Topic: Misc SW material

[B Hanson]

Can you answer these without looking at the books?

https://www.rolemasterblog.com/shadow-world-questions/

[cdcooley]

I'm curious to see if what I remember matches what other people say (and if I've gotten anything wrong). It was a fun exercise in any case.

[B Hanson]

Attached is PT1 of my Shadow World Trivia test. I've included a scale for you to score yourself, or you can send me an answer sheet and I'll score it for you. Enjoy and Good Luck!!

[B Hanson]

https://www.rolemasterblog.com/discussion-evil-and-the-anti-essaence-in-shadow-world/

[B Hanson]

This is a Shadow World thread, but should we focus on the Rolemasterblog for this content? btw: chronicles of Kuor is upcoming!!

[B Hanson]

So just self-checking my progress on a number of goals I posted "pre-covid":

FROM 2019:

So, while I appreciate I have a very small audience for my material I was hoping for some input on what I should finish up and post next. I have most of the work done, so it's a matter of focusing on one thing, finishing it and moving on to the next. Some choices:

1. Chapters 2-5 of Legends of Shadow World. Finished.
2. Mentalism spells for BASiL. Still working on this..but added a few.
3. Fully expanded material on Orhan religions and priesthood. Posted!
4. Book of Pales. (expanded material for the various demon realms with environmental rules and expanded bestiary) Published.
5. New adventures for Priest king of Shade. Done but not published.
6. d100 adventures at the Rolemasterblog. (Lair of Ozymandius & Tower of the Elephant) Published.
7. S.W.A.R.M. (Shadow World Alternative Role Master) Done but not published...not sure it's needed with RMU.
8. A huge SW edition of the Rolemasterblog Fanzine. (like issue #4 which is a top seller). Not even started, but waiting for SW/Terry estate to be clarified.
9. Empire of the Black Dragon. All about Ulya!!! done except for layouts.
10. The travelogue of Caylis Deveran. (a written account of travels throughout Kulthea). nothing except for what is already included in other works.
11. Shadow World Compendium. A revised master atlas which includes all of my material. Done. Not published due to IP issues.
12. Spell lists for various organizations in Shadow World. (Steel Rain, Orders, etc).  A lot done. See forums or Rolemasterblog.

13. SW Channeling. Upcoming.
14. Nontataku. City of the Alliance. Forthcoming.
15. Agyra. NW, NW & SW. This is addition to Priest-King and finishes up the continent including the Cult of Dragons and Assassins of Shurgur.

[Voriig Kye]

I've incorporated most of your Shadow World lore material as cannon in my campaigns.
On the other hand, I don't find the spells you have created match my gaming group style.

So my answer is clear, go for the flavor content. Describe cultures, history, artifacts, and suggest adventures. I'm sure to use all of that.

[Malim]

Really hope that you can continue TKA awesome work.

[RandalThor]

I will rate them from 1 (least desired) to 10 (most desired) - also, some questions about what something is, sorry buy it has been a while since I looked at this  ):

1. Chapters 2-5 of Legends of Shadow World. Finished.

?? Not exactly sure what this is, but if it is flavor material about different people, places and things of the world, then: 8

2. Mentalism spells for BASiL. Still working on this..but added a few.

6

3. Fully expanded material on Orhan religions and priesthood. Posted!

9 - This might play into the campaign I am putting together, where I expand the adventure Cult of the Third Moon* in the Jaiman sourcebook.

4. Book of Pales. (expanded material for the various demon realms with environmental rules and expanded bestiary) Published.

3

5. New adventures for Priest king of Shade. Done but not published.

Isn't this the one that isn't Shadow World? But you connect it with Agyra? 5

6. d100 adventures at the Rolemasterblog. (Lair of Ozymandius & Tower of the Elephant) Published.

2

7. S.W.A.R.M. (Shadow World Alternative Role Master) Done but not published...not sure it's needed with RMU.

7

8. A huge SW edition of the Rolemasterblog Fanzine. (like issue #4 which is a top seller). Not even started, but waiting for SW/Terry estate to be clarified.

4

9. Empire of the Black Dragon. All about Ulya!!! done except for layouts.

8

10. The travelogue of Caylis Deveran. (a written account of travels throughout Kulthea). nothing except for what is already included in other works.

5

11. Shadow World Compendium. A revised master atlas which includes all of my material. Done. Not published due to IP issues.

10

12. Spell lists for various organizations in Shadow World. (Steel Rain, Orders, etc).  A lot done. See forums or Rolemasterblog.

9

13. SW Channeling. Upcoming.

8

14. Nontataku. City of the Alliance. Forthcoming.

7

15. Agyra. NW, NW & SW. This is addition to Priest-King and finishes up the continent including the Cult of Dragons and Assassins of Shurgur.

8 - a new place to explore would be great!

*I am turning it into a multi chapter campaign where the PCs uncover and must stop (or not, of course) Mara-sa from fully awakening the powers of the Amulet. (It will become a 70th level artifact with lots of powers and abilities, giving the forces of darkness a huge boost in strength.) It revolves around a massive ritual that she has to do, one that incorporates an "ingredient" geared to appease each of the Gods of Charon. Some more details about how they go about worshiping and what they (the Dark Gods) each find important could give me ideas on what "ingredients" could be needed.

[B Hanson]

Thanks for this. It's helpful!!! OTOH, I thought the "Book of Pales" was a good addition for a number of reasons.

[B Hanson]

A bit from the recent work:

[vilor]

I have to say that more Mentalism love would not go amiss, especially given the amount of material you've put into Essence and Channeling. Thank you for all you do though!

[Falconer]

7. S.W.A.R.M. (Shadow World Alternative Role Master) Done but not published...not sure it's needed with RMU.

Personally I am about 50× more interested in SWARM than in RMU!

[B Hanson]

In an attempt to keep Shadow World files in one place, I've attached a map put up by "Voriig Kye".

Pretty cool, and shows how a little customization can add to the SW work product!

[MisterK]

Oh, I have a few of those - of Uj. It's on a white map background. Maybe I'll post them in the future. I had one for each of the major powers in southwest Emer, if I remember well.

[B Hanson]

Attached is Matt's (Vroomfogle) campaign notes from his SW "Legacy of the Y'kin" that we discussed at the Rolemasterblog. This was created using AI.

https://www.rolemasterblog.com/the-shadow-world-a-i-project/

[vroomfogle]

Just to be clear - the campaign doc was created with the help of AI.   There were notes and I had some stuff already written. I used ChatGPT-4 to summarize text, in some cases from source books, or to expand upon some ideas to flesh them out more (as explained in the blog post).
Except for the map of Jaiman and a town map, all the images were created using Stable Diffusion, using DreamStudio.ai currently but working on running Stable Diffusion locally (it's open-source).

[Hurin]

I dislike that AI is going to put some artists out of business, but I am pretty stunned by the quality of the art that can be generated, as Matt's work here shows. The ability to have high-quality, realistic images of races and characters, and ones that have an internal consistency, is incredible.

I think I would pay a body part to get a SW Races guide with images like those for each SW race.

[B Hanson]

I dislike that AI is going to put some artists out of business, but I am pretty stunned by the quality of the art that can be generated, as Matt's work here shows. The ability to have high-quality, realistic images of races and characters, and ones that have an internal consistency, is incredible.

I think I would pay a body part to get a SW Races guide with images like those for each SW race.

We are working on it...and you won't have to give up a body part since it will be a free download like the rest of our stuff.

[Hurin]

We are working on it...and you won't have to give up a body part since it will be a free download like the rest of our stuff.

That is something I will eagerly look forward to!