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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
 Posted - 23 May 2010 : 02:45:58
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Um... wow... 
This is great, Rob! 
I'll see what I can do about plots and rumours for you... I need to get out of my thri-kreen mindset first. Funny how you start to think like the culture you're working on after a while... I wonder if this happens to RW anthropologists...
I've just finished the first draft of the thri-kreen of Osse; I've done nothing geographical or political, except in the most abstract, for now, but I have some ideas. What I'll do for the map locations is a hack-job; I'll use MSPaint to separate out the region and insert the places and names, and send you the hideous results so you can make it look good again.  That okay with you?
I'll be emailing you the first draft shortly; it's originally an RTF file, printed to PDF with PrimoPDF, so it looks grotesquely plain in comparison with your writeup, but I'm thinking the same way with respect to this as well; Darkmeer and I (and anyone else who is interested) will produce the content, and leave it to you to make it look good. 
Okay... I guess I'll need you to PM me with an email address... I can't send email with attachments through CK, unless I'm missing something obvious here.  |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
Edited by - Jakk on 23 May 2010 02:49:05 |
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HandsomeRob
Seeker
68 Posts |
Posted - 23 May 2010 : 03:52:48
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quote:
Originally posted by Jakk
Um... wow...
This is great, Rob!
Ha ha, yeah, clearly my skills lie more in graphic design than in actual writing
quote:
I'll see what I can do about plots and rumours for you... I need to get out of my thri-kreen mindset first. Funny how you start to think like the culture you're working on after a while... I wonder if this happens to RW anthropologists...
There's quite a bit about thri-kreen in my bit there too, especially the Avadi Plains section. Make sure it jives with your description, and if you need me to change anything let me know.
quote:
I've just finished the first draft of the thri-kreen of Osse; I've done nothing geographical or political, except in the most abstract, for now, but I have some ideas. What I'll do for the map locations is a hack-job; I'll use MSPaint to separate out the region and insert the places and names, and send you the hideous results so you can make it look good again. That okay with you?
Works great for me. Ideal actually.
quote:
I'll be emailing you the first draft shortly; it's originally an RTF file, printed to PDF with PrimoPDF, so it looks grotesquely plain in comparison with your writeup, but I'm thinking the same way with respect to this as well; Darkmeer and I (and anyone else who is interested) will produce the content, and leave it to you to make it look good.
Yeah, the more content we can get the better this will be. Let's look for places to work in the content from the previous Osse Project as well if we can, and I propose that we try to stick to the format of the FRCG in our writeups... it's a tried-and-true formula that will make sure we cover all the basics.
quote:
Okay... I guess I'll need you to PM me with an email address... I can't send email with attachments through CK, unless I'm missing something obvious here.
PM sent... I'm really curious to read your writeups!
-Rob |
Visit Sorol today: http://sorol.wikispaces.com |
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 23 May 2010 : 04:53:48
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quote:
Originally posted by HandsomeRob
quote:
Originally posted by Jakk
Um... wow...
This is great, Rob!
Ha ha, yeah, clearly my skills lie more in graphic design than in actual writing
Actually, I was being entirely serious.
- First, I like Chauntea and Gond as deity choices; we might consider alternate names that the locals know them by.
- Second, I love the cannibalistic headhunting halflings!
- Third, Wakulla makes me feel all warm and fuzzy... reminds me of home...
 (Okay, I'm being a bit tongue-in-cheek there, but not about your write-up, which is excellent...)
- Fourth, Pachagulla is very interesting...
- Fifth, "treasure sand" is brilliant! And not just from the sunlight glinting off the metallic goodies...
quote:
There's quite a bit about thri-kreen in my bit there too, especially the Avadi Plains section. Make sure it jives with your description, and if you need me to change anything let me know.
