangerous to get too and not worth the risk.
But time always moves forward, and curiosity, in some form, is inherent in every intelligent species. Lately a new breed has risen up, men and women of all nations and species that are not content with how the world now rests. Willing to brave dangers both local and abroad, to plunder the ancient ruin and to set off into the debris. They ply for secrets of the past and look to discover the lands that will secure the future. They are adventurers and to them, the world is an open book.
That's about a page...
4. Pick an area roughly 200 miles by 150 miles
Okay, this we can do, and this will be the process we repeat from now until we're done coming up with new ideas (see: never).
Our first choice? A little of everything, an island cluster with a few larger safe communities, a few local dangers, some exotic locals, and islands full of ancient secrets and lairs and dungeons.
So we're making good progress, Step 1 blew right on by.
Let's see what Step 2 is:
2. Label important regions
Well, as we're making up each cluster or single island as we go, we don't need to label important regions on our world map (since we don't have one).
Not just because we're lazy, but the idea is that so much time has passed and so much distance (and vast floating rock fields and fear of going too far from home) exists that islands and island clusters have developed very independently from each other. There won't be a unifying naming of areas, even among the same species, everyone has been going about life their own way, most don't even know if anyone is left besides the small islands they reside on. That's not to say no nations aren't aware of each other, and many safe lanes have been opened up and neighboring clusters have opened trade with each other, but it's more like the Dark Ages, where you relied more on self and didn't give a damn what was going on in the next kingdom over, until they tried to invade. So, we'll label important regions per detailed map, but not the world map.
Moving on!
3. Write one page of background giving no more than a handful of sentences to each region.
Okay, this one isn't being cheated so much, except we have more of a general overview of the world, rather then a few sentences per region:
A very long time ago, everyone lived on the world below and there wasn't any floating islands about. Different species evolved into sentience, kingdoms rose and fell, wars were fought, land was explored, new neighbors discovered, and more wars were fought.
Then, something terrible happened, no one remembers what anymore, but the land was torn asunder. The entire world may have become a lifeless hulk right then, but, for some reason, one as mysterious as to the cataclysm itself, vast pieces of land rose above the destruction. Here, survivors clung to what little they had left, and slowly, began to live again, and soon began to thrive.
New nations crawled out of the ruins left behind by the near apocalypse, but, separated by vast sky, very few sought out one another and turned in to themselves. But as a community grows, it needs to expand. Some joined nearby islands with vast cables, using steam powered machinery to move people back and forth, others used magic, creating teleportation circles to transmit themselves and others to nearby lands. But soon, in a parallel of invention, nations began to design the one thing to make expansion easier.
Airships, designed a thousand different ways by a thousand different nations began to take to the skies, new lands were discovered, some were colonized, some were left to the creatures that had taken them over.
In some places, communities and nations discovered one another, and, like it was before, wars were fought and alliances formed. However, the skies are vast, long stretches of nothing but floating rock debris, sky pirates, and horrific aerial creatures separates nations from every learning of one another.
No one goes down to the surface anymore, all know the tales of what horrors await down there, gates to hellish landscapes, creatures unimaginable, terrors beyond imagination. Those few foolish souls that tried never returned.
It would seem like everything would grow static, that the nations and lone communities would have their alliances and struggles with those nearby, but that any remaining discovery or outside nation was simply too dangerous to get too and not worth the risk.
But time always moves forward, and curiosity, in some form, is inherent in every intelligent species. Lately a new breed has risen up, men and women of all nations and species that are not content with how the world now rests. Willing to brave dangers both local and abroad, to plunder the ancient ruin and to set off into the debris. They ply for secrets of the past and look to discover the lands that will secure the future. They are adventurers and to them, the world is an open book.
That's about a page...
4. Pick an area roughly 200 miles by 150 miles
Okay, this we can do, and this will be the process we repeat from now until we're done coming up with new ideas (see: never).
Our first choice? A little of everything, an island cluster with a few larger safe communities, a few local dangers, some exotic locals, and islands full of ancient secrets and lairs and dungeons.
Building a Fantasy Sandbox: Step 1: The World!
So it begins, let's see what our illustrious guide tells us to do first:
1. Using one page, sketch a world or continent map
Okay, so off I go, firstly, I recruit Sean back into the fold. For me, world design needs someone to bounce ideas off of and someone to provide new looks at things I might miss.
So, now, off we go. We have our original continent from before. I don't like some things, I want to change things around, but keep the cooler aspects.
Somehow this turns into discussion about islands.
Those become islands in an endless sky.
Those become islands floating above a ruined land.
Those becomes islands floating above a wasteland where a cataclysm happened so long ago no one remembers how it happened, but they do know the land below is cursed, and they don't go down there...
