Showing posts with label Sandbox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sandbox. Show all posts
Saturday, August 6, 2016
Geographic Wonders Compilation
Monday, May 4, 2015
8 Recent Open World Video Games III
It's been a while since I played these, but since my computer died I would have to re-dowload them all to refresh my memory about them and I don't have the energy right now. So take my comments as what stuck in the mind of a casual player.
The Forest
The forest is a survival horror crafting game, which seems an odd mix of genres to begin with. I'm not experienced with survival horror at all, but I thought the point was to always feel out of your depth, uneasy, unsafe. While crafting games tend to be about mastery and slowly gaining control over an area.
The island you are on isn't infinite and the world is not a voxel world. You can build structures and permanently chop down trees. Food and water is a concern and tribes of hostiles.
There was a moment when a band of these cannibalistic weirdoids found me, were walking up slowly and checking me out, that I felt some real fear. That was cool. But being killed by them, didn't kill me, it put me in some cave of theirs that I had to escape. So the second time it happened it felt more like an annoyance.
So, you are trapped between what seemed to be several bands of these hostiles and you are meant to build a little settlement with racks to organize your sticks and gardens to grow vegetables? Didn't feel right.
A small annoyance was that, while there are plenty of alcohol bottles to drink from and craft Molotov cocktails from, you can't store water in them. Which means you have to walk and immerse yourself in a pool to drink. And thirst was off in that if I remember you could start taking damage after one day of not drinking water.
This is the game from this list that I played least. But if you are a fan of survival horror, maybe it will be more interesting to you.
Savage Lands
This is intended to be a metal, hardcore, barbarian vision of survival where you have to worry about starving, freezing, and getting killed by wolves and monsters at every turn. The monsters aren't quite as thick as the zombies of 7 Days to Die, but you'll have to fight them over and over to get needed crafting resources.
This is not an infinite world, in fact it is actually a set island map which appears to grow in difficulty as you travel inward. You can build structures, but not change the landscape otherwise. You use up ores you mine from rocks, I don't know if they eventually respawn.
One of the ways the game makes things difficult is to strictly limit your inventory. Everything you build needs sticks and rocks and logs and you can barely carry anything.
Another common way to increase difficulty in a crafting game is to add wear to items. Which is fine, unless you get the balance off. I made a pair of leather boots in this game that wore out before I could get the required materials to make another pair.
A third, obvious, way to increase difficulty is to increase the amount of items a crafting recipe requires or the difficulty of acquiring the items. Probably the moment I lost interest was when I saw the crafting recipe for all the clothing required logs! So, they want you to feel a sense of accomplishment when you have finally managed to craft enough bags and backpacks that would allow you to even carry the ingredients to make your leather armor, but requiring 25 logs to make a set of clothes seemed so absurd it threw me right out of the game.
I've always been more of an explorer, interested in seeing not only what's in the world but what's possible in that world, so survival games that are more about balancing on a knife edge of luck and anxious, perfect strategy lose my interest pretty quickly. If you are the kind of player that loves the Dark Souls games you might like Savage Lands.
The Forest
The forest is a survival horror crafting game, which seems an odd mix of genres to begin with. I'm not experienced with survival horror at all, but I thought the point was to always feel out of your depth, uneasy, unsafe. While crafting games tend to be about mastery and slowly gaining control over an area.
The island you are on isn't infinite and the world is not a voxel world. You can build structures and permanently chop down trees. Food and water is a concern and tribes of hostiles.
There was a moment when a band of these cannibalistic weirdoids found me, were walking up slowly and checking me out, that I felt some real fear. That was cool. But being killed by them, didn't kill me, it put me in some cave of theirs that I had to escape. So the second time it happened it felt more like an annoyance.
So, you are trapped between what seemed to be several bands of these hostiles and you are meant to build a little settlement with racks to organize your sticks and gardens to grow vegetables? Didn't feel right.
A small annoyance was that, while there are plenty of alcohol bottles to drink from and craft Molotov cocktails from, you can't store water in them. Which means you have to walk and immerse yourself in a pool to drink. And thirst was off in that if I remember you could start taking damage after one day of not drinking water.
This is the game from this list that I played least. But if you are a fan of survival horror, maybe it will be more interesting to you.
Savage Lands
This is intended to be a metal, hardcore, barbarian vision of survival where you have to worry about starving, freezing, and getting killed by wolves and monsters at every turn. The monsters aren't quite as thick as the zombies of 7 Days to Die, but you'll have to fight them over and over to get needed crafting resources.
This is not an infinite world, in fact it is actually a set island map which appears to grow in difficulty as you travel inward. You can build structures, but not change the landscape otherwise. You use up ores you mine from rocks, I don't know if they eventually respawn.
One of the ways the game makes things difficult is to strictly limit your inventory. Everything you build needs sticks and rocks and logs and you can barely carry anything.
Another common way to increase difficulty in a crafting game is to add wear to items. Which is fine, unless you get the balance off. I made a pair of leather boots in this game that wore out before I could get the required materials to make another pair.
A third, obvious, way to increase difficulty is to increase the amount of items a crafting recipe requires or the difficulty of acquiring the items. Probably the moment I lost interest was when I saw the crafting recipe for all the clothing required logs! So, they want you to feel a sense of accomplishment when you have finally managed to craft enough bags and backpacks that would allow you to even carry the ingredients to make your leather armor, but requiring 25 logs to make a set of clothes seemed so absurd it threw me right out of the game.
I've always been more of an explorer, interested in seeing not only what's in the world but what's possible in that world, so survival games that are more about balancing on a knife edge of luck and anxious, perfect strategy lose my interest pretty quickly. If you are the kind of player that loves the Dark Souls games you might like Savage Lands.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
8 Recent Open World Video Games II
I think I'll talk about two similar games in this post: Salt and Stranded Deep. Stranded Deep is basically a Castaway simulator with relatively realistic graphics of islands and sea life. Salt is a more cartoonish island-exploring game where your main enemy is the pirates that pepper various islands.
But both involve gather rocks and sticks, crafting tools, acquiring food, and exploring infinite islands. These games focus more on the exploration part of a sandbox game than some of the others on my list, and island hopping is a really good way to do that.
Salt
I think the strong point of Salt is that the islands you find can be quite different. Some have pirate encampments, some ancient ruins. I found an ancient altar once, and have found merchants that traded with me and gave me a simple quest. I've hunted black deer at sunset and had a few terrifying nights fighting spiders by torchlight.
While you can build better boats as you get more materials and the books that teach you how to build them, one thing I found myself craving was the ability to make a change in the world-- to build a house or somehow make an island mine. But the world is not a voxel world, and when I last played the only things you could build on land where a campfire and a flag.
The worst thing about Salt for me was the poor quality of the art work for the pirates and the item icons in the UI. I realize the game is still in development and that you might want to put some placeholder artwork in a game you are making, but if your main enemy is going to be pirates I think you need to find artist to make you a better representation, even if a cartoony one. The item icons are small and cartoony and I would often have a hard time distinguishing them.
Stranded Deep
It is really cool to be able to dive into a shipwreck and find random loot in them. After a while you know all the possible items you can find in this game, but more items could be added- the point is that this setup scratches a fundamental exploration/scavenging itch I have. It's also neat to be paddling along and see a marlin, a sea turtle, or a great white shark. There are whales and sea urchins and sting rays too.
One of the things that get's frustrating is dealing with your limited inventory. I think this is another common way some of these 8 games try to make themselves more difficult and more "realistic" than minecraft by limiting how much you can carry. But when you have to go from island to island with sharks trying to bump you off your shaky raft carrying your precious bundle of sticks, rocks, and palm fronds, it can get irritating. I wonder why I can't make a raft of logs and then break it up at another island, or at least tie a bundle of fronds or sticks to my raft.
Another thing that bugged me was the way the game renders distant islands. Islands in your peripheral vision zoom closer and then zoom back out when you look directly at them. It makes it quite disorienting when trying to judge which island is closest and which you were trying to reach before the sharks attacked you and you lost your line of sight.
But I'd say the most disappointing thing is the homogeneity of the islands. Yes, they have interesting assortments of wrecks around them, but once you've seen one of the islands you've seen them all. The game really needs some islands that are bigger, with hills, waterfalls, and caves. The latest update to the game introduced Sea Forts and I've heard they might be trying to add caves, so that's cool.
But both involve gather rocks and sticks, crafting tools, acquiring food, and exploring infinite islands. These games focus more on the exploration part of a sandbox game than some of the others on my list, and island hopping is a really good way to do that.
Salt
I think the strong point of Salt is that the islands you find can be quite different. Some have pirate encampments, some ancient ruins. I found an ancient altar once, and have found merchants that traded with me and gave me a simple quest. I've hunted black deer at sunset and had a few terrifying nights fighting spiders by torchlight.