Looks good; I haven't gone into that much "in-setting" detail on the thri-kreen yet, but I'll suggest that it's more likely that the raiding parties are thri-trin (the four-legged, two-armed ones). They're more belligerent, less intelligent (don't those go together well?), and more likely to have been kicked out of the central thri-kreen lands. And, just while composing this, I've come up with a change for what I've done so far on the kreen... I hadn't done anything with the "tohr-kreen" group as handled in 2E Dark Sun, but I've just realized what I'm going to do there... division of subraces. Edited PDF on its way soon...
quote:
Yeah, the more content we can get the better this will be. Let's look for places to work in the content from the previous Osse Project as well if we can, and I propose that we try to stick to the format of the FRCG in our writeups... it's a tried-and-true formula that will make sure we cover all the basics.
I like that... I'll need to do some reformatting, then, but that's easily done.
quote:
PM sent... I'm really curious to read your writeups!
-Rob
Rob, the only thing I can see in terms of editing needed in your writeup so far is, "Underdark" is capitalized; there's just the one occurrence of it, near the top of page 5. I'm not going to worry about reformatting of my work until I have my geographical details in place to anchor the writeups to... so far, the only thing that has a name is the bit of desert at the foot of the plateau; the kreen have their own name for it, as I'm taking the river and edge of the plateau to be the de facto border between elf and kreen territory. I'll sort that out with Darkmeer once we see what he's got for the elves... how's that going, Darkmeer? |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
Edited by - Jakk on 25 May 2010 05:52:25 |
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 25 May 2010 : 06:09:52
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Ugh... I've been horrifically unproductive today, thanks mostly to technology and the limitations thereof.
Another thought occurred to me regarding the thri-kreen and related races, however; I may have PM'ed Rob about this, but I've decided just to post it here so anyone interested can take it and run with it if desired...
We know from earlier publications regarding the gods that Jergal (the former god of death and the dead) is depicted as somewhat insectoid in appearance, and we know from Ed's scroll recently that this isn't accidental; apparently, Jergal has links to the thri-kreen that are under heavy NDA. There's definitely a connection there... the question is, what are the details thereof? The other thought I had was regarding the gelugons (ice devils) of Caina... they are depicted as very insectoid as well. This gets even more interesting when we throw in the fact that Mephistopheles is the Lord of Caina... do you suppose that there's some sort of connection between Jergal and Mephistopheles? Events at the close of the Twilight War trilogy involving Mephistopheles make this even more intriguing... but I'm done speculating along that path here. 
Let's just say that for purposes of Project Isle, I'm seeing a connection between the thri-kreen and the Lord of the Eighth via Jergal and the gelugons. The exact nature of that connection is as much a mystery to me as it is to you; I'm hoping Markustay finds this post, because he excels at connecting dots like this...
I think that's all I've got for now... fixing computer problems, especially my own, makes me stupidly tired.
Edit: On a completely unrelated (but still possibly on-topic) note: If an ancestor-worshipping cannibal (the sort who honors their dead relatives by eating them) is named Dexter, does that mean that his ancestors have been inDexed?
Yes, I know it's horrid... but I've committed far worse wordplay in my time, and I've no doubt that I'll do worse in the future.
So... what do you think, Rob? Maybe a cannibal tribe or two among those humans you're working on? Yes, you can leave the punnery out; doing so certainly makes the cannibalism much less gruesome. Such behaviour might explain the tribe that uses bone instead of stone, though... |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
Edited by - Jakk on 25 May 2010 06:19:57 |
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Elfinblade
Senior Scribe
Norway
377 Posts |
Posted - 25 May 2010 : 07:13:12
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First of all, amazing write-up Rob.
Jakk, yes the minotaur landscape could of course be placed anywhere it could fit in. But keep in mind the temperature etc when assigning races south of the main isle. Osse is rather far south is it not? So the farther south you go the closer to the pole you will come and hence, the colder it will become. I do not know whether or not minotaurs could handle it, but if it is far enough south, i'm having trouble seeing packs of flying monkeys in snowdrifts
Cannibalistic halflings sounds both terrifying and hilarious at the same time. If you can make it work with a healty dosage of both the former and the latter i could be intrigued about them indeed
quote:
Edit: On a completely unrelated (but still possibly on-topic) note: If an ancestor-worshipping cannibal (the sort who honors their dead relatives by eating them) is named Dexter, does that mean that his ancestors have been inDexed?
