I think there are two parts to this city. First, there's the skyruin and the knot of bridges and buildings that are spilling out over the edge of the floating foundation. That's where the nobles and the guild towers are, and it's the nicer part of town. It's been built and re-built many times over, and the architectural style has become modular. As shops build themselves onto the sides of buildings, the road narrows down until it becomes a wall, then, without the thoroughfare, commerce shifts to another location, and the buildings are abandoned. So, from month to month, the upper city could have a different layout entirely.
Below the ruins is the infrastructure, and it's a much more gritty. Outsiders don't often see that part of the city. It's run by the artificers' guild. Although the textiles guild has some hidden influence in the form of the Sewing Circle, a black market that keeps the guild competitive with the heavy exports of the other two guilds.
Jesus, Fizzy has a much nicer view of this city than I do. In my defense, I have been bingeing the Witcher novels, and so the darkness is kinda... baked in right now
Well, it's looking like a fairly large place based on all our answers. Enough room for fanciful magic and a darker underbelly.
I think there are two parts to this city. First, there's the skyruin and the knot of bridges and buildings that are spilling out over the edge of the floating foundation. That's where the nobles and the guild towers are, and it's the nicer part of town. It's been built and re-built many times over, and the architectural style has become modular. As shops build themselves onto the sides of buildings, the road narrows down until it becomes a wall, then, without the thoroughfare, commerce shifts to another location, and the buildings are abandoned. So, from month to month, the upper city could have a different layout entirely.
Below the ruins is the infrastructure, and it's a much more gritty. Outsiders don't often see that part of the city. It's run by the artificers' guild. Although the textiles guild has some hidden influence in the form of the Sewing Circle, a black market that keeps the guild competitive with the heavy exports of the other two guilds.
That description of architecture is perfect!
I actually meant to imply there are three sections! The skyruin above, the city in the middle where we've all been doing our RPing so far, and the undercity/caverns below.
The Skyruin is not easily trafficked, and not populated by normal people at all. Everyone has heard a tale or two of what strange creatures might dwell there.
But both paint an awesome picture. It's just that it might not be so hard to access the Skyruin if it's a commonly travelled place.
Maybe the upper city hangs from the skyruin? Towers built downward from the rigging cables that hold the skyruin in place?
Now that's a mental image. What a mind boggling city we've concocted.
Sorry Loopy. :D
Okay, so, anyone have any artistic talent, because I think some concept art might help. I would, but stick figures are a struggle for me
I'll try and whip up something tonight!
oh sorry. i thought you were saying don't try to help answer the personal questions and that we were collaborating on the others again like we did with the signet and sandy bottoms and no tell arthur.
so lets go with this one as official then
What's the overall tech level and aesthetic of the city? Is there top of the line magitech on display, or is a good old fashioned blacksmith more common? Smooth and sleek, or gritty and harsh?
What are the major trades of the big business here? Commerce, artifice and production, invention, security...?
I think that there science has developed side by side with magic. Perhaps steam punk like. , but I don't see it being more advanced than that. Smooth and sleek. I think the city is a center for commerce-a trade hub, and the arts.
I'll compile the answers for ease of reading (I answered the "other businesses" one):
What's the overall tech level and aesthetic of the city? Is there top of the line magitech on display, or is a good old fashioned blacksmith more common? Smooth and sleek, or gritty and harsh?
I think that there science has developed side by side with magic. Perhaps steam punk like. , but I don't see it being more advanced than that. Smooth and sleek. I think the city is a center for commerce-a trade hub, and the arts.
What are the major trades of the big business here? Commerce, artifice and production, invention, security...?
???
What other kinds of business have sprung up here? The trade of the city is one thing, but the trades of its people are another.
In the higher part of city, there is a new trend among the upper class. A peculiar gnome entrepreneur named Quizhart Rectanglyff VI has opened a shop in the commercial main street (a prime location) where he sells animate dolls, called "Humes". Humes are half the size of a man (ie. the size of a halfling), and each one is a bit unique. Supposedly, the gnome is an experienced practitioner of magics and specialized in puppet mastery. The guild of mages is both interested in and wary of the doll maker. The guild master has instructed the people to treat the puppet magic with moderation.
