current setting status

[LordVreeg]

'Tis the end of another Calender year.  We've all been plotting and scheming our year away, our spare time spent trying to breathe life into our settings.  Thought I'd get some current insight on the status of these settings we've all shared, and maybe make it easier to help each ourselves and others.

1) In terms of creativity, what's the area you are most proud of in your setting for the year?  What have you made that really makes your world shine?  (and if you want to call attention to it, link it here and I'll go look at it.  Feel free to be proud of something!)

2) What is the status in terms of players in your setting?  How may PC's, how often do they play?  What do they seem to like and what direction do you want them to go in?  What are their stregths and weaknesses?  What is working and not working in the GM/PLayer interface?

3) What makes the 'main playing stage' intersting for the players?  Not the whole setting, but where is home base for the PC's and what ties them to it?  How have you invested them in their 'home base'?

4) What area in your setting would some immediate feedback help?  What area will benefit the most from having a few fellow creators take a quick look at and try to give some new perspectives in? (And again, feel free to link here to where you want me/us to wite about it).

Most of all, thank you all for a thoughtful and inspirational past year, and I wish you, you family, and your setting a great New Year.  
(I'll get around to answering this myself later today, as I am at work...)

[beejazz]

1)I'm thinking about futuristic technologies from a consumer's point of view in my scifi. It's nothing world-shattering, but certainly a fun level of detail to play with. Like spray meat (which is like spray cheese... only with meat) and drugs (from antibiotics to hallucinogens) available in conveniently located vending machines around town.

2)Sadly, still none. Not that there's necessarily enough of a game to start playing, but I am getting there.

3)NA

4)I need all kinds of feedback. I really need to flesh out the fantasy more overall, and as usual, I need some plausible religions and other organizations for the scifi game.

[psychoticbarber]

1) The fact that I've really started, for real this time.

2) 0. I'm actually prepping for a future campaign.

3) NA

4) Feedback is always good. I have a blog. I'm going to keep hawking said blog until somebody reads/comments on it ;). Keep in mind I'm still very much in progress.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

1) Kishar has seen some major revisions over this past year, though few of them have made it to my site (last update May 20th) because of the coming CBG 2.0. It's hard to say what I'm most proud of, but I suppose it would be making everything fit more cohesively; you know that feeling you get when you bring several disparate ideas together into a beautiful amalgamation of the two?

2) I haven't played any RPGs in 2007.

3) N/A. If I ran another Kishar game, which isn't likely to be my next setting for gaming anywhere, I would probably set it in either Valador or Nostir (Norse myth land).

4) Right now, all I'm working on is revising my bestiary - that is the creatures of Kishar, all of which are supposed to be drawn from mythology, not fantasy norms. But fresh ideas on such things are always welcome.

[Jharviss]

1 - Creativity and Pride
Creatively, I'm proud of a lot of things in Tephra.  I've done setting collaborations in the past, but my partner, the Mad Hatter - a goofy art student - has helped mold this world into one of the most creatively unique worlds I've seen.  I'm really excited about the races, the technology level, and the daemons.  I realize now that I was creatively frustrated with Aldreia when I was working on it, like I had built a wall around myself.  In Tephra there is no wall and that is what I'm most proud of.

2 - Players
I can't talk about Tephra here.  It's still in the development stage and my playtesting campaign for the setting will begin this summer, when my old group gets a little closer to home.  I've had four campaigns in Aldreia this year, one 1.5 year one that finished up in the Spring, a hard and fast summer campaign,begun another campaign this Fall that should last at least another year, and ran an online one for a couple months.  Let's see, that's seventeen players (SEVENTEEN PLAYERS!?) and twenty-six characters.  My current campaign meets every Friday night, though this semester one of my players is going to start DMing every other weekend.  It'll be the first time in three years that I've played in a D&D game (and, if you couldn't tell, I DM a lot of them).  My current group still feels new, a year and a half into it, but I think having a second person DMing will help with that.  

3 - Home Base
My current campaign in Aldreia is called Loss of Control, and the players are a company of squires of the Sentinels of the Helix.  They enforce their nation's laws regarding the usage of magic.  It's been a really interesting campaign.  They gotten to know their knights (superiors) really well, and each of them is unique.  One of the players has a knight he always goes to for help, and the company as a whole often turns to another knight who always seems to be high.  They've become disillusioned with their own direct superior, and it's creating a lot of fun drama.  Their "Home Base" is the Tower of the Helix, where their small knighthood is based out of.  It works for them because they've fought with the people there and they know that they can come back and get some rest and do their own thing here.  

