Over Kill?

Okay, I went a little overboard with the encounter areas... Yes, a lot... But I was having fun and ideas were flooding my brain as I divided up the terrain for, what I hope, would make for a plethora of low level adventure hooks. I hope to delve deeper into these 'regions' in later posts. For now, have a map!

Scale: Large Hex = 2.5 miles (1 hour), Small Hex = 2640 feet (12 minutes)

As can be seen, I have chose a large selection of common humanoids to populate the surrounding area of Skelan and Ength. I hope, though breathing some individuality into them, I can put a new spin on them in the process. Yes, they are Goblins, Orcs, and such, but as ideas came to me, something else occurred to me. Motivations... Suffice it to say, more to come as I stop mapping and get to table design!

So, how bad did I mutilate it?

TB

BANG! Hexographer Pro Baby!

With the current sale going on over at Inkwell Ideas, I broke down and bought the Hexographer Pro Software. I am so glad I did! Making 'Child Maps' has become a snap. I couldn't resist zooming in on Skelan and seeing what popped up!

Scale: Each Small Hex = 528 ft (Large Hex = 2640 ft)
EDIT: The Huge Hex is actually 2.5 miles across!

Zooming in was a snap. I just selected the area, told it 5 hexes for each hex selected and it converted it all. I had to do some touch-up around the edges and added a little forest. The majority of the time I spent adding buildings based on Erin Smale's, Population for Low-Fantasy Population generator, from his blog; The Welsh Piper.

From that I gleaned the following about Skelan:
Population: 974
Occupies: 1.22 square miles
Nobles: 28, Officers: 10, Clergy: 8, Freeholders: 66, Citizens (Farmers) 858, Hirelings:4
Ruling House: 6 Relatives, 4 Servants, 3 House Guard, 1 Sergeant
Additional Nobles (2 Houses) w/ 14 people
Reeve: 1, Messor: 1, Woodward 1, Constable: 1, Law Enforcement: 6
Mansions: 3
Churches: 2
Businesses: 79
Municipal: 1
Homes: Alot! 129

It took me longer to type this than to do it. The map isn't great, but it was fun doing!

Hope you can use it,

TB

So, Moving Along Then (part 2a)

I changed my mind, or so Mr. ADD often convinces me to do. I was convinced to zoom in rather and jump down to 'settlement level'. I am glad I did too. It really helped me get an idea of the area. Why? I can't explain. But, none-the-less, here is a step-in on the Skelan area that was in my previous post.

 

Scale: 2640 ft sub-hex / 2.5 mi large hex

A note on the above map, the actual settlements (read rural area) of Skelan and Ength probably will most likely NOT end up where I placed the village and town icons. I tried to 'center-mass' them. I envision both being more in the branches of the 'Y' of the river, which I have to name.

Next up, before I do the actual rural settlements, is to place key encounter areas for this level, make random tables, etc. So, expect to see this map again in more detail soon.

TB

So, Moving Along Then (part 2)

Pressing forward, I have added some to the newest experiments in Mini-Gazetteer. Or, maybe I'll just call it a Blog-Gazetteer? Anyway, I added some additional terrain and random names to the base map.

I think this is as big as I feel comfortable with. Not being one that enjoys 'drilling-down' into a setting, I want to start small and work out from somewhere. So, with that in mind, I will pick a 'Base Camp' and flesh it out, and expand.

Perhaps from Skelan...

TB

So, Moving Along Then (part 1)

Now that I have had my grand epiphany about time, I return to mapping. As you can see from the below map, I have just quickly roughed in the basics; Mountains, Ocean, and the two Settlements (green hexes) I want to start with. The Settlement near the ocean will be the main trade point. The other, or located there-about, will be the starting 'base' for the campaign.

Next I want to map the trade center, so I get a feel for how dispersed it will be at this scale (small hex = 1 league, or 1 hour). So...

Not what I had hoped, but I can come back to it. Just couldn't figure out how I wanted it to look, Icon wise...