While you can build better boats as you get more materials and the books that teach you how to build them, one thing I found myself craving was the ability to make a change in the world-- to build a house or somehow make an island mine. But the world is not a voxel world, and when I last played the only things you could build on land where a campfire and a flag.
The worst thing about Salt for me was the poor quality of the art work for the pirates and the item icons in the UI. I realize the game is still in development and that you might want to put some placeholder artwork in a game you are making, but if your main enemy is going to be pirates I think you need to find artist to make you a better representation, even if a cartoony one. The item icons are small and cartoony and I would often have a hard time distinguishing them.
Stranded Deep
It is really cool to be able to dive into a shipwreck and find random loot in them. After a while you know all the possible items you can find in this game, but more items could be added- the point is that this setup scratches a fundamental exploration/scavenging itch I have. It's also neat to be paddling along and see a marlin, a sea turtle, or a great white shark. There are whales and sea urchins and sting rays too.
One of the things that get's frustrating is dealing with your limited inventory. I think this is another common way some of these 8 games try to make themselves more difficult and more "realistic" than minecraft by limiting how much you can carry. But when you have to go from island to island with sharks trying to bump you off your shaky raft carrying your precious bundle of sticks, rocks, and palm fronds, it can get irritating. I wonder why I can't make a raft of logs and then break it up at another island, or at least tie a bundle of fronds or sticks to my raft.
Another thing that bugged me was the way the game renders distant islands. Islands in your peripheral vision zoom closer and then zoom back out when you look directly at them. It makes it quite disorienting when trying to judge which island is closest and which you were trying to reach before the sharks attacked you and you lost your line of sight.
But I'd say the most disappointing thing is the homogeneity of the islands. Yes, they have interesting assortments of wrecks around them, but once you've seen one of the islands you've seen them all. The game really needs some islands that are bigger, with hills, waterfalls, and caves. The latest update to the game introduced Sea Forts and I've heard they might be trying to add caves, so that's cool.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
8 Recent Open World Video Games
I've spend a lot of time exploring single-player video game worlds. I wanted to reflect a bit on what I've experienced in the last few months. Of course most of these are early access, but from my experience that doesn't mean a game will change significantly once they once they remove that label.
Minecraft
Not one of the 8 and obviously not new, but the benchmark. If you want a tenuous connection for this series to pen and paper gaming, Minecraft is the D&D of open world games and the rest on this list are fantasy heartbreakers. Which, actually is a pretty good fit because I think most of these games are trying to fix one of two traits of Minecraft -- making the world less cartoony and making survival more difficult.
7-Days to Die
Set in something like a post-apocalyptic Arizona, you scavenge, gather resources and try to survive. It's a voxel based world, so you can dig up every block. It touts its building physics which requires building with adequate support to prevent structural collapses (unlike Minecraft's floating blocks).
It's fun to go through the modern buildings looting, but there are way too many zombies for me. I think this might be because it's aimed at multiplayer, so they expect you to have help. Ammo is limited, weapons wear out and do less and less damage as they do, gathering and cooking meat brings more zombies down on you. But worse, for a game that includes building, it undermines any kind of building you do. You can't prevent zombie spawns in an area, so walls are useless. Zombies will dig at anything in front of them, so ditches or moats will just mean they eventually end up digging up through your floor. Worst of all, the dead flesh hands of zombies can break through anything given enough time, even reinforced concrete. In my play-throughs the only viable strategy has been to build an underground bunker, which is kind of boring.
I finally got frustrated and turned zombies off completely, which turned out to be a lot of fun. It felt oddly peaceful being the last person on earth. I was quite surprised, then, when I came back from a short break to find out I'd been killed. Apparently the zombie sieges are coded separately from normal spawns and there is no way to turn them off.. Hah, how's that for hardcore, you get monsters even when you specifically turn off monsters.
So anyway, this heartbreaker succeeds in being more realistic than minecraft, but over-does it on the difficulty aspect. Unless you enjoy killing infinite zombies forever and living in a hole, it will lose it's shine quickly.
The other 7
I'll talk about these in future posts:
Salt
Stranded Deep
The Forest
Savage Lands
the Long Dark
Subnautica
Space/Medieval Engineers
Minecraft
Not one of the 8 and obviously not new, but the benchmark. If you want a tenuous connection for this series to pen and paper gaming, Minecraft is the D&D of open world games and the rest on this list are fantasy heartbreakers. Which, actually is a pretty good fit because I think most of these games are trying to fix one of two traits of Minecraft -- making the world less cartoony and making survival more difficult.
7-Days to Die
Set in something like a post-apocalyptic Arizona, you scavenge, gather resources and try to survive. It's a voxel based world, so you can dig up every block. It touts its building physics which requires building with adequate support to prevent structural collapses (unlike Minecraft's floating blocks).
It's fun to go through the modern buildings looting, but there are way too many zombies for me. I think this might be because it's aimed at multiplayer, so they expect you to have help. Ammo is limited, weapons wear out and do less and less damage as they do, gathering and cooking meat brings more zombies down on you. But worse, for a game that includes building, it undermines any kind of building you do. You can't prevent zombie spawns in an area, so walls are useless. Zombies will dig at anything in front of them, so ditches or moats will just mean they eventually end up digging up through your floor. Worst of all, the dead flesh hands of zombies can break through anything given enough time, even reinforced concrete. In my play-throughs the only viable strategy has been to build an underground bunker, which is kind of boring.
I finally got frustrated and turned zombies off completely, which turned out to be a lot of fun. It felt oddly peaceful being the last person on earth. I was quite surprised, then, when I came back from a short break to find out I'd been killed. Apparently the zombie sieges are coded separately from normal spawns and there is no way to turn them off.. Hah, how's that for hardcore, you get monsters even when you specifically turn off monsters.
So anyway, this heartbreaker succeeds in being more realistic than minecraft, but over-does it on the difficulty aspect. Unless you enjoy killing infinite zombies forever and living in a hole, it will lose it's shine quickly.
The other 7
I'll talk about these in future posts:
Salt
Stranded Deep
The Forest
Savage Lands
the Long Dark
Subnautica
Space/Medieval Engineers
Monday, July 14, 2014
Sandbox Wonders 15
These might look familiar. Go here to see me come up with the ideas.
106. Valley of Graves - It's easy to miss that the low, woody shrubs here hide thousands of graves. Each has a flat stone marked with simple runes, indicating how the dead were noteworthy. Eat leaves from above a grave to attain similar attributes for a week. (treat searching the graves as a library).
107. Carved Towers -There are twelve of these huge, natural boulders carved into simple temples. The temples vary but have windows, benches, and a fountain. Each month of the year the fountain flows and a warm lights appear in a different temple. Drinking from the waters will cause hostiles to always target you last, for as long as the water flows in that temple.
108. The Great Graven Tusk - A huge tusk emerges from the muck of a swamp. It's scrimshawed with an ancient story. At a particular hour of day the sun falls on a part of the story that causes flowers to blossom all around the tusk. Wear the flowers in your hair and enemy blows will always do the least harm possible.
109. The Black Tears - At random times this volcano rains down perfectly smooth, tear-shaped bits of obsidian the size of a human head. This makes travel here treacherous, but the tears are highly sought as scrying devices.
110. Carved Grove - This remote section of forest has crude figures carved in the trunks of the trees. Visiting the grove will cause your own crude likeness to appear the next day. Then, strangers will treat you as long-lost friends until someone else visits the grove and their likeness is carved.
106. Valley of Graves - It's easy to miss that the low, woody shrubs here hide thousands of graves. Each has a flat stone marked with simple runes, indicating how the dead were noteworthy. Eat leaves from above a grave to attain similar attributes for a week. (treat searching the graves as a library).
107. Carved Towers -There are twelve of these huge, natural boulders carved into simple temples. The temples vary but have windows, benches, and a fountain. Each month of the year the fountain flows and a warm lights appear in a different temple. Drinking from the waters will cause hostiles to always target you last, for as long as the water flows in that temple.
108. The Great Graven Tusk - A huge tusk emerges from the muck of a swamp. It's scrimshawed with an ancient story. At a particular hour of day the sun falls on a part of the story that causes flowers to blossom all around the tusk. Wear the flowers in your hair and enemy blows will always do the least harm possible.
109. The Black Tears - At random times this volcano rains down perfectly smooth, tear-shaped bits of obsidian the size of a human head. This makes travel here treacherous, but the tears are highly sought as scrying devices.
110. Carved Grove - This remote section of forest has crude figures carved in the trunks of the trees. Visiting the grove will cause your own crude likeness to appear the next day. Then, strangers will treat you as long-lost friends until someone else visits the grove and their likeness is carved.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Sandbox Wonders 14
I mentioned I wanted to go past 100 so I could replace some earlier entries I thought weaker, so here we go:
101. Waterfall Tree - A huge tree with water cascading from its crown. Drinking this water sharpens the mind (2x experience for a session).
