creating a new world using a new system

[monster]

well hello fantasy lovers,

i guess the best way to get a handle on new rules is to use em what there for. this will be a ongoing thread for me as i will be bouncing all my thoughts off you guys(and gals!!!). not alot of system info off the bat but just my thoughts to begin with. if you have build ideas off my ideas post em or email me!

first off i dont have a name for my world yet(suggestions welcome). but i have been kicking this ideas around for about 9 years now.im going to start with one continent and spread like a virus from there.

hopefully i will have a map drawn up and posted soon along with an overview of the world/kingdoms/empires/peoples etc.

 

 

heres an appetizer, picture dwarves acting ang fighting and dressing like romans/greeks

[Thia Halmades]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

Hrm, mistake one. Don't work on your first 'continent.' Work on your first 'city.' Think small, then explode outwards. You think big, you'll get bogged down. Just an FYI from many years of writing.

 

Query: Do you own Fantasy Hero? Do you know precisely what you want YOUR Dwarves to be like? Oh, and another thing - if you don't have Ultimate Speedster, pick it up, as it offers fixes for things you may not like in the system by RAW. There are a few I don't like, but hey, that's me.

 

Okay. Dwarves who are Greeks. How Greek? Like, hot philosopher on philosopher action Greek, or do you just like the clothes?

[monster]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

hot philosifer on philosifer action

 

that is so wrong i have to incorporate it:eg:

 

the dwarves are primarily romanic with some greek style leanings. and unlike most of their kind they live on the surface in huge walled cities.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

So wrong, but so right at the time. Dirty bastards, the greeks. They were into some kinky stuff by our FCC Regulated standards.

[gojira]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

heres an appetizer' date=' picture dwarves acting ang fighting and dressing like romans/greeks[/quote']

 

Hah! And I say again hah!

 

Check this out.

 

(And your idea sounds vaguely Terry Pratchett to me. I'd recomend Pyramids by him, see if he suits your tastes.)

[Cosmosemeritus]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

Hrm, mistake one. Don't work on your first 'continent.' Work on your first 'city.' Think small, then explode outwards. You think big, you'll get bogged down. Just an FYI from many years of writing.

 

I have to disagree to a point, Thia. I feel that painting the background with broad brushstrokes helps set the color tone for the foreground details. (sorry the painting metaphor kinda got stuck in my output buffer).

 

I think its good to work from big to small, but only working on the gross generalities. Like Universe has gravity => Spherical planet with oceans and landmasses => General Geography of the continent of focus => climate and rough social ideas for the region => Now you have a foundation upon which to build your city. Then work outwards with the details.

[monster]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

well the main continent i have in mind is one i have designed about 7-9 years ago. i have alot of overview material for it in my head already and i just need to polish it up for herosys. ive ran campaigns in it before with the following game systems;

palladium fatasy

warhammer fantasy rp 1e

rolemaster(rulemaster?)

ad&d 2e

d20

interlock(of cyberpunk ilk)

fuzion

instant(diet)fuzion

and gurps.

 

now i'm bringing it to the best damn system i've encountered.

as you can see this world has alot of history but, i think i am going to take it in a new direction to honor the new rulesystem

[Thia Halmades]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

I see what you're saying, Cosmo, and that's totally valid. I tend to think "plot first" so of course I go from a small idea into a massive overarc, the overarc then forces me to create all the things necessary to make it work. That's where that came from.

 

But if you're just talking about literal 'world design' then yes, absoltuely you can approach it from the wide-pan angle and have that work. Good point.

[Eosin]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

Top down & bottom up styles as well as anything that gets the job done that you want to do are all valid styles of creation. Remember that in the Hero System disentigrate can be bought about half a dozen ways and all of them are equally valid ~ "wrong" is a D&Dism ~ "I do it this way" is a Heroism.

 

Sounds fun, and the hot philosopher on philosopher action sounds :::::deleted::::

 

[Thia Halmades]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

Hot Socrates on Plato action, caught on film, sold to the highest bidder. Look for it on a newsstand near you!

