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Story Hour
A Kingdom of Ashes (Zombies! Pirates! Giant Lizards! Intrigue!) UPDATED 07/01/05!!
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<blockquote data-quote="The_Universe" data-source="post: 1796453" data-attributes="member: 8944"><p>I'll have to dig around on the PC at home - I've written something so similar to what you're asking about (I think) for another game world, but Aeres doesn't have that, at least as of so far. </p><p> </p><p>I've used the world in various time periods for a couple of games now, and both its past and future present the potential for other campaigns - I've tried to resist committing the past to paper completely, if only because doing so would prevent me from gaming there (then?) later. </p><p> </p><p>Your continent looks good, and geologically plausible, at least.</p><p> </p><p>As for writing stuff for your players to read, I generally think it's best to pick a person's perspective, and use that. It doesn't have to be an NPC, or anyone that they would or will know. But, filtering the information that you know through the perspective of another mortal (albeit one in a different time period) is a good way to help your readers identify with the history of the world. Hence, rather than a omniscient report of everything that was happening (as you can see in the character prologues) I tried to limit the perspective of the reader to that which could have been seen heard and felt by the character. So, you might start with the tale of a farmer or herdsman, talking about how he or she encountered the important elements of the world. </p><p> </p><p>"The Sun beat down on Steve Johnson, pulling sweat from every pore. He stumbled behind the plow, absently cracking his whip to drive the <em>quornak </em>that pulled it. As the iron blade turned the red earth ahead of him, he risked a wary glance to the east. The <em>bandar </em>would be coming soon. Steve silently prayed to <em>Lemenor, </em>beggingthe Hearthlord for mercy, for him to drive the <em>bandar </em>past his mud-packed hovel. Steve had no sacrifice for them, save his daughter, and he would die before he let them have her."</p><p> </p><p>In just a couple of sentences, you've told the players that 1) the sun is referred to as the Sun, people have names like "Steve Johnson," and that farmers use relatively primitive implements. Additionally, you've told them that there's a beast of burden (of some sort) in the world called a quornak. The bandar are obviously bad guys of a sort that want sacrifices and come from the east, and Lemenor is a deity or concept that can be prayed to, and is believed to grant boons and favors. In the example, you've already told your characters a bunch about the world, and you haven't let it become a book report. Does that help? </p><p> </p><p>Alternatively, you can just throw your players in to the world, and slowly introduce them to the unique elements. Sometimes, it's nice to let them discover the world slowly...</p><p> </p><p>Anyway, I hope that helps. </p><p> </p><p>For the campaign being written here, I gave the players a basic idea about how the world differed from a standard D&D world (not much), and then gave them a timeline for the important events of known history. That seemed to work pretty well, and I've largely let the players' questions let me know where the gaps needed to be filled.</p><p> </p><p>Once you get your stuff written, start a story hour! This is a great place to find feedback and appreciation for your hard work.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="The_Universe, post: 1796453, member: 8944"] I'll have to dig around on the PC at home - I've written something so similar to what you're asking about (I think) for another game world, but Aeres doesn't have that, at least as of so far. I've used the world in various time periods for a couple of games now, and both its past and future present the potential for other campaigns - I've tried to resist committing the past to paper completely, if only because doing so would prevent me from gaming there (then?) later. Your continent looks good, and geologically plausible, at least. As for writing stuff for your players to read, I generally think it's best to pick a person's perspective, and use that. It doesn't have to be an NPC, or anyone that they would or will know. But, filtering the information that you know through the perspective of another mortal (albeit one in a different time period) is a good way to help your readers identify with the history of the world. Hence, rather than a omniscient report of everything that was happening (as you can see in the character prologues) I tried to limit the perspective of the reader to that which could have been seen heard and felt by the character. So, you might start with the tale of a farmer or herdsman, talking about how he or she encountered the important elements of the world. "The Sun beat down on Steve Johnson, pulling sweat from every pore. He stumbled behind the plow, absently cracking his whip to drive the [i]quornak [/i]that pulled it. As the iron blade turned the red earth ahead of him, he risked a wary glance to the east. The [i]bandar [/i]would be coming soon. Steve silently prayed to [i]Lemenor, [/i]beggingthe Hearthlord for mercy, for him to drive the [i]bandar [/i]past his mud-packed hovel. Steve had no sacrifice for them, save his daughter, and he would die before he let them have her." In just a couple of sentences, you've told the players that 1) the sun is referred to as the Sun, people have names like "Steve Johnson," and that farmers use relatively primitive implements. Additionally, you've told them that there's a beast of burden (of some sort) in the world called a quornak. The bandar are obviously bad guys of a sort that want sacrifices and come from the east, and Lemenor is a deity or concept that can be prayed to, and is believed to grant boons and favors. In the example, you've already told your characters a bunch about the world, and you haven't let it become a book report. Does that help? Alternatively, you can just throw your players in to the world, and slowly introduce them to the unique elements. Sometimes, it's nice to let them discover the world slowly... Anyway, I hope that helps. For the campaign being written here, I gave the players a basic idea about how the world differed from a standard D&D world (not much), and then gave them a timeline for the important events of known history. That seemed to work pretty well, and I've largely let the players' questions let me know where the gaps needed to be filled. Once you get your stuff written, start a story hour! This is a great place to find feedback and appreciation for your hard work. [/QUOTE]
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