Because . . . it's my birthday
over 4 years ago
– Wed, Oct 02, 2019 at 10:27:28 PM
I'm not saying I was walking down the street yesterday and a pile of dirt looked up and said to me "wow, that guy's getting old." But I will say "It's not the years...it's the mileage."
Wanna get me a birthday present? Reshare the link, make a post about the campaign, review or comment or share an actual play story of the prior books . . . something.
Otherwise, I'm just head down editing for a while.
Daily Illuminator; Map!; Editing; Funding; Nordlond and Ytarria?
over 4 years ago
– Tue, Oct 01, 2019 at 08:44:05 PM
As I write this, the campaign has been active for exactly three weeks, and we have 12 days to go.
Daily Illuminator!
Today the Norðlond Sagas was featured on Steve Jackson Games' Daily Illuminator. If you get a moment, re-sharing or commenting on the post - especially in venues off the forums - will help bring some needed attention and (hopefully) velocity to the campaign.
Map of Norðlond
Things have not been idle since I last posted an update. Glynn Seal has completed the map of Norðlond that is available as an add-on, and it unifies the various adventure locations geographically. The team had a good time naming the various larger towns and cities. I'm looking forward to using this particular map in books and as a stand-alone.
With that in mind, I've done a bit of digging on the map options, and wanted to pass this information on.
The heavy, 14-point map, UV-laminated for limited use with dry-erase markers is basically printed on business card stock. I'm going to ship these directly from my house, so that I can pack them in a rigid mailer and two plies of double-wall cardboard to keep it safe. Shipping in the USA is likely to be about $10 (it can't go by media mail, and the packaging to keep it safe is expensive); rest-of-world is likely quite a bit more.
For those who want portability, for the same price of $15 I can offer a 100# paper map, 16x20", which can be rolled up in a tube mailer. This is just a glossy poster format, no lamination or coating. There's no price difference there, just paper stock. As always, shipping is a pass-through, I have no control over it, etc.
For international customers, the 12x18" maps available through DriveThruRPG will be your best bet to have a larger map but still have shipping be affordable.
Editing
I have started in to editing pieces of Rosgarth, and to a lesser extent Forest's End and Hand of Asgard. The work is coming in a chapter at a time, and I'm going over it and making adjustments to keep the world coherent, as well as acting as editor and keeping in mind flow, art, and all the things that go into making a set of books. This part of the "publisher" job is time consuming but also a great deal of fun, helping folks achieve their vision.
Funding
Right now, we're hovering at around $20,000 and we've been, well, pretty flat - the last 11 days have been tough. Roughly $600 in cancelled pledges, and some of that is related to Kickstarter itself. I hope that these folks come back to us during the Backerkit phase, which avoids that interaction.
The good news is there are nearly 400 folks who are following the campaign but not yet pledged: that means that between actual and "latent" interest, there's as much as $43K out there. We certainly won't pull a Pokemon and catch it all, but there's more than enough to surpass the $29K stretch goal, and all non-shipping funds collected in both Kickstarter and Backerkit will count towards that goal. I want more pages in the book(s) as much as y'all do. The authors, of course, will want more room for more material in their books! (Plus, they get paid more as the backer count increases; my version of profit sharing. Their per-word rate goes up with backer count).
So while things have been quiet for the last week or so, there's still nearly two full weeks in the campaign, we've long since funded, and there's lots of potential to hit the big goals for offset print as well as longer books.
Gaming Ballistic on the Web
In case you're looking for me, you can always find me here:
Just for Fun: Yrth?
Earlier today, someone pinged me on Discord and noted that they just bought Hall of Judgment, and while they really loved it, their current campaign is on Yrth, and so how would Nordlond fit?
My first suggestion was to plunk the continent on which Norðlond can be found elsewhere, simply not on the continent of Ytarria. The explicit "the Gods of the setting are real, walk the earth, and the creation 'myth' isn't a myth at all" would have to be altered to fit the setting. I talk about variations on the cosmology of the setting in a blog post: Monotheism and Competing Divinities in Norðlond.
The other possibility is, well, those Nomad Lands are pretty far north. What is more, Ytarria is very big. I found this map online, which is the publicly available Ytarria map plus the continental USA and Alaska, added by Eric B Smith.
For those of you that know me, I've been living in Minnesota since about 2000. Norðlond is very deliberately sized to my home state, maybe a bit bigger, and the location of major cities in the setting might kinda sorta happen to correspond to county seats in Minnesota. But if Nordlond is roughly 90-100K square miles (it is), that means it can fit into the Nomad Lands about four times over. If your campaign isn't already much involved there, you could probably drop Nordlond and a good part of the Dragongrounds into the Nomad Lands without even blinking.