[monster]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

so when I create the oriental section(ninja hero here i come!)would that be hot Confuscious on Sun Tzu Action?!

anyways I broke out my fant hero book today and will be working on my dwarves( including illos)today. dont know if i will get em posted till sunday or monday:mad: anyway my players are getting excited with all my "Hero this, endurance that multipowers this and all that so i need to get on the creation hat..... they actually called me a Hero whore last night! that fits I guess:sneaky:

[monster]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

so when I create the oriental section(ninja hero here i come!)would that be hot Confuscious on Sun Tzu Action?!

anyways I broke out my fant hero book today and will be working on my dwarves( including illos)today. dont know if i will get em posted till sunday or monday:mad: anyway my players are getting excited with all my "Hero this, endurance that, multipowers this" and all that so i need to get on the creation hat..... they actually called me a Hero whore last night! that fits I guess:sneaky:

[Thia Halmades]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

There are way worse things. You and me, we're clearly in similar situations (coming to the game "late," not having played it prior). And, best of all, you're among friends. I mean, c'mon. Steve so loved the game that he said "Law degree? Who needs it! I'll write HERO books for a living!"

 

Now THAT'S hard core.

[Cosmosemeritus]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

Hot Socrates on Plato action' date=' caught on film, sold to the highest bidder. Look for it on a newsstand near you![/quote']

 

Downloaded the torrent and already have it burned for the archives.

 

they actually called me a Hero whore last night! that fits I guess:sneaky:

 

I don't think the term is 'whore' if you don't get paid for it.

 

Unless of course you do get paid for gaming.... Now how did you accomplish that?

 

Steve so loved the game that he said "Law degree? Who needs it! I'll write HERO books for a living!"

 

Now THAT'S hard core.

 

And here I thought he did it to save his eternal soul. No matter the reason many appreciations to him.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

Not all lawyers are evil. Some of them make a concious choice to not be absolute, unforgivable bastiches. But in all cases, it was an active decision.

[Kortay Mirlor]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

Hrm' date=' mistake one. Don't work on your first 'continent.' Work on your first 'city.' Think small, then explode outwards. You think big, you'll get bogged down. Just an FYI from many years of writing.[/quote']

 

Nah, ya need somewhere for the city to be. Sketch the continent/country/region, then do the city fully.

 

Oh' date=' and another thing - if you don't have Ultimate Speedster, pick it up, as it offers fixes for things you may not like in the system by RAW.[/quote']

RAW? Whazzat? Sorry don't know the abreviation.

 

"the system by RAW"-=-=-Robert Anton Wilson??

j/k

 

Okay. Dwarves who are Greeks. How Greek? Like' date=' hot philosopher on philosopher action Greek, or do you just like the clothes?[/quote']

 

That was hot philosopher on young boys action in history.

[Eosin]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

RAW? Whazzat? Sorry don't know the abreviation.

 

 

D20-ism that means Rules As Written. Doesn't really apply to Hero since there are a number of optional rules that layer, stack, and replace as desired for "your" version of Hero (hit location or stun multiple for KA? both are valid).

[monster]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

hmmmm. D20. groan......if they're gonna base a whole system on one die, shouldn't they use just that one die. never really had a problem w/D20, I just personally kinda miss AD&D 2nd ed.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

Hrm' date=' mistake one. Don't work on your first 'continent.' Work on your first 'city.' Think small, then explode outwards. You think big, you'll get bogged down. Just an FYI from many years of writing.[/quote']

Sorry, TH, but I've got to differ with you on this one.

 

For a fantasy world, usually the first thing I do is tell the story of how the world came to be. This usually helps me establish various fundamental principles, or foundation building blocks, for my fantasy world, the basic "laws" that govern how it operates. From there it's easier (for me) to build, to come up with peoples and cultures and lands and cities.

 

For an example of what I mean, I offer the creation myth of Dolwr, my home-brew fantasy world.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

Yeah, actually, I was surprised (not 'offended' surprised, just simply - surprised) at how many people have an alternate opinion on this. So much of what I do is done the following way, and I'm so used to it, that I'll give you an example.

 

When I start designing a campaign - any and all campaigns - I do it purely from a story perspective. So we begin there, we'll say... "All of you are renegades against a corrupt church, who are part of an ancient resistance, fighting desperately for your lives and your very souls. Your guidelines for your characters are; a) you must have some personal grief with the chruch (see me for details on this), you must believe in something other than what the church teaches, and c) you must be willing to fight (not necessarily 'die,' but fight) for those beliefs.

