It's PLAYTIME!
over 2 years ago
– Wed, Nov 03, 2021 at 03:22:52 AM
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The definitive guide to creating intriguing and dynamic destinations for storytelling and fantasy roleplaying games!
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Hey everyone! I hope that you’re all doing well—especially given the ongoing heat waves, fires, the ongoing pandemic… (I’m sure there are dozens of other insane catastrophes I’m forgetting…). But hey, you know what? I’m here to take your mind off of the dangerous destination we seem to be living in, and instead turn it toward a book about making up a bunch of pretend ones! Let’s jump in and see how things have been going.
The main sections of the book are functionally complete and are into the editing phase. This includes the Introduction, Prelude, Destinations, Environments, Dangers, and Antagonists. Just to give you an idea of the size of all this, here is the [typed] page count for these sections (though, keep in mind, this can change with layout).
As with the pregenerated settlements in Spectacular Settlements, we knew that doing the pregens would be an intense and sizable undertaking. As such, we have enlisted the aid of two artists to solely work on the illustrations for them, and two in-house map creators who will (as the task name would suggest) be creating the maps!
Of the 60 pregens, they are all in various stages of completion (some just started, some in-process, some completed). Something I’ve been loving has been the names for these places. Contrary to how the pregens were titled in Spectacular Settlements, where the titles were simply the literal name of the place, a dangerous destination doesn’t necessarily have a proper name. Because of that, we get to get flavorful and that has yielded a ton of places that sound like straight up, full-on adventures, not just names of places. Check these out:
All 60 pregens (including the ones not listed above), just like with Spectacular Settlements, will have an illustration, followed by a flavorful description, followed by the roll results, finally followed by a map or maps.
The flavorful description tells you a bit of the story surrounding the place, and helps get your mind thinking about how it could fit into your campaign. Also, a new feature with the Dangerous Destinations pregens is that many of them have bulleted suggestions that can provide different ways of using the pregen, or perhaps tailoring it in one way or another, or may suggest different things you may want to consider when preparing to use a given pregen.
Following the flavor text are the roll results that the creator of the pregen used to inspire the idea for their dangerous destination. When you look at the roll results, you can see what the creator elected to use, what they didn’t use, and how they interpreted what was used. This can be a really nice way of helping to inspire your own creativity, and allows you to get ideas for how you can interpret your own rolls!
Lastly, there will be maps. Some individual pregens will even have multiple maps (such as places with multiple floors, or a few important portions). Given that no one [that I’m aware of, lol] actually uses the maps in the book to play on (i.e. opening the book and putting minis directly on the map), they are more intended to be a reference. That having been said, there will of course be digital versions of the maps which can be printed. When printed at full scale, the gridded versions should have a 1”-square grid to allow for the use of standard fantasy minis.
Doing some quick math, at 3-4 pages per pregen, that's another 180-240 pages. On the high end, that means that without the appendices, the book will likely be well over 500 pages... possibly over 600... (insert head 'splode emoji here!)
Alright, now that all those words are out of the way, let’s get to some eye candy!
Man, I can't believe these images. These were done by our amazing artists Karen Petrasko and Sam White, who we are incredibly blessed to be working with. Give 'em a shout-out in the comments! :D
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Alright everyone, it's time for me to end this thing because otherwise you'll just be stuck reading a kickstarter update all day, and of course you have better things to be doing. Thank you all so much for your support and excitement, which I only hope this update increased. We love you all, and we hope that this book winds up being yet another invaluable engine of inspiration on your table—because the best books never stay on the shelf for long ;)
Until next time, happy adventures, and stick to the safe destinations!
Andrew
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.