The Campaign Builder's Guild

Thanks for the update Hoers. Unfortunately I only get an invite invalid screen when I click the link in the tavern.

Hi guys.
Infrequent poster here. I've enjoyed reading all of your creations over the years and sharing a few of my own things. I will miss the cbg in its current form (something about the old-internet design is nostalgic) but also looking forward to what comes next. It's weird how this site has drawn me back again and again, like a coffee shop or bookstore that is amazing (but somehow nobody knows about?) just to browse, read and relax. Thank you all for the content you have shared over the years. You're all brilliant, hope to see you on discord or wherever the cbg ends up :)


EDIT: Thoughts on reddit. I shamelessly plunder the DND subreddit, some of the content there is invaluable coming from gamers with 30-40+ years of DM experience. While most of the content from reddit seems to prescribe to the 'consume-throwaway' endless feed syndrome, there are some really amazing posts to be found. However, I feel that there are already dozens of subreddits that do one aspect of the CBG already, mapmaking, worldbuilding, GMing etc. I'm not sure a CBG subreddit could sustain numbers without regular contests/content/quality posts, which so many other gaming related subreddits already do.

The CBG wants to encapsulate all of the moving gears of campaign construction in one place (which is wonderful) while pushing for discussion on each of these topics. I am not familiar with Discord, but it seems like most of the activity here has been through the shoutbox lately with links to new posts sprinkled through out. I think it is the discussion about gaming in general that is invaluable in this community as some of the insights to worldbuilding and campaign construction are some of the most thoughtful and genuine reactions to be found.

That's all I've got haha.

Eagerly awaiting more content ! :)

Enjoy.

Mr. Bungle

So cool man. Would love to see this developed into a forum game as well. I kind of ran out of steam with my own project. Best of luck! I really dig your rationales for your worldbuilding decisions.

On aerial combat:
  What about incendiary weapons designed to burn up an airships balloons? Or some sort of weapon designed to disrupt the ballast of the ship? (Like hurling a heavy weight onto the bow or stern in order to force a drop in altitude?)

Came across a few interesting podcasts this week.

http://rustyquill.com/ The Magnus Institute investigates paranormal reports. Worth a listen.

http://storywonk.com/there-and-back-again/ A literary look at the work of J.R.R. Tolkien. Alister is going through the Hobbit, tLotR, and supposedly the Silmarillion (good luck) chapter by chapter. Great host and I guess he is doing the casts live on Thursdays.

http://thedarkverse.sharkchild.com/ "Occult Metaphysical etc." Although I wouldn't recommend this to everyone, I'm plugging it because I just won a free copy of the Cthulu Mythos from the website. The stories are...not all great, but I really respect the guy for just doing his thing. I like the earlier stuff with really weird outer-dimensional monsters. Some of them can be pretty graphic.

http://www.imaginaryworldspodcast.org/ Hit or miss.

http://wondery.com/wondery/shows/thedarktome/ I'm only mentioning this because of the Mask of the Red Death episode.

Thank you all for the genuine responses.

Quote from: sparkletwist
Having read a decent amount of Republic Reborn and played in Grey Skies, I think one big way to avoid having a lot of excessively detailed crunch is just... to not have it. Those games seemed to be pretty freeform, all things considered. Although I think Republic Reborn developed more formalized mechanics as it went on, it was not nearly as crunchy as, say, something like Underdeep which had detailed tables describing the available units and buildings and costs and how the math worked and such. I'll also point out that Underdeep ended because it got a little too overwhelming for Steerpike to GM it, so you're definitely not alone in feeling like you're getting buried in tables and numbers, I guess. Like Pym said, it can be tough to strike a comfortable balance, because you don't want the crunch to become onerous but you also want to be able to have enough that the players are able to make reasonable decisions.

This has been immeasurably helpful. My biggest concern is luring players into a game with a flashy gameworld only to have it dissolve as the gameplay is revealed to be cardboard thin. I suppose the only way to get better at this is to give it a go.

Quote from: LoA
I want to play the game that you want to run. Give us some more descriptions about what you had in mind. Also you don't have to include any extra races. One thing I will say though is that I like development games. I like being able to invest time, money, and resources to grow assets or develop things such as businesses, communities, etc, etc. I haven't played Fallout 4 yet, but I can tell you the one thing I'd probably be spending my time on doing is building up a settlement from the get go.

Development of a fleet of airships, and possibly building a home base, a 'pirates nest' or a wealthy trade organization fortress, possibly seizing control of a city for your own purposes. I have not played Fallout 4, but I imagine the settlement development in that game to be more of a 'complete this mission' and 'this NPC shows up with things you can buy' type deal. I might take a look at that.