That's it for now, enjoy.
TB

More Mini Campaign

So I started messing around with mapping (Hexographer) again, and made a small regional map, or started it anyway. Then my best-est friend ever, OCD, came to visit. I wanted to drop in a small coastal harbor town or city. But what size? I knew I wanted to have each sub-hex be 2.5 miles (1 league) and the larger hexes to be 12.5 miles (5 leagues) based on how much I like Bat in the Attic maps. This scale just makes sense to me, and I hope to elaborate more on that in my next post.

Then I wavered! I do so ever like how it's done on The 25 Mile Hex too! Finally I just said, "Screw It!" and went to another bookmark, Medieval Demographics Made Easy. Both the above blogs mentioned it, as I recall, so it has to have something going for it, right?

So, based on the formula there ((Hex Width x .9306049)squared) tells me that there are 5.43sq miles in a 2.5 mile hex, or 1 league. Cool! Population Density, which I took to mean Rural, ranged from 30 to 120 people per square mile. So this town/city, assuming it has some kind of patrolling guard, could patrol out, on a regular basis, a half-a-day. So four hours, or 4 leagues, to be able to make it back by dark. Counting all the hexes surrounding the town/city I came up with 60 hexes and an Excel Spread Sheet...

So, based on density, this town could range from a Large Town to a Large City... I am not a complete sadist. I didn't want to randomly figure out the density of every league within the settlement's control. So I created a formula that would give me a random range between 30 and 120. Then OCD's friend showed up...

Yay, ADD, welcome! Mr. ADD wanted to know, "If the settlement could only 'protect' 3, 2, or even 1 hour out from it, what size settlements would result?"

This didn't, even at minimum density, get me a settlement smaller than 489 person Village with the Village itself and the adjoining 6 leagues. (I am using the settlement sizes from 3.5 by-the-way because I would like to use the eventual map in either a Microlite20 or Pathfinder Beginner Box campaign)

"Doh!" All I had to do was reverse the formula to be able to enter the settlement population and random density to tell me how many leagues a settlement needed. I did this not just because of Mr. ADD, but because I noticed that the first settlement was going to eat-up alot of my map. I wanted some smaller settlements for 'bases-of-operations' too out in the 'wilderness'.

Long-story-short, I think Mr. OCD and Mr. ADD have just had their communal asses kicked by Mr. Excel!

More to come!
TB

It's All About The "Quarters"

So, while perusing blogs, I stumbled on Talysman's latest post: Mapping Towns and Cities During Play.

There, I saw a link to: The Quarter System. I thought, 'Cool... That would be neat!' So off I went, Mozilla buzzing, to find it was not what I had thought. It was 'Cool', just not what I anticipated.

This, is what I had in mind:

Coinage! Quarters!

That lead to this:

Where I started with a Quarter to represent the Castle/Keep. Inspired again by Talysman, here, I quickly decided that dimes would be crafts, nickles would be multi-entity establishments, quarters the controlling interest, and half-dollars would be homes.

I placed the Quarter, then a dime, figuring that the controlling entity would want them near. To support that, I needed homes. Each additional coin had to touch at least two others and homes had to touch the establishment it supported. Each craft/merchantile had to be as close to the 'hub' as I could get it, then its supporting homes. When at all possible I shared the edge of the homes with another half-dollar to represent how homes tended to cling together...

And bingo a rough Large Village was created, again based on this.

I will assume that there are three entrances into the Castle/Keep at each of the dimes, and for the most part that each coin that touches another has a major thoroughfare connecting it.

Now that I know what each can represent, I should be able to pick up some coins (the amount based on the size of the settlement) and have a ready made establishment.

What to do with the penny?... Ruins or Slums! Done.

Hope you like it, it is rather 'outside-the-box' for me, and it is all because Talysman blogged about quarters!

TB

*The only thing I had a problem with was the Church/Shrine. It probably should have gone NE or SW of the Controller, but I didn't want it near a Stable or a Blacksmith.*

Firmly In The Less Is More Camp...

