Every good creation myth features a war between the Gods and their predecessors the Titans. Here's the version I'm considering for Terra Incognita:
“The tyranny of the Titans was such that they would not suffer mortal men to live. In defense of their beloved children, the Gods plotted against them. Lying in wait with her brothers Aegus and Agomaenan, Aedra sprung upon Morvis the King and cut his noble head from his shoulders.
Marshaling the others of their kind, the traitorous three ascended into the Halls of Desitny, and cast the Titans into the Void. They took their own mother Galia, and subdued her. Her body was divided into the earth, the sky, and the sea, so that mortal man might live upon her. Seeing the cruelty of her children, Galia wept - and her tears became the Wyrms of Wrath, who would forever bedevil the children of the Gods.”
Good Cake!
Gods and Demons
When I have designed campaign worlds in the past, I start with the gods. The personality and style of the gods directly informs the character of the setting.
Consider the Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance. Sure, both are primarily recognized through their respective DM-PC mascots (Eliminister/Drizzt and Raistlin/Heroes of the Lance). Though these characters are mortal, their antagonists are often deities or otherworldly powers. Takhisis. Bane. Bhaal. Sometimes there are “helpful” deities as well. Paladine. Mystra. Clearly, a core component of these ultra-successful settings are well characterized and recognizable deities.
There is a strong literary precedent for this kind of thing. The mythology of the ancient world is full of gods interacting with heroes, or even having adventures themselves. Greek mythology. Egyptian Mythology. Summarian Mythology. All of these religions have anthropomorphic deities - powerful yes, but prone to many of the same faults as human beings. Sacred Soap Operas if you will. This is great fuel a game of fantasy, legend, and myth-making.
Terra Incognita will be sparsely detailed by design. If you prepare too much, the directions the game might grow will be limited. I want to believe that you can and should come up with a limited cosmology in a sand box game, if only for the purpose of verisimilitude. You don’t necessarily need to hand your players a list of gods and say “pick one.” I think you might throw out some ideas though.
I’ll be posting some of the powers that I plan to introduce to Terra Incognita. These detailed descriptions are notes only - I will not introduce that much information into the game. Just cause you imagine it one way now, you must leave room for things to go in another directions. That is the Tao of the sandbox.
Chaz
Consider the Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance. Sure, both are primarily recognized through their respective DM-PC mascots (Eliminister/Drizzt and Raistlin/Heroes of the Lance). Though these characters are mortal, their antagonists are often deities or otherworldly powers. Takhisis. Bane. Bhaal. Sometimes there are “helpful” deities as well. Paladine. Mystra. Clearly, a core component of these ultra-successful settings are well characterized and recognizable deities.
There is a strong literary precedent for this kind of thing. The mythology of the ancient world is full of gods interacting with heroes, or even having adventures themselves. Greek mythology. Egyptian Mythology. Summarian Mythology. All of these religions have anthropomorphic deities - powerful yes, but prone to many of the same faults as human beings. Sacred Soap Operas if you will. This is great fuel a game of fantasy, legend, and myth-making.
Terra Incognita will be sparsely detailed by design. If you prepare too much, the directions the game might grow will be limited. I want to believe that you can and should come up with a limited cosmology in a sand box game, if only for the purpose of verisimilitude. You don’t necessarily need to hand your players a list of gods and say “pick one.” I think you might throw out some ideas though.
I’ll be posting some of the powers that I plan to introduce to Terra Incognita. These detailed descriptions are notes only - I will not introduce that much information into the game. Just cause you imagine it one way now, you must leave room for things to go in another directions. That is the Tao of the sandbox.
Chaz
Current Projects
Let’s jump right into two projects that are currently holding my attention: The Black Land and Terra Incognita. Both are campaign worlds, or for those not in the know, backdrops for D&D adventures and campaigns. While similar, these settings have been designed very differently and have different purposes.
The Black Land, or TBL, represents a gestalt of my all-time favorite literary influences and genres. It is in your face, sword and sandal goodness. Elric meets Sampson - the Lost World meets the Golden Voyage of Sinbad - 1001 Nights meets Jon Carter of Mars. From top to bottom it is over the top, pulpy, and exciting. It’s the setting I’d love to play in, and represents ideas that have been percolating for years.
TBL will also be my first stab at publishing. With the advent of Lulu and the OGL, I can create and sell my own gaming products. This is not a money venture, it’s a chance to experience the publishing process and to create a professional grade product. I’m extremely excited about it. The goal is a sparse, but evocative, rules-free (or light), setting, that I can expand and revisit when I feel like.
Terra Incognita will be the setting for an infrequent game with some of my old gaming buddies. Our lives have taken us in very different directions though we remain friends. After a few drinks one night, we decided to give gaming another shot (mostly for kicks.) They might not have the passion that I do, but by god their going to get a top-notch experience with the benefit of all I’ve learned since we last played in highschool.
Terra Incognita is also a chance to employ and evaluate some of the techniques and design philosophy I’ve researched online. The so called “sand-box” experience is a hot topic right now, and its very different from how I’ve played in the past. The two guiding principles of the sand-box are 1.) Total Player Freedom and 2.) The Story Writes Itself. Sand-boxes evolve through random dice rolls, player decisions, and spontaneous improvisation.
