Blood, Gold, and Lizards: Lucan's Clock Starting Area

(This post was delayed due to life and visiting parent.  All parents have now visited this year and life is...being worked on.  This is clearly The Year of Everything Happening at Once with all the pain-in-the-keisters that come with that.)

Here is the second of two maps of the starting areas.  They are representative of what the players will get as a starting map.  This one is notable for its blank spaces.  The "entrepreneurial seafarers" (read: "pirates") that make up most of Lucan's Clock for the most part don't care about what's beyond the coast.  They can see a big range of mountains deeper in and have notated them on their maps, but they're seafarers, not landlubbers.


This is the Lucan's Clock area (1 hex = 3 miles):

The Valley of the Landsharks was a promising spot for a colony...until the eponymous landsharks noticed the colony and started treating it like a buffet.  There are minor streams and seasonal creeks in the valley so there is water to be had, but little in the way of areas safe from the landsharks.  The valley is suspected of being much longer than shown, but no one has explored past the branching of the valley.

The Dry Plateau is up above the arable river lands and other than one expedition to verify it did not connect to the Valley of the Landsharks, it has not been particularly explored.

Lucan's Clock clings to the cliffs near The Falls, the point where the Farmer River spills over a cliff-side into the bay.  There are numerous ledges along the cliff.  Some ledges have buildings on them, some just the fronts of structures dug into the cliff.  All are connected by (relatively) sturdy bridges and ladders.  Most ledges have cranes of various sizes to haul up merchandise from either ships and boats in the bay or from lower ledges (depending upon clearances).  The croplands shown almost supply enough food for the colony at a subsistence level (pirates are not very good farmers and the crop yields are low as a result).  As the locals want to live better than that, this makes foodstuffs expensive and additional food is purchased from New Zwicke (and sold at a markup) or taken as part of the booty from raided ships.

~*~
The terrain icons indicate the center points of the hexes at the next scale up (1 hex = 15 miles).  I might keep the actual symbols there in the final version of the map I hand to the players, but I will probably just put in a generic symbol of some sort.  That should help me keep the mapping accurate as the players explore.

Blood, Gold, and Lizards: New Zwicke Starting Area

Here is the first of two maps of the starting areas.  They are representative of what the players will get as a starting map.  There is some coastline missing, but to show it, I'd have to include a bunch of boring unexplored hexes.

This is the New Zwicke area (1 hex = 3 miles):

New Zwicke, Player's Starting Map

The Jicarilla Lands are the lands the (more or less) friendly lizardmen call home, from Thorkil's River (the colonist's name for the river) south to the coast (just off this map), bounded on the east by the Wall Hills (there's more of the hills, but the colonists have not pushed into that part of the forest to find them).  By treaty, colonists may not enter these lands.

The Dark of the Forest is comprised of the forests north of Thorkil's River and west of the Arrow River (named by the colonists due to its fairly straight course).  The Jicarilla tribes consider the area cursed and will not enter.  If the idiot colonists want to enter that area and die, the Jicarilla will let it happen.

Estini is a logging village and represents the furthest point of colonial expansion in the area.  The lumberjacks here work the North Forest (not labeled), which are to the east of the Arrow River.

The Wedge Wood is named after its rough shape.  It is not currently being logged as it in not adjacent to a river and getting the timber to New Zwicke would be difficult with out any roads.  The Governor Governor does not seem inclined to build roads in that direction at this time.  Perhaps it has to do with the shares of the North Forest Logging Company he owns...

There is a Stone Quarry to the east of New Zwicke.  All those convicted of crimes in New Zwicke are sentenced to work the quarry for a period of time, based on the crime they committed.  This is rarely abused by the Governor Governor.  So far.

New Zwicke is protected by four watchtowers.  The thin dashed red line that forms a perimeter around the large town is the limit of The Watch's ability to see and, by definition, the limit of the town's territory.  The thicker red dotted lines indicate paved roads.  There are numerous unpaved roads amongst the croplands that are not shown.  The amount of croplands shown provides a surplus of food, which is sold to merchant vessels stopping at the port.