102. Stunted Forest - An ancient forest of twisted and stunted trees, few as tall as a person. Burning the wood properly in an athanor refills items with magical power.
103. Fainting Forest - A vast aspen grove with trees that fall away from living things walking close. Each morning the trees raise themselves again. Their wood is the best for making detection wands.
104. World Trees - Huge trees, hundreds of feet across and tall enough to disappear into the clouds. Their bases partially hollowed away by fire and ancient carvings, a person sleeping inside one will wake in another time.
105. Mica Fields - The flat earth glitters golden for as far as the eye can see. Sheets of this mineral can be pried up to make windows ghosts cannot pass through.
101. Waterfall Tree - A huge tree with water cascading from its crown. Drinking this water sharpens the mind (2x experience for a session).
102. Stunted Forest - An ancient forest of twisted and stunted trees, few as tall as a person. Burning the wood properly in an athanor refills items with magical power.
103. Fainting Forest - A vast aspen grove with trees that fall away from living things walking close. Each morning the trees raise themselves again. Their wood is the best for making detection wands.
104. World Trees - Huge trees, hundreds of feet across and tall enough to disappear into the clouds. Their bases partially hollowed away by fire and ancient carvings, a person sleeping inside one will wake in another time.
105. Mica Fields - The flat earth glitters golden for as far as the eye can see. Sheets of this mineral can be pried up to make windows ghosts cannot pass through.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Sandbox Wonders 13
Back from camping with a few more ideas for sandbox or geographic wonders. This get's us to 100 but I won't stop here because some of the earlier entries were pretty weak and I want replacements.
96. Ghost Creek - The loud sound of water flowing in a creek is heard here, but no water. Containers left out overnight will fill slowly. Drinking the water in them will allow a person to rest without sleeping - like an elf- for a week.
97. Honeyed Cliffs - Tall cliffs so covered in wild beehives that honey drips down along the length of them. This honey is said to preserve things indefinitely and locals place the bodies of revered dead all along the bottom of the cliffs.
98. Root Cavern - A vast cavern with roots in place of stalagmites and stalactites. They drip thick sap which will trap the unwary. If thinned with alcohol and drunk, it is said to make the skin bark-hard for a day.
99. Stalking Creek - Travellers through dry hills will sometimes encounter a creek that they cannot shake. Hiking directly away from it reveals that it curves around the hill you just hiked over. Once the creek is seen parties lose their sense of direction and will remain lost. It is said hiking up the creek will reveal the last party lost to the creek around the source and free travellers from its hold.
100. The Barrens - Huge swath of forest that appears devastated by a recent fire. Walking into it will drain strength from a person (drain 1 hp per turn of hiking) while revitalizing the small area around their path.
96. Ghost Creek - The loud sound of water flowing in a creek is heard here, but no water. Containers left out overnight will fill slowly. Drinking the water in them will allow a person to rest without sleeping - like an elf- for a week.
97. Honeyed Cliffs - Tall cliffs so covered in wild beehives that honey drips down along the length of them. This honey is said to preserve things indefinitely and locals place the bodies of revered dead all along the bottom of the cliffs.
98. Root Cavern - A vast cavern with roots in place of stalagmites and stalactites. They drip thick sap which will trap the unwary. If thinned with alcohol and drunk, it is said to make the skin bark-hard for a day.
99. Stalking Creek - Travellers through dry hills will sometimes encounter a creek that they cannot shake. Hiking directly away from it reveals that it curves around the hill you just hiked over. Once the creek is seen parties lose their sense of direction and will remain lost. It is said hiking up the creek will reveal the last party lost to the creek around the source and free travellers from its hold.
100. The Barrens - Huge swath of forest that appears devastated by a recent fire. Walking into it will drain strength from a person (drain 1 hp per turn of hiking) while revitalizing the small area around their path.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Sandbox Lessons from Westeros
I finally got around to reading the books of A Song of Ice and Fire at the insistence of one of my players. I'm not quite done with the last book currently out, but I've enjoyed them quite a bit. I think Martin has done a good job of providing plots that both provide for genre expectations at the same time as surprising me every now and again.
Anyway, as with anything I approached the books with the eyes of a DM and I found some simplifications Martin adopted to help him tell his stories that might also help DMs trying to run players in a big, imagined world. Some simplifications you might consider for your fantasy world:
Anything you would add?
Anyway, as with anything I approached the books with the eyes of a DM and I found some simplifications Martin adopted to help him tell his stories that might also help DMs trying to run players in a big, imagined world. Some simplifications you might consider for your fantasy world:
- Simple Family Names - There are some allegiances in the books that are complicated by marriage, but most are related to your immediate family and families in the books are clear because they have the same last name. Bastards are also clearly marked by a traditional last name, and marked in such a way that you know where their family is from (Snow, Rivers). This allows you to have a lot more characters floating about with out losing track of where they are from and where their allegiances most likely lie. (Many, though not all, of the place names in the books function in similarly simple ways: Oldtown, King's Landing, Winterfell, Riverrun).
- Simple Coats of Arms - Along the same lines, heraldry is simple and almost always utilizes an object appropriate to the location and vocation of that family. And soldiers wear badges of these arms. So you can usually tell just by looking who different troops belong to. That's the point of heraldry, but in real life it is much more complicated. I think that for many of the arms of Westeros players might even be able to guess where the family hails from without former knowledge.
- Simple Long Range Communication - Ravens - By sending message via the ravens, word of deaths and crimes can spread relatively quickly. And while uncertainty of arrival is always mentioned as a possibility, it's never been a plot point in what I've read so far. So, in effect, the castles become points of civilization where news is heard and only someone traveling between them won't be privy to important goings on. Individuals can also send messages, using the ravens like a mail system. This means you don't have to have a complicated system to track the spread of news based on travel times of merchants or peasants, just have ravens carry the news and get on with the show.
- Assumed Knowledge NPCs - Maesters - Every castle has a source of history, technology, and healing. And because of their vows, these maesters while serving that family, are generally neutral and not seeking power or wealth of their own. Have a wound or question about historic lore-- head for a castle. Priests are a similar resource, a septa or septon in every castle, but because of the low magic beginning of the series, they are less important in the books. It might be more important in your world that every castle has a chapel and a priest.
- Assumed Dumping spot for troublesome NPCs - The Night Watch - It seems a neutral faction with its own military but concerns other than ruling, might be handy for many reasons. Having an order to put criminals or potential threats to succession in means these threats never disappear, can be questioned by players, and can become threats again if they break their vows. Also, the faction can be a place for players to look for aid, if it aligns with the order's goals.
Anything you would add?
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Sandbox Wonders 12
91. Dark Ice Caves - The ice these caves are found in is a dark, purplish hue. It melts to water of the same color. This water freezes in darkness regardless of temperature. Treasured by desert castellans.
92. The Great Stillwater - This lake in the center of a northern bog is deathly still. In fact no ripples move on the water when it is disturbed. If some of this is poured in another body, that water will still for an hour.
93. Ghost Road - Parties traveling on this ancient road see no one behind them and a party far in front of them that looks identical to theirs. All parties see this. Two parties traveling at the same time will not see each other until close enough to be mingling horses.
94. The Old Teeth - A line of obsidian plugs jutting from a rocky landscape. Fires set next to them produce no smoke, as if the plugs breathe it all in.
95. The Round Pools - A flat, stone plain dotted with small, circular pools. The fresh water never dries up and bathing in one will speed healing of small wounds. Bathing in several in the proper intervals will heal completely and even restore limbs.
92. The Great Stillwater - This lake in the center of a northern bog is deathly still. In fact no ripples move on the water when it is disturbed. If some of this is poured in another body, that water will still for an hour.
93. Ghost Road - Parties traveling on this ancient road see no one behind them and a party far in front of them that looks identical to theirs. All parties see this. Two parties traveling at the same time will not see each other until close enough to be mingling horses.
94. The Old Teeth - A line of obsidian plugs jutting from a rocky landscape. Fires set next to them produce no smoke, as if the plugs breathe it all in.
95. The Round Pools - A flat, stone plain dotted with small, circular pools. The fresh water never dries up and bathing in one will speed healing of small wounds. Bathing in several in the proper intervals will heal completely and even restore limbs.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Sandbox Wonders 11
86. Grey Hills - These low rolling hills are a sickly grey and made almost entirely of clay. They are treacherous in wet weather but folks say bricks made from the clay cannot be broken by siege engines.
87. Keep Tree - From a distance it looks like a stand but it's actually one huge, ring-like tree. With one entrance and a clearing inside some thirty feet across, many tribes, patrols, and pilgrims have sought shelter here over the years. Oaths made inside bind like a geas.