Minimal systems are currently my preference. My Gamer ADD/OCD tends to have me wondering, so rules heavy systems don't seem to last. An example of a borderline too rules heavy system is Savage Worlds, that I began mulling over a while ago. I stopped then on page 78 and haven't returned.

I am currently fully entrenched in Microlite20, but what factoids I have gleaned from developing Savage Worlds - Plot Point Settings are interesting. For example; Plot Points, Set Pieces, and Adventure Paths and Delving into Design: Echo of Dead Leaves (Part II) (interesting reads if Plot Point Settings appeal to you). I am planning to attempt a similar tact while pushing ahead on a Microlite20 house rule set for Humanity's Reign & Ruin.

As I had mentioned, I envision Humanity's Reign & Ruin as being two settings, a before and after kind of thing. Humanity's Reign, as a middling magic, human-centric, middle-ages - with monsters, affair. The subsequent setting; Humanity's Ruin, a demi-human-centric, pronounced magic, humans are rare, dark and gritty - with monsters, affair. They tie together with my, for now only in notes and mind, game history.

Currently my approach to presenting these two, tied together, settings is going to be a short paragraph about each and allow the Rules, Tables (thanks to Zak's How I Want To Hear About Your Setting), and Plot Point Setting adventures to speak for themselves. I have a mental image of what, and how, the world and things in it coalesce, but have no desire to put out an expansive Setting PDF on it that no one wants to read. I think a simple Gazetteer focusing on the above, with maps, should suffice. Then six to eight Plot Points, with all the entail, for adventure.

At the moment, I am speculating on whether a Plot Point Zero adventure is in order? I think it would be interesting for the first adventure to be the 'lead-into the fall of Humanity' and have the Plot Point Setting Adventures lead up to that experience that the Players would have already experienced.

Thoughts on a Plot Point Zero for Humanity's Reign & Ruin?

Hopefully this is a beginning to an end...

Best,
TB

City Crawling (pt2)

So I finished with the city. Ok, it might not be finished, but it is usable (I think). Just don't feel motivated to do anything else to it:

It looked better before I merged the layers down in GIMP. There wasn't all the white lines between the 'buildings'. Does bring to mind the cities I have been running in on Assassin's Creed.

Best,
TB

Edit: No Background

City Crawling (pt1)

I have been enamored with Zak's Urban Crawl Rules for Slacker DMs since I found the post. I am not one for a lot of 'round' lines in an urban environment map, so I squared everything off using Libre Office (Open Office split since the buy out) Impress so I could quickly copy/paste the words and numbers. Again, just a thought experiment that I want to play out while I blog.

I am going to try this for the Manors, Villages, and Town/City of the Mini-Gazetteer I have been fiddling with. Zak started with Ten neighborhood and represented them with the words 'ONE' thru 'TEN' randomly written on a sheet of paper with varying colors of marker. This is a large City in my view, and was wondering how big various urban areas should be for a more 'medieval' feel. Ok, too much thinking, again. Go random, it is all the rage anyway:

Manor: 1 Neighborhood
Village: 1d4 Neighborhoods
Town: 1d6 Neighborhoods
City: 1d8 Neighborhoods
L. City:1d10 Neighborhoods

I am considering a single 'Neighborhood' as a flat 'footprint' of the urban area. It could, and probably should, have several 'levels' for larger urban settlements. I mean, If I roll a 1 on a 1d10 for a Large City, that small of a footprint will not house the populace. It would have to be built vertically instead of horizontally to do so.

Rolling a d8 for the City of Yorkcast I got a 4. So, four neighborhoods. I could arrange the words; one, two, three, and four for the neighborhood layout, but I don't want every city to have the same number words. So I want to roll a d10 for times to find the number words I will use for this exercise; four, eight, three, and three.

Off to copy/paste the words into a new slide... Done, but how should they be positioned? Starting with the first number, four, I decide that another random roll is in order: 1d4 (1 normal, 2 +90, 3 +180, 4 +270). A 2, so rotating the 'four' ninety degrees... Now the 'eight'... a 3, so one-hundred and eighty degrees... place on the 1d4 side of the 'four', starting at 12 o'clock as position 1 and going clock wise... a 4, or left side... now for the other two 'three's...