~*~

The terrain icons indicate the center points of the hexes at the next scale up (1 hex = 15 miles).  I might keep the actual symbols there in the final version of the map I hand to the players, but I will probably just put in a generic symbol of some sort.  That should help me keep the mapping accurate as the players explore.

That's it for now.  The map for Lucan's Clock will follow no later than Tuesday of next week.  I still need to name some areas and put some story behind the area, so it's not ready just yet.

Mapping

The last fantasy campaign I ran was as close to a West Marches-style campaign as I could get away with without being back in college.  My new campaign, Blood, Gold, and Lizards, will also borrow heavily from the West Marches style, meaning that it will be exploration driven, not plot driven.  I have some ideas how the world will change over time in the background, but player actions should have the spotlight over DM planning.  (Plus I can only afford to dedicate minimal time to background stuff while I work on Draft 3 of my novel.)

For exploration campaigns, maps are vital. Last time I started with a map that I thought was large enough because, well, it took up six 11x17 pieces of paper covered in 1” hexes. This worked well enough at the start, but when the players started hitting the edges of the map, I was not ready as I had not mapped anything beyond the edges. At least once I had to put up a “This Area Under Construction” sign and ask the players to go a different way.


That is not going to work for me anymore.

So this time I’ve mapped the large scale first and then zoomed in for the detail work. My top level map (which fills 2 11x17 pages, long-side by long-side) uses quarter-inch hexes scaled to 1 hex = 75 miles. I then selected an area to detail and zoomed in to a middle-sized map where 1 hex = 15 miles. I created one of these for the New Zwicke area, covering the end of the island the colony was established on, and one for the Lucan’s Clock area, showing the environs around it and some of the interesting terrains to the south, over the mountains. I then selected the specific start areas and created maps where the scale was 1 hex = 3 miles. This last set has the initial encounter areas and will be enlarged to create the table maps the players will explore on and mark up.

This means each starting area takes a total of four maps to become “playable”, which is fine for me as I love making maps. Maps are what drew me into playing D&D originally. Games Magazine included D&D in their Top 100 Games one year (late-1970s) and included a sample map of an inn with a secret passage from the basement as an escape route. I was immediately hooked and never looked back.

I still need to create the table maps for the players, but I have the actual areas mapped already, so that won’t take much effort, especially as the maps will start out mostly empty. I’m going to experiment with the Long Distance Sighting Rules put forth on Bat in the Attic (follow the link). I like PCs having the ability to take a look-see by climbing a nearby tree (assuming there is one).

That’s it for today. I want to post maps of the starting areas, soon, but need to do some other stuff first – like finish the encounter tables. I have them for the island of Majica (where New Zwicke is), but still need to do them for the mainland (where Lucan’s Clock is). One word for both maps: dinosaurs!

Starting Locations

Here is the color text I sent to my players for my new campaign: Blood, Gold, and Lizards

New Zwicke

Welcome to the County Palatinate of New Zwicke!  Count Arman, Colonial Governor of the Lustrian Colonies, bids you welcome.  Please mind the laws and do NOT bring any trouble back to town and things will be most agreeable for you here.  Appointments to meet with members of the government are taken Mondays and Tuesdays, actual meetings happen on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, executions are scheduled for Thursdays (in Justice Square), and legal proceedings start on Fridays.

Every full moon there is a Sanctioned Auction.  Everyone may attend and bid at the auction, but only licensed sellers may submit items for the auction.  Licensed sellers include members of the Hansa League, legal representatives of all registered guilds, and members of registered adventuring companies.  Please be aware that bidding at the auction and then failing to honor your bid is a crime with penalties including the confiscation of goods and property equal to the defaulted bid, plus 20%, and the colonial government claims the item bid on.

Members of registered adventuring companies are permitted access to [the adventurer’s quarter] where several fine establishments will meet their needs.  Please see the Adventurer’s Ombudsman’s Office for details of taxes and fees due to the colonial government by registered companies.