The puppets have become massively popular. Children play with their new construct friends, adults walk them like pets. Creative people are teaching their Humes to dance (Hume dance-offs are becoming a common sight), sing, and practice other arts. Humes are mild and passive, and cannot produce physical harm to anything.
Buy your Hume for 70 gold at Rectanglyff's Puppets & Humes!
Who are the three greatest influences on the city's affairs and identity? Who are the big public figures or companies that shape the city?
The Magistrate of this city is... an individual of questionable morals. as in, it is questionable if he has any. he is knownfor taking bribes, turning a blind eye fir his friends, and embezzling the tax funds. as such, the city is rife with criminals, and the guard is too underfunded to even handle to operations the magistrate does not protec.
The guilds of Artifice, Magic, and Textiles, are all also very powerful in this city (Thanks to routine, generous bribes to the magistrate) and they are known for viscous reprisals against any freelancer operating in their city
Then there is the church of Eternal Fire, who take a very hard stand against the corruption and immorality. every few years, an organization gets too open with it's immoral practices, and the church cleanses the organization, slaying the worst offenders, and taking the lesser offenders to "Show them the light", after locking them in hte dark and beating them senseless for a week.
What's the criminal element like? Who rules the city's underground, and what businesses do they like to dabble in?
???
How complicated is getting about? Are the streets open and straightforward, or is there a labyrinthine structure of tight roads, alleyways, dead ends and sewer passages?
In ancient times, the catastrophe that gave birth to the Skyruin left the city fragmented, with parts falling into deep crevasses of the earth.
Since then, many bridges have been built backwards, forwards, and sideways to connect each portion of the city, like a civilised spider web above the depths below. Passage is easy enough, but if you're lucky, your friend might even know a secret walkway or passage so you won't have to pay the tolls!
Because it is an ancient city, there are countless unexplored alcoves and alley ways that have not seen foot traffic in millenia; closed off through the repairs to the city, or for reasons forgotten.
Below the new city lies the old. Half buried, blocked off, and hazardous. Only the most foolhardy adventurers dare to plumb these depths for riches. An old trade district, lost to time? A secret passage made from an ancient tubed mail system? A temple to some ancient martyr? A dried out sewer that has become a labyrinth? A secret wellspring grove with long-though-extinct flora and fauna? You name it. Countless lost secrets and treasures.... but you'd better bring a guide if you want to come back out.
I think there are two parts to this city. First, there's the skyruin and the knot of bridges and buildings that are spilling out over the edge of the floating foundation. That's where the nobles and the guild towers are, and it's the nicer part of town. It's been built and re-built many times over, and the architectural style has become modular. As shops build themselves onto the sides of buildings, the road narrows down until it becomes a wall, then, without the thoroughfare, commerce shifts to another location, and the buildings are abandoned. So, from month to month, the upper city could have a different layout entirely.
Below the ruins is the infrastructure, and it's a much more gritty. Outsiders don't often see that part of the city. It's run by the artificers' guild. Although the textiles guild has some hidden influence in the form of the Sewing Circle, a black market that keeps the guild competitive with the heavy exports of the other two guilds.
thats cool
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Wow. This...this is looking amazing. Might take a bit for me to wrap my head around, but this is a very interesting place to wrap my head around here.
And Fizzy, you've managed to put two questions together! Just because those lines were together in your post don't mean they were together as questions.
I'm just going to trim off the latter section to get this:
What's the overall tech level and aesthetic of the city? Is there top of the line magitech on display, or is a good old fashioned blacksmith more common? Smooth and sleek, or gritty and harsh?
I think that there science has developed side by side with magic. Perhaps steam punk like. , but I don't see it being more advanced than that. Smooth and sleek.
With that, I still need answers for big business and the criminal element. The guilds have established power, but that doesn't mean they're the ones the make the money until someone says. Elena and The Herald are the ones yet to answer, so it's on them.
Come to think, I should have asked what this place is called, huh? Place needs a name.
Also, Terestria, thanks a lot. It looks cool, and it's helpful. The image of Bikke and Fizzy is just beautiful as well. I'd be very tempted to give everyone 2XP for that, but we haven't even started yet!
I'm still very tempted, though.
We could call it Fizzlandia. Thats a good name!