To maintain a true sand-box, you CANNOT detail too much - there must be room for growth. You still need to prepare hooks and details for the players to consider and possibly latch on to, and that’s what I’ll be focusing on. Even a sand box needs interesting things to do and see or it will get old fast. I’ve got a lot to go on already (hopefully not too much), and I’ll be organizing it and posting in the next few weeks.
Look for more details in upcoming posts.
Chaz
The Black Land, or TBL, represents a gestalt of my all-time favorite literary influences and genres. It is in your face, sword and sandal goodness. Elric meets Sampson - the Lost World meets the Golden Voyage of Sinbad - 1001 Nights meets Jon Carter of Mars. From top to bottom it is over the top, pulpy, and exciting. It’s the setting I’d love to play in, and represents ideas that have been percolating for years.
TBL will also be my first stab at publishing. With the advent of Lulu and the OGL, I can create and sell my own gaming products. This is not a money venture, it’s a chance to experience the publishing process and to create a professional grade product. I’m extremely excited about it. The goal is a sparse, but evocative, rules-free (or light), setting, that I can expand and revisit when I feel like.
Terra Incognita will be the setting for an infrequent game with some of my old gaming buddies. Our lives have taken us in very different directions though we remain friends. After a few drinks one night, we decided to give gaming another shot (mostly for kicks.) They might not have the passion that I do, but by god their going to get a top-notch experience with the benefit of all I’ve learned since we last played in highschool.
Terra Incognita is also a chance to employ and evaluate some of the techniques and design philosophy I’ve researched online. The so called “sand-box” experience is a hot topic right now, and its very different from how I’ve played in the past. The two guiding principles of the sand-box are 1.) Total Player Freedom and 2.) The Story Writes Itself. Sand-boxes evolve through random dice rolls, player decisions, and spontaneous improvisation.
To maintain a true sand-box, you CANNOT detail too much - there must be room for growth. You still need to prepare hooks and details for the players to consider and possibly latch on to, and that’s what I’ll be focusing on. Even a sand box needs interesting things to do and see or it will get old fast. I’ve got a lot to go on already (hopefully not too much), and I’ll be organizing it and posting in the next few weeks.
Look for more details in upcoming posts.
Chaz
Hi Y'all
Hi!
Welcome to the Undiscovered Underground - a blog filled with mystery and danger. Like any good blog, UU is the product of a fevered and maniacal ego, and I plan to unashamedly populate my creation with my own opinions, plans, digressions, and reflections. I expect very little of these will hold much interest for those outside my own small universe, but all are welcome.
Now to let you know a little about myself. I’m a healthy (debatable) young, white, all-american kind of guy. I graduated from college a few years ago, moved to the big (debatable) city to pursue a career in social services (crazy I know). I spend time drinking, watching sports, and chasing women, though I also have interest in art, music, tabletop gaming, and politics.
I grew up playing the oft-maligned “Dungeons & Dragons,” and recently re-entered the hobby. That experience is a big reason why this blog exists. Role players being the rare birds that they are, find it easier to communicate and organize on the interwebs, and part of what drew me back was the explosion of activity and discussion among fans. I directly credit the site, Dragonsfoot.org for re-igniting my passion for gaming.
I plan to use a good portion of this blog to document my return to the world of gaming, a world which many believe is experiencing an intellectual renaissance, even as it becomes a smaller and smaller niche market. I plan to take full advantage in this surge of esprit de core, and have been enjoying the journey immensely so far. Maybe these ramblings will in turn inspire you.
I hope that you find something you like,
Chaz
Next Up: My Life as a Gamer
Welcome to the Undiscovered Underground - a blog filled with mystery and danger. Like any good blog, UU is the product of a fevered and maniacal ego, and I plan to unashamedly populate my creation with my own opinions, plans, digressions, and reflections. I expect very little of these will hold much interest for those outside my own small universe, but all are welcome.
Now to let you know a little about myself. I’m a healthy (debatable) young, white, all-american kind of guy. I graduated from college a few years ago, moved to the big (debatable) city to pursue a career in social services (crazy I know). I spend time drinking, watching sports, and chasing women, though I also have interest in art, music, tabletop gaming, and politics.
I grew up playing the oft-maligned “Dungeons & Dragons,” and recently re-entered the hobby. That experience is a big reason why this blog exists. Role players being the rare birds that they are, find it easier to communicate and organize on the interwebs, and part of what drew me back was the explosion of activity and discussion among fans. I directly credit the site, Dragonsfoot.org for re-igniting my passion for gaming.
I plan to use a good portion of this blog to document my return to the world of gaming, a world which many believe is experiencing an intellectual renaissance, even as it becomes a smaller and smaller niche market. I plan to take full advantage in this surge of esprit de core, and have been enjoying the journey immensely so far. Maybe these ramblings will in turn inspire you.
I hope that you find something you like,
Chaz
Next Up: My Life as a Gamer
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