I think Deminar is going to be a dark and gritty setting when all is said and done. Now, saying those words immediately sets about all sorts of images and ideas in someone's mind and usually all are different from the rest, so here's my take on the term.
Even with advances in magic and technology, the people on the floating isles worry about survival first and foremost. Much of the air around them is unexplored, home to pirates and monsters unknown. Raids are frequent, they're cut off from allies by miles of air, the only reason they're alive is because their ancestors were lucky enough to be on a chunk of land that rose above the devastation on the surface. Death is indeed always around the corner, to survive that, people have to become tough.
Now this doesn't mean that it's a humorless setting, that you shouldn't make PCs that can have a good time or that everyone in town looks at the ground and never smiles. It's just that there's not a lot of "light" in the setting. There are no sparkling elven towers that seem to glow on their own, for every knight, armor polished, protecting the weak, there are hundreds of orcs waiting to devour the weak. The streets are dirty, full of soot and ash, smoke is heavy in the air in the more technologically advanced places, some islands have never seen magic and would burn you at the stake if you did so in front of them.
It's like the world of Warhammer without some of the humor or even the "Points of Light" that D&D 4E is claiming to follow, without some of the more fantastical elements.
Now, some would argue this isn't a good fit for Labyrinth Lord and its AEC. After all, it, and it's spiritual parents B/X and 1st Ed AD&D regularly cared a sense of whimsy, humor and lightheartedness. From the artwork, to some of the more memorable NPCs to even many of the monsters and their design both artistically and mechanically. However, I'd argue quite the opposite, LL is a wonderful fit for the more Sword and Sorcery gritty setting. Characters are not superheroes, magic is very scarce (look at the spells and magic items compared to later editions of D&D), death for the heroes could be around any corner, and often times, they can't just waltz into town and pick up new "ubermagicweapon 5000," instead they must pry it off the cold dead hands of some monstrous being that was threatening to unless unspeakable horrors on that very town. Rules systems are just a tool to help tell a story, I could use something at high end as Exalted and still write a dark and gritty story around it and even reflect it inside the rules, but sometimes it helps to have a system to support it. And a system where the average magic user maxes out at 4hp and regularly goes up against things that average that amount of damage in one hit definitely supports the feel I'm going for.
Now I'll note that I love the whimsy that shows up in the "old school" D&D, the weirder monsters and places and that classic artwork, it's just not what I write best and indeed, if we were ever lucky enough to be graced with artwork, it would feature a much different style then what's typical in the OSR product that's coming out now that pays homage to the original.
Will that turn off some people that play with these rule systems? Absolutely, but it will also be something different and that has a chance to attract both brand new people and those willing to look beyond the "need to preserve the integrity of the game."
And I'm mostly writing it for myself anyway, so what does it matter how it's received?
Monday, April 19, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Musing: Airships Part Deux, Identify That Airship!
Gnomes airships are often over done, with a variety of embellishments and overly complicated steering mechanisms, proposal systems, and weapons. Gnomes like making something just to see if it's possible, not always because it's needed (like the Japanese or Electronic Nerds) and this carries over to their airships. They're more likely to use nontraditional materials and sometimes makes hulls out of things other then floating rock. Some places even make gnome airships dock separately from the main docks to do less damage when they inevitably explode. Gnomes are also the leading manufacturer of airships and make many conventional models to sell to others.
Humans and Lizardfolk tend to contract their airship construction out to the gnomes, but that is not always the case. Both these species make more practical airships, though both portray ascetics pleasing to their species.
The other "friendly" species don't normally construct airships, dwarves are busy securing their lands, halflings would never build such crazy technological things, kobolds try and rarely succeed, but more often it ends in disaster. Minotaurs may open a airship construction facility or be part of a group that constructs them, but none of their identity comes through due to no large species presence.
Of the "monster" species, only the gnolls will receive mention now, many live on airships, using them as the ultimate raiding vehicles, and indeed, the very vehicles are raided themselves. Gnolls do not build their own airships, they take them, and many are in desperate need of repair, barely holding together with no attempt to fix them. Gnolls don't bother with such things, they run it till it breaks then take another to ruin, after all, they didn't put any work into making it in the first place.
Humans and Lizardfolk tend to contract their airship construction out to the gnomes, but that is not always the case. Both these species make more practical airships, though both portray ascetics pleasing to their species.