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Darkmeer
Senior Scribe
USA
505 Posts |
Posted - 25 May 2010 : 16:15:48
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I have been diligently working on this in my copious spare time. I've had some serious computer issues, possibly going to lead me to purchase a new laptop or desktop in the VERY near future. I'm losing files, so I've hand written everything and should post these up soon.
/d |
"These people are my family, not just friends, and if you want to get to them you gotta go through ME." |
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althen artren
Senior Scribe
USA
780 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2010 : 03:42:35
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WHOA..... Okay, I expected that everybody would say "More Netheril survivors??? NOOOOOOO.
Okay, I'll start to get to work on that. What exactly are we looking for in regards
to detail? I all ready have a self made city that could work as a enclave just I need to
know what details everybody wants. |
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2010 : 06:32:28
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Althen... did you catch my earlier theory about how such a city would have survived the Fall? If so, what did you think? If not, check it out; about halfway down this page, from May 22. As far as details go, all that's really set in that area is the geography; tropical rainforest and volcanic mountains. Apart from that, I'd say things are wide open for whatever you want to do with it. If anybody else has any ideas for Althen regarding the Netherese survivor enclave, please let him know, either via PM or (preferably, so he doesn't get inundated with duplicate requests) in this scroll.
Darkmeer... ick. As noted a few posts ago, I've had a bit of computer trouble lately myself; fortunately, nothing serious. On the other hand, my spare time lately has been far from copious. I have the next two days off, so I'll see what I can do, but I'm also moving at the end of the month and don't yet have a place to move to. I'm hoping to learn otherwise tomorrow morning (it's late evening where I am on Canada's Pacific coast).
Rob... I'm hoping to have that map of the thri-kreen lands back to you in the next couple of days; my six-hour shift at work today got turned into eight hours (and I *don't* do cartography for a living, as will be obvious when you get said map), so I didn't get any work done on the map today. Also: I've amended my "quotes from the WotC thread" post regarding proposed details for the human lands with a segment I missed from Lord Karsus (Dagnirion). It covers the Australian-aboriginal culture referenced in the Lady of Poison novel; since that novel is canon, I thought we should try to fit said culture in somewhere; I'll leave the details to you, as I really don't have any other ideas for the humans.
If anyone else has any ideas for those humans (and, ideally, has read Lady of Poison), please let us know what we're missing via this scroll. Thanks! |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 26 May 2010 : 06:40:30
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quote:
Originally posted by Elfinblade
First of all, amazing write-up Rob.
Jakk, yes the minotaur landscape could of course be placed anywhere it could fit in. But keep in mind the temperature etc when assigning races south of the main isle. Osse is rather far south is it not? So the farther south you go the closer to the pole you will come and hence, the colder it will become. I do not know whether or not minotaurs could handle it, but if it is far enough south, i'm having trouble seeing packs of flying monkeys in snowdrifts
Cannibalistic halflings sounds both terrifying and hilarious at the same time. If you can make it work with a healty dosage of both the former and the latter i could be intrigued about them indeed
For the flying monkeys, IIRC, it's the northernmost large island that MarkusTay has them based in, the one basically due west of Zakhara. I think it'll be warm enough for them at that latitude.
Edit: No, MT has them in the southern island... but given the relative positions of Zakhara and Osse on the map in the 3E FRCS, Osse is actually further north than Zakhara, so the southern reaches of Osse will probably have a more subtropical climate than southern Australia has. Either way, this means I'm looking at putting the minotaurs somewhere in Anchorome. [/edit]
As for the cannibalistic halflings, I'm also very intrigued. IIRC, Darkmeer is working on the elves and halflings, so we'll see what he's done with them when he gets his writeups posted.
