Whiterock

Post by **Harley Stroh** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 12:41 pm

'nuff said. Let me know if you can see this, Adrian and Chris.

//H

Post by **Jengenritz** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 1:15 pm

Yup. I can see it just fine.

Jeff LaSala · Post by **Jeff LaSala** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:29 am

Gentleman! Chris, good to work with you! Adrian, good to work with you again!

Post by **Jengenritz** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:35 am

Indeed, sir. I was pretty stoked when I found out you were the guy doing the gaz.

I understand you're wanting to do a lot of incorporation of our backstory into the grander fabric of Morraine, neh? What documents do you have already, and is there anything specific you're looking for?

Jeff LaSala · Post by **Jeff LaSala** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 4:44 am

I have zilch! So far I've only got a loose description from Harley as to what the dungeon is.

But yeah, I'd love to pepper the gazetteer with little details drawn from the dungeon itself. For example, if one chamber in the ruins contains some crazy fungus monster, then I'll probably make reference in one of the nearby towns that there's a wizard obsesed with fungus, some of whose experiments went missing....

Stuff like that. Nothing that would give anything away to anyone, but I like to make the setting feel a little more organic, more connected. I'm just a big fan of cross-referencing.

So if you have anything to send me, please do! ashlock7@hotmail.com

Post by **Jengenritz** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 7:02 am

Sure thing. I'll send it later tonight, BUT I'll say that "the greatest transmuter who ever lived" Verdivis makes an appearance in Whiterock. Or rather, some of his leftover experiments do.

Jeff LaSala · Post by **Jeff LaSala** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 7:04 am

Oh, awesome! Thanks for that!

Yeah, that Verdivis went everywhere and left lots of messes behind.

Jeff LaSala · Post by **Jeff LaSala** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 7:55 am

Forgive me, but I couldn't resist....

Post by **Harley Stroh** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 8:49 am

"Whitecastle orcs only come in one size!"

//H

Jeff LaSala · Post by **Jeff LaSala** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 11:54 am

So here's a question for you, Harley. Let me see if I can make this make sense.

Can the fluff material in this Whiterock boxed set assume that the reader also owns DCC #35? I don't intend to make tons of references to other regions that would make no sense to someone unfamiliar with Áereth at all...but, I'd still be able to make the material match up with #35 material. If we describe notable places within Morrain, I'd like to be able to list temples and such without having to create a sidebar to explain who these deities are. Or mention Crieste without having to re-explain what Crieste is, or the Holdfast of the Steel Overlord. I'd like to make some mention of Morrain's neighbors and how it gets along with them, or make mention of the Black Watch or the Threnodim. Stuff like that.

I know we'd want this boxed set to be somewhat independent, that way a GM who doesn't have #35 can just insert Morrain and Whiterock into his own campaign world. But since this boxed set is an expasion of the world, I don't want it to seem too isolated.

Do you know what I'm asking? Not sure if I'm articulating it.

Jeff LaSala · Post by **Jeff LaSala** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 11:55 am

Regarding format: Harley, on the phone I mentioned the Ravenloft gazetteers as being a good reference. I don't suggest that we mirror their exact format for their country chapters, but this is what they use that I've found effective. Each country (and one gazetteer book usually detailed about three) followed this format:

Intro
Landscape
- Flora
- Fauna
History
Populace
- Appearance
- Fashion
- Language
- Lifestyle & Education
- Religion
The Realm
- Government
- Economy
- Diplomacy
Sites of Interest
- (subsections describing notable towns and cities)*

*I'd actually like to make mention of a bunch of different villages, hamlets (things not worthy of showing up on the world map in #35) and thorps and just give a few notable features of each.

Post by **Jengenritz** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 7:27 pm

Jeff, I just sent you two emails with attachments that have all the info I've got so far. Let me know if you got them.

Forgive me, but I couldn't resist....

(smacks forehead)

Jeff LaSala · Post by **Jeff LaSala** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 2:13 am

I've got them, Adrian! Thanks. I'll peruse these files today.

But right up front, how far along would you say you guys are? Is most of the dungeon fleshed out? I'm just wondering if you'd be open to any tweaks here and there as I work on the Morrain information. You guys are the dungeon experts, so I don't mean to suggest that I want you to change much. I just mean details, ways to incorporate small aspects of the Morrain lore and perhaps the occassional name dropping from Áereth's past or present. I know a thing or two about the rest of the world.

Harley, can I get some feedback regarding gazetteer format? It'll help me get started if we can agree on that.

Jeff LaSala · Post by **Jeff LaSala** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 2:15 am

Oooh, I just took a quick look at the Castle Whiterock Schedule file and the DCC Tie-ins tab. Looks like you guys are already ahead of me.

So I guess what I'd be happy to offer are things directly from DCC #35.

Post by **Jengenritz** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 3:06 am

Sure, that's cool, suggest away.
I have a copy of the boxed set (smashing work, btw), and I've incorporated some elements from the world (see the Integrated Timeline), but it'll be nice to have one of the (ahem) Triad in on the creation process.

Jeff LaSala · Post by **Jeff LaSala** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 4:33 am

Thanks! My cursory glance at these files has me impressed. I like the Whiteroc(k) history and timeline.

Harley said you and Chris would be detailing Cillimar, which would leave the rest of the country for me to come up with. Is there a file still being worked on for that? Anything you could toss over? Certainly as the dungeoneers you guys have the best senseof what Cillimar will need, as far as resources, since it's obviously the rest-and-gear-up locale for Whiterock-delving PCs.

