So… I started talking about the idea in August, and now, all of a sudden, it’s November. I haven’t been able to spend time on this the way I would like, which is the whole point of the Kickstarter (or IndieGoGo, or whatever) venture; to be able to make some financial space in order to be able to spend some time on the idea.
There wasn’t a whole lot of immediate and overwhelming support clamoring for the thing, either. Frankly, that’s understandable. Some guy mouthing about an adventure he’s gonna write for a long-forgotten RPG isn’t going to ring off the charts. I like to think I’ve contributed a few things to the DragonQuest community, but that’s no big thing; I’m not an established game writer/designer.
I’ve been struggling to come up with some nice capsule descriptions of the adventure ideas I’ve been thinking about for this project, but to get a nice, tight, SPI-style intro in just a couple lines is hard. And these are still pretty open-ended ideas. So instead, what I’m going to do is give you the unfiltered ramble. After all, these aren’t completed ideas, yet. I have some pieces in mind that I’m interested in incorporating, and it’s better to put those ideas out there and see if they resonate with anyone else to move toward a project that can muster some support and interest.
The Earth Works
During the wars around the Return of Mador, nearly half a century ago, forces allied with Mador set up magical production and research facilities to provide enchanted materials for use by their forces. Sometimes, these were places that had been homes to scholars of magic. Clues found in the treasures collected from The Water Works point to the existence of another Works, this one dedicated to Earth Magics.
This would obviously be a sequel to the Water Works, but could certainly function as a free standing adventure on its own equally well. Probably this adventure would serve to introduce a few new Earth Magics spells or items of interest.
If this would be successful, this would also likely set up a following adventure or two, the Gas Works and the Fire Works (and perhaps even, the Clock Works)
The Wilderness of A—–
An old adventurer was rewarded by the local king for heroic services with the title of Baron and a grant of land off in the wilderness beyond the borders of the Kingdom. Some years later, he felt his adventuring career was at a close, and he settled in his lands and invited settlers to come and join him. The land has prospered to some extent, but it suffers from being too distant and unconnected to the Kingdom. A couple years ago, the Baron decided to construct a road through the Wilderness of A—– to connect to the Kingdom more directly.
But now, problems have arisen. Workers are disappearing and other unsettling events are keeping the road from being completed. The Baron’s people have sought to hire adventurers to travel with the surveying parties and work gangs to protect them from whatever is causing the problems and to help settle the wilderness so that the road can be completed.
This would include a map of some of the region. Not as extensive as the Frontiers of Alusia, obviously, but perhaps twice the area of the Overland Map from the Camp of Alla-Akabar and considerably more detailed. This could possibly be an adventure that would feature a new college of magic: the College of Sun Magics.
Obviously names need to be filled in here, but there are several potential naming rights opportunities for Kickstarter contributors. I see this one as perhaps something like The Enchanted Wood, with an overall arc to the adventure, and a series of capsule adventures and encounters that the GM can use for a mini-campaign of several adventures. There are also potential hooks in the new Barony that might be useful leads for further adventures.
The Coven of X—–
The general premise for this would be a power struggle going on in a coven of witches (College of Witchcraft) which the characters become caught up in. There would be an opportunity to use this with a PC witch, but probably more likely as a group of hired help serving one faction or another.
Just what is going on as a backdrop to this needs to be determined. One idea I have is that the Coven is centered in a city, and an opposing army is gathering nearby. Some of the witches are connected to the current power structure of the city, but others might have competing loyalties (though probably not overtly).
Obviously this would be an opportunity to spend some more time wit the College of Witchcraft. This would likely be far more of a character intrigue than any sort of dungeon crawl, but there would need to be locations and things going on with this, as well. Getting the PCs into the story might be a bit more difficult, but there are interesting possibilities in this.
I am, of course, very interested in any feedback about any of these ideas. I’m happy to discuss these further, and I will continue to refine these for the kickstarter kickoff (whenever that turns out to be). If there seems to be particular acclaim for one or another, rather than a divided interest among all three, that’s probably helpful in moving things along.
I’ll post about this on the DQ boards in a while, as well, so hopefully there can be some further discussion about the ideas. Even if you don’t think you’d contribute, but you have some ideas about the adventure concepts, I’m glad to hear what you think, even if it’s just to vote on which of these you think is most interesting.
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