Speaking of getting writeups posted... I've sent a first draft of the "crunch" side of the thri-kreen (PC race rules, etc.) to Rob, and I'm working on the geography and history now. These thri-kreen are similar to those found in Athas (Dark Sun): there are six different species belonging to two different groups, and a seventh species that is significantly different (four legs and two arms instead of vice-versa, and notably less intelligent). Rumours of another two or three species persist... |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
Edited by - Jakk on 26 May 2010 06:51:41 |
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 27 May 2010 : 19:28:52
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Okay... third draft of the thri-kreen, including geography and the barest skeleton of history, has been submitted. I'm switching gears to get something in place for the sahuagin while I wait for the thri-kreen's neighbours to get filled in a bit more (so I have something to attach the history to). As I've assembled it (and this part is just coming to me now, so bear with me), Osse is the original thri-kreen homeland on Toril, and the thri-kreen of the Shaar and elsewhere on the big continent arrived in the Shaar via a portal that was mysteriously (via a wild surge) activated during Mystra's abrupt rise to power after the death of Mystryl in the Year of Sundered Webs. These thri-kreen are a different caste or subrace from the kreen common to Osse, and I've just now understood how they got to Faerun while leaving no trace of themselves in Osse... as I said, this is all coming off the top of my head as I type, so here we go...
The "common" thri-kreen of Faerun were a large isolationist group of kreen who kept themselves apart from mainstream kreen society. Prior to the fall of Mystryl, the kreen occupied the entire eastern region, north to the large rainforest/jungle (still unnamed?) east of the Mantha Plains. The isolationist group held the northern reaches of this area, and (demonstrating their strangeness in the eyes of their brethren to the south) began living and hunting within the jungle itself. One day (the day of Karsus' Folly), the entire jungle glowed with a vibrant green light for several seconds; this light was visible to all for hundreds of miles, southern kreen and northern human alike. After the glow faded (and Mystra corrected the balance of the Weave), over the course of the next few days, both humans and southern kreen realized that the jungle-dwelling thri-kreen were no longer there.
Unknown to all in Osse, the missing thri-kreen group had been transported to the Shaar (as described above). The same wild surge changed their chitin from a deep forest green to a sandy beige, the better to hide among the tall dry grass and semi-desert of the Shaar plains.
The kreen retreated south over the next centuries, in part because of human expansion, but in large part out of fear of the jungle. Humans, with their all-too-short memories, happily expanded into and through the jungle right to the river to the south, but in the centuries since, reports of mysterious happenings in the jungle have begun to affect even the foolhardy humans. As to exactly what is happening in the jungle, nobody knows... the glow seen on that day in the Year of Sundered Webs has not been seen since, but there is something strange going on in the jungle...
[edit]
...and no, I don't (yet) know exactly what... but I have some ideas. Whether or not that means I'll share them, is another matter... I think this one will stay under my own brand of NDA for the time being...
[/edit] |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
Edited by - Jakk on 28 May 2010 05:02:15 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 28 May 2010 : 23:01:27
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In the Kara-Tur stuff I was working on at one time, I had a submerged Netherese Enclave surviving in the Celestial Sea, about 50-100 miles of the coast.
I had a whole back-story for it, and was planning it for some future Candlekeep Compendium article. 
Basically, a brilliant Netherease Archmage (Named Seluj Enrev; his father was a Calishite Sorceror) - who was fascinated by Spelljamming (something they experimented with early-on) created the most extensive Enclave ever by shearing off the top of the largest and tallest mountain on Toril (in the Yehimal range), and using a Helm of two Minds then re-sheared off the top. He set the leftover piece in orbit for future use (not realizing their were eastern Dwarves still inside), and built his enclave on the flat disc that was left, and went on to create his greatest achievment - a Mythallar that combined the powers of a Spelljamming helm!
