Tom McCarthy Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 I'm inclined to ask for writeups of the lieutenants of Kal-Turak and the magic items he created to strengthen and individualize them (maybe an stone crown, or an iron crown, etc.). Or were those devices made for enemies of his, and brought them under his sway (that's probably too Tolkein) ? A writeup of a few Maguffins might be nice; a relic or two specific to the setting. Of course, a famous religious relic reputed to have incredible power but is actually poorly constructed and nigh-unusable might be nice, too. What title or greeting is appropriate when members of two factions meet on the road ? Which churches see each other as natural allies ? Which are allied or feuding despite their god's wishes ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGreenwade Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 Originally posted by Tom McCarthy What title or greeting is appropriate when members of two factions meet on the road? This brings to mind an interesting point... What are some of the culture's common expressions and figures of speech? What's the polite way to open a conversation (simple greeting, wishes for good fortune and good health, inquiries about one's family, discussion of the weather, and so forth)? What's the cultural view of sexual matters, and of various vices (alcohol, gambling, prostitution, and such)? What's the normal way of insulting someone (one-word assessments, long-winded metaphors, "left-handed" compliments, and such)? It's little touches like these that really bring a setting to life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevenall Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 For myself, I would want as many well detailed and interesting cultures as possible, and some really good information about the history of things prior to the campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnoViking Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 Religion: Since this a alternate Earth where magic exist, I would consider using some god/goddess from real Earth Mythology (Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, etc...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vondy Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 First - a nice map is imperative. Second - whatever art there is should have a consistent feel to it. Third - lots of sidebars with the little details. Its the little things that build a sense of versimilitude. Some examples: How does the royal government work? Are there sheriffs in addition to the upper nobility? Is the feudal system advanced (lots of subinfeudation) or fairly early (post dark ages with only a few levels of titles)? How does succession work? Can women inherit or hold titles? Do you have to be a knight to be noble? How do the various religious sects interact? Do they have fighting orders? Are there cross national marriages that might effect politics? By the same token: which nations or nobles have treaties with one another? What are the major trade routes and what products are imported and exported? How influential are the guilds (small scale local guilds - or big multi-nationals)? If you put a major noble (especially a monarch) in the book: what are their motivations? Are they planning a conquest? How big is the average army? Etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnoViking Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 If an region is know of it weather, environment, or terrian in TA you may want to list the information. I think the environment of an area is missing from many game world. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost who Walks Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 Originally posted by BobGreenwade Would it be going too far afield to ask that extremely high-level mages be able to take to the stars? (Yes, I'm talking about a Spelljammer sort of thing here -- but just "sort of.") Pepper in a few adventure hooks here and there that might be of interest to time-travelers from the future (whether superheroes -- this would be a perfect "Silver Age" plot device -- or heroic-level "time cops"). Don't explicitly say that they're hooks for time-travelers, of course; just put the ideas there for the GM to find. Oh, and a couple of notes on allowing the PCs to actually be "the gods" would be good too. Not much, mind you; I'm thinking of a couple of paragraphs to (at most) three or four pages. I second this. Also, if you have a character sheet for the big bad guy, you should have a sheet for the big good guy... It might also be interesting to have someone from the future, trapped in the past. It is practically a staple of the fantasy genre. Think a Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, but make him a bricklayer from Cleveland. No one mentioned languages, I like them. Especially in some kind of language chart format. Makes it more likely everyone will kill each other when they can't talk to each other. At least one magical spell/device that will destroy the world. Brief suggestions on playing the Turakian Age...Dark Champions Style! Poisoned crossbow bolts assassinate wizards, spells that have the timer advantage to use as bombs, and of course a completely corruptible political