I expected Paul or another Admin would create the sub-forums for discussion, so until that happened we were all still just throwing ideas around.
Yes, that is correct - right now we are just brainstorming - as soon as possible after the first round winners are announced, sub forums will be created in the sword design board.
Speaking of which, I would think by this time TOMORROW or thereabouts I will be announcing the winners of round one. Then each design will also get its own sub forum where we can refine the design before final submission to the forge for production.
Must admit, it is VERY hard narrowing it down - there really are so many swords I want to make from your designs guys that it WILL take several rounds before I feel we have even skimmed the surface of the good designs I want to bring to life. But alas, we do not have an unlimted budget, so right now it is looking like there will be 4 winners for round one (possibly 5, still going back on forth on some designs that I can't quite pin down which one needs to be made first!).
In the meantime, back to worldbuilding for a moment:
Great to see the magic system taking on a life of its own! For now we will hold off on the bestiary other than to discuss ideas of original monsters and original uses for familiar ones (such as the ant mining equipment). Indeed, some previous discussions of the BadLands has led me to map that area out in more detail - but we still have some areas open for development, so lets focus our brainstorming here briefly as it concerns sword forging, metallurgy and the 'Arena of Doom'..
THE BADLANDS EXPANDED
OVERVIEW: The Badlands is in a state of constant flux as various factions compete and war to control the last known deposit of 'Unobtanium' (marked as the shining lump of Meteoric rock on the map near the middle).
In the center by the Unobtanium deposit is the 'Arena of Doom' and the Hobgoblin Camp. The Hobgoblins currently control the deposit and have for several decades now - but their dominance is not assured to continue and they face serious challenges to their authority.
NAMED AREASSILVERLEAF: The Easternmost town has a heavily fortified bridge and war barges to protect against incursions from the Badlands. They work closely with Imperial forces to achieve this and have been known to conduct joint raiding operations in the Badlands when attacks along the Great Western road threaten to close this important trade route.
GREAT WESTERN ROAD: Runs from Silverleaf to the Imperial Capital and is VERY well patrolled, both along the coast and the road itself - with Imperial troops stationed at the Citadel and Batrion.
BATRION: In addition to providing protection to travelers and merchants on the road, in addition to a roadside fortress, Batrion is also the home of one of the most talented swordsmiths in the Empire and a large 'Ulfbert' style workshop where the majority of the Imperial Gladius are made.
COUNT CARPATHIAN: Female Vampire Count and her retainers control these dark and brooding lands. Her troops and her ladyship largely keep to themselves and receive few visiors, but she is believed to hunt isolated travelers on dark and moonless nights, though no-one has ever lived to provide eyewitness accounts..
TOWER OF THE WARLOCK: The Warlock is also a maker of magical weapons, specializing in wickedly evil enchanted daggers. Like Count Carpathian, he receives few visitors (only one unknown merchant is trusted or brave enough to distribute his creations) but unlike her, is believed to never leaves his tower. What the Warlock looks like is unknown, but there are rumors that he is half Drow and has been there for over 200 years..
IRONTON: A freetown of ruffians, wanderers, fugitives and other colorful characters, Ironton gets its name from the large deposit of pure iron ore that gives it its name and runs a successful mining operation there. The town is heavily defended and has resisted any and all attempts to take it over by the Empire and would be raiders from the Badlands.
HOBGOBLIN CAMP AND THE ARENA OF DOOM: Here the Hobgoblin King rules with an iron fist - running a major mining operation on the deposits of Unobtanium he controls utilizing goblin slave labor (and giant ants). Here is also to be found the 'Arena of Doom' where disputes are settled in blood from all over the Badlands (and even beyond) under the watchful and insane bloodshot eye of the mad demi-god of violence who settled there millenia ago and whose evolution is guided and tamed by his wicked and cruel Priesthood (rumors state that this cult actually CREATED this evil god from their dark and violent thoughts). It is said that every fight in the arena summons the demi-god to material form on his throne of skulls and his mericless laugh echoes through the Badlands everytime someone is mortally wounded..
The evil demi-god has one extra talent. When he is not watching men being ripped limb from limb in the arena, he forges cursed swords..
