Well, this was the last week of the Gygax ’75 Challenge, and I have had a great time! I got a lot done, but could have spent another month on polishing the setting…
What Were This Week’s Tasks?
Just as a reminder, the work for the fifth week of the Challenge were to have fun by helping round out the setting by doing at least 3 of the following tasks:
- Sketch out an atlas map of the continent or world.
- Outline other planes/worlds that characters could visit, and how they could get there.
- Develop a pantheon of gods and their powers.
- Create some high level NPCs.
- Create a calendar with some events.
- Generate some events and rumors from other lands.
- Create more magical relics and their histories.
- Create encounter tables from each terrain type in your hex map.
- Develop a rival company of adventurers that will cross paths with the characters.
- Seed the map with unusual features.
- Make a list of house rules that relate to your setting.
- Bonus: PLAY!
So how did it go?
Pretty good, I think, but not as good as I wanted! I actually had a lot of this done by now, or at least a good start on the framework for the tasks. Still, I could spend another month fleshing each of them out and tuning things to be just what I want. But that was not the point of the Challenge–to get just enough of a world up and running to be able to start playing at the table.
I think I have that–so much so that I am going to start doing some solo gaming in the setting for a while and enjoy it! Obviously I could spend another month adding more detail and polishing things up, and I will have fun adding that color as I go. But I have enough of a setting to be able to generate some characters and run them through some adventures–starting with the dungeon from Week 3.
What I Did
Here is what I got done (and not done) this week:
- Atlas Map. I actually had as much of a larger-scale atlas map as I am going tomato already done. I have an idea for the individual mountains surrounding the Vales region, but I don’t plan on drawing them up in any detail. Here’s why: The biggest thing I love about this setting is that it is contained. I can focus on details within a smaller area–not a continent-spanning setting–and that can get me gaming faster, and not distracted by worldbuilding!
- There are two other planes that the characters can visit:
- The Seaglor. This is the world of the Dragon, the Underworld that can be crossed to if you go too deep underground. This is the land of the dragons. The Seaglor is the source of all evil, which flows from the Dragon. His demons–the dragons–roam the Seaglor underworld, and breed the nightmarish creatures that live there… and cross to the Mortal World.
- The Asgular. This is land of the gods, the place where the Wolf and the Raven live. Their minions can cross over to the Mortal World as their messengers, but do not normally cross over and stay. The only way to get to the Asgular is through the help of the messengers of the gods.
- Religion in the Vales is animistic in nature. The gods are real, but rarely intervene in the Mortal World. There are two dominant religions in the Vales, that of the Wolf and the Raven. They are dualistic in nature, representing the opposing nature of the universe.
- The Wolf is the god of the moon. The Raven is the god of the sun.
- The Wolf is the god of earth and water. The Raven is the god of fire and air.
- The Wolf is the god of the wilderness. The Raven is the god of civilization.
- The Wolf is the god of seasons. The Raven is the god of time.
- The Wolf is the god of the night. The Raven is the god of the day.
- The Wolf is the god of autumn and winter. Raven is the god of spring and summer.
- The Wolf is seen as male. The Raven is seen as female.
- The Wolf carries your soul to the mountaintop where it is reborn. The raven carries you soul to the clouds where it is reborn.
- The Wolf is generally worshipped more in the Upper Vales, while the Raven is more predominant in the Lower Vales.
- The two religions of the Wolf and the Raven have a strong rivalry, with the borderlands between the Upper and Lower Vales the main battlegrounds. There is not open warfare, but the rivalry does flare into violence on occasion.
- The Dragon. In addition to the Wolf and the Raven, there is the Dragon. The Dragon is the god of evil, the source of all darkness that comes from the Underworld. The worship of the Dragon is a very old one, going back to the times before the Vale people arrived in the land. It is only a degenerate cult now, but well known as the evil that it is.
- The Swan. The Swan is an upstart religion, found only in the Lower Vales, in the coastal regions. Not much is known about the religion of the Swan, other than it is growing among both commoners and nobility.
- The Bear. The Bear is the god that the barbarian Raiders beyond the Vales worship. It is a fierce god, and reflects the ways of its followers.
- I started some high level NPCs, but have not finished them.
- I started a calendar, but have not finished it.
- I started a historical timeline for the Vales, but do not have the recent history completed–the time after the High King died without a clear heir, and the recent wars began. That will give me more color for the land, and rumors!
- I have added a few more relics (because of the low magic setting, they will be rare), but have not fleshed them out yet.
- Here are the encounter tables for the different terrain types in the Detailed Map:
- Plains:
2. Raiders from Fadaerin Vale.
3. Hag.
4. Wild horses.
5. Merchants.
6. Villagers.
7. Wolves.
8. Wild dogs.
9. Deer.
10. Patrol.
11. Bandits.
12. Barbarian raiders. - Forest:
2. Ghouls.
3. Giant bee/wasp.
4. Faerie creature.
5. Deer.
6. Boar.
7. Villagers.
8. Bear.
9. Wolves.
10. Giant toad.
11. Giant beetles.
12. Giant spiders. - Mountains:
2. Barbarian raiders.
3. Dragon men.
4. Minotaur.
5. Harpies.
6. Mountain lion.
7. Bear.
8. Mountain goats.
9. Sasquatch.
10. Elemental.
11. Ogre.
12. Ghouls.
- Plains:
- I have some ideas for rival companies, as well as other factions, but do not have them fleshed out yet.
- I do have the Detail Map seeded with ruins/dungeons and features. I rolled 1d3+1 for the ruins and 1d6 for the features. I will use various random tables to inspire me for ideas, but I am leaving them open for now to give me room to grow as I play.
- The list of house rules I will need includes:
- Magic! I will be using the magic rules from Wizard for now, but I want to finish the homebrew magic rules Jeff Vandine and I are working on.
- Reaction Rolls. I have some basic rules that I ported from Zozer Games Solo that works great for reactions, but I need to integrate the Behavior rules from Blades.
- Insanity. A long-standing hole in Blades & Black Magic is that of some simple, gameable rules for madness.
- Downcrawl. I plan to use the Downcrawl supplement as a framework for underground adventures that delve into the Underworld, the Seaglor.
- My Own Bonus: I filled out the worldbuilding survey from MAR Barker. It is a handy document that helps you think through a wide range of colorful details for your setting.
What Next?
Well, this was the last week of the Challenge, so technically I am done. But… since I am going to play in the Vales setting for a while, I am going to keep working on the setting as I play. I suspect it will take me the rest of April to get the detail level to where I want, but I will also be generating some characters and starting to run them through some adventures.
I am also going to write up the information I created for the Challenge in a more-easily-digestible PDF format, and post that on this website. The format I used in these articles matches the Challenge format, but is could be arranged better to make it easier to read and use.
Finally, I am going to post the setting information on the site like I have started to on my other settings. I really hope to get all of this there so that anyone can use it if they desire.
And that is it for Week 5! I am going to post my final thoughts on the experience in the next article–stay tuned for more!
Marko ∞