I moved some stuff around and added a protective wall:

Somethings just scream out at me now, as a visual thinker. For example, two entrances, one in the South connected to the 'T' in 'THREE' and one to the West connected to the last 'T' in 'EIGHT'. Add some towers, etc... (and trim the image so it doesn't take up a huge white chunk of the blog!)

Next I will overlay a random number (1-0) over each letter of the neighborhood to show back alleys and such. More to come after I watch some 'Merlin'...

Best,
TB

Mini-Gazetteer: Work in Progress...

Suppose to be studying for my Security + exam.... bah! more Mini-Gazetteer! Trying to figure out how I want to present it...

Barony of Malvethan: Background
This newly formed barony sits on the Northern border of Aerialdon. It was formed just forty years ago when Sir Deniam Yorkcast, leading a force of Aerialdon troops, pushed out the Goblin occupation that was raiding Aerialdon, and other lands to the South, from these lands. As a result Sir Deniam Yorkcast and a select few of his men were given estates within the lands now known as the Barony of Malvethan. Though the pre-existing independent towns and village were unable to work together to handle the previous Goblin infestation, some local inhabitants still do not like the current occupation any better under the current rule of Baron Deniam Yorkcast and his Manor Knights.

Barony of Malvethan: Populace 

• Bytenyr Estate (2 Manors): This small estate sits on the Northern boarder of the barony's lands and is the first line of defense for Baron Yorkcast.

1. [#4018] Ruler: Sir Enem Bytenyr, (Manor Knight | F4); Align: C (Supported); Motivation: Greed; Pop: 106; Resources: 2/3 Herd Animals, 1/6 Timber, 1/6 Copper; Forces: Hvy Cavalry x2 (F3-Knights), Lt Cavalry x4 (F2-Squires), Cleric (C3), 12 Med Footmen (F1) 
2. [#4020] Ruler: Sir Toldat Oldpol, (Knight \ F3); Align: L (Ambivalent); Motivation: Duty; Pop: 98; Resources: 2/3 Grain, 1/3 Timber; Forces: Hvy Cavalry x2 (F3-Knights), Lt Cavalry x3 (F2-Squires), Friar (C1), 10 Med Archers (F1)

Rumors:
1 To the East, [#4517] a hungry dragon eats the flesh of man. (T&F)
2 Sir Bytenyr is planning to assassinate Sir Oldpol (F)
3 Sir Bytenyr's has dug too deep in the mines and has awoken a Wraith [#4117]. (T&F)
4 Sir Bytenyr is not well. (T)
5 Sir Oldpol wants to protect the village of West Minoford [#3721] from raiding Orcs! [#3422] (T)
6 A young girl went missing at the bend of the road East of West Minoford (T). She was swollowed whole by a giant snake that lives in the River Minoview there! (F)
7 Sir Bytenyr has promised riches to his serfs that will dig in the mines. (T, but has no intention of paying up)
8 Gazing into Minoview on a full moon will cause you to turn into a werewolf! (F)
Random Encounters: Day / Night
2  Wyvern / Wyvern [#4517] 2.78  Special
3  5.56  V. Rare
4  8.33  Rare
5  11.11  Uncommon
6  Foot Patrol (Squire, 2 Archers, 2 Footmen) / Horse Patrol (Knight, 4 Cavalry) 13.89  Common
7  16.67  Typical
8  13.89  Common
9  11.11 Uncommon
10  8.33  Rare
11  5.56  V. Rare
12  2.78  Special

• Ognurlar Estate
• Tobelark Estate
• Rethysek Estate
• Ganut Estate
• Haverosse Estate
• Urullik Estate
• Codamor Estate

Village of West Minoford, Neutral
Village of West Crossmouth, Lawful
Village of Oakandria, Lawful
Village of East Witvale, Neutral
Village of Swordburgh, Lawful
Village of Satunbee, Neutral
Village of Witwarren, Chaotic

