tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491933635924780786.post4718377844270544209..comments2023-03-12T03:07:50.202-07:00Comments on Spirit of the Blank: Anglerre: Cities and IslandsMike Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11547961835994778883noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491933635924780786.post-87963901962562260852010-07-17T15:34:08.556-07:002010-07-17T15:34:08.556-07:00Well, generators are useful even if I don't ge...Well, generators are useful even if I don't generate a full city with them!! Simply I find nice to choose some "aspect" as inspiration.Ishmadradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00834485227221285582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491933635924780786.post-44524975042082207562010-06-13T19:34:54.098-07:002010-06-13T19:34:54.098-07:00Amazon US says July 13.Amazon US says July 13.Max Kaehnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01385791086460457209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491933635924780786.post-14559347526699940432010-06-13T19:32:20.227-07:002010-06-13T19:32:20.227-07:00Legends of Anglerre is definitely a standalone boo...<i>Legends of Anglerre</i> is definitely a standalone book -- at nearly 400 pages, it'd better damn well be. The PDF's out now, and the print version supposed to be out... uh... sometime this month? <br /><br />*looks at calendar*<br /><br />Maybe? I dunno.Mike Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547961835994778883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491933635924780786.post-50269112972998804232010-06-13T14:47:16.252-07:002010-06-13T14:47:16.252-07:00You can order Starblazer Adventures already from A...You can order <i>Starblazer Adventures</i> already from Amazon; I don’t know if <i>Legends of Anglerre</i> is a bolt-on for it or a standalone, but you can already preorder that, as well as the book under discussion here, <i>The Legends of Anglerre Companion</i>. If you’re picking up <i>Starblazer Adventures</i>, I also recommend the <i>Mindjammer</i> book as a cool science fiction setting.Max Kaehnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01385791086460457209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491933635924780786.post-72713148603545607122010-06-13T13:30:57.381-07:002010-06-13T13:30:57.381-07:00It sounds like this might be a game I need to read...It sounds like this might be a game I need to read more about. The main book is out, I presume?Anarchangelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00368238749398756016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491933635924780786.post-88125413892289594822010-06-11T21:29:23.144-07:002010-06-11T21:29:23.144-07:00I find that as a gamemaster, having the underlying...<i>I find that as a gamemaster, having the underlying whys makes it easier to tell a story; coming up with a single source detail like “natural harbor” means you have at least a cosmopolitan district in the city (if not the whole city and surrounding lands), big diverse markets, people from many different cultures, and so on.</i><br /><br />Of the above features, the things the generator would tell you would be that it's a commerce-focused city (e.g., a trading hub of some kind) with a diverse population. You will already know, IMO, if it's a port city -- in a way, this ties into the adventure generator, which includes terrain and climate types. At the very least, if you determine that it's a big city, and you're already on the coast (either because you've randomly determined that, or because, y'know, you're just there already), then you can reasonably say that it's a port city. <br /><br />The tricky thing (or one of the tricky things) about this is the need to make it as generic as possible, to suit a wide variety of settings and campaigns. I have no idea at what point someone's going to want to gin up a random city, so I can't very well dictate, in the random tables, that they've encountered a port city if the group is currently in the middle of the Dry-Bone Desert. So there's a point in the process where I have to leave it up to the GM to sort out the particulars, as suits their game.<br /><br />I mean, I can't even say "There's a wizards' college here!" without taking into account that someone's setting may not have any wizards <i>at all</i>, let alone colleges for them.<br /><br /><i>I’ll be very interested to see how you apply the FATE fractal to cities! How soon will we be able to preorder this one? </i><br /><br />Oh, I never know about that stuff -- I'm just a freelancer here. You'll have to check the C7 website for particulars. I think it's already on preorder, actually.Mike Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547961835994778883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491933635924780786.post-4098260161049171712010-06-11T20:27:24.759-07:002010-06-11T20:27:24.759-07:00I find that as a gamemaster, having the underlying...I find that as a gamemaster, having the underlying whys makes it easier to tell a story; coming up with a single source detail like “natural harbor” means you have at least a cosmopolitan district in the city (if not the whole city and surrounding lands), big diverse markets, people from many different cultures, and so on. That could be interesting to turn on its head, so you pick a particular trait that the players will see and get a list of possible reasons that such a feature would exist and what other ones would go with it.<br /><br />I’ll be very interested to see how you apply the FATE fractal to cities! How soon will we be able to preorder this one?Max Kaehnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01385791086460457209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491933635924780786.post-42644015308775187132010-06-11T17:20:20.524-07:002010-06-11T17:20:20.524-07:00Pfah. How aren't I structuring this random cit...Pfah. How <i>aren't</i> I structuring this random city generator? Seriously, it's gone through more than a few iterations here.<br /><br />In general, though, my guiding principle has been to create the city from the PCs' point of view. That is, the end-user experience is of paramount importance. <br /><br />For example, are the people unfriendly to outsiders, or dwarves, or mages, or whatever? I'm less interested in answering <i>why</i> that is than in determining <i>if</i> it is -- the "why" is up to the GM (and the players -- this <i>is</i> FATE we're talking about, after all). This isn't intended to replace the GM's creativity, but to guide and constrain their choices.<br /><br />Likewise, grid-vs.-jumble is likely to be a binary proposition -- and an aspect, probably. Whether one city's streets are more convoluted than another's is immaterial; all the players will care about (IMO) is what <i>this</i> one is like. So there won't be a graduated rating of, like, Street Complexity, although right now cities are handled similarly to Organizations.<br /><br />As it happens, I've been reading <i>A Magical Medieval City Guide</i>, so your mention of Expeditious Retreat is especially apt!Mike Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547961835994778883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4491933635924780786.post-3089436915686854192010-06-11T14:47:37.544-07:002010-06-11T14:47:37.544-07:00How are you structuring the random city generator?...How are you structuring the random city generator? One way would be to start from geography (seaport, major trade route, far from other civilization...), then look at the civilization level when it was founded (did they lay down a grid of streets and sewers, or did it develop in a jumble?), consider the neighbors (do they need defensive fortifications?), and so on. More of a flow chart with options for randomness than a true random number generator. (I’m one of those sorts that loves the hardcore details in the books from Expeditious Retreat Press...)Max Kaehnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01385791086460457209noreply@blogger.com