Making a Fantasy Sandbox: Part II

Part I 

According to Rob's guide, the next steps are as follows:

2. Label important regions
3. Write one page of background giving no more than a handful of sentences to each region
4. Pick an area roughly 200 miles by 150 miles

Before I started labeling regions on my map, I did some research on human migration. I wanted to have a history for my continent that really changed the map over time. You can check out a Wikipedia article on the subject here. For an example of human migration used in fantasy fiction, check out Robert E. Howard's essay The Hyborian Age.

I went through several iterations of my map before reaching the final product. This is a good thing. It gives your map realism. Each time I redrew my map, I moved the regions around, removed some, and added others. As I did this I had a vague narrative in my mind about what was causing these changes, but I didn't flesh out the details until I wrote my one page background based on the maps. Just how far back you want to start your history is up to you. I think around 1,000 years is a solid number. I made about six rough maps over about 1,200 years.

History of Rimeland

The heroes of the Tarusian War journeyed to the northern coast of Rimeland. There they settled, naming their new kingdom Tythia.



After five hundred years of peace, invaders landed on the shores of Tythia: they were the Jorykir, blue-skinned and fair-haired, descended from giants. The Tythians fought. The blood of the Tarusian heroes made them strong, but the Jorykir were too mighty and too numerous to withstand; they overflowed into Tythia, pushing the Tythians south.



Another kingdom, called Erorria, had expanded from the east into the lands south of Tythia. The Tythians, after decades of pushing by the Jorykir, fell into the Erorrians. Erorria, witnessing the fury of the Jorykir, aided the Tythians.

The two kingdoms fought as allies for two centuries and formed the kingdom called Ardiel.



It was in this time that the strain of mixed race began to appear: the result of interbreeding between the Jorykir and their Ardelian captives. This new race lacked the fury of the Jorykir and were kept by them as slaves; but, growing numerous, and imbued with Jorykir strength, they rose up against their masters, forming the kingdom called Vorn.



In Ardiel, some embraced the kingdom of Vorn as ally; others cursed it for its Jorykir blood. Those of the old Tythian bloodlines raided Vorn repeatedly, treating them like Jorykir. Many of the Erorrian bloodlines disagreed with this. Ardiel fell into a period of civil war, ending with the separation and reformation of the kingdom of Erorria.

Erorria sent aid to Vorn against the Jorykir when Ardiel would not. Over three hundred years, Vorn, with the help of Erorria, pushed the Jorykir back into the sea. Years of fighting in that land where the Jorykir had last clung led to the slow establishment of the kingdom called Svedain. Now the strength of Jorykir is reduced to sporadic raiding against Vorn and Svedain. Those kingdoms work to rebuild and recover, striving to establish a permanent bastion against Jorykir. Ardiel and Erorria turn to their own interests, cultural and economic, but the old enmity between them smolders beneath the surface.



Like I said, you don't have to put this amount of detail into your final map. It could just be rough shapes and scribbled notes. I just find that for me the more realistic and polished I make my map look, the more real the world feels.

Now that I've created my map, labelled my regions, and written a page of background, it's time to choose my campaign area.



That rectangle is my roughly 200 by 150 mile campaign area based on me deciding what I wanted the scale to be and eyeballing it. You don't need exact measurements to decide on a scale for a poetic map like this. Just go with what looks right to you.

I chose an area on the coast of Svedain because I want to feature longships in my campaign and I want the Jorykir to have a presence.

Next up, I'll draw a hex map of the campaign area in Part III.

Making a Fantasy Sandbox: Part I

This series will show my step-by-step creation of a fantasy world using Rob Conley's How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox. Aside from following the guide for the fun of it, I want to create a detailed world for the purpose of running a little experiment.

Part II
Part III

Step one, from Rob's guide:

1. Using one page sketch a world or continent map

I actually started with a concept phase before step one. My main source of inspiration for this campaign setting is Iron Maiden's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album.



I like the arctic setting and the weird, desolate fantasy the album evokes for me. Based on that, I decided on a northern continent for my map.

Next, I gathered some reference material. I want to create a realistic northern medieval setting, so I chose two history books: The Middle Ages and Viking Age. I also chose some Norse mythology books, and for mapping, Jared Blando's How to Draw Fantasy Art and RPG Maps.



You don't need to go to this level of research, but I find drawing from actual history and myth gives me a ton of ideas that I would never come up with myself. There are all sorts of little details you can steal from history books.