The other "friendly" species don't normally construct airships, dwarves are busy securing their lands, halflings would never build such crazy technological things, kobolds try and rarely succeed, but more often it ends in disaster. Minotaurs may open a airship construction facility or be part of a group that constructs them, but none of their identity comes through due to no large species presence.
Of the "monster" species, only the gnolls will receive mention now, many live on airships, using them as the ultimate raiding vehicles, and indeed, the very vehicles are raided themselves. Gnolls do not build their own airships, they take them, and many are in desperate need of repair, barely holding together with no attempt to fix them. Gnolls don't bother with such things, they run it till it breaks then take another to ruin, after all, they didn't put any work into making it in the first place.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Musing: Species Part V: Give the Bad Guys Some Love
The good guys weren't the only ones we went over when we set about looking over the intelligent species, our minds started coming up with all sorts of fun we could have with some of the less friendly species as well.
Below are a small smattering of some of the "monster species" found in Deminar, these are not necessarily going to show up in our first sandbox, nor are they the only ones we discussed, just a preview:
Ogres: Ogres don't usually amass in large numbers (if they do, something big is about to happen), instead sticking to smaller family groups to try to cut back on power struggles, inter-species assassinations, and running out of food in their settled area (Ogres eat a lot). Unlike Halflings, who, while similarly living in smaller tight knit communities, send members of their tribe out into the world to both settle new lands and spread out genetically, Ogres are content to stay in their family groups forever. The result is a degenerate group of incestuous inbreeders, spawning no shortage of physical deformities and keeping the species mentally stunted. Ogres are content to take what they want from lesser species (in their minds, everyone else) and killing them is much like us killing a spider we see on the wall in our home, we wouldn't think twice about it and feel no remorse afterwards, the only difference is, while only some of us take perverted delight in squashing a spider, nearly all ogres take the same delight in killing other intelligents.
Goblins: Goblins were, at one time, on the list of playable species, but as they developed they fell off the list due to their highly regimented and caste built society. Also, they're ruthless and don't play well with others. Goblins live underground, much like the dwarves and the two are constantly fighting. Goblin society is very rigid, with every goblin born into a specific caste and there that goblin will stay its whole life. While there is no hope for movement out of one's caste, there is a ruthless desire to move to the top of a specific caste and goblins will stop at nothing to reach that top. Death is all too frequent to goblins, from enemy hands and from within, but luckily they breed quickly and plentifully, meaning the species is never in dwindling numbers. While many species develop as separate races depending on the environment they exist in, goblins have species developed based on their caste. Hobgoblins, Bugbears, and other goblinoid creatures are not separate species on Deminar, but instead, caste specific racial offshoots, built from generations of breeding certain traits (Bugbears, for example, are bred within the assassination caste of the goblins). Sean has grown particularly attached to this species and could probably fill you in on all kinds of details.
Gnolls: Gnolls are parasites among the intelligent races, they have developed no technology of their own, they do not manufacture goods, nor work in any way to provide for their people. Instead, gnolls scavenge, raid, and take from others (including each other) never settling in one place for too long. They often arrive on stole airships at night, raiding a community, cackling madly as they do and running off before a sizable defense can be mounted. They are cowardly and feel no shame in running if it means they'll live to fight again. They have no sense of fiar fights, morality, or honor like other intelligent species develop. They are a sickly, dirty, lot, barely caring for themselves and certainly not for others. They never mend wounds or equipment, they are often covered in scars and infections while the gear they use is rusted and breaking. Gnolls have quickly become my favorite monster species on Deminar, and much like Sean with his goblins, I have plenty of ideas about these mangy creatures.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well this picture, crafted by velinov at deviantArt sums up a lot about the look and feel of gnolls in Deminar.
Below are a small smattering of some of the "monster species" found in Deminar, these are not necessarily going to show up in our first sandbox, nor are they the only ones we discussed, just a preview:
Ogres: Ogres don't usually amass in large numbers (if they do, something big is about to happen), instead sticking to smaller family groups to try to cut back on power struggles, inter-species assassinations, and running out of food in their settled area (Ogres eat a lot). Unlike Halflings, who, while similarly living in smaller tight knit communities, send members of their tribe out into the world to both settle new lands and spread out genetically, Ogres are content to stay in their family groups forever. The result is a degenerate group of incestuous inbreeders, spawning no shortage of physical deformities and keeping the species mentally stunted. Ogres are content to take what they want from lesser species (in their minds, everyone else) and killing them is much like us killing a spider we see on the wall in our home, we wouldn't think twice about it and feel no remorse afterwards, the only difference is, while only some of us take perverted delight in squashing a spider, nearly all ogres take the same delight in killing other intelligents.