88. The Honeycomb - Red sandstone with tight, twisting passages and holes of different sizes worn by wind and ancient water ways. The best shelter for miles in the badlands, it's said you can hear the conversations of all those that have camped there before in the wind moaning through the crannies.
89. God's Bowl - In the floor of a rocky mountain valley a massive vein of white quartz holds a pool of water. This water will never freeze even if taken from the pool.
90. Wight Woods - Evergreen trees that do not move in the wind but move as if by wind if the dead are moving near them.
87. Keep Tree - From a distance it looks like a stand but it's actually one huge, ring-like tree. With one entrance and a clearing inside some thirty feet across, many tribes, patrols, and pilgrims have sought shelter here over the years. Oaths made inside bind like a geas.
88. The Honeycomb - Red sandstone with tight, twisting passages and holes of different sizes worn by wind and ancient water ways. The best shelter for miles in the badlands, it's said you can hear the conversations of all those that have camped there before in the wind moaning through the crannies.
89. God's Bowl - In the floor of a rocky mountain valley a massive vein of white quartz holds a pool of water. This water will never freeze even if taken from the pool.
90. Wight Woods - Evergreen trees that do not move in the wind but move as if by wind if the dead are moving near them.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Sandbox Wonders 10
81. Sand Falls - A plateau in a desert with dunes on and around it. Every third day sand falls from above. The sand is so pure and fine it's said a person with cursed weapons or armor can remove them while standing under the fall.
82. The Roots - Acres of twisted roots with no soil. Very difficult to travel through. These roots consume soil around them and cuttings are feared by farmers and desired by sappers.
83. Dark Water - Somewhere in the ocean a patch of dark water exists. It is oily and stinks like-rotting fruit. Bathe in it and animals will ignore you for a day.
84. God's Breath - These rocky flats are blasted by a continuous downward wind. So loud that speech is impossible. It is said someone cannot be scryed for as long as God breathes on them.
85. The Shells - Deep in a desert a vast area of pinkish dunes. These are actually made up of millions of tiny shells. Placing the shells in water causes them to revivify as tiny molluscs and crustaceans that are voracious and consume any meat nearby.
82. The Roots - Acres of twisted roots with no soil. Very difficult to travel through. These roots consume soil around them and cuttings are feared by farmers and desired by sappers.
83. Dark Water - Somewhere in the ocean a patch of dark water exists. It is oily and stinks like-rotting fruit. Bathe in it and animals will ignore you for a day.
84. God's Breath - These rocky flats are blasted by a continuous downward wind. So loud that speech is impossible. It is said someone cannot be scryed for as long as God breathes on them.
85. The Shells - Deep in a desert a vast area of pinkish dunes. These are actually made up of millions of tiny shells. Placing the shells in water causes them to revivify as tiny molluscs and crustaceans that are voracious and consume any meat nearby.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Sandbox Wonders 9
76. Moth Fogs - Marshy lands where any movement causes millions of tiny, white moths to rise up and flutter about. They are drawn to faces.
77. Rushlight Berries - Inedible berries that glow as bright as a candle when ripe. Dim as they overipen.
78. Lichen Field - Above the treeline, a valley filled with yellow-orange lichen. Eating a handfull allows a person to go a week without food.
79. Balancing Bole - The trunk of what was once a huge fir balances precariously on a point jutting out from a high cliff. It is said that if you say a name as you push on the trunk it will rotate so the small end points toward where that thing is in the world.
80. Balancing Rocks - Above the treeline, a whole valley filled with piles of balanced stones. Make your own pile and gain luck for as long as it stands. The higher the pile, the more luck but the more likely it will tumble once you leave.
77. Rushlight Berries - Inedible berries that glow as bright as a candle when ripe. Dim as they overipen.
78. Lichen Field - Above the treeline, a valley filled with yellow-orange lichen. Eating a handfull allows a person to go a week without food.
79. Balancing Bole - The trunk of what was once a huge fir balances precariously on a point jutting out from a high cliff. It is said that if you say a name as you push on the trunk it will rotate so the small end points toward where that thing is in the world.
80. Balancing Rocks - Above the treeline, a whole valley filled with piles of balanced stones. Make your own pile and gain luck for as long as it stands. The higher the pile, the more luck but the more likely it will tumble once you leave.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Sandbox Wonders 8
I've been fighting a cold for a week now. It isn't bad, but I feel too tired to be very creative. Here are a few wonders just to keep the blog active:
73. Wandering Grove - Within a large area of plains, a particular grove of trees is never seen moving but often found in different locations. Some say it hides a ancient shrine and moves to keep it safe.
74. Cypress Stands - These low, rolling hills are peppered with lines and stands of Italian Cypress. Close inspection reveals they outline former lanes and villas. Somehow, the trees survived the complete destruction of the rest. Reading a map here will cause ancient dwellings, cities, and roads that no longer exist, to appear on the map.
75. Winter Boulders - Above the tree line there is a area that looks clear, but in winter fallen snow reveals the shapes of invisible boulders. The boulders have centuries of graffiti and recesses carved into them. Placing objects into recesses will make them invisible too.
73. Wandering Grove - Within a large area of plains, a particular grove of trees is never seen moving but often found in different locations. Some say it hides a ancient shrine and moves to keep it safe.
74. Cypress Stands - These low, rolling hills are peppered with lines and stands of Italian Cypress. Close inspection reveals they outline former lanes and villas. Somehow, the trees survived the complete destruction of the rest. Reading a map here will cause ancient dwellings, cities, and roads that no longer exist, to appear on the map.
75. Winter Boulders - Above the tree line there is a area that looks clear, but in winter fallen snow reveals the shapes of invisible boulders. The boulders have centuries of graffiti and recesses carved into them. Placing objects into recesses will make them invisible too.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Sandbox Wonders 7
More sandbox locations meant to evoke a sense of wonder in your players:
63. Sculpted Forest - Old oak forest carved in marble. Each leaf and acorn detailed realistically. It's said each acorn if planted and watered, will grow a 20 x 20 x 3 section of stone wall.
64. Rust Beach - Run of beach made of rust. Rumored that a god corrodes under the water nearby. Eat the rust to immunize your body to magic.
65. Glass Fumaroles - Natural glass extrudes in strange spindles from these steaming, sulfurous holes. Glass so pure and fine that, if struck, the noise made is only heard by elves.
66. Leaves with No Trees - These grassy plains are covered in colorful leaves in the fall, though there are no trees for miles.
67. Hidden Valley - A small, fertile valley with a creek that no one knows about, but you. Maps don't show it. Travelers will route around it and not realize the extra time their journey took.
68. Beast Amphitheaters - Natural, rocky concavities where, at midnight, all the animals from miles around gather in, to sit in silent circles until dawn.
69. Twin Valley - Every tree here is next to an identical tree, every flower, an identical flower. Each squirrel you see, each deer is a pair.
70. Punctured Lands - These grassy, foggy flatlands are treacherous because the ground is full of holes. Fist-sized to horse-sized, the holes plunge hundreds of feet into darkness. Listening at the holes, will let you here the voices of the dead, different hole, different voice.
71. Bright Hills - Everything here seems normal, except there are no shadows.
72. Coral Road - A sinuous, bright-red road that might be aeons old, it curves to miss mountains no longer there, bridges over rivers now dry, before disappearing under the sea.
63. Sculpted Forest - Old oak forest carved in marble. Each leaf and acorn detailed realistically. It's said each acorn if planted and watered, will grow a 20 x 20 x 3 section of stone wall.
64. Rust Beach - Run of beach made of rust. Rumored that a god corrodes under the water nearby. Eat the rust to immunize your body to magic.
65. Glass Fumaroles - Natural glass extrudes in strange spindles from these steaming, sulfurous holes. Glass so pure and fine that, if struck, the noise made is only heard by elves.
66. Leaves with No Trees - These grassy plains are covered in colorful leaves in the fall, though there are no trees for miles.
67. Hidden Valley - A small, fertile valley with a creek that no one knows about, but you. Maps don't show it. Travelers will route around it and not realize the extra time their journey took.
68. Beast Amphitheaters - Natural, rocky concavities where, at midnight, all the animals from miles around gather in, to sit in silent circles until dawn.
69. Twin Valley - Every tree here is next to an identical tree, every flower, an identical flower. Each squirrel you see, each deer is a pair.
70. Punctured Lands - These grassy, foggy flatlands are treacherous because the ground is full of holes. Fist-sized to horse-sized, the holes plunge hundreds of feet into darkness. Listening at the holes, will let you here the voices of the dead, different hole, different voice.
