Quote from: Ian AbsentiaI'm partial to the Tower Top Observatories.  If that seems a little too fantastic, then Brewers Factories has a distinct appeal.  I have a third choice, but I'll sit on that on for the time being.

!i!

Yeah. Portents relies on visions (or in this case, the study of heavenly bodies) and Artefact Mastery presumes the existence of the architects and the fantasy tech they leave behind. If no-one else has a problem, we can work Portents into a non-fantasy setting (enough people run their lives by astrology now, perhaps it's a bit more effective in SH?). Artefact Mastery however, is only of use in a fantasy game. If you want to swap that one for another Special Ability, i have no problem with that. Other than that, Brewers factories is ok.

Quote from: One Horse TownArtefact Mastery however, is only of use in a fantasy game. If you want to swap that one for another Special Ability, i have no problem with that.

What I was rather hoping for was someone with a visual lay of the land from above, but nothing quite so precise as a member of the Cartographers Guild.  What I'm really looking for is someone who would reasonably have an awareness that you can see Point X from above or point to it on a map, but you seemingly can't get there via the actual building passages and such.

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaWhat I was rather hoping for was someone with a visual lay of the land from above, but nothing quite so precise as a member of the Cartographers Guild.  What I'm really looking for is someone who would reasonably have an awareness that you can see Point X from above or point to it on a map, but you seemingly can't get there via the actual building passages and such.

!i!

How about substituting the Artefact Mastery special ability for Navigation 2 skill? We can then add 1 die to your Portents ability (making it 3 dice in total).

That sounds like a most suitable "mundane" alternative to me.

So, we have the Charlatans Market Stalls located in the vicinity of the Tower Top Observatories.  What else?

!i!

[FONT="]I rolled Arm-breaker Guild House.  I'm not sure that I want to be from the guild (I might opt for one of the previous two) but it would make a good nearby feature.  Depending on the relationship with the Charlatan's market, the guild could enforce that all sales are final or force sellers to give refunds.  The guild could also be a source of odd jobs, either working for them or helping someone being sought by them.  
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I rolled a 64 Trailblazers Advance Camps. For some reason, the term "advance camps" has me concerned...

I rolled whorehouses.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceI rolled whorehouses.

-clash

So did I, clash - but we're not reliving college days right now....






:rimshot:

Quote from: James J SkachSo did I, clash - but we're not reliving college days right now....






:rimshot:

College days? I was talking High School... :O

-clash

Charlatans Market Stalls
Arm-Breaker Guild House
Whorehouses
Trailblazers' Advance Camp
Tower Top Obsrevatories

Dan, may we have a description of who the Trailblazers are and the nature of their advance camp?

My impression, regardless of who they are, is that the charlatans, the whorehouses, and the arm-breakers have converged to take advantage of their encampment.  Or perhaps it's the other way around -- that the Trailblazers have arrived to take advantage of this den of iniquity.  Rising uncomfortably above it all, is their long-standing neighbor, the stodgy and serious-minded celestial philosphers of the observatory.  It's like when a strip club opens up the next block down from your residential neighborhood.

!i!

Ooh, nice spread of features.

Trailblazers are sent out into uninhabited or little known parts of the castle to make them safe for habitation. They are part warrior advance party, part diplomatic mission.

In the case of this area, it makes sense that the game area is slightly isolated or at the very edge of known areas (thus the advance camp), but has started to see more people coming in to populate it (and so isn't miles and miles from anywhere, but a bit of distance). The advance camp has become a bit more like a 'base camp', with the other features growing up around it and the tower-top observatory (which the trailblazers found here and decided to make use of). This makes for some tension between the tower and the 'riff-raff' below.

That's how i see it, but if you want to add anything to that or whatever, it's your game!

You can discuss how the features relate to each other and how they are physically connected if you wish. I'm attaching the Building Cultures & Communities section now, so that you can add that to the mix with some fledgling customs and the like. I would suggest that there is unlikely to be a government at this time if you go for the isolated option. If it's on the edge of a known area, then a government is more likely. Anyhow, how you connect all this up and use the cultures stuff is up to you!

Quote from: One Horse TownOoh, nice spread of features.

Trailblazers are sent out into uninhabited or little known parts of the castle to make them safe for habitation. They are part warrior advance party, part diplomatic mission.

In the case of this area, it makes sense that the game area is slightly isolated or at the very edge of known areas (thus the advance camp), but has started to see more people coming in to populate it (and so isn't miles and miles from anywhere, but a bit of distance). The advance camp has become a bit more like a 'base camp', with the other features growing up around it and the tower-top observatory (which the trailblazers found here and decided to make use of). This makes for some tension between the tower and the 'riff-raff' below.

That's how i see it, but if you want to add anything to that or whatever, it's your game!

