|
|
Post by hiddenplane60 on Mar 13, 2020 23:38:58 GMT
I've been working on my world for over a year. It's for Pathfinder 2, and I would eventually like to publish. I'm getting into the business and advertising side of things and would appreciate your feedback on my pitch.
Does this sound like a world you'd like to play in?
If you're a GM, does this sound like a setting you'd like to run?
Main pitch:
Intrigue smolders as the knight houses put their honor and power above all else in their feud to control the ancient portals connecting their lands across the world. In their thousand year retreat, the scaled horrors who brought and dominated the "lesser races" plot their ascension. The civilizations of the lesser races flourish as the shadow of the scalian grows. It is unto this you awaken.
Teaser:
Will you lead your own knight family? Bring the knowledge of the great universities to light? Adventure through the portals in search of lost treasures and fortune? Perhaps seek your own path to immortality? Or is there even time before the shackles of the scaled masters bind all once more? The journey is yours in this world of classic medieval fantasy.
|
|
|
|
Post by randosaurus on Mar 14, 2020 5:41:32 GMT
Interesting setting
A few questions:
Is there a kingdom building mechanic around leading a knight house? How do the portals affect play, what do they bring to the campaign? What is the timeline of the scalians return? Is there a campaign clock that drives plot in some way?
Hope you do well.
|
|
|
|
Post by hiddenplane60 on Mar 14, 2020 9:35:00 GMT
Interesting setting
A few questions:
Is there a kingdom building mechanic around leading a knight house? How do the portals affect play, what do they bring to the campaign? What is the timeline of the scalians return? Is there a campaign clock that drives plot in some way?
Hope you do well.
Wow, thank you for your questions! I've focused on fleshing out one region at the center of one of the portal networks. For that region, I've created a political interaction system for the knight houses and lords to control the central city and region. I've also created new classes including the Knight class. However, I've been looking for ideas for setting unique mechanics, and I love your idea of mechanics for forming/leading your own house. I'd like to use that if you don't mind. The portals allow for easy travel to distant lands and continents facilitating a high level of trade and complex political interaction. Spies and agents are everywhere and in high demand, often more than knights themselves. The portals are also major strategic holdings. Having one means control of taxes on trade as well as access to resources of another region. As for the campaign clock, there are events, but the included adventures are all 5x5 sandbox designs so far. Player actions and choices influence whether events happen or not. I prefer free form campaign creation, so there won't only be limited timeline options. That said, there will be major movements by the scalians (published adventures) that GMs can choose to run as they see fit. They are a sleeping threat with dozens of new monsters, but if a group wants to focus on the politics and intrigue facets, they can. Thanks again for sharing your feedback! |
|
|
|
Post by randosaurus on Mar 15, 2020 2:51:35 GMT
Wow, thank you for your questions! I've focused on fleshing out one region at the center of one of the portal networks. For that region, I've created a political interaction system for the knight houses and lords to control the central city and region. I've also created new classes including the Knight class. However, I've been looking for ideas for setting unique mechanics, and I love your idea of mechanics for forming/leading your own house. I'd like to use that if you don't mind. The portals allow for easy travel to distant lands and continents facilitating a high level of trade and complex political interaction. Spies and agents are everywhere and in high demand, often more than knights themselves. The portals are also major strategic holdings. Having one means control of taxes on trade as well as access to resources of another region. As for the campaign clock, there are events, but the included adventures are all 5x5 sandbox designs so far. Player actions and choices influence whether events happen or not. I prefer free form campaign creation, so there won't only be limited timeline options. That said, there will be major movements by the scalians (published adventures) that GMs can choose to run as they see fit. They are a sleeping threat with dozens of new monsters, but if a group wants to focus on the politics and intrigue facets, they can. Thanks again for sharing your feedback! One mechanic comes to mind from my life running LARPs. The House/Influence metagame should ideally factor into the campaign directly. One problem with letting players attain Title/Land/Strongholds, is that published adventures or canon can't actually be responsive to YOUR players as political agents. Otherwise, a PC-owned lair is really just a toy of marginal interest.
Perhaps forming/leading a House is reflected in an IRL community, a chat board or BPB forum dedicated to your game. A DM could 'register' and their player would enter the metagame. The metagame would have its own challenges or objectives incorporated into the published adventures, and player choices would be competitive against other groups. Using the portals for a trade/intrigue/resource gathering game is probably the easiest to detail out (the LARP I work on grew out of a Cataan-like board game, so players help their faction between LARP events through the forum).
Factions of Houses could then affect progression or content of future published adventures, because you'd have the choice of how to incorporate them. I think it would make the setting feel more alive and get player investment. If I recal some of the factional aspects in the Pathfinder 1e seasons of organized play were fed back into the writing of later chapters to reflect the 'living' setting. That said, Pathfinder 1e has a pretty good kingdom-builder mini-game ruleset in their free SRD so I'd look that up.
Good luck!
|
|
|
|
Post by hiddenplane60 on Mar 15, 2020 9:10:24 GMT
Those are very aspirational but cool ideas. Definitely a spin I need to consider. Thanks again!
|
|
daxredhammer
Adventurer
Posts: 73
Favorite D&D Class: Tinkerer
Favorite D&D Race: Minotaur
|
Post by daxredhammer on Mar 16, 2020 15:51:52 GMT
Can you expand more on the knight houses. What is involved with them. What is the rank structure like, how many knights are in a house and do they have followers as well.
I am also currently working on my own worls setting for a homebrew and one of the players is interested in knights. I told him that with my world, he will have to be a squire or lower and work to earn the title of knight. So any info that you are willing to provide on this entire topic would really make life easier for me, and in turn for him.
Your pitch is pretty good though, I would rather play in it than DM it though.
|
|
|
|
Post by hiddenplane60 on Mar 16, 2020 19:36:40 GMT
I wrote a 20 page class up for knights. Here's the opening paragraph on them which I think covers a lot of what you're looking for. However, mine is a different concept than the classic:
Set aside notions of the classic medieval knight. In the mendrigyn kingdoms, the knight castes are noble families and lords over land. That land may be a small village and forest grove, it may spread across the flow of three rivers, or it may be vast as a kingdom with many knight lords sworn beneath their liege. This makes being a knight less about thundering across the battlefield clad in plate atop your destrier and more about serving your house or clan or family. Families may have a tenuous hold on their position of power, influence, or guardianship, for other knight families are ever seeking opportunities to take advantage and usurp that power. As a member of one of these great families, you are expected to further your family's designs and obey its commands. To do so effectively, you must uphold the Old Oaths, maintain the Five Trials, and pursue the path of the knight which is nobility. Despite your noblest intentions, you may still find yourself thundering across the battlefield in your heaviest armor wondering, "How did it come to this?"
|
|