Goblins: Goblins were, at one time, on the list of playable species, but as they developed they fell off the list due to their highly regimented and caste built society. Also, they're ruthless and don't play well with others. Goblins live underground, much like the dwarves and the two are constantly fighting. Goblin society is very rigid, with every goblin born into a specific caste and there that goblin will stay its whole life. While there is no hope for movement out of one's caste, there is a ruthless desire to move to the top of a specific caste and goblins will stop at nothing to reach that top. Death is all too frequent to goblins, from enemy hands and from within, but luckily they breed quickly and plentifully, meaning the species is never in dwindling numbers. While many species develop as separate races depending on the environment they exist in, goblins have species developed based on their caste. Hobgoblins, Bugbears, and other goblinoid creatures are not separate species on Deminar, but instead, caste specific racial offshoots, built from generations of breeding certain traits (Bugbears, for example, are bred within the assassination caste of the goblins). Sean has grown particularly attached to this species and could probably fill you in on all kinds of details.
Gnolls: Gnolls are parasites among the intelligent races, they have developed no technology of their own, they do not manufacture goods, nor work in any way to provide for their people. Instead, gnolls scavenge, raid, and take from others (including each other) never settling in one place for too long. They often arrive on stole airships at night, raiding a community, cackling madly as they do and running off before a sizable defense can be mounted. They are cowardly and feel no shame in running if it means they'll live to fight again. They have no sense of fiar fights, morality, or honor like other intelligent species develop. They are a sickly, dirty, lot, barely caring for themselves and certainly not for others. They never mend wounds or equipment, they are often covered in scars and infections while the gear they use is rusted and breaking. Gnolls have quickly become my favorite monster species on Deminar, and much like Sean with his goblins, I have plenty of ideas about these mangy creatures.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well this picture, crafted by velinov at deviantArt sums up a lot about the look and feel of gnolls in Deminar.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Musing: Species Part IV: Tell me about the Friendlies
So I went ahead and mentioned what we chose as our "friendly" species, in other words what are offered as PC species.
Seeing as I'm going to be talking about these species a lot in the upcoming sandbox design, I thought I'd just down a few basic notes about each one, for both the readers benefit and mine.
Human: Okay, I start off by lying, as humans are no different then they are anywhere else you've seen them. Of course I talked about the need to have the standard human species previously, so this should come as little surprise.
Dwarf: Dwarves have some similarity to the standard ideal of the dwarf (standard in fantasy RPGs anyway), they live underground, they're fond of mining, gems, and metalwork. However, dwarves in our setting have known little but ongoing conflict for generations. They are constantly fighting for what little underground space is left against the goblins and the goblins show little to no sign of slowing down. Their love for mining and metalwork comes for in the way of making superior weapons rather then great works of art. They are much more militant and coldhearted then they are often portrayed elsewhere. Dwarves are more prized for their ability to fight then their metalwork in Deminar, though they do still share a fondness for alcohol, after all, when all you've known is fighting all your life, wouldn't you turn to drinking. Many dwarves found out in the world not defending their homeland would be seen as cowards and heretics were they to travel to a dwarf hold, so many dwarven adventures have a strong reason for leaving home and would rather not return to any dwarven holdings.
Gnomes: Gnomes are a very eccentric bunch in Deminar, they have embraced the move forward to steampunk more so then any other species. They seemingly have no home island as a species and are instead found integrated amongst only the largest and most advanced friendly settlements as well as prowling the airways in massive airships, many powered in unusual and often dangerous ways. Gnomes are much akin to gypsies, albeit gypsies with a penchant for inventing all kinds of things, whether they're useful or not. Gnome adventurers are quite common, many travel place to place to sell, build, and try out new inventions, others wish to plunder old ruins to see what technology is hidden away, and still others adventure because they've been kicked out of just about every civilized place for one explosion or another.