Once again, thank you for joining the Lustrian Colonies.  Now please move along before I have the guards remove you.

Lucan's Clock

Howza, mates!  Welcome to Lucan’s Clock, official colony of the Republic of Sartosa in these parts.  Mind the Code and deal with your own problems and things’ll go well for ya.  We don’t stand on fancy laws or drinkin’ with our pinkies out like that lot on Majica.  Anything you want to do that doesn’t leave a dead body is fair game, but that won’t protect you from angry reprisals, so watch it.

Commodore Baldomero Teobaldo Espina, Captain of The Foul Wolf of the West, is in charge of The Clock.  (That’s what we call Lucan’s Clock around here.)  The Commodore will see you if he wants, but you might get a word in edge-wise if you try talking to him when he’s at a saloon.  Or you might get shot.  Could go either way.

Every new moon there is a swap meet here at the square.  It’s not as fancy or boring as that auction over in New Zwicke, but you’d be surprised what things you can find at the swap.  Very surprised.  Be ready to haggle and deal or you might just find yourself in possession of a lead bird instead of the ancient heirloom you was thought you was tradin’ for.

One other thing.  It’s a hard scrabble to make do here, so expect to pay a pretty penny for the nice stuff.  You can get the cheap stuff, but it might turn on ya as you get what you pay for.

Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a saloon nearby that has a drink with my name on it and wench or two to I aim to bed.

Quick Update

Sorry for the radio silence, busy with a side of drama llama the last couple of weeks.  I'm starting to get back on my feet and on something approximating a steady schedule...just in time for my in-laws to visit, my 14th wedding anniversary to roll around, and then my mom to visit.  So while I'll be taking two weeks of vacation over the next five weeks, I'm still going to be busy.

On the novel front, I've got feedback from all but one couple and have set aside large chunks of this weekend to organize the feedback and start applying it.  I'll deal with the grammar issues first, because it is the smaller component.  Then I'll break things apart, pull out scenes that do not involve the focus characters, and see what's left.  Then I'll write back in the removed content, but as seen or experienced by the focus characters.  This should address two common issues - too many characters to easily keep things straight and not enough insight into why things happening are significant to the characters.  That will become Draft 3.0 and it'll go out for a reading again.  That probably won't happen until closer to the end of the year unless my schedule shifts and tons more writing time becomes available.

Why would I need tons more writing time?  Because I'm also starting up a RPG campaign in April.  This will be a West Marches-style campaign with two groups of adventurers adventuring in the same world.  I have 14-15 interested players, which is too many to run at once, so I'll run two sessions a month, each session with a different group.  There is the possibility of some overlap as there are 5 reserved seats at each session and floater seats to bring each session to 8 players maximum.  I think the totals will be smaller due to player availability, but we'll see how it plays out.

In the meantime, I'm creating and populating the play area and setting up encounter areas.  I'll provide more details as I get things nailed down.  Next week I'll post the color text I sent out to the players introducing the two potential starting areas they have to choose from.  They are quite different and have strengths and weaknesses that I believe balance them out.

Later!

End of a Long Week

So last Saturday I attended the funerals of two friends.

Doug Curry, a board gaming friend, died of a heart attack on Valentine's Day.  I met Doug through the Houston Boardgaming Group, which met monthly at a couple of different stores, based on space availability.  I stopped attending when the meeting place moved over to a place in far west Houston (about an hour from my home), but I saw him every year at the Lone Star Game Fest.  He may not have been one of my closest friends, but he was a solid friend and I one of the people I always looked forward to seeing at the con.  Next year will be...  I don't really have the word for it.  I'll keep expecting to see him and be disappointed when I don't.

The memorial service was at a cousin's place and was full of family and friends.  After folks had had a bite to eat (BBQ, because it IS Texas after all), Doug's cousin-in-law (brother in all but blood, really) spoke and then invited others to speak as well.  It was harder on me than I expected, even with the laughs from "Funny Doug stories".  I'll miss him every year at the con.