"Come on, don't you think it a bit egotistical to try and have the place named after yourself when you've only been here a couple of days? You haven't even done anything particular great for the place. What's next, Thunkeros or something?"
The wizards rule the skyruin through might of magic, the artificers rule the undertown through pragmatism, but the clothiers rule the clockwork town of Hohenheim through their Knitting Circle, a network of syndicated crime that lines the pockets of the Masked Lords and Ladies of their inner circle.
They cater to Hohenheim nobility, so their tastes in crime are equally extravagant. Kidnappings, assassinations, importing contraband drugs en mass, these sorts of crimes are their bread and butter. Mr. Strom, if he calls Hohenheim his home, is likely a Masked Lord. Hohenheim's leg of the procession of spring is held (or in this case relinquished) by one of the noble families of the guild of clothiers, and that is where Lincoln Gates is being fostered while he prepares to undertake a second leg of his pilgrimage.
Wow. I need to digest this.
Yeahhh. Tis a lot. It seems the questions left for you are your personal question and the one on big business in Hohenheim.
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"I already know flying like a bird doesn't work, but maybe flying like a stone would! With a little time, I'll make the Skyruin truly mobile! Put some cannons on it, figure out a bigger magnetic reversal belt that's city-sized, and the nobles of Hohenheim will throw money at me for creating the greatest war machine ever! Hahahaha!"
Crafting of all types is the most common trade. Talented smiths, cunning weavers, bizzare artists, if it is made by mortal hands, the best is found here. Most non-crafting pursuits are less common, Hohenheim isn't really known for cuisine, animals, or scholarship.
"I already know flying like a bird doesn't work, but maybe flying like a stone would!
I may have laughed a little too hard at that.
Bikke, your personal question?
That was the goal. Elena is rather over-excited and lacking in good sense, add in Terestia's pic of the city with the big floating section and I just had to go the Borderlands Sanctuary route. Plus that would be awesome!
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I can't wait to see just how you handle steering the thing. Also, finding out how much you can fit on there.
"Once, the Skyruin hung in the air above us, a mystery of powerful magic. Now, it's gone, flown away via the machinations of a madwoman. But before she stole it away, there was one change we got to see."
"It used to be a floating landmass. When it left, it was a floating mass of cannons."
I believe we're fast-forwarding past the bar now, and going straight to when things go bad on the job. We all took the mission, else we wouldn't be here, so why not go straight to murdering?
Also, awesome. Death-golem with crossbow hands. Dibs once it stops trying to murder us.
Great. That's everything.
I'm going to try and get this up as soon as possible, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to format and organise my info. Any tips on that or some examples would be MUCH appreciated. Trying to set things up so I have my info concentrated where it needs to be and efficiently sorted is surprisingly problematic.
Shall I get a gameplay thread up for dotting in the meantime? Feel free to do any more bond work or whatever too.
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I could link you to an example, but that would absolutely destroy the mystique of my game. I can share a list of tips though.
I use Google Docs, and I rely a lot on the Headers and Outline Panel to navigate between sections.
My sections are:
1. Post draft: I try to write a little bit at a time for my larger posts so I'm not bogged down or loose track of the action. I keep a few short-term notes here.
2. Fronts: I have subheadings under here for each faction, and cast notes under them, then a list of their objectives (Grim Portents) I use color highlighting here to remind me which PCs are aware of/involved with what.
3. Player Fronts: I keep track of each player's story arc here. It's like the campaign fronts, but my game is very character-oriented.
4. Detailed notes: I put things here that take up too much space above, and I embed links that take me down to these subheadings. This is where I have a detailed description of what happened between the old Dawn Watch. Major spoilers. I'm so paranoid it'll get out that I've changed the font white. It also has descriptions of places like the PC's houses.
5. Mind Blow: My campaign is full of mysteries, and when I drop huge hints in the discussion thread, I save a link to the post for later so I can show them how long I've been sitting on the big reveal.
I keep my maps in Google Slides, though Roll20 is a good alternative. For DW, Slides is usually enough. If I draw a map, I keep it in a DM copy, and take a screen shot to use as a background image. (like the Obusa city map)
I also keep a few spreadsheets for ordered data and combat figures.
Right. That's quite helpful. What about stuff regarding having multiple different locations? If there's one thing I can think that's different between your campaign and this, it's that you're centred around one location, where I have more locales that will want handling.