Being only a small town, of course, Cillimar would have a rather limited gp...er...limit. I was thinking rather than making PCs head out to other cities when they reach higher levels, it might be cool to have a few local NPCs become "unlocked" to allow for exceptions to the gp limit rule. Kind of like how that one artifact (can't remember the name offhand) is just a ring of water walking until PCs reach a certain depth in the dungeon.

Post by **Jengenritz** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 4:48 am

We are definitely thinking along some similar lines here.

Cillamar, on paper, isn't much more than a stat box yet. I'll be writing it up eventually, but I want to get the dungeon done first because one informs the other.

Doyle has details on the Inn of the Slumbering Drake; he can send those over to you.

I like your idea of "unlocking" NPCs that do stuff (big video game fan here). It ties in to two things I've been mulling over.

1) At the end of each level of Castle Whiterock I've proposed a small section called "Meanwhile, in Cillamar..." that talks about what new rumors, people, and events are transpiring in the village.
This would become more and more relevant during Chapters 2 and 3 of the adventure (referring to my email here).

2) The party will be bringing in a huge influx of gold and wealth to Cillamar. Word will get out that there's money to be found there, and the village may become something of a boom town due to the PCs bringing in ludicrous lucre. Certain shops, catering to wealthy clients like adventurers, could open up, overwhelming the local authorities, maybe even leading to a replacement of the governing authority.

The dungeon crawl is the central locus for action in our story, yes, but that doesn't mean that the rest of the world is on "hold" while the party is slaying trogs or duergar. I thought it may be cool to have the town evolve.

arlanni · Post by **arlanni** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 4:54 am

Jeff,

Its a pleasure to work with you. Adrian and I have rough outlines for all the levels, with some specific encounters fleshed out. Levels 1-6 and 8 are pretty much done, but we have no problem going back in a tweaking things to tie in to the dungeon. As for the surrounding lands, I was thinking along the lines of the old L1 Secret of Bone Hill adventure. Check out the early pages of that classic for the feel I'm shooting for.

Its all about tie ins. For example, one encounter has bugbear mercenaries from a nearby tribe not located at the castle. I would like to see mention of this tribe in the gaz., perhaps when discussing a geographic feature. I don't think I even named the tribe, so "go crazy" all the details. The rest of the country is all yours.

BTW, I like the gp limit idea. Stretching the limit b/c NPCs is the way to go.

Chris

Jeff LaSala · Post by **Jeff LaSala** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 5:01 am

Hey, Chris! Thanks....I'm stoked to work with you guys, too. This "industry" is getting more fun by the hour.

Cool. It sounds like we can drop adventure seeds all over the place and make the dungeon and country compliment each other well.

So while it would be good to have "unlockable" NPCs in Cillimar, at the same time we could probably drop in things that still encourage the PCs to see more of Morrain. It would all be optional only, but there could be benefits to going further away. For example, if the PCs sell the gourd of everflowing honey that they found in Whiterock (humor me) in Cillimar, they can get XX gp for it. However, if they were to sell it instead at a magic shop in Galaron, they can sell it for XX+1,500 gp and garner the propietor's keen interest, since he's a closet beekeeper. He might just offer to become a benefactor of sorts to the PCs....

Or some such nonsense.

Jeff LaSala · Post by **Jeff LaSala** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:11 am

As for the surrounding lands, I was thinking along the lines of the old L1 Secret of Bone Hill adventure. Check out the early pages of that classic for the feel I'm shooting for.

Chris, on your suggestion I just downloaded this one off of RPGnow. I'll check out the format, too. I'm all for a hybridization of new ideas and oldschool formats.

arlanni · Post by **arlanni** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:18 am

Jeff,

Can I have your e-mail address? I'll send you the Inn of the Slumbering Drake file. There are many cool tidbits in there. Adrian is handling the rest of the town. Feel free to use (my work e-mail) doyle@alliedbiological.com to contact me directly.

Chris

Mike_Ferguson · Post by **Mike_Ferguson** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 8:22 am

Jeff, you might want to check out "The Assassin's Knot" as well (the sequel to "Bone Hill". It builds off of some of the stuff from "Bone Hill" - might provide some ideas on how to build off Chris and Adrian's stuff as well. If not, it's still a good read (Len Lakofka's stuff usually is, though).

And while I'm trying not to read too much detail about what you're doing ... I'm glad I saw "The Inn of the Slumbering Drake" in this posts. The adventure I'm working on now features (or featured) "The Inn of the Slumbering Snake" ... now it's gotten a new name (and is presumably under new management.

Jeff LaSala · Post by **Jeff LaSala** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 10:02 am

Chris, what is it about the country desription in Bone Hill that you like? I'm actually finding the formatting a bit unwieldy, but that may also be because there is no table of contents. The country and the keyed encounter areas of the map are rather mixed together. If I just wanted to know about the land surrounding the encounter areas, it would be a bit hard to extract.

arlanni · Post by **arlanni** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:31 am

Damn, now I need to dig out my copy and look...

Not so much the format, but the type of tidbits included. I also liked the way the geographical regions had their own blurb.

For example: Say the PCs rout some goblins from the castle. Where do they go? What about the nearby tribe in the Deadwood forest? Or more likely, where do more goblins come to the castle from? By letting the GM know there are tribes in the surrounding lands, he can expand the adventure to these areas, or the PCs might pursue them on their own.

Just a thought...

Chris

Jeff LaSala · Post by **Jeff LaSala** » Tue Nov 14, 2006 8:44 am

Hey, guys.

In The Far Garden file, I see a reference to "Verdivis bushes" (listed not detailed) and then later a reference to Verdivis concerning the "great chimera Braxilant." Besides these two, are there going to be any other references?

I ask because another DCC author may make use of him, too. And I myself might make some connections to him in Morrain.