Unfortunately, as fate would have it, before he could even test-out his new Mythaljammer technology, Karsus cast his infamous spell and the enclave plunged into the eastern ocean. The air-bubble generated by the experimental Mythallar helped to save those in the Enclave from certain doom (along with some unknown help from Mei Lung Cheng Shan, the Celestial dragon, for which he got in a LOT of trouble).
The survivors went on to become Sea-Folk or Aventi (or both - DMs choice). The Mythallar still operates and works as both a Spell-storing device (ala 2e's College of Wizardry, or 3.0's Mage of the Arcane Order}, AND still maintains the air-bubble as part of its Spelljamming abilities. However, it was badly damaged, and is no longer capable of flight, and had to be modified somewhat for its new role by the surviving Mages. Seluj was an enlightened Ruler, and the enclave was filled with parks and gardens, which helps to maintain the quality of the air.
Seluj himself was not on the Enclave when magic gave out, but was flying nearby making the final preperations for the Enclave's maiden-voyage into the sea of night. He plummeted nearly 2 miles down to the ground, where his body was crushed beyond recognition (or retrieval); crushed like his dreams of a Netherease empire ruling in space.
The temporary lack of magic in Realmspace drew the attention of the Arcane (Mercane) to Toril, as did the floating mountain still in orbit. They proceeded to work with the magically-inhibited Dwarves for a solution to their predicament, eventually helping them to create the first Forge (for a sizable sum of gems and precious metals, of course), and then made to purchase a piece of Real-estate planetside for their own Spaceport. They dealt with what they perceived as the most powerful ruler on the world - the Celestial Emperor - and bought from him none other then the very mountain top which Seluj Enrev had left completely flat in the Yehimal mountains.
Of course, there was MUCh more to the story then that, including a conspiracy by the Arcane and some little side-tale about Seluj's own involvement with Karsus, and his refusal to help him complete his own greatest work (the spell which changed the world forever). Perhaps another time... |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 28 May 2010 23:07:25 |
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 29 May 2010 : 00:39:01
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| That sounds brilliant, MT! Any chance of including it in that Kara-Tur Netbook... or is that project comatose currently? I'm very, very interested... |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2010 : 17:38:07
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Did you ever consider dropping Dark Sun into Osse's place, or perhaps just use that setting for a large, nearly impossible to reach plateau that takes up most of the central part?
At one time, WAY back when I was an FR 'newb', and didn't really know a lot about the setting (which didn't stop me from running it), I realized that the Dark Sun setting fit almost perfectly into the Raurin desert - even the size wasn't that far off, IIRC.
Since then, I realize that Dark Sun would actually fit better where Zakhara is, since we already had our Arabian-style cultures in FR.
I'm going to work on my amalgam world map today, but I don't know if I really like using the whole Oerth map for Anchorome. The eastern end (main campaign area) works beautifuly for Anchorome's east coast, but the rest of the continent is way too vast - it would nearly touch Kara-Tur!
Any suggestions on what would work for the other side of that continent? I've been looking at 7th sea (blah), The Belgariad (just eew) Iron kingdoms (meh), and even Middle Earth and Hyboria... but nothing really grabs me. A map wherein the eastern portion is never explored is perfect (hence some of my choices above). I wouldn't want to use Ebberon - that I'd rather place whole, and I already have ideas for Mystara.
I like Golarion, but I think that would be sacrilege, for both settings: Almost like gluing mark Anthony to Ceaser's butt.
I should look at the map for the Warhammer setting again... but they are such IP-hounds that they would probably track me down...
Edit: Just looked at it - its scary how much like my Homebrew world it is.... damn that's a well thought out world |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 30 May 2010 17:46:05 |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2010 : 17:47:00
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Are you looking for a specific finished setting to throw into the area or just some ideas to work from? Ideas from established worlds might work, but I can't see a couple of the alternatives you stated fitting all that well though. Glorantha or the Young Kingdoms could just as well be alternatives if you look at established worlds, even if the feel of these and the general tone is very different. But at least you get heavily armed ducks, something the Realms sorely lacks. Or you could even use Lankhmar; come to think of it this might actually work, but I would have put it in where Maztica now lies. Bits and pieces of Known world or even Taladas could also be used. Burroughs or old pulpish Atlantis stories could work for me, but would probably seem a bit out of place. They become a bit to strange and unrealistic, if that can be said about fantasy. Especially with D&D looming in the background. There's also the non-human alternative.