For my continent map, I got a vague sense of where I should place mountains and things from Rob's guide, then just started drawing. All you need for this map is to place in coasts, islands, mountains, hills, forests, rivers, and lakes. I spent a lot more time on it than I needed to, but the more beautiful I can make my campaign map, the more inspired I'll feel about running the campaign.



I think I'll call this icy setting Rimeland.

Next up, Part II: labelling important regions and inventing some history.

Xeria: Giant Desert Arachnid

The desert arachnids of Xeria stalk the few shelters to be found within the drifting sands. Their sand-coloured bodies keep adventurers from even noticing them until they leap forth, using the momentum of their leap to skewer their prey with sharp, chitinous legs.

Giant Desert Arachnid 

Init +1 

Atk +1 melee (1d4)

AC 14 (12 for 1 round after leaping) 

HD 1d8+2 

MV 60, Climb 60

Act 1d20 

SV Fort +4, Ref +2, Will -2 

SP 20% leapers, leap attack: +4 melee and knocked prone (DC 12 Ref save avoids) 

AL Chaotic

Xeria: Espadian Occupation Table

DCC RPG uses a character creation system that has the player roll on an occupation chart that determines what the character did before he became an adventurer. Each occupation also comes with an undetermined set of skills that can be called upon when making a check. I use the word undetermined because DCC RPG has no skill system, per se -- if the character is attempting something he would have learned in his occupation, the skill is trained. Roll a d20. Otherwise, it's untrained. Roll a d10.

Since we've done away with Elves, Dwarves and Halfings for our Xeria hexcrawl, we decided to make a unique occupation table for each of the four human races we've designed instead. Here's the table for the Espadians, a race of humans who are essentially eccentric musketeer nobles. They wear fancy clothing, hold frequent balls, duel with rapiers for honour, and create beautiful works of art from glass, including the three splendid glass spires in their city of Espada.

Espadian Occupation Table (1d20)*

1. Glassblower's apprentice (blowpipe as staff, glass bauble)
2.  Architect's apprentice (dagger, parchment and quill)
3.  Servant (kitchen knife as dagger, 'lucky' trinket)
4.  Noble (rapier, large finely crafted satchel [50lbs])
5.  Messenger (letter opener as dagger, supple leather shoes)
6.  Herald (dagger, brass horn)
7.  Excavator (shovel as staff, 1lb sand)
8.  Foreman (hammer as club, speaking trumpet)
9.  Tailor (scissors as dagger, needle and thread)
10.  Dressmaker (scissors as dagger, 2 yards fine cloth)
11.  Lookout (sling, brimmed hat)
12.  Duelist (rapier, fine gloves)
13.  Blacksmith (hammer as club, steel tongs)
14.  Ostler (staff, bridle)
15.  Chef (rolling pin as club, fine spices)
16.  Merchant (dagger, cask of fine rum)
17.  Deckhand (knife as dagger, 50' rope)
18.  Scholar (dagger, 10 candles)
19.  Conman (dagger, quality cloak)
20.  Actor (dagger, fine clothes)

*The items in brackets are the character's trained weapon and starting trade good, respectively.

Personal Effects: Pistol Tripped

Technology in the Ruby Isles is dangerous at best. Especially to the ones using it. Best to leave such newfangled devices for the idiots foolish enough to fiddle with them.

Pistol
Damage: 1d6+1
Range: 100 ft.
Rate of Fire: 1/2
Special: 1-in-6 chance to malfunction each time it is fired.
Notes: Pistols get a +1 to-hit at point-blank range. Ammunition is expensive, costing 1 gp per bullet.


Malfunction Chart (2d6)

2. Fires in random direction

3-6. Fires in 1d2 turns

7. Doesn't fire

8-11. Ball falls out (must reload)

12. Explodes (1d4 damage to wielder)

Class Origins: Fighting Men of the Ruby Isles

In the Ruby Isles, men with swords come in many flavours, from pirates to hunters to the personal body guards of wealthy merchants. Here are some island-themed Fighter variants for my Lions & Thieves S&W campaign.

Pirate

Feared and hated by merchants, loved by women and brigands, these charming scoundrels are notoriously well muscled sea-faring thieves. They roam the Ruby Isles, relieving unwary vessels of their treasure and eluding the grasping Arm of the North by making berth in secret caves and hidden bays.    