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That's a matter of scale. The school, the mall, the tower, the chateau, these are equatable to towns, dungeons, etc. Obusa is really small, almost claustrophobic, but that's to force the players to engage the cast and care about their well-being (as well as allow them to split the party as much as they want.) Where the chateau has a sauna, library, kitchen, bedrooms, a town would have an inn, a blacksmith, a town hall, and these only need the level of detail I give a room until we start engaging with them. You wouldn't need a paragraph about the furniture in one of the players houses, but I do because the scale is different.
Above all, don't spend too much time on details that aren't alluded to on screen yet. It's a million times easier to come up with things, or prompt players for things when they're needed. That's the "draw maps, leave blanks" thing.
Have you ever seen The Truman Show? You're the director. You know that the bank is just an empty brick cube, but we don't. Until we go inside, it's nothing but the word "bank" under the town subheading. We never know the difference between what you have planned out and what you're making up on the spot.
Another trick from the truman show: There's a scene where Truman's buddy is stocking a candy machine, but he clearly doesn't have enough candy to keep stocking it for the whole conversation, so while Truman isn't looking, he snatches candy back out of the machine. Things have duration and weight to us, but you can stretch things out or shrink things down if you want to, if you need to, if they serve the fiction, as long as we don't see you do it.
Prime example: Your kid brother in my game was originally just a roll that said Sora gets recognized. She made kiddy music, so he was a kid. Later, Sakura needs a classmate encounter, and I realize I have a kid in the cast already, so he's Sakura's age. He wasn't related to anyone yet when you came around, so he became your brother. By tagging disparate plots together with a single element, I've made a rich point of interaction. If I had stopped to flesh him out completely when I first rolled that encounter, I wouldn't have been able to make those connections later. So, as long as it hasn't happened on-screen it doesn't actually exist.
Lots o' stuff.
Wow, now I feel lazy. I mostly just make up rough ideas for steadings and notable people around the first session, then just make stuff up as I go. Write down cool stuff that the PCs or I say, then run through previous notes to make sure I don't contradict anything.
Kudos on all the planning, it sounds pretty awesome.
It is at this moment I realise properly getting everything down is going to cause a lot of delays. So, I'm cut-pasting a load of stuff to deal with later from discussion and recruitment and trying to focus on the stuff that's immediately relevant from all that info. Also, adding stuff on so that I have enough to work with.
Still at work. Current thing to figure out - the interaction space and the things that populate it. Think the main thing is creating an abstract map and all this directly connected space stuff. It'd help if I could visualise better. Hopefully you understand what I'm on about, and that I'm dedicated to get this running.
Gives you a better appreciation of what those people that take up the GM's mantle do, huh? Man. This is a lot different to those times where I pretty much made EVERYTHING up on the spot on those few failed RL games where I was the only one willing to run the game. Messy, but fun. I'm trying to be just slightly more coherent this time though.
Work is still in progress. We thank you for your continued patronage in this time.
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My advice here is, start with action, start with a clear challenge to overcome, and make sure to mention at least two obvious ways to move forward. Take inspiration from the core abilities of the party. (locked doors for thieves, etc.)
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If I can offer any GMing advice in dungeon World, it's this...
Draw Maps, leave blanks.
You don't need a perfect web if GM intrigue to run a game. In fact, the game will fight you for over planning.
If you're worried about remembering the details of the game world, don't worry; players are the first to speak up and say "hey this person wasn't an ogre, he was an orc!".
The sessions that me and my RL players have enjoyed most are we I haven't prepared endlessly. My last session o prepped maybe for 30m, and it was an absolute riot. On the flip side, the first dungeon I through at them was a wreck! Why? Because I planned rooms, traps, and monsters, and the barbarian said"I'm not going in, I'm just going to burn it down"
We went on to have a hilarious session.
Tools that help me most? A random name list and a bit of bio behind each NPC that the players spend time on.
I think I have an idea how I'm going to handle this now. Thanks.
Gonna put up gameplay soon as I can for dotting. I'll try and get things moving ASAP. Just have to pull together the relevant details from what I've been given. Also, Golem-Terminator. Need to stat that.