4 - Feedback
The past two questions were answered by Aldreia, but Aldreia will be a retired setting after the current campaign finishes.  In Tephra, what feedback do I need?  It's still in the early stages, so ultimately I'm looking for people to look at the "feel" of Tephra.  It's magic and technology levels are unique, or so I'd like to believe, and I want to make sure that they ring as possible.  I guess for specifics, I want people to look at the races.  They're different and I'd like to make sure that they are interesting, playable, and still believable.  Eventually I will need help with the Tephra D20 system, but that's too much in progress to ask for help on right now.

Great questions!

[Tybalt]

1) I feel proudest of my world being alive, as more than one person has mentioned. My players do as well--they find it wonderful that if they ask a question I actually know the answer, that at worst I'll say "I'll get back to you on that next week" but then will have presented them with how you can establish a tavern in Fineberg. I rarely have problems with my players remembering names or places (except for one guy who is just plain bad with names).

2) My players are fixed on their particular characters right now, just one each, though I suppose they could play followers if they wanted to. It's the only real problem that I see--I've warned them a few times of how they've come close to death, and at some point the game is going to get even tougher. They really like being able to roleplay with the setting and feel very involved with it, which is one of the best points. Generally I have good communication with them, and problems tend to get solved quickly because I listen and ask questions before I just respond.

3) My players feel that their characters are fighting to save their country from monstrous evil. They've come to identify with it to the point that when travelling in a foreign land they had a moment of in character sadness remembering that their own folk are hungry, weary and in constant danger.

4) I'd most appreciate some ideas on the next stages of the war from the perspective of the pcs' country. What kind of plans might be made? What kinds of factionalism might emerge and how might that work? What roles might the country's leaders find for the pcs to reward them for their excellent service?


By the way, SEVENTEEEN players???? That's QUITE a lot...how in the world do you manage?

[Jharviss]

Hah, Tybalt -- I have seven players at my university, six players who join me over the summer for the summer campaign when they're not in school, and another four players from different states who played in my online game.  Thankfully it's not all at the same time. ^_^

I'm jealous.  Players who can remember the names of other NPCs.  That takes a lot.

[Matt Larkin (author)]

Most players I ever had in game at the same time, was thirteen. I probably won't do that again.

[Gilladian]

1) My new dwarvish race. I'm really pleased with how they turned out, although I won't implement them until next campaign begins. Then I intend to find a way to make their genderlessness affect the game.

2)Players - right now I only have 2, tho I'm seeking one or two more. I have high standards, and we've been playing together for 15 years, so it's hard to introduce new players. We play weekly (on average 3 times a month). I think we're quite a typical group. We like fairly straightforward adventures with a loose campaign thread, no complex politics but adventures that tie together.

3)My players have a hometown, but in this game they're less attached to it than they are "stuck" there... I'm about to  send them across country looking for an old acquaintance, and I think they'll enjoy the change of pace.

4) I'd like to get feedback on my wiki. My players don't give me a lot of feedback, they just keep  playing! One player keeps detailed campaign notes and has an active relationship with the campaign and her characters, but mostly in her own head. When we talk about old campaigns, it amazes me how  she has these stories about what characters were like that never seemed to exist while the game went on...

[LordVreeg]

Gilladian, can you provide the link to your wiki right here?

[LordVreeg]

1)  Proud!  I am most proud of getting the damn Celtricia Wiki up and usable.  When you run your own rules, your players need access to them.  Raelifin made it very obvious to me that I needed to keep expanding that as opposed to trying to cram all of it into a tiny filter and place it on a setting thread.

2)  PC's.  7 in Igbarian group, 5 in Mistonian group, 3 in online group 1 (ocodig), 1 on online group 2 (Tralm Isle), so 16 players playing every month at least once per month.  Average Age is almost 36 years old, average play time in this campaign just took a dive (thanks, Trent...first month) to 7.5 years played in Celtrician setting.  Average EXP per currently played PC is 21560 (note that includes the 5k they start with).
Miston Group amazing with historical puzzle solving, great plotting, great fighting undead, miserable in any direct confrontation, miserly in terms of using magic to survive, can't fight their way out of a wet paper bag, considering thery average 33k exp.  
Igbarians miss every other clue, but are excellent comabat group and excelent in terms of public perception, great social gaming.

