A Kestrel Arts Plan

[Christopher R Taylor]

My little gaming company Kestrel Arts has put out 5 products for Fantasy Hero so far, and I have a lot more on the way.  My intention is to create a game setting for GMs to drop into play without needing to create... well everything for their fantasy game.

 

I want to make the setting fairly generic in concept and feeling, but unique and interesting enough to not feel too derivative and boring.  That way players and GMs can jump right into a comfortable setting that doesn't require reading a few books to comprehend.  I've been running Fantasy Hero (and before it AD&D) in the world of Jolrhos since the early 1980s, shaping and playtesting and crafting the world more and more.  Two of my fantasy novels are set in this world, and more are on the way.

 

Right now I have the Jolrhos Bestiary out with just the unique and unusual creatures for the setting (you can use other bestiaries for Orcs and Dragons and such, although I have a second volume planned eventually with my take on the more ordinary beasties).  Also out is the Fantasy Codex which lays out my magic system and zillions of spells so a GM can just drop right in and have them ready for use with monsters and such.

 

The theory is that I can release adventures in my campaign setting without having to explain every little bit by putting out these books, so I can say "in this room is a Black Spore" without needing to write up and describe it in the module.

 

On the horizon I have the Jolrhos Field Guide coming, which will be unlike anything I've ever seen for tabletop RPGs but fills a gap; its tradeskills and incidental things in the world such as magical herbs and interesting creatures that the GM can put in his world.  Tangleweed and Gnomelights and so on, filling up the world with familiar feeling but unique and magical bits.   The Jolrhos Bestiary actually has "body loot" listed for the monsters such as teeth and pelts etc which the Field Guide will tell how to take advantage of and what they make.

Then the Jolrhos Treasury will be all sorts of treasures, from ordinary commodities like salt and oil to massively powerful weapons and artifacts, with loads of random tables and tips on how to build treasures.  This lets GMs (and me writing modules) to plop treasures into the books without needing explanations and descriptions.

 

And finally after that, my versions of the Player's Manual and DM guides, giving the nitty gritty on building and running characters in the world of Jolrhos.  I can only manage 1-2 of these big books a year, so they will trickle out over time but I figure the slow release gives time to build interest and finish a really quality product.

 

Once that whole release schedule is done, then maybe the other Bestiaries, and I'm free to put out adventures and location guides like cities and such (with adventures bundled in) for a fully built world.

 

All this assumes I have the energy and health to get it all done, and I'm hoping interest - and sales - will build over time as I finish the works, in both my products and Fantasy Hero and Hero in general.  I think Hero is incredible with fantasy settings and ideal for the genre, but lacks enough support and material to make it really sail and I'm trying to do my part.

 

So... I hope this piques interest and gets people playing.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Previously I've posted on the other two products, including samples from each:

 

The Fantasy Codex
The Jolrhos Bestiary

 

I'll post in this thread with bits from projects as I'm working on them as well, such as this herb for the upcoming Jolrhos Field Guide:

 

Jyrzyg 

When an inhabited area is flooded, at times this fungus will grow at the high water mark, apparently fed by the debris and filth of a city in the waters.  Jyrzyg is small, like little reverse toadstools; a stem growing from a larger round base.  The stems are  broken off for the herb but they are not useful for food and can damage stone and wood if left in place long.

Effect: No Hit Locations automaton power for 5 hours

Addictive: Addictive

Origin: Inhabited

Rarity: +2 (only after flooding)

Preparation: Stems are heated until they turn dark brown, then dried for 4 days.  When soaked in wine for 5 minutes, they plump up and can be eaten for immediate effect.

Storage: d6 weeks prepared, d6 days raw, d6 hours after soaking

Cost: 25 copper

[DShomshak]

I've seen supplements that included magical herbs and natural wonders; Exalted did this a bit. (See the last chapter of Oadenol's Codex for examples.) Decades before that, some Middle Earth Role Playing supplements had charts of herbs with various game-defined properties. (It's the Rolemaster system and design crew. Must have more charts.) IIRC, World of Synnabarr had some stuff like this as well. Off hand I don't recall an entire supplement devoted to the topic, though.

 

Dean Shomshak

[Christopher R Taylor]

Yeah herbs are just a small part of it; smithing, leatherworking, tailoring, etc etc are all in it.  Its kind of an experiment but I want to build computer game style tradeskills for a tabletop game.  I've seen bits of it in other games (alchemy in Dragonquest, herbs in Rolemaster/LOTR, etc) and so on, and EverQuest d20 had several, but I want to make it for Fantasy Hero.  How do you forge a mithril dagger, and what does it do?  Here ya go!

[DShomshak]

It sounds like a good project. I've noticed a tendency for HERO that I might call, "If you can do it, it has to be on the character sheet," as if the world characters inhabit is a blank slate with no properties of its own. Which tends to sell skills short.

 

For another example of what you describe, Exalted had a pretty good treatment of the "Magical Materials" used for magical weapons, armor and miscellaneous artifacts. The craft rules were pretty rudimentary (not that I think everything needs six skill rolls), but the game did pretty well at making the Magical Materials and other substances of power part of the setting. (Typical White Wolf: Brilliant fluff, weak rules. I say this as someone who worked on several Exalted projects.)

 

Dean Shomshak

[Christopher R Taylor]

I've finished up the little side project of paper miniatures for all the Jolrhos Bestiary monsters.  Now back to work on the field guide.  Its going somewhat slow because of all the detail that I have to basically invent whole cloth out of my head, but I'm working on poisons now.