Edited for English that actually gets worse as the years go by. |
Edited by - Jorkens on 30 May 2010 17:57:03 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2010 : 18:01:47
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Was going to look at Glorantha again, and the Young Kingdoms I'd rather avoid (My homebrew almost looks like a cross between that map and Warhammer's).
I'm actually just looking for a really nice looking map, where either the western or eastern ends trail-off the page (I can use the mirror tool in PS to flip it). I have no intention of using the actually campaign material - I just want something cool looking for FR when I'm done - sort of a 'dream version' of the Toril.
I'm thinking about just making this 2 completely seperate projects, since I'm already going way beyond what I originally intended - this was supposed to just be a quick mock-up of Toril using The Flaeness as the east coast of Anchorome. My 'Dream map' of Toril should come later - it is much too involved a project. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2010 : 18:08:18
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| Taladas looks pretty good, if you have the box and its different enough from Dragonlance that it might work. But the shape might be a bit of a problem. I will take a look through a couple of books for any maps that might look good. |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2010 : 18:17:56
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Can't even find a decent map of the world of Lankhmar online - probably isn't one. lol
I found a nice map - homebrew - of the eastern edge of the continet wherein the Runequest (Glorantha) campaign takes place. Seems to me that RPG maps are mush prettier then standard Fantasy world maps (and better detailed, naturally).
Forgot all about Dragonlance/Taladas! Never a big fan of that setting... don't know why... I've borrowed much from it. Will look at those maps now - thanks Jorkens. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2010 : 18:22:59
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| Do you own a copy of the D&D Rules Cyclopaedia? There are a couple of great maps of the Known world and Hollow Earth in the book, even if they are rather small in scale. If its the geographical outline you are looking for these might work. |
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 30 May 2010 : 20:13:25
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Did you ever consider dropping Dark Sun into Osse's place, or perhaps just use that setting for a large, nearly impossible to reach plateau that takes up most of the central part?
We've got the large central plateau in Osse as we're building it now; we're using it as Inferno's hunting grounds, and for that reason alone it is absolutely impossible to reach, at least by anyone with half a brain. If you don't invade the super-Colossal dragon's hunting grounds, he won't roast and eat you.
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
At one time, WAY back when I was an FR 'newb', and didn't really know a lot about the setting (which didn't stop me from running it), I realized that the Dark Sun setting fit almost perfectly into the Raurin desert - even the size wasn't that far off, IIRC.
Since then, I realize that Dark Sun would actually fit better where Zakhara is, since we already had our Arabian-style cultures in FR.
True... but in my Realms I've done away with the Bedine of Anauroch and Middle-Eastern elements of Calimshan; my Spellplague turned the entire Calim Desert to glass (not my idea, but I can't remember where I found it; it might even be 4E canon) and Tethyr has conquered both Amn and Calimshan after events involving the giant realm whose name I can't remember went badly for both Amn and the giants. The Calishite conquest came about as a direct result of my Spellplague; details still brewing. So Zakhara is the only Arabian setting left in my Realms (Raurin is completely uninhabited; there's something strange going on there, but nobody knows what yet).
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I'm going to work on my amalgam world map today, but I don't know if I really like using the whole Oerth map for Anchorome. The eastern end (main campaign area) works beautifuly for Anchorome's east coast, but the rest of the continent is way too vast - it would nearly touch Kara-Tur!
I had wondered about that... I thought it might even be too big to fit... can you post an outline map showing how it would look?
