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Axes and Anvils

Axes and Anvils

Tag Archives: planning

Plans are progressing.

30 Monday Mar 2015

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planning

I’ve been in touch with the high level world-building backers, and I have gotten good response. We have a new rough draft of the setting, and a top-secret forum where some of the backers are really fleshing out their territories with gameable stuff.

The next playtest at my home table will be the last two weeks of April and the first two weeks of May. (That’s when my guest game master is available.) So, that gives me a more stringent time frame to get some things wrapped up to be ready for playtesting. I anticipate sometime in that time frame I’ll put out a pack for others who want to do playtesting and report their experience back to have a chance to participate. Or, just for backers in general to get a sneak peek at the state of the project.

Kinesthetics

09 Tuesday Dec 2014

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planning

I ordered a copy of the playtest book from Lulu so I could use it at the table and get a sense of its heft, the size of its print, and other utility questions in actual play. Here are some pictures!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe book is slim and unassuming, easily slipped into a bag or notebook folder.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe text is easily readable, the layout works pretty well. I like the Crom font.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe character sheet in its native environment.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI don’t think anyone will photocopy cards out of the back of the book, but I want them to look okay there all the same.

So what do you think of that?

A Selection of Changes from Playtesting

08 Monday Dec 2014

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planning, rules

The playtesting process has only just begun, but I’m already learning lots of great stuff to streamline the game. Here is a selection.

The introduction page will list recommended ages and recommended play time, like a board game does.

I will add an “Optional Rules” page for people interested in campaign play instead of a casual one-off. The main purpose is to codify some common-sense interpretations at the table so others can benefit from my judgment calls, without muddying up the main rules. Examples:

Active rolls are when the character tries to do something, passive roles are when the character may notice something offhand or when something else acts on the character unexpectedly. Resolve can be spent when stubbornness matters, but not for passive rolls. If the character is looking for an ambush, the player can spend Resolve. If the character might notice an ambush, the player cannot spend Resolve.

An object can be passed to another adjacent character as a free action once a round. To move the same object to another character in the same round will cost an action.

Shoddy weapons are a step down on the damage die (already noted.) Add that attacks are a risk test and the weapon can break if the attack rolls poorly, dropping it 2 die steps instead of the -1 die step for being shoddy.

I need the clan and character generation process to be faster without adding pressure to players. How can I help groups move faster through the beginning of the session?

I am going to make generating the archon a mini-game for a subsequent session. We don’t need to know for the first session, and it is one of the more time-consuming parts.

I am going to cut the 3 sayings out of the clan generation. It takes too much time for too little reward.

I am going to make cards with the sayings so players can draw one instead of rolling one, then they have something to copy from while others continue generating characters.

The value of having character sheets with combat roles already on them is reinforced by watching players copy the information over during character generation. At least with the new role cards they can have the information at hand without slowing everyone else down or requiring GM attention.

The current mode of 4 good clan features and 2 bad is producing really buff clans–TOO buff. So, I think I’m going to say that 3 of the starting feature cards are good and 3 are bad. If you take 4 bad traits, everyone starts with 5 Ledger! If you take 5 bad traits (a maximum) start with 10 Ledger and a clan that seriously needs help.

I am also thinking about shifting the default from 3 down to 2, so clans start overall weaker.

There’s more fine-tuning than this, and more to come.

Next Steps

01 Monday Dec 2014

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planning

Whew! The playtesting document is out to backers. That is a HUGE step, in my mind. Book I is the core the project is built around, so the more solid and smooth it is the easier it will be to do the rest of the game.

December is dedicated to playtesting, for me. I have three groups lined up, and I hope to get maybe ten sessions. That will help me see the game more clearly through experience rather than theory.

After December my priority will be to first tighten up Book I with what I’ve learned, and then to work with backers on fleshing out the world of Aventyr. Now that a basic history of the area is released, I plan to work with backers who control factions and clans to rough out a revision of the geography. With the geography and history in the background, we can get more specific about some things.

To me, Book I should be self-sufficient. All you need to run your dwarf game, right there. But Book II will help people who want a setting built around the assumptions reflected in Book I. Also, tools to help generate adventures quickly and tinker with some sub-systems and optional stuff that makes some gamers (like me) happy.

I do not plan to share lots of timeline information as far as when various things will be done. Instead, my plan is to work on the project and notify backers and followers when various parts are available for their use.

I hope to see some actual play reports posted, I will link to them from this site! The game is meant to be played, and I expect it can provide lots of fun.

Lay of the Land

25 Tuesday Nov 2014

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planning

I have Book I ready for playtesting. It will undergo lots of changes in the next month, but for now I can turn my attention elsewhere in the project.

