Tolrendor DM's Blog

Map of the Month: In the beginning…

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Tolrendordm

A few weeks ago I was browsing the Profantasy forums, and I came across a post by someone looking for advice on creating a style reminiscent of the maps in the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.

That got me thinking. How many people in this world got started on a passion for fantasy cartography with images such as these??:

I certainly know that I couldn’t get enough of these maps when I was first read these stories as a kid (in the case of the Narnia books). The stereotypical overland map style even today in RPG publications is based on these early examples.

Although I loved both the CS Lewis and Tolkien stories as well as the maps, the main motivation it gave me was to draw my own world maps and design my own creatures and stories – and this way before the early 80’s when I first discovered Dungeons and Dragons. I vividly remember sitting at the kitchen table drawing huge world maps, and illustrating (or at least trying to given my limited artistic ability…) the strange creatures that lived there.

This naturally transferred to my role-playing experiences as a Dungeon Master. Of course, I loved settings like the Forgotten Realms, but I never actually played within that setting as written, or mapped. I borrowed loads (including large chunks of the Savage Frontier at one point), but I always had to re-draw the maps to integrate it into my own world of Tolrendor.

Even now (as is probably obvious from this blog…), when I’m pretty time-challenged on my creative opportunities, creating my own maps, whether world or city maps, or just a battle-map for an encounter, is a core part of the game experience!

How many of you have a ‘formative cartographic experience’ related to one of these maps?

Posted in Cartography, Columns, D&D Nostalgia, Map of the Month, World Building | 2 Comments

RPG Tech Talk: iBooks Author

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Tolrendordm

In my last column, I talked about my opinion that current eBook formats are not really suitable for RPG publications, where typically a greater level of control is required over the precise layout – unlike a novel where the ‘flow’ formats of an eBook work well.

This month, I decided to try my hand at producing a publication using Apple’s new application iBooks Author. This software is aimed at the textbook market, allowing electronic study guides etc. to be produced and sold through the iBooks application on an iPad. The key point is that the application is a layout tool, so gives the ability to create PDF-like publications, with precise control over layout, fonts, images etc … so maybe this would be a realistic alternative to the Adobe format for RPG publishers.

The software is free, and downloadable via the App Store, so it’s simple to get up and running. Essentially it operates like many other desktop publishing tools, allowing you to place text and other content within frames, add pages and headings etc. When the time comes to preview your work, you hook up your iPad, start the iBooks application, and download straight onto it!

So far good, but then the problems started…! Firstly, in somewhat typical Apple style, the application works absolutely fine – as long as you follow the grand plan laid out for you by Apple! Go off-piste even slightly, and things suddenly get a lot harder! As the app is designed for textbook authoring, a typical chapter-based organisation for your document is assumed. A number of layouts are provided out of the box, but if they don’t suit what you want – well lets just say I found it pretty difficult to create my own…

Secondly, try as I might, the layout on the screen did not seem to translate properly to the iPad – especially the right-most column, which always seemed to get lost in the margin – infuriating when you can’t find any way (or any help item) to resolve this:

Example iBook screenshot on iPad

Another part of the app that I was looking forward to exploring was ‘widgets’ – little snippets of interactive content. Unfortunately, in the end these left me pretty underwhelmed. The ‘Interactive Image’ (example shown in the screenshot above) allowed labels to be added to an image that would zoom in when tapped – a reasonable gimmick -but you couldn’t do anything neat like link to another page (e.g. to monster stats). The ‘Gallery’ option was also very frustrating. I wanted to use this as a space-saving way of displaying a set of stat blocks for an encounter, but just couldn’t manage to get the images scaled sensibly!

In summary, iBooks Author is a neat idea, but it currently seems to have a number of bugs and functional gaps that prevent it being a solid publishing tool. It will be a while before this format seriously threatens the venerable PDF for layout based publications! However, it’s not a million miles away: if the niggles were ironed out, and the app evolved to be more general-purpose in nature, we might be on to something…

Apple only lets you sell iBooks created with Author via the iTunes store, which might be another put-off for prospective RPG publishers given the significant cut Apple would take! Thankfully, you can distribute publications for free … so take a look at my sample if you’re interested – and of course are on the Apple side of the techno-wars 🙂

RatsBelow.ibooks

To load it to your iPad, first download and add the file above to your Books library in iTunes, then go to the ‘Books’ tab on your iPad page in Devices. Ensure the option ‘Sync Books’ is checked, select ‘Rats Below’ in the Books Pane. Hit the Sync button, wait … and then enjoy reading in the iBooks app!

Posted in Columns, RPG Tech Talk, RPG Technology, Self-publishing | 5 Comments

May Update

Posted on May 12, 2012 by Tolrendordm

Halfway through the month and I’m only just starting! As I mentioned here, there is a least a good excuse, but its certainly taken longer to get back on track than I’d hoped.