Prerequisite Ability: None.

Prerequisite Alignment: Chaotic.

Special Weapon: Fighter starts with a cutlass (1d4) and pistol (1d6+1; 1-in-6 chance to malfunction [see chart]). 

Sea Legs: Fighter receives a +2 bonus to-hit when fighting on the deck of a ship. 

Ante Up: Fighter can make a combined attack for both cutlass and pistol for 2d4+1 damage once per encounter.

Pistol Malfunction Chart (2d6)
2. Fires in random direction
3-6. Fires in 1d2 turns

7. Doesn't fire
8-11. Ball falls out (must reload)
12. Explodes (1d4 damage to wielder)

Mercenary

Mercenaries are hired swords skilled in a chosen weapon. Merchants are their main employers, but trading caravels and serpenteering ships occasionally bring them on as extra muscle for particularly risky voyages. To a mercenary, it doesn't matter who they work for, just as long as they pay is good.

Prerequisite Ability: None.

Discount: Mercenaries accumulate credit and can buy standard weapons and ammunition at half price. 

Best Friend: Choose 1 weapon to receive a permanent +1 to-hit with; the mercenary must spend a full week training to transfer the bonus to a new weapon.

On the Job: +1 to-hit when employed/under contract.

Body Guard

Loyal and stoic, body guards protect their charges with stolid fierceness. They serve as personal protectors for wealthy merchants, nobles, tavern bouncers, or guards for the Ruby Consortium. They are experts at keeping others from harm. 

Prerequisite Ability: Con 13+ 

Protector: AC is better by 1 point when defending an ally. 

Defend: Fighter can take a hit for an adjacent ally once per encounter.

Disarm: 1-in-6 chance to disarm an attacking enemy once per encounter.

Hunter

Hunters provide food for the towns and tribes of the Ruby Isles. They gather hides and bones from jungle beasts for craftsmen to work into fine armor, weapons and clothing. Most of the hunter's day is spent wandering the wilds, hard on the trail of their quarry.

Prerequisite Ability: Wisdom 12+

Tracking: 4-in-6 chance to pick up any trail outside; 2-in-6 in a dungeon. 

Good Eye: +1 to-hit with missile weapons. 

Survivalist: Fighter can spend 1d3 hours foraging/hunting for food and water.

Serpenteer

With their grim, bloodstained vessels, the serpenteers ride the waves in search of monstrous sea serpents for glory and riches. Serpenteers are easily the wealthiest of the professions in the Ruby Isles, but their careers are also the most dangerous. As such, these warrior sailors must be rugged and vigilant, strong enough to withstand the bitter grog, wield the heavy harpoons used to impale the giant creatures and drag them back to port. 

Prerequisite Ability: Str 13+ 

Serpent Pike: This heavy, forked harpoon has a thick rope attached to the butt and can be used to drag targets back to the wielder. (1d8+1 melee; 1d6+1 missile, firing rate is 1/2 [1 turn to drag it back]; 1-in-6 chance to get lodged in target for 1d4 rounds). 

Big Fish: +1 to-hit vs. aquatic or reptilian creatures. 

Rosy: Saving throw is better by 1 point if imbibing liquor.

Enlisted Man

The soldiers of the North Country have garrisons spread out all over the Ruby Isles. The expedition has been dubbed the Arm of the North, and each man receives a basic training course which prepares them for hand-to-hand combat in the steaming jungles. The Arm brings in fresh recruits every week for their garrison on the islands of Nefk, and Gixf where they are fighting against a mysterious new enemy.   

Prerequisite Ability: None.

Military Training: AC is better by 1 point if adjacent to an ally. 

Resourceful: Free melee attack for 1d4 damage once per encounter.

Sentinel

The Elves of Ydlon keep a small but elite force of guardians who watch the coasts of their island for invading enemies. Because the island is shrouded in a magical, obscuring mist, the threat of invasion is low, but the Elves have not forgotten the black sorcerers of Tzeejg, ever vigilant in case they rise again and use their magic to find and destroy Ydlon.

Prerequisite Race: Elf

Prerequisite Ability: Dex 13+

Watchful: If the Fighter spends 1 turn observing an enemy, AC is better by 1 point against that target.  

Ydlon Boomerang: 1d6+1 missile damage; returns when thrown. 

Disciplined: Saving throw is better by 1 point if the Fighter spends 1d3 hours each day to clean and polish her armour.