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08-25-2018, 08:40 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Portland, Maine
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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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08-26-2018, 12:50 AM | #2 | |
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2018
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Re: Duchy of Dran
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JK |
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08-26-2018, 09:19 AM | #3 | |
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Portland, Maine
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Re: Duchy of Dran
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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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08-26-2018, 09:48 AM | #4 |
President and EIC
Join Date: Jul 2004
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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. |
08-27-2018, 02:04 AM | #5 | |
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Portland, Maine
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Re: Duchy of Dran
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This should be fun for all of us. Any comments?
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08-28-2018, 09:26 PM | #6 |
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Portland, Maine
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Re: Duchy of Dran
Just to start somewhere, Here is a suggestion about Sizes of Communities from City Builder: a Guide to Designing Communities.
Special Built Communities
- - - - - - - - Elyntia Kingdom
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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- Hail Melee Fantasy Chess: A chess game with combat. Don't just take the square, Fight for it! https://www.shadowhex.com |
09-05-2018, 10:12 AM | #7 |
Join Date: May 2015
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Re: Duchy of Dran
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09-24-2018, 09:21 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Portland, Maine
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Re: Duchy of Dran Religious Establishments
I had a question about Religion in the Elyntia. Not a specific religion nor the "my cleric has spells" issue. It's more like an encyclopedia question:
In general, how many notable religions are there in Elynthia? Do they build edifices for their parishioners? If you're creating a town, you're probably going to encounter a church building, so that is what is spurring me to contemplate this.
And this is if religion is organized and ready to build churches. It could be that any religion is not allowed socially or legally to build edifices. I'm also wondering about the racial religions: Orc, Elf, Dwarf, Centaur and the others. Do they build edifices?
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04-06-2019, 08:26 AM | #9 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Pacheco, California
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Re: Duchy of Dran
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This then gives a dozen labs in Dranning powered by 40 (10 each year times the four years of 16, 17, 18 and 19) poorly paid grad students (mirroring the real world too well for a "fantasy" game). Six of these are doing Weapon/Armor Enchantment, four are doing Lesser Magic Item Creation and two are doing Greater Magic Item Creation. There are at most another dozen enchantment labs scattered around Dran. To give a feel for how small and tight these numbers are: At the moment in my story when miss Tsozan sits down for lunch with the Decosta twins there are zero to two other wizards their same age in the Dranning "Megahex".
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-HJC Last edited by hcobb; 04-06-2019 at 12:17 PM. |
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04-06-2019, 02:55 PM | #10 |
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Arizona
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Re: Duchy of Dran
Interesting. I'd forgotten this thread. I wonder if it will stay active now for a bit longer than it did then?
On the Wizard Academy thing, I'd look for something a lot less "Harry Potter-ish" I think, and more along the lines of a classic University of the early Renaissance period. Mostly just because Harry Potter style magic seems too "cute" for the nitty-gritty "real" world to me. And, actually, I'd think such an Academy would be vanishingly rare, simply because most budding sorcerers would probably lack the money to indulge in something like that, and most experienced Wizards would have better things to do with their time. Having said that, it might be fun to see what something like that might look like. I can recommend a couple of examples I've collected over the years; Redhurst Academy, GURPS Worminghall, and Wizard's Academy (for Pathfinder). All are interesting, and all provide a slightly different look at what such an academy might actually be like, so are probably worth a gander if one is interested in this particular trope. Most of you probably realize from many past posts of mine that I'm somewhat of a fan of macro-economic models that drive my fantasy worlds, so I envision Dranning as a major trade hub for the interior of the continent. Oddly enough, there doesn't seem to be much of an emphasis on the port cities along the coast in this setting, which inclines me to believe that the trade opportunities there are possibly somewhat limited. Perhaps the body of water at the southeast end of the map is more like the Black Sea (or even the Caspian) than it is like the Baltic or Mediterranean Seas. But, if so, then that means Dranning may be far more important for trade, and may be a hub filled with Caravansaries and connected with something like the Silk Road (see GURPS Hot Spots: The Silk Road for more information), or the Salt Road from Harn. Which gives us a basis for some wonderful adventure opportunities right there within and based on the city itself. Everything from a Lankhmarish thieves guild type of set up, to a city filled with rumors, legends, fake and real treasure maps, and plenty of available means of transportation to get you to where the adventure is. Plus there are always caravans to guard (and raid) if you want your players to go somewhere else. Then too, the city would probably be pretty cosmopolitan, giving you the opportunity to make contact with other races and civilizations under circumstances which do not automatically force confrontation upon the players. So that's kind of my personal vision for the place -- something in spirit more like Constantinople or Venice than it is medieval London or Paris, with lots of color, vibrant cultures, and adventure opportunities based around the information, opportunities, and goods that arrive daily with the trade caravans. |
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