3) Igbar and Miston are both 15+ real years in the playing, so they have gained a life of their own.  Miston is fun and small, a border twon near much conflict and near the ruins of three major historical layers.  Igbar has actually been played since 1984, and is the most realized of my realized.  The politics are well known, and the politics are played out every month...

4) Help on what spells are missing.  I have my own spell system, and even my own spells, ( as well as my own combat, weaps, etc), but I need to see what other GM's see as very crucial spells in the already developed areas that are crucial to be added.  I welcome other GM input into the spells of my wierd system.
spells page
post any help here

[LordVreeg]

[blockquote=Jharviss]3 - Home Base
My current campaign in Aldreia is called Loss of Control, and the players are a company of squires of the Sentinels of the Helix. They enforce their nation's laws regarding the usage of magic. It's been a really interesting campaign. They gotten to know their knights (superiors) really well, and each of them is unique. One of the players has a knight he always goes to for help, and the company as a whole often turns to another knight who always seems to be high. They've become disillusioned with their own direct superior, and it's creating a lot of fun drama. Their "Home Base" is the Tower of the Helix, where their small knighthood is based out of. It works for them because they've fought with the people there and they know that they can come back and get some rest and do their own thing here. [/blockquote]
Sounds very well thought out.

[Stargate525]

1) I'm proud of the fluff I've accumulated on my magic; what's been written and what still needs to be written.

2) I've got none.

3) N/A

4) Dwarves, any ideas on the Dragon Lands, and Some more thoughts on my Halflings would be greatly appreciated.

[SDragon]

Since I've worked considerably more on Xiluh then on any of my other works, both in this year alone, and overall, my answers are for Xiluh. The link can be found in my sig :)

1) In terms of creativity, what's the area you are most proud of in your setting for the year?  What have you made that really makes your world shine?  (and if you want to call attention to it, link it here and I'll go look at it.  Feel free to be proud of something!)

I'd have to say the history, especially the Second Age. Part of this is probably because I felt it would be much more of a challenge then it has been, but part of it is definitely because of the way it's intended to represent the cultural significance of the past. I hope to have culture be very full of stories of "how things became this way".

2) What is the status in terms of players in your setting?  How may PC's, how often do they play?  What do they seem to like and what direction do you want them to go in?  What are their stregths and weaknesses?  What is working and not working in the GM/PLayer interface?

As far as I know, nobody has used Xiluh as a setting for their campaign yet. I remember at one point, somebody talked with me about a game being run in it, but I forget who that was, and it seems that the game failed before liftoff.

Whoever that was, if you're still interested in running that game, please make it known! :)

3) What makes the 'main playing stage' intersting for the players?  Not the whole setting, but where is home base for the PC's and what ties them to it?  How have you invested them in their 'home base'?

So far, Xiluh hasn't developed a 'main playing stage'. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how I'm even going to handle that when I do eventually get it.

4) What area in your setting would some immediate feedback help?  What area will benefit the most from having a few fellow creators take a quick look at and try to give some new perspectives in? (And again, feel free to link here to where you want me/us to wite about it).

Obviously, feedback on any part of Xiluh is welcome, but the Adventure Hooks section would make the most immediate advantage of feedback. Granted, that's because feedback on that section would most likely come in the form of suggestions for more hooks, but still...

The setting as a whole, however, would take more advantage from feedback on the various cultures mentioned in the Races section, and feedback on the Second Age and Third Age, in the timeline. Those sections will be a large basis for the rest of the setting.

[Satyr]

2) What is the status in terms of players in your setting? How may PC's, how often do they play? What do they seem to like and what direction do you want them to go in? What are their stregths and weaknesses? What is working and not working in the GM/PLayer interface?

4) What area in your setting would some immediate feedback help? What area will benefit the most from having a few fellow creators take a quick look at and try to give some new perspectives in? (And again, feel free to link here to where you want me/us to wite about it).[/quote]http://www.thecbg.org/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?41732[/url]