71. Bright Hills - Everything here seems normal, except there are no shadows.
72. Coral Road - A sinuous, bright-red road that might be aeons old, it curves to miss mountains no longer there, bridges over rivers now dry, before disappearing under the sea.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Sandbox Wonders 6
Continuing to try and come up with places a player could encounter in an rpg sandbox that might evoke a sense of wonder. But first a couple of ideas:
Scale Again
I started this series of posts thinking scale doesn't work for evoking wonder and used the Grand Canyon as an example of something that wouldn't seem very wondrous explained verbally. But the more of these I do the more I realize that I had it wrong-- scale is an important part of pulling wonder off, it was the visual sense that wasn't translating verbally. And, in fact, all the senses- strange sounds, overwhelming smells - are hard to pull off just through description.
Familiarity
I was talking with a co-worker and she told me that wonder for her, would always be tied to some variation of something she had encountered before, otherwise her reaction would instead be shock. Her example was if she saw a unicorn she'd be more "WTF!?" than full of wonder. And I think that's right. And I think I've been unconsciously aiming for that all along, the whole conceptual wonder I mentioned posts ago is about taking something you are already familiar with, like a waterfall, and then doing something unexpected with it, like making it fall up.
Related to this idea of familiarity is that I realize now I've been trying to keep things from being too weird. And I think what was going on in the back of my head was if I stick to fundamental, elemental things like earth and water, these results would be more likely to fit in your campaign without messing with your tone, or level of magic too much. Even a low magic campaign might have room for one shy forest.
In other words, not only would "rubbery pods the size of a house that float in a certain direction based on your emotion" be more likely to trigger your "WTF!?" reaction than wonder, it also presumes a lot more about your campaign world, how weird it is, and how players might travel around in it. So if some of these entries seem a little mundane, that's one reason.
53. Where the Light Falls - Imagine a shaft of sunlight breaking through the clouds on a cloudy day. In this place there are many of these sunny rays of light, of various sizes and falling at various angles, even when there are no clouds. If a living thing walks through the one of these, the light will fallow them until they leave the region. Follow them even at night.
54. Twilight Vale - This secluded valley is always in the gloaming. It is a peaceful dusk, with crickets and fireflies. But the sun never shines here.
55. Root Forest - This grove of trees grows upside down. Nothing is seen but roots. Digging in the earth around the trunks reveals leaves and mango-like fruit. Eating one of these fruit will give you all the benefits of a good nights sleep without having to sleep.
56. Fertile Earth - This patch of land is so fertile that anything planted in the ground here will grow into a tree. These trees look just like oaks, and are just as slow to grow, but bear fruit that is the young of the planted "seed." Bury a bird and the tree bears eggs. Bury a fruit and the tree bear seeds. Bury the dead and . . .
57. Impenetrable Forest - After walking for half an hour into this stand of trees you will find yourself walking back out. Always.
58. Down Showers - In this area, in the winter, small downy feathers fall instead of snow. These blacken and decay eventually. Gathered fresh into sacks, the down can be used for bedding and clothing that provides excellent warmth while virtually weightless.
59. Salt Forest - Seen from a distance it looks like a snow-covered forest. Closer inspection reveals trees, shrubs, stumps, everything made entirely from salt. Rain causes the whole to melt away. Later, the salt then pushes up from the ground to slowly reform the forest. This salt is said to be useful for leaving trails in labyrinths that remain undisturbed.
60. Cold Springs - A series of ponds and geysers in a rocky badland that have, not hot, but freezing cold waters. This water is said to keep it's cold far longer than normal when transported elsewhere.
61. The Great Shells - This forgotten bay holds oysters the size of ox carts. Pried open, candlesticks, crowns, and other objects can be placed inside to be covered by mother-of-pearl.
62. The Horned Rocks - A rocky mountainside out of which grows sets of horns. There are various spirals, curvatures, and length. If a horn is cut, another will begin slowly growing from the same spot. These horns, when carved properly, can be heard farther than should be possible when sounded.
Scale Again
I started this series of posts thinking scale doesn't work for evoking wonder and used the Grand Canyon as an example of something that wouldn't seem very wondrous explained verbally. But the more of these I do the more I realize that I had it wrong-- scale is an important part of pulling wonder off, it was the visual sense that wasn't translating verbally. And, in fact, all the senses- strange sounds, overwhelming smells - are hard to pull off just through description.
Familiarity
I was talking with a co-worker and she told me that wonder for her, would always be tied to some variation of something she had encountered before, otherwise her reaction would instead be shock. Her example was if she saw a unicorn she'd be more "WTF!?" than full of wonder. And I think that's right. And I think I've been unconsciously aiming for that all along, the whole conceptual wonder I mentioned posts ago is about taking something you are already familiar with, like a waterfall, and then doing something unexpected with it, like making it fall up.
Related to this idea of familiarity is that I realize now I've been trying to keep things from being too weird. And I think what was going on in the back of my head was if I stick to fundamental, elemental things like earth and water, these results would be more likely to fit in your campaign without messing with your tone, or level of magic too much. Even a low magic campaign might have room for one shy forest.
In other words, not only would "rubbery pods the size of a house that float in a certain direction based on your emotion" be more likely to trigger your "WTF!?" reaction than wonder, it also presumes a lot more about your campaign world, how weird it is, and how players might travel around in it. So if some of these entries seem a little mundane, that's one reason.
53. Where the Light Falls - Imagine a shaft of sunlight breaking through the clouds on a cloudy day. In this place there are many of these sunny rays of light, of various sizes and falling at various angles, even when there are no clouds. If a living thing walks through the one of these, the light will fallow them until they leave the region. Follow them even at night.
54. Twilight Vale - This secluded valley is always in the gloaming. It is a peaceful dusk, with crickets and fireflies. But the sun never shines here.
55. Root Forest - This grove of trees grows upside down. Nothing is seen but roots. Digging in the earth around the trunks reveals leaves and mango-like fruit. Eating one of these fruit will give you all the benefits of a good nights sleep without having to sleep.
56. Fertile Earth - This patch of land is so fertile that anything planted in the ground here will grow into a tree. These trees look just like oaks, and are just as slow to grow, but bear fruit that is the young of the planted "seed." Bury a bird and the tree bears eggs. Bury a fruit and the tree bear seeds. Bury the dead and . . .
57. Impenetrable Forest - After walking for half an hour into this stand of trees you will find yourself walking back out. Always.
58. Down Showers - In this area, in the winter, small downy feathers fall instead of snow. These blacken and decay eventually. Gathered fresh into sacks, the down can be used for bedding and clothing that provides excellent warmth while virtually weightless.
59. Salt Forest - Seen from a distance it looks like a snow-covered forest. Closer inspection reveals trees, shrubs, stumps, everything made entirely from salt. Rain causes the whole to melt away. Later, the salt then pushes up from the ground to slowly reform the forest. This salt is said to be useful for leaving trails in labyrinths that remain undisturbed.
60. Cold Springs - A series of ponds and geysers in a rocky badland that have, not hot, but freezing cold waters. This water is said to keep it's cold far longer than normal when transported elsewhere.
61. The Great Shells - This forgotten bay holds oysters the size of ox carts. Pried open, candlesticks, crowns, and other objects can be placed inside to be covered by mother-of-pearl.
62. The Horned Rocks - A rocky mountainside out of which grows sets of horns. There are various spirals, curvatures, and length. If a horn is cut, another will begin slowly growing from the same spot. These horns, when carved properly, can be heard farther than should be possible when sounded.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Sandbox Wonders 5
Phew, it is getting hard to come up with new ones, and that's assuming any of the ones I am coming up with evoke a sense of wonder. I'm not giving up yet, though. Onward:
43. Auburn Hills - Hills covered with fine, red-brown grass but oddly little wildlife. Closer inspection reveals the "grass" is human hair. Can be used to make rope and cloth like silk. Do not burn.
44. Ember Showers - These blasted lands have barely any plant growth, and the few weeds and scraggly bushes are singed and blackened. Each day a shower of embers falls here. Legend says, if you can catch one in holy water the ember will cool and "grow" back into what it was before, and that each of these embers are the pages from some great library.
45. Well of Coals - This tavern-sized crater is filled with smoldering coals. Removed coals are replaced by more coals that seem to push up from inside the earth. These coals will never burn out and are tempting for merchants to take, but there is a small chance each day they will begin reproducing and filling the area they are in completely with coals.
46. The Thick Airs - In a small, hidden valley the air is so thick that moving through it is more like moving through water, or snow. It is so thick that small items, like apples and daggers, can be placed in it and will not fall. It is said it is so thick it can be scooped into bags and carried away.
47. The Thick Waters - The waters in this small, forgotten pool look normal in every way, but feel more like a thick mud. A boat will sit on the surface and not sink into it. They cannot be drunk. It is said if they are warmed the thick water will thin itself, becoming normal and expanding in volume by 10 or 100 times.
48. The Splintered Ridges - A set of several long straight ridges. Under the thin layer of soil and grass these hills are made entirely of wood. And this wood is said to heal itself, prized for shields.