Mini-Gazetteer: Thought Experiment

I got side-tracked doing research for Ukarea and thought I would take a break and work on the Mini-Gazetteer. I have the map I created earlier, and wanted to work on populations and how they corresponded to each other before adding a bit of detail to the notable NPCs. I started with this:

Originally I had some ideas, but none near enough to get a feel for the whole setting. So, I turned to some randomness and color:

1d6 (Ruler is:)
1-2  Lawful  (Yellow)
3-4  Neutral  (Green)
5-6  Chaotic  (Black)

1d6 (Ruler is X by Populace:)
1-2  Opposed (Red)
3-4  Neutral  (Blue)
5-6  Supported  (Lt Green)

I was going to elaborate on the results, but think that I will leave it up to the interpretation of any GM that might want to use it.

Immediately things jump out at me; take the Haverosse Estate in the South-East. The estate's Vassal Knight is Neutral and opposed by his populace. The other two Haverosse Knights are Chaotic and the populace is ambivolant. Perhaps the Vassal Knight's people are unruley do to the success of the other two Haverosse Knight's? Perhaps, if the Chaotic Haverosse Knights throw in with the supported Chaotic Knight in the Urullik Estate, they could overthrow the Lawful Urullik Vassal Knight there? The supported Neutral Urullik Knight would probably not interject, and the Neutral Haverosse Vassal Knight could be usurped, turning the two estates 'Chaotic' and against the Baron in short order? As long as the populace in Haverosse did not change their oppinion of their rulers for doing so. (Reaction Roll please...)

I like it. Falls into the inspirational, without giving too much mind-numbing detail, I believe.

Thoughts?
(other than my spelling sucks: Blogger doesn't seem to want to assist me with it today)
TB

A Thought Experiment I Never Published For The Mini Gazetteer

Tobelark Estate
  The Tobelark Estate sits just West of the West Crossmouth Village, and is ruled by Thastmorus Tobelark. The Estate is bisected, West to East, by Pawson's Creek, that swells in early Spring and late Fall from the rain that creates intermitant streams from the Flaxon Hills in the South, that feed into it. The Creek retains water throughout the year, and is the main supply for the Manors and the livestock. The Tobelark Estate's main exports are lumber, grain, cattle, and horses from Lord Tobelark's Manor stables.

  Tobelark Manor
  Lord Tobelark is a reservered compasionate man who can often times be seen tending his own fields. A farmer by trade, Tobelark found himself within the forces of the Baron after the death of his wife to raiding Orcs. He spent two years in the service of the Baron, repelling the Orc'n raiders. While doing this, he left his three, then young, children in the care of the wise-woman , in West Crossmouth. Upon his return, he was rewarded with his own manor, and appointed governance of all five manors within the estate. Since vengance of his wife's death was Tobelark's main concern, and he desired nothing more, he performs his governing duties when required, but does not take a proactive role in it, rather preferring to allow the other Lords to manager their own affairs.
  The Tobelark Manor's main export is the Draft and Warhorses that Lord Tobelark raises, toughted to be the best in the barony. This in turn is subsidized by some cotton fields and goat herdes. His manor relises heavily on excess grain from the other manors within the estate.

  Tobelark Manor Forces: 
Lord Tobelark commands undying loyalty of his troops due to his hands-on-approach to managing the manor (if he is present, their Morale is 12, instead of listed value.) He maintains a strong bond with Sir Bloakang Drongthur, his deseased wife's only brother, whom he fought in the Baron's army with. Due to this kindship, and the unrequited love interest of Madam Poisha Hilon, thier relationship is strained but professional. Lord Tobelark's affections lie elsewhere, namely with the wise-woman of Crossmouth Village.


