Thanks for taking the time to post a new comment or a reply to one! First scan these quick notes, if you please:
General
* Currently, previewing a post is optional; you're welcome to preview or post immediately.
* You should see plain text input by default; click "enable rich text" for fancy formatting tools. (Some people love that and some don't. Be aware that formatting tool performance may vary by browser.)
* With apologies to all, "captcha" questions may face unregistered posters. Otherwise, the spam flow will dwarf the Nile.
Registration and login
* Registration is available! Sign up here. Chief benefits at present include the ability to edit your own comments, bookmark favorite content, and manage subscriptions (newsletter, threads, etc.).
* If you'd prefer to post as an unregistered visitor, that's welcome too. Just leave "Your name" as the default "Esteemed Visitor", or type in some other name. (But if you happen to type in a name used by a registered user – say, "tbone" – you'll get an error telling you so when you hit "post comment". And while your post text should still be there, waiting for a revised user name, there's a chance it could disappear.)
* If you're a registered user but haven't logged in and want to post a quick comment as Esteemed Visitor, that's fine; see above.
* If you're a registered user but haven't logged in, and enter your user name under "Your name" when posting, you'll get an error saying that's the name of a registered user. That's a good thing; it means strangers can't make posts under your user name! But as above, there's a chance of losing your post text. It's best to log in first here, and then start your posting.
Final
All the above is standard stuff for community web sites, but reminders are good; I hate post-related glitches, and hate to see people run into them on this site. On this or any site, it's a good practice to do a quick "Select All" and "Copy" on your post text before hitting "Preview comment" or "Post comment" – just in case.
For more on the whole topic of interaction with the site, please see User Interaction (opens in new window).
Patron advantage
How's everything?
Enjoying your Games Diner meal? Is the wait staff attentive? Is the chef bathed? (Then it must be a Sunday.) You do know that a little eggshell in the French toast adds calcium, right?
Putting the "twist" aside, I'm going to apply the word "hook" differently with regard to my idea. What I'm proposing is really a rather mundane gameworld supplement: a location, an adventure, some characters, some monsters, and so on. Nothing unique there, as far as supplements or modules go. It's the idea that each supplement introduces and focuses on one of those unexplored Earth cultures, IMO, that provides a "hook" defining the series and setting it apart from random, unconnected Banestorm supplements.
Part of the challenge is making the material equally attractive to both GMs and players. GMs get things because they sound like they could fit into an existing campaign or are a good place to start a new one. I think something the Banestorm setting could benefit from would be material geared towards players, to get them excited and engaged with the world in a way that GM-centric material can't, either because it's not something they want to read or the GM has put it off-limits for game purposes.
Just spit-balling here, but picture an Enclave supplement that incorporated aspects of Transhuman Space's Personnel Files. The book presents sample PC parties, composed of people from or passing through the enclave in question, in addition to the usual setting material. They could bill it as a one-shot in a box.
tbone wrote:
Incidentally, I followed your link to your site. Some good stuff there, and I liked [Read 'Em 'Cause You Got 'Em] GURPS Fantasy II - I've always been a fan of that book, a stance not shared by everyone who's read it. Then again, I haven't played in that gameworld, so that says something as well... : /
It's not an easy sell. The world is totally atypical in a way that would put off the average gamer, I think. No special powers that don't come with negative consequences disproportionate to the advantage gained and a general sense that the characters are beleaguered and outgunned by the whims of fate, gods and monsters. One would have an easier time pushing Call of Cthulhu. At least investigators get spells and tommy guns.
tbone wrote:
Anyway, with some work at making it fit (beginning with the removal of the Madlanders' bizarre neighboring societies), Fantasy II itself could be used for an enclave of arctic peoples who ended up in a particularly hellish corner of Yrth. Heavily-armed, elite PCs discovering the Madlands might even stand a chance against a herd of Headless.
And it would certainly be a startling change for a group grown accustomed to adventuring in Ytarria. Their first trip off the continent and everything they think they know effectively turns upside down.
Thanks for checking out my blog, by the way. It's nice to know people enjoy it.
Reply
Build a site!
Cast Seek Spell
THE TAKEOUT MENU
For collaborators, contributors, or the curious. Notice of site updates; project announcements; calls for playtesting; etc.
Enclaves and the Madlands
Putting the "twist" aside, I'm going to apply the word "hook" differently with regard to my idea. What I'm proposing is really a rather mundane gameworld supplement: a location, an adventure, some characters, some monsters, and so on. Nothing unique there, as far as supplements or modules go. It's the idea that each supplement introduces and focuses on one of those unexplored Earth cultures, IMO, that provides a "hook" defining the series and setting it apart from random, unconnected Banestorm supplements.
Part of the challenge is making the material equally attractive to both GMs and players. GMs get things because they sound like they could fit into an existing campaign or are a good place to start a new one. I think something the Banestorm setting could benefit from would be material geared towards players, to get them excited and engaged with the world in a way that GM-centric material can't, either because it's not something they want to read or the GM has put it off-limits for game purposes.
Just spit-balling here, but picture an Enclave supplement that incorporated aspects of Transhuman Space's Personnel Files. The book presents sample PC parties, composed of people from or passing through the enclave in question, in addition to the usual setting material. They could bill it as a one-shot in a box.
Incidentally, I followed your link to your site. Some good stuff there, and I liked [Read 'Em 'Cause You Got 'Em] GURPS Fantasy II - I've always been a fan of that book, a stance not shared by everyone who's read it. Then again, I haven't played in that gameworld, so that says something as well... : /
It's not an easy sell. The world is totally atypical in a way that would put off the average gamer, I think. No special powers that don't come with negative consequences disproportionate to the advantage gained and a general sense that the characters are beleaguered and outgunned by the whims of fate, gods and monsters. One would have an easier time pushing Call of Cthulhu. At least investigators get spells and tommy guns.
Anyway, with some work at making it fit (beginning with the removal of the Madlanders' bizarre neighboring societies), Fantasy II itself could be used for an enclave of arctic peoples who ended up in a particularly hellish corner of Yrth. Heavily-armed, elite PCs discovering the Madlands might even stand a chance against a herd of Headless.
And it would certainly be a startling change for a group grown accustomed to adventuring in Ytarria. Their first trip off the continent and everything they think they know effectively turns upside down.
Thanks for checking out my blog, by the way. It's nice to know people enjoy it.