Tuesday 26 September 2017

Forsaken Space

Up a day later than planned, Man Flu will kinda do that to a guy's schedule.

Recently found myself thinking about a setting idea I posted about early last year, basically fleshing it out a bit more. The core idea remains unchanged, just thought of a few addition to better round out the idea and make it more interesting. Also settled upon the name of 'Fosaken Space' for the setting.

Frozen Skies Kickstarter next Monday (2nd October), 5pm Brit time (12 noon US East Coast).

Space Wreck - EVE Online

Forsaken Space

Interstellar Travel - Probably one of the defining features of the setting, especially I I end up expanding it, is having interstellar travel be done via naturally occurring wormholes. Though these wormholes are only open for varying periods of time, bit like Space: Above And Beyond. It does mean that space travel isn't a simple case of travelling from A to B, you may end up going through multiple different systems before you reach your intended destination. Timing would also be a factor, so you may have to hang around sometimes for the best route to open up.

It can also mean that the system, which is the main setting for Forsaken Space, is frequently cut off by a wormhole that is only open for a short period every 2-3 months.

The Corporation - Though I still have to think of a proper name for it, I picture a large corporation having exclusive rights to the system. With only one, known, wormhole its not hard for the corporation to have complete control. Though the corporation will hire freelancers, officially called 'Prospectors', to do all the salvaging work on the various wrecks. These Prospectors are normally hired on six month long contracts, something that doesn't coincide with the wormhole being open and is deliberate as the Prospectors will have to either spend their creds whilst they wait or sign on for another tour.

Gateway Station - The main base of operations in the system and is located close to the wormhole. All cargo and personnel pass through this station that also serves as the corporation's local HQ.

Gaunts - Once the Human crews of some of the wrecks, these creatures are now a dangerous hazard to Prospectors working the hulks in the cold hard vacuum of space. For this reason Prospector crews are authorised to carry weapons for defence.

Hazards & Situational Rules - Forsaken Space is going to make use of rules for radiation and varying degrees of gravity due to the condition of the various wrecks and, quite possibly, the different planets.

Monday 18 September 2017

Frozen Skies: The Campaign

Mentioned previously that my group is gearing up to do a Frozen Skies campaign, one that I hope to post a bit about as the group progresses through it. A bit of prep work is still required, though thanks to the players I have a framework to begin with (more on that below). Not sure as to when the campaign will actually start, I'm currently running a Fallout New Vegas based Savage Worlds game and to take a break from being GM for a little bit whilst somebody else runs a campaign.

These Are The Tall Tales And Exploits...

Airship Norge, The Arctic, 1926

First thing I did was give my group a list of keywords and told them to pick one or as many as they liked, what they picked would determined the campaign and thus related adventures. The list (and a tally for the choices) is below, though it does look a little bit like Firefly...

Airbase
Airship I
Aircraft I
Air Racing
Broken Spires - Pirate Haven I
Bounty Hunting
Crime I
Commerce I
Cargo
Driving
Exploration
Expedition
Ground
Hunting
Investigation
Law
Logging (Timber) I
Military
Mining
Privateer II
Raiding
Social (parties, social events, etc) I
Sky Pirate
Settlement
Smuggling I
Treasure I
Wulflands
Windryders II

First off it looks like they'll have a mobile base of operations in the form of an airship, probably a blimp or small zeppelin in size. So I'll have to come up with airship creation rules, or at least some stats, over the coming weeks. Aircraft was picked as well, whether its an escort fighter for the airship or a sort of air-shuttle/roundabout. Features are dependent on what the players pick.

Briefly going over the other choices it does look like the players may get involved with sky pirates in some form of another. Likewise, looks like they'll probably operate on either side of the law, again its looking alot like Firefly. Logging/Timber is an interesting choice, possible starting off point of the group working for a logging company venturing into the Alyeskan interior. In addition a visit to Broken Spires might be in order, though one that may or may not be connected to Treasure.

Windryders seem to be a favourite choice, so looks like a fair bit of involvement with them. Working with the logging company the players could quite easily come into contact with a Windryder tribe, possibly Social coming into play as the players attempt to broker a deal. Certainly the Windryders could send the players to Broken Spires in search of a stolen Dragonhawk egg, plus they might have a thing or two to say about the Treasure.

Privateer is another favourite choice, though would the players be for or against the Commonwealth? What if a foreign power had been taking the Dragonhawk eggs? If so, why? That last thing could open up an avenue to the rest of Darmonica.

Monday 11 September 2017

September 2017 Update

Many things afoot....

A few things to cover this week including change of schedule, Kickstarter news and a new Facebook group for Frozen Skies. In addition some details about a Frozen Skies campaign that I should be running soon as well as a few one shots.






Wait, a Monday?!

Regular readers may notice a big change in that this blog post has gone up a couple of days early. This is due to a change in my personal schedule (such as going back to college part-time) as well as other factors, hopefully it'll work really well.

Kickstarter!

We've got our launch date for the Kickstarter; Monday 2nd October 2017

Still some work left to do but hoping to put up a preview link soon, mainly to get some feedback and make improvements if needed before it goes live. So please, feel free to share far and wide.

Frozen Skies 

Aside from a few edits and some more artwork (hopefully funded through the Kickstarter) Frozen Skies is virtually done, how soon it comes out depends on factors presently out of my hands. If the Kickstarter is successful and we get a quick turnaround on the extra artwork it is possible that it'll be out before the end of the year, or at least early next year. If the Kickstarter doesn't go well then obviously it'll either be quite some time before I can self-fund anything more, other option is release Frozen Skies in an artwork-lite form and maybe gave crowdfunding another shot later on.

Thats pretty much where Frozen Skies is setting right now.

New Facebook Group

We now have a dedicated group for Frozen Skies over on Facebook, it'll run concurrent with the existing Utherwald Press page but only feature Frozen Skies related blog posts. Check it out *HERE*

Actual Plays

Hoping to be starting a Frozen Skies campaign soon, likely to post some details about it next week. In addition I'm also hoping to run a few one shots for Frozen Skies, just waiting to hear back whether I'll actually get to do this. Least with the campaign you can expect write-ups of each session, this will probably be every other week since my group meets once a fortnight. But as I said, details will probably be posted next week.

Wednesday 6 September 2017

Alyeskan Tales: A Dragonhawk In Hand

Some time ago I posted about both the Windryders and their Dragonhawk mounts, both have evolved a little since I originally post about them but that isn't going to be the subject of this week's blog post. I'm going to be running a Frozen Skies campaign some in the next few months and my players have expressed some interest in the Windryders and I've been thinking of ways to use them. So an Alyeskan Tales post fits best as a series of adventure hooks, some which may make their way into the campaign but otherwise all are free to use for anyone who wishes.

Ryders of the Wind

Flyers, Alpha Shade - Inspiration for the Dragonhawks

There are a few ways that you can work Windryders and/or Dragonhawks into your campaign.

*The party is looking to hire a Windryder scout, but they must complete some task before the scout signs-on.

*Certain parties (rich businessman, crime lord, etc) is interested in acquiring a Dragonhawk egg and will pay good money for it.

*A Windryder tribe is looking for help in tracking down and dealing with poachers who have been stealing Dragonhawk eggs.

*Raiders using Dragonhawks have been attacking remote settlements, could they be a Windryder tribe on the warpath or actually bandits?

*A Dragonhawk reared by an unsavoury party for illegal pit fighting has escaped and the players must help capture. Or they might be the ones who let it loose...