New Site Post: Some Thoughts on Kaendorian Gods and Religion
https://spriggans-den.com/2023/08/27/some-thoughts-on-kaendorian-gods-and-religion/

Most fantasy worlds have lots of gods, but almost none have any kind of religion.

Based on what is generally understood about ancient religions and non-salvation oriented religions today, and my own philosophical approach to the themes of Kaendor, I've been having some ideas what form and role religion in that world might actually take in practice.

#ttrpg #Kaendor #fantasy

Resuming work on my #neocities site, I added an introduction page for my #Kaendor #ttrpg setting:
https://yorasworld.neocities.org/kaendor/introduction

Probably not terribly original and very surface level, but I think it should get the general sentiment of the world across.

My twist on the "All fantasy worlds are post-apocalyptic", Lost Golden Age, and Looting Ruins is Colonialism archetypes:

The civliizations that destroyed themselves were evil and inhuman, and their end allowed human barbarians to come out of hiding and settle the ruined areas. People are happy they are gone, and the world is a better place now.

And you still got all the magic to loot from ruins.

#Kaendor #ttrpg

Masks are one of the iconic style elements of #Kaendor.

Faces are the connection between the self and the outside world. Masks behave as filters between the self and the outside. They can both reveal and conceal, affecting perception in both directions. They can carry enchantments of divination and illusion, and those that affect the mind.

#ttrpg

I am thinking about the nature of a soul or a self in #Kaendor and whether it would be better represented by the head or the heart.

And most of my considerations are revolving around how cutting heads and hearts from your defeated enemies for various sorcerous uses later is totally badass! 😈

New Site Post: The Dawn of Time
https://spriggans-den.com/2023/08/08/the-dawn-of-time/

Some basic mythology for #Kaendor.

#ttrpg

New Site Post: Fire is Magic
https://spriggans-den.com/2023/08/05/fire-is-magic/

I was thinking about the role of fire in the mythology and culture of #Kaendor, and how it relates to the nature and power of demons. It also had me think about the role and perception of magic in society, its connection to demons, and the mechanics of how it causes corruption.

Which ultimately led me to the conclusion that regular everyday fire actually is of the same essence as magic in Kaendor.

#ttrpg

With the weather being cold and wet, I've been making no progress on my fantasy campaign setting all months. I am having zero inspiration, even though I am really motivated. I think I only make progress when it's warm and sunny.

Fortunately, I also have my space opera setting to work at, and with that one inspiration is no problem at all when the mood for fantasy isn't there. Cold and grey still works for space ships. 😄

#ttrpg #Kaendor #IridiumMoons

New Site Post: End of Empire
https://spriggans-den.com/2023/07/23/end-of-empire/

A small piece about the current lack of empires and great wars of conquests in the lands of Kaendor.

#ttrpg #Kaendor

New Site Post: The Cerulean Order
https://spriggans-den.com/2023/07/16/the-cerulean-order/

The Cerulean Order is a faction within the priesthood of the moon goddess Temis dedicated to purging sorcerers and demons from #Kaendor and cleansing the corrupting influence of their magic powers.

#ttrpg

This got way more attention than I thought.

Here is a brief general timeline I've put together based on some older ideas I had for #Kaendor but didn't really pursue much further yet.

https://yorasworld.neocities.org/kaendor/timeline_draft

I also collected a few reference images for the look and tone of the world.

https://yorasworld.neocities.org/kaendor/images

ADHD&D is striking again.

To stoke the creative fires and get me excited about continuing with my worldbuilding for #Kaendor, I've been imagining what kind of world I might have created back in 2004 if I then had the experience and stylistic preferences I have today.

Which had me get out the old D&D 3rd ed. Monster Manual II and Fiend Folio again. There's plenty of fun stuff I never got to use, like abeils, ethergaunts, and kaorti. Those could all be very pulpy. 😄

#adhdnd #ttrpg

Working on my Neocities website for #Kaendor and #IridiumMoons is fun.
All I'm using is some vague memories from an HTML class I did 18 years ago, and looking up HTML tags on the internet.

And being a Neocities sites, I'm totally alright with it being embarrassingly bad. That's authentic to web pages from 20 years ago. No rush to make it good, useful, or even just have a point.

https://yorasworld.neocities.org/

New Site Post: Return to the Forest Moon
https://spriggans-den.com/2023/07/02/return-to-the-forest-moon/

This post is a design document for my #Kaendor setting, to primarily remind myself of the design goals for a #SwordAndSorcery game world. But it might also be interesting for people as a glimpse at how I am approaching my #worldbuilding work.

#ttrpg

At some point I've gotten really bored by the fantasy stereotype of the present civilization being a crappier version of an amazing past when everything was better and more amazing.

But I really like the exploration of strange ancient ruins in fantasy and came up with a variation that the ruins are not from a lost golden age, but from inhuman monsters who were quite terrible and whose disappearance first allowed human civilization to begin. I should emphasize this more with #Kaendor.

New Site Post: Forest of High Adventure Hex Map
https://spriggans-den.com/2023/06/25/forest-of-high-adventure-hex-map/

The first version of the wilderness hex map for my Forest of High Adventure #Dragonbane campaign in the latest iteration of #Kaendor.

#ttrpg #gamemastering

One thing I noticed since reimagining #Kaendor as a #Dragonbane setting instead of an #OSE setting is that logic for filling out the list of creatures has become very different.

Many of the smaller critters and even mid-range monsters no longer serve much purpose without the underlying framework of climbing up the character level ladder by gaining XP from struggling against opponents.

They could still exist in the wilderness, but become uninteresting as encounters in stories.

#ttrpg

"You are almost always in sight of the promise of a future journey"
Patrick Stuart in his review of Northern Journey
https://falsemachine.blogspot.com/2023/06/a-review-of-northern-journey.html
(Only allows google comments, so I talk about it here.)

I've long identified "Towers" as one of the iconic elements of #Kaendor. It was just an imagery that kept showing up in my worldbuilding.
But somehow I've never been thinking about making the towers highly visible during the last approach to an adventure site. Great tool for dramatic buildup!

#ttrpg

Two of the main design concepts I've long been pursuing with #Kaendor are "Nature always wins" and "Nature isn't nice". Which admittedly I keep forgetting to make prominent in practice.

For a stronger #SwordAndSorcery tone, I think I also want to add "the world is way too big for the civilizations that inhabit it".

Obviously, all worlds have some "unused" areas of wilderness. But I'm thinking of civilization as an anomaly that barely registers in the big global picture.

#ttrpg #worldbuilding

New Site Post: Sural for Dragonbane
https://spriggans-den.com/2023/06/18/sural-for-dragonbane/

Making custom monsters for #Dragonbane is pretty simple. Here is the sural from #Kaendor as one example.

#ttrpg