I want to deal with geography, but I am not sure I can yet. Mike did a map of Aventyr previously. I am going to do a version that is less “hexy” and more freeform. However, I think I need to change some things up.

I plan to have a central knot of impenetrable mountains that is the overall clanhome for all the dwarves of Aventyr. Then there are arms of mountains that radiate from that point, along a tectonic fault line and with smaller ranges branching out from there. This will serve as the focus for the main clans. One will be the clan in the center, looking after the most prestigious symbols and territory of the clan. Then others will be based around that point, and each one will trail off down a line of mountains.

Other specialties will be built in, but that’s the root concept. I’m currently leaning towards Clan Stondraeg guarding the seat of power, most isolated from the outside world. Clan Stonebreaker serves as the bulwark between goblin woods (jungle?) and the mountains. Clan Thunderforge along the edge of a desert where saints are purified and the Gods of Ur hold court in a temple compound wrapped in a mirage, or a mountain of power.

If I don’t hear from the other backers, I would likely assign one clan to live in cliffs and have several ports, seafaring dwarves. Another great clan would be specialized monster hunters, guarding the deep and the marsh borders against the ravenous and weird.

I will also be reworking the map so it has some features of interest, and the coastline is not a single lump of land. Give the territory some elbow space.

I also have not heard from anyone who backed at a level to contribute background on the other races. In order for all this to fit together, it helps to have some back and forth. Establish a background for the world (now done) then see how the histories of these people fit into it, and what role they play now.

Geography and history are interlinked. This is important. So before going much further on cultural issues, I want a better sense of how it all fits together.

New Playtest, Coming Up.

24 Monday Nov 2014

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planning

I am on track for releasing the next playtesting draft to backers by November 30.

It will have about 150 pages at 8.5 x 5 digest book size. At this point there is no art or index. However, there is a LOT of brand new stuff, along with retooled material from the last playtest.

This book is still small enough to fit in a pocket. I plan to keep it that way (for Book I) because I want players to find it easy to introduce new people and get new games started.

I am in a fairly comfortable spot at the moment. I feel I could release the document as it is and it would be great for a playtesting draft, but I’ve left myself some time to look it over, think about it, and make any other adjustments (instead of flopping over the finish line, spent.) I know there will be more changes, and they will be significant; my group is slated to playtest the game through the month of December, and great improvements always emerge based on game experience with a new system.

Initial Planning for Structure

18 Tuesday Nov 2014

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planning

Here is my initial thinking for structuring the Axes and Anvils project. THIS IS A DRAFT. I am confident it will undergo changes in order and content as the work continues.

I am still thinking through what size book will work best; it will likely be smaller than 8.5 x 11.

Part One will be in its own slim book. This will cater to those who want a pick-up-and-play game, and those who will not look at a book beyond a certain trim page count. Everything you need to apply the system and run games in your own setting or out of your imagination is in Part One.

Then there will be a book with Part One, Two, and Three in it.

The web site will have each tool in the toolbox (Part Three), free online.  The number of tools can be expanded over time. People will still get the bigger book, to have it collected and available, and to get Part Two. Some people want more than the basics, and the collection of all three parts will have some really great stuff in it. I will likely have a blog post for each tool with some explanation and the tool as a .pdf in the post, and link an index to the blog posts. As tools get updated, they’ll get a new blog post, and the destination of the link on the index page will change.

Then I’ve started a list of other, related products beyond the Pt. 1 book and the omnibus.

PART ONE: GAME

  1. Rules.
  2. Clan Generation.
  3. Character Generation.
  4. Character Advancement.
  5. Clan Advancement.
  6. Challenges and Foes.

PART TWO: WORLD

  1. Epochal History.
  2. Dwarven History.
  3. Dwarven Religion.
  4. Allies and Antagonists.
  5. Gods and Monsters.
  6. Flavors and Themes.

PART THREE: TOOLBOX

  1. Name Generators.
  2. Mission Generator.
  3. Dwarven Road Generator.
  4. Playing Without a GM.
  5. Treasures.
  6. Monster Maker.
  7. Warbands.
  8. Playing Other Races.
  9. Enchanting Objects.
  10. Weather, Terrain, Natural Hazards.
  11. Henchmen.
  12. Politics and Heresies.

OTHER PRODUCTS

  1. Legend Generator [Card Deck].
  2. Short Story Anthology.

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adventure report caskbound clan creatures elf humans legend location lore magic map milestone open table planning play report promotion rules rumbleseed strange mission templar tributary update upgrade various gardens various gardens; rumbleseed

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