Make of that what you will!
Niobe and the Untamed: Nifty work by Stranger Comics!
over 4 years ago
– Tue, Sep 24, 2019 at 02:50:10 PM
“With a world divided who do you turn to?”
The fine folks at Stranger Comics have launched an opportunity to get a Pathfinder 1E module set in Niobe’s world of Asunda, with epic new races, feats, items, and more. Asunda is in development at HBO with creator Sebastian A. Jones co-writing and Executive Producing. Also available on the campaign are beautiful hardcovers for their comics, miniatures, LARP weapons and more! So you can read the books and play the game before it goes to the screen! Creators include: Peter Bergting (Lord of the Rings), Jae Lee (Dark Tower), and Hyoung Taek Nam (The Last of Us)!
I was pointed towards the Niobe and the Untamed project by Sebastian, who contacted me to say nice things about the Nordlond Sagas. Well, right back at 'em: the quality of the visuals and production values of the products offered in their Kickstarter really look top-notch - and they're not kidding about an HBO series being in development! I can only imagine how awesome it would be to see Nordlond brought to life in either graphic novel format; even more so in live action!
In any case, as we are moving toward the Norðlond Sagas stretch goals, take a moment to look at what they have to offer. I think it's worth your time, especially if you're a player of other systems!
Progress Update: Layout, Art, Maps, and more.
over 4 years ago
– Mon, Sep 23, 2019 at 11:09:47 PM
Funding Progress
Welcome to Monday! As we close in on the first two weeks of the project, we're sitting at a bit more than $19K. If we happen to double this by the end of the journey . . . I'll be well pleased. Heck, the "record" Dungeon Fantasy RPG project for me is $26,000 . . . and the BackerTracker seems to suggest that we will surpass $30K, and between those following the campaign and those actually pledged, we have enough to hit $40K, though that is "irrational exuberance" at work: it assumes that all 350 folks following the campaign but not yet pledged jump in at the end.
I'm super glad that the addition of Hand of Asgard was popular enough that hundreds of you upped your pledge for the book. That is one of the things that has brought the project trajectory to such a good place.
Layout and Production Progress
I had a very productive weekend. I received a full manuscript for Norðlondr Fólk late last week, and put it into layout during a long day Saturday. By the time I had company arrive just after 5:30pm, it was basically complete.
Here's a shot of the title page, and the brief introduction followed by one of the templates. With only a 16-page book, I can't give too many previews without spoiling the whole thing, but here's at least the title page, and one preview spread.
Things not yet done? I want to find a compelling border for the white space in the book surrounding the parchment background. I think I want to fade that parchment a bit to make it less dark, for readability. I need to do a proofing pass - there's always something that's missed, and there are some spacing issues with some of the boxes. Kevin put every single word he could in there (go him!), and we got it to fit (go me!), but the plan of one quarter-page image, neatly put in front of each entry, did not survive contact with reality. I do have 14 art spaces, and only Half-Orcs and Half-Ogres get short shrift: they're not properly of Norðlond anyway, so no big loss.
I've forwarded the full PDF to the artist chosen: Ksenia Kozhevnikova. I really liked some of her prior work on Norðvörn and my TFT project, so I chose her to illustrate the entire book. She's already sent me some thoughts on novel ways to capture things that I really like.
I still need to provide art direction to her more formally . . . but since Kevin did a nice job about describing the look of each entry, Ksenia could potentially just go with that. That's not me doing my job, though, so . . . art direction it is!
Map Progress
One of the add-ons is a larger-scale version that shows the lay of the land from as far west as Isfjall to Akkerisborg by the sea. Glynn Seal is working that as we speak, and he sent me a work-in-progress image. It's still early, clearly, but you can see the scope of land we're talking about.
I'm still working on an intermediate delivery option. The heavy cardstock large map won't fold; more propery, you don't want me to fold it, as it's as heavy as a good business card and it'll crease. A poster-sized large map that WILL fold, on something like 100# paper, might be a good intermediate. I just need to secure a US and "not the US" printing option and then we'll see. But I like where this is going!
Next Steps
So, after this, I will turn my hand to the other three books. I need to provide and write some setting details for Kyle and Merlin for their books, which are closing in on wordcount nicely, and then turn my hand to editing and layout. Meanwhile, Hand of Asgard will get Kevin's attention. You've seen the preview page for that already:
So in essence, the "lather, rinse, repeat" part of the layout is already done. At this point, it's really just about minor tweaks, and getting each thing to fit.
I also spent a bit of time this weekend working on those long-delayed shields and swords from a prior project. The shield are completely done; I have to do a final sanding pass on the swords and put cross-pieces on them. I already know what I'm doing with those, so it's really a matter of a few days before they are ready to go into the mail.