The possibility of investing in ports to give you some monetary and political control might fulfill that role. But that is a bit off from where I'm at with this game. Nailing down the aspects of buying/selling/trading/fighting are priority right now.

Quote from: Ghostman
This seems like a promising setting for exploration. Dare the uncharted skies on a quest to discover new trade routes and sources of Lux! I don't think the game needs any national bonuses or races, but I'm not opposed to the idea either.

Admittedly, I've given little to no thought on how exploration would work-other than saying 'I point my ship in that direction, let's see what happens.' Not sure exactly what benefits (other than the ones you mentioned) one might gain from blindly exploring the world. Artifacts? New peoples to trade with? Some horrible monster?

Quote from: Magnus Pym

Now, to answer your last reply more specifically, I think all of these things appeal to me. I find games that are too small in scope do not pique my interest, but on the other hand if there aren't rules and restrictions it can get overwhelming. Striking a comfortable balance is definitely a tough thing to do. And to come back to why your ideas appeal to me; they seem to me as though we could add them up to make a perfect whole. You're intent on mastering a game that evolves around flying ships, and in a living, mostly human world. Well, this is a resource worth having! So who gets more? And then, who gets the things needed to make these things? And does this thing get any better at any point? Is there something else? Here I questioned myself about the ships, the resources needed to make and operate them and then if anything better or different existed, thus proving that the ideas you enumerated can definitely and, I think, should be part of your game. They make sense

Yup. Flying ships and a living world you can interact with. That is the goal. You raise some good questions for building on my initial ideas. Thanks!

Quote from: O Senhor Leetz
Agreed. The Wachowski's aren't as smart or creative as i think they think they are. But what do I know.

I think Jupiter Ascending sums this up pretty well. Despite the mountains of money in special effects, you just can't cut and paste Wizard of OZ into space.

For me, this is what a prequel should be. It holds damn true to the visual style of episode IV-VI, albeit with an HD upgrade. I loved this movie and is the only one in the catalog that actually got me a bit misty eyed. It has a few flaws, the expected cameos and mcguffins, (especially disturbing were the computer aided graphics of certain characters I won't mention)  but I think it is an honest and respectful addition to the universe of Star Wars.

In one of the most terrifying scenes in all of star wars, I got to reaffirm my belief that Darth Vader is my favorite villain of all time. This is the sith lord in his prime, and he is pissed.

Did you see it?

Thoughts?

I really enjoyed the first and second matrix movies and watched them both a few times. The third one was not my favorite...trying to tie up a bunch of loose ends...It really sank the franchise for me. But I agree, the Animatrix was one of the coolest 'windows' into extended universe lore I've ever seen. I like how the second renaissance sort of mirrored things in the real world (some of the newscast scenes of men brutally destroying robot women, robots getting crushed under tanks, the men in the trenches etc.)

I think the machines learned to hate from us, and acted in our own image, and twisted that into something incredibly horrifying. Rather than destroy us they chose to put us in a sort of living hell, which for many people, reality is exactly that. I also enjoyed the contrast between the reality of the Matrix as some sort of 'music video' world where everyone lives a sexually charged, leather clad, killing existence as opposed to the grimy, simple and dangerous real world.

Thanks guys! I'm trying to get a sense of where to concentrate on developing/expanding this game.
  What appeals to you more in-game? Building and upgrading your airship fleet; investing in industries, mercenary armies; or exploring the world? How do you feel about swapping out fantasy races for national bonuses? (do you want different races to choose from?) Also, any help with my first post questions would be greatly appreciated.

[ooc]Here is what I am working on at the moment. The numbers are shot straight from the hip although I did my best to balance the 'advancement' of ships using a static formula. Not much else here for now. [/ooc]



Centuries ago, great civilizations fell as the world cracked and died. A mysterious mist, and the monsters that lurked within forced a great migration skyward where bastions and fortresses were built atop mountains and crumbling spires. With the coming of the mysterious mist, an element known as Lux Anima was discovered and refined to power immense airships and even floating cities. A new era dawned. Feudal states war over dwindling resources, as the disparity between rich and poor grows ever greater. Aberrant horrors tainted by the prolonged exposure to Lux Anima besiege the crumbling barriers built by the ancients. In far Larsa, the Sibis scholars seek to unlock the secret of the mist and the Lux Anima...


You are an airship captain, hell-bent on securing a fortune that you might retire to some windswept cliff manor, or a palace fortress in the Dreadmond. It is a hard life, dangerous and exciting. Hundreds of captains disappear without a trace into the cloying mists every cycle, and with them their legacy and gold. Crew your ship, trade and fight and find your personal glory. The world is a mixture of medieval and steampunk, with a dash of magitech and horror. Picture knights clashing aboard hulking airships, while red-eyed demons from the mist claw at the hull...or something like that.