Lord Thastmorus "Lord Thast" Tobelark
S16 I10 W11 D11 C16 Ch12
AC 2[17], F-4, HP 17, MV 9, BthB +2, SV Fighter-4 [11], ML 12, Temperment (: |) AL L, Background Farmer; Platemail, Magical 2-Handed Sword +1 (1d6+3), Dagger (1d6), Ring of Poison Resistance +5, Ring of Protection +1, 140 gp in belt pouch [Large man with dark shoulder length hair, red beard, reserved, quiet, peace maker]

Sir Bloakang Drongthur
S11 I7 W9 D11 C16 Ch8
AC 2[17], F-3, HP 13, MV 9, BthB +2, SV Fighter-3 [12], ML 10, AL N; Platemail, Lance (1d6+1), Longsword (1d6), Dagger (1d6-1), Scroll of Elemental Protection, 82 gp, [Young man, short brown hair, green eyes, outspoken, and opinionated] 

Madam Poisha Hilon
S14 I8 W8 D17 C10 Ch12
AC 1[18], F-3, HP 11, MV 9, BthB +2, SV Fighter-3 [12], ML 11, AL L; Platemail, Shield, Lance (1d6+1), Flail (1d6), Dagger (1d6-1), Rope of Entanglement, 47 gp, [Attractive woman in her mid-twenties, brown hair, blue eyes, scared forearm, wants respect and praise from peers] 

Squires (x4 Light Horsemen)
AC 4[15], F-2, HP 7,6,5,3 Move 12, BthB +1, SV Fighter-1 [13], ML 9, AL N; Chainmail, Shield, Spear (1d6), Longsword (1d6), Dagger (1d6-1), 23 gp in a belt pouch.

Men-at-Arms (x10 Footmen)
AC 5[14], F-1, HP 7,6,5,5,5,5,3,3,2,2 Move 12, BthB +0, SV Fighter-1 [14], ML 9, AL N; Chainmail, Shortsword (1d6-1), Dagger (1d6-1), 16 gp in a belt pouch.

[1] Lord Thastmorus "Lord Thast" Tobelark
AC 2[17], F-4, HP 17, MV 9, BthB +2, SV Fighter-4 [11], ML 12, AL L; Platemail, Magical 2-Handed Sword +1 (1d6+3), Dagger (1d6), Ring of Poison Resistance +5, Ring of Protection +1, 140 gp in belt pouch
Hu S16 I10 W11 D11 C16 Ch12	[  ] Large man with dark shoulder length hair, red beard [  ] Knight / Farmer / Equestrian [  ] Reserved, Quiet, Peace Maker [  ] Phlegmatic  (= |] [  ] Marry the Wise-woman and let the other Knights manage their own Manors [  ] Position his brother-in-law to take his place [  ] [#] Wise-woman of Crossmouth, [#2] Sir Bloakang Drongthur, [#] The Baron of Malvethan

 

[2] Sir Bloakang Drongthur
AC 2[17], F-3, HP 13, MV 9, BthB +2, SV Fighter-3 [12], ML 10, AL N; Platemail, Lance (1d6+1), Longsword (1d6), Dagger (1d6-1), Scroll of Elemental Protection, 82 gp
Hu S11 I7 W9 D11 C16 Ch8	[  ] Young man, short brown hair, green eyes [  ] Knight / Noble's Son [  ] Outspoken and opinionated [  ] Supin  (< )] [  ] Become a Vassal Knight like [#1] Lord Tobelek [  ] Prove himself in battle [  ] [#1] Respects Lord Tobelark but thinks he needs to be more proactive, [#4/#5] Other soldiers of the Manson force,

[4] Squires (x4 Light Horsemen)
AC 4[15], F-2, HP 7,6,5,3 Move 12, BthB +1, SV Fighter-1 [13], ML 9, AL N; Chainmail, Shield, Spear (1d6), Longsword (1d6), Dagger (1d6-1), 23 gp in a belt pouch.

[5] Men-at-Arms (x10 Footmen)
AC 5[14], F-1, HP 7,6,5,5,5,5,3,3,2,2 Move 12, BthB +0, SV Fighter-1 [14], ML 9, AL N; Chainmail, Shortsword (1d6-1), Dagger (1d6-1), 16 gp in a belt pouch.