Steve Reed I've board gamed with, played RPGs with (table top and LARP), and war-gamed with off an on for the last 20 years.  Steve died of complications due to mucopolysaccharidosis, a genetic disease.  I don't know which version, but most people with it die before making it to 17 - Steve made it to 45.  He was in recovery from a hospital trip, but even so, his death was sudden and unexpected (long story short: he suddenly suffered heart, lung, liver, and renal failure and his body went toxic - his living will directed he not be kept on life support and his family gave consent Sunday, February 17 at 10:30pm).  Steve's memorial was at St. Bernadette's in Clear Lake and really hit me hard.  He was one of the people who were part of the inspiration for my novel.  I kept thinking I wanted to send him a copy of the draft while he was in the hospital, but wanted to wait for a "better draft" before sending it.  Now that window is closed.

Steve was a close friend and damned good to talk to on any topic.  He had a sharp mind without being acidic and was always upbeat.  

Damn this hurts.

Good-bye Doug and Steve.  See you both on the other side, whatever's there.

The Microscope Experiment - Summary and Observations

So this week I played Microscope with my weekly gaming group again, finishing the round we started last week.  With five players (the maximum recommended number of players) we pretty much filled up the table with 3x5 notecards.  We did not do as many scenes this time, which seemed to drop the energy level at the table.  We also seemed to be reaching the point where players had definite ideas where they wanted the story to go and were starting to get a bit snarky when it didn't, which seemed to be a good sign it was time to stop working on this particular history.

 

Observations:

• We missed that Legacies could be used instead of the current Focus until after we were done playing.  I think this would have helped where players had no idea what to do with the current Focus but had things they wanted to add to the history.
• Writing an Event requires a bit more conciseness than we mustered early on.  We got better, but it is something to keep an eye out for.  Events are more concise than Period and have a definite start and end, even if they are only implied.  For example, my Event "Open warfare between the armies of The Circle and The Purple Crown" should have said "The Circle and The Purple Crown field their steampunk mecha prototypes against each other for the first time, utterly destroying Townsville and each other".  That's what I was seeing in my head, but I had not yet learned to put that exactly down on the card.
• Scenes are where the excitement is.  Do Scenes as often as you can get away with.  Really.
• A good question for the Scene helps lots, but the Scene description is vital to getting started.  I found myself restating the descriptions for scenes to make sure I understood what the active player was trying for and getting them to state the exact starting point of the Scene.
• I can see why 3-4 players is a better number - things go around faster and players have more influence on the history.
• Microscope is designed for large periods of time, so it would be difficult to use for periods of time smaller than multiple decades.  But for grand scale creation, it works very well.

Next week we are building characters for our Burning Wheel game and will be doing a quick round of Microscope to establish some world history.  I'm not certain how that will pan out exactly, but it will give the players a better grip of the world and more insight into it, so that should be good.  I think I'm going to recommend the GM set out the periods he wants and have the session be a single round adding to that.  The end period for the game will be the starting point of the actual campaign.

Summary:

I'm going to provide a (hopefully) concise summary of the outcome of our two sessions of Microscope.  I'll try to explain anything that seems unclear.  All cards played are defined as Dark or Light by the player, but this seems to be somewhat arbitrary.  I might need to read some more on this for the next game.

History Seed:

We started with by selecting a seed from a list of sample seeds in the back of the book.  The seed we selected was "Secret societies carefully steer the course of civilization".

The Palette:

This is a list of things players want or don't want to see.  The Yes options allow for the possibility of something, the No options specifically exclude things, making them forbidden to add.

Yes:

subtle magic [This should have been defined better.]

cybernetics

reanimation is possible

No:

timey-wimey stuff

joke conspiracies

non-humans (specifically sentient non-humans)

otherworld travel (allows other worlds to exist, but no travel to them)

(more, much more, below the cut)