The World

The Vaarterburg Imperium
From the high ramparts of the Vaarterburg Monarchy are trained the cannons of the Imperial Fleet, protecting the shipping lanes of the Windswept Cliffs, Hearthcourt and Dreadmond. The Vaarterburg has the largest airship fleet in the world, fueled by the Fountain Mounts of the Imperial Circle. From here, large quantities of Lux Anima are pulled from the depths of the Under Earth and processed to fuel the fleet.

Sibis, and the Eternal Well
The scholars of Sibis, who dwell in high Larsa, are keepers of the Eternal Well, a naturally occurring font of unchecked Lux Anima that spews forth from the earth. This well, the largest in the world has supplied fleets the world over. The scholars enjoy and maintain a neutrality in conflicts as they supply much of the worlds Lux Anima. The brevity of holy Bapha, the god of magic, and the skyborn clergy have lent some weight to avoiding conflict, as well as advancements in science refinement by Sibis scholars. It would be foolish to say that there are not those who covet the Eternal Well, however.  

The Free Cities of Maleah
A republic of trading captains, mercenaries and industry tycoons, Maleah is rich, but with a small fleet compared to the larger monarchies. They are arch-rivals of Vaarterburg, having rebelled against the king some 100 years prior, and continuous raids on the storehouses of the Monarch.  

The Kingdom of Naramunz
An ancient kingdom reaching back 1000 years. Home to the massive Fortress Ships of the Last War that have been converted into permanent floating cities. Although controlling only a single Mount, Naramunz has a strong fleet steeped in pride and honor, and a tradition of ship-forging that rivals even the great Vaarterburg shipbuilders.

The Lothelonni Wilds
The wooded isles of Lothelonn are home to mysterious beasts that lurk in the mists of the underearth, and crawl up from the swirling gloom across landbridges to all parts of the world. These creatures are hunted for the trace amounts of Lux Anima in their blood.


Playing The Game
The Lux Anima Chronicles is a turn-based game where you play an airship captain. You manage your ship, crew, goods, weapons and explore the world. Trading and fighting are two of the main parts of the game. Player written narratives in-between turn updates are a good way to help build the game lore and break the monotony of the numbers. Yes, this game uses numbers. But not to worry, it's all basic math and not at all complicated.

[spoiler=Player/Ship Ledger]
A players ledger keeps track of vital information relating to your ship, captain and specialist, as well as crew, cargo, hull (how durable your ship is) and cannon.
Captain: Choose a name for your captain. Possible nationality or racial bonuses?
Homeport: Choose your homeport on the map. Relations with this port will remain neutral unless you do something incredibly stupid.
Gold: How much money you have on hand to buy and sell.

WIP--->Specialist: Specialists can be hired in ports for 25g a cycle. The bounties board has information on which specialists are looking for work.
Specialists will bring better rewards to your ventures. Considering hunters, merchants, scholars, sorcerers etc.

Crew: Crew cost 1g per man (or woman!) per cycle. A full ships compliment will perform better. You may take on additional crew, but they must be quartered for an additional 1g per cycle (wages=2g total for crew over the max crew limit per ship) and take 1 cargo space per man over the crew limit of your ship.
Cannon: How many and what kind of guns you have on board.
Cargo: What your ship is carrying at the moment. Each class of vessel has a maximum cargo capacity.
[/spoiler]


Index of Goods, Ships, etc.
[spoiler=Ships]


Zeppelin
The tiny zeppelins that ply the air currents carry cargo at a painfully slow pace. These ships are commonly found all across the world, and are easy prey for pirates due to light armament and bulky maneuvering.

Cost: 100g
Speed: 5 knots
Crew: max 10
Cannon: 3
Cargo Space: 10

Sloop
A true 'airship' driven by multiple propellers and a basic anima engine. Despite the increased hold space, much of this is given to crew quarters, a gun deck and engineering.

Cost: 150g
Speed: 10 knots
Crew: max 15
Cannon: 6
Cargo Space: 15

Knave
Knaves were used infamously to smuggle goods to Meleah during the Great Rebellion by Imperium sympathizers. It's quick speed and expanded cargo made blockade runs risky, but rewarding.

Cost: 250g
Speed: 21 knots
Crew: max 15
Cannon: 8
Cargo Space: 25

Stoker
A civilian version of the Imperium Frigate, the Stoker is a large cargo vessel with a slow rate of speed, but big return on shipping investments-if you manage to avoid pirates.