Still the Content Calendar is updated with May’s plans, so hopefully I’m on the way back…

It will also be a big month in the DnD Next multiverse, with the release of the first play test materials on the 24th. Excited …?? 🙂

Posted in Columns, Miscellaneous | Leave a comment

Scheduling Problems…

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Tolrendordm

When I put the Content Calendar publication schedule for April together, I kind of neglected one thing! 🙂

At the end April, we’re moving house (well, actually, back into our house … long story…) and my schedule has gone to pot! Some of the posts I had planned simply aren’t going to happen, and certainly not quite on time …

Note I still hope to get a post for each of monthly columns done, it just may be a different (and possibly simpler…) topic.

Hopefully May will see me back on track … assuming of course that Virgin Media move my broadband correctly …

Posted in Columns, Miscellaneous | 1 Comment

Wizards Watch: A Smorgasbord

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Tolrendordm

What with PAX East seminars and and a rush of blogs its been a busy time in DnD Next land. That of course launches a cascade on comment in the blogosphere! 🙂

Actually I’m beginning to think WOTC have made a bit of a rod for their own back with perhaps too early an announcement of DnD Next and the playtest programme: they’re now being criticised for seeking feedback without opening it up to playtest – when clearly they’re nowhere near ready for that. To have any sort of meaningful testing, they’ve got to have a system, and it seems they’re a long way from that yet. However, this in turn implies that despite what many are saying, they are seemingly using the various polls and columns as genuine input, rather than just as ‘leaking’ decisions already made.

I think a lot of people out there are comparing the situation (unfavourably normally…) to the Pazio Pathfinder RPG play-test programme – without remembering that this was a upgrade to an already well-known product i.e D&D 3.5!!

There was a recent Legends and Lore column by Mike Mearls that presented the original DnD Next goals. This was interesting to read, but to me made it pretty clear that the aims are more about combating market fragmentation than feeling this is anything fundamentally wrong with the 4E ruleset. This is clearly a valid target for a commercial company, but it does make me wonder. A large part of the fragmentation happened with 4E and Pathfinder RPG … And with the momentum of Paizo’s product it’s hard to see that reversing. And then there is the OSR market, where it seems to me that a large part of the attraction is playing with the actual original rulesets – so is a DnD Next system, however closely it achieves the ‘feel’ goal, really going to change the situation?

Another interesting post by Rob Schwalb touched on a proposed concept of themes and backgrounds being used to choose skills and feats – almost packaged up like fast food … but still allowing for more discrete choices if desired. I’m not against this concept – what I do find strange though is the interweb angst that it generates, and why this is such a big issue for DnD Next. To me, character choices aren’t rules, they’re content … rules determine how a power (or a skill, or a feat, or a combat tactic, or a spell/attack) works in the game … what powers (etc …) a character has is content!! I realise this might be my DM bias (as I’ve mentioned before …), but I still think it a valid point! 🙂

Then came a very interesting post about ‘the Grid‘ i.e. the range of combat options between full imagination to full grid based tactical combat. Again, this generated a lot of comment/blog inches … and is a topic I might explore further in another post!

In summary, some interesting information out there recently, and on the whole I think the direction is still positive … but I can’t help thinking that everything they’re looking to do could be achieved essentially with the 4E game engine … again, a concept I might explore further…

And lastly, its great to see that even though lots of people are thinking (and stressing…??) about DnD Next, there is still plenty to look forward to on the 4E content front. The last few 4E releases (e.g. Heroes of the Feywild) have been top notch, and I’m really looking forward to the Dungeon Survival Handbook. I’ve been a big fan of the Underdark ever since the original Dungeoneer’s Survival Guide (which unfortunately I no longer have my copy of …).

Following all this up with the ‘Rise of the Underdark‘ set of products and tie-ins should make for an interesting summer!

Happy Gaming,

TolrendorDM

Posted in Columns, D&D Nostalgia, DnD Next, Wizards Watch | Leave a comment

June Cartographer’s Annual!!

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Tolrendordm

And as I mentioned just this morning re Henrik Wielink’s Dungeon style for CC3 … how cool does this look … 🙂

Posted in Cartography, RPG Technology | 1 Comment

Fantasy Maps – A Stunning Site!

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Tolrendordm

The Cartographer Annual (from Profantasy) April Issue shipped last week, with yet another great overland style, based on the work of Herwin Wielink. I hadn’t come across this cartographer before, but his work is really stunning.

His own site, Fantasy Maps, contain lots of great maps, from an example created using the CC3 style:

Cartographer's Annual - April 2012 Issue

.. as well as some great freebie dungeon maps e.g:

… and also some tutorials (I love the Compass Rose one…) and a stunning gallery!!

Definitely worth checking out, and the best news is that apparently during 2012 the Annual will also include his ‘Dungeon’ style for CC3 – can’t wait!!