 

Okay. I have a fundamental premise - there's a bad church. Or is it? I haven't given anyone any of the "story," yet, just the opening concept on which to build their characters and an ultra-vague idea of what to expect. Before I do anything else, I have to construct the thesis statement for the entire story arc. F'rinstance, "The church is corrupt - find out who's at the heart of it and put an end to it."

 

I want to do a post-apoc game, so that's also a good starting point. I'd include that in my opening notes. Further, I'll have to decide what sort of 'powers" the PCs can have - what concepts work here? Is there magic? Does the church claim to use magic? If they do, what are THEY doing that's so special? What's the tech level? These are all initial "building block" questions that I'll answer for myself before I do anything else - but I come to those questions through my simple, single-sentence story design, not the other way round. That's the big difference that I'm seeing here.

 

Now. Step one: Scene One. I'll start the story In Medias Res, even if that means the players won't know what's happening, it's great to see the look on their faces, and then draw them up to that point in the scene. "...and just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, the truck goes sailing over the edge - with you still in it." That'll usually drop some jaws. Last time it was, "the glass beneath your feet erupts from the impact, sending glittering shards through the air as you plummet 30' down and land on top of a parked showroom car." Not unlike opening a film, "Let me tell you about the time I almost died."

 

So now I've built a church, a post-apocalyptic future, and I'm waiting for the PCs to give me their character drafts so I have that much more information to work with. Now that I know the rough edges of the story, I can start filling it in as necessary, which is why I said, "start small, explode outwards." I've got a postapocalyptic world - how did it get that way? What's the story with the church? What's the TRUE story? Who's in charge? How do its loyal members view it? Are there other superpowers? Would anyone know if there were?

 

By creating a strong thesis statement of how I want the world to be, I can create a much more vivid, detailed world than I could otherwise, because I'm no longer working in a vacuum - I know precisely the questions I have to answer, and I don't waste any words.

 

I hope that gives some insight into why I said what I did, and how I think in general.

[monster]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

well I started on my roman dwarf idea last night.... crap. well that will teach me to have a few beers before i sit down in front of a book that big again! the package went well until I added everything up and d@mmit with abilities and disadvantages the package came out to 0 points wich is great for myplayers but not great for my sense of more-than-human/more-points thinking

I really like the ground work for the race and career pkgs. in fantasyhero. only minor changes like surface dwarves get no nightvision and the like.

I may just cool it on the races and focus on the world again. So map coming soon!

EST SULARIS OTH MITHAS(free drawing for the first to tell me what this phrase means and where it's from)

[Lord Liaden]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

well I started on my roman dwarf idea last night.... crap. well that will teach me to have a few beers before i sit down in front of a book that big again! the package went well until I added everything up and d@mmit with abilities and disadvantages the package came out to 0 points wich is great for myplayers but not great for my sense of more-than-human/more-points thinking

 

If I might make an observation, monster: if you've gotten the dwarf package down to 0 points, IMHO you have the best of both worlds. Your dwarfs really are more-than-human if they have more points in starting abilities than humans do, and that's going to emerge during play. OTOH you've given them drawbacks to balance them which humans don't have to deal with, and if you as GM used those Disadvantages that will also come out during play. Dwarfs start out both better and worse than humans at the same time, so not every player will choose to be a dwarf. I think that this is one of the more elegant design concepts in HERO.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

monster, I'm with Liaden on this; I made it a point to balance out ALL of my races so that in fact they would come out to roughly zero points; that includes psych lims, social lims and various levels of D.Features. Dwarves came out well, as did Aelves, Halflings and so on. Also, I HR'd that purchasing a racial package didn't count against your total disads, so effectively when you selected "Aelf" you wound up back at zero - I built it so choosing a race - with its own benefits and drawbacks - didn't prohibit your selection of anything else.

 

As it happens, to keep things fair, I built a human package as well. I didn't want the AD&D effect of humans not being worth playing. D.Feature: Round Ears, Round Eyes. Social Lim: Distrusted by Metahumans. Ability? I stole from d20. One Overall Level, "Human Adaptibility."

[Thia Halmades]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

Est Sularis Oth Mithas - Dragonlance, Solamnic (sp?) Knights (aka, Sturm Brightblade's order), "My Honor is My Life."

[Manic Typist]

Re: creating a new world using a new system

 

The 0 points package deal is the solution I have been looking for!!!

 

Edit: I must rep Liaden for posting it, and Thia for pointing it out.