49. Breathing Mountain - The canyons at the base of this mountain are beset by winds every few hours. These blow down and away and then in a few minutes and toward the mountain again. The winds are of such force they can blow mules down the canyons and suck small children up and away.
50. Dewdrop Flowers - The petals of these small flowers are made of water droplets. The slightest brush will release the droplets and cause the flower next to it to release its, sending glistening waves through the fields. Greatly sought be rulers or arid realms.
51. The Smoking Lands - Lands much like ours except that the living things are a bit paler, a bit grayer, and where our life has hair they have smoke rising off of them. Women with smoky tresses, wolves that have fur of smoky tendrils.
52. The Great Green - A vast swath of green grass that reaches heights of 12 feet. Travel through it is risky because so many have gotten lost, or never returned. Who knows what wonder it hides.
43. Auburn Hills - Hills covered with fine, red-brown grass but oddly little wildlife. Closer inspection reveals the "grass" is human hair. Can be used to make rope and cloth like silk. Do not burn.
44. Ember Showers - These blasted lands have barely any plant growth, and the few weeds and scraggly bushes are singed and blackened. Each day a shower of embers falls here. Legend says, if you can catch one in holy water the ember will cool and "grow" back into what it was before, and that each of these embers are the pages from some great library.
45. Well of Coals - This tavern-sized crater is filled with smoldering coals. Removed coals are replaced by more coals that seem to push up from inside the earth. These coals will never burn out and are tempting for merchants to take, but there is a small chance each day they will begin reproducing and filling the area they are in completely with coals.
46. The Thick Airs - In a small, hidden valley the air is so thick that moving through it is more like moving through water, or snow. It is so thick that small items, like apples and daggers, can be placed in it and will not fall. It is said it is so thick it can be scooped into bags and carried away.
47. The Thick Waters - The waters in this small, forgotten pool look normal in every way, but feel more like a thick mud. A boat will sit on the surface and not sink into it. They cannot be drunk. It is said if they are warmed the thick water will thin itself, becoming normal and expanding in volume by 10 or 100 times.
48. The Splintered Ridges - A set of several long straight ridges. Under the thin layer of soil and grass these hills are made entirely of wood. And this wood is said to heal itself, prized for shields.
49. Breathing Mountain - The canyons at the base of this mountain are beset by winds every few hours. These blow down and away and then in a few minutes and toward the mountain again. The winds are of such force they can blow mules down the canyons and suck small children up and away.
50. Dewdrop Flowers - The petals of these small flowers are made of water droplets. The slightest brush will release the droplets and cause the flower next to it to release its, sending glistening waves through the fields. Greatly sought be rulers or arid realms.
51. The Smoking Lands - Lands much like ours except that the living things are a bit paler, a bit grayer, and where our life has hair they have smoke rising off of them. Women with smoky tresses, wolves that have fur of smoky tendrils.
52. The Great Green - A vast swath of green grass that reaches heights of 12 feet. Travel through it is risky because so many have gotten lost, or never returned. Who knows what wonder it hides.
Monday, February 3, 2014
Sandbox Wonders 4
33. Ice Flats - These areas look as if a great lake was covered in ice and then the water disappeared. Sailing ice boats is a quick but dangerous way to cross them. At night, fires and lights are often seen flickering below the ice, as if whole cities live beneath.
34. Fire Pools - An area of natural pools that smells faintly of stale oil and looks oily. At night a pale fire flickers across the surface giving an eery glow to the whole area. Water collected here will also burn in the dark. Drinking the water is not advised.
35. Green Canyon - A small, winding canyon unrecognizable as such because its ground-level opening is filled with greenery. Clambering down a trail into the canyon reveals that the greenery is from trees growing in mid-air, their roots bare. The heartwood of these trees is buoyant.
36. The Weeping Stones - In an otherwise dry badlands, these pinkish, hard rocks trickle moisture. Mosses and lush grasses grow around their bases. Oval and each close to the size of a person, the rocks show signs of having been chipped at over the centuries. A fist-sized chip will trickle a waterskin full in a day.
37. Summer Mountain - This mountain range is seasonal. It slowly recedes into winter and pushes up in spring. Tallest at the summer solstice, its behavior shapes the trade and ecology of the entire region.
38. The Speckled Shoals - These rocky shoals are dangerous to ships, but beautiful. Made up of small rocks the many colors of fall leaves, these have actually fallen from the small trees that crown the shoals and grow leaves of stone. Cuttings can be taken.
39. The Child of the Sun - Hidden in an underground cavern is a tiny sun. Just like our sun but the size of an apple, it floats above the cavern floor. Here warm breezes blow, green mosses spread across the cavern floor and mouse-sized cattle graze in the glow.
40. The Rotten Rocks - Actually two hills of greenish stone crumbling to powder. The hills can be seen from quite a distance. The powder decays metal as a rust monster.
41. Amber Beach - This long, sweeping beach hidden in a cove is made entirely of bits of amber smoothed by the sea. The amber holds fragments of ancient trees, bugs, and some even tiny fairies. It's said warming those over a fire will release the fairy which might perform a service.
42. Bower Village - Seen from nearby hills this looks like a thriving riverside village. On closer inspection it's all made of straw, mud, and found objects. A single male bower bird lives here. If caught and moved elsewhere he will construct a similar village in approximately 1 month.
34. Fire Pools - An area of natural pools that smells faintly of stale oil and looks oily. At night a pale fire flickers across the surface giving an eery glow to the whole area. Water collected here will also burn in the dark. Drinking the water is not advised.
35. Green Canyon - A small, winding canyon unrecognizable as such because its ground-level opening is filled with greenery. Clambering down a trail into the canyon reveals that the greenery is from trees growing in mid-air, their roots bare. The heartwood of these trees is buoyant.
36. The Weeping Stones - In an otherwise dry badlands, these pinkish, hard rocks trickle moisture. Mosses and lush grasses grow around their bases. Oval and each close to the size of a person, the rocks show signs of having been chipped at over the centuries. A fist-sized chip will trickle a waterskin full in a day.
37. Summer Mountain - This mountain range is seasonal. It slowly recedes into winter and pushes up in spring. Tallest at the summer solstice, its behavior shapes the trade and ecology of the entire region.
38. The Speckled Shoals - These rocky shoals are dangerous to ships, but beautiful. Made up of small rocks the many colors of fall leaves, these have actually fallen from the small trees that crown the shoals and grow leaves of stone. Cuttings can be taken.
39. The Child of the Sun - Hidden in an underground cavern is a tiny sun. Just like our sun but the size of an apple, it floats above the cavern floor. Here warm breezes blow, green mosses spread across the cavern floor and mouse-sized cattle graze in the glow.
40. The Rotten Rocks - Actually two hills of greenish stone crumbling to powder. The hills can be seen from quite a distance. The powder decays metal as a rust monster.
41. Amber Beach - This long, sweeping beach hidden in a cove is made entirely of bits of amber smoothed by the sea. The amber holds fragments of ancient trees, bugs, and some even tiny fairies. It's said warming those over a fire will release the fairy which might perform a service.
42. Bower Village - Seen from nearby hills this looks like a thriving riverside village. On closer inspection it's all made of straw, mud, and found objects. A single male bower bird lives here. If caught and moved elsewhere he will construct a similar village in approximately 1 month.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Sandbox Wonders 3
Trying to come up with places that would evoke wonder in players exploring a fantasy sandbox. Onward:
23. Tidal Sands - This section of desert acts like waters in a bay, receding to reveal hidden treasures, returning to catch the uncautious in smothering dunes.
24. Calving Cliffs - Rough cliffs above the sea. They are lined with cairns along their edge (like the tomb of the eagles). Every so often chunks of the cliff will break away and . . . float. These floating islands sometimes calve with whole cairns on them, sometimes with a party of tomb looters stuck on them.
25. The Plug - A great lump of lead the size of a keep. Rumored to have been created to encase a powerful evil. Constantly hacked at by the poor and greedy-- the lead used to make shot for slings, roofing, pipes - each time some is taken away there is a chance of evil being released to wreak havoc (maybe something like vulture-headed pygmies appear, or worse depending on the amount of lead hacked off).
26. Tar Glacier - I think just seeing a huge swath of tar filling an alpine valley, infinitesimally creeping forward would be trippy. What other uses it might have I'm not sure. (Leave your ideas below).
27. The Fickle River - Every few days this river will completely change the direction it flows. Commerce and the towns and villages that line it are shaped by this, with different trade and small festivals happening when the current turns their way or remains their way for more than certain amounts of time.
28. Flower Trail Steppes - About a half hour after walking on the ground in this region small, bright flowers bloom all around the area walked on. Impossible to cross without leaving a colorful trail. Very dangerous, as bandits and large predators have learned to use this in tracking prey. The cut sod is worth its weight in gold to potentates for use in gardens.
