Explore the Winding Streets & Canals of Swords of the Serpentine!

The city of Eversink, in Kevin Kulp and Emily Dresner's upcoming GUMSHOE-powered Swords of the Serpentine fantasy RPG (you can preorder it now) is full of canals, tiny streets, and tall buildings. Cartogrpaher Jérôme Huguenin created the map below!

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[Piratecat]

Despite my lack of familiarity with the GumShoe engine, I have definitely been intrigued by this. Not a big fan of magical corruption mechanics, so that would probably be the first thing that I changed if I got into this.

There is extensive guidance on how to do so. I personally love them in a sword & sorcery setting. That's sure not universal, though, so there's a couple of other ways to handle it.

I ramble about it a bit here.

 

[Aldarc]

I get the thematic appropriateness for sword & sorcery and the idea that sorcery/magic should have a cost, but I'm not a fan of corruption being that cost. IME, most of my players would never touch sorcery if there is an associated corruption mechanic, particularly one that inflicts unwanted bodily change or mutations on the players. But I suppose the Witchery variant is far more their style.

 

[Fenris-77]

You gotta shove off sometime, so you might as well grab some enormous cosmic power while you can, even if it comes with itty-bitty living space, or a horrible facial deformity, or maybe even an embarrassing rash.

 

[Piratecat]

IME, most of my players would never touch sorcery if there is an associated corruption mechanic, particularly one that inflicts unwanted bodily change or mutations on the players. But I suppose the Witchery variant is far more their style.

Can't argue with that. Maybe drop the power boost that Sorcery gets and then remove Corruption entirely. No harm no foul.

It's funny. Corruption in Dark Sun really bothered me; I hated killing all the plants around me. Dunno why I don't get the same association in SotS. (There's a fun adventure to be had where you're a priest loaded down with Spirit Sight whose job is sealing away Corruption any possible way you can. There's echoes of Dragon Age in that.)

 

[Richards]

I find it kind of funny that the first thing I thought of when seeing the map wasn't "Cool - that reminds me of Venice!" but rather "Cool - that reminds me of Camorr from The Lies of Locke Lamora!" I guess I should probably spend a little more time in the real world.

One of these days.

Johnathan

 

[Umbran]

I'll give this an enthusiastic two thumbs up, and then another entirely unexpected third thumb because it's just that good.

No, that's the manifestation of sorcery corruption. It happens.

Edit: ... he wrote, before seeing that the corruption mechanic became part of the discussion.

 

[Piratecat]

I find it kind of funny that the first thing I thought of when seeing the map wasn't "Cool - that reminds me of Venice!" but rather "Cool - that reminds me of Camorr from The Lies of Locke Lamora!" I guess I should probably spend a little more time in the real world.

Legit. I was halfway through the game design before I realized how much of Camorr had influenced my thinking about what was fun. Tall ancient towers! Arcing bridges? Glass gardens! Ancient nobility! Heck, how Locke handles money even influenced the Wealth system. All these things make me ridiculously happy. And then Emily took the setting and turned it sharply at an angle so that it is a completely different thing all together, to its benefit.