SWAMPLANDS: No-one goes in here. Or if they do, they don't come back.. There is SOMETHING nasty in the swamp. Some say that it has no form but takes the shape of your worst nightmare. Don't go in here. Seriously..
UNNAMED AREASThese areas are up to you guys. Pick a suitable location for the Centipede riders, the Wild Barbarian tribes, and everything else you want to put in the Badlands to make it, well, Bad..
Here are some ideas:
1: Tribal settlement - maybe barbarian, maybe orcs or rival hobgoblins. Has access to a deposit of average to poor grade iron ore.
2: A haunted wood or bogland? Home of some terrible monster(s). There is something here, probably a monster or nest of monsters, and it is not going to be nice...
3: Another tribal settlement - maybe primitive humans.
4: Probably Orcs or Goblins that are not big enough to present a real challenge and keep to themselves as much as possible. Maybe a Half Orc town or town of mutants, freaks and other untouchables..
5: Part of a large territory - where some type of mounted raiders come from.
6: Probably stubborn Orcs who want to take over from the Hobgoblins..
7: Likely some 'grey area' town in between the Empire and the Badlands. Could be the place where the Empire and the Hobgoblins meet to buy their Unobtanium.. Could be a town that ends up getting rebuilt a lot.
GENERAL NOTESThe name of the FIRST Emperor is 'Paragon'. He was the first Paladin and founder of the Empire 1030 years ago (the current year is 1030 IA (Imperial Age). He was also deified and is the primary god of the citizens of the Empire. The Emperor himself was a worshiper of the Church of the All Father (which still exists, but has been largely absorbed by the Cult of Paragon).
Full notes on religion are being developed now - it will not be a MAJOR part of the game, and as we tend to be really strict about discussion on politics and religion here - but can make a brief exception for the development of our fantasy world. Basically we will have the Imperial Clerics and Paladins, a form of Druidism, the Church of the All Father, Worship of the Sky Mother (moon goddess) and then lesser demi-gods and local cults (some good, some evil). In Lhasa, they reject all the gods and seek instead to become personally enlightened following the example of a long dead prince turned holyman. A version of this religion is also practiced by the Escians, who have adapted it for military purposes (think Zen Buddhism and the Samurai).
In the Land of the Dead, the Lich King acts a living God and all worship of other gods is forbidden on pain of death (hey, after all - politically opposed clerics could wreak HAVOC on a country whose primarily military reserve is made up of zombies, skeletons, wights and wraiths!).
WHAT'S NEXT?So with a new thread for the magic system, the (completed) development of religion in our fantasy world (no need for discussion on this if at all possible.. Don't want to accidental open a can of worms. This is FANTASY guys..) and even a name for the Emperor, our fantasy world is getting richer, more coherent and more believable by the day.
Until the winners announcement, lets continue to discussion focusing on:- The Badlands. Talk about iron deposits, the famous smiths of the land, forging techniques, etc.
- Unobtanium. It needs a name..
- The Capital needs a name. Paragonia (named after the first Emperor and god) is an obvious one. Any others?
- The WORLD needs a name. And it needs one quick, as I want to register a domain for the website where we will be putting all of this together. And right now the working title is 'swords-of-'.. Of what..? We need a name for this land..
ADDITIONAL STUFF AND RESOURCES
Other things we can do in the meantime is to flesh out the locations like I have done for the Badlands. If you want to try creating your own maps, you can use the same free tool I do called Inkarnate
It is a free application that allows you to make standardized world maps. The only downside is that you cannot undo item placements and so I tend to use it in combination with Photoshop - but even without you can create detailed and attractive baseline maps easily. The maps you see took about 2-3 hours on average to make.
For name ideas, check out this free online fantasy name generator - I find it tends to produce silly names on the whole, so you need to generate a ton before you find one that sticks out. For example, if I use the 'Necromancer Name Generator' I get names like:
grotic the Vivisector
shoulos Sanguis
zaxir the Soulreaper
raudhur the Beast
prilekai the Renovator
gadum the Black
yamon Livid
wrautic Crane
draezhul the Darkmaster
driocular Deathbloom
Out of these, only Zaxir the Soulreaper sounds okay.. Not too scared of Prilekai the Renovator...
Okay, so that's it from me for today. Tons of stuff to be done, so have fun and talk to you all again around this time tomorrow for the announcement that you all have been waiting for..