So I'm kicking around two ideas for a new book. Let me know which you like better. (Or hell, suggest something else entirely.)
Idea #1: Book of Choshu
This would be a setting book, explicitly for Ruins & Ronin, designed around the northeast corner of that Saikaido campaign world that I've been kicking around here. 13th century Japan plus assorted weirdness in the form of a sandbox hexmap, a small dungeon or two, some monsters & treasures. The goal would be to cram an entire R&R mini-campaign into 32 pages.
Idea #2: People of the Cave
Cavemen and cavewomen versus the unknown. The PCs would be among the tribe's first specialists at the dawn of agriculture. Hunting/gathering and tribal politics would be important, but there would also be spooky caves to be explored. Spellbooks would be in the form of cave paintings. I've actually found some really neat tools for this concept in the 2.5 Skills & Powers book, but the finished book would be "broadly compatible" with all the usual suspects.
Megadungeon Map
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click to enlargeThe players find this somewhere in the megadungeon, showing
how the areas connect, where the Gate of Six Keys is and where the keys are.
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Posts
Two good ideas so you eventually need to do both.
ReplyDeleteFirst, go with Book of Choshu. I think it sounds fantastic and I'd also like to see some support for Mike D's R&R...besides he's a cool guy so that idea gets my vote.
Wow, I think both are great. If I had to pick one I'd say idea no. 1, but honestly, I'd rather vote for both since the cave-painting as spells sound extremely cool!
ReplyDeleteUgg feel part of grossly under-represented demographic in old school. This make Ugg want smash with club. Ugg suggest number 2.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'd like to see someone salvage something useful from the ill-fated D&D 2.5.
I'm firmly in the #1 camp, as I'd love to see support products for R&R!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Chris. Both look cool, but my votes for #2.
ReplyDelete#1 sounds MINT, do it Jeff, go on!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sham! :)
ReplyDeleteI would love to see Choshu too! That sounds fantastic.
#2 momentarily distracted me from the incessant itching of my lice-infested loincloth, but really I'm waiting for the coffee-table Book of Shatnerdays...
ReplyDeletePeople of the Cave sounds very interesting, but if I saw the two products in a game store, I would be more likely to buy the Book of Choshu. Medieval Japan just grabs me more than cavemen.
ReplyDelete#1, definitely #1!
ReplyDeleteMy vote is for #2 (sorry Mike)...work in some ancient Atlantean stuff, too a la 10,000 BC.
ReplyDelete: )
Assuming I'm understanding the concept correctly- number two.
ReplyDelete#1
ReplyDeleteMy vote's for #2—you had me with cave paintings = spellbooks!
ReplyDeleteYes, please. (that's a vote for both).
ReplyDeleteI'd do them in order, because I think #2 is going to be something to kick around for awhile, and #1 can be done in fairly short order since you have a groove going with maps and your previous blog posts.
Yep, do both, but do Choshu first, as it seems like you've got more of a structure in mind there already, and the latter idea is going to take more work to put together. For what it's worth, I would buy both, but run #2.
ReplyDeleteIf you do go with the Ruins and Ronins idea, here's an image:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pinktentacle.com/images/kyosai_8_large.jpg
which might be nicely inspirational. It's from a collection of Japanese paintings made in the 1870s showing various scenes of the Japanese hell. The one I've linked to shows two fighters being attacked by demons.
the full post is here:
http://www.pinktentacle.com/2009/07/sketches-of-hell-by-kyosai/
Do #2, and if you have time for it, #1.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I would much prefer #2. It does seem a niche not much explored.
ReplyDeleteNow what would be REALLY cool is if you played the whole tribe instead of just an individual, or, if not that, the characters could have early access to henchmen but it really the other members of his tribe as he gets more and more powerful and attracts more followers.
I think the Book of Choshu is the way to go. I find that caveman campaign sound good on paper but rarely execute well.
ReplyDeletebook 1... more examples of small sandboxes are needed!
ReplyDeleteI vote for #1 (although both ideas are very cool).
ReplyDeleteIf you end up working on #2 which strikes me as an original idea, take a moment to glance at William Golding's 'The Inheritors' for inspiration.
ReplyDelete#1 please.
ReplyDelete#1
ReplyDeletethe evolved part of me says go for #1, but the primordial part of me says #2.
ReplyDeleteHey: Howzabout a flip book? Chonsu on 1 side, Cavemen on the other. It could work...
Two out of two gamer-geeks in this household agree.
ReplyDeleteCave-dudes and cave-babes would be cool.
Can we have dinosaurs? I know it would be historically incorrect, but who cares! It's FANTASY!
Put your hands together...
ReplyDeleteIs there no Hokkaido-equivalent near Choshu?
Ainu-type barbarian tribes, primarily hunters and fishers, with trade in iron towards the more advanced society in Choshu, who regard the northern barabarians as "hairy savages..."
might work...
another vote for Choshu, #1.
ReplyDeleteI've seen plenty of Asian adventure in many game systems. I definitely vote for #2: People of the Cave.
ReplyDeleteBy adding spirits and magic, you'll certainly be carving out a new path with a lot of room for adventure.
GO PEOPLE OF THE CAVE!
I've been working on a BX game set in the Pleistocene tentatively called "Hunting and Gathering" with my fiance, so I'm going to vote for #1 (especially if it means more R&R material.)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely #1 first. The world - or at least that part of it that's of a certain age - will beat a path to your door for a good campaign in a box. Or booklet.
ReplyDeleteI'll join in the vote for Book of Choshu first sir.
ReplyDeleteIf '"broadly compatible" with all the usual suspects' included Og/Land of Og Lconversion rules I'd be all over #2.
ReplyDeleteAD
Barking Alien
#2 all the way
ReplyDeletePeople of the Cave sounds like something I'd be interested in. Cave girls in fur bikinis, *yum* :)
ReplyDelete