You can discuss how the features relate to each other and how they are physically connected if you wish. I'm attaching the Building Cultures & Communities section now, so that you can add that to the mix with some fledgling customs and the like. I would suggest that there is unlikely to be a government at this time if you go for the isolated option. If it's on the edge of a known area, then a government is more likely. Anyhow, how you connect all this up and use the cultures stuff is up to you!

I like this! More of a frontier feel. That whorehouse is more Mrs. Cassidy's Home for Wayward Girls in Dodge City than a rackhouse of penny drabs in London. Makes sense it would be around the soldier's camp, too. A new boomtown would have armbreakers as well. It fits nicely!

-clash

Yeah, could be cool. Like one of Ian's special abilities, unfortunately, the special ability Kisses in the whorehouse entry is pretty fantasy based. However, i can do a little bit of tweaking to make it more influence based than 'magical' in utility. So leave that with me and i'll post the tweaked ability a bit later.

Once folk have decided on how things are laid out and the culture of the area, we can move on a bit. I'm about to create the NPCs and problems for the area which can be used to create your affiliations & rivalries (i'll post details on these a bit later).

So while i create the NPCs and problems, you guys can hash out the lay of the land and the culture of the area.

If you manage this before tomorrow, i'll post some info on the folks of the area. From the 28th, for a few days, i'll be offline. So lets see if we can get the game area fleshed out a bit before then.

For Drew's and Jim's benifit, i'm posting the feature entries for Charlatans Market Stalls and Trailblazers Advance Camps here. I haven't got as far as detailing the description or day in the life entries for most features yet. But they should give you an idea of what they are about. The rest of you have the whole document and so i won't post details of the other features here.

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64Trailblazers Advance Camps

The crater was huge – it looked as though a giant had scooped a great handful of the earth and the buildings that had stood there and scattered it to the four winds. Rubble lay in a hundred yard circle around the wound. Of the people of Fallen Shakes, there was no sign. No one could have survived the cataclysm surely? Captain Farstrider ordered his troop into the breach and they scattered quickly about the crater, searching for any sign of the inhabitants.

A battered veteran finally approached Farstrider. "Nothing here sir. It's as if the place never existed."

The captain nodded morosely, "Well, at least we can tell the Baron that there's room for expansion here. Tell the men to pack up. We head back to base today."

Player Character Information
Stat Mods: Physique +1
Skills: Weapon (any one) 3, Stealth 2, Scavenger 2, Ingratiate 1, Pest Control 1
Special Abilities: Diplomatic 3
Status: 2

88Charletans Market Stalls

"Roll up, roll up! This miraculous lotion here is guaranteed to put lead in your pencil! You know what I'm talking about gentlemen. The ladies certainly do. Am I right?" A titter of nervous laughter emerged from the small crowd, swiftly stifled by angry muttering.

Dr. Carpetbagger stashed the offending bottle in one of his robes voluminous pockets. Another tack was needed.

"How about this little vermin catcher? Never need to be terrorised by a King Rat or Bloodworm ever again! Only 3 bits each. You want one miss? Sure, one of Dr. Carpetbagger's vermin catchers for the lady here!"

Player Character Information
Stat Mods: Reasoning +1, Bearing +1
Skills: Ingratiate 3, Stealth 3, Underworld 2, Haggle 2, Preach 1, Weapon (any one) 1
Special Abilities: Scams 3, Kingpin 2
Status: 1

Off the top of my head, here are a few ideas on relationships between features to see how others feel about them.
 
There is something or some things valuable in a nearby uninhabited area.  Maybe a meteor hit destroying an area and leaving valuable ore.  Or maybe a rich area had a fire.  Or maybe a rare plant has been found in the area.  Whatever, there's a new potential source of wealth plus stuff from former inhabitants that might be up for grabs (I get the idea that almost everywhere has former or present inhabitants).
 
The trailblazer guild has come in to try to go about making use of this new wealth and how to deal with issues such as terrain that is now uncrossable or unsafe, animals gone feral, and fraudulent claims of ownership.  The observatory has been put into use to figure out optimal paths and concentrations of wealth - how much info they have given to the trailblazers and how much they have kept to themselves is a matter of much speculation.
 
The charlatan market was set up to supply the new community with various sundries in this semi-frontier area.  On the side, they have been sneaking out and trying to find the stuff the trailblazers are looking for and are eitehr selling it or selling forgeries.  The trailblazers consider this an affront to their monopoly on their line of work and have called in the arms breakers to quarantine the new area and keep an eye on the charlatans.  But the trailblazers don't have any authority to make the charlatans leave and need them to bring in supplies.  
 
The whorehouse moved in to take advantage of people with new money who wind up doing lots of sitting and waiting.  They've become involved in the politics of the area, helping the charlatans to try ot find the wealth and playing the trailblazers and observers against each other to find out what each side knows and sell some of that info to the other side.
 
I'm just throwing stuff out.  Feel free to modify or reject any parts you don't like.