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Any suggestions on what would work for the other side of that continent? I've been looking at 7th sea (blah), The Belgariad (just eew) Iron kingdoms (meh), and even Middle Earth and Hyboria... but nothing really grabs me. A map wherein the eastern portion is never explored is perfect (hence some of my choices above). I wouldn't want to use Ebberon - that I'd rather place whole, and I already have ideas for Mystara.
I like Golarion, but I think that would be sacrilege, for both settings: Almost like gluing mark Anthony to Ceaser's butt.
 ...and yes, I agree entirely that Golarion should be kept separate; I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing more of that world when the second (Pathfinder) edition of the campaign setting comes out. I miss the days of campaign settings coming with half a dozen (or more) poster map sheets (Old Grey Box)... sigh...
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I should look at the map for the Warhammer setting again... but they are such IP-hounds that they would probably track me down...
Edit: Just looked at it - its scary how much like my Homebrew world it is.... damn that's a well thought out world
Back to an earlier question of mine... can we see your homebrew Realms map one day? Or are we talking about the completely new world you were working on when you took your sabbatical from the 'Keep? |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
Edited by - Jakk on 30 May 2010 20:21:16 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2010 : 06:36:06
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#1 - my original homebrew world is what got me started with the maps - I basically started re-arranging FR the way I would like it to be. That map was VERY low-res and and although I was pretty proud of it at the time, it is embarrassing now. Someday I hope to re-do that project at a higher resolution (and much better skills, if I say so myself).
#2 - The recent world I am working on is entirely homebrew - my goal is to set a few novels there. Everything from the gods and religions to the calender and weather patterns are worked out, and the history is coming along nicely. My full plan is to build a website with the maps and campaign materials that can be had for FREE - an entire campaign world, including tons of plot hooks (maybe even do an adventure or two). It will use a system similar to the one used by Flying Buffalo when they produced their fine line of 'City Books', so that it can be easily adapted to any game system. As part of the presentation, I will demonstrate how easy it is to convert my terminology to 3e.
#3 - Here is what I've done so far on my current pet project -
Toril/Oerth composite WIP |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 02 Jun 2010 21:00:21 |
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3248 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2010 : 06:57:45
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quote:
Originally posted by Jakk
<snip> ...and yes, I agree entirely that Golarion should be kept separate; I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing more of that world when the second (Pathfinder) edition of the campaign setting comes out. I miss the days of campaign settings coming with half a dozen (or more) poster map sheets (Old Grey Box)... sigh...
Heh-heh-heh |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2010 : 07:24:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Can't even find a decent map of the world of Lankhmar online - probably isn't one. lol
There is one in the 2nd ed. Newhon module, but it is in black and white. And considering the product it comes from I would be a bit sceptic about the correctness of the map compared to what Leiber may have had in mind. There's also a pretty good one in a link on the Newhon page of Wikipedia, but its stylized and would not be of much use except as a basis to make your own map from. |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2010 : 17:54:04
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I was never very thrilled with Lankhmar anyway, and if I recall, even the author said he didn't pay a lot of attention to geography, so the maps don't accurately reflect the stories (or rather, vice-versa).
I decided to go with Immoren, from the Iron Kingdoms setting - the maps trails-off to the right so it was perfect. People can either imagine their own cultures there, or use one or both of the two settings I used without any conflict (the wastes of Immoren lines-up rather nicely with the Sea of dust in Greyhawk, after I rotated the map a bit counter-clockwise).
Newer WIP
Mod edit: Added one more quotation mark to fix the coding. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 01 Jun 2010 01:06:55 |
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2010 : 23:01:47
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Looks good, MT! I'm guessing you'd use the topography from both settings, blended in the middle, rather than inventing completely new topography (it's certainly the easier way to do things).
I'm in the middle of moving right now, so I haven't been working on the main project of this scroll much lately; I hope to have my Internet connection up and live by the 2nd, but I'm still waiting to hear back from the ISP on a connection date. (I'm still at my old place today; the carpets are still drying at the new place and I don't have a vehicle to move with until my roommate is home from work anyway.) |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2010 : 23:38:48
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Well, I lost Evermeet in the process, but if WotC can do it, why can't I?