Posted in Cartography, RPG Technology | 1 Comment

DM for Kids: The Amber Tower

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Tolrendordm

Heroic Tier, Level 3

The kids’ characters are now based in Fallcrest (staying at the Silver Unicorn of course) and actively looking for new adventures!

While staying in Fallcrest, they managed to rescue the old wizard Nimozaran (who lives in the ancient magical tower that overlooks the town) from a mugging by members of the River Rats, and as a thank you, he invited them for tea! Whilst there, they learned an interesting snippet of information – the tower (at least in my campaign’s incarnation…) has some interesting properties – for example the view from the window of the room they were entertained in was not out over Fallcrest, but rather out over a wooded valley in the Feywild!!

This scene produced a nice role-playing session, and also provided a hook for the next adventure: Nimozaran asked them to hunt down an evil wizard who had stolen a magic tome from him (and adaptation of ‘Den of Dreus’ in Dragon Magazine 179).

The information about the tower (which is known as the Amber Tower in my campaign) however, is critical to my plans for the story of the campaign. ** Spoiler Alert – if you’re my kids, stop reading 🙂 ** The premise is that the tower, which predates the town of Fallcrest, and in fact human habitation of the Nentir Vale, by eons, is a nexus between the natural world and the alternate worlds of the Feywild and the Shadowfell. This causes a number of planar breaches in the region, which naturally attracts all the wrong sorts of people … (evil grin).

Many of the adventures coming up will be connected to this theme, as various powers and factions try and make use of the unique properties of the area to further their own designs, and naturally the PCs are drawn into opposing these plans. Nimozaran (who of course is not the doddering old wizard he appears to be…) will hopefully grow to act as a mentor to the kids’ characters: providing key information, guiding them towards certain adventures etc.

Now, in an adult campaign, this might be seen as a bit obvious and cliched, but for a kids campaign, I think it has several benefits:

The kids don’t always have the ‘background’ of D&D or fantasy in general to draw upon to ‘click’ to an aspect of the story that a more experienced and/or older group might have, so sometimes a little pointer is required.
Roleplaying is something they’re just beginning to grasp as a part of the whole experience, so an NPC that they have reason to engage with on multiple occasions should help to stimulate this.
Kids tend to operate in the ‘here and now’ so a long-running story, while they enjoy and seem to want that out of the campaign, they find difficult to keep track of. A ‘mentor’ that ties the strands together for them throughout a number sessions is likely to be useful.

These are some of the reasons that I’m planning to take this approach – its very early days yet, so it will be interesting to see how it turns out – and I’ve also got a couple of twists up my sleeve! 🙂

TolrendorDM (to the kids!)

Posted in Adventure Design, Columns, DM for Kids, Roleplaying with Kids, The Amber Tower Campaign | 14 Comments

April Update

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Tolrendordm

As I mentioned in my ‘Map of the Month‘ column for March, the month really flew by. Once again I did manage to publish 7 posts, including all 5 of my regular columns, although it was touch and go. In fact my last column only got published in March by a bit of WordPress magic that I’d forgotten about 🙂 It was scheduled for March 30th, and I missed by a couple of days as it was still in Draft … but when I finally hit the button, it still showed up as published on the 30th – oops 🙂 In terms of hits I had another good month – less than February – but still considerably more than any other month!

So far, the target of 5 regular columns per month is having a significant positive effect on my posting. Having a range of standard topics is definitely helping my planning, as I have most of my column ideas plotted out until the end of June … but I’m still finding it hard to ‘get ahead’ on the columns that require the most time e.g. Content Corner and Map of the Month.

In March I also became a member of the RPG Blog Alliance, and with the more regular posting I hope to soon join the RPG Bloggers Network. I’m also targeting that if I keep up an average of 7 posts a month for the rest of 2012 I’ll hit the 100 post mark before the year is out … so let’s see 🙂

As usual, the proposed column posts for April are listed in the Content Calendar! More on the Havenscoast theme, and a look at iPad content publication, are in the works. It’s a busy month in real life (moving house…) so lets hope I can keep to schedule!

Posted in Columns | Leave a comment

Map of the Month: Jonathan Roberts Style City Map

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Tolrendordm

So March has flown by, and this column missed the boat slightly in terms of publication, and significantly in terms of the content I had wanted to publish 😦

As the title suggests, my aim was to complete a set of map types using the Jon Roberts styles for Campaign Cartographer 3. I’ve managed Tactical Maps, an Overland Map, and this month it was the turn of the City Map. I decided to start with a reasonably small map, the town of Bradon in the Havenscoast region. The original hand-drawn map looked like this:

The Town of Bradon, the Havens coast

So off I went with a modern digital version! Unfortunately, as well as a lot of life stuff getting in the way, I discovered the City Designer add-in for CC3, which I’d never really used before, had a bit of a learning curve! I’m sure, like the other Profantasy tools, once I get used to it, productivity will follow … but unfortunately not in time for the March Map of the Month column, as you see 🙂