Halflings: Halflings, as we've visioned them, have been around since the earliest incarnations of Deminar. Halflings can be divided into two camps, the "Ferals" who are everything the Roman's used to claim the "barbarian hordes" were, savage killers, masters of ambush hunting, know to pillage a settlement when in need of something, etc. These are usually not the ones used as player characters. Then there are the more civilized Halflings, but that's only saying that in comparison to their feral cousins. These halflings still tend to shun the settlements and technological advances of other species, but occasionally they are found within more mixed settlements. Halflings normally are found in places far from settled lands, living in tribes in hidden valleys between mountains, deep in untamed woods, or on lost islands away from most others. They live mostly off the land, hunter/gatherers, but are would not be considered primitive in mindset. They don't use technology not because they don't know how, but because they shun it, for reasons they will not tell any nonhalfling. On occasion one can spot effigies of more advanced machinery and sometimes halflings go through rituals that emulate what would be considered modern practices, like eating around a table in traditional human noble ways or simulating forging metal weapons using wooden replicas. They claim they do this "to remember," but that raises more questions then answers. Many halflings leave their communities to explore the world, sometimes to report back to their homes, others to seek out new places to settle or to disperse their genes among other halfling communities. These explorations can sometimes last for years and these are the halflings many see in other lands or among adventuring parties.
Kobolds: Kobolds are another hold over from our original design. Kobolds are like the rats among the intelligent species. They are everywhere and seemingly have no place of their own. Anywhere that is settled by the friendly species, there are kobolds, (except for the Halfling communities) from small human hamlets to dwarven clanholds, to lizardfolk settlements. Kobolds have three distinct qualities about them. One, they insatiably curious. Two, though they don't form their own communities, they are very protective of one another, if they feel their species as a whole is being threatened, they will move quickly to eliminate that threat, often time with numbers into the thousands coming from seemingly nowhere. This is why most communities don't flush out the kobolds that live among them. finally, they desperately want to be accepted by those they live among. This means they'll seek to emulate the clothing, mannerisms, and speech of where they live as well as collect anything discarded by others. They often take jobs withing a town that no one else wants, like garbage disposal, rat catcher, or gravedigger, and they do it with pride, knowing they're part of the whole. This is the other reason most communities keep them around. Obviously many kobolds become adventurers to satiate their curiosity and because adventurers tend to bond strongly with each other giving the kobold acceptance.
And as Sean so kindly reminded me to inform people, they're dog based creatures, not dragons or lizards dammit, how they should be, thanks Sean!
Lizardfolk: Lizardfolk are a chance to do offer something different, yet similar at the same time. LIzardfolk have vastly different customs, tastes (in food, entertainment, clothing, etc), gods, and even language yet they have been on friendly terms with humans for as long as either species can remember. They are integrated with each other, but separated, they tend to live segregated from each other when they share a settlement (by nature, not by force), much the way racial groups of humans do in cities in the real world. There are those close minded folk on both side of the species that hold prejudice against the other, but all in all they are communal allies. It's as close to demonstrating natural racial separation and integration on a species scale in a fantasy game.
Minotaurs: Minotaurs are interesting because they don't seem to have settlements of their own and while they can be found in just about any settled area, they never seem to congregate with one another. They are the lone bodyguard for a minor noble, the merchant offering rare herbs, and the figure you see disappear down the dark alley. Minotaurs are often found on airships in a variety of roles, yet there don't seem to be airships consisting of just minotaurs, like the gnomes. Occasionally a minotaur will join an adventuring group and make a loyal and strong team member.
So there are some basics about the PC races, just so you understand their placements in the sandbox going forward.
Seeing as I'm going to be talking about these species a lot in the upcoming sandbox design, I thought I'd just down a few basic notes about each one, for both the readers benefit and mine.
Human: Okay, I start off by lying, as humans are no different then they are anywhere else you've seen them. Of course I talked about the need to have the standard human species previously, so this should come as little surprise.
