09-05-2022, 07:32 AM | #11 |
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Boston area
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Re: T'reo School for TFT Up on Kickstarter
I imagine, Henry, that David wrote a book and not a four volume anthropological text answering all of these questions. This allows a GM to answer these questions however he wants or even not to bother asking them if it just doesn't matter to him.
Different GM worlds are different, yet you're acting as if these sorts of details really must be answered or else the source book is incomplete. Somehow, I'm able to manage my campaign without really paying too much attention to, say, how the feudal system is arranged, how town councils are chosen, etc. I fill in those details if and when I need them, in a shamefully ad hoc manner. (How come Enkarr has a council, while Trews has a "Lord Mayor"? Because I wanted a Lord Mayor for a mildly humorous subplot.) Last edited by phiwum; 09-09-2022 at 11:14 PM. |
09-05-2022, 09:04 PM | #12 |
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Portland, Maine
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Re: T'reo School for TFT Up on Kickstarter
Is T'reo island located anywhere near Elyntia?
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09-07-2022, 03:56 PM | #13 |
Join Date: May 2012
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Re: T'reo School for TFT Up on Kickstarter
I suspect it's wherever the GM wants it to be.
The presence of gates makes it practically irrelevant whether it's a 50 mile or 50 light-year overland journey. |
09-08-2022, 08:26 AM | #14 |
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Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: T'reo School for TFT Up on Kickstarter
Loving this entire post, but especially this line! My personal preference is to give GMs just enough to inspire, but not overburden them with unnecessary complexities and details that only suck the joy out of fantasy.
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09-09-2022, 08:54 AM | #15 |
Join Date: Dec 2017
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Re: T'reo School for TFT Up on Kickstarter
The strength of the Cidri setting is its openness and flexibility. There is enough of a clever idea there to get your mental gears moving, but there is almost nothing you can do with it that will violate everyone else's clear understanding of how it works.
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09-10-2022, 05:40 PM | #16 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: In the UFO
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Re: T'reo School for TFT Up on Kickstarter
The book says:
"The island can be wherever the GM wishes; if using the Southern Elyntia setting, a suggested location is 50-100 miles south-east of Tro." A few students and masters have backgrounds that link them to either Elyntia or Ardonirane and the Red Plains, but masters and students are said to come from across Cidri, and there are places mentioned in the book that don't appear in either region, to further this impression.
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Is love like the bittersweet taste of marmalade on burnt toast? Last edited by David L Pulver; 09-10-2022 at 05:45 PM. |
09-10-2022, 06:09 PM | #17 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: In the UFO
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Re: T'reo School for TFT Up on Kickstarter
Quote:
Dead islanders are not harvested, though I suspect that any local criminals dealt with by the wizards may end up used as raw material. But there aren't that many uses for necromantic harvesting in the TFT magic system. Logically speaking, the greatest benefit wizards provide to villagers is likely casting Cleansing spells to remove animal or human disease outbreaks and ensuring pirates, sea monsters, or the like don't prey upon them. There are some crab-men colonies and similar critters off shore, which the wizards regularly cull. In practice, an early draft did discuss T'reo relationships with local lords and so on in depth until I realized that would make it very hard to drop the school into existing settings! So I excised those references (replacing them with a dungeon level...) and moved it from a mountain to a small island that can be located as desired. T'reo exists in good standing with the Wizard's Guild (with an independent charter), and like the guild tries to stay out of mundane politics. This is not to say that individual wizards don't have political ties or interests; just that they're supposed to not involve the school (and when they do, as was the case of the Circle of Zero long ago, who may have interfered in the Elyntian War, they can get it into trouble). The school protects its reputation for neutrality, and there are some implications that it will do so ruthlessly. T'reo is, however, a significant force in Wizards' Guild politics. In addition, the school has ties with other magical institutions, both as rivals and partners. I ran out of space and was unable to cover the village and island communities in any depth: perhaps that will see future publication if the book is well received. I did work out a lot about the village for my own interest so perhaps that might appear in a Hexagram or other publication (and some support material for T'reo is in progress) but details of the customs of T'reo village are up to the GM for now. Some wizards may retire and settle in the village, or meet a comely villager (perhaps one of those working as servants at T'reo hall); some villagers may have the aptitude to earn scholarship to T'reo, or by virtue of having a wizard as a parent, get in as a legacy. Like most wizards, T'reo are ambivalent about ghosts, though Ragnarvik (one of the masters with an interest in such areas) might come. A product under development does feature local islanders asking T'reo for help with an undead problem, and a master having the labyrinth club send several students to deal with the problem. I am unaware of Potter-like choosing festivals, but the book does briefly mention several holidays and festivals held at the school (Empire Day, the Festival of Rain, and a few others) and it would be likely some of these exist in parallel in the countryside. It does indicate a harvest festival is held at T"reo village in the first day of the 8th month, which is also the same day the T'reo Conclave meets.
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Is love like the bittersweet taste of marmalade on burnt toast? Last edited by David L Pulver; 09-10-2022 at 06:25 PM. |
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09-10-2022, 06:35 PM | #18 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: In the UFO
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Re: T'reo School for TFT Up on Kickstarter
Quote:
It seems likely certain families have greater influence at the village and hold leadership positions, but I did not detail whether they are appointed by the wizards, heredity, or elected to a village council. Both school and village are described as tied together economically, and there are several mentions of T'reo staff or faculty having ties with villagers or owning or renting homes there.
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Is love like the bittersweet taste of marmalade on burnt toast? |
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09-10-2022, 08:50 PM | #20 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: In the UFO
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Re: T'reo School for TFT Up on Kickstarter
Thanks! Hope you enjoy it
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