Cost: 300g
Speed: 15 knots
Crew: max 28
Cannon: 8
Cargo Space: 30

Frigate
A true 'warship', the Frigates of the Vaartenburg Imperium protect the all important shipping lanes between Naramunz and Sibis. Heavily armed and manned, the Frigate is the choice ship of infamous pirates and mercenaries.

Cost: 500g
Speed: 25
Crew: max 40
Cannon: 18
Cargo Space: 40

Dreadnought
The largest class vessel, and the most feared. Used as flagships in Imperium Fleets, and as floating luxury palaces by the Pirate Lords and Naramunzian Royalty, the Dreadnought is dwarfed only by the floating cities of the Kingdom of Naramunz.

Cost: 800g
Speed:30
Crew: max 65
Cannon: 24
Cargo Space: 70
[/spoiler]

Glossary
Here contained are the terms and ideas most useful for determining the nature of the world.

Lux Anima
Lux Anima (or simply Lux, or interchangeably Anima) is a greatly understood magical element commonly found in the hearts of many of the larger Mountains across the world. Although rigorously studied and exploited to fuel the endless fleets of airships, Lux Anima maintains distinct ethereal and religious qualities-a sort of mythology to accompany the scientific. For instance, humans exposed to Lux Anima in its unrefined form often die within weeks of a violently debilitating disease, but certain creatures of the mist seem to thrive upon it. Scholars of Bapha work tirelessly to record any and all information gleaned from the use of Lux Anima.

Bapha
The god of magic, light and hope. One of the gods depicted on the Sepulchre Stone, of which 9 of 13 have been lost. Bapha is depicted as an angel with wings of lightning, a shield of storms and a thousand faces. He is the god which the Sibis attribute to allowing mortals to harvest Lux Anima, and refine it for their own purposes. They also attribute him with allowing the monsters of the mists to endanger civilization, so that man may not forget his own limitations.  

I was hoping to coax some advice/insight/guidance from the brilliant minds lurking here on how to go about creating the basics of a turn-based forum run roleplaying game. I've given it a shot before at another forum and found it to be a daunting task-what I thought would be a streamlined system of events and results turned quickly into a nightmare of endless resolving rolls and stat-checking. I'm quite the novice at such things and wanted to get some advice on creating a simple forum game. The complexity and historical knowledge of the legendary Republic Reborn has always been a source of inspiration as well as Sellswords on civfanatics, and the more recent Kingless Countries has piqued my interest in the genre as well. I also really admire Themeanestguest's Our Terrible Purpose and Grey Skies, Our Terrible Purpose for it's unique 'tag' system (which is ingenious) and extensive lore, and Grey Skies for it's just downright cool setting.

So I pose to you, good members of these forums, how do you go about designing such a game? My knack for numbers is lacking, as my attempts at creating such a game just resulted in endless tables of number checking. What advice can you suggest to create stream-lined game like the ones I mentioned here?

On the more creative side, what drives you to want to create such worlds/games? Running these things seems nothing short of a part-time job and I've always wondered if my own need to create such things is a result of my ego, megalomania or what have you. Enough babbling, discuss!

I would love to give this a go if you'll have me. What is the flavor of the roleplay? Medieval?

Quote from: Ghostman
Cool setting! How difficult is space travel in this anachronistic universe? What do their spacecraft look like?

Thanks Ghostman!

I am imagining interplanetary travel within the blotch of space known as the Kingdoms to be relatively safer than, say traveling to distant Chrystar or mounting an expedition to The Scream. You might encounter the odd space pirate, debris field or hostile faction traveling between Kingdom planets, but once you leave civil space things become much more dangerous. I imagine the characters-the ones brave enough to leave the safety of The Kingdoms-as creating some of the problems they might encounter.

Discovering a planet for example, where the payoff might seemingly appear greater than the risks involved, only to encounter an ancient cosmic horror or diabolical booby trap left over from the empire-without-name; somewhat conjuring plot devices of Star Trek:TOS. I'll have to think about this some more.

Something I had assumed but not even written a blurb about is that space travel need not be restricted to starships. Portals and wormholes, either naturally occurring or through some machination devised by the old empire, might be one (probably unsafe) method of transport. Certain alien species might even be capable of traveling from planet to planet, a magical sort of evolution possibly pushed along by sorcerers from the empire days.

As for the ships, they are myriad and unique. The Ships should be another character in the plot really, but I don't think personified ships ala quirky A.I. is the way to go here. More atmospheric clues about each ship (I really can't think of any atm, dead tired from work). The point is that their really are no endless waves of fighters or drones, (I suggest filling that capacity with swarms of hive-mind insectoids or something of the like) I will certainly have to give this some more thought-you've pushed my brain in another direction than it was heading Ghostman, thanks for reading!