Oh, yeah - if you've not really done much bonding or you're missing anything important from your sheet, might wanna get on that too.
Me thinks Bikke 'n' Fizzy have done enuff bondin' fer now. Get off me back, ye seasick scallywag!
Tools that help me most? A random name list and a bit of bio behind each NPC that the players spend time on.
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Donjon and Seventh Sanctum, my favorite idea mines. Never leave home without them. The NPC Instincts and Knacks tables from the Dungeon World appendix are nice too, I've used them for NPCs in all sorts of games. Most notably an Apocalypse World gang, eight named gang members, each one with some defining characteristic, made up in a few rolls. One of them thought she was psychic, that led to all sorts of trouble since she wasn't...
Gameplay is up! Finally!
All fair warning, this is probably going to be a rough ride for a while. Posting's liable to be more than a bit uneven. But I'm starting to get the picture of the scenario, at least. With time, it should become more clear.
So, try not to die, and if you have to blame anyone for that great hulk you've been presented with, it's Bikke, not me! He's the one that picked it!
Gromroir, just noticed something. Your current HP is listed as 16, your max as 26, but both should be 19 right now.
How did that happen?
Oh my god. Bikke. You put a Bikke-English dictionary in your profile. That...that's beautiful.
Please, add any more definitions of "Arr!" as they're used. It just amuses me.
I'd be tempted to give out XP, but again, early stages. I'll figure something out between that and Terestria's artistry. Eventually.
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Aye, Bikke added tha dictionary earl-ay in tha development o' tha recruitment. Na just ta help ye can understand me, but fer me own good as well. Tha' way it be easier fer me ta write me own posts and exchange fluent insult dialogue.
Me shall, me matey. Tha lush glory o' "arr" shall sail fer many more miles along tha way. Arr.
Oh yeah, while I remember - if you're not satisfied with your escape options, "Bend Bars, Lift Gates" will have you covered a lot of the time if you aren't afraid to make a mess. Walls, locked doors, barricades and the like don't really mean much to you.
That said, I reserve all right to mess with the outcome depending on what you're dealing with. Generally speaking, failing your roll for something once doesn't mean you can't try again - it just gives me more opportunities to make moves is all.
Gromroir, just noticed something. Your current HP is listed as 16, your max as 26, but both should be 19 right now.
How did that happen?
Bad copy-paste, that's dexter's current status. borroed the status template from him
I have a bad feeling Loopy's about to be mean to me :P
We're a big heap of fail right now, aren't we?
And so, Elena got stepped on. ded
I'll have to think about this. There's so many fun possibilities...plus, you tried to set something made of stone on fire. I have to reward you for THAT.
Not everyone can be Yizid, can they? Though, his second roll WAS snakes eyes, so perhaps he isn't as lucky as believed. It'll catch up with him.
and now, we get to see the measure of Loopy. Will they show mercy? Will they wimp out, and pull punches? Will they be merciless, and risk slaying one of us within weeks of the sart? Will he be harsh, but true to fiction? So many possibilities....
Sorry, had to let out my inner supervillain somewhere, and my players are in a preparation montage right now
I think I'm a little sadistic for my own good. Which means I'd rather not kill any of you quite yet. It wouldn't hurt enough.
"Be a fan of the characters"? Of course. "Think dangerous"? Well...there's a reason I can actually do an evil laugh. The limits aren't going to be on willingness to wreck things, but having things to wreck.
Speaking of dice luck, look at mine. First 2d6 roll is (6,5), second is (5,5). Almost max damage from both damage dice. Fortune is a mad mistress.
Let's beat the golem quickly and get away before the reinforcements give the GM an opportunity to cause a TPK.
Pfft, you guys make it seem like this thing could one-shot any one of us. Back in Frogfoot's goblin campaign, I died three times in the first adventure. I think it might even have been in the same day... Good times.
It's a big, dumb robot. We have a short, smart robot, and we outnumber it 6-1. We got this easy.
And the moment you've all been waiting for!...geez, Bikke, that's a lot of damage. That's crazy.
So, Grommy, what's your evaluation? Too harsh? Not harsh enough? Should have paid a liiiiittle more attention? What's the judgement?
Nothing more terrifying than 20ish hours of forum silence after posting how you think your class might work... I'm positively atwitter with anticipation.