establishement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 A few things suggest themselves to me. First would be some tie-ins to the rest of the Champions Universe. Is the race of the Elder Worm up to some nastiness in this era? Is there a rogue Malvan running around with high-tech somewhere? Since magic is at strong levels, what sort of superpowers are around? Maybe some groups that would work up and down the power spectrum, like thieves guilds and organized religions. A Turakian Age progenitor form of VIPER would be an interesting touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaiah_26_4 Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 Chello! Well, this is probably another "me, too" post, but what the hay? Anyhoo, organizations and orders of knights, rangers, wizards and the like. Especially ones that the PCs can join. Always helps to have a larger group one can occasionally go to for aid. and they're also good for plot hooks if the GM needs help (kinda like hunteds are, but I digest...). Plot seeds, plot seeds, plot seeds!!! Just add wayer and away they grow! A really good poster map. A good city setting (probably a supplement in its own right). I've always been a fan of a really good city setting...Lankhmar, Greyhawk, Sanctuary, City-State of the Invincable Overlord. A good city with a gritty feel to it really helps. But then I'm a Howard-Lieber kinda fan-boy... YMMV. The stock fantasy races, natch, but a few original to set the setting off from most Tolkien clones. since this is Earth's past, think we could see some aliens races from Champions? Hmmm, a plot idea forms in my noggin.....lol. Good art, as has been mentioned is crucial. But seeing as how all the Hero products have done excellent in this field since 5e came out, I think y'all have that covered. What about fiction? I've always liked setting-specific fiction to start chapters in gaming supplements. Helps to break the boredom of reading through stat and game info. I guess that it's for me. Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbarron Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 I'd like there to be a section on how magic works. But not as presented in the Grimoire, with a rules heavy, technical explanation. I'd like to know how the mages themselves think magic works. Do Necromancers and Enchanters have different ideas about why magic works the way it does? How about Wizards? Are any of them right? Do the Ulronai think magic is a giant pool of mystical energy, floating 1 mile beneath the earth (it's flat), just waiting to be tapped into by the "the Blessed?" What does Kal-Turak think about magic? Is he so powerful because he understands magics true nature better than most? Giving the "real" physics of magic could be useful, but I'd really like to know how different mages and different cultures view magic and mystical energy. Different ideas about magic will tell readers a lot about the cultures view of themselves, and their view of the world around them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGreenwade Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 One other thing, which I wish had been in Terran Empire and some of the Champions books... A glossary, with a pronunciation guide. (How the heck do you pronounce "Takofanes," anyway?) It would only need to take up no more than one page, but it would be a great help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monolith Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 Originally posted by sbarron I'd like there to be a section on how magic works. But not as presented in the Grimoire, with a rules heavy, technical explanation. I'd like to know how the mages themselves think magic works. Do Necromancers and Enchanters have different ideas about why magic works the way it does? How about Wizards? Are any of them right? Do the Ulronai think magic is a giant pool of mystical energy, floating 1 mile beneath the earth (it's flat), just waiting to be tapped into by the "the Blessed?" What does Kal-Turak think about magic? Is he so powerful because he understands magics true nature better than most? Giving the "real" physics of magic could be useful, but I'd really like to know how different mages and different cultures view magic and mystical energy. Different ideas about magic will tell readers a lot about the cultures view of themselves, and their view of the world around them. I think sbarron makes a really good point here. Due to the mechanical nature of the HERO System gamers tend to forget about the genre/sfx aspects of the magic. How different types of wizards view the various classes of magic, and how society views it as well, are very important aspects to giving the correct "feel" to the world. It's not just a 1d6 RKA used by 6 different styles of wizards, and it should not be portrayed as such by the wizards themselves, IMO. HERO System books tend to be very "crunchy." I think a book like this needs to be as much creme, if not more, than just crunch. We need to know about the races and societies and how they interact with each other. We do not need a generic knight kingdom, and mongol kingdom, and serpent kingdom, etc. We need real places with a real feel to them. We need intrigue and mystery. We need all the creme to really bring the world alive; especially considering that it is not going to be a well supported world (and by that I mean no 6-8 products for it each year). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monolith Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 Originally posted by BobGreenwade (How the heck do you pronounce "Takofanes," anyway?) tuh-koff-uh-neez I agree about the pronunciation guide. It's hard enough trying to say all the new Champions villain's names. Trying to figure out fantasy names will make us all crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGreenwade Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 Originally posted by Monolith tuh-koff-uh-neez Yeah, I just now checked his listing and found that buried in his description -- I had been pronouncing it like "taco fan us" (hence my "Good Idea, Bad Idea" joke about him and Taco Bell). Someplace a little more accessible and recognizable would have been better (though admittedly if I'd expected to actually use him in a game I probably would have come across it during my preparations). I agree about the pronunciation guide. It's hard enough trying to say all the new Champions villain's names. Trying to figure out fantasy names will make us all crazy. Too late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithcurtis Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 I agree about a pronunciation guide. Perhaps in small point type in an appendix. It wasn't until talking with Steve and the other Hero folks at Dundracon that I realized I had been making some fairly basic errors in proper names. Since it will be written by the author it should have some authority*. I remember a particularly horrible AD&D pronunciation guide in an old Dragon issue. While it did validate my pronunciation of "Sahuagin", it oddly identified Pleistocene as "Plee-IS-toe-seen". :confused: Keith "SA-hwa-gin" Curtis *No pun intended Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGreenwade Posted January 1, 2004 Report Share Posted January 1, 2004 I'll take the pronunciation guide one small step further... use a standardized notation system such as that from a dictionary or possibly X-SAMPA or the IPA, not a "sounds kind of like this" method that can be almost as variable as just winging it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted January 2, 2004 Report Share Posted January 2, 2004 Perhaps I am missing the point, as all HERO books I currently have are not settings (Hero System, Star Hero, Bestiary, and UMA, not counting TUV, which I am expecting to arrive soon in my mailbox) and DOJ may have already implemented my suggestion in Terran Empire, Alien Wars, or in the Champions Universe books. Basically, I would like to see a thematic layout to each of the settings. The rulebooks layout is pretty good, being very clean and, thus, easy to follow. However, I think it might be a little too bland to a setting book. A thematic layout could enhance the mood of the book and help the readers to understand the concept behind the setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuke Posted January 2, 2004 Report Share Posted January 2, 2004 "Epic" characters I think it would be nice to see rules for high powered characters, not that start that way but that grow that way. A campaign needs to have a life, and that life needs to be able to handle the days when the PCs become powerful, and what to do. What happens when your PCs are just as powerful as Turak for example? Does he take notice and attempt to assassinate all high powered foes? I think it would be nice if adventures were posted in later books with guidelines of what powered characters they were written for (rough guidelines of course because "total points" isn't always the best judge of character power). Lastly, a working economy. Being a fantasy hero GM, it's tough some times to balance why the whole world wouldn't want to become mages because magic items sell for so much money. But you can't fix that by making magic items cheap. You want characters to be adventuring to become rich, but you don't want to punish them for taking time off to attempt to make money. Almost every fantasy character needs or wants money in some aspect, whether it's to build a church or a castle, or to fund magical constructions. I'm sure it will be a good product regardless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted January 3, 2004 Report Share Posted January 3, 2004 Steve asked what we want to see. I only have one requirement: ONE SETTING BOOK TO RULE THEM ALL!!! I'm a simple person, with a simple wish. Steve, hope you got a chuckle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted January 3, 2004 Report Share Posted January 3, 2004 I've been reading the Lord of the Rings Roleplaying game, a book I'm sure you're very familiar with. A really nice feature is the subtle magic of Middle Earth. It would be a nice addition in any fantasy setting and a good way to mask the sometimes too intrusive mechanical side of HERO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edsel Posted January 3, 2004 Report Share Posted January 3, 2004 Like a lot of people here seem to be saying I want good maps. Everybody, in my games at least, seem to want to know where they are. It also makes planing travel times, setting up wilderness