Dwarf: Dwarves have some similarity to the standard ideal of the dwarf (standard in fantasy RPGs anyway), they live underground, they're fond of mining, gems, and metalwork. However, dwarves in our setting have known little but ongoing conflict for generations. They are constantly fighting for what little underground space is left against the goblins and the goblins show little to no sign of slowing down. Their love for mining and metalwork comes for in the way of making superior weapons rather then great works of art. They are much more militant and coldhearted then they are often portrayed elsewhere. Dwarves are more prized for their ability to fight then their metalwork in Deminar, though they do still share a fondness for alcohol, after all, when all you've known is fighting all your life, wouldn't you turn to drinking. Many dwarves found out in the world not defending their homeland would be seen as cowards and heretics were they to travel to a dwarf hold, so many dwarven adventures have a strong reason for leaving home and would rather not return to any dwarven holdings.
Gnomes: Gnomes are a very eccentric bunch in Deminar, they have embraced the move forward to steampunk more so then any other species. They seemingly have no home island as a species and are instead found integrated amongst only the largest and most advanced friendly settlements as well as prowling the airways in massive airships, many powered in unusual and often dangerous ways. Gnomes are much akin to gypsies, albeit gypsies with a penchant for inventing all kinds of things, whether they're useful or not. Gnome adventurers are quite common, many travel place to place to sell, build, and try out new inventions, others wish to plunder old ruins to see what technology is hidden away, and still others adventure because they've been kicked out of just about every civilized place for one explosion or another.
Halflings: Halflings, as we've visioned them, have been around since the earliest incarnations of Deminar. Halflings can be divided into two camps, the "Ferals" who are everything the Roman's used to claim the "barbarian hordes" were, savage killers, masters of ambush hunting, know to pillage a settlement when in need of something, etc. These are usually not the ones used as player characters. Then there are the more civilized Halflings, but that's only saying that in comparison to their feral cousins. These halflings still tend to shun the settlements and technological advances of other species, but occasionally they are found within more mixed settlements. Halflings normally are found in places far from settled lands, living in tribes in hidden valleys between mountains, deep in untamed woods, or on lost islands away from most others. They live mostly off the land, hunter/gatherers, but are would not be considered primitive in mindset. They don't use technology not because they don't know how, but because they shun it, for reasons they will not tell any nonhalfling. On occasion one can spot effigies of more advanced machinery and sometimes halflings go through rituals that emulate what would be considered modern practices, like eating around a table in traditional human noble ways or simulating forging metal weapons using wooden replicas. They claim they do this "to remember," but that raises more questions then answers. Many halflings leave their communities to explore the world, sometimes to report back to their homes, others to seek out new places to settle or to disperse their genes among other halfling communities. These explorations can sometimes last for years and these are the halflings many see in other lands or among adventuring parties.
Kobolds: Kobolds are another hold over from our original design. Kobolds are like the rats among the intelligent species. They are everywhere and seemingly have no place of their own. Anywhere that is settled by the friendly species, there are kobolds, (except for the Halfling communities) from small human hamlets to dwarven clanholds, to lizardfolk settlements. Kobolds have three distinct qualities about them. One, they insatiably curious. Two, though they don't form their own communities, they are very protective of one another, if they feel their species as a whole is being threatened, they will move quickly to eliminate that threat, often time with numbers into the thousands coming from seemingly nowhere. This is why most communities don't flush out the kobolds that live among them. finally, they desperately want to be accepted by those they live among. This means they'll seek to emulate the clothing, mannerisms, and speech of where they live as well as collect anything discarded by others. They often take jobs withing a town that no one else wants, like garbage disposal, rat catcher, or gravedigger, and they do it with pride, knowing they're part of the whole. This is the other reason most communities keep them around. Obviously many kobolds become adventurers to satiate their curiosity and because adventurers tend to bond strongly with each other giving the kobold acceptance.
And as Sean so kindly reminded me to inform people, they're dog based creatures, not dragons or lizards dammit, how they should be, thanks Sean!
Lizardfolk: Lizardfolk are a chance to do offer something different, yet similar at the same time. LIzardfolk have vastly different customs, tastes (in food, entertainment, clothing, etc), gods, and even language yet they have been on friendly terms with humans for as long as either species can remember. They are integrated with each other, but separated, they tend to live segregated from each other when they share a settlement (by nature, not by force), much the way racial groups of humans do in cities in the real world. There are those close minded folk on both side of the species that hold prejudice against the other, but all in all they are communal allies. It's as close to demonstrating natural racial separation and integration on a species scale in a fantasy game.