I haven't added these as items to be commissioned as part of the project . . . but I could, if there's interest. Since it's not the dead of winter and I'm not in the middle of a house move . . . things would go much faster.
That's where things stand!
If you want to help the campaign, please re-share the link, talk about the project, or comment on one of the RPG forums. Folks talking about other people's work is usually encouraged by such channels, whereas project creators advertising their own things is frowned upon (for good reason, in many cases).
Thanks! I'm really pleased with where the campaign is going, and I can't wait to get the new books to you guys!
Steingarður (stone yard) - A Sample Village from Citadel at Norðvörn
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Sep 19, 2019 at 06:42:48 PM
Notionally, the Dungeon Fantasy RPG is about, well, dungeon delving. That's the core function it's built to support. That said, Hall of Judgment was mostly an overland trek, with the main encounters being a ruined village and of course the Hall itself. The norðalfar lairs were legit underground dungeon-type stuff.
Norðvörn was a setting, completely without labyrinthine delving of any sort. I have played great games with it, and more than once. The Dungeon Fantasy RPG supports it just fine.
One of the fun things that made it into Citadel at Norðvörn was a village generator. Euan Hastie, a gamer and farmer from New Zealand, had a huge pile of research into modern and ancient farming methods and yields, and he and I worked really hard together to simplify all the data, make it sensible-enough and interesting, and present it in a way where "you wander into town" became something different for each town.
Presented below is one of several village he's made. There will be more.
Steingarður (The Stoneyard)
Assumptions
- Very Fertile, but with infertile hills
- Cool not cold
- Norman/viking
The center of Norðlond west of Konungsborg (the capitol) boasts some of the most fertile soils known to the realm. The costs of two centuries of war with the Neveri clansmen to the south have prevented the Norðlonders from fully exploiting this boon, but it is still a land of plenty.
Away from the rivers and cities, venturing into southern Norðlond, the village of Steingarður sits where the hills meet the plains. The community is well established but has become something of a backwater in recent decades. This is the type of place a wandering knight might call home. It is a community of some 750 people, with a lackluster inn and sundry support services; one can assume a strong cooperage and enough of a smithy to keep the instruments for harvesting and transporting grain in good order.
Life centers around a walled longhouse, built on the end of ridge offering a strongly defensible location and a view over the plains. A man-made channel hugs the side of the grape-covered ridge, supplying the stronghold with water. While not a towering structure the wall is well made from mortared stone. Unlike the north of Norðlond, there are few mature stands of trees; small areas of tamed and managed woods are present amongst the hedgerows and in the higher valleys. A more considered eye notes the young age of the managed woodlands, the consequences of a feud that flared up a decade back.
Goats, wine, and linen are Steingarður's main source of money as most other goods aren't worth the cost to transport to the river. Even so it produces the food required to keep forty of it's soldiers - the armed levy provided by the riddar to King Krail and the Marshal - fed and supplied while they are in the field against the Neveri.
While on average the people here - many of whom are thralls - are not well armed, those who are are usually older veterans. The town boasts more than a few heirloom weapons that are kept in fully functional condition.
Products
Aside from supporting village life, the industry of Steingarður has two purposes: feeding it's soldiers and providing the riddar with the liquid assets required to maintain his position. The riddar is young, and has only recently assumed the role. In this case, liquid assets are rather on the nose: the two primary exports are 11,000 gallons (roughly 200 barrels, perhaps 60 tons including both barrel and wine)
Notes
- Poor in wood
- One of the northern-most wine producers
- Valuable wine, a desirable product realising 40-50 per gallon.
- 1 in 3 wine crops fail due to frost unless a druid is present
- The gardens near the longhouse struggle due to the poorer soil
- 2000 goats are kept on the rocky hilly area.
- Wheat crop fails 1 year in 8
Numbers
- 11000 gallons of wine in a good year, a lot of which is fine quality.
Each acre planted produces:
- 213 pounds of oats
- 499 pounds of Rye
- 495 pounds of Barley
- 180 pounds of Flax fiber
- 20 pounds of surplus flax seed
- 900 pounds of grapes
- 610 pounds of wheat
Notable surpluses for trade
- 11,000 gallons of wine
- 50,000 pounds of grain
- 240 goats
- 800 lbs of goat hide
- 3000 pounds of cloth and clothes
So that's Stoneyard! A winery that depends on grain and wine for sustenance, with a newbie ruler. The riddar could be a threatened ally, or a ripe plum ready for picking. The village could be something the adventurers just pass through, or perhaps they must take refuge at the village inn, which used to be a thriving place of business but has fallen on hard times.
Look for more villages in coming days. Want more information on Stoneyard? Ask away!