encounters, etc. much easier. I'm not talking about global world maps, although you certianly need one to tie everything together. I am more interested in regional and locality maps (for example, a town and its surroundings, perhaps a small country). I want to take places out of a setting and place them in my own campaign world where I want them. I want consistancy in the artwork that is used. By that I don't mean the same artist throughout, just consistancy. The same basic style of art. A picture of a classic knight, followed by a punk rock looking chaos knight kinda throws my efforts at envisioning a whole off track (hope that made sense). I want good write-ups about people, places and things. Good flavor text, a good read. I am not so much into reading rehashes of rules that have already been covered. I want a story behind things so that I can recreate them in my own ways with the rules. Anytime I set-up a campaign world I usually cut and paste from various sources so I want to be able to lift-out (steal) the things I like and put them in my own campaign setting. I want interesting places, interesting villians and other NPCs and I want story hooks to go with them. Not full blown adventures which I might have to adapt. I prefer simple hooks and rough outlines that I can develope into my own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black_Thaddeus Posted January 4, 2004 Report Share Posted January 4, 2004 I’ve been looking forward to this book for a long time. Here’s a few things that I would like to see (apologies for any repetition from previous posts): · A “default†system for character generation, with starting points, starting money, etc… · Plenty of organizations for background stories and disadvantages. Look to history as a guide to realistic organizations with a global reach. · Everyman skills by race or region · An outline of the known sciences and available technology · Martial arts and some new weapons · Plenty of the little differences between races/region that make up *culture*: birth/marriage/death ceremonies, art and architecture, music, clothing, naming conventions, games, cuisine, etc… · Kingdoms with ‘fuzzy’ borders and large lawless frontier areas · Something other than the medieval European guild system · Trade/Macro-economy is good to outline, but don’t forget production either. If everyone is running around with their pocket full of glass vials, then there has to be a glass-blowing factory somewhere, (besides, it would make a great place for a battle)! · At least 10 living languages, and at least that many “dead†ones · It would be nice to have concrete uses for lots of KS, SS, PS and AK skills. This requires a lot of detail, but players sometimes don’t like spending points on those skills unless they can see an immediate benefit. · Sublimity! The best fantasy makes you feel awe and wonder. The key to any setting is ‘flavor’, which I can’t really define, except to say that it is made up of the little details that make it feel like a real place. This is probably the book most likely to be picked up by non-Hero fantasy gamers and as such, represents an excellent opportunity to reach new fans/customers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hopcroft Posted January 4, 2004 Report Share Posted January 4, 2004 Where is it? Quick question: where on Earth (I'm assuming this is an earlier age of Earth) does the Turakian Age setting take place? I've always thought it would be cool to have a fantasy setting with the grography of North America. there are tons of fantasy eruope settings but no Fantasy America ones. You can use some sort magical hand-waving to explain whey there are no elves in the Americas anymore.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monolith Posted January 4, 2004 Report Share Posted January 4, 2004 Re: Where is it? Originally posted by Michael Hopcroft Quick question: where on Earth (I'm assuming this is an earlier age of Earth) does the Turakian Age setting take place? I've always thought it would be cool to have a fantasy setting with the grography of North America. there are tons of fantasy eruope settings but no Fantasy America ones. You can use some sort magical hand-waving to explain whey there are no elves in the Americas anymore.... Considering that Takofane's crypt was breached in Oklahoma, and some of the Crowns were found in Mexico, I am assuming that a great deal of Turakian Age takes place in North America, before it was shattered by the magic to capture Takofane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted January 4, 2004 Report Share Posted January 4, 2004 Re: Where is it? Originally posted by Michael Hopcroft Quick question: where on Earth (I'm assuming this is an earlier age of Earth) does the Turakian Age setting take place? I've always thought it would be cool to have a fantasy setting with the grography of North America. there are tons of fantasy eruope settings but no Fantasy America ones. You can use some sort magical hand-waving to explain whey there are no elves in the Americas anymore.... On a different rail: I ran a fantasy game, sort of in the future and set in North America. Mainly for being able to call New York "New Orc" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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