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Diary entry four: Lets dig into the setting!
John @ ICE:
There were some good suggestions to the last post. I'm glad people said no need to make it historically acurate because its a pain in the ass to get the time line correct - even sources sometimes conflict! I want to get the day to day stuff right (how they dressed, how they ate), but dont want to be too stuck to correctness on timelines, politics, etc.
So here is my opening bit to the setting:
“The Time is the mid-900s AD and all of the British Isles are divided by kingdoms, principalities and earldoms and the occasional independent city- state ruled by “clerics†- warrior monks of Christianity. These kingdoms are peopled by many types of tribes: the Britons, Angles, Saxons, Vikings (Danish, Norwegian), Picts, Welsh and Scots. Ireland was also divided into several kingdoms and princedoms, some ruled by Vikings and others ruled by the Irish kings and princes.
The King of the Anglo-Saxons of Wessex is the most powerful king in all of Britain: Edward the Elder sits in uneasy truce with the Danish King of Anglia, Guthrum II. The Kingdoms of York and Scotland were to the north. To the west lay the kingdoms of Wales, of which Gwynedd in the north and Dyfed in the south are the most powerful. All pay homage to the king in Wessex, but some of these kings and princes are quite independent and seek to break free of their duties to the Wessex king. And for many kingdoms, Wessex is far away and has little influence on life within their borders for all but the most high-born.â€
The internet is amazing. I used to write all this stuff into lined notebooks and draw maps and pictures by hand, or use pictures from Dragon magazine. Now there is a plethora of free artwork and even ready-made maps one can use to get a game started. About 60% of the work I am doing is cut and paste, the rest writing. I’m pulling mainly from historical sources, fan sites and the occasional site that seems to be writing new material based on historical sources. So now I have a campaign book coming together which I expect to be 8 to 10 pages long. Right now I have completed the political / geographic description of the world and its time frame, as well as a “what people believed†section which introduces the land of the faeries or “fae†where I use the name Arcadium, and how they intereact with humans and how geographically they come into contact with humans. But I don’t spend much time on what faeries are at this stage…
Of course, their magical nature is revealed which moves nicely into a description of magic, which starts thus:
“Yes, even magic which very much exits in Olde England! “Bagh!†you say!?
Well, I can tell you, only a fool does not believe in magic and the power of holy men! Everyone knows magic is real and works (usually…) But of course one must be careful in these times, for the priests of the Church do not much like magic as too often they find it used for selfish and evil reasons.†Here, I discuss the difference between Sorcery and Wizardry, and further between “learned and courtly†mages, and common “hedge wizardsâ€.
I have chosen that sorcery will mostly be considered “bad†magic as it involves the control and enslavement of spirits, elementals, demons and the dead, while magic generally affects the physical properties of the world directly through the study of ancient Celtic, Roman and Greek texts, and the use of incantations and components. Hedge wizards have the simpler spells passed down usually verbally and may be the local “healer†or “fortune tellerâ€.
GrumpyOldFart:
--- Quote from: John @ ICE on October 21, 2012, 02:11:34 PM ---The internet is amazing. I used to write all this stuff into lined notebooks and draw maps and pictures by hand, or use pictures from Dragon magazine. Now...
--- End quote ---
On the one hand, trying for historical accuracy can turn the whole thing into drudgery. But given the right players, it can also give it a "scavenger hunt" subtext as they try to find ways to use the historical depth of the cultures represented to their own advantage. If they're up for it, your players can teach themselves an awful lot about how to dig for (and compare) sources by doing this.
Do it right and you can teach your kids how to have an automatic advantage in anything involving research or troubleshooting. Actually that's not right, they'll teach themselves, all you'll have to do is stand clear and watch their dust.
Figure out ways that what they learn about the actual culture can give them an advantage in game play. Smile and be proud when they unexpectedly kick your poor GM butt because they found out something online or wherever that you didn't realize they knew. If your storyline can stand the strain of it, perhaps even give extra in-game rewards for finding and using such knowledge. The things they learn because of it will give them an edge on their peers all their lives. Not because of the history they learned, but because of what they taught themselves about how to learn.
We all try to keep player knowledge and character knowledge separate, but the mere fact that the character is fictional means there will be a lot of character knowledge the player will never realize. The more they get into the actual history behind a historically based setting, the more those gaps fill in.
John @ ICE:
--- Quote from: GrumpyOldFart on October 21, 2012, 03:24:26 PM ---
...Figure out ways that what they learn about the actual culture can give them an advantage in game play. Smile and be proud when they unexpectedly kick your poor GM butt because they found out something online or wherever that you didn't realize they knew. If your storyline can stand the strain of it, perhaps even give extra in-game rewards for finding and using such knowledge. The things they learn because of it will give them an edge on their peers all their lives. Not because of the history they learned, but because of what they taught themselves about how to learn.
We all try to keep player knowledge and character knowledge separate, but the mere fact that the character is fictional means there will be a lot of character knowledge the player will never realize. The more they get into the actual history behind a historically based setting, the more those gaps fill in.
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This is a brilliant idea, and i was half way there when wanting them to do arts and crafts on their character portrait and writing when doing their backstory. But of course they have a whole historical WORLD to discover that they know almost nothing about today (and its not like I know so much either!). It really is like discovering another world.
I have some really detailed ideas now for the first adventure and I will be able to bring this idea into alot of play since the centre of the first module is the classroom...
markc:
It sounds very interesting and IMHO has a lot of potential.
I also like the idea of giving extra Exp for players who look up material on the net, print stuff off, read sections of a specific website and providing answers to questions.
In fact a linked adventure website with some questions would also be great.
MDC
John @ ICE:
--- Quote from: markc on October 22, 2012, 02:47:54 PM --- In fact a linked adventure website with some questions would also be great.
MDC
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Mark - can you elaborate - not sure what you have in mind?
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