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Old 08-25-2018, 08:40 PM   #1
JohnPaulB
 
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Default Duchy of Dran

Maps of Ducy of Dran and Bendwyn have newly rendered maps. They look fabulous!
Is Legacy ITL going to have the same data as the original ITL (just lifted from it) or is it going to be more fleshed out?

I know you are still working on the book, but was that ever a consideration?

The reason I'm wondering was... should we wait till the PDFs release to start designs on stocking this map?

For those interested in working on Limited Publishing License and using Dran as the setting, how do we coordinate all the other different versions of the kingdoms social, political, economic variance and magical level?

Is there going to be or already is a Limited Publishing License place that the writers can go to to perhaps coordinate or discuss these things?
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Old 08-26-2018, 12:50 AM   #2
Jim Kane
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Default Re: Duchy of Dran

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Originally Posted by JohnPaulB View Post
Is Legacy ITL going to have the same data as the original ITL (just lifted from it) or is it going to be more fleshed out?...The reason I'm wondering was... should we wait till the PDFs release to start designs on stocking this map?
In what ways do you mean when you say: "more fleshed out" and "stocking the map"?

JK
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Old 08-26-2018, 09:19 AM   #3
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Default Re: Duchy of Dran

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Originally Posted by Jim Kane View Post
In what ways do you mean when you say: "more fleshed out" and "stocking the map"?

JK
By that I mean, Will SJG be producing stocked villages in the manner of Bendwyn, more than just a line of data on The Tower of Revoreesh, what the politics and military of Kel is like. You know, creating a small fully realized bit of Cidri for those who don't World-Build.

By stocking the map, I meant filling in the noted villages with either scratch built GM villages or stocking the indicated location with third party RPG companies pre-made products.

But I guess it really does not matter, because I can hold on these projects and wait for two months on the PDF release and find out then.
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Old 08-26-2018, 09:48 AM   #4
Steve Jackson
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Default Re: Duchy of Dran

The new page on Dran is only slightly longer. I hereby declare this thread to be a good place where Dran-builders can talk. I would like to officially publish a book on the city of Dranning, and fan-created villages, or hamlets too small to show on the map, would be fun.

In fact, since I have the file on my desktop, I'm just going to copy the current Dran text here . . . a little sample while we wait till October. Rubydelve and Revoreesh are the only entries that changed noticeably; I named the service village south of Rubydelve, and I made Revoreesh a bit more "good" and, by making it clear he did not live alone and undefended, a much tougher target for random wizard-hunters. Not that any IQ 20 (+?) wizard is "undefended" . . .

Oh, yes - I also added a bit of flavor to Littlehill. It would not surprise me if those halflings sell T-shirts too.

---

The Duchy of Dran and most surrounding areas are civilized, but neither populous nor especially advanced. Elyntia and its neighboring kingdoms are still recovering from a devastating war that ended two hundred years ago, and much of the land is wilderness. Its folk are mostly human, though other communities exist.
Huldre Forest is not a large wood, by Cidri standards – but it is very old, and there are frightening stories about its southern parts.
Dranning is the capital city of the Duchy and the seat of the Dukes of Dran. It has a population of about 15,000.
Bordre is the second city of the Duchy, with a population of about 7,000. It was originally a fort built to guard shipping along the Evenflow and to keep an eye on Kel and Deseret.
Tro is a port city – population around 5,000.
Kel is the capital of the Duchy of Kel, to the east of Oran. It is slightly smaller than Dranning, but has a thriving river trade.
Winterhome is the only city in the western part of the dusty Duchy of Deseret. Once an oasis metropolis and winter capital of a great empire, it is now shrunken to a town of 10,000 souls amid buildings that could house ten times as many.
Rubydelve, dug into the eastern slopes of the Gargoyle Mountains, is a dwarven town of 2,000 or so. Its chief industry, of course, is mining. Occasionally rubies are found – mostly, though, the dwarves dig for silver and iron. Just south of Rubydelve is the ambitiously named Ruby Town, a mostly-human village that provides crops and services to Rubydelve.
The Gargoyle Mountains, as their name implies, are full of gargoyles . . . as well as other creatures.
The Bright River carries half the commerce of southern Elyntia. Since it flows very slowly for most of its length, and the prevailing winds are from the southwest, ships work upstream as well as down on the Bright, King Ater, Trassy, and Lesser Trassy.
Tanander was once a kingdom. Its southern parts are now a squabbling jumble of counties and city-states; the northern reaches have no organization at all, and few folk venture there. Elyntia honors the Bright River as the old border – so, south of the Bright, force is the only law.
Thargi Swamp is a fell place, indeed – though fortunately the really bad parts lie in the Duchy of Bolors. It harbors octopi, wild saurians, and less nameable terrors. Merchant craft plying the Trassy and Lesser Trassy carry armed crews . . . and a few ships vanish every month.
The Tower of Revoreesh lies in the foothills of the Gargoyle Mountains. Revoreesh is probably the most powerful wizard in (at least) the whole Duchy. He is an adept, preferring the company of his books. The people of the countryside believe him to be quite mad, and rarely see him, but hold him in great respect due to his advanced age and the help he has been known to provide in emergencies. His servants and their families number in the dozens.
Podliforku is a fishing village grown up alongside an old fort. It is, in its small way, a notorious pirate base.
Littlehill is an ordinary farm village in all ways save that its people are halflings. There are old ruins nearby, and the halflings encourage treasure-seekers, rent them clean rooms, and sell them good food. They will be deeply surprised if anything is ever found!
Elfwood does, indeed, contain a small population of elves, as well as a tribe of centaurs.
Canigli is a town of about 2,000; its population is mixed human and goblin, with a little of everything else. Its lord, who holds the rank of Count, is an old goblin-warrior – still robust in his early 80’s. He, his son and heir, and his eldest grandson are all totally loyal to their liege lord the Duke, though there is constant intriguing against both Count and Duke among those goblin-lords who have not given their pledge of fealty.
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Old 08-26-2018, 06:15 PM   #5
Jim Kane
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Default Re: Duchy of Dran

Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnPaulB View Post
By that I mean, Will SJG be producing stocked villages in the manner of Bendwyn, more than just a line of data on The Tower of Revoreesh, what the politics and military of Kel is like. You know, creating a small fully realized bit of Cidri for those who don't World-Build. By stocking the map, I meant filling in the noted villages with either scratch built GM villages or stocking the indicated location with third party RPG companies pre-made products.
Ah ha, understood JohnPaulB; you sound like: "a man with a plan."

JK
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Old 08-27-2018, 02:04 AM   #6
JohnPaulB
 
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Default Re: Duchy of Dran

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jackson View Post
The new page on Dran is only slightly longer. I hereby declare this thread to be a good place where Dran-builders can talk. I would like to officially publish a book on the city of Dranning, and fan-created villages, or hamlets too small to show on the map, would be fun.
Thanks Steve.

This should be fun for all of us.

Any comments?
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Old 08-28-2018, 09:26 PM   #7
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Default Re: Duchy of Dran

Just to start somewhere, Here is a suggestion about Sizes of Communities from City Builder: a Guide to Designing Communities.
  • Hovel – 1 or 2 inhabitants
  • Homesteads – 1 family
  • Thorps – 20 to 80 Inhabitants.
  • Hamlets – up to about 400 inhabitants
  • Villages - up to about 1000 inhabitants.
  • Communes - varies
  • Towns – at least 2000 & up to 5000
  • Cities –
  • Small medieval – up to 12000 inhabitants
  • Large medieval city – up to 25000 inhabitants
  • Medieval Metropolis -at least 25000 & up to 100000 or even a million
I think the values of Thorps through Villages might be high, but I don't know until I start stocking some.

Special Built Communities
  • Plantations
  • Exploitation (Lumber, Mining, etc)
  • Military bases

- - - - - - - -
Elyntia Kingdom
  • Duchy of Dran
  • Duchy of Bolors
  • Duchy of Deseret
  • Duchy of Kel
Former Kingdom of Tanander

There seems like several more Elyntia Duchies should be north and west of the map. And what is the capital of Elyntia?

What is happening in Tanander right now?

What size is that water mass that Tro is next to?
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Old 08-30-2018, 07:21 PM   #8
David Bofinger
 
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Default Re: Duchy of Dran

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Originally Posted by JohnPaulB View Post
  • Thorps – 20 to 80 Inhabitants.
  • Hamlets – up to about 400 inhabitants
  • Villages - up to about 1000 inhabitants.
Thorp is just the Norse word for village, and IIUC in England it pretty much meant the same thing as hamlet or village. Not sure where the idea comes from that it's something smaller.

Settlement size is a compromise between the advantages of living in groups (protection, services, social) and the disadvantage of having to walk a long way to your fields in the morning. So settlements will be smaller if population density is low, and if threats are few and weak.
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Old 09-01-2018, 01:54 AM   #9
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Default Re: Duchy of Dran

Quote:
Originally Posted by David Bofinger View Post
Thorp is just the Norse word for village, and IIUC in England it pretty much meant the same thing as hamlet or village. Not sure where the idea comes from that it's something smaller.

Settlement size is a compromise between the advantages of living in groups (protection, services, social) and the disadvantage of having to walk a long way to your fields in the morning. So settlements will be smaller if population density is low, and if threats are few and weak.
Thorp has been used for smaller hamlets in several contexts, always as smaller.

D&D 3.5, Castles & Crusades, Ironclaw: all have thorp as a size distinct from hamlet and village. I've seen it in a few others, with the same meaning.

Quote:
Originally Posted by D&D 3.5 p 137
Table 5–2: Random Town Generation
d% Town Size Population* GP Limit
01–10 Thorp 20–80 40 gp
11–30 Hamlet 81–400 100 gp
31–50 Village 401–900 200 gp
51–70 Small town 901–2,000 800 gp
[...]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironclaw 2E, p. 89
Size of town [...]
Thorp (10 people) [...]
Village (100 people) [...]
Town (1,000 people) [...]
City (10,000 people) [...]
Generally a thorpe is deemed under 100 personswhile a hamlet is more.
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Old 09-01-2018, 10:16 AM   #10
Steve Jackson
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Default Re: Duchy of Dran

Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnPaulB View Post
There seems like several more Elyntia Duchies should be north and west of the map. And what is the capital of Elyntia?

What is happening in Tanander right now?

What size is that water mass that Tro is next to?
All good questions. There are at least two other duchies. I have not established a capital for Elyntia, or whether it is in a duchy or has its own administrative structure. Tanander is depopulated chaos; a couple of generations hence, Elyntia may have the population to support a colonial effort. I have no idea how much water Tro is on, but it's big enough to support commerce because Podliforku supports pirates. But it's probably not beg enough to support a major naval power because Podliforku has not been burned to the ground. Or maybe it has, and recovered?
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