Solace Games news and question!

[auyl]

So, the next installment of Inhabitants of the Woods is nearing completion. The working title is Inhabitants of the Woods: Creatures and Spirits and offers many interesting options for shamanic and spirit rituals.

Also in the works is a campaign setting set in a world where divine power is the ruling might, arcane power is outlawed. After a war with elder beings that fell from the sky the world is in chaos. My question is:

Would you the buyers prefer more of High Fantasy or Sword & Sorcery setting?

I know there are activists for both on these boards but am interested in what the general consensus is. Thanks.

 

[soltakss]

High Fantasy for me.

Swords and Sorcery is OK, but there is enough of a crossover between the two for me to get my S&S fix from High Fantasy.

 

[Prime_Evil]

Is there any reason why the product can't support both styles of play?

 

[auyl]

Is there any reason why the product can't support both styles of play?

In it's basic form it could. The reason I'm asking is: if I do High Fantasy I would be including elves and dwarves and such where if it was S&S I wouldn't be including them.

 

[warlock1971]

+1 for High Fantasy from me, there have been a fair number of S&S products released already.

 

[The Wolf]

There have? Oh darn, I must have missed them! (kidding).

I'm a big fan of S&S but I also like High Fantasy, soo...

 

[Prime_Evil]

Here's an interesting question - what do people regard as High Fantasy in this context? There's been a lot of discussion about what constitutes Swords and Sorcery fiction on these boards over the past few months, but very little about what constitutes High Fantasy?

(I would argue that the split between the two sub-genres began with the publication of The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories by Lord Dunsany in 1908. This work influenced J.R.R. Tolkien and H.P. Lovecraft in different ways, leading them to develop different ideas of how fantasy should be written. It was also one of the last books that influenced both the British fantasists and their American counterparts, with the exception of E.R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros, William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land and The House on the Borderland, and Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men).

 

[tarkhan bey]

For me, SnS all the way.

 

[warlock1971]

I prefer my fantasy slightly more grimy and dark, with corruption and evil lurking around every corner (potentially). I love city adventures, and Lankhmar especially so. However, I don't mind fantasy races thrown in the mix.

I am currently (last few years) going through a Steven Erickson and Ian Esselmont phase but just started reading Glen Cook - yes late to the party ... I know.

Other favourites include Lieber, Howard, Moorcock, Wolfe, Feist, to name a few.

 

[auyl]

By the definition of High Fantasy and S&S I could keep the Tolkien elements out and still keep the flavour of either style in the setting itself.

So then my next question is this:

What elements from either style would you want to see in the setting?

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

If I'm running "High Fantasy" I have to say that I tend to use the C&S Elves & Dwarves supplements and just add in Legend mechanics as required.

That said, I prefer personally a much more realistic "low magic" type setting. Not S&S, more historical and gritty.

 

[pachristian]

I'm not sure what your definitions of "High Fantasy" is.

So instead of specifying "High Fantasy" or "Swords and Sorcery", I'll give some preferences:
1) I prefer that magic not be an alternate form of technology, nor should it be engineering. I once had players seriously talk about rebuilding a city's clogged up harbor by judicious use of "Move Earth" spells.
2) I prefer magic not be a commodity. One of the lines that grates on me most from any fantasy novel was "The enchantments on his weapons were as good as anyone else's." The implications built into that line say a lot about that author and that setting with regards towards magic.
3) I like humans. I'm sick to death of elves, dwarves, and halflings. I am also sick to death of "evil" races, which are deliberatly created as "evil" so the "good guys" can slaughter them without raising any moral questions.
<< As a sub-note, I will add that none of the people I usually game with share this attitude. Most of them still believe that elves and halflings are inherently 'cooler' than humans. So my opinion is probably in the minority.>>
4) I don't mind an overriding plot. In fantasy this usually means a good vs. evil campaign. However, such an overriding plot will color everything else in the game. The author must be aware of this, build it into any expansions and adventures that will be written, and most of all, be prepared to achieve plot resolution (which should be able to go both ways), and still leave room for adventures after the great plot is ended.

 

[pachristian]

Oh yeah -

And I don't like a "magic can fix anything" attitude; where the right spell undoes all of the bad things that have happend to the favorite PC or NPC.

 

[auyl]

Oh yeah -

And I don't like a "magic can fix anything" attitude; where the right spell undoes all of the bad things that have happend to the favorite PC or NPC.

I understand this completely. Magic in this setting is mostly limited to divine spells with arcane being pretty much outlawed, but even then only members of the clergy of the churches can use them.

 

[auyl]

Something I was thinking of incorporating was Corruption Points. You start at 0 and as you adventure if you do or encounter evil or corrupt things you accumulate points where if you do acts that would be considered good you lose corruption points.

After an amount of time (end of adventure?) you roll a percentile die, if you roll under your total Corruption Points you roll on a consequence table which could vary from "nothing" to a crude mutation.

I think it could be a neat addition given the setting I want to do with the evil elder beings but would like some input.

What do you all think?

 

[Prime_Evil]

I've been working on something similar, but I measure Corruption on a scale of 1-100. Here's a quick summary of my approach...

Characters gain Corruption Points by studying tomes of blasphemous lore, by prolonged exposure to tainted places or items, or by performing unspeakable acts.

Once a character's Corruption exceeds POW + CHA, there is a risk of consequences. Each time the character gains a Corruption point beyond this threshold, they must make an Opposed Roll between their Corruption and their Persistence or Resilience. The skill used to resist the Corruption roll depending upon what triggered the check. If the character wins, there is no immediate consequence. But if the character loses, they suffer mental or physical degeneration (as appropriate). The more depraved a character becomes, the harder it becomes to resist further Corruption.

Yet paradoxically, as a character sinks into damnation the sins they must perform to gain further Corruption grow ever more heinous - minor crimes no longer trouble their conscience and they can only gain additional Corruption points by exposure to an act or tainted object whose Corruption Rating is higher than their own.

Note that it is much harder to remove accumulated Corruption Points than to gain them. Characters who perform an suitable act of atonement can attempt to remove a single Corruption point by winning an Opposed Roll between their current Corruption and their Persistence roll AND by spending a Hero Point.

If a character's Corruption ever exceeds their Persistence, their soul is damned and lose the ability to remove accumulated Corruption points through acts of atonement. Furthermore, they can be bound

If a character's Corruption ever exceeds their Resilience, they suffer a horrifying transformation into a monstrous form becoming a ghoul, vampire, or minor demon. Some vile individuals might welcome such a transformation, but this is a risky decision - most seekers who flirt with eternal damnation to secure this kind of dark apotheosis come to a nasty end....

 

[auyl]

So unfortunately Inhabitants of the Woods: Creatures and Spirits as been put on hold. I'm focusing more on cross-system stuff at the moment so right now I'm moving forward Inhabitants of the Dark: Savage Drow. Next might be a vampire supplement featuring new types of vampires and half-vampires. Creatures and Spirits is still on the docket to get pubished, just focusing on other products at the time.

 

[Prime_Evil]

That's a pity in some respects, but I'm looking forward to the vampire supplement. I've been wondering whether it might be cool to see an expanded treatment of vampires for the Legend system.

 

[warlock1971]

I would like to see an expansion for the dark that you mention ... also some additional loving for liches

 

[auyl]

So just an update. Inhabitants of the Dark: Savage Drow is done writing and editing. Some of the finalized artwork has already come in as well. Just waiting on a few more pieces then I'll submit the P.O.D. to DTRPG and then it'll go on sale! Shouldn't be too long now.