29. Old Chalk Hills - Rolling hills made up of powdery, grey chalk under a thin layer of grasses. This chalk preserves the life of anything buried in it. Digging in the hills will uncover every type of ancient life, even humans, which, after catching a few deep, coughing breaths, will resume life.
30. Heavy Sands - These sand bars in a river delta fluctuate in color depending on the health of the ruler of the empire. The grains act normally-- filling spaces, able to be made into glass-- but are as heavy as lead.
31. The Whirlwind - This persistent tornado is given different names by different cutures- Kasirga, Kimbunga- and is said to have a personality. It moves randomly across the plains often just in sight, a deadly threat if it decides to come toward the viewer.
32. The Shy Sea - A vast plain of gravel, every few weeks a murmuring sound all around signals the rise of clear, fresh water bubbling up from below. The waters of this new shallow sea, eventually about as deep as a human is tall, are said to have healing properties.
23. Tidal Sands - This section of desert acts like waters in a bay, receding to reveal hidden treasures, returning to catch the uncautious in smothering dunes.
24. Calving Cliffs - Rough cliffs above the sea. They are lined with cairns along their edge (like the tomb of the eagles). Every so often chunks of the cliff will break away and . . . float. These floating islands sometimes calve with whole cairns on them, sometimes with a party of tomb looters stuck on them.
25. The Plug - A great lump of lead the size of a keep. Rumored to have been created to encase a powerful evil. Constantly hacked at by the poor and greedy-- the lead used to make shot for slings, roofing, pipes - each time some is taken away there is a chance of evil being released to wreak havoc (maybe something like vulture-headed pygmies appear, or worse depending on the amount of lead hacked off).
26. Tar Glacier - I think just seeing a huge swath of tar filling an alpine valley, infinitesimally creeping forward would be trippy. What other uses it might have I'm not sure. (Leave your ideas below).
27. The Fickle River - Every few days this river will completely change the direction it flows. Commerce and the towns and villages that line it are shaped by this, with different trade and small festivals happening when the current turns their way or remains their way for more than certain amounts of time.
28. Flower Trail Steppes - About a half hour after walking on the ground in this region small, bright flowers bloom all around the area walked on. Impossible to cross without leaving a colorful trail. Very dangerous, as bandits and large predators have learned to use this in tracking prey. The cut sod is worth its weight in gold to potentates for use in gardens.
29. Old Chalk Hills - Rolling hills made up of powdery, grey chalk under a thin layer of grasses. This chalk preserves the life of anything buried in it. Digging in the hills will uncover every type of ancient life, even humans, which, after catching a few deep, coughing breaths, will resume life.
30. Heavy Sands - These sand bars in a river delta fluctuate in color depending on the health of the ruler of the empire. The grains act normally-- filling spaces, able to be made into glass-- but are as heavy as lead.
31. The Whirlwind - This persistent tornado is given different names by different cutures- Kasirga, Kimbunga- and is said to have a personality. It moves randomly across the plains often just in sight, a deadly threat if it decides to come toward the viewer.
32. The Shy Sea - A vast plain of gravel, every few weeks a murmuring sound all around signals the rise of clear, fresh water bubbling up from below. The waters of this new shallow sea, eventually about as deep as a human is tall, are said to have healing properties.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Sandbox Wonders cont.
More things to find when exploring a fantasy world:
13. The Abrupt Forest - When the sun rises on this it is a flat, treeless plain. But soon saplings push out of the sod and grow. And grow. Trees will grow to adult height by sunset (or alternatively noon). Depending on the type of forest they may grow as fast as a meter a minute or more. Once night falls they recede back into the earth. Cuttings and saplings can be taken.
14. The Hidden Forest - Opposite of above; the trees of this forest grow quickly once night falls and recede to a flat plain in the day.
15. The Forest that Isn't - A normal forest at night but the light of dawn turns the timber to birds or butterflies which fly away only to come settle back into tree form when night falls.
16. Water Rise - Water that flows up. Sometimes found underground where they are a unfamiliar hazard to explorers. On the surface their waters "fall" straight up to space. Can be bottled.
17. True Ice Walls - These sheets of ice are somehow pushed vertically from a great frozen plain or lake. Rows and rows. Some pressed tight like the strata of a tilted mesa, some with space enough between for a human to walk. When someone is seen through the ice their true feeling toward you are visible in their face. Crews harvest sections with saws and sleds to place in faraway palaces.
18. The Dammed Muds - Flats of mud that stretch for miles and that never dry. Even if dug up and moved to somewhere else the mud will remain mud. Said to be treasured by mages in the making living statues.
19. The Shards - A flat landscape, as far as the eye can see, covered with shards of inscribed pottery. Like a great library, the writing on the shards can be searched for spells, recipes, or the locations of famous treasures. Except some essential bit of information will always be missing, the one shard that bit was on lost to the ages (spells will misfire in random ways, recipes have side effects, treasure maps will have some riddle that needs answering or might point to two equally possible places).
20. Where God Waits - The landscape of this whole area is actually the shape of a human lying on its side. The hip a great hill. Two cults have sprung up around it, one that protects the figure in expectation of its waking day, the other secretly digs out its grey, clayey flesh at night to eat.
21. The Graveyard of Gods - A set of canyons filled with white bones too big for even dragons. Ribs as big as rivers, Hills of solid bone. Operations have been set up to "mine" the ivory, cutting out solid blocks as big as wagons can carry. Interesting murals might be scrimshawed in hard to reach places.
22. The Battlefield - A Great rocky depression filled with the bones of thousands of warriors and most of their gear. Weapons and armor, ancient, weird, or of excellent quality can be found if long enough is pent rummaging partial or broken gear scattered through the rocks. Some say those who take from this place are cursed by doing so.
13. The Abrupt Forest - When the sun rises on this it is a flat, treeless plain. But soon saplings push out of the sod and grow. And grow. Trees will grow to adult height by sunset (or alternatively noon). Depending on the type of forest they may grow as fast as a meter a minute or more. Once night falls they recede back into the earth. Cuttings and saplings can be taken.
14. The Hidden Forest - Opposite of above; the trees of this forest grow quickly once night falls and recede to a flat plain in the day.
15. The Forest that Isn't - A normal forest at night but the light of dawn turns the timber to birds or butterflies which fly away only to come settle back into tree form when night falls.
16. Water Rise - Water that flows up. Sometimes found underground where they are a unfamiliar hazard to explorers. On the surface their waters "fall" straight up to space. Can be bottled.
17. True Ice Walls - These sheets of ice are somehow pushed vertically from a great frozen plain or lake. Rows and rows. Some pressed tight like the strata of a tilted mesa, some with space enough between for a human to walk. When someone is seen through the ice their true feeling toward you are visible in their face. Crews harvest sections with saws and sleds to place in faraway palaces.
18. The Dammed Muds - Flats of mud that stretch for miles and that never dry. Even if dug up and moved to somewhere else the mud will remain mud. Said to be treasured by mages in the making living statues.
19. The Shards - A flat landscape, as far as the eye can see, covered with shards of inscribed pottery. Like a great library, the writing on the shards can be searched for spells, recipes, or the locations of famous treasures. Except some essential bit of information will always be missing, the one shard that bit was on lost to the ages (spells will misfire in random ways, recipes have side effects, treasure maps will have some riddle that needs answering or might point to two equally possible places).
20. Where God Waits - The landscape of this whole area is actually the shape of a human lying on its side. The hip a great hill. Two cults have sprung up around it, one that protects the figure in expectation of its waking day, the other secretly digs out its grey, clayey flesh at night to eat.
21. The Graveyard of Gods - A set of canyons filled with white bones too big for even dragons. Ribs as big as rivers, Hills of solid bone. Operations have been set up to "mine" the ivory, cutting out solid blocks as big as wagons can carry. Interesting murals might be scrimshawed in hard to reach places.
22. The Battlefield - A Great rocky depression filled with the bones of thousands of warriors and most of their gear. Weapons and armor, ancient, weird, or of excellent quality can be found if long enough is pent rummaging partial or broken gear scattered through the rocks. Some say those who take from this place are cursed by doing so.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Wonders Worth Exploring For cont.
Sorry for the lame delay, work got busy again. My last post asked what we hope to find when we explore a sandbox. I've been doing some thinking for myself and hoping to come to some general principles that could help us generate stuff.
Scale
My main conclusion so far was that scale doesn't really work as a inducer of wonder in an imagined landscape. The grand canyon is awe inspiring in real life, probably impossible to convey in D&D. Of course, that doesn't mean you can't try. In my own game I had a huge hole in the ground based on the Cave of Swallows and I would show new players a video of someone parachuting into it to try and give them a sense of its size.
A couple other ideas related to scale. I think it is partially personal based on familiarity. If you know rivers and I tell you the dimensions of this fantasy river, its width, speed, depth-- that might have a potential to awe you. Likewise for anything, mountains, pine trees, particular animals. But in general, you wouldn't know as a DM who has enough knowledge to be amazed by the thing you made up.