I prefer more to the south anyway - that extreme northern latitude just didn't sit well with me.
They came out looking a bit close, the two continents, but that is because Anchorme was concave, and The Flaeness are ovoid - in reality the 'top' and 'bottom' of the Oerth continent lines-up with where the 'top' and 'bottom' of the Anchorome continent was. In fact, the small isle off the tip of northern peninsula is actually the very tip of Anchorme, so technically it is set-back a tiny bit further west despite how things look. I also left the Anchorome Islands (in the north) intact - they fit so nice between those two points on The Flaeness map. You'll also note I blended Maztica (the most southern part) with hepmonaland, and since those two cultures are nearly identical (Aztec/Mayan), I figured it doesn't really matter all that much to either campaign setting.
I kinda like how busy it all looks with all those islands now - kinda like how Ed imagined Achorome originally, and it makes a nautical campaign (set in the Sea of Swords) both more interesting and easier to get around. And also, as I noted above, you should be able to use the maps and campagn settings from both iron Kingdoms and Greyhawk with almost no changes, if a DM wanted. Of course, that would mean the Orgoth Empire (Iron Kingdoms) would have to be located on or somewhere near Osse. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36876 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2010 : 01:07:49
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I decided to go with Immoren, from the Iron Kingdoms setting - the maps trails-off to the right so it was perfect. People can either imagine their own cultures there, or use one or both of the two settings I used without any conflict (the wastes of Immoren lines-up rather nicely with the Sea of dust in Greyhawk, after I rotated the map a bit counter-clockwise).
Please tell me you're bringing Cygnar into the Realms! |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2010 : 01:15:43
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quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Well, I lost Evermeet in the process, but if WotC can do it, why can't I?
Well, there's still a slight temporal echo of the Green Isle now sitting where Evermeet used to be. So... |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2010 : 01:17:01
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I decided to go with Immoren, from the Iron Kingdoms setting - the maps trails-off to the right so it was perfect. People can either imagine their own cultures there, or use one or both of the two settings I used without any conflict (the wastes of Immoren lines-up rather nicely with the Sea of dust in Greyhawk, after I rotated the map a bit counter-clockwise).
Please tell me you're bringing Cygnar into the Realms!
Bah! The Protectorate of Menoth is surely the way to go!  |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36876 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2010 : 02:32:54
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I decided to go with Immoren, from the Iron Kingdoms setting - the maps trails-off to the right so it was perfect. People can either imagine their own cultures there, or use one or both of the two settings I used without any conflict (the wastes of Immoren lines-up rather nicely with the Sea of dust in Greyhawk, after I rotated the map a bit counter-clockwise).
Please tell me you're bringing Cygnar into the Realms!
Bah! The Protectorate of Menoth is surely the way to go!
I don't think the Protectorate would be too fond of intelligent apes running around. And Menoth Himself isn't in the Realms, so I'm glad sad to say we have to leave them out. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2010 : 06:06:52
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The Iron Kingdoms books were ones I always regretted not picking up... but not nearly as much as I regret missing the Tome of Horrors sequels; apparently there were three Tomes of Horrors in all? I think I only ever got the first one... but 90% of my third-party d20 stuff is in the same basement as all my 1E and 2E books... and hence far too far away.
I'm hoping to have something to post on the sahuagin north of Osse by the end of the week, to get this scroll back on topic... but until then, I'm packing, moving, and unpacking, all the while waiting for my new Internet connection to be set up.
Edit: Post #1385! The Post of Blue Fire: The scrolls of Candlekeep are thrown out of alignment and the 'Keep itself is nearly swallowed by a probability vortex as the unthinkable happens... The Sage and Wooly agree on something! Er... um... no, my mistake, that didn't actually happen... [Ao casts deific epic spell reverse timestream and eliminates the vortex.] |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
Edited by - Jakk on 01 Jun 2010 06:11:50 |
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Project Isle...