Minotaurs: Minotaurs are interesting because they don't seem to have settlements of their own and while they can be found in just about any settled area, they never seem to congregate with one another. They are the lone bodyguard for a minor noble, the merchant offering rare herbs, and the figure you see disappear down the dark alley. Minotaurs are often found on airships in a variety of roles, yet there don't seem to be airships consisting of just minotaurs, like the gnomes. Occasionally a minotaur will join an adventuring group and make a loyal and strong team member.
So there are some basics about the PC races, just so you understand their placements in the sandbox going forward.
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 10, 2010
On: Monster Books
I love a good Bestiary (hell I even love mediocre ones) and not just because they give me a whole new group of things to kill players with (that's just one of the reasons).
I love monster books because it lets you begin to watch a world be built. Before the required several hundred page hardback or box set campaign setting became the normal, all you had were the rule book, various adventures, and the monster book. Much like elements of a rule system does, the monster book tied into a set of rules begins to flesh out the world. Certain monsters exist in certain places and tend to do certain things. Each monster gives you a glimpse at the greater whole as the names of different planes are mentioned, things being made as magical hybrids are called, the mention of certain dark gods that a creature is mentioned as to worshiping. You suddenly see a world coming together.
The 2nd Edition AD&D monster compendium books/folios/3-hole punched sheets were some of my favorites. They went beyond stats and a paragraph, here the idea of monsters fitting in the world peaked (in my opinion anyway). Monsters received notes on ecology, habitat, society if intelligent, there place in the world, I used to read them constantly, even when not running a 2nd edition game (an indeed, my stint as a DM of 2nd Ed. AD&D was quite short lived).
As a world builder, the most fun I have with monsters is figuring out the how's and why's of their existence. Using the 2nd Ed. Compendiums as an example, I love to figure out what a monster does when it's not waiting to be killed, where it came from, and why it chooses to do anything. Especially with our design philosophy of having things "make sense," you can't just drop a giant brain with lion legs into the world unless you figure out what niche that creature occupies.
While Sean and I were going through a variety of species to determine which ones wouldn't kill the humans on sight, we came up with some very cool ideas for many of the "monstrous" species. And while we'll continue to be making Deminar one sandbox at a time (and probably each will be wrapped up in a pretty .pdf when done), the idea of a good old fashioned bestiary will always be in the back of my mind.
I love monster books because it lets you begin to watch a world be built. Before the required several hundred page hardback or box set campaign setting became the normal, all you had were the rule book, various adventures, and the monster book. Much like elements of a rule system does, the monster book tied into a set of rules begins to flesh out the world. Certain monsters exist in certain places and tend to do certain things. Each monster gives you a glimpse at the greater whole as the names of different planes are mentioned, things being made as magical hybrids are called, the mention of certain dark gods that a creature is mentioned as to worshiping. You suddenly see a world coming together.
The 2nd Edition AD&D monster compendium books/folios/3-hole punched sheets were some of my favorites. They went beyond stats and a paragraph, here the idea of monsters fitting in the world peaked (in my opinion anyway). Monsters received notes on ecology, habitat, society if intelligent, there place in the world, I used to read them constantly, even when not running a 2nd edition game (an indeed, my stint as a DM of 2nd Ed. AD&D was quite short lived).
As a world builder, the most fun I have with monsters is figuring out the how's and why's of their existence. Using the 2nd Ed. Compendiums as an example, I love to figure out what a monster does when it's not waiting to be killed, where it came from, and why it chooses to do anything. Especially with our design philosophy of having things "make sense," you can't just drop a giant brain with lion legs into the world unless you figure out what niche that creature occupies.
While Sean and I were going through a variety of species to determine which ones wouldn't kill the humans on sight, we came up with some very cool ideas for many of the "monstrous" species. And while we'll continue to be making Deminar one sandbox at a time (and probably each will be wrapped up in a pretty .pdf when done), the idea of a good old fashioned bestiary will always be in the back of my mind.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Musing: Species Part III - Who Will YOU Choose?
The current line up for Playable Species:
Humans
Dwarves
Gnome
Halfling
Kobold
Lizardfolk
Minotaur
Though not all will show up in our first sandbox.
As for intelligent species that aren't playable, can't give out all our secrets yet.
Humans
Dwarves
Gnome
Halfling
Kobold
Lizardfolk
Minotaur
Though not all will show up in our first sandbox.
As for intelligent species that aren't playable, can't give out all our secrets yet.
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