Also, I noticed that my whole last post seemed to assume wilderness features. Can't wonders be found in a dungeon? I think so, sure, but the very dungeoness of dungeons, their constrained underground space, will make it harder to awe. So in this case scale does seem to matter. A room full of petrified trees is not as impressive as petrified trees as far as the eyes can see. And maybe the underground, being the mythic underworld, is expected to be weird, so something must be that much more impressive to invoke a sense of wonder.
Features of a wonder
Okay, so we have not relying on scale as a feature, what else? Here are some ideas I had:
Something that is a semi-permanent part of a landscape. A miniature city or a tree that has diamonds for fruit might be cool, but the fact you could dig them up and carry them off in a wagon detracts for me their wonder. The wonders we want will be locations players can return to again and again. (I guess, in a sense, this is another way that scale does matter).
That being said, it might be more of a draw in a game if players can take souvenirs-- bits of the landscape, vials of liquid-- that have value or strange properties from these sites.
Odd, but not deadly. Deadly can be awesome too, but I think it is much easier to evoke fear in someone then a sense of wonder and I'm shooting for the latter. So, we'll try to keep them survivable even if they are dangerous.
A toy to use or figure out. Either they have some pattern or system to them or they might have potential uses for players. This doesn't have much to do with wonders more with any building block of a game where players can make choices.
_______________________
Let's start with the elements and go from there:
1. Walking rocks - A great flat plain filled with rocks of various sizes. Each night, they slide along at walking speed in one of the four cardinal directions. They range in size from pebble to huge boulders you could build a keep on. (sort of like sailing stones).
2. The Teeming Plains - Vast plains with many overlapping fossilized tracks. Apparently caused by some near-instant calamity in the ancient past. If you learn to distinguish the tracks you can follow those of mages, warriors, and angels to where they stop, dig there, and find caches of ancient magic left where they died.
3. Everburning Fire - In some far away hollow surrounded by wastelands is a fire that will never go out. It can catch fuels on fire and burn them up, but will remain, burning on the ground even when the fuel is burnt up. Burns in the rain. Burns in the snow. Smothering it might put it out. Have a sentient species of creatures covered in this fire (they just want to be friends) or obsidian trees that blossom with it ever spring.
4. Cold Fires - Found in a crater this fire can be spread by normal fuels - carried on a torch, in a brazier - but will never consume the fuels. It burns underwater. It burns eternally but is not hot.
5. The Great Mirage Lake - A huge, dry, sea. When a water craft is pushed into it water forms all around, lifting it up. This water might be collected in a container from inside the craft.
6. Lesser Mirage Lake - A beautiful blue lake in a dry land. The waters recede from any living thing. It might be possible to catch some with a suitably long pole. It might be possible to explore sunken cities hidden in its deepest parts.
7. The Blanched Moors - Low, wet lands covered with shallow, bitter pools. In these are the perfectly preserved bodies of creatures that have died here, all white. White stallions, white cocks, white apes, albino princesses. Perfect for those searching for material components or extinct beasts to revivify.
8. The Solid Fogs - At certain times of year the mists across some bays coalesce into solid clouds. These are a danger for ships. There are tales of mages gathering the stuff with shovels and saws to place in the air and build towers on.
9. Lethe Fogs - Said to rise from the ground in fell bogs. It smells faintly of over ripe apples and eats away at the memory (lose XP ever day you travel in it). If bottled could cause memory loss in targets elsewhere.
10. The Sweet Wind - A chance wind that arises on a certain lost plain. It smells faintly of vanilla. It clears the air and sharpens those that breathe it (extra XP for anything that grants it bonus chance for checks like casting spells to be successful).
11. The Crowding Grove - A forest of trees that press in on any living thing, becoming impassable. Cuttings and twigs taken will have similar properties.
12. The Shy Thickets - Thick brush that parts for anything living. Plantings can be taken. Might function as a good anti-undead defence.
Okay, some of those don't fulfill all of my own criteria, but hopefully they would be suitably interesting and trippy if encountered by your players. I have a few more ideas, including human-made wonders, for a later post.
Scale
My main conclusion so far was that scale doesn't really work as a inducer of wonder in an imagined landscape. The grand canyon is awe inspiring in real life, probably impossible to convey in D&D. Of course, that doesn't mean you can't try. In my own game I had a huge hole in the ground based on the Cave of Swallows and I would show new players a video of someone parachuting into it to try and give them a sense of its size.
A couple other ideas related to scale. I think it is partially personal based on familiarity. If you know rivers and I tell you the dimensions of this fantasy river, its width, speed, depth-- that might have a potential to awe you. Likewise for anything, mountains, pine trees, particular animals. But in general, you wouldn't know as a DM who has enough knowledge to be amazed by the thing you made up.
Also, I noticed that my whole last post seemed to assume wilderness features. Can't wonders be found in a dungeon? I think so, sure, but the very dungeoness of dungeons, their constrained underground space, will make it harder to awe. So in this case scale does seem to matter. A room full of petrified trees is not as impressive as petrified trees as far as the eyes can see. And maybe the underground, being the mythic underworld, is expected to be weird, so something must be that much more impressive to invoke a sense of wonder.
Features of a wonder
Okay, so we have not relying on scale as a feature, what else? Here are some ideas I had:
Something that is a semi-permanent part of a landscape. A miniature city or a tree that has diamonds for fruit might be cool, but the fact you could dig them up and carry them off in a wagon detracts for me their wonder. The wonders we want will be locations players can return to again and again. (I guess, in a sense, this is another way that scale does matter).
That being said, it might be more of a draw in a game if players can take souvenirs-- bits of the landscape, vials of liquid-- that have value or strange properties from these sites.
Odd, but not deadly. Deadly can be awesome too, but I think it is much easier to evoke fear in someone then a sense of wonder and I'm shooting for the latter. So, we'll try to keep them survivable even if they are dangerous.
A toy to use or figure out. Either they have some pattern or system to them or they might have potential uses for players. This doesn't have much to do with wonders more with any building block of a game where players can make choices.
_______________________
Let's start with the elements and go from there:
1. Walking rocks - A great flat plain filled with rocks of various sizes. Each night, they slide along at walking speed in one of the four cardinal directions. They range in size from pebble to huge boulders you could build a keep on. (sort of like sailing stones).
2. The Teeming Plains - Vast plains with many overlapping fossilized tracks. Apparently caused by some near-instant calamity in the ancient past. If you learn to distinguish the tracks you can follow those of mages, warriors, and angels to where they stop, dig there, and find caches of ancient magic left where they died.
3. Everburning Fire - In some far away hollow surrounded by wastelands is a fire that will never go out. It can catch fuels on fire and burn them up, but will remain, burning on the ground even when the fuel is burnt up. Burns in the rain. Burns in the snow. Smothering it might put it out. Have a sentient species of creatures covered in this fire (they just want to be friends) or obsidian trees that blossom with it ever spring.
4. Cold Fires - Found in a crater this fire can be spread by normal fuels - carried on a torch, in a brazier - but will never consume the fuels. It burns underwater. It burns eternally but is not hot.
5. The Great Mirage Lake - A huge, dry, sea. When a water craft is pushed into it water forms all around, lifting it up. This water might be collected in a container from inside the craft.
6. Lesser Mirage Lake - A beautiful blue lake in a dry land. The waters recede from any living thing. It might be possible to catch some with a suitably long pole. It might be possible to explore sunken cities hidden in its deepest parts.
7. The Blanched Moors - Low, wet lands covered with shallow, bitter pools. In these are the perfectly preserved bodies of creatures that have died here, all white. White stallions, white cocks, white apes, albino princesses. Perfect for those searching for material components or extinct beasts to revivify.
8. The Solid Fogs - At certain times of year the mists across some bays coalesce into solid clouds. These are a danger for ships. There are tales of mages gathering the stuff with shovels and saws to place in the air and build towers on.
9. Lethe Fogs - Said to rise from the ground in fell bogs. It smells faintly of over ripe apples and eats away at the memory (lose XP ever day you travel in it). If bottled could cause memory loss in targets elsewhere.
10. The Sweet Wind - A chance wind that arises on a certain lost plain. It smells faintly of vanilla. It clears the air and sharpens those that breathe it (extra XP for anything that grants it bonus chance for checks like casting spells to be successful).
11. The Crowding Grove - A forest of trees that press in on any living thing, becoming impassable. Cuttings and twigs taken will have similar properties.
12. The Shy Thickets - Thick brush that parts for anything living. Plantings can be taken. Might function as a good anti-undead defence.
Okay, some of those don't fulfill all of my own criteria, but hopefully they would be suitably interesting and trippy if encountered by your players. I have a few more ideas, including human-made wonders, for a later post.
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