Let's back up for a second. I know it's in general poor taste to boast about yourself, and, despite my massive ego and brash outgoingness, I actually tend to agree. But I'm throwing that out the widow for a moment, but it'll come around to not be about me, watch:
I consider myself a highly creative and imaginative person, I can see but a little kernel of idea and take it to places no one else would think of. I can immediately see a thousand avenues behind one simple concept, all of them vivid full color landscapes, and all of them rushing out of my brain almost simultaneously.
Sean is the only person I know that can not only process everything I say but go along right beside me and not only augment my ideas, but enhance them in ways I wouldn't have thought.
See, not just about me.
Anyway...
So, we agree, our "world" isn't so much one place, it's a collection of places, hundreds of island and island clusters floating above a ruined hellish landscape where no sane being would dare tread.
Some islands cluster together, these are connected by things like vast steam powered cable cars and the like. So now we have elements of steam punk.
Obviously we have air ships, and island clusters are separated by vast rock debris fields, pirate raiders, and weird new creatures. So in comes some swashbuckling.
As we did with Deminar Mk. 1, it's mostly low magic, magic can be powerful, but it's rare, magic item shops don't exist, Cleric and MU adventurers are the exception, not the rule. The isolation leads to lots of superstition. So the Sword and Sorcery elements come in too.
Hell of a mix, if anything, it's gonna be a fun world to build (and hopefully play in)
Step 1 complete!
But wait, you say, where's your sketched world map?
Well, we got around that, see, we don't need a world map, we can design anything we want, with the islands and island clusters separated so far from one another anytime we want to detail a new area, we pretty much start from scratch.
So, our world map, if we have to have one, is this:
Happy now?
1. Using one page, sketch a world or continent map
Okay, so off I go, firstly, I recruit Sean back into the fold. For me, world design needs someone to bounce ideas off of and someone to provide new looks at things I might miss.
So, now, off we go. We have our original continent from before. I don't like some things, I want to change things around, but keep the cooler aspects.
Somehow this turns into discussion about islands.
Those become islands in an endless sky.
Those become islands floating above a ruined land.
Those becomes islands floating above a wasteland where a cataclysm happened so long ago no one remembers how it happened, but they do know the land below is cursed, and they don't go down there...
Let's back up for a second. I know it's in general poor taste to boast about yourself, and, despite my massive ego and brash outgoingness, I actually tend to agree. But I'm throwing that out the widow for a moment, but it'll come around to not be about me, watch:
I consider myself a highly creative and imaginative person, I can see but a little kernel of idea and take it to places no one else would think of. I can immediately see a thousand avenues behind one simple concept, all of them vivid full color landscapes, and all of them rushing out of my brain almost simultaneously.
Sean is the only person I know that can not only process everything I say but go along right beside me and not only augment my ideas, but enhance them in ways I wouldn't have thought.
See, not just about me.
Anyway...
So, we agree, our "world" isn't so much one place, it's a collection of places, hundreds of island and island clusters floating above a ruined hellish landscape where no sane being would dare tread.
Some islands cluster together, these are connected by things like vast steam powered cable cars and the like. So now we have elements of steam punk.
Obviously we have air ships, and island clusters are separated by vast rock debris fields, pirate raiders, and weird new creatures. So in comes some swashbuckling.
As we did with Deminar Mk. 1, it's mostly low magic, magic can be powerful, but it's rare, magic item shops don't exist, Cleric and MU adventurers are the exception, not the rule. The isolation leads to lots of superstition. So the Sword and Sorcery elements come in too.
Hell of a mix, if anything, it's gonna be a fun world to build (and hopefully play in)
Step 1 complete!
But wait, you say, where's your sketched world map?
Well, we got around that, see, we don't need a world map, we can design anything we want, with the islands and island clusters separated so far from one another anytime we want to detail a new area, we pretty much start from scratch.
So, our world map, if we have to have one, is this:
Happy now?
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
On: The Plan
So how do we begin all over again?
Well, while I'm sure there will be all kinds of tangents and wild ideas (one of the main reasons for this blog is to catalog such things), I felt we needed an actual tried and true direction.
For that, we're using the very awesome "How to make a Fantasy Sandbox" entry over at Bat in the Attic.
My feelings were to cover Deminar one small region at a time, all the while collecting over arching ideas, themes, and design, to basically build the world from the inside out.
And what better way to begin, then at step 1?
Well, while I'm sure there will be all kinds of tangents and wild ideas (one of the main reasons for this blog is to catalog such things), I felt we needed an actual tried and true direction.
For that, we're using the very awesome "How to make a Fantasy Sandbox" entry over at Bat in the Attic.
My feelings were to cover Deminar one small region at a time, all the while collecting over arching ideas, themes, and design, to basically build the world from the inside out.
And what better way to begin, then at step 1?
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