More info about Sailors on the Starless Sea

[crabus]

Hello,

I want begin to sketch the map of my upcoming DCC RPG campaign.
As I expect to begin with "Sailors on the Starless Sea" I need to have more information about context of this module.

What the direct surrounding region look like ? Arabian like ? European like ? Artic ? Arid ? Near a sea, an ocean or a lake ?
Ruins are in a forest, a swamp, a moutain ?
It's a region with only hamlets or with a big city ?

Thank's in advance for any help

[Harley Stroh]

Crabus!

Welcome to the forums and thank you for your interest in Sailors. I dug up the manuscript and *yikes*, it's a bit of meatgrinding funnel. For 0-level PCs to survive they will really need to be cautious and clever. For everyone's sake, don't hesitate to have the players roll up extras before the game kicks off. Those that make it out will have earned their survival.

As for the location. Yes, it is nominally placed in a generic European Dark Age locale. (Although, typing this, I'm dying to run it as a Katanas & Cthulhu game.)

Specifically, you will need a rocky ridge, some marshy lowlands, and a small hamlet. Beyond that, you are free to design the world as you like, since in all likelihood the 0-level PCs haven't ever made it more than 20 or 30 miles from their home. They've seen traders come through, and maybe a village elder once served in the war, but beyond that the greater world is a vast mystery.

For my home campaign, I've set the adventure in the Known World, here ...

http://www.goodman-games.com/MM3.html

(You can click through the image a couple time for larger versions.)

... west and north of Garland's Fork, over on the east side of the map, so that with a few levels the PCs can start making their way to some of the larger cities, venture north into the mountains, or south to the coast, as the mood strikes them.

But again, it can't be stressed enough that the PCs should know *nothing* of the larger world other than legends and rumors, so creating your own campaign map and revealing it bit by bit is really the best way to go.

(That and Joseph has mentioned in passing doing a retake on the Known Worlds at some point in the future. So who knows what lies in store.)

//H

[crabus]

Thank you for the answer.

But again, it can't be stressed enough that the PCs should know *nothing* of the larger world other than legends and rumors, so creating your own campaign map and revealing it bit by bit is really the best way to go.

It's what I expect to do. But I need some ideas where dwarf, halfling and elf come from. And if a character, for example, is a caravan guard, he known something about the world, at least a road. As you say, I don't need to sketch more than 30 miles in all directions.

In fact I want give a try to the map creation system of fight on #12.

[Geoffrey]

Joseph has mentioned in passing doing a retake